Gray Shadows: Russian Historical Thriller

Chapter Fourteen

Mikhail lifted his hands up as his face registered shock and disbelief. “But I thought you were…”

“I spent a year acting.” Ilia shoved Mikhail face down to the floor. “Be quiet, or I’ll shoot you.” Ilia took a pair of handcuffs out of his jacket pocket, and snapped them on Mikhail’s hands. “And you’d better do what we tell you. No surprises and no sudden moves. Get up!”

Svetlana rushed back into the room and came back out with the young receptionist who was physically unharmed but sobbing uncontrollably. Svetlana took her aside, and they both sat down on the floor, comforting each other.

Mikhail, his hands clasped behind his back, struggled to his feet.

“Get ready to talk to Natalya,” Nikolai said to Mikhail. “And don’t even think of doing anything stupid. I’ll shoot you on the spot.”

Nikolai dialed Natalya’s number. “I’m here with Mikhail, and we just got the car. It’s right outside the entrance.”

“Let me hear Mikhail,” Natalya said.

Nikolai held the phone next to Mikhail’s mouth. “Tell Natalya we’re on our way to the car.”

“We’re on the way,” Mikhail said.

“Are you inside the car? Start it then and let me hear the engine.”

“Not yet,” Nikolai responded.

“Get Mikhail in the car and let him call me next time. And make sure you and Vanya are not there,” Natalya said. “And you two come back here. Now!”

Nikolai clicked off and had two of the guards escort Mikhail to the front entrance where a car was waiting.

“Let’s go back to Pyotr Alekseevich’s office,” Nikolai said to Vanya.

“So Ilia is not sick?” Vanya said. “What was that all about?”

“He’s not sick, and he’s not their son. He works for our agency.”

Minutes later, they were at Pyotr Alekseevich’s office. Nikolai leaned towards the door and listened. Three other guards positioned themselves at stairwell exits.

“Are you in the car, Mikhail?” he heard Natalya’s voice. “Good. Now ask to switch cars. I don’t trust anyone here. And call me back.”

“Natalya, Vanya and I are back,” Nikolai said. “As you asked. Right, Vanya?”

“We’re here,” Vanya said.

“Do you have the sales contract for me?” Natalya said.

“Not yet, but I can send Vanya for it. Should he take it straight to the car?”

“NO! Bring it to me. I want to make sure you’re not playing with me.”

“I don’t know where it is or what it looks like. Please ask Pyotr Alekseevich,” Vanya said.

“Vanya,” Pyotr Alekseevich said. “The contract is in the blue folder, with all the other documents. It’s on the conference room table. Please bring the whole folder.”

“Will do!” Vanya said. Nikolai motioned for him to leave.

Through the door, he heard Natalya’s phone ring. “Yes, Mikhail? Got a different car? Good. We’ll be there soon, as soon as we get the sales contract.”

A few minutes later, Vanya came running, huffing and winded from the trip. In his hands, he had a blue folder. “Got it!”

“Natalya, we have the contract,” Nikolai said.

“Slide it under the door and get out of the building. All of you.”

“But what about Pyotr Alekseevich?”

“What about him?”

“You need to release him when you get in the car,” Nikolai said.

“That would be too easy, wouldn’t it? I’ll release him once we’re out of the front gate. He can walk back. And don’t even think of following us.”

“All right. I’m leaving now. You’re free to go.”

Nikolai motioned for Vanya and other guards to leave the building. “Wait at the front gate,” he said loudly. “On the outside. And as soon as Pyotr Alekseevich is out of the car, let me know.” Then, he whispered to Vanya, “Call the police and the ambulance.”

Nikolai left the hallway, walked away from the main staircase and down the narrow fire escape staircase, equipped with fire extinguishers and fire alarm buttons, to the first floor. He hoped that his calculation was correct. Pyotr Alekseevich’s life and the fate of the company depended on it.

When he reached the first floor, Nikolai crouched in the dark corner under the staircase, took a deep breath, steadying his nerves, and waited. For a while, everything was quiet. No footsteps, no doors opening or closing, just dead silence. A few minutes ago, Nikolai was ready to bet his life on this move, and now a tiny shadow of doubt crept in. What if he was wrong? He chased away the thought and focused on keeping still in his hiding spot. It was getting more difficult as his leg was starting to hurt from lack of movement. He slowly rubbed it, relieving the ache, and kept waiting.

After a few more long quiet moments, he heard a door slam up above him, followed by two sets of footsteps, going down, lower and lower. Nikolai peeked out of the corner and saw two figures going down. The light was dim, but he could clearly see that it was Pyotr Alekseevich and Natalya. Pyotr Alekseevich was in the front, Natalya right behind him, a pistol pointed to his head. Andrei’s pistol, no doubt.

Nikolai let them take a few more steps down as he kept crouching in the corner. When Natalya was right next to Nikolai, he jumped up, grabbed and twisted her arm with the pistol, sending the pistol flying into the corner. Pyotr Alekseevich rushed to get the gun, but Natalya was quicker.

She dove to the ground and rolled, loosening Nikolai’s grip on her arm. As he tried to take a hold of her again, she kicked him, hurting his bad leg and freeing herself completely. Immediately, she leapt after the pistol. It ricocheted off the wall of the narrow hallway, and Natalya grabbed it. She pointed the pistol at Nikolai and back-kicked Pyotr Alekseevich, sending him to the ground.

Natalya took a step sideways so that both Nikolai and Pyotr Alekseevich were in her field of vision. Now, her pistol was pointed at both of them. Nikolai’s pistol was pointed at her. Nikolai shifted to the side.

“What are you doing?” Natalya said. “Stand still!”

“It’s just my old wound aching,” Nikolai said and bent his knee.

“You’re not so invincible after all, are you?” Natalya said.

“I guess not,” Nikolai said quietly. Grimacing in pain, he leaned against the wall. He knew exactly what he needed to do, and he hoped he remembered a small but important detail about the wall behind him. He put his back flat against the wall, pushing the fire alarm button. The sudden and loud wailing of the alarm startled Natalya for just a moment, but a moment was all Nikolai needed. He drew his gun and shot Natalya in the arm. As the bullet grazed her flesh, she dropped the pistol. This time, it was Pyotr Alekseevich who grabbed it.

Nikolai dropped Natalya on the ground, took a pair of plastic handcuffs out of his pocket and handcuffed her. Then, he wrapped his scarf around her wounded arm to stop the bleeding.

“Still saving me?” Natalya said. “What, it makes you feel good about yourself?”

“It’s in my contract,” Nikolai said.

In the distance, he heard the wailing of police sirens.

Vanya burst through the door, his gun drawn.

“We’re okay, Vanya. Put the gun down,” Nikolai said.

“Pyotr Alekseevich, you aren’t wounded, are you?” Vanya asked. “And you, Nikolai?”

“No, we’re fine,” Pyotr Alekseevich said.

Nikolai glanced at Pyotr Alekseevich’s ashen face. “It’s over now,” Nikolai said. “You’ll be fine.”

Pyotr Alekseevich nodded. “Thank you, Nikolai.”

When two uniformed police officers walked in to take Natalya away, Nikolai picked up the blue folder that Natalya dropped in the struggle and handed it to Pyotr Alekseevich. “It’s all yours now. And so is the company.”

As Nikolai, Vanya, and Pyotr Alekseevich stepped outside, Vanya excused himself and left to check on the others. Svetlana came running up to them. “Pyotr!” She hugged him. “I’m so glad you’re all right.”

“Me, too.” He hugged her, too, then pulled back, as if suddenly realizing something. “Where’s Ilia? Is he okay?”

“There’s something you need to know,” Svetlana said. “I am really sorry…”

“Is he wounded?” Pyotr Alekseevich said, his expression turning somber. “Has something happened to him?”

“No, no, he is not wounded,” Svetlana said. “It’s not that.”

“Let me explain,” Nikolai said, “since all this was my idea.” He turned to Pyotr Alekseevich. “I’m going to spare you the extra worries and just say it the way it is. Ilia is not your son. Your son is not here. And neither of them has any developmental challenges or disabilities.”

“What? I don’t understand.” Pyotr Alekseevich looked at Svetlana, then at Nikolai.

“It was all an act, to help protect you. Ilia works for our agency, and when Svetlana said she was coming here with your son, that seemed like a perfect opportunity to bring him in, undercover.” Nikolai lightly touched Pyotr Alekseevich’s arm. “And it was all my idea. Svetlana only agreed to it because I convinced her that Ilia’s presence could help save your life.”

“And it looks like your plan worked, Nikolai. Thank you,” Pyotr Alekseevich said. “Is Ilia his real name, by the way?”

“Yes, it is, just like your son’s. And that’s a coincidence,” Nikolai said.

Pyotr Alekseevich paused for a moment, as if absorbing all this information. Then, he addressed Svetlana. “Where’s our real son?”

“Still in Moscow. I told him all about you, and he really wants to meet you. He was disappointed when I had to change our plans at the last minute, but he understands that a board meeting can be stressful and agreed to wait until after it’s over. Plus, his engineering professor assigned a big project at the last minute, so staying in Moscow and working on it was the best choice for him.”

“He is studying engineering?” Pyotr Alekseevich sounded surprised.

“And he’s a pretty good student,” Svetlana said.

Pyotr Alekseevich smiled and hugged her again. Nikolai watched the two of them step away from the building, the blinding spotlights and blinking police lights. They kept hugging and talking quietly. They looked relieved and happy.

Then, he heard a car door open and close as the police put Natalya in the back of their van.

Vanya came up to Nikolai. “I did not suspect her at all,” Vanya said.

“Me neither,” Nikolai said. “But I should have thought about it more. The whole bodyguard assignment seemed strange from the beginning. I totally missed it.”

“Why would she do something like this?” Vanya said.

“I don’t know her whole story, but I know that it’s because of money,” Nikolai said. “It’s always because of money. And she wanted to go to Cyprus, remember? I don’t think Cyprus has an extradition treaty with Russia, so she was really playing us when she talked about it, sunny beaches and all.”

“Just like when she talked about the 1991 coup, right?” Vanya said.

“Yes. And I should have caught on, but I didn’t. I got too used to her, and I trusted her too much. Criminals always make mistakes or get too bold, and that’s how they get caught,” Nikolai said. “I made a big mistake with Natalya, a mistake that cost Andrei his life.”

“How did you know to go to the fire escape, not to the main exit?”

“Two things. One, Natalya was too quick to agree to release Pyotr Alekseevich outside the front gate. It felt too easy, like she was planning something else. And two, she insisted on having the contract with her, not in the car. That made me think that she would not even be in that car, and that all this fuss with Mikhail and changing cars was a distraction. She wanted all the attention at the front while she would go to the back and into that tunnel.”

“What was she planning to do about Mikhail?” Vanya said.

“Nothing, most likely,” Nikolai said. “As far as she was concerned, Mikhail’s only purpose was to distract our attention. Of course, he thought he was a real partner with Natalya. She tricked him, too. And now he’s going to be serving time for the murder of that guard and for kidnapping.”

A young man, one of Nikolai’s team, came up to them and addressed Nikolai. “As you asked, we checked that area behind the compound and found a Jeep there. Don’t know why it’s there or who it belongs to, but you were right. It’s there, and the keys were in it.” He handed the keys to Nikolai.

Vanya looked at Nikolai with admiration. “That was supposed to be Natalya’s getaway car, right?”

Nikolai nodded. “It looks like it.”

“You’re good,” Vanya said. “Really good.”

“Not good enough,” Nikolai said. “I lost Andrei.”