Makarovia! Yes, I Know Where That is! Sophomore Year - 9. Chapter 9

Peter and I did make it downstairs. Boris greeted us as did the others in my family. I loved it. Mom, grandmother and Olek were sitting enjoying coffee. I was pleased that my grandmother, who spoke Ukrainian was beginning to get it and was sounding more Makarovian! Pronunciation was different and some words, but she was doing it.

Olek smiled at us, now the old Olek we knew and loved was back. “So, what do we do today? We can’t really go anywhere…”

Peter grinned. “Did you bring a swimsuit? If not, you can wear one of mine. We’ve got an indoor pool you have to see and something else you have to see.”

“After breakfast.” I said going to the coffee maker that no long scared me. “Anyone want something else from this?”

I knew what was happening. I was being kept occupied and out of the kitchen. Now, Boris had help around him as he was not alone fixing…whatever. This was his world and he was in charge of it. You can’t hide the smell of a cake baking. I went over to him, pulling him to kiss his cheek making him smile at me.

“I know I will say it later, but thank you, Boris.”

Boris nodded smiling. “I love doing it and I love doing something special for you.”

At the end of breakfast, Olek sighed. “I’m going up.”

Queen Alla looked up. “You don’t have to see her at all.”

“Like I told them.” Olek thumbed at Peter and me, “and my brother reminded me…if I don’t…she wins. I’m not letting her do that.”

“You have security up there,” Peter said. “But, do you want us with you?”

Olek nodded. “Please. I can use my brothers’ support.” He chuckled. “You can help me…not to kill her.”

“We may not want to stop you,” I said sourly and walked with Olek to the rear stairs and climbed.

On the third floor, there was Luka and another I didn’t know. I needed to learn their names! We could hear a conversation going on. Yuri was speaking with her. Luka smiled at me (yep, he was friendlier now), but bowed at Olek. He waved toward the door telling Olek to go in. Olek nodded at Luka and the other guard thanking them and went in the door.

“…options are limited.” Yuri was saying in English. “Counsel will be hard to find even in England for a defense. You threatened their supply…” he turned and saw Olek. “You’re Majesty…I was just telling her there will be a trial. With the evidence I have…”

Olek nodded. “There may be no trial.” He said simply looking the woman who was now in a newer dress, but it didn’t have the polish her designer suit had. He frowned. “I have to confess, I have never been so hurt. You wanted me to make you Queen?” Olek shook his head. “That was never going to happen.”

“Why not, Olek?” Ms. Baldwin asked. “We made love.”

Olek shook his head quickly. “No! You were clever. We never made love. You would make comments about our schedule, there was no time for dates. Slowly you worked in it would be fine with a friend. The first time was after you told me, you were my friend and you were on the pill.” He looked at Peter and me. “She even showed me that thing they come in where the days were missing! I never expected her to toss them away hoping to get pregnant.” He looked back at her. “Before I agreed the first time, I told you there would never be love between us. I told you that and it would just be sex! I said, no kissing, which you did. I warned you about emotions could be involved and not to get involved with me emotionally. You said no problem. Two of those times, I couldn’t even finish as you were kissing me and I left to take care of myself! I told you, I would never love you! We just had sex. We did not make love. You and I would never have worked out.” He began walking around looking at her. “You had this…act down so perfectly. When we first met, I wasn’t sure about you, but you could do some really good things.” He folded his arms over his chest as he stopped and looked at her directly. “I could never get…a feeling of sincerity from you. Your whole…thing was an act. I didn’t believe you at first. Later, I considered you just did it for the job, so I let it go. There could never be any love between us. I did, however, give you my trust. That is the part that hurt. That you filmed it…” Olek shrugged, “there wasn’t much to show. You betrayed me. That was the hurt, you ripped my trust away I had given you.”

I had never heard Olek speak like this. He was calm and only a few times emotion was in his voice, but his tone was…icy. Cold.

“Now, Yuri is concerned that this is not over,” Olek said. “His instincts, I do trust. I trust him. What else is coming and when?”

“Olek…” she began.

“That’s King Olek or You’re Majesty to you now. I allowed you to use my name when I trusted you. I don’t, now.” Olek said.

“I don’t know.” She replied with a shaky voice, but how could we believe that?

“I don’t believe you.” Even Olek didn’t believe her and looked around. “I could do this in the bathroom, but…can you get a towel from the bathroom?” He asked Yuri.

Yuri looked puzzled, but went in and retrieved one.

“You’ll need to wrap it around her head. Concentrate most on the back of her head.” Olek instructed. “Make sure it’s as secure as you can get it.” I had never seen this Olek. Peter grabbed my hand, he hadn’t either.

I felt a cold chill in my heart as I believed I knew what he was doing. “You’re going to kill her.”

Olek nodded. “She will die, yes.” He said calmly. “Boris does a damned good job keeping this place clean and I don’t want her brains scattering and blood when I shoot her in the head. The towel will help, but there will still be a mess out the back.” He said as if he simply describing a simple task.

“What!?” She almost screeched about to stand up and flee, but Olek shoved her back down roughly. “You’re going to murder me!?”

Olek was too calm. “No. I’m executing you. It’s not murder.” He turned to Luka. “Hand me your gun, please? I would never ask any of you to do this.” Luka was surprised, but reached in and handed Olek his gun.

“This is murder! You can’t!” She said backing away on the mattress as Yuri got closer with the towel.

Olek shook his head. “No, I can. I’m king. You’re in Makarovia. I am probably one of the only remaining monarchs that have absolute control. Including who lives and who dies. No one contests what I decree is necessary. I’ve never used this power before, until now. You committed a crime in Makarovia. I have every right as king to do this. You are a threat.” He looked at Luka. “Is there a safety or anything?”

“Here, You’re Majesty.” Luka reached and flipped a tiny thing on the side of the gun.

Yuri nodded to her, but even he hadn’t anticipated this. “I told you. He might be your judge. He is.”

“It’s ready, the bullet in place,” Luka instructed.

“Thank you,” Olek said and he shrugged with the gun in his hand which didn’t shake as he was steady as she backed up more, her eyes growing in terror as he got closer. Mine eyes did, too! I had no doubt he was going to kill her and we would see it. “If I get closer, it will help, but the splatter behind her.” He shrugged. “Oh, well.” He looked at Yuri. “I will apologize to Boris after this.” He said casually as he walked up and placed the gun in the middle of her forehead as he pushed her back on the mattress where it remained steady. “For your betrayal…you got me to trust you and then lied to me and threatened to embarrass me!? I don’t care if people see my dick, ass or even watch me FUCK.” The last word was shouted and his voice did get louder from there. “Every man has got them and wants to have sex. It’s what we do! I will release the clips myself and plaster your picture and name all over it telling the world what a fucking whore you are. You weren’t even a good fuck, you stupid cunt, but YOU LIED TO ME!” He screamed that last part at her, his face red with rage. “You threatened my FAMILY!” Then he said coldly. “For that, you will die.” His finger tightened on the trigger.

“Tonight! They are coming tonight!” She said in a panicked hurry. “Nelson Carter and others.”

“Nelson Carter is in custody,” Yuri said to her.

She nodded. “Then, it will be members of the consortium. They’re coming…I don’t know what time…they talked about an extraction. To get to you.” She said to Olek. “They said one of you would do it.” She said to each of us. “If they couldn’t get King Olek, one of you would be taken. For ransom was a possibility.”

Olek just stood there a second. His finger released its hold on the trigger. He raised the gun and sighed. “When this is over. I want her out of any part of Makarovia. Have arrangements been made to send her to England?” He asked Yuri but still glared at Ms. Baldwin.

“I wasn’t sure what you’d decide, but, yes, Olek. There are some people, verified British enforcers wanting to take her back to England.” Yuri said.

Olek nodded and handed the gun back to Luka holding it with three fingers like it was contaminated. “I don’t really use these, but…I think the safety’s back on.” Olek said calmly and turned to her. “I will never see your face again. If I do, I will kill you.” He said and walked to leave the room.

Peter and I raced after him and it’s a good thing we did. He watched as he stumbled a bit, grabbing the wall as he wavered a little when he got toward the stairs and…collapsed.

“Olek!” Peter said loud in panic as we both rushed to him. “Oh, god…Olek!!”

Rolling him over I felt his carotid pulse. His heart was beating just fine. I smiled. “I think he just fainted.” I was no doctor, but he was breathing and I felt no problem with his pulse. “He was so enraged, his face all red…”

The other Makarovian male security I didn’t know looked and came running. He shouted for Yuri who came out and told Luka to secure her in the room…Yuri rushed over.

“I’m pretty sure he fainted, Yuri,” I said. “We will have him checked, of course, but…he has a good pulse and is breathing fine.”

Peter began touching Olek on his face and bent placing his forehead against Olek’s. Peter looked at me. “I have never seen him like that in there. Seeing him down like this…I was afraid he may have had a heart attack, like Dad.”

I nodded with an understanding smile as I rubbed Peter’s shoulder. “I know. His pulse is steady and strong. He will be looked at by a doctor to be sure. The rise in blood pressure and rapid decline…”

Olek let out a soft moan and began to move. His eyes opened and he smiled at me and Peter. “I must have passed out.” He said as he tried to sit up.

Peter was crying now from the scare and now from relief. He pulled his brother into his arms and hugged him. “Oh, Olek…I was so scared. I thought you might have had a heart attack.”

Olek hugged his brother back. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He kissed his brother on the cheek. “I’ve got too much living to do!” He grinned. “You’re getting married.” He reached and touched me on the face lightly. “I have a kingdom to work with and I’m not done. A very brilliant, beautiful lady friend...” He nodded. “But that was a little…intense. Out here, things just started getting fuzzy and down I went.”

I nodded hugging him, too…again. I do it a lot so get used to it, and helped him to stand up. “I was sure you were going to kill her.”

Olek looked at me. “I was. I had every intent to kill her. I still might if this…thing…doesn’t happen.” He said seriously. “She threatened you two. I was thousands of miles away. She threatened Makarovia. I was going to kill her.”

I nodded. “But you didn’t.”

Olek looked at me just as serious as I’d seen him. “If anyone threatens my family. I will kill them. You would to protect Peter, I know that.”

I nodded. “I would if they threatened Peter, you or Mom, and Grandma. Sure.”

Olek nodded. “Her attempt to embarrass me was not what did this. I can deal with that, but there’s an assault happening tonight. We’ll do whatever we have to, to make sure that doesn’t happen.” He looked at Yuri. “What about added protection? Are there more of those outside available?”

Yuri frowned. “There is part of the problem. This house, in this house, is Makarovia. The grounds are questionable. In here, your word is final.” Yuri thumbed in the direction of the outdoors. “There are American Guards out there. The question of whether it’s our land or the United States…I can get more outside…”

“But if they attack us, we can fire back?” Olek asked.

Yuri gave a hesitant, grudging nod. “That’s part of the problem. If an American is shot on our land…”

“And making a plea to Washington…there isn’t enough time.” Olek began walking as we went downstairs. “The problem is she was right. You told me about what she said about circumstantial evidence. We know she’s guilty.”

“The United States’ response will be to check and verify what we already know,” Yuri said.

We got to where the others were and I remembered something. “Home invasion.”

“What?” Yuri asked.

“The use of deadly force is allowed in some states. When someone invades a private home, the owner can respond with deadly force.” I said. “I don’t know about Massachusetts.”

“That means they have to get in here,” Peter said. “How will they do that? There is security to keep them out.”

“This group, the consortium, they have to have a way,” Olek said. He looked at Yuri. “This consortium sounds…do you have anything else on them?”

“All the information I have says it will be quick and almost surgical,” Yuri said. “Composed of men from several countries.”

“I’ll look it up on the computer and look at the agreement we have on the lease,” Olek said hurrying off toward Yuri’s office.

Peter looked at me, his face held regret. “I’m sorry. This won’t be a good birthday.”

I smiled as I bounced once. “You didn’t do this. I will say, this has been an exciting year.” I brought him close and kissed him.

We told grandmother, Mom, and Boris what we found out.

Yuri came over with something that looked like house plans. “When International Securities was helping go over the house. They helped me with this.” He rolled out the papers. “I will say, this Jensen was a little too paranoid. He has parts of the house I didn’t really know about. The bedrooms are safe rooms, I knew that. The security measures are impressive.” He pointed. “Since Ms. Baldwin recommended the house, she probably gave Nelson Carter the passwords and codes.” Yuri smiled. “When this is over, I’m having them purge the entire system and reset everything and change those passwords.”

Olek came back smiling. “Eric’s right. The law for home invasion will be easy, once they are in the house. The burden of proof is written in Massachusetts General Law 265. This group enters our home unlawfully, proving they knew we were home, proving they are armed and uses force even if this was considered American property.”

“That will be documented,” Yuri said. “There are recordings. The doors and general areas are monitored.”

“We should make plans for a better celebration when this is over,” Olek said to me. “We should proceed as if we know nothing, but be aware and ready to go when it happens.”

“I’ve recalled our men from Makarovia. We will have twelve men stationed in the house as internal security.” Yuri said.

“Where do they live?” I suddenly realized they didn’t live here. “There are two that live here, but that rotates. Where do they go during off hours?”

Yuri smiled. “Carla Bowers.” He chuckled. “The Ms. No Noise Lady?”

My eyes widened. “My former landlady!?”

Olek smiled. “And our friend now. We rented three of her two-bedroom apartments to us.”

Grandmother nodded. “I need to contact her.” She said almost as a side thought.

“I hate guns,” Olek growled and he looked at Peter and me. “I really don’t know anything about them other than point, aim and fire.” He shrugged.

Yuri chuckled. “We have enough coverage by weapons.” He looked at the rest of us. “What I do know, is they will be very quick. Their last attack accredited to be done by them took five minutes.” He waved his hands in a sort of shrug. “They come in, get their target and go. They stormed and took a princess from a Saudi whatever in three minutes and seventeen seconds.” He then said carefully. “I will do everything to make this…as least deadly as possible.” He looked at Olek. “I guess asking all of you to lay low…”

Olek did the same thing Yuri had, moving his hands helplessly. “They have to have a target.”

I looked at my grandmother. “This is a lot.”

Grandmother chuckled. “Your grandfather and I slipped through a lot including the KGB. We were fired at and pursued.” She took my hand. “We survived. You will, too. Some things are worth it.”

Queen Alla nodded. “We’ll be ready. Just tell us when and what to do.”

Things went on like nothing had changed or were aware of this coming threat. We got ready for my party and we did. It was almost easy to forget what was coming. Yet it was hard not to believe there was nothing…Makarovian Security was posted…hidden around the house mostly on the first floor. From the windows, everything looked fine. Yet, the men here dressed in that black…bulletproof vests and holding those assault rifles were hard to ignore. We had dinner, no other house staff was there except Boris and Yuri. Dinner was…Boris is a chef! It was great. He even brought in my cake. It was coconut, my favorite.

At 9:37 pm, that’s when we heard it. Not what you hear on TV or movies, but a series of pops. The house was not soundproof, but the sounds were muffled. Olek looked up at Peter and me. It was happening. Olek had that look he had with Ms. Baldwin. The front door suddenly burst open and ten men, dressed like our men came in, rifles out and pointing in any direction to stop anyone that was to come at them or just in the way.

A voice said in Ukrainian. “Ніхто не рухатися!” No one move. Another said in Russian. “Никто не пошевелиться!” And the last said in English. “No one move!”

Yuri smiled from his place at the table. “We understood all three languages, but really…Ukrainian? We’re Makarovian! The pronunciation was just…wrong.” He held up what looked…well, it was a remote control. He pressed a single button. Instantly, the front door slammed shut and we heard heavy bolts slide into place. Every member of Makarovian Security stepped out of their hiding places and fired. All exits were now barred and secured as these men began firing at us! The sound of shattering china or crystal was heard. Peter was pulling me under the table as everyone else did the same thing. There were more pops outside. The ten men doing this…they were now getting it from above the foyer stairs’ landing, the entrance of the music room, living room and dining room. Our men were not aiming for chests or arms. They were instructed to go for the head! They were to die! Our men continued to fire as these men were one by one sent to the ground. The whole thing for now…was over. After the loud gunfire was done, no one moved a second or two as that smell of hot metal and many bullets. And that ever last piece of wreckage finally drops to the ground…now was the silence. Slowly, we began to move. Yuri went over to the bodies of these invading men to see any sign of life.

Boris stood up, brushed some dust or something from his sleeve, scratched the back of his head and sighed. “Well, this will be quite a mess to clean up.”