Prima

I don’t know exactly what I was expecting, but seeing the first guard and his companion waiting outside the suite hadn’t been on my short list. And hearing Grigori instruct Yuri to pass over Nikolai’s limp body would never have made any list at all.

“What—”

“Trust me,” Grigori said, and when Yuri reluctantly surrendered Kosloff and the two men walked off, he continued, “You didn’t expect to carry him through the lobby did you?”

“Of course not. We’d go out the back—”

“And have the cameras show that while you entered The Drake, you never exited?” Grigori asked but I knew he wasn’t expecting an answer. “No, we go out the front, the same way we came in.”

“And Clara?”

“I’ll meet you back at the car,” she said, appearing far calmer than I felt. Lifting herself onto her toes, she brushed my cheek with her lips and then entered the elevator Grigori had summoned.

It wasn’t what I’d envisioned, or how I’d planned, but as Yuri had mentioned, plans changed. Still that didn’t keep my heart from pounding as I watched them disappearing one by one. With a final look back at the door of the suite, I walked back inside, snagged a linen napkin off a discarded tray, and quickly rubbed down any surfaces we’d touched, erasing our very existence in this place. When it was time, I exited the suite knowing I’d never return to this hotel. I reached the car, glad to see Clara safely inside and Yuri closing the trunk. I watched Grigori speak with the two younger men before he shook their hands. As they walked away, Grigori climbed into the car.

“You all right?” Yuri asked.

“I will be once this is done,” I answered honestly. “You?”

“I’m good,” he said and opened his door and slipped inside.32ClaraYou’d think we’d drive west at least an hour away to reach the deep woods of a national preserve or perhaps head north into Wisconsin, but that was the part of Alek’s plan Grigori had rejected.

“Buried bodies are always found either by some hiker or their dog. Tying cement blocks to a corpse’s feet before throwing him into the river is khuyevina… how do you say… bullshit.” Grigori said. “Ropes rot, chains rust. Tossing a corpse into any body of water only assures it eventually floats downstream and gets tangled up in some fisherman’s nets or in the roots of a tree,” Grigori said as if we were students in some crazy class on how to dispose of a body. I supposed we were which, I’m sure, made it easy for Alek to graciously pass this part of the plan over to the man who most likely had far more experience.

We traveled a few minutes from The Drake before Alek turned into a driveway at the end of a street, driving around the side of a huge house when instructed.

Climbing out of the car, he turned back to look at me. “You don’t have to come—”

“I do,” I countered, opening my own door and sliding out as if to demonstrate I had absolutely no intention of not seeing this through to its end.

This time Alek carried Nikolai, as I followed Grigori while Yuri moved to cover our backs. No one spoke as we walked around the back of the large, imposing manor. Grigori opened a gate and we followed. It wasn’t until the older man had opened another door that I broke the silence.

“He’s starting to stir.” My words were validated with a groan as Nikolai began to waken.

“Good, I don’t wish for him to miss a single second of his last moments on Earth,” Grigori said as if pleased his nephew would enjoy his uncle’s unexpected visit.

I looked up to see Alek glancing down at me, concern on his face, and yet I shook my head, indicating I was fine.

Evidently whoever owned this place had not only given Grigori carte blanche to enter, he’d shared the blueprints as the man never hesitated as he guided us through long corridors and down a flight of stairs at the end of one. Reaching the bottom, he waited until Yuri had closed the door at the top of the landing before he opened the door before him. I couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping as understanding flooded through me.

The mansion above us was not just some stately home though I had no doubt the rooms were inhabited by a family who lived their lives in the light. However, down here in the depths, the story changed. The underlying aroma of chemicals, the smooth floor with a drain in the center of the room, racks of instruments lining spotless counters, and the heavy iron door against the far wall were testaments to the fact the guests who’d inhabited this room were no longer among the living. With a nod from Grigori, Alek approached the stainless steel table, smiling at the grunt of pain the action of unceremoniously dumping Nikolai onto its surface brought forth. We all stood before the table, Yuri with his back against the door, his arms casually crossed over his chest. Alek stood beside me, his hand reaching to take mine, and Grigori, his feet planted as firmly on the floor as an oak’s roots were in the ground simply waiting as the drug in Nikolai’s system began to wear off.