THE COMMUTE
by MAMBFF
Disclaimer: The rights to "Vampire Academy" belong to Richelle Mead.
Chapter Ten
~VA TC VA~
Dimitri
My body was aching and it felt like I'd been hit by a truck. I could hear someone calling my name but my eyes felt heavy.
"Mr. Belikov? Dimitri. Can you open your eyes?" Someone voiced. I struggled because it felt like someone was holding their fingers to my eyelids to keep them closed. Finally, after a few more tries I was able to open them.
The brightness of the fluorescent lights blinded me and it took a few moments to adjust.
"Can you turn the lights down?" I asked, shielding the brightness by closing them again.
Someone dimmed the lights and when I could finally focus normally, I realized I was in a hospital room. "What's going on? Where's Roza?" I asked when I saw Lissa, Christian, Arthur, Ivan, Detective Croft and Abe Mazur in what appeared to be a private room. But no Roza.
My gaze landed on the one person I didn't know. The doctor. The one who had just spoken to me.
"Mr. Belikov, I'm Dr. Olendzki. You were brought in yesterday after an anonymous call to police." She started. "Can you tell me, what is the last thing you remember?"
My mind was spinning as I tried to recall what had happened before waking up in the hospital.
"Dimitri!" I heard Roza call in a hushed whisper. It took a moment to gather myself and I realized, not only was my head pounding, but my hands were bound behind me as I sat in a hard wooden chair. "Comrade!?" She exclaimed with worry, a tremble in her voice as I finally raised my head. "Comrade!" She repeated once more.
"Roza?" I murmured raising my head, but I realized I couldn't see her. "Roza?" I called again in worry.
"Behind you." She informed in a loud whisper.
Angling my head, I could see she was in a similar wooden chair, also with restraints on her wrists. She wasn't quite out of reach and I moved my hands closer. Her fingers brushed mine and I sighed in relief at the feel of her.
"Where are we?" She asked in alarm as I scooted the chair closer so I could keep my hands close to hers. The chair was pretty heavy and took quite a bit to move it. When I was finally close enough, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding because just the simple action of her touch was reassurance enough that she was okay.
"I don't know. It looks like some kind of warehouse." I assumed as I took in my surroundings. There were windows, high up on the walls. Their function appeared to be more about letting in the light then being used as a means to look outside. It looked like early morning as the sun was just rising and there were only a few lights on inside making it difficult to see everything clearly. The walls appeared to be half concrete and half brick while the upper halves were made of what looked like sheet metal.
Above us, there was a metal walkway near the top of the warehouse that led to what looked like offices. At the far end of the building were various doors that were all closed.
My vision was a little fuzzy. "My head is pounding." I complained as I tried to refocus and take in what else was around me.
"Mine is too. It's probably from the drugs they injected us with to knock us out." Roza relayed.
"I can't remember getting here." I admitted. Racking my brain, I recalled getting home after dinner at my sisters and being asked by Katya to tuck her into bed with a story, a kiss, and a promise of another visit soon, before we left.
I remembered last night, thinking at one point that Roza was pregnant. But she wasn't. She was just making a statement about how she thought I'd be a great father after my sister had asked her about seeing herself with a little one. That made me realize that while I wanted children with Roza, I wanted to be married to her first.
"Someone rang our doorbell." She interjected, my focus now on her voice. "You went to answer the door and when you didn't return after five minutes, I went to find you." She relayed. "The door was closed but when I called out for you, I got no answer. I went to see if you were outside and, someone stuck me with a needle. We were drugged and then we woke up here." She shared.
"Fuck." I mumbled. "Are you okay, milaya?"
"Yes." She murmured. "It's Randall. Isn't it?" She surmised and I could hear the worry and the tremble in her voice. She was scared.
"Yes." I admitted, reluctantly. "We'll be okay, Roza." I comforted, winding my fingers with hers. "We'll just tell him whatever he wants to know." I tried to comfort.
"Okay." She replied tearfully.
"I love you." I stated, squeezing her fingers as best I could.
"I love you, too." She cried, returning the hand gesture.
The sound of footsteps echoed around us, but I couldn't see anyone. That's when I realized they were on the walkway above.
"Isn't this just precious." Randall interjected sarcastically, as I angled my head to look up at him. "My son and his whore, having a moment."
"What do you want?" I gritted out.
"What do you think, boy?" He called, before descending down to our level by way of the stairs at the far wall. "I want what is owed to me." He snarled. "Information!"
When he reached the bottom, he thumped his knuckles on one of the closed doors before moving closer, his stare was penetrating. Almost as if by staring at me, the answer would appear out of nowhere to whatever question it is he had.
The door opened and someone exited, holding onto another person as they trashed about, clearly trying to escape.
"Karolina!" I called in surprise when I realized who it was. She had a black eye and her hands were bound in front of her as she tried to protect her belly. I struggled against my bonds, trying to escape.
"Dimka!" She cried; her face already stained with tears. I watched in horror as Randall back handed her, sending her sprawling to the floor. She landed on her bound hands and I just hoped she didn't break anything as she cradled her stomach once more to protect her baby.
"You bastard!" Roza hollered at him, rocking in her chair as if she was trying to charge at him, as I continued to pull at my restraints. "She's pregnant you asshole!" She added in outrage, settling back reluctantly when she realized she couldn't get at him.
"I know." He smiled sardonically. "Pick her up Spiridon." Randall instructed as his minion procured another chair before lifting her into it. Unlike Roza and I, he bound her legs to it so she couldn't run. A second door opened and Isaiah appeared with Viktoria. He restrained her in the same way. "Now, your sisters have not been very forthcoming and I want information." He stated, walking closer to Roza and I. I couldn't see Vika well, but from what I could see, she had a similar bruise on her face like Karo did.
"I'm not telling you anything you ignorant fuck!" Roza snapped, spitting on the floor at his feet for emphasis.
"You're a mouthy little bitch, aren't you." Randall replied, stepping closer and back handing Roza across the face.
"Don't you fucking touch her!" I shouted as I struggled some more against the zip ties. I felt them suddenly give but held on so the plastic wouldn't fall to the floor. The last thing I needed was the broken retraints alerting him or his sycophants to my new free status. Roza must have realized it too as I felt her grip the broken end in her fingers, helping to keep it in place. I cupped my hands around hers in reassurance.
"Don't you realize by now, that I do what I want when I want?" He asked rhetorically. I ground my teeth angrily, my jaw tense as I just waited for him to get close enough.
"What was that? I couldn't hear you." I sneered. "Why don't you tell me to my face! You're nothing! Just an asshole who gets kicks out of beating women." I stated tauntingly. That clearly angered him and I watched as he held back from hitting me. Although, I couldn't figure out why.
His minions stood at the back of the room, keeping an eye on Karolina and Viktoria. Someone else joined Spiridon and I realized it was 'Uncle' Nathan. He had Sonya with him and she looked to be in about the same state as Karolina was. Although, she had a cut on her forehead that was clearly bleeding. She smiled tightly at me, letting me know with a nod of her head that she was okay.
When I could see that Spiridon, Isaiah, and Nathan were preoccupied with one another and their charges, I gripped the back of the chair and waited for Randall to take one more step.
"Come closer you shithead!" Roza goaded, knowing exactly what I was waiting for. He did just that and appeared to be readying himself to hit her again and I smiled to myself before I reacted.
Standing abruptly, I swung the chair and watched it crack and then break across his face and chest. Randall fell to the floor trying to shield himself as I used the remaining chair legs to beat him. The rest of the chair had broken apart and lay sprawled around us in bits and pieces.
When Spiridon realized what was happening, he sprang forward, pulling his gun and training on me.
"Drop it!" He ordered as I was about to pierce his cold ugly heart with the stake of metal that was left in my hands. The inner frame of the chair legs had apparently been reinforced with metal and it was strewn around us among the broken wood, but the piece I held in my hand had cracked in half, making it sharp, like a knife.
My eyes were focused on that gun barrel as Spiridon moved closer. "I said drop it!" He ordered once more. I ignored him, smiling in contempt as I drove the stake down.
Randall shifted his body at the last moment and I only managed to stab the sharp metal through his arm as I felt a blinding heat envelop me. Looking to my left, I realized I'd been shot as well as stabbed as my gaze then moved down.
I saw Randall's smarmy smile and the knife as it stuck out of my leg. My shoulder and thigh felt like they had been pierced by a hot poker and suddenly, feeling light-headed, I swayed slightly before falling.
"Dimitri!"
"The last thing I remember was Roza. Calling out for me." I finished, looking around the room at the anxious faces.
Detective Croft was speaking with Abe and Arthur in hushed tones as he seemed to take notes. While Christian seemed to be doing something on his laptop in the corner as Ivan watched over his shoulder. Lissa just looked uneasy.
"Well, you were lucky." Dr. Olendzki began. "No major arteries were hit when the bullet went into your shoulder." She relayed. "The knife didn't cause too much damage when it went into your thigh. It didn't go in deep enough." Dr. Olendzki shared. "We were able to remove the bullet during surgery without any mishaps and you should heal up okay." She added. "You did hit your head pretty hard when you fell, which gave you a mild concussion. But you did sustain quite a bit of blood loss due to your wounds." She finalized.
"But I'll be, okay?" I questioned.
"Yes." She smiled kindly. "You're on some pain medication that will make you drowsy. But if you are in pain and need more, just press the call button there." She directed, pointing to the rail on the bed where the hand-held button had been looped around by its thick cord.
I didn't have any questions for the doctor after that and she excused herself. Once the door was closed, I looked to the nervous faces around me.
"Where's Roza? My sisters?" I asked in alarm.
"He's taken them, Dimitri." Croft spoke up.
"As well as," Lissa began, but suddenly stopped.
"As well as what? Tell me!" I demanded.
"Randall has kidnapped your sisters and their children." Arthur interjected.
"As well as Rose." Ivan added solemnly.
I started pulling the covers off so I could climb from the bed, but Abe walked over, urging me to stay put.
"We know where they are." He informed in a calm tone.
"Then we need to go. I need to go." I replied in frustration, trying to remove the intravenous line.
"We are working on a rescue plan." Croft interjected.
Christian stood up and brought his computer with him. "I'm tracking Rose." He shared.
"Tracking her, how?" I asked in surprise as the pain in my leg and shoulder made itself known simultaneously.
~VA TC VA~
Rose
Scared was an understatement at the moment because I didn't know if Dimitri was dead or alive. Randall ordered his underlings to remove us and the next thing I know, I'm bumping along in some non-descript van. Dimitri was left alone in the warehouse and the last I'd seen of him, he was bleeding. A lot!
"Don't fucking touch me." I shouted as Isaiah grazed his hand over my ass while lifting me down from the van.
He just smirked at me like a lecherous creep, while walking me towards a building that resembled a small house. It looked like it might have one large bedroom or two smaller ones. Maybe a loft area too, based on the size of the place. After opening the door, he shoved me inside before closing it again.
"Roza!" I heard, spinning around at the sound of my name. It was Dimitri's sisters. Paul and little Katya were here too.
They rushed over, helping to remove the zip ties on my wrists with a small box cutter. "We need to get out of here." I cried, once my hands were free. I rubbed at my sore wrists as I took in their appearances.
Karolina had a dark bruise on her face, so did Sonya and Viktoria. But Sonya had since had a band-aid applied to the cut on her forehead. Sonya pointed out that I had a pretty bad bruise on my face as well. Randall's lasting first impression it would seem.
"We've tried. Each door, and every window." Viktoria stated. "The doors lock from the outside. Once that door closes, if you're in here, you're not going anywhere." She relayed.
I toured the small house and noticed that all the windows had reinforced glass, including bars over those windows and same for the doors.
"So, we're locked in." I exclaimed dejectedly, running my hands over my face in frustration. I hadn't slept and was exhausted already and I needed to focus. I needed to get us out of here.
I felt something on my leg and looked down to see Katya tugging on my pants. "Where Unka Dimmie?" She asked sweetly, making me want to cry as I looked at that innocent little face.
"Uncle Dimka is busy milaya. Come with me, it's nap time." Sonya interjected, lifting her daughter into her arms.
Sonya lay her down next to Paul, who was already asleep. There was a small 'loveseat' pull-out couch in the corner and she covered them with a blanket once Katya was comfortably cuddling with her cousin. Karolina led me to the kitchen and we sat at the table with Viktoria as Sonya pulled something from the fridge.
"Don't drink those!" I cautioned, when I saw her holding four water bottles.
"Why?' Viktoria asked in confusion.
"They might have drugged the water." I cautioned. "Dump it out, rinse the bottle, and refill it with water from the sink." I advised.
"Smart thinking." Karolina praised as Sonya did just that.
"Are you okay?" I asked, looking over her for any obvious signs of distress as Karolina cradled her pregnant belly. Seeing her fall to the floor in the warehouse had really scared me. "The baby is, okay?" I added.
"Yes. We're both fine. My hands broke my fall." She confirmed and I sighed in relief.
Sonya handed us the newly filled bottles of water before taking the final seat at the table.
"Anyone have any ideas on what to do?" Sonya asked.
"What does he want?" I questioned, sipping from the water. Randall didn't reveal much in the warehouse at all and I still had no clue what it was he wanted from us.
"What he can't have." Viktoria replied a little petulantly.
"He wants to know where our mother is." Karolina stated "We told him we don't know."
"But Randall thinks Dimitri knows?" I prodded.
"He thinks Dimka's the one hiding her from him." Karolina shared with an eyeroll.
"He expects that you'd know too." Viktoria added. "Because of my brother." She clarified.
"So, he has no idea about the truth?" I asked for confirmation. Three heads nodded in the affirmative. I needed to know what they wanted me to do when Randall did ask me about Olena. To tell him she'd passed away or to play dumb. Suddenly, Paul was next to us.
"Mama, I don't want to nap anymore." He whined, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
During my tour of the small abode, I recalled seeing a bin with toys and other things inside. Marching over, I returned with a colouring book and crayons.
"Thanks Auntie Rowza." He grinned, looking very much like his uncle with that shy grin. I ruffled his hair as he wandered off.
"Thank you." Karolina added as we watched while he set himself up at the coffee table.
Looking at their curious faces I just asked outright.
"Do you want me to tell him what I know?" I posed. "I mean where she's at now that is." I added.
"We really had no idea where she was these past seven years. She was just gone. We thought she was in hiding from him." Karolina explained. "We didn't know what to tell him." She admitted. "So, we said nothing."
"We'd gotten cards over the years, but there was never a return address." Sonya interjected. "Sometimes she'd call." She added. "But it was from an unlisted number." She explained. "No way to trace it."
They all knew now, where she'd been. Thanks to Dimitri and I informing them. But clearly, they didn't want to name my parents in case Randall went after them for keeping her away from him.
"I would just tell him the truth." Viktoria shared, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone.
"You have a phone? Viktoria!" I called in surprise.
"Don't get excited. No internet and they must have a jammer in here because there is no signal. That's why Isaiah let me keep it." She explained, scrolling through something.
"Is that the phone Randall gave you to use?" I asked in worry. He could see everything on their phones.
"No, this is the other one, from the bouquet." She stated. I nodded in relief.
When Viktoria found what she was looking for she turned it around to show me. It was a photo of Olena's obituary that my mother had put in the paper.
"Show that to him." She instructed before handing me her phone. I looked at the small posting before I scrolled to the photos, she'd taken the other night. Dimitri's serene face filled the screen with little Katya asleep in his arms and a sweet contented smile on his face as I sat beside him, looking at him adoringly. I powered off the phone to save the battery life, and slipped it into my back pocket as a tear trailed down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly.
"Roza," Sonya interjected. "Where is Dimka?" She asked in concern.
After just looking at that photo of Dimitri on Viktoria's phone, her question made me burst into tears as I tried to tell them what I had seen before we were carted off. I didn't realize it at the time, but when Dimitri went at Randall with the chair, Nathan and Isaiah moved them back into one of the rooms, so they had no idea what had happened.
"The last I saw of him; he was on his back on the floor. A knife in his leg and a bullet in his shoulder." I relayed through my tears. "I don't even know," I hiccupped suddenly. "I don't even know if he's okay." I cried as I felt two arms move around me, then a third.
"Dimka's strong." Viktoria said. "He'll be okay." She added. "He has to be." She murmured comfortingly.
"It probably looked a lot worse than it was too. Blood can be confusing like that." Sonya interjected. I nodded, hoping she was right.
After my cry fest, we looked in the cupboards and the fridge for something to eat. We were surprised to find it so well stocked. Which was telling as well. It meant that Randall had likely been planning this.
"Let's not eat anything that can be opened and tampered with." I cautioned as Sonya pulled some canned goods from a shelf. After being drugged initially, I was suspicious of any perishable sort of foods not having been drugged.
"Beans?" She offered and we all nodded.
"Mama." Katya called as she woke from her nap. She slid off the pull-out and toddled closer to us as we stood around the small kitchen and dining area. "I hungy." She announced, setting her little hands on her hips.
We all couldn't help but smile at her. "Mama is making something now." She comforted as Katya wrapped her arms around Sonya's leg.
Turning my gaze to the living room, I was glad to see that my initial perception of the small house had been correct. There were two small rooms with beds and a loft area that was really made more for children than adults. But I wanted to look up there anyway.
"I'm going to look in the loft, see what's up there." I informed, moving to the narrow stairs next to the kitchen. Grabbing hold of the railing, I starting to climb.
The ceiling was low up here but if you needed to sprawl out to sleep, it could be done. Although I did think it would be easier for Paul and Katya to sleep up here. I scanned the dark corners, but I wasn't sure what I was looking for.
There was a small cabinet on the far wall, and when I opened it, I saw a stack of blankets and extra pillows. The minimal amount of light that was up here came from a small round window. I crawled over on my hands and knees to look outside. From what I could see, we seemed to be on some kind of farm. But there weren't any animals in view.
The van I'd arrived in was parked next to the barn and I assumed that was where Randall's minions were housed. Across the way, there was a larger house and I knew that's where 'the man' himself must be.
The road leading to the farm was long and I could see a car approaching as the wheels kicked up a cloud of dust behind it as it sped along. It stopped near the larger house and I wish I could say I was surprised at who stepped out of the car, but I really wasn't. It was the passenger in the backseat that made me want to pound the window to get his attention.
Viktor Dashkov had arrived, along with Stan Alto.
~VA TC VA~
Dimitri
Reluctantly, Dr. Olendzki agreed to release me from the hospital. I wasn't in dire straits but she was adamant that I needed to take it easy and stay off my leg as much as possible. After handing me a prescription for some pain medication, and a set of scrubs to wear, I was discharged.
We now found ourselves headed to the large conference room on the 20th floor of Royale Enterprises. We figured it was the only place Randall had not been able to access and it was a safe zone.
As I hobbled past Roza's office, I felt a pang in my chest. I needed her to be okay. She was strong. I knew she'd be okay but I was still really worried, and even a little scared if I was being honest. Randall could be unpredictable.
When Christian said he was tracking her, I was confused as to how. Lissa interjected to explain at that point.
"Christian is testing a tracking device that is virtually undetectable. It can be implanted in almost anything, but this one is set in a pair of earrings. I'm wearing a set right now." She relayed, pulling back her hair to show what looked like a simple pair of stud earrings in emerald green. He apparently wanted to test the signal strength of the tracker so he tried it on Lissa, but she was usually always with him so it was harder to test. "I gave Rose a pair last week and helped her put them on. So, I know she was in fact wearing them. As far as I know, she hasn't taken them off since."
"They have an unlimited range because of how I designed them." Christian shared. "The technology I created uses cell towers so the tracker is never out of range."
"So, where is Roza?"
We gathered in the large conference room and Christian set up his laptop so whatever he could see on his screen, was also displayed on the large monitor.
"I followed the tracker in the earrings, and I determined that it went offline right here." Christian shared, pinpointing a particular set of GPS coordinates on a map that was now showing us a satellite view. "Now, when I zoom in, I can see that she has to be somewhere on this farm." He informed. As the screen view got larger, we could make out three or four buildings on the property in question.
One seemed to be a large house. Another seemed like a smaller house and a large barn sat between those two structures as well as one more small building that might be a shed.
"But the signal went offline hours ago right here." Christian stated, pointing to the smaller building that looked like a house.
"Why would it go offline?" I asked.
"I think Randall has a jammer. It stops cellular signals so no calls can be made or received. And being that my tracker tech runs off of cell towers, it would block that signal as well." Christian explained. "I do have something to back up that theory. Give me a moment." He added. "Can you see those red dots?" He posed pulling up another sort of map that overlay on the one of the farm as said dots started flashing on the screen. "Those are cell signals and they are coming from the large house." He explained. "As you can see, we have four signals coming from the large house and two in the barn. But none from here at the smaller house, where the signal on the tracker went offline." He finalized.
"What kind of range does a jammer have?" Abe interjected.
"Anywhere from 30 feet to a mile. Depends on the device." Christian replied. "Based on what we can see here though, I wouldn't be surprised if he had two smaller jammers in just that house as they don't extend to the larger house or the barn. Smaller jammers can reach 30 to 40 feet." We nodded at that information. Randall might be an ass but when it came to technology, he had access to some of the best.
"So, what's the plan?" I asked, looking around the table at Croft, Arthur, Abe, Ivan and Lissa, and now Mia had joined us as well.
Croft detailed that he has a SWAT team preparing to go in but they want to wait until nightfall. They're more likely to go undetected under the cover of darkness. The initial plan is to immobilize whomever is in the house and the barn. It's their belief that Roza, my sisters, Paul and Katya were being detained in the smaller house because of the fact that it was the only place no cell signal could be found.
"What if you're wrong?" I asked in worry. "What if no one is even in that house?" I added as a trilling sound echoed out of Christian's computer.
"Shit!" He exclaimed. "There's a cell signal in the house." He shared. "The small house." He added as my phone starting ringing.
The screen read 'private' and I knew it had to be one of the phones we'd given to my sisters.
"Hello?" I answered.
"Comrade." I sighed in relief at the sound of Roza's voice. She was talking in a very quiet whisper.
"Roza?" I said in disbelief. "Do you know where you are, milaya?" I asked, putting the phone on speaker.
"Some kind of farm. Look I can't talk long, I just turned off a cell jammer I found in the loft and I have to be quick. We're all okay. Your sisters are here, Paul and Katya too." She shared.
"We know where you are. We're coming Roza. Be safe. I love you." I stated as the line went dead.
I couldn't hold back and let the tears escape in relief. "They're safe." I uttered, pressing my hands to my face as I tried to calm down.
"I traced the call signal and it is on that very farm." Christian confirmed.
"I thought those phones were untraceable?" Ivan interjected.
"To everyone else, yes. But I set them up." Christian smirked.
"Look, there's not much we can do until Hans gets word that the SWAT team is ready." Lissa announced. "We haven't eaten in almost eight hours, so let's get something to eat so we're ready when they are." She suggested. "Mia and I can go across the street to the deli and bring back sandwiches." She offered and we all nodded in agreement and thanks.
Everyone stood and moved about the room or out into the main offices. Ivan went to procure coffee for us from the Café with Arthur leading the way.
Only myself and Abe were left in the conference room and I pushed back in my seat to rest my leg on a chair. "How you doing, son?" Abe asked, taking the other seat next to me.
"Honestly." I started. "Scared." I admitted. "If he hurts her or worse." I shook my head, thinking of the things Randall had done to my mother and knowing he hit both my sisters and Roza and not being able to do anything about it. It made me feel like a failure.
"Rose is strong. Lord knows she's always walked to the beat of her own drum." He acknowledged with a smile. "She loved to push my buttons that one." He grinned, and I smirked in return.
"Oh, she knows it too." I laughed. There was a pregnant pause in the air. "I want to marry her." I confessed, looking over at him to gauge his reaction.
"I couldn't ask for a better man for my daughter, Dimitri." He replied, resting his hand on my non-injured shoulder. "I know you think you've failed her in some way. Your sisters too. It's written all over your face." He assessed.
"Haven't I though?" I murmured.
"No, son. You haven't." He paused. "You love her like no other, and that's all Janine and I have ever wanted for her. She's happy."
I smiled to myself. "I really do. Love her I mean." I paused, smiling to myself. "The moment we met, it's like I just knew she was it for me." I shared, wiping a tear off my cheek. "I'm so scared of what he'll do to her Abe." I confessed.
"No matter what, Rose will fight. She won't take his crap." He replied. "She told me about you teaching her self-defence. How she kicked Ivan's ass." He laughed.
"Who kicked my ass?" Ivan interjected as he and Arthur returned with two carafes of coffee and a tray of cups, cream and sugar.
"Roza. Self-defence." I relayed.
"Ah, yeah, she's a scrappy little thing, she totally bruised my balls man. And I was in head-to-toe protective gear." He over-shared, making Abe and I break out into laugher.
"Shit, don't make me laugh." I admonished playfully as I felt a tug in my shoulder.
Ivan poured us all coffee and Arthur passed out the mugs as he did so. I was grateful and almost chugged half the cup. Ivan topped it off before pouring one for himself and taking a seat along with Arthur. It felt like he could read the mood in the room as I felt his gaze on me.
"We'll get them out safe, Dimka." He stated in reassurance and I just nodded. Fearful if I did speak, I might actually start crying uncontrollably.
It took a lot to make me so emotional, but where Roza and my family was concerned, I was hanging on by a thread at this point.
~VA TC VA~
Rose
"Where is she?" I heard from below as the door of the house was flung open. I couldn't even respond to Dimitri but at least I knew he was okay and he'd heard me. I turned the jammer back on, powered off the phone and slipped it into my back pocket before grabbing two of the blankets and closing the cabinet before moving back to the narrow stairs.
"Right here." I replied, tossing the blankets down, before descending myself.
"He wants to talk to you." Isaiah said, smiling cruelly.
He grabbed my arm roughly, and twisted my hands in front of me, before slipping on a set of flex cuffs and dragging me out of the door. The cuffs were much stronger than the zip ties. It was how Dimitri was able to break free in the warehouse. I guess they're learning.
As he led me to the barn, I tripped, twice and needed his help to stand up. Well, I didn't actually need his help, I just wanted the dip shit to think I was weaker than I was. The second time I fell, I wrapped my hands around a sharp flat rock and kept it tucked into my palm. I was hopeful I could use it later to cut through the cuffs.
As we entered the barn, Stan was there as well as what looked like a long chain with a hook. Isaiah grabbed the hook in one hand and my hands in the other, raising them over my head.
"Give me some length." He instructed as Stan picked up a small box with buttons. He pressed one and the chain lowered. I looked over Isaiah's shoulder at him and he subtly shook his head. No one could know that I knew who he was. But it did prove how stupid Isaiah was. He worked in the same office but had no idea who Stan really was. What an unobservant little shit I thought to myself as I felt my body being lifted.
My wrists were burning as the flex cuffs dug in as the hook raised me just a few feet off the ground.
"He'll be in shortly." Isaiah said, directing his comment to Stan before he waltzed out of the barn, closing the door behind him.
"What's going on?" I asked quietly. "Stan?"
"Stay quiet, Rose." He said calmly. "Please, don't anger him. I can't watch him do it again." He confessed sadly. "He's a sadistic fucker."
"Do what?" I asked, a little scared now.
"He beat his own daughters; don't think he won't beat you too." He shared. That wasn't news to me.
"Isaiah really doesn't recognize you from Royale?" I asked.
"No, I'd never met him."
"They're coming." I stated.
"Who?"
"Police. They know where we are."
"How?"
"Isaiah let Viktoria keep her phone because of the jammer. I found it in the house loft, turned if off and called Dimitri."
"He's, okay?" I nodded in confirmation. "Good." He murmured. "I made an anonymous call to the police. I couldn't let Randall leave him like that." He stated as he acted as if he was securing my restraints as the barn door slid open and Randall walked in.
I really wanted to laugh at him. His face was black and blue and his arm was wrapped in a ton of gauze and was being supported in a sling across his chest. Glad to know Dimitri hurt him pretty bad and it also looked like it was the same arm he had been using to beat us with.
"How's the arm Randall?" I snickered. I wanted to make him angry, so he'd hit me again. He was right-handed after all, and with his dominant arm currently out of commission, he was itching to hurt me. But if I could make him angry enough that he'd try to hit me with that arm, hopefully it would damage him, more than me.
Randall just smiled sadistically as he sauntered over. "You and that mouth of yours." He tsked, raising his left arm and punching me in the ribs. I groaned, it did hurt, but not nearly as much as it could have had it been his dominant arm.
"That all you got you pussy? Fuck, you hit like a girl." I taunted as I kicked out my legs wildly. I grinned when I realized I'd landed a blow to his balls. The fucker dropped to his knees in pain and I laughed. "Now, how's the arm? Hurting more or less than your balls at the moment?" I mocked.
Stan looked shocked and I could see him trying not to smile as he helped Randall to his feet. I cackled at his discomfort, happy with my efforts.
"Let's let you hang there for a while and think about your next move. Shall we?" Randall replied tightly as he had to have Stan help him walk out of the barn.
I don't know how much time had passed but my hands were starting to go numb. I needed to do something before I couldn't feel them at all. The rock was going to be useless like this, so I dropped it.
Craning my head, I looked up to the hook. If I could manage to heave my body up enough, I could unhook myself. If I didn't make it, the pull on my wrists from my body weight would hurt like a bitch. Actually, I could even break my wrists if I fell hard enough. But I needed to try.
Taking a few deep breaths, I went for it. When it was obvious the cuffs wouldn't clear the top of the hook, I used my hands to grip the chain instead. It was difficult but I was managing to hold my weight. On the count of three, I swung the chain behind my body and away from me, and surprisingly I landed on my feet.
"Thank fuck." I exclaimed in relief as I looked around the barn for something to cut through the cuffs.
The far wall of the barn had different farming tools mounted to the wall and I noticed a scythe. Running over, I slipped the cuffs around the sharp curve of the blade and pulled down. The cuffs released a few moments later after I sawed through them. The blade was a bit rusty so it took some work to remove them completely.
Using the ladder a few feet away, I climbed up into the loft and was in a mass of barrels of hay. Weaving through them, I found the latch to the small window and when I opened it, I had a view of the fields. I knew that's where we had to go to get away and head towards the road. I found a ladder attached to the wall of the barn and I planned to use it for my escape.
The sun was just setting and it was getting darker by the minute. I knew I could sneak back to the small house undetected as all the lights were on at the big house and those idiots thought I was 'secure'. Dumbasses.
Descending the ladder, I crept around the back of the barn before moving to the side of the small house to the door of the kitchen, out of view from the main house. As crouched down, I peered through the glass of the door, I spotted everyone sitting in the living room area as Katya and Paul coloured at the coffee table.
Rapping on the door quietly to get their attention, I waited patiently as Sonya spotted me first. She jogged over and I opened the door.
"Come on, we have to go. Now." I said quietly as Katya ran towards me.
"Auntie." She grinned, wrapping her arms around my neck. "I misseded you." She smiled once more. "You have owie?" She added with a frown, looking at my wrists.
I hadn't noticed when I was escaping the barn but the flex cuffs had cut me and I was bleeding. "I'm okay sweetheart. Just a little owie." I tried to comfort, picking her up as Sonya carried Paul. Karolina couldn't do it with her pregnant belly already weighing her down.
"Okay, we have to be very quiet. There is a bad man trying to hurt us, and we can't make any noise." I explained, looking at Katya and then Paul, making sure they understood.
"You mean grandpa Randall?" Paul whispered. I nodded. He was a smart and observant little guy.
"Yes. Follow me and no talking." I instructed as Viktoria closed the door after herself.
We moved fast and I made sure Karolina was okay. The last thing I needed was her falling. Katya tucked her head into my neck and her arms were over my shoulders as we reached the edge of the corn field.
"We go in a straight line." I whispered. "The road is on the other side." I added as everyone linked hands and we moved a little more slowly through the stalks.
If the corn moved or swayed too much, it could alert them to our whereabouts, so the less movement, the better. The sun was setting fast and we were losing light. That's when I remembered I had Viktoria's phone in my back pocket.
"Vik?" I whispered, signalling for her to come to me. "You lead, we need some light." I informed, handing her back her phone.
Turning it on, she dimmed the screen quite a bit, and angled it to the ground. We'd barely taken five steps when someone suddenly appeared in front of us. I realized it was a SWAT officer. He brought his hand to his lips in a 'Shhh' gesture.
We nodded in understanding as he led us safely to the road. I felt like crying, I was so relieved that we were finally away from Randall and that bloody farm.
"Roza?" I heard to my left. Looking up, I felt the tears trailing down my face as Dimitri hobbled towards me.
"Comrade." I bawled as he wrapped us in his arms. I was mindful of his shoulder.
"It's otay Auntie." Katya smiled, cupping my cheeks in her hands. "Unka Dimmie save us." She grinned turning towards him. "Cuddle Unka?" She requested sweetly, reaching out her little arms.
Remembering his shoulder, I was about to interject when Dimitri plucked her from my arms and cradled her in his embrace, making sure to place her over his good shoulder before kissing her temple sweetly.
"I'm okay, Roza." He assured, leaning down to kiss my head as well.
"Auntie has owie." Katya said, pointing down at my hands. Lifting my arms, I noticed the blood had saturated the cuffs of my shirt.
"Let's get that looked at." He said, leaning down and kissing me. "I'm so glad you're okay." He added, pulling me against his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and started crying quietly.
~VA TC VA~
"I'm surprised to see you back in the hospital so soon, Mr. Belikov." The doctor stated when she arrived.
We'd all been carted off to the hospital to be checked over. Katya didn't want to leave her 'Unka Dimmie', but he assured her that he would see her again before she went home.
"It's not me you're here for, doc." He smirked, nodding to me. I lifted my hands to show my wrists.
I summarized how I received my injuries for Dr. Olendzki, and she cleaned the cuts from the flex cuffs, made sure I had some anti-bacterial ointment and then covered them with bandages before asking if there were any other injuries she should look over.
Lifting my shirt, I showed her the deep purple bruise on my ribs from Randall's left-handed punch.
"That's a pretty bruise." She murmured, pressing her fingers around the area. It was sensitive and hurt in spots. "Nothing is broken, just a bad bruise." She confirmed.
"You'll heal just fine." She smiled kindly before instructing me to take some Ibuprofen for the pain before leaving.
"Do I want to know what happened at the farm?" I asked cautiously.
"I still don't know. I only cared about getting you and my sisters to safety." He confessed, standing from his chair next to the bed I was perched on. "I was so scared I was going to lose you." He admitted, wrapping me in his arms.
Resting my cheek on his chest, I felt him trembling. A few moments later, I realized he was crying. "I thought I had lost you." I cried along with him. "Stan saved you." I relayed after I'd calmed down. "He was the anonymous caller." Dimitri pulled back, his eyes meeting mine.
"I love you, my Roza. So much, milaya." He smiled, tears in his eyes as he cupped my cheeks in his hands before leaning down to kiss me soundly.
"I love you too, Dimitri. My Comrade." I joked as the curtain was pulled back suddenly, interrupting our moment.
"Dad!" I called in surprise as he reached out to me. Slipping off the bed, I walked into his arms as he hugged me.
"Your mother and I have been so worried." He shared. "I'm glad you're okay." He paused. "We have an update on things, and thought we would go to your house to fill everyone in." He finished.
We nodded as he led us out of the hospital to his car. "Your mother is at your place already, along with Christian and Lissa." He informed. "Christian is doing something techy. Checking for bugs, cameras." He explained. "Your sisters were looked over and they're doing just fine." He added, looking at Dimitri.
"Karolina and baby are, okay?" I asked for confirmation.
"Yes, they're perfectly healthy."
"How did you know we were missing in the first place?" I asked.
"One of your neighbours saw something suspicious and called police." My father informed. "Croft then informed me and it was clear something was amiss. Both of your phones were on the kitchen counter, your car and keys weren't missing. We knew something had happened then."
"The house wasn't locked up." I realized. "Anyone could have walked right in." I announced in worry.
"Your mother has been there the whole time." He alleviated.
Dimitri and I both climbed into the backseat of my father's car. I didn't want to part with him and he felt the same. He'd barely let go of my hand.
When we reached the house, I was glad to see we were the first to arrive. "I'd like to shower." I announced after hugging my mother and confirming I was doing just fine, so was Dimitri, as she cautiously hugged him as well making sure not to hurt his shoulder.
"We both need to clean up, actually." Dimitri interjected as he led me upstairs after pleasantries and my mother announcing she would fix us something simple. A hot cocoa perhaps. I nodded with a smile.
No words were spoken as we stripped down and stepped into the shower together.
"Your shoulder, your leg." I acknowledged, running a hand around each wound carefully.
"Not as bad as they look, milaya. Really." He smiled reassuringly.
I grinned in reply as he helped to wash my hair. He couldn't raise his left arm up to wash his own, nor could he get on his knees due to his thigh. So, he bent his head as I stood on my tippy toes to clean him as best I could. His arms were around my waist as I scrubbed at his scalp.
"Rinse." I murmured, as he tipped his head back under the spray. His arms still holding me against him.
Reaching for the loofa, I lathered it with Dimitri's preferred scent and washed his chest and abdomen, before doing each arm and being careful around his shoulder as I moved behind him.
Once I was finished, he returned the gesture and washed me. We stepped out of the shower and he draped a towel around my arms and helped me to dry off, before wrapping the same towel around his hips as we traipsed back into the bedroom.
"Sweats?" I offered after rifling through the dresser. I figured they'd be easy to pull over his leg as he was in hospital scrubs when we got home. They'd had to cut his jeans off when he was first brought in.
He nodded as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you okay?" I asked, walking over with his clothes. "I'm fine, milaya. Really." He nodded. "You?"
"I am now." I smiled, leaning down to kiss him and brushing my hands through his hair.
Forgoing boxer briefs, I helped him get his pants on before he stood, tugging them the rest of the way up as he tossed the towel to the side. I assessed his shoulder and replaced the bandage for him while he did the same for my wrists. The shower had made them too wet and soggy to leave on. As he shrugged on a matching sweatshirt, I pulled on some yoga pants and one of Dimitri's hoodies.
"Socks?" I asked. It was still cold out, but he tended to run hot.
"Yes. Please." He replied, sitting on the bed again, so I could help him. His thigh and shoulder combined, made it difficult to reach down to his feet.
Once we were both redressed and I'd put my hair up in a messy bun and slipped on my own pair of socks, we headed back downstairs. My mother handed us each a cup of hot cocoa as we headed to the living room.
Dimitri's sisters were here, and had clearly had the same idea of cleaning up and putting on fresh clothes. Paul was fast asleep as he snuggled with Lissa and she couldn't hide her grin as he cuddled with her.
"Unka Dimmie!" Katya smiled widely, slipping from her mother's lap and running over to us. "Cuddles?" She asked sweetly as he lowered himself carefully onto the love seat. I sat beside him and took his cocoa from him, placing both cups on the coffee table out of the way.
"I don't know, there's a payment required for cuddles." He replied with a wink and smile at her. "What will you give me?" He teased.
Katya looked at him and tapped her finger on her lips as she thought about that. "Kisses?" She giggled as he tickled her tummy grinning at her excitement, as he lifted her into his arms. She placed her palm on one cheek and kissed his other cheek sloppily before tucking her head into his neck contentedly.
"It's past her bed time, she won't last for much longer." Sonya smiled.
"I don't mind." Dimitri grinned, leaning back. I wanted to cuddle against him too but was worried I'd hurt his shoulder. So, I slipped my hand into his instead as he laced our fingers together. Raising our clasped hands, he kissed the back of my hand.
"Don't worry Roza. We'll 'cuddle' later." He winked, making me giggle.
"Yeah, we will." I agreed as Katya's eyes met mine.
"You cuddle wif us too Auntie." She invited, reaching out her arm.
Being careful of his shoulder, Dimitri slipped his arm around my waist as I rested my head on his chest. Katya leaned over and kissed my cheek, then Dimitri's once again before setting her head back down. I surprised myself when I suddenly thought, I couldn't wait to have kids with Dimitri.
~VA TC VA~
Dimitri
The SWAT team was in place and we were just down the road from the farm as the they headed onto the property. Christian had been keeping an eye on the satellite view. He zoomed in even further and we could see in real time, who was on the farm.
We were able to identify and confirm that Randall was on site. Along with Victor Dashkov, Isaiah Wilson, the man from the warehouse that Randall only referred to as 'Spiridon', my 'uncle' Nathan and a surprise to us, Stan Alto.
Hans Croft made sure the SWAT team knew that Stan was on our side, but Randall and Victor didn't know he was a spy. Christian and I watched both his computer and the officers up the street as they formed a line before heading into the brush to make their way onto the farm.
Not ten minutes later, I saw one of the SWAT team members returning to the road with someone, a bunch of someone's actually, trailing after him. I realized it was my sisters and Roza.
"Roza!" I called, hobbling over to her. She had Katya in her arms and that sweet little face lit up when she saw me. I melted when I heard her call me 'Unka Dimmie'.
Flooded with relief, we were ushered into an ambulance so she could be looked at in hospital. Katya didn't want to leave us, but she needed to be looked at too and I handed her off to Sonya with promises to see her later.
On the drive, Roza told me how she managed to escape Randall and the barn before leading everyone through the corn to safety. The worst of her injuries were her wrists. After Dr. Olendzki had seen to her, we were free to leave. Abe drove us home and the first thing we needed to do was clean up.
I hated seeing the bruises on her from my father. It could have been worse though. Roza was safe and that's all that mattered.
Katya had finally fallen asleep and Sonya carefully lifted her from my arms as Lissa, with Paul in her arms, showed her to the guest room off of the kitchen where they were going to settle them down for the night.
"Alright. Now I know everyone is tired, but I'm sure you want answers as to what happened at the farm." Hans started, standing at the front of the room.
Croft recapped the events for us. After Roza and my sisters were safely away from the farm, the SWAT team descended hard and fast. Isaiah and Nathan found the small house empty after discovering Roza was missing from the barn and were beside themselves. Each blaming the other. They were easily restrained, gagged and removed from the property before they could alert Randall to anything.
A second wave of officers surrounded the larger house. Once they determined, based on thermal technology, where they were in the house, which was ground level in the kitchen, they launched smoke bombs.
Randall managed to escape into another room and pulled a gun aiming at an officer. In his defense, the officer fired before Randall could.
"Randall was shot right between the eyes. He's dead." Croft shared. "Dashkov surrendered as did Stan, but he's not under arrest, it just had to appear that way in the moment." He clarified.
According to Roza, if it weren't for Stan's anonymous call, who knows what kind of condition I'd have been in.
"What about Nathan?" I interjected.
"He tried to run, and also drew a gun. But he was shot in the leg and detained." Croft stated.
"What about that other guy? He was at the warehouse too." Roza interjected.
"The man known only as 'Spiridon' managed to escape from the house. A team found him about one-hundred yards away. He'd shot himself in the head." Hans explained.
"So, it's over?" Viktoria asked.
"Yes. Well, Victor and Nathan will be held accountable for their actions, but Randall Belikov is not a threat anymore."
"Good." Sonya stated.
"Can just ask," I paused. "What the fuck was this all about? I mean what did he want?" I voiced. I still had no idea what Randall was after.
My sisters and Roza explained Randall's impatience about not knowing where my mother was. They didn't tell him anything, so he didn't even know that she'd passed away.
It seemed insane for him to do all of that just to find my mother. I was glad she was free of him but now, so were we.
"Why don't you guys stay here tonight?" Roza offered to my sisters. "At least until Christian can get those cameras removed from your house." She added.
"That would be nice. Thank you, Roza." Karolina smiled. I might just fall asleep right here." She laughed lightly.
"Thank you." I murmured, kissing her head before she stood from the couch, me right behind her.
We shared our thanks to everyone involved and appreciated everything they'd all done but we wanted our house back, and our privacy.
Abe and Janine hugged us both before departing, followed by Hans, Arthur, Ivan and Mia, and finally Christian and Lissa.
"If you give me your keys, I can get those cameras out first thing tomorrow." Christian stated, looking to my sisters. Viktoria handed over her key with thanks as Lissa and Roza had a quiet moment in the front hall.
"Dimka?" Karolina murmured from the couch, gesturing for me to come over.
I waved one last time as Christian and Lissa left before hobbling over to her.
"I'm going to get your sisters settled." Roza announced as she led them to the spare room where Katya and Paul were sleeping.
"Are you okay to stay on the couch?" I asked looking to Karo. She nodded with a smile.
"Yes, actually it's better, I'm closer to the bathroom here." She admitted as I sunk down onto the couch beside her.
"Ohh," She moaned uncomfortably.
"What's wrong?" I asked in concern.
"Nothing." She smiled. "Here." She added, reaching for my hand and placing it on her belly. The baby was kicking and I grinned.
"Doesn't that feel weird for you?" I asked.
"Uh, yeah. Especially because she's sitting on my bladder like all the time."
"It's a girl?"
"Yeah." She sighed happily. "I have something for you." She added, pulling something from her pocket and setting it in my palm.
It was a small metal box. I recognized it as belonging to my babushka, Yeva. "Is this?" I trailed off.
Karo nodded. "She made me promise to give it to you one day." She smiled through her tears. "But only when I knew you'd met the right girl." She added with a laugh. "She was very clear on that. It was one of her last requests." She said sadly.
"When did she go?" I asked.
"Two years ago. Cancer." I nodded, sad that I never got to see her before she'd passed.
"Thank you. Karo." I replied, kissing her cheek as I opened the box.
It was just as I'd remembered. A high-quality, brilliant cut diamond held high in a classic buttercup setting. It was vintage and had been in our family for years. I think it was made in the 19th century, if I recalled correctly. It comes from the late great Soviet Russia. It almost felt like fate as I grinned. It was set in a radiant band of rose gold and has the 14-karat assay mark and hammer and sickle on the outside of the ring shank.
"You think she'll like it?" I asked with a broad grin.
"If it's coming from you? She'd love it if you made it out of a paper clip." She joked, making me laugh with her.
I heard Roza saying goodnight and closed the box, stuffing it in my pocket. She wandered into the room with a pillow and blanket.
"Are you ready for bed, Comrade?" She smiled tiredly.
"Yes, milaya." I agreed, kissing Karo's cheek one more time before climbing from the couch. Roza lay the pillow down and handed her the blanket.
"We'll leave the light above the sink in the kitchen on, so you might want to put your head at that end so it doesn't keep you up." She advised before I reached for her hand and led her upstairs.
After brushing out her hair, Roza climbed right into bed. Moving to my side of the bed, I realized that she wouldn't be able to cuddle with me on that side as both injuries would be next to her. Sensing the problem, she scooted over and I hobbled over to the other side of the bed.
I removed the sweatshirt, careful of not raising my arm too high, before moving to strip off my pants.
"Ummm, Comrade." Roza interjected. "As much as I love, that you love to sleep naked, I think you should wear your pants to bed." She relayed.
"Why?" I asked, perplexed.
She giggled before replying. "You have a little admirer down stairs who just loves to cuddle with her 'Unka Dimmie'. She could sneak in here in the early morning hours and the last thing we need is to explain to her the difference in boy parts from girl parts." She added, breaking out in laughter.
I couldn't help but grin at her. "Yeah, okay you're right." I agreed, as I crawled into bed after righting my pants.
"Plus, I need some cuddles with my 'Dimmie'." She laughed again.
"I do love that she calls me that. It's adorable." I admitted, as Roza snuggled close to me.
I felt a twinge in my shoulder and my leg, simultaneously and realized I'd not had a pain pill since the hospital. "Milaya?" I murmured a few moments later.
"Hmmmm?" She mumbled in reply.
"Could you please get me one of my pain pills? I left them in the bathroom." I asked.
"OH! Of course." She replied, scrambling from the bed.
While she was in the bathroom, I slipped the ring box from my pocket, took out the ring and put the box in the bedside drawer. Putting the ring on my pinkie, I waited for her to return.
Roza handed me a pill and small cup of water.
"Actually, do me one more favour?" I asked.
"What?"
"Take off those earrings."
"Why? They're my birth stone, I love them." She whined adorably.
"Christian put a tracking device in them and he wanted to test it. That's why Lissa gave them to you and it was how we were able to find you today." I shared as I downed both as she set the cup on the other night stand, along with the earrings before climbing back into bed.
"I'm kind of creeped out that I was wearing tracking earrings, but also really glad" She confessed as I turned towards her. She snuggled into me, her back to my chest as I nuzzled my face into her neck.
I listened for her breathing to slow. When she was on the cusp of sleep, I reached over and slipped the ring onto her finger. "Roza," I murmured.
"What?" She replied.
"Will you marry me?"
~VA TC VA~
So…sorry for the cliffy?
Leave me some love please. This was a bastard monster of a chapter and hope you like it.