Part 2: Chapter 7: Find Out Who Your Friends Are

DPOV

Ivan and I took off for Tennessee that next night. Rose wasn't too happy about us going so soon, but once I explained what was happening, she packed my bags for me. I told Ivan about Abe's new involvement in the matter, he was skeptical at first.

"Do we really need to involve your mobster father-in-law?"

"I couldn't think of anyone else that could help. Besides you know Abe has a way of figuring things out quickly, that's what we need. I don't want whatever Dashkov is planning to get out of hand and someone get hurt."

"That's my point though, the man has ways, most of which are illegal. You do know his "businesses" are just cover for the real operation right?"

"What would that be, Ivan?"

"It's obvious! He's running the Turkish Mafia!"

I almost ran off the road, did he really just say that! "Ivan, you're being ridiculous. He is a business man, no matter what kind of business it is. Plus, if it helps us, I really don't care what the man does."

"You want to marry into his family, not knowing what he really does? Bold move, Belikov, bold move."

I ignored him after that. I really could care less what Abe does, I am marrying Rose, not Abe. I know Rose has no interest in taking over Abe's businesses when he dies. It will be sold to the highest bidder, as for his side work, that will die with him.

We managed to make it to the school just before practice was to start for the day. Coach ripped up in half, telling us how irresponsible it is to just up and leave when the team needed us. The game was still 2 days away, all we missed was practice. Ivan and I practice all the drills together, so in reality, no routine was disturbed by us leaving. Nonetheless, he yelled for about 20 minutes before telling us that someone, somewhere really likes us, because he was told not to bench us for the game on Saturday.

Thank you, Abe.

The next two days went by in a blur, since he couldn't bench us, he had us running laps and drills for an extra two hours after practice ended. We were dead on our feet when we got on the bus Friday morning. Since the travel time was under 16 hours, we had to ride the bus. If it was longer, we would fly. After making the trip just 2 days earlier, I was not eager to be back in a vehicle doing it again. That much driving makes the body stiff, and we weren't making any stops, even worse. I put my headphones in, texted Abe and then tried to sleep.

APOV(ABE)

"What was Dimitri talking about Victor Dashkov for?" Janine asked walking into my office, just after Dimitri left.

"That's his new Coach at Vanderbilt. He believes something weird is going on with the players on his team. I am going to try to help him."

"Victor is the half brother of a Serial Killer we caught years ago. He tried to testify in his brothers defense, but the evidence was too much."

"How did he kill them?"

"He poisoned them, with a mixture of Ecstasy and Methamphetamines. He was slipping into people's drinks at the bars he frequented."

"What were the symptoms of the victims?"

"When they start coming down, their body would overheat, it was like the boiled from the inside out, until their heart couldn't take it anymore."

"Huh. Dimitri said that the players were disoriented, they can't focus or move properly."

"That sounds like Ketamine to me. It causes delirium, impaired motor functions and feeling a loss of control."

I thought about this for a minute, could Dashkov be trying to finish up the work of his brother? Or was his brother just inspiration for his plan? Why is he targeting the Vanderbilt baseball team? I picked up my phone to call in an old favor.

"Tatiana, It's Abe, Abe Mazur...I'd like to cash in."

RPOV

I talked with Olena over the last few days. I had a nightmare last night, and I have been skittish to drink anything I didn't get out of an unopened container. But for the most part I thought I was doing okay. I finally went back to school on Wednesday. Dimitri and Ivan left Tuesday night to go back to Vanderbilt, he said that if they didn't get back soon coach was benching them both for 2 weeks. I packed his bags and sent them on their way. I would see him in two days anyways, they are playing in Austin, against Christian.

School was as expected, lots of stares and whispers about what happened at the party. I just wanted it all to go away, it happened, let it go. Unfortunately for me, even though Jesse and his shadows were arrested and are currently being held in Arlington PD jail cells, his girlfriend and other friends are still here.

Natalie Voda, Jesse's girlfriend, wanted to make my life a living hell. It was bad enough when she had a thing for Dimitri and Ivan, who wouldn't give her the time of day, she tormented me and Viktoria for weeks. Now that I am the reason Jesse is behind bars, she was out for blood. Telling everyone I lied and was just saying that because I didn't want to admit I cheated on Dimitri, calling me a slut and worse. I tried to ignore all the comments I heard throughout the day. I would fall back if I let them get to me, I promised myself to not let that happen. I would fight, all I had to do was fight till the end of the school year. A month and a half to go, I can do this.

"Rose, how are you doing today?" Lissa asked falling into step with me.

"Alright, I guess, lots of staring still, I really could do without it."

"Don't worry, after the weekend everyone will have forgotten about it."

I hoped she was right, but I had a feeling this is just the beginning. We made our way to the Cafe for lunch and ran into none other than, you guessed it, Natalie.

"Oh look, it's the school slut, gracing us with her presents. Tell me Rose, who are you going to fuck next? I am sure Brandon and Reed would like go a round with you. Or have you already made it through the Varsity line up?"

"Fuck off, Natalie. Just because you slept with the football team doesn't mean everyone else is." Vika came to my rescue. Good timing, I was two seconds away from flattening her like a pancake.

"Is she sharing with you now, Viktoria. How sweet, the pretend sisters making the rounds together."

The rage was boiling inside of me, begging to be let out. Breathe Rose, Breathe, You can't let her get to you. Walk away.

"Walk away, Vika, it's not worth it. Let's go get lunch." I said grabbing her arm.

Trying to control the Hathaway side that was chomping at the bit to come out was getting hard. I could only keep her back for so long. I feared once she was out, I would never be able to come back. It was like I had split personalities, if the other came out, I wouldn't be in control. It scared the shit out of me.

"Thank you." I told Vika once we were sitting down at our table.

"You don't have to thank me, you're my sister. I would do anything for you, just like you would do for me."

Mason and Eddie joined us next. We all sat in silence for a little bit, Lissa was the one to break it.

"So, who all is going to Austin this weekend for the game?"

"Mia and I are driving down Friday night, I booked us a hotel for the weekend."

"Jill and I will be driving down Saturday. It took me a good hour to get her parents to agree to me taking her."

"Are Sydney and Adrian coming too?" I asked Eddie.

"Yea, they are going down on Friday night."

"Lissa are you riding with me and Vika?"

"That depends, I plan on staying the weekend with Christian. Will you be able to stay with the guys?"

"Ivan and Dimitri said this new coach is a jackass, so I doubt we can sneak into their hotel." Vika said.

"Then I will drive myself. That way you guys can try and spend what time you can with them and not have to worry about me."

"Sounds good, I guess we can let Paul ride with us down there. Then he can go home with Mama, while we book a hotel." I suggested, Vika nodded.

The bell rang just then signaling the end of lunch, we all threw our trash out and made our way to the next class. Three more hours and the day will be over.

APOV

Tatiana had pulled through faster than I thought she could. I had an entire background packet ran on Victor Dashkov. Family and medical history, bank statements, phone records, the works. First bit of interesting information was he had a daughter, a daughter who happened to go to school with Rose. She had her mother's last name, so no immediate connection was made. As far as anyone knew, she didn't know who her father is. That is a lie, she knows, and she has been in contact with him for the last several months. His phone records show several calls to and from her.

Second, He had a chronic illness that was killing him, slowly, but surely. Apparently, there are no outward signs that he is sick. Dimitri would have noticed it if there was. Medical records show he only has about one year of life left. So what is he doing coaching college baseball?

Third, very recently, he visited the prison his brother is currently being held at. Tarasov. There is no recording or physical record of what was said between the brothers, but if I had to guess, I would say he needed help with his plan.

What is his plan? What does a dying man have to gain from poisoning young men? Why these men? There were now a lot more questions and fewer answers. I needed to speak with Dimitri as soon as they get here. I need to sample that drink and see what is in it.

My phone chimed early Friday morning, "We are on the bus, I will let you know when we hit Texas. -Dimitri"

They would be here in roughly twelve hours, "Pavel?"

"Yes, Abe."

"Ready for a road trip?"

DPOV

We arrived at our hotel at 10pm Friday night. I was so sore from sitting for almost 12 hours, all I wanted was a hot shower and to go to bed. Apparently, that was not going to happen just yet.

"What the hell, Abe? How did you get in here?"

"I have my ways."

Ivan leaned into my ear, "Mafia, I told you." I told him to shut up and turned my attention back to Abe.

"So, I hope you have figured something out, I know you haven't been sitting around the last 3 days."

"Of course I have, sit, we have much to talk about. So first, how are you doing with the sample."

"He made Ivan and I load the coolers, punishment, we swapped them. So the ones on the bus are clean. I did get a bottle of the original cooler before we dumped it." I said handing it to him.

"You're sure it was already contaminated?"

"He always mixes it before we leave. Then the players are the ones to transport them from there, they are always in sight, so he would have to do it before leaving."

"Pavel, lets test for Ketamine first. If that doesn't react, we can test for the Ecstasy and Methamphetamine mixture."

"What? Ecstasy and meth?" Ivan said.

"While he does the test let me fill you in…" Abe launched into telling us everything he had found out in the last 24 hours. I couldn't believe most of it. For one, Dashkov didn't look sick at all, but he was dying everyday. Second, his brother is a serial killer, one who he is still talking to. Third,...

"Natalie? Really, she's his daughter?"

"It would appear so, according to her birth certificate. Her mother had left Victor when Natalie was just a baby. She said he wasn't well mentally and she feared for her and her daughter. Natalie has been in contact with Victor for about a few months now. Do you know anything about her?"

"Other than she is a bitch." Ivan said, "She had a thing for both of us when we were in High school. Her freshman year she practically stalked both of us. When she found out we were with Vika and Rose. She started dating my cousin Jesse and together made their lives hell."

That was very true, Natalie has always hated my sister and Rose. When we were younger I always tried to be nice to her, she was shy and very recluse. Freshman year, she followed us just about everywhere. Then sophomore year, she had told Ivan and I about her feelings, but neither of us could return them. That's when she started dating Jesse and everything changed. I can only imagine what's happening now that Jesse is locked up.

"What is the possibility that this is about us?" I had to ask, knowing that Natalie is related to Dashkov rose a lot of questions.

"Honestly, I don't know, but I would say its a place to start. If she wanted the two of you to pay for rejecting her, this is one hell of a way to do it."

"But why keep poisoning the players? He'd have noticed by now that neither of us drink the Gatorade he makes. Why keep doing it?"

"I don't know. There are too many questions and not enough answers right now. As time goes on, we will find out more, so we have to keep working theories going until we get something more concrete."

Pavel finished the test and found something even more alarming than we thought.

"Positive for Ecstasy and Methamphetamines. No trace of Ketamine."

"So he planned on taking you all out today." Abe said, looking back at Ivan and I "That mixture, would kill you."

What is happening right now! Ivan and I just stared at Abe.

"You're kidding, right? He wasn't really planning on killing us, right?" Ivan asked.

"Pavel, you are one hundred percent sure?"

"Yes sir, the test doesn't lie. Both solutions for Ecstasy and Meth changed color, Ketamine didn't."

"Okay, we need to call the police and have them come and file a report. Maybe if they have enough evidence right here, they can arrest him."

We all sat in our room, waiting, about 20 minutes later the police showed up. I told them everything, how we suspected something was wrong with the team. How I thought the Gatorade was being poisoned. How the coach was related to a serial killer who used this exact method to kill his victims. How Ivan and I took a sample out of the cooler and swapped them so no one would get hurt. Everything.

They ran their own test on the drink, but they could actually tell how much of each was in it. The levels it showed were off the chart, enough to shut your system down in as little as 30 minutes. He really wasn't pulling any punches this time, but the why still remained.

They said they had enough probable cause to detain him, but they would need a warrant to search his belongings and see if he possessed any of the drugs. They could hold him here for 72 hours without charging him, that would give them enough time to get the warrant, and to contact the police back home to search his residence. I could only pray that he was stupid enough to leave some there for the police to find.

I watched the officers leave our room and walk down the hall to Dashkov's. They knocked several times before calling for a master key. Another minute later, the door was opened.

Authors Note:

So anyone know where I got the idea of the drug from? If you can answer, I will send a short clip of the following chapter.

Hints: An American show, has several seasons, Crime/Drama

Extra bonus if you can tell me the episode.