It was a little-known fact that of all the ways to be woken up, Kellen’s least favourite was being kicked in the nuts.
Strange, but true.
Having said that, things could have been worse.
Being kicked in the nuts by a three-year-old child was infinitely better than being kicked by a pissed off lover. But even so, if he had a choice, he’d have opted for a gentle shake on the shoulder, and the smell of a pot of dark roast coffee brewing, not too far away.
Obviously, this wasn’t one of those times when you were given the choice, and as he doubled up, wincing from the pain, he opened his eyes to try and figure out where the hell he was.
There was barely any light, but the flicker of something coming through a curtain.
The bed in the back of the truck.
Kellen pushed the curtain aside a little more, to let in some light, and glanced at the sleeping child next to him in the bunk.
Roman was fast asleep, his thumb stuck in his mouth, looking more like a curly-haired cherub than any kid he’d ever seen. Did a boy have a right to be so beautiful?
Just as he was about to climb off the bed, Kellen heard the passenger door open, and the cab shook slightly as someone climbed inside.
“Fucking assholes!” He recognised Niko’s voice immediately. “No better than animals, but with shit for brains.”
Kellen grinned as Niko half glanced around the corner, assuring herself that Roman was Ok. When she didn’t say anything to him, or poke her head around the curtain, Kellen guessed she thought he must be still asleep.
Niko’s hand came back next, feeling around for her bag, and she groped around until she found her phone.
“Right, let’s see what plan you’ve come up with.” She mumbled, and he could hear her tapping away on the keypad. “Come on, come on, where are you?”
Kellen leaned forward and glanced through a crack in the curtains, to see Niko scrolling through her emails.
“Yesss!” Niko hissed. “What are you planning, hmm?”
He watched as she read someone’s email aloud, skimming through it as quick as she could, mumbling a few words, and replacing some of them with ‘yadda, yadda, yadda’.
“What the fuck?” She growled. “So, you’ve got people on the ground? So, what? That doesn’t tell me who they are, or what they’re going to do. I’m all on my own, here, y’know? I know it’s all short notice, but a bit of information wouldn’t go amiss.”
She started to type out a response, reading aloud as she typed.
“Are they going to intercept the convoy? Come on! Details, please? I need to know who, when and how.” She even typed aggressively. “You really need to be more specific. Don’t you see the urgency?”
He couldn’t see her face, but Kellen didn’t need to, to see how irritated she was. Her nails tapping on the screen while she waited for a response showed her impatience with the tardiness of whoever was on the other end.
The beeping ringtone letting her know a message had come through almost had Niko dropping the phone.
“You’ll let me have the details tomorrow? No!” She hissed. “What the fuck sort of response is that? It’s not like I’m sitting on my ass by a pool sipping cocktails, is it?”
Kellen watched her type again.
“I need precise details urgently.” She mumbled. “Situation critical and time running out.”
She started the impatient tapping again, obviously waiting on another reply.
It only took half a minute before another beep sounded.
“Understood?” She read out. “Under-fucking-stood?”
Even from behind the curtain, Kellen could feel her irritation. He didn’t have a clue what she was ranting about, but whatever it was, sure had her breathing fire.
“No, it’s not fucking understood, people!” Niko growled. “Do you think this is the time to be mysterious? It’s not your lives that are at stake. You don’t get to make all the fucking decisions. I’m risking too much.”
Niko tapped out another message, still growling at the phone, hit send and then threw her phone back in the bag.
“Your people had better come through like you promised…” She hissed. “Or they’ll find out what it’s like to have a pissed off Russian stick her foot so far up their asses it’ll take colonic irrigation to get it back out again!”
Kellen snorted a laugh before he could help himself, and realising he’d given himself away, made a big pretence of waking up noisily.
He muttered something under his breath and gave an exaggerated yawn, then sat up, yanking the curtain open.
“Shit!” He pretended to be shocked to find her there. “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was up here.”
He leaned forward to get a look out of the window.
“Where are we?” He asked, running his hands through his hair before giving his face a slap, pretending to be trying to wake himself up.
Niko stared at him suspiciously.
“We’re in a warehouse just outside of Istanbul. Your friends are just outside.” She confirmed. “There’s a bathroom, somewhere to sleep, and probably something that passes for a meal if you want it.”
“Thanks.” Kellen pulled on his boots. “I’ll go and see if I can find Hollywood. Can I get you anything?”
Niko shook her head.
“I’m going to climb in the back and try and grab some sleep.” She watched him climb over the seats. “We leave before dawn, so I wouldn’t let yourself get distracted by Ilya’s guys outside. They’ll drink you under the table and take all your money off you at cards. Just so you know, they cheat. And if you’re a better cheat than they are, don’t be surprised if one of them shoots you.”
Kellen opened the door and jumped down.
“Thanks for the heads up.” He smiled up at her. “But I don’t drink hard liquor, I don’t smoke, and I don’t gamble.”
Niko looked at him sceptically.
“Do you have any vices?” She asked pointedly.
“Yes, ma’am. I do.” Kellen’s smile widened. “But none that’s caused anyone to shoot me, yet.”
He heard Niko’s chuckle as he closed the door quietly behind him and turned to see Hollywood standing off to one side, talking with Kris and Yuri.
As he made his way over to them, Hollywood turned to grin at him.
“Well, if it isn’t Sleeping Beauty.” He grinned. “I thought I was gonna have to send one of Ilya’s men in to kiss you awake.”
“As much as that would have been a rare pleasure, I’m rather glad you didn’t.” Kellen pulled a face. “Have you smelled the breath on those guys? It’s like they’ve been tongue-fucking a goat’s ass.”
“Jesus, Kellen!” Kris groaned. “Not the sort of mental imagery I need, thanks.”
Kellen shrugged.
“I thought you might want to know, I just overheard Niko on her phone, going ape-shit with someone because they seemed to be messing her around over some shit she’s planning.” Kellen explained.
“Who was she talking to?” Yuri asked. “Did you get a name?”
“She wasn’t talking exactly.” Kellen shrugged. “So, no, I didn’t catch a name.”
Hollywood tilted his head to one side.
“Hold on, you just said you heard her, but now you’re saying she wasn’t talking?” He frowned. “Do you have psychic powers we’re not aware of, or are you just talking out of your ass as usual?”
Kellen chuckled.
“Ok, she wasn’t talking to someone.” He explained. “She was having an email exchange with someone. It was making her so mad she was reading their messages out loud, and when she typed, she was also mumbling some of the words aloud.”
“And you heard her talking?” Kris confirmed. “What was the deal about?”
“Well, I obviously didn’t hear everything, as the email exchange had probably been going on for some time, but she was expecting them to do something for her, and whoever was making the arrangements seemed to have come up short on details.” Kellen tried hard to remember what she’d said, but it was all a bit vague. “She was calling the person on the other end some very colourful and descriptive names, going mad with them because they were fobbing her off until tomorrow. She was not a happy bunny, let me tell you.”
Yuri turned to Hollywood.
“Any idea what that might be about?” He asked.
“Not a clue, yet.” Hollywood shook his head. “But I’ll keep my ears open and see if I can come up with anything else. If I get the chance, I’ll try and get hold of her phone while she’s sleeping and see if I can check her messages for any more clues.”
“Are you going back to the truck now?” Kellen asked. “She said she was going to try and get some sleep.”
“I said one of us would sleep in the truck as well, as I don’t trust Ilya’s men as far as I could throw them.” Hollywood explained. “If you’re staying up for a while, I’ll either take the floor or sleep in the front, but wherever it is, I’m not leaving her and the kid on their own.”
“I’ll take a piss and get washed up.” Kellen stretched. “A word of warning from Niko, you want to avoid playing cards with Ilya’s men if you don’t want to get shot. I think your choices are lose or die.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Yuri grinned. “I’ll pass the message to the Brits.”
“Ok. Can someone point me in the direction of the bathroom?” Kellen looked around.
Hollywood turned and headed towards the truck.
“Follow the smell.” He threw over his shoulder. “You won’t be able to miss it.”
Kellen took a sniff, and sure enough, he got a good idea where the latrine could be found.
Jesus, and these were just the facilities for the men? What the hell did that mean for the women?