The Guilty Innocent (10 page)

“Nikolai...you idiot! If it were not for me, this entire operation would have been a disaster!” she said spitefully in Russian.

“If it weren't for you fucking Anthony, he may have been able to keep his mind on the job, instead of blotching it and getting killed!” replied the voice of the man who's vision I was witnessing. I tried to peer further into his mind, but there was a ringing in my dream and it began to draw me out of my sleep. I awoke to the telephone ringing in my ears, I picked up the receiver.

“Hello?” I asked hoarsely, still groggy as a result of being wrenched from a deep sleep.

“Hello Natasha, this is Warren. I'm sorry to wake you, how are you feeling?”

“I'm doing fine, you?”

“I've seen better days. Look, have you had any visions?” he asked me.

“Yeah, I was actually in the middle of one when you called.” I said carefully as to not sound as annoyed as I felt at the thought of losing track of the vision. Warren did not deserve any attitude.

“Oh shit! I'm sorry. I did not mean to interrupt,” he said apologetically.

“It's okay, so were you calling just to find out what was new?” I asked.

“Yeah, I saw you leave with Xavier and those two shifters. I just wanted to know what happened last night.”

“We just did some investigating. Warren, I'm going to tell you something, but I don't want you to do anything without Xavier's permission, okay?” I asked

“What is it?” Warren asked curiously.

“Do I have your word?”

“Yeah, you have my word,” he said urgently.

“Darian's mansion was attacked yesterday afternoon, his human servants were murdered and the club was broken into as well, the offices were ransacked.” I said, bringing Warren up to date.

“The home was invaded and servants-slaughtered!? While the vampires were asleep!?” Warren asked obviously as shocked as I was when I first found out.

“Yeah, but they didn't enter any of the bedrooms where the vampires were sleeping. I suppose they were afraid the vampires might wake up if they get close enough. I do know that they found what they were looking for too. The vision I had revealed a female and a male, they were on a plane returning to Russia. The female was on the telephone with their boss, she told him they had the “information” they were looking for and expressed how pleased she was about Darian's arrest,” I said. Even as I told Warren this, I could feel my temper beginning to rise.

“What the hell could Darian have that would be so important for someone to take such actions and risks!?” Warren was just as puzzled as I was.

“That's not all, I manage to catch some more information. The female snapped at the male in my vision, saying that he almost blotched the assignment, then he said that it was her fault Anthony messed up the prior assignment and that's why Anthony was killed.” I could practically hear the gears in Warren's mind turning.

“I need to speak with Darian, there are some things he's not telling us. When he wakes up tonight, we will have a conversation. Look, Natasha, why don't you come down to the precinct while I'm still here and look through some of these files we have, see if you recognize anyone, is that cool?” he asked.

“Makes sense to me, I'll be down there in about an hour. See you later.” I hung up the telephone then walked into my bedroom. Xavier was asleep in the same position. He looked so very pale and I wondered if he was comfortable or not, or if it even mattered? I walked closer to him and put my finger under his nose, there was no breath. I snatched my hand away as if it were burned and stared down at him. This was going to take some serious getting used to.

I walked into my bathroom and climbed into the shower. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and brushed my teeth while I showered. Afterwards, I dressed in my favorite Chicago's South Side baseball team jersey and a pair of black jeans. I tied my hair back into a ponytail and left. Traffic was pretty terrible on this morning, which is extremely odd for a Saturday, must be some special event going on downtown. I was happy that it was a weekend, I did not have to go to work. I was glad that I had four sick days available, I could tell all four were going to be used up by the end of all this.

I pulled into the parking lot, grabbing my bag o'goodies before walking into the station. I had stopped off to grabbed something to eat and a little treat for Matthew and Warren. Warren had been waiting for my arrival, because he was at the front desk when I walked in. He immediately escorted me to his desk. Matthew smiled and gave me a warm, friendly hug.

“I brought you two guys something,” I said and both men looked at me in anticipation. They saw the bag and I'm sure Warren smelled the goodies. I decided to tease just a little bit. I peeked into the bag then immediately closed it. A mischievous expression on my face, I looked at the two men, shaking my head. “No, no, no, you two don't want none of this. It's not good for you,” I teased.

Warren chuckled, then snatched the bag from my hands faster than I could blink an eye. He reached into the bag and pulled out a
Crunchy Creme
donut then shoved the whole donut into his mouth.

I never knew a person could shove an entire donut into their mouth, until I saw Warren do it. Matthew reached for the bag, but Warren moved out of the reach of his outstretched hand.

“Oh be nice and share, Warren!” I chuckled. Warren smiled like a mischievous kid.

“Aww, but I don't wanna share!” he joked.

“Warren,” I said sternly, pointing my finger at him like a scolding parent. “Share with your friend,” I added playfully.

He smiled and handed the bag over to Matthew who snatched the bag, and removed a donut then began to eat the delicious pastry like a normal human being, one bite at a time.

“Okay, let me see these files you were talking about...wait, first I want to look in on Darian,” I said.

Warren and Matthew exchanged glances then nodded their heads. Sometimes, when I look at the two of them, they seem like a perfect match. I supposed that's why they were excellent partners. Warren and Matthew led me to Darian's cell. I looked at Darian, the inside of his cell was dark, but not pitch black. Darian laid there on the mattress resting on his back, his hands at his sides, he looked completely cadaverous. Xavier looked like he was in a deep sleep, but Darian actually looked dead and it was sort of creepy to me. I nodded my head and we walked back towards Warren's desk. Warren pulled up the files on the computer that he wanted me to view and I began to scan through the electronic files.

I must have looked at over three hundred people before I came across the photograph of the female I saw in my vision. Her hair was died black in the photograph, but it was her. Her name was Lidiya Belyakov.

“Her! She was the one from my vision.” Warren and Matthew looked at the screen. Warren pressed some buttons on the keyboard and her personal file came up on the monitor. The three of us read over her file. She was arrested in 1998 for armed robbery, but the charges were dropped. She was arrested again in 2001 for suspected money laundering, but again the charges were dropped, or rather, the witnesses disappeared or backed out. Warren flipped through her record and came across an attached file of the people she was associated with.

I looked at the name on the screen, Nikolai Lelikov, I had no idea what the man in my vision looked like, but the female did call him Nikolai. I told this to Warren and Matthew and they clicked on Nikolai's personal file. He had been arrested in 2001 for money laundering as well, and just like Lidiya, the charges were dropped due to lack of substantial evidence. So this was the work of the Russian mafia!

I looked at the two detectives. “Does this mean, we're going to have to fly to Russia to track these people down?” I asked, groaning slightly.

“Shit, looks like it, kiddo.” Matthew said as he printed up the file. He looked at the freshly printed paper. “Well, at least now you know where you need to go, Moscow. If you want to clear Darian's name, you better pack your bags, you now have only four days to go.”

“Shit! You've got to be kidding me!” I exclaimed, shocked about how fast time passed by. I took the information and thanked both Warren and Matthew for their help, then I left. I went home and began to pack my bags. I decided to violate Xavier's privacy, but for a good reason, I needed Elise's telephone number. I searched his pants and found his wallet, I fished through it and just happened to notice that he had about seventeen hundred and forty-seven dollars and twenty-three cents, not that I was counting or anything, I just noticed it. I also found what I was looking for and flipped through the black leather book, until I found her name and number. I picked up my telephone and dialed. The telephone rang several times before anyone picked up.

“Hello.” a female greeted.

“Hello, my name is Natasha Hemingway, and I'm calling to speak with either Elise or Sergio, it's very important that I speak with one of them,” I requested urgently.

“One minute please,” She replied then put me on hold.

“Hello, who is this?” a male voice asked.

“Hi, my name is Natasha Hemingway” I repeated. “And I'm calling to speak with either Elise or Sergio.” I hoped this was Sergio and that I wasn't getting the run around.

“This is Sergio, what can
I
do for you?” he asked.

“Sergio, I had a vision and I know what we need to do next. We have to go to Russia and track down two people. A woman named Lidiya Belyakov and a man named Nikolai Lelikov. I'm quite sure that they are the two that you scented most of all,” I stated.

“How do you know all of this!?” Sergio asked, perplexed.

“Remember, I have an ability that allows me to see through the eyes of the people I can connect with. In this case, I was looking at present time or possibly a few hours into the future and saw that they were already on a plane heading for Russia. If you are still willing to help, we have to get everything arranged for an early departure.” The silence on the phone led me to speculate that he was thinking about the situation. I knew he did not like Darian and I wondered if he would help.

After a few seconds, he spoke. “I'll inform Elise, we'll meet you in about an hour. What is your address?” he asked. I told him.

“Okay, make that two hours. Until then.” Sergio said, then we both hung up.

I finished packing my bags. After two and a half hours, my door bell buzzed, I hoped it was Sergio and Elise. I ran to my intercom and pressed the button to speak with the person on the outside.

“Hello?” I inquired.

“Natasha, it's us.” Sergio said in his thick Italian accent. I must admit, men with certain accents are a turn-on, especially if they're nice to look at! I buzzed them in. After a few seconds, there was a knock on my door, I peeked through the peep hole and saw Sergio standing there. I opened the door and he walked in along with Elise and someone else. The third person was adorable, he looked very young, about five-feet-eight or nine inches tall, short cropped brown hair, hazel eyes, and coffee and cream skin tone. He was as cute as he could be.

“Natasha, this is Devin, he'll be joining us on this venture. Hope you don't mind,” Sergio said sarcastically.

What was with these two? I think it was time for me to find out what kind of animal they changed into.

“It won't be a problem, I think we're going to need all the help we can get. If you don't mind me asking...what do you change into?”

I asked, hoping I was not insulting them...but then again, who gives a shit?

“Leopards. Why do you ask?” Sergio replied, then his gaze darted to Devin who was sniffing and looking around my apartment.

“Don't be rude!” Sergio reprimanded. Devin turned around and nodded sadly like a child who had just been scolded.

“No real reason, I just wanted to know, that's all,” I lied. So
that
was the reason why they were so damn catty! Makes sense now! Elise looked at me in her usual bitchy manner I was growing accustomed to. Her eyes scanning over my body as if I were a piece of dirt. I really did
not
like her!

I walked towards my suitcases. “Well, Xavier is asleep and we'll need to fly there. It's going to be an eight to eleven hour flight. We have only four days to clear Darian's name, hell not even that long, so we have to get a move on!” I said as I dragged my luggage to the front door. Sergio, Elise and Devin looked at each other as if they weren't sure I was in my right mind. I stopped lugging and looked at them.

“Do you want to save him or not!? Are you just going to stand there!?” I asked, flabbergasted.