CHAPTER ELEVEN
Talli felt the car stop and opened her eyes. It was still dark outside but the shadows were beginning to fade. Looking out the window, she noted where they were. They had been driving around the city for hours and she was exhausted. They were about three houses away from her mother’s house but they were parked in the alley.
Her body was dull with pain and as long as she didn’t move, she could bear it. Russell had driven over railroad tracks several times during the night and with each time, her body screamed in pain. She refused to call out but the pain was so great, she almost passed out from it. She was worried that she was hurt worse than she knew but again, she wouldn’t call attention to her pain.
Russell didn’t care enough to give a shit and she was sure he would enjoy her suffering. Talli knew her life was over anyway once he got what he wanted, so the more time she could hold off showing him the safe the better for her. She was hoping Barshan would come for her even though he might not care for her as much as she cared for him.
“Come on,” Russell growled. “We need to get inside the house before anyone knows we’re there. Hopefully, we won’t run into any of your boyfriend’s men. That would only led to their deaths.”
“Why would you kill them?” She frowned.
“It would be them or me and right now, I’ve got nothing left to lose. I will not let anyone stop me at this point. I’ve come too far to be stopped now.”
Talli turned her head and stared at him for a moment. “Can I ask you something?”
He shrugged. “You can ask that doesn’t mean I have to answer, but make it quick I want to be hidden before the sun comes up.”
“What is it you think is in the safe? What would be worth the lives of my parents?”
Russell snorted. “What’s in that safe is worth more than two hundred thousand lives. What’s in that safe is what dreams are made of. I’m not even sure what it is yet but whatever it is will stake my claim for becoming the next king of Russia.” Leaning over toward her, he snarled in her face, “And I will not be denied. You and I are going into that house and you will show me where the safe is hidden and you will open it for me. Do you understand?”
Talli nodded slowly. “I understand.” She could read the signs of insanity in his eyes. It was becoming more pronounced the closer they got to the prize. She watched as he drew a gun from the holster under his jacket.
Reaching in his jacket pocket, he pulled out a silencer and began twisting it on the end of his weapon. When Russell noted her gaze, he casually told her, “We wouldn’t want to wake the neighbors.” Then he pointed the weapon at her and motioned to the vehicle’s door. “Shall we go?”
Talli groaned and reached for the handle. When the door swung open, she almost fell out of the car. It took all her remaining strength to stay upright. Moving slowly, she managed to get out of the car and move along the side to the front of the vehicle.
Russell frowned as he noted her progress then reached out and grabbed her by the upper arm. “This is going to take all damn day at this rate. Let’s move this along.” He dragged her along and a few minutes later, they were in her mother’s backyard.
Standing in the shadows of the garage, Russell checked out the yard carefully. The sky would soon lighten and in the predawn light, the shadows were easing.
Talli didn’t bother looking around. She was praying to be rescued, so she hoped Barshan’s men were still in the area.
“Come on, it’s now or never,” Russell whispered harshly. Gripping her upper arm in a punishing grasp, he hurried her across the expanse of the backyard. When they reached the back door, he fumbled for his keys and unlocked it. Then he shoved her inside and taking one last look around followed her closely.
Pushing her down the hall and into the dark living room, he led her over to the sofa and forced her to sit down.
Talli could feel the tears building in her eyes. Her body felt like hell and each step she took had been painful. Her right leg was bleeding again, from what she figured was road rash from the hit and run the day before while the rope around her wrists was cutting into her skin rubbing it raw. She could feel moisture around the ropes so she knew her wounds were bleeding again.
She could sense motion around her and when she looked up she could see Russell pacing back and forth in front of her. She couldn’t help but wonder what he was waiting for.
Breaking the silence, he asked, “How much light do you need to find and open the safe?”
“More than I have now.”
Russell stopped and turned to glare at her. “And why would that be? Are you trying to trick me?”
Talli shook her head and regretted the motion. Her head was pounding with pain. “No but you have to remember something. I was just a girl when my father showed me the safe. It’s been over eleven years since I even thought about it. I have to remember where exactly it is and I can’t do that in the dark.”
Russell grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up to him.
Talli wanted to scream in pain but she didn’t. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. She couldn’t stop her tears however. They ran down her face and dripped off her chin.
“Don’t even think of crossing me child, you wouldn’t like what I’d do to you.” He gripped her hair even tighter then threw her back down on the sofa in disgust.
Talli fell back and tried to get her pain under control again. Opening her eyes, she watched as Russell began pacing back and forth again. Several moments later, walked over to the front window and peeked out, searching the neighborhood for any movement of any kind. What he was looking for she didn’t know, nor did she care.
Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something. Glancing to see where Russell stood, she slowly turned her head and searched the darkened room beyond for any kind of movement. She couldn’t see much in the darkness but did see a blur of movement. She didn’t know if it were friend or foe but she prayed it was friendly. Whatever or whoever the blur was it meant she wasn’t alone with a madman. She closed her eyes and prayed the blur was Barshan and that somehow he would rescue her.
Laying her head back on the sofa, she closed her eyes. She couldn’t do anything until the dawn broke anyway. She was almost asleep when Russell returned to stand in front of her.
Reluctantly, she opened her eyes again to see the dawn’s light chasing the final shadows of night away. Lifting her eyes to his face, she noted a sinister smile curling his lips. “It’s time.”
Talli didn’t want to move but she knew she had to try. She knew Russell would relish in forcing her to do his bidding and that if he did, his actions would only bring her more pain and misery. She was surprised to find him holding out his hand to her and slowly she placed her own hand in his.
He pulled her up to her feet as gently as he could. “This is almost over. Your part is almost done then I’ll let you rest.”
Once standing, she glanced around the room and saw he’d left his weapon on the small table by the window. Without another glance at it, she moved over to the fireplace and began searching the stones above the hearth.
Glancing at the shiny surface of the grate she again saw movement from the hall only this time she could make out the shape of a man. As she couldn’t see his face clearly, she still didn’t know if he was friend or foe but again, she prayed he was a friend.
“Come on bitch, get the fuckin safe open. I want whatever is in it.” Russell growled as he kicked out his foot connecting with her back.
Talli fell against the wall with the kick to her back. Groaning, she pushed herself away and turned her head to glare at her tormenter. “I’m looking okay?”
“Well, hurry up,” he snapped. “I want to be out of here before the neighbors wake up and notice there’s someone here.”
“Like I told you before it’s been a while since I’ve seen the safe,” she grumbled as her fingers continued their search for the tripping mechanism. She found the divot and when she pressed it, the entire fireplace slid backward a full six feet, showing another door on the right.
Russell gasped and pushed her over to get a better look at the opening. He looked amazed at the hidden compartment.
Talli looked up to see several men coming into the room. Some she knew but most she didn’t. Her hand came up to cover her mouth as she saw Barshan was one of the men. She didn’t care who the others were she only had eyes for one man.
Glancing down at his feet, she noticed Rugar. He was creeping closer to her crawling low on the floor. He was almost to her when Russell took note of the others. He gasped and tried to reach her but Rugar beat him to her side. He snarled and bared his teeth. Not even Russell would dare touch her now.
Russell turned his head and glared at the line of men he faced. “What the fuck in this?” he demanded.
“You tell us, you lousy bastard,” Barshan growled.
“You have much to answer for Leon.” Rizvan stepped forward.
“I answer to no one.” He drew himself up and squared his shoulders. Curling his lip at the men, he added, “Especially, not to the likes of them.”
Felix tipped his head to one side and asked, “Do you know who we are and what we represent?”
Leon snorted and motioned at Barshan. “I know this man is Bratva and if you are with him that means you are that or worse. You are all a bunch of criminals and the worst that has ever blackened Russia’s soil.”
Sergi stepped forward and acknowledged himself. “My name is Sergi Constantine. I am the head of the Bratva in Russia.” He motioned at Felix. “This is Felix Braaken, my counterpart in the Ukraine. The rest of these men work for us here on American soil.”
Leon snorted. “Like I said, I don’t care who or what you are. You are all lowlifes, murderers and thieves.”
“You’d better have a care Mr. Pavel,” Felix warned the other man. “Your fate is now in our hands.”
Talli stepped away from Leon and held on to the dog for balance as she made her way over to where Barshan stood. He wrapped his big arms around her and pulled her close to his body. She closed her eyes, as she felt safe once again. If she had her way, she would never leave his arms again.
Leon made a lunge to hold her back but the sudden cocking of several weapons held him in his tracks. He glanced up to find at least six weapons trained on his person. He glared at her and shouted out in frustration, “Damn you bitch, I didn’t search the world for twenty years to be this close to finding my prize to not get it in my hands now! Get back here and open this safe.”
Talli lifted her head from Barshan’s chest, turned to face Leon and told him, “Go get fucked old man. You call these men murderers and thieves when you are the worse. You murdered both my parents for something you had no right to, let alone receive. Whatever is in that safe doesn’t belong to you, it never has and never will.”
“It does belong to me!” Leon shouted. “I’m the only one who wants to claim the throne. I want it so bad I can almost taste it. I will not be denied my due.”
Rizvan shook his head. “But the due isn’t yours. You have no royal blood running through your veins. For generations, the Romanov’s have always been known by a birthmark on their chests.” He paused to open his shirt. There on his right side was a birthmark. He went over to Leon and ripped open his shirt. The right side of his chest was clear of any marks at all. “You are clearly not a Romanov.”
Talli and Barshan gasped almost together. She stared with horror at the birthmark on Rizvan’s chest. Lifting her eyes to his she turned to Barshan. “What does this mean?”
Barshan tightened his grip on her. “I don’t know.”
Sergi turned to her and asked, “What does what mean, my dear?”
Talli turned back to Rizvan and motioned to his chest. “What does his birthmark mean?”
“It is the mark of royal blood.” Rizvan explained. “Every child born of the Romanov family line has this mark.”
“That’s impossible,” she whispered.
“Rizvan walked closer to her and cupping her cheeks he gazed at her with fondness in his eyes. “No my child, it is not impossible. It is a fact. It has been this way for several generations in our family.”
“Your family perhaps but not mine,” she told him.
Sergi and Felix shared a look of confusion then Sergi asked, “What is going on here? What is the big mystery?”
Rizvan closed his eyes for a moment then opened them to stare at Talli again. “I’m not sure of the details but from what I do know, Christophe kept a secret all his life. On his father’s death bed, his father shared a secret only he and his mother before him knew. His grandmother worked in the palace where Nikolas was imprisoned. She was a maid there in the year 1916 up until a time just after the people stormed the palace in 1917. When he realized the fate his family was going to face, she and Nikolas had a brief moment and when she left the palace to be smuggled out of Russia, she carried his child. Nikolas wanted one of his children to live, so he made arrangements for the maid to be smuggled into the United States. She came here, had her baby and lived a quiet life. She didn’t even tell her son who he really was until she was on her deathbed. She told him she left detailed records and where he could find them. Her son Boris found the evidence of his family ties to Russia but chose not to let anyone know. By this time he had a good job, a wife and a young son. He saw no reason to change that on a wasted dream. He waited until he was dying to tell his own son Christophe the truth.” He looked over at Talli and said, “I’m sure if you open the safe everything there will confirm this story. Christophe always claimed he had imperial proof to back his claim but he never said what that proof was. He did tell me at one time that he didn’t want to press his claim, that Nikolas would always be the last Tzar of Russia and that was the way things should remain.”
“I don’t believe this!” Leon ranted. “This is a false claim. She doesn’t have any more royal blood in her veins than I do.” He strode over to where Talli was standing and before anyone could stop him, he tore her shirt open to reveal her chest. Then he gasped as he could clearly see the mark of royalty on her chest.
Sazon and Roman grabbed Leon and hauled him away from Barshan and Talli. Roman pulled his arms behind his back while Sazon undid his own belt and wrapped the leather band around Leon’s wrists holding him captive.
Talli pulled her shirt together and with red cheeks planted her face in Barshan’s chest.
Everyone was quiet for a moment then Sergi spoke, “Did you know any of this child?”
Talli shook her head but refused to look at anyone.
Turning to Barshan he asked, “Did you?”
Barshan shrugged. “I knew she had the birthmark but neither of us knew what it meant. She did tell me she shared the mark with her father but that’s all.”
Felix came over to her and took her hand.
Talli glanced at the older man in confusion.
“My child I think you should open the safe so we all can confirm Rizvan’s story. If there is proof, we all should see it.”
Talli shook her head. “I don’t want to know.”
“This is your family history, do you want to know for sure what that might entail?” Felix asked.
Talli closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “What does it matter now anyway? Both my parents are gone and I’m alone.”
Barshan tipped her chin up. “But you aren’t alone little one. You have me and my brothers as your family now. As long as we live you will never be alone.”
Rizvan stepped forward. “You also have me as part of your family as well. We’re sort of cousins, perhaps not a close relation but we are related.” Leaning toward her, he kissed her cheek then stepped back. He noticed the frown on Barshan’s face and held out his hands in surrender. “No offence.”
Barshan gave him a curt nod. Turning his attention back to Talli he whispered, “Open the safe, and let’s find out what other secrets your father had.”
Talli hesitated briefly then tying her shirt closed she went over to the safe and using a code she’d memorized a long time ago, she pressed her thumb in the right place and the door popped open slightly. Pushing on the heavy metal door, she took a step back and allowed the others access to the vault.
Rizvan, Felix, Sergi, Yuri, Ivan Barshan went inside and she followed. It was a tight fit with everyone in there but they made it work. Talli glanced around a bit first, then walked over to one of the shelves and took down the wooden box she’d seen once as a young girl. She’d seen the box briefly before the door to her father’s study closed but she knew whom the box belonged too. Turning, she carried the box back to the table where Rizvan stood waiting. “I think this belongs to you.” She placed the box on the table and pushed it toward Rizvan.
“I demand to see what that box holds,” Came Leon’s voice from the doorway.
Sazon and Roman stood behind him and held his shoulders securely.
Rizvan opened the wooden box and took out a bundle wrapped in faded blue velvet. Setting it on the table, he unwrapped it revealing something the world hadn’t seen for over a hundred years.
The gold sparkled in the light and the array of jewels shone brightly. Red, blue, clear and green gemstones twinkled. Everyone gasped at the sight of the ruby, emeralds, diamonds and sapphires encrusted in the gold of the crown. This showed the real luxury of the crowned heads of the old world, a world long forgotten.
“Oh my god…” Leon stammered in awe and greed.
“I brought this to Christophe eleven years ago for safe keeping,” Rizvan explained. “It wasn’t only Leon who wanted to get his hands on it but there were others as well over the years. For the better part of the last hundred years, no one knew where this piece was hidden. The KGB Secret Police hunted down every member of the royal family down and interrogated them as to where the old crown was but no one would ever tell them who had it. They even questioned my father but he denied knowing where the piece was. He swore an oath to Nikolas to keep it safe and he did.”
Rizvan glanced over at Talli. “Your father spoke of his father’s secrets to me that night eleven years ago. He even showed me his grandmother’s journals but he never showed me what was said in them. Only the books themselves. He had them in a small crate. Did he ever show you the crate?”
Talli shook her head. This was almost too much for her mind to grasp. She was exhausted, battered and bruised and now all this.
“Do you know where the crate might be?” Rizvan asked quietly.
Talli glanced around the vault. Tilting her head, she spotted something in the far corner. It was a small wooden crate. She walked over to the corner and knelt down to her knees. She wasn’t sure she wanted to find out but with shaking hands, she pulled it out of the shadows. The crate itself wasn’t very big and it wasn’t all that heavy.
She tried to pick it up but stumbled.
Barshan was right there and took the crate from her hands. He carried it over to the table and stepped back.
Talli knew no one would touch it unless she gave them permission.
“Open it,” Rizvan encouraged her. “This is your history.”
Talli reached out and slipped the lid off the crate. When the top hit the table, dust flew everywhere. The crate hadn’t been disturbed in a very long time. Inside were a number of journals, all leather bound with a date embossed on the front cover. The first one began in 1918 and the date on the last one was 1945. She pulled them out and set them aside. All that was left was a small velvet pouch.
Her hands were trembling as she reached for the pouch. Pulling the strings apart, a small jewelry box slipped out. By the size of the box, she could tell it held a ring. She looked at Barshan for a moment before she snapped the box open. There in a bed of red velvet was a man’s ring. Made of pure gold the luster of the ring shone through. The stone was a large ruby and it was surrounded with diamonds. Talli swallowed hard and held the box out to Rizvan.
He took it and viewed the ring. Gasping in amazement, he took a small step back. “Oh my… never did I think it was this.”
“What exactly is this?” Felix asked.
“This is the ring of Tzars,” he explained. “When a new Tzar is crowned there is a huge ceremony in which the Pope holds a mass and blesses the new Tzar. After he places the crown on the Tzar’s head, he blesses this ring and places it on the hand of the new Tzar. The Tzar will never take this ring off. The Pope is the only one able to remove the ring and that’s only to crown the next Tzar.”
“How did it get here then?” Talli asked.
“Perhaps the journals will tell us that,” Felix offered his opinion.
Rizvan closed the ring box and handed it back to Talli.
She wouldn’t take it. “You keep it, I don’t want it.” She told him.
“Child, it belongs to you,” he told her gently.
Talli shook her head.
Barshan wrapped his arms around her and held her for a moment before he said, “Baby, whether you want this or not, this is part of who you are and you can’t change that. You, your father and your grandfather are Romanov’s.”
She turned to stare at him. “No we are Janick’s. My grandfather never carried his father’s name. He was born a bastard, not a true son. He had no claim to the Romanov name.”
“Bastard or not he was a child of a Tzar,” Rizvan reminded her gently. “Your blood is his blood too.”
“The Romanov name is all but forgotten. Only the history books remember him now. Let’s let the past stay in the past,” Talli begged him.
“The Romanov name could mean great things again!” Leon shouted out from his position at the door. “The two of you have the power to bring mother Russia back to her past glory. There should be no doubt about the path you should take. Why can’t you understand that? You’re both crazy, do you know that? Crazy!”
Talli turned to the raging man. “No sir, you wanted the power that didn’t belong to you, you murdered the two people that meant the world to me and for what? To live in the past? To revisit the glory of another generation? That time is long gone. It died when they put a bullet in Nikolas’s head. It became a new era after that. Good, bad or otherwise, Russia moved on making a new history. Revisiting the past is nothing new and it rarely works out for the best.”
Leon snorted in derision. “Yeah and look how the Communist Party did. They tore our country apart. We lost everything, our pride as a great nation and superpower is gone now. Our people are starving in the streets and thugs and criminals run our country.”
Talli walked closer to where Leon stood. “Maybe the Bratva does run the country now but it’s the Party that allowed them in and it was the Party that allowed them to gain their foothold. The Bratva may have a criminal element to it, I can’t and won’t deny that, but it is also keeping the peace. It’s protecting those people that have nothing else but despair in their lives. They are giving back the hope the people of Russia need to hang on too.”
Leon spit in her face.
When Talli wiped the moisture off her cheek, she sneered at him. “You just don’t want to see what’s right in front of you do you? The Brtava may be tough but they have something you don’t.”
“And what would that be, you stupid bitch?” Leon snarled.
“They have honor,” Talli informed him. “You may not see it you may not want to see it but they have it. They have a power because of this same honor. They won’t allow anyone to cheat them and they stand up for what they believe in, that makes them strong. People may fear them and have a good reason for doing so, but they will survive longer than men like you.”
Talli could see the rage building in his eyes and she felt the wave after wave of hate that rolled off him. “These are the same men that will judge you. They will act as your judge and jury and they will put a bullet in your head if they deem you guilty.”
“That’s not justice,” he snapped. “That murder.”
“It’s not murder,” she assured him. “It’s a swifter justice than you would receive from any court system. At least with them you wouldn’t wait twenty years for your sentence to be carried out.”
Leon began struggling against the two men who dragged him out of there. He was fighting and cursing them the whole way.
When she went back to the table, she saw Rizvan slipping the crown back into its bag and then back into the wooden box that held it all these years. Then he replaced the ring and journals back in the crate and placed the cover back on the top. Laying his hand on it, he told her, “I think you should read what your great-grandmother wrote about. If for no other reason than to know your own family history. You may not want to know but you need to know.”
Talli gazed at the crate then lifted her eyes to his. “Maybe someday I will read them but not today. I’m too tired and sore to make any sense out of what happened in the past. It feels like I just lost my parents again, now that I know what actually happened to them. I just need some time to digest everything I’ve learned.”
Rizvan nodded. “I guess I should take this with me.” He patted the small wooden box. “Although by rights it should belong to you as you are Nikolas’s direct descendant and I am not.”
“No you keep it,” Talli begged him. “I don’t want anything to do with what we found today. The ring and the crown both have too much blood on them, blood of the innocents and the blood of my parents.”
“When you are ready, I will give it back to you. Until then, I’ll hold it safe for you.” He patted her hand. “Sergi or Felix will know how to contact me. I hope in the future we can get to know one another a little better. You and I have something in common and neither of us have any members of family left.” He paused and added, “I’d like to know the man who raised you better than I did. The man you called your father. I always liked him and very much admired his talent.”
“I’d like that. My father was a good man. I’ll be happy to share him with you.” Talli smiled, then turned to Barshan. “Can we go home now? I need to clean up and take a nap.”
Barshan smiled. He took the crate off the table and wrapped his arm around her then led the way.
The others followed and Felix as the last man out turned the lights off and pulled the heavy door to the vault closed behind him.