Chapter9
Kendra’s phone rang two days later when Sacha was back in Manhattan to get some work done. The ring didn’t sound right. The screen told her it was Alia, something must be wrong with Cliff.
She answered it even though she was out hiking. “Hello.”
“Kendra, it’s Alia.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong with Cliff. I’m having some pains and we can’t get ahold of Viktor’s mother to take Cliff. I don’t want to leave him with just anyone, but I need to meet my doctor at the hospital.”
“Have you tried Sacha?”
“He isn’t answering, which is odd,” Alia said. “It goes right to voicemail. Either his phone is dead or he’s in a dead zone.”
Damn. “Okay, I’ll see if I can get a ride to Manhattan. I think the helicopter pilot has come back here.”
“Okay.” Alia told her what hospital they’d be at. “I’ll send a driver to get you from the airport. Cliff will be with us.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Kendra set off in the direction of the hangar. The chopper was sitting on the lawn, so she just had to figure out where he was. His name was Chuck. That much she knew. She wondered what instruction Sacha had left him with. He must have told him to come back in case Kendra needed him. She wouldn’t have thought she would, but she had to bring Cliff back here.
The pilot was in the hangar, having a cup of coffee. Smelled good.
“Hey, Chuck, I need a ride to Manhattan.”
For a moment, she was struck with the oddity of the situation. Just weeks ago, she was hoping her car would last. Now she was hopping a ride on a helicopter like it was something she did every day. How much would she miss this world? She hadn’t ever expected to be a part of it. Had never aspired to it. Her goal had been to do work that fulfilled her and to do it while paying her bills. Might be tough to go back to living hand to mouth but she had no choice for sure.
“Uh, I think Mr. Kozlov will need me soon,” Chuck said.
Kendra cocked her head. “Why didn’t you stay in Manhattan then?”
“I need to get something from here.”
“Then drop me off in Manhattan then you’ll be there for Mr. Kozlov,” she said.
“He gave me orders that you weren’t to leave here.”
“I doubt I’m a prisoner. I have to go get my brother. It’s important.”
Chuck frowned. His gaze darted all over the room as if he couldn’t look her in the eye. “It’ll take me fifteen minutes to get the chopper ready.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she said.
She returned to the house, grabbed her purse then met the pilot at the chopper. She climbed on board when he gave the okay. He seemed to be taking a lot of time to get the thing started and off the ground. She had to get to Cliff. Hopefully he wouldn’t be too scared in the hospital. Her heart raced. She didn’t like that Cliff might be afraid. All of this had been enough of a disruption in his life.
She longed for her life to be back to normal. She bet Cliff did also. At least his nanny had given him some stability and now she was gone. Kendra needed to have him closer to her. She was his constant.
Finally, the chopper took off. As the aircraft began to move away, she thought she saw a car coming up the road. Check then, the driveway, but then it disappeared under the trees. Was it Sacha? She wouldn’t be able to hear him if she called him now and if he was driving he wouldn’t text back. The trip to Manhattan didn’t take long, but it seemed long to Kendra. The pilot dropped her off at the building where Sacha lived. In the garage a car awaited, which whisked her off to the address Alia had given her.
She arrived at the hospital an hour later, despite midday Manhattan traffic. She found Viktor, but no Cliff. Viktor was pacing.
“I can’t find Cliff.”
The paging system overhead clicked in. “Code Adam. Code Adam.”
Kendra hoped he’d just wandered to the bathroom, but her heart was in her throat. Where was he last?”
“I left him here in the hallway. The doctor is examining Alia. I figured he’d be okay out here. It isn’t a busy place,” Viktor said. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault. He should have been with me.”
“I’m a little new at this kid thing.”
“I’ll go look in the cafeteria. You look in the bathrooms.”
Kendra raced down to the other end of the hospital. Maybe Cliff got hungry. He didn’t have money on him, she was sure, but who knew how a five year old thought. Kendra’s phone rang.
“They found him. He’s at the security office,” Viktor said.
Overhead, she heard an announcement. “Cancel Code Adam. Cancel Code Adam.”
She hurried to the security office. There, Cliff was sitting on a chair, eating an ice cream cone. Cliff smiled up at her with ice cream on his face. “Kendra.”
She sat next to him, wanting to hug him, but also not wanting to get ice cream on herself. “You okay?”
The head of security sat behind his desk. “He had wandered off and when we found him he was screaming at a man who was trying to leave the hospital with him.”
Was it random or had it been someone connected with Lopez? “You caught the man?”
The man frowned. “He escaped before we could talk to him, but Cliff is safe and sound.”
“I’ll take him with me. You need to see some identification?”
“Yes.”
She showed him her license and Cliff told the man that she was his big sister. She’d have someone get his clothes, but she took him to the airport with her. She’d received a text that the helicopter was there.
***
Sacha was off to find the supposed adoptive parents of his child. They lived in Connecticut, but nowhere near an airport of this helicopter to land. He took his car instead, looking forward to giving his Bugatti a workout. In the middle of the day, there wasn’t a lot of traffic. He breezed into the state then found the house. It wasn’t impressive, but it looked neat and taken care of. He hopes his son was neat and taken care of also.
If so, then he would try to make arrangements with the parents to see the boy. Hopefully they’d already told him that he was adopted. He strode up the front walk that was lined with flowers. He hadn’t wanted to ambush them, but Sacha had been afraid that they wouldn’t agree to see him. So he’d called right before he arrived. The couple was home. He wasn’t here to steal back his son, unless there was a problem. If there were no issues, he just wanted to see his son. On a regular basis. He figured he’d have no standing in court, but he could respectfully request visitation rights. This might be one time he couldn’t throw money at the problem. That was rare.
He knocked on the front door. He didn’t hear a child. A woman with black hair answered the door.
“I’m Sacha Kozlov. I just called you.”
She glanced over her shoulder then back at him. “My son isn’t here.”
“I’d still like to talk to you.”
She once again glanced behind her. She frowned, but opened the door for him. Ushering him into the living room, she said, “Ethan isn’t here and I don’t think he’s who you’re looking for.”
Sacha sat on a brown plaid couch. “Why do you think so?”
“Because we didn’t get Ethan from that agency. We were once registered with them, but Ethan arrived from another agency we used.”
“The agency’s records are pretty clear. You’re named as the adoptive parents. The mother signed off on the adoption paper and my signature is in the file letting go of my rights,” Sacha said. He was no threat to them if they were taking care of his son. If they were on the up and up, why were they being so cagey? They should have nothing to hide.
“Their records are wrong.”
A man appeared in the doorway. He put out his hand. “I’m Jason Rogers. My wife is Ellen.”
Sacha stood, and then took the man’s hand. He had a firm shake and he looked right into Sacha’s eyes. That didn’t mean he was honest. It just meant he was sure of himself. Liars could be sure of themselves.
“Sit,” Jason said.
“I’m looking for my son. Records at the adoption agency indicate that you adopted a little boy, my little boy. I just want to see him,” Sacha said.
“I’ve explained to Mr. Kozlov that we didn’t adopt from that agency. We had been registered with them, but Ethan came from another agency.”
“Can I see the adoption papers?” Sacha said.
Something wasn’t sitting right with him. His gut told him that they were lying.
“We don’t have them here. Besides, they aren’t any of your business.”
“Then I want to see your son, Ethan. I want to see he looks nothing like me,” Sacha said.
“He’s at summer camp,” Jason said, a little too quickly.
“When is he due back?”
“Look, we didn’t adopt your son. I’m sorry to say it, but he isn’t your son. We know the mother. It was an open adoption. You aren’t listed as the father,” Ellen said.
“Do you remember who was?”
“No, I don’t, but I know it wasn’t a Russian name,” Jason said.
Sacha sighed. He wasn’t going to get anywhere with these people, at least not on his own. “Well, then I guess I’ll come back with a court order to see him.”
The man crossed his arms. “You think because you have money that you can do anything.”
“No, because I have proof that I am likely his father I can get this done. You can try and fight, but I’m going to prove or disprove his paternity, with or without your consent.” Sacha rose. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyers.” He walked out the front door wondering just what they were hiding. Were they neglecting him? If they were, then he was glad he went on this quest. If they were treating him properly then what did they have to hide?
He started his car then drove away. He pulled over a mile away, looking at his phone. It was dead so he plugged in the car charger. Would take a minute for any message to come up. He decided to drive back to upstate New York since he was closer her than if he went back to Manhattan. He sent a text to his pilot saying he wouldn’t need him for the rest of the day.
No answer, but he was going to assume that his pilot received the message. The whole encounter with the Rogers couple bothered Sacha. He couldn’t figure out what they were hiding. He had seen a copy of the file at the adoption agency. Money had paved the way for that. He didn’t want to have to bring in his lawyer, but he would. He could give the Rogers’ one more chance to let him see their son. He needed DNA to prove paternity. He could get that, he was sure.
His lawyer was wily. It was nice to have money. He wouldn’t ever apologize for it. He’d worked hard for it. Or at least had worked for it, maybe not hard. He had a knack for picking stocks.
He sighed, then, with his car finally out on the open road, he let the Bugatti take him home.
*
Kendra got the driver to take her to the airport with Cliff. She wondered why the pilot had opted to a small airport instead of staying at Sacha’s building. She was a little concerned that she hadn’t heard from Sacha at all. Wasn’t like him. Even if he was in a meeting, at some point he’d text her back. Maybe he was out of cell range. The driver dropped her off at the airport, by the hanger that the helicopter was kept in. He’d been there before so he knew it.
She trusted him. Cliff held her hand. She stopped outside the hangar wondering why the chopper was inside and not outside ready to go. Seemed suspicious.
She called Viktor. “I’m not sure about this,” Kendra said.
“What’s wrong?”
“The chopper is inside the hangar. We’re scheduled to take off. He knew I was coming.”
“Okay. Wait there. Let me get in touch with Sacha’s friend Nik.”
“Have you heard from Sacha?”
“No, I haven’t. If he’s on his way back to New York State then he might be out of cell range,” Viktor said. “Or he let the battery die. He does that sometimes. I think it’s an unconscious habit so people can’t get ahold of him.”
“Okay. If you aren’t concerned, I won’t be.”
They disconnected. She stood outside the hangar. Cliff was bouncing around her, jerking her arm. “Stop, Cliff. You’re hurting me.”
“Sorry.”
He stopped for a few seconds then started again. He was only five, but still. She needed to think and his little body spasming around her wasn’t helping.
“Cliff.”
“Sorry.”
She stared at her phone willing someone to call her back. She felt exposed out here on the tarmac. When no one did for a few minutes, she decided that they were in less danger inside than they were outside. She entered the hangar. Cliff picked that moment to let go of her hand. He’d seen something interesting across the tarmac.
“Cliff,” she yelled.
Then she was pulled into the hangar. A hand went over her mouth.
“Get the boy. She’ll cooperate if we have him.”
It was a male voice. She didn’t recognize it. At least Viktor knew she was here. Hopefully, they weren’t going to take her offsite, but she wasn’t hopeful to get out of this alive. She wished she could have talked to Sacha one more time. She struggled. She bit the hand over her mouth then kicked backwards into his shin. The person’s grip loosened. She ran out the door. She didn’t see any sign of the man and she hoped that Cliff was giving him a hard time.
She raced around the building. She must have wounded the guy well enough that he wasn’t following her. Rounding another corner of the building, she saw Cliff kicking at the man. She thought he caught him in the balls. Good boy. Kendra smacked the man from behind.
“Run, Cliff! Away from the building.”
He did and ran right into Nikolai. Who had brought the cavalry. Airport security had rolled onto the scene. The man who had been trying to get Cliff put up his hands. He was taken away.
Nikolai came over to her. “You okay?”
“Yes, but I can’t run away anymore. Is there anything I can do to stop this madness? My life is disrupted, so is Cliff.”
The little boy returned to her. She picked him up because he was shaking. Viktor pulled in at that moment. He climbed out of his limousine.
“Kendra, Cliff. Everyone’s okay.”
“How is Alia?” Kendra said.
“Home and fine. False labor, but they aren’t concerned. I can take Cliff back with me.”
Kendra looked down at the boy. Might be safer to have him out of the way. “Will you be okay to go back with Mr. Kozlov?”
Cliff nodded. “They let me call them aunt and uncle.”
Kendra smiled, whatever made him feel better. She handed him to Viktor. “Thanks.”
“I have a feeling this is in everyone’s best interest. Including my wife. I think she really likes Cliff,” Viktor said.
He climbed into his car with Cliff then drove away. Kendra turned back to Nikolai just as the other man was led out of the hangar.
“Who gave me up?”
“The pilot. He told us they blackmailed him, seems he likes prostitutes, the ones he can tie up and spank,” Nikolai said.
Kendra rolled her eyes. “Guess you can’t trust anyone.”
“You can trust me, Kendra.”
“I know.”
He motioned for her to walk with him. “What did you have in mind? I don’t want you to take things into your own hands.”
“I have no desire to do that, but there must be something I can do. Can I confront Lopez with cops as a backup? I’ll wear a wire.”
“I can’t allow a private citizen to get involved.”
“Would you rather I go in alone?” Kendra said. She was done with this. She wanted to get on with her life. Get back to work. Stop this nuttiness. Get Cliff back into a routine. She was tired.
“No, I don’t want you anywhere near Lopez,” Nikolai said.
“Your choice. At some point, I’m going to take matters into my own hands. You can be a part of it or not.”
“You could get killed.”
“Or I could defeat him. Get the evidence you need to put him away,” Kendra said.
She had to convince him. When they messed with Cliff she was finished. No one messed with Cliff. He wasn’t her child, but she felt like a mama bear anyway. She’d raised him from infancy. He was going to have a better life than she had. No two-bit politician was going to take that away from him.
Nikolai sighed. “Let me talk to my boss. You in a hurry to get anywhere?”
“I’ll wait right here while you clear this with him or her. I’m not going anywhere until I know I can take care of this situation.”
***
Sacha pulled into the driveway of his house. Something didn’t feel right. There were tire tracks in the little bit of mud. He hadn’t been up here and he hadn’t invited anyone. He drove faster over the dirt road hoping the suspension could handle it. He must get to Kendra, but there was no car when he arrived at the house. His phone began to buzz with a backlog of messages. He looked at the screen. Kendra and Viktor had called him.
“I better check on Kendra, first.”
Sacha left the car unlocked, but took the keys with him. He entered the house and some part of him knew that she wasn’t here. He checked every room.
“Kendra?”
No answer.
“Kendra?”
Where could she be? Out hiking? Out walking? He called her phone, but it went right to voicemail. Technology was great when it worked. He called Viktor instead.
“Where have you been?” Viktor said.
“What happened?”
“Kendra came back to Manhattan to pick up Cliff because Alia was in the hospital. Alia is fine. Cliff is back with us. I left Kendra at the airport.”
“Airport? Is my pilot bringing her back?”
“I haven’t talked to her. I left her with Nikolai.”
“Nik? What was he doing there?”
“Maybe you need to talk to Nik or Kendra,” Viktor said.
With assurances that Alia was fine, Sacha hung up. He dialed Nik’s number. He didn’t pick up either. Sacha decided to drive back to Manhattan or to the airport. He wasn’t sure where to go. He tried calling Kendra again. No answer. He left her a message.
What was going on? He hoped nothing had happened to Kendra. He would never forgive himself. He was supposed to protect her. He’d told her that he would keep her safe. At least she’d gone of her own accord. No one had kidnapped her. If she was still with Nik then she was safe.
Sacha fueled up the car the next chance he got. He tried calling Kendra few times, but he was out of range for a chunk of the trip. He called Viktor after he fueled up the car. He didn’t like being out of touch like this.
“Where were you today anyway?” Viktor asked.
He’d never told his brother about the son he gave up for adoption. He couldn’t tell him over the phone. Not right now. “It’s a loose end I’m tying up. Nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not worried, but Mama said you haven’t been over in a while,” Viktor said.
“I figure she’s got her attention on you, Alia and that impending baby,” Sacha said.
He leaned on the hood of the car. This might have been the tiniest gas station he’d ever seen. Only two pumps and the guy at the register inside was probably standing here when they built it so they gave him a job. Might have been when Ford was still building Model Ts.
“She is, but she hasn’t forgotten her other son.”
“Okay. I’ll visit.”
“You should bring Kendra.”
“Kendra and I aren’t dating.”
“No?”
“No, we aren’t.”
He wasn’t going to explain to Viktor about the contract. That sounded creepy, even to Sacha. His brother wouldn’t approve. What happened between him and Kendra was between them and no one else. Bringing her to his mother’s place would only make it seem like there was more. It was a business arrangement, mutually beneficial. There would be too many questions if he acted as if Kendra was his girlfriend.
“No? You borrowed my club for her fundraiser. You brought her to your cabin. I know for a fact that you’ve never brought a woman there.”
“I’m just protecting her,” Sacha said. “You protected Alia.”
“And now I have a ring on my finger and a baby on the way.”
“Not happening to me. When this is over, she’ll be gone. I’m sure she’ll be happy to get back to her life.”
He didn’t mind Kendra there. He was getting the benefit of companionship and regular sex. More regular than the one time he did have a girlfriend. This was with no strings. No expectation of marriage or taking the relationship further. Kendra was already living with him, but that was temporary.
Viktor chuckled. “You keep telling yourself that buddy.”
This conversation was getting on his nerves. His brother acted as if he knew everything in the world. Just because he was older and had done a lot to raise Sacha, didn’t make him his father. “I don’t want to talk about my relationship with Kendra. I just want to know what happened today.”
“What happened after I left? Don’t know. I haven’t talked to Kendra. We have Cliff. He’s safe. Alia is okay. The rest is your concern. Alia is calling me. We’re taking Cliff to the park.”
“He likes the park.”
“For not being in a relationship with Kendra, you’ve taken a lot of interest in her little brother.”
“He’s a good kid.”
“I didn’t even know that you liked children.”
Once upon a time, he hadn’t. Wanted nothing to do with them. Lately he’d been more and more interested in them. Not to the point of having one, but only because he didn’t think he should be a single parent. If he had a kid, he wanted him or her to be raised by both parents. Sacha felt he’d missed out with his father being dead. This was one of the reasons he wanted to find his own child. He needed to make sure the kid was okay.
“I’m going to go now, Viktor. I’ll talk to you later.”
He pulled out onto the road and a car followed him. Odd. This was a country back road. The car sped up and came closer. “Back off buddy.” He doubted the guy’s insurance company would want to repair this car. The car came closer and closer.
“Holy shit,” Sacha said when the other car hit him.