Chapter12
After the ball, Ruslan had managed to slip Olivia another note. They had danced to three songs together until Vera interrupted the two to tell them that they had to go home. Vera protested leaving and tried to do everything she could in that moment to get her parents to stay.
They weren’t about to allow that to happen, as Joseph worried too much about what would happen to Vera alone if she got lost in downtown Moscow. Though she was a college-aged girl, they were right to not completely trust in her. They would normally send Olivia along to help her make her way around, but Margot wanted to have Olivia close in case she needed anything after returning home. Olivia knew that she would feel the effects of the ball harder than she did the dinner party last night.
The note from Ruslan asked to meet at the red tree once again. This had certainly become a special spot for the couple and Olivia liked having a place that she could call her and Ruslan’s. Something about the way the red leaves still stuck to the tree made it all feel mystical. Ruslan’s bright blue car always waiting for her illuminated by the moonlight was a refreshing sight after Olivia’s long days.
Having something to look forward to at the end of the night made the boring work stretch longer, but she didn’t think she would want it any other way. Sure they could have met in a better scenario in which Margot wasn’t dying, but Olivia believed that this struggle only brought the two closer in the end.
She felt crushed knowing that it might be the last note she received from him in Russia. After tonight, she only had one more day in Russia. He said that he would visit her in Chicago, but could she really trust that? Of course, they had a strong connection and she believed in that but long-distance relationships could be hard. The two had such different lives that she feared they wouldn’t mesh well once everything was back to normal.
She thought about how she could potentially find nursing work anywhere but didn’t think Russia was exactly the place she wanted to be for a long time. She felt silly already envisioning moving across the world for Ruslan, but her passion for him was so strong that she couldn’t help her mind traveling that far.
She went through the motions of waiting for the family to fall asleep again, this time changing into some more casual clothing so as to not ruin her crystal gown. The way Ruslan had looked at her all night made her feel like the most beautiful woman ever, but she felt confident that he would look at her the same in her T-shirt and leggings.
Although she never wanted to take the dress off, she knew it wasn’t practical to be walking around the snow in a floor-length crystal gown. It didn’t seem to go very well with her snow boots either. Even though Ruslan had done an impeccable job guessing her size for the dress, she still felt it was a bit tight, so she was happy to be relaxed in some comfier clothes.
After what had happened the other night, she didn’t want to travel further than five minutes from the cabin. Having Ruslan come to her window seemed a bit too risky, as Joseph and Vera had been banging on her door the other night. She wanted to be able to hold him next to her all night but going to his place wasn’t an option either.
She needed to stay close enough should something happen to Margot, but far enough away that she wouldn’t risk getting caught. She thought about how her and Ruslan might be able to come forward with their relationship if anyone ever found out the truth about Peter’s murder.
She also wondered if Ruslan was just using it all as an excuse to keep their relationship secret, so he could easily break things off if he wished. Olivia didn’t want to let thoughts like these into her brain. Instead she decided it was probably about time to go.
This time, if they called her back, they would have known that she had really just been walking. It seemed as though every time she had a bad feeling about something, she could trust it. She had a bad feeling when she left that night that something would happen to Margot and they would need her, and she ended up being right.
She was good at trusting her gut, and so far, it seemed like a reliable source. She was still around, wasn’t she? She had another bad feeling that night, but there wasn’t anything she could really think could go wrong that night. She would be within a ten-minute walk, quicker if she ran, and nothing too serious had even come from the other night.
The worst punishment she received was the guilt in her own mind. She had been waiting in her room for about thirty minutes after everyone had gone to sleep. She heard some rustling around but figured it was just everyone getting into bed for the night. She decided it was a good time to head out.
She hopped out of the window, finally catching herself before she fell. Even though she was in comfortable clothing, it was still the only time she hadn’t gotten covered in snow. Although she had a small figure, Olivia wasn’t the most athletic of girls. she spent a lot of times indoors as a kid, usually watching TV and fantasizing about a different life. She didn’t get much exercise, but she didn’t have much food either as a child, so things seemed to even out in her favor.
Still, not having the best physical endurance or strength made things challenging, especially when she was a bit smaller. She thought about how big and strong Ruslan was and imagined him spending hours in the gym. He had serious skills, being able to break into a home without leaving a trace. She knew he would always be able to protect her and keep her safe. Having those big arms hold her at night were a plus, too.
She walked down the road, taking her time with each step, hoping that she wouldn’t rush through a potential final moment. It was easy to get lost in a good moment with Ruslan. He made everything feel so easy, and good. There wasn’t a better way to describe it.
After their moments together, she felt like they went by within seconds. It terrified her that it was already so long after the robbery and so close to her time to go home! She felt a strange feeling thinking about how quickly time could pass. Why did the good moments have to zoom by? Why were her days so long but her nights so short? She wished she could be with Ruslan all the time, so she didn’t have to worry about things like these.
Although she was walking as slowly as possible, she was getting to their special spot faster than she had hoped. Before she knew it, she saw the bright red leaves on the mysterious tree. She wouldn’t have been surprised if Ruslan had flown the tree in from somewhere else as a grand gesture. He could do that if he wanted.
This time, instead of seeing the blue car she normally did, she just saw a man standing against the tree. He certainly didn’t look like Ruslan, so Olivia grew a bit concerned. She figured he was probably just another cabin renter in the area.
They were in a private community filled with rentals like the one where they were staying. It gave wealthier travelers a better option when staying in Moscow than having to get a hotel downtown. Staying in a house that was furnished was easier for travelers who might have normally been a bit intimidated by such a different culture than theirs. She had seen other people walking around during the day, but no one had been out this late at night.
If it was anyone she didn’t know, she could just say she was going for a nighttime walk. They were probably doing the same and just wanted to stop under the tree for a break. It wasn’t easy walking in the snow. Her legs had to work harder to get her one step than they did when there wasn’t snow on the ground.
Since she was pretty uncoordinated, it was also hard to keep her balance. Every once in a while, she’d hit an icy patch and slip, but not completely falling. It wasn’t as bad when she fell because she was so short that the distance from where she was standing to the position she’d fallen to wasn’t too far to cause any serious pain. She was more used to falling over than she’d like to admit. She had almost made it to the tree, but still couldn’t figure out who was standing against it.
She kept going, wondering if someone had come in place of Ruslan to send a message. The two had shared their bodies with one another, but they had yet to even exchange phone numbers. Olivia didn’t mind. She liked doing things a bit more old-fashioned with Ruslan. No one had given her a note since middle school. They were things that she could keep forever and always remind her of Ruslan.
She had slipped the notes in one of the drawers in her bedroom, going back to them every so often to remind her of what might be waiting at the end of the day. Imagining him finding time to get a piece of paper and scribble a note down, thrilled her more than if he had just pulled his phone out and sent her a text. Still, she thought about how it would be hard for him to get ahold of her if something happened, so she wondered if that man under the tree was just there to let her know that Ruslan couldn’t make it that night.
As she got closer and closer, her stomach dropped. She couldn’t explain what, but something about the man leaning against the tree and the way he was standing made her feel strange. She didn’t know exactly what, but she just knew that it wasn’t right. He was standing in a strange way and hadn’t moved at all even though Olivia was getting closer and closer. She looked down and realized there were a few different footprints leading up to the tree. She started to feel scared and could feel the hairs raising on her arms. Something was unsettling, but she couldn’t turn around just yet. She had to figure out what exactly was going on.
When she was just 20 feet away, she realized it was Joseph leaning against the tree. She could tell by his stature and balding head. Though he was losing his hair, that didn’t make him any less attractive. He could have played the role of any big Hollywood mobster and ladies would have fallen for him. He had a certain charm to the way he looked into someone’s eyes when talking to them.
Olivia hadn’t felt sexual attraction towards Joseph herself, but that didn’t mean she didn’t find him utterly charming. That charm seemed to be gone, and Olivia could tell that something was seriously wrong with him. He looked peaceful, but that made Olivia feel sick.
“Hey, what are you doing, I thought you were in bed?” she asked, walking closer. She had heard some rustling upstairs and in the living area, but nothing more than what she assumed to be Vera going to the bathroom or Joseph getting a glass of water before bed. Running into him there might be a little strange, but at least he could see that she was alone and not doing anything suspicious.
What did he and Vera really think she was doing the night before when she had actually been at Ruslan’s? Surely, they didn’t suspect anything other than that she was just a little bit strange, right? Olivia quickly discovered that Joseph wasn’t going to feel anything at all during their run-in.
When she realized what he was actually doing there, she fell to her knees. She didn’t realize she had fallen until the cold snow started to soak through her leggings. She wanted to cry but felt so shocked that she forgot how to. It was the first time in almost two decades that she had seen something that struck her so deep into her core.
She felt like a little kid again, not sure how to react. She remembered being a little girl and getting a funny feeling when she saw her mom after she had overdosed, lying dead on the bed. It looked like her mom and felt like her mom, but the real girl she had known was gone. This man looked like Joseph. It was Joseph, but not really anymore.
Joseph had a cut across his throat, spilling blood down the front of him. He had been propped up against the tree to look like he had been standing. He was only wearing pajama pants, a T-shirt, and a bathrobe. The blood spilled down over his shirt and stained the snow beneath him.
Olivia looked up at the red leaves and felt sick. She didn’t want to be surrounded by that color anymore. Joseph looked the most at peace that Olivia had ever seen. She wasn’t used to his face being so expressionless and his body so loose. He was a top-heavy guy, so it was strange that he had been able to stay leaned up against the tree. Whoever had done this knew what they were doing.
Olivia was horrified. She didn’t know how long she had been standing, rather, kneeling in the snow. She didn’t feel cold anymore. She didn’t feel anything. Olivia had a strange grasp of death and dead people from her job. Things weren’t processing right in her brain at the moment. Her brain started to flash different memories of Joseph.
She remembered the first time she met him, so charmed by his speaking abilities and impressed by his demeanor. She remembered the last time she saw him alive, helping his wife up the stairs. She thought of Margot. Where was Margot? Her stomach felt like it was going to fall out of her body. She knew she had to fix this.
“Joseph, what, what—” Olivia started breathing heavily, feeling her throat close up as she tried to make sense of what exactly was going on. She used all the energy she had in her body to lift herself to a standing position. It was so cold outside that her knees were already starting to freeze. Her fingers were numb from stopping her body from falling all the way into the snow.
The fluffy white ice was all over Olivia in different spots, but it didn’t hurt her anymore. It just felt like a strange cold sensation all over her body. You could have told her she was standing there for thirty minutes or thirty seconds and she would have believed you either way.
She walked a little closer to make sure that he was actually dead. Olivia had seen some worse cases in the ER of deep lacerations, neck included, in which people survived. She worked in an ER in Chicago and had seen some of the craziest things possible. One man had cut his entire hand off and doctors were still able to sew it back on, giving him full use of the hand once it healed.
Someone had been shot in the head twice, but still made it out of the hospital in full health a month later. Though he certainly didn’t look alive, Joseph could still have his trachea intact, allowing him the potential to keep breathing. Olivia knew she had to get him help right away.
She pressed her fingers against his neck and wrist, feeling no pulse. Her fingers were numb, and she couldn’t trust her thoughts, but she knew that he was dead. She could see that the cut was deep and that he probably didn’t suffer too much before he had bled out. There was only one clean swipe across his neck. She was no detective, but whoever did this was skilled. It was execution style, not a fight of passion. Joseph had no idea what was coming to him when he was murdered and didn’t even get the chance to fight back.
He was dead, but still warm, meaning someone had just done this. She could figure that out herself, having just seen Joseph go to bed not too long ago. How had no one heard him? Did he not cry out before he felt his throat slice open?
She looked in his hand. Inside was the crumpled note that Ruslan had given to her earlier that night. She didn’t even realize it was missing. She had looked at it in the bathroom of the theater but not again since. Come to think of it, she didn’t slip it in the drawer yet, so someone could have taken it anywhere from the ball to the cabin. Perhaps it wasn’t the same exact note either, but one that Ruslan had given to Joseph as well.
“Olivia?” She turned around to see Ruslan standing there, holding a knife. She assumed it was the knife from the black box. Everything hit her at once like a bus. If someone killed Peter and Joseph, who would it be? Someone that wanted to see them both gone, right? She immediately felt betrayed, confused as to how Ruslan could do something so horrifying.
“What did you do?” Olivia screamed. She felt disgusted. Had he been using her the entire time? Was she next? Ruslan didn’t seem like someone who would ever hurt Olivia, but she had been fooled too many times in her life to let her guard down too much. She didn’t want to believe that Ruslan was capable of something so horrible, but she had to remind herself that he was standing by Joseph’s dead body holding a knife. She knew she had to get out of there as fast as possible.
“No, I didn’t, Olivia, wait,” he begged, but it was too late.
She was already sprinting back to the cabin, phone in her hand calling for help.