Hollywood pushed the door open and climbed down the steps, watching Niko walk her son across the parking lot to the bathrooms.
He felt Kellen behind him rather than saw him and turned to see his friend watching Niko with a strange look on his face.
“What’s up, bro?” He asked, praying Kellen wasn’t going to declare any sort of attraction to Niko.
“I reckon she’s the one who’s been communicating with Hannah.” Kellen informed him. “I was listening to you two talking earlier, and she hates what she does. She’s not the hard-hearted bitch you’ve tried to make her out to be.”
Hollywood so wanted to believe that.
“Niko says she wants to do something about it. She says she wants to get out. But what does she actually do about it, Kellen? Nothing at all, that’s what.” Hollywood shook his head. “I offered her a way out, and she turned me down flat.”
“Ok, firstly, if everything she said about the vehicles being tracked is true, then it wouldn’t take Ilya’s men more than half an hour to find her and drag her back to face the music.” Kellen pointed out. “If that is the case, then I can see why she’d be reluctant to go with you. Besides, maybe she doesn’t find you particularly attractive? Would you want to run away with a guy if you thought he was a troll, hmm?”
“Very funny.” Hollywood pretended to be bored. “I just can’t understand why she doesn’t run away. They’re always travelling, and she’s rarely in the same vehicle as Ilya. There’s the perfect opportunity on almost every trip.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, pal.” Kellen shook his head. “Roman doesn’t normally come with her on these trips. He stays with their old nanny from when Ilya and Niko were kids.”
“Noni?” Hollywood asked. “She mentioned someone called Noni looking after Roman while she worked.”
“That’s her, and from what I’ve been able to gather, Noni is in Ilya’s pocket and does whatever the guy tells her.” Kellen scowled. “By all accounts, Niko hates her with a vengeance.”
“So, why is Roman here with us this time?” Hollywood kept his eyes on the bathroom they’d gone into.
“Because it looks as though Noni has been rushed to hospital with appendicitis. The only person available to look after Roman when Niko is busy is Ilya’s fuck-buddy, Vanya.” Kellen snorted. “And as he wasn’t prepared to travel without Vanya, Roman had to come with them as well.”
“So, this is the first time he’s travelled with her?” Hollywood was starting to feel a touch of sympathy that her circumstances weren’t exactly what they’d seemed to be.
“The first time for a very long time, yes.” Kellen nodded. “There’s never been an opportunity for her to get out before now.”
“I’ll check in with Hannah and see if she wants me to try and verify your suspicions.” Hollywood muttered. “Keep an eye on the bathroom to make sure none of those assholes get anywhere near her or the kid.”
He stepped away from the truck and wandered over to a shabby bench and table set, far enough away from the trucks that nobody would hear him. Sitting down, Hollywood pulled out his phone, plugged in his earphones and leaned his arms casually on the table so he could prop the phone up to see the screen.
He called up Hannah’s details and hit dial.
“H? Is everything Ok?” Hannah answered before he heard the first ringtone, and he was suddenly staring at her worried face.
“Everything’s good, we’ve just stopped for a comfort break.” He confirmed. “I’m just calling to pass on some intel and run something by you.”
“Ok, well your timing is good because I have some news for you too.” Hannah smiled. “But you go first.”
“Ok, well I’ve found out where we’re going to be for the next few days.” Hollywood confirmed. “Bucharest, followed by…”
“Alba Iulia and Budapest?” Hannah chuckled. “Yeah, I just got that from my informant, too. That was going to be my news.”
“Well, that could link in to the next part.” Hollywood frowned. “Kellen reckons that Niko is your informant, and I just wanted to know what you want me to do about it. She’s actually the one that gave me the names of those three cities.”
“Apart from the locations, which could be coincidental, or even widely known among Ilya’s men by now, what is Kellen basing his guess on?” Hannah checked. “Solid evidence or guesswork?”
“Not so solid evidence and a lot of guesswork.” Hollywood shrugged. “She’s said a few things about Ilya’s business activities, and she obviously hates what he does. She’d do something about it in a heartbeat, but she feels trapped, and worries for the safety of her kid. She claims her brother pays her fifty euros a week, if you can believe that.”
“Actually, that’s not so surprising.” Hannah nodded. “When I was looking into her background, I couldn’t find any trace of her having any sort of credit history. No bank accounts or credit cards, no property registered to her, not even a phone contract in her own name. Everything comes to her from her brother. Does he strike you as the kind of guy that would hand over wads of cash to his sister?”
“Not exactly, no.” Hollywood admitted. “So, what do you want us to do about it.”
“Have you been able to engage her in conversation at all?” Hannah asked. “When you’re alone with her in the truck, I mean.”
“I’ve had a few conversations with her.” Hollywood tried to keep his expression neutral, but something in his voice must have given him away.
Damn HRH for being so observant.
“What sort of conversations, Hollywood? The chatty, ‘what do you think of the weather?’ kind of conversations, or the ‘why don’t you do something to stop your brother trafficking women?’ kind of conversations?” Hannah’s scowl was visible even on his small screen.
“Erm, a bit of both, I guess.” He admitted.
“Hollywood!” Hannah dropped her head in her hands. “After all the shit that we went through with Logan’s attitude, what the hell were you thinking? We can’t alienate the woman, or worse, have her running to her brother complaining about you. You know how volatile he’s reputed to be, right?”
“Yeah, we’ve kinda witnessed that first hand.” Hollywood nodded. “Look, I know I wasn’t supposed to say anything to her, but she got me kinda worked up, and then confused between which Niko was the real one. I guess I was testing to see what I’d find.”
“Hold up… go back to the part where she got you ‘kinda worked up’.” Hannah was grinning. “Exactly what kind of ‘worked up’ are we talking about?”
Hollywood could feel the colour rising up his neck.
“The usual kind.” He tried to hide a smile. “First of all, she threw herself on me at the airport, crushing her chest into mine in an attempt to distract the airport security guys who were watching her suspiciously. It’s hard not to respond to someone when they’re rubbing themselves all over you.”
“Really?” Hannah snorted.
“And then, when we were in the back of the van going from the airport to the hanger, we got thrown around when the asshole driver took a corner too fast, and I swear the woman grabbed my cock to stop from falling over.” Hollywood grinned sheepishly. “It wasn’t my fault if he was still remembering her chest and standing to attention at the time.”
Hannah groaned.
“Please tell me this is another of your infamous tall stories.” She shook her head. “You’re winding me up, right?”
“Honey, I only wish I was.” Hollywood sighed. “Plus, there’s also the small matter that the woman is absolutely stunning. I mean catwalk model gorgeous. How did I not spot that when we were studying the photos back at the office?”
“Hollywood, you weren’t seeing her as a real human being back then. You were seeing her as someone caught up in the trafficking business.” Hannah pointed out. “And I’m guessing that’s the cause of all the strife between the two of you. There’s an attraction that you’re not comfortable with, because if you like someone that flawed, what sort of person does that make you? Does that sound close?”
“Too close for comfort.” Hollywood admitted.
“And is the attraction reciprocated?” Hannah asked.
“Not likely.” Hollywood laughed. “At the moment, I think I’m just an annoyance to her because I’ve made her look at how she’s living her life and it doesn’t make pretty viewing.”
“Well, just be careful you don’t push her too far, Ok?” Hannah frowned. “She still may not be my informant. And if she’s not and you push her too far, she may still go running back to Ilya. Don’t forget, she might actually believe you’re some kind of spy that Ilya has planted to report back on her. She might complain to him about you, just to make sure she gets in first.”
Shit! He hadn’t thought about that.
“Look, why don’t you tease her out by using the contact name ‘Angel’.” Hannah suggested. “If she recognises it, she’s hopefully going to open up to you. If not, then you’ve ruled out one of our limited number of options.”
“Ok, I’ll give it a try.” Hollywood nodded.
“So, is everyone else Ok?” Hannah asked.
“They’re all here, and I can see the other guys talking to Kellen now, but I haven’t had a chance to speak to them yet.” He glanced over at the rest of the Guardians.
“Do you know where you are heading today? The address in Bucharest, I mean?” Hannah asked.
“No, sorry.” Hollywood shook his head. “It’s already been programmed into the GPS system, but I can’t read the writing on the screen. It’s all gibberish.”
“Well, unless there’s anything else, perhaps you’d better go and tell the rest of the guys the plan for testing Nikita.” Hannah nodded. “And maybe try not to stir up any more shit, Ok? If she hates what her brother does so much, then we need the girl working with us, not against us, regardless of whether she’s the informant or not.”
“Yeah, I got that.” Hollywood nodded. “I’ll check in with you tonight, as normal.”
“Stay safe.” Hannah waved before disconnecting the call.
Hollywood pulled out the earbuds and shoved them back in his jacket pocket along with his phone.
He strolled back to the group, looking like he had all the time in the world, when in fact he only had until Niko returned from the bathroom.
“We were just talking about the weapons they’ve supplied.” Yuri turned to face him. “Ours are semi-automatics, compact, but useful in a pinch.”
“Ours are the same.” Logan nodded. “Plus, there are a couple of hand-guns and boxes of ammo.”
“Same with us.” Hollywood nodded. “Although I haven’t been able to check them out properly, as I don’t want to get them out while Roman’s around.”
“We’ve transferred ours over to our packs, so they’re to hand whenever we need them.” Evan noted. “Gotta be prepared.”
“There’s no way we can stow ours in our packs where Roman couldn’t reach them.” Kellen frowned. “They’ll have to stay where they are in the truck for now, as at least they’re out of his reach.”
“Agreed.” Hollywood glanced around, making sure he couldn’t be overheard by any of Ilya’s men. “Hannah suggested we try and use her contact’s codename – Angel. Maybe see if it triggers any sort of response. Depending on how things pan out, either Kellen or I will try and get it into the conversation somehow this afternoon and see if she reacts.”
“And if she doesn’t bite?” Kris asked. “What then?”
“We keep our eyes open and try and figure out who else it might be.” Hollywood shrugged.
“Has anyone heard any more about where we’re staying tonight?” Yuri asked, looking around the group. “Beyond the fact that it’s somewhere near Bucharest, that is.”
“Nothing on our truck.” Logan shook his head. “But then the two dickheads we’ve got the pleasure of riding with barely speak English, and they’ve spent the whole trip either belching or farting. They think it’s hilarious.”
“It probably wouldn’t have been so bad, but I think they both ate that kebab shit breakfast.” Evan wrinkled up his nose. “I swear if they keep doing it, I’m not going to be responsible for my actions.”
“Yeah, well if you’re gonna go all Bruce Lee on one of them, make sure it’s not the driver.” Yuri warned. “Nobody gives a shit about the other guy.”
“Point taken.” Evan nodded his agreement.
“Eyes front.” Kris nodded towards the bathrooms. “She’s on her way back.”
“Then I’d better use the facilities before we head out.” Hollywood headed to the other end of the building.
He didn’t know how long the next part of the journey would be, but he sure as hell didn’t want to drive it with a full bladder.