Chapter 10 – One Step Closer
Ashley walked around the back of the villa, Javor Dragoslav following behind her, almost deathly quiet.
He was a man of mystery, like a character from an Alfred Hitchcock film, this Mr. Dragoslav.
He clearly had known her mother from a previous encounter, but his mother had never mentioned him, so what ever he had done to be counted so sourly in her favor, it must've been bad.
Then there was his request for anonyminity, almost has as suspicious as his hand in helping. She couldn't tell if he was an overprotective friend, or an over caring stalker.
And then there was his ability to take a punch, car accident, bullet would, and come out of it completely unscathed.
There was something off about him.
It was almost creepy how gracefully stealthy he was. It took her every ounce of training her mother had given her to go by unnoticed, but it came seamlessly effortless to him.
All these elements added up to one heckuva mystery, and a whole heckuva lot more questions she wanted answered.
Was she ever going to see him again once they brought her mother back? Was he going to stay? Was he her father? Was he who he said he was? Was he anybody? Was he in love with her mother? Was her mother in love with him? Why was he risking everything for her, for them?
Many men had sent flowers, chocolates, expensive jewelry, even rare abnormals to garner her mothers affections, all had been turned away with a small smile and an apology. Ashley always figured that it was because she was still in love with her father, a child's dream, possibly, no kid wants to see themselves as the by-product of a one night stand with some European dude.
Had her mother been waiting for Javor Dragoslav all this time?
It drove her crazy, and she wasn't going to let him walk out of her life again without some answers.
Ashley went to the nearest window of the villa to pry it open and crawl through it.
The window resisted her but she managed to prop it open with her pistol and climb through. She turned back to call Javor over.
"Javor! I'm inside!" she called.
"Yah, me too," he said from behind her, making her jump.
"Jeez! Where'd you come from?" she hit him in the chest.
"The back door, it was open, but very creative, you and your mother have a gift for doing things the hard way," he said with a smirk.
"Sometimes it's safer," shrugged Ashley.
"Yah, but such a strain," said Javor nonchalantly.
"It also lowers the chances of tripping a silent alarm," said Ashley, hearing a click from behind Javor.
"Oh yah…that totally slipped my mind," muttered Javor pulling out Ashley's gun from her waistband and shooting at the new company. "Grab the gun!"
He gestured to the gun in his waistband.
"I got it," she said.
"Yah, I'm pretty sure that's not a gun," said Javor cheekily.
"Shut up," muttered Ashley.
They both notice the corridor beyond the first wave of goons guarded more intensely.
"That's where they must be keeping your mother," he said pointing down the corridor.
"How do you know?" she asked shooting a few more rounds at the goons.
"Van Hagen's lair would be position in a more secure location, and nothing else is more important to him then your mom's booty, hence the guards," he said firing off a few rounds himself.
"I'll cover you and lead them off," said Ashley.
"Like hell," growled Javor.
"Look, I'll be fine, just go find my mother, for once do as I say," said Ashley sternly and Javor nodded.
Ashley shot cover fire at Richter Van Hagen's goons while Javor Dragoslav snuck behind them into the room they were guarding.
A soon as he stepped into the room his nostrils were filled with the strong aroma of incense.
It was full of scantily clad women, sitting among satin curtains and flower petals, lounging their feet into the small pool in the centre of the room.
One of them came up to him and touched his shoulder gracefully.
"Are you here for business or pleasure?" she drawled into his ear, her tongue just gently touching the lobe.
He instinctively pulled away from her and brought a handkerchief to his ear and wiped.
"Neither as far as your concerned," he scanned the beautiful young faces.
"Then what can I do you for?" she said just as heavy as before.
"I'm looking for a specific girl, she's who I want, and only she, and you, my pretty friend, are going to help me find her," he said pointedly.
"Your wish is my command," she said, her eyes leering at him.
"I bet you say that to all the men," he gave her a sardonic smile and he flipped out a picture of Helen Magnus, a picture he had leant from Ashley, his own still tucked securely in his breast pocket. "This is the woman, have you seen her?"
"The masters new girl, we've been prepping her for him, she is…unavailable for our customers," the woman let out a heavy chuckle.
"I, dear lady, am not a customer," he took out the gun, also on lend from the wonder-Magnus.
He let his eyes change into their terrifying blood-black, but in a blink it was gone, and the woman's prowess vanishing with it.
"He won't let you take her, he plans on making her his wife, she is much more tightly secured than we are," the woman had a hint of panic in her voice.
"Take me to her, and I promise no harm will come to any of you," he said sincerely.
Her eyes widen.
"You mean to free us?" she said, a hint of hope leaking into her voice.
"If I have to yes," he said flatly, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. "But this woman is my friend, I have to rescue her first."
The woman nodded.
"They won't let you come in like that," she said handing him a robe and face veil.
He sighed, of course he couldn't, that would be too easy…