| Subject: À la Vie! - Chapter 41 |
Author:
Diane
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Date Posted: Saturday, November 06, 02:05:52pm
In reply to:
Diane
's message, "À la Vie! - Chapter 41+" on Friday, November 05, 11:09:31pm
O’Brien had unearthed a link between Salla Vacek and a faction of the Russian Mafia known as “Black Storm.” Vacek’s contact was a mid-level lieutenant named Gregori Zalman. He had put a tail on Zalman, and was hoping to intercept communication between him and Vacek or, better yet, get visual evidence of the two of them in collusion. Zalman had a bodyguard named Suba, who had the reputation of killing first and asking questions later. The detective hoped to avoid a confrontation with him at any cost.
* * *
Karyn had already moved to Munich, and Elena had visited her in her new flat twice. Both times Salla had been livid when he found out. He would not have the Vacek name besmirched by the “unnatural” behavior of the mother of his grandson. He was considering taking Adam away from her himself and keeping the boy in France, but he knew Michael would file another petition for custody, and his background may not stand up to fine scrutiny. No, leaving Adam with his mother was the best thing to do, he conceded, but he would have her marry again. He would insist. Perhaps to Eric. That way he could keep a closer eye on her and Adam without taking constant trips to Munich, and the marriage would stop any gossip about Elena and Karyn before it started. Yes. He would have Estrella make the necessary arrangements immediately.
Elena informed her mother that she had no intention whatsoever of marrying Eric the limousine driver. Even had she not found the man utterly repugnant, no one would ever believe that a Vacek would marry a member of the working class, let alone a staff member. She did see the advantage of participating in a sham marriage, and agreed to keep her options open. Her father was satisfied. Her mother was more that a little disgusted that her daughter’s ethics had fallen so low.
* * *
Roberta was upset. The month wasn’t half over, and Simone had already spent all of the money Roberta had given her. She had pawned her microwave and stereo, but Simone wanted more. Roberta had called Nikita several times and left several messages on her machine, but Nikita had not returned her calls. A drive by the house confirmed her fears—Nikita was out of town. Now what was she to do? She did the only reasonable thing a mother could do under these circumstances. She broke into Nikita’s house.
Nikita had a much nicer TV than Roberta had had, and a VCR/DVD player. Her stereo should fetch quite a bundle as well. Her microwave was built in, but she had some nice jewelry and a good fake fur coat. This should buy her quite a bit of time as far as Simone was concerned. She left Plaza Drive with her conscience clear and the door unlocked.
Carla was the one who discovered the theft. She had a key to Nikita’s house and was dropping off some contracts when she saw the missing TV and stereo. She called the police, who arrived within minutes. One of the officers made a comment about this not feeling like an ordinary burglary, but they swept the living room and bedrooms for fingerprints. They told Carla they would call if they had any information. Carla didn’t want to bother Nikita in France until she had more information.
* * *
Julie and Adam were playing in the nursery, and Nikita was snapping photo after photo. The explanation she had ready was that she would be using the pictures as flashcards teaching Adam the German words for his toys-- zug (train); lastwagen (truck), etc. In truth, she was going to send the film to Michael so that he could finally see Adam for himself. She had told Michael that Julie said Adam kissed his picture goodnight, and she could hear Michael crying through the phone.
She had casually mentioned to Estrella that she would be taking Adam to the park soon to teach him the names of the small animals such as squirrels, rabbits, fish, and birds. She acted astonished when Estrella told her that Adam was not allowed to leave the grounds. Estrella told her that Salla Vacek was a wealthy man and there had been kidnapping threats made against Adam, but she had not looked Nikita in the eye when giving her this explanation. Nikita compromised by saying that she would take Adam out in the back garden and teach him the words of thing he could see out there—Estrella thought a moment but could find no fault with this plan. Nikita was ecstatic. She called Michael immediately, who said he would come up with a way to neutralize the bodyguards.
It was all a waiting game now.
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