The Blacklist (sequel to The Reluctant Spy)

An Encounter With Russians

Nyssa washed her hands and changed out of her work shirt. She took her hair down and turned to Jo who had a confused but excited look on her face. Nyssa knew that she would have to explain what they were about to do, but there was very little time for the full story.

"What's going on?" asked Jo.

"It's a long story. I can't get into it right now, so I'll have to give you the Cliff Notes version. Karen lives across the street with her son Danny. They are being harassed by a Russian loan shark. I'm trying to keep them from killing Danny before we can pay them off," Nyssa explained before they headed out the door toward Karen's house.

The moment Nyssa stepped outside, she saw the first obstacle. The men had already gained access to the house and left a single man guarding the front door. He was a man in his late fifties with thinning hair. He was a large man but was not overly muscular. He looked out of place for a guy involved in this type of work. Of course, it had been Nyssa's experience that appearances are always deceiving.

There was no real way to ascertain how many were inside. Nyssa would have to take the chance and go in from the back.

"You see the guy near the front door?" she asked Jo.

"Yes... You want to go through the front?"

"We need to split up and cover both sides."

Both Nyssa and Jo started walking down the street looking as casual as they could.

"Give me a couple of minutes to get around to the back of the house. Can you take the guy in the front and go inside from there?"

"Oh, yes," Jo said with a smile. Nyssa returned her smile knowing that Jo was enjoying this little adventure of theirs.

"Okay, remember to give me two minutes before you go in, and be careful. He might be heavily armed."

As soon as they were out of the watchman's line of sight, the two women crossed the street and split up. Nyssa took an alleyway through the back gardens and doubled back toward the house. Jo walked back toward the front but stopped at the gate and waited. She checked her watch while also checking the street. She wanted to make sure there were no other guards and no innocent civilians walking along the street. The last thing she wanted was to see anyone get hurt who did not deserve it.

She checked her watch again and saw that it was time. Jo casually walked into view of the house and the guard. She had her jacket on with her hands in her pockets. She headed for the steps like the guard was not even there when the man held up one hand to stop her while his other hand rested on something behind his back.

"Who are you? You cannot go in there," the man said with a Russian accent.

"Private party," he added with a smile.

"Oh, I can go in. I'm the guest of honor," Jo said returning the smile.

The man pulled a gun from behind his back just as Jo kicked him in the groin. She grabbed his wrist as he bent over in pain and twisted the gun out of his hand. She slammed the barrel across the back of his head knocking him to the ground unconscious.

"You, however, are not," she said and continued up the stairs to the front door.

Nyssa entered from the back of the house, quite surprised not to see another guard posted there as well. Perhaps, Mikhailov was more arrogant than she thought.

Nyssa heard screaming and groaning coming from the living room as she entered the house. She carefully closed the back door and quietly walked down the hallway toward the commotion.

"PLEASE... We don't have the money. Please don't hurt him," screamed Karen.

"Your son is very late with my money," said the older man with a heavy Russian accent.

Nyssa crept into the room to see a large muscled man pinning Danny's arms behind his back while another muscled man pounded his stomach with his fists. Danny coughed and was having trouble standing upright. Karen was seated at the far side of the room with an older, thin man with long grey hair standing behind her. His hand rested on her shoulder. With each punch, Karen would try to move toward her son but was restrained by the older man.

"Karen, you know, I could hear the noise all the way across the street and thought I might come over and join the party," Nyssa shouted to get the attention of everyone in the room.

"Who are you?" asked the older man. "This is a private conversation."

"I'm assuming your name is Mikhailov. Look, this is not necessary. These are good people."

Nyssa slowly picked up a magazine from the small table next to her. It looked like a magazine journal of cats. She slowly walked into the room rolling up the magazine in her hands. The two men tossed Danny onto the floor and turned to face her as she approached them.

"This man is late with my money. This is none of your business," said Mikhailov.

"I understand that. There's no need for violence. I mean, come on..."

One of the men placed his hand on Nyssa's shoulder. She moved like lightning, twisting her arm around him to lock his arm under hers. She poked him in the throat with the magazine then grabbed him from behind his neck to pull his face down and make contact with her knee. The movement smashed his nose, dripping blood all over the floor. The man fell to the floor in pain.

The other man threw a punch but was blocked by Nyssa who returned with a jab to his ribs. The man pulled a gun from behind his back with his other arm, but Nyssa was quicker. She grabbed his hand and hit him in the throat with the magazine stunning him long enough for her to twist his arm down and break his wrist. The gun fell to the floor. She elbowed the man in the face and kicked the back of his knee with the heel of her foot. He fell down to join his friend on the floor.

Nyssa picked up the gun and stepped away from the two men on the floor. Both of them were coughing, trying to recover from the fight.

Mikhailov merely stayed rooted in his place behind Karen, clapping his hands while he chuckled.

"Very impressive," he said.

"I said we don't want any trouble. We're trying to get you the money. Now, back off," said Nyssa while keeping the gun in her hand pointed at the two men.

Mikhailov turned to look behind him when he heard the front door open. Jo came into the room pointing the gun at Mikhailov. She slowly walked into the room and circled the two men still lying on the floor to join Nyssa.

"Very well. You have three days. After that, if I don't see my money, it will be on you as well.”

Mikhailov turned and left the house. The other two men picked each other up off the floor and crept out the front door following their boss. Once they were gone, all three women picked up Danny and carefully seated him on the couch.

Karen went into the kitchen to get an ice pack while Jo examined Danny's injuries. Nyssa conducted a perimeter check around the outside of the house to make sure that Mikhailov left completely. Nyssa returned to the house just as Karen placed the ice pack on a large, black and purple bruise forming on Danny's ribs.

"Three days? How are we going to get the money in three days?" asked Karen as she sat down next to Danny.

Danny winced in pain when the ice pack came in contact with the bruise. His breathing was painful but not labored, so Jo was sure there was no broken ribs. But, she told them to go to the hospital just to be sure.

"We're hitting the club tomorrow night. Danny, do you think you could recognize that safe if you saw it again?" Nyssa asked.

"Yes, it looks like one of those old-fashioned kind you see in films. Hang on! Zach only takes investors into the back office. How are you going to do that?" asked Danny.

"My friend is going to pose as an investor."

"Is it that nice man who came with you the other day? Your mother likes him," Karen smiled.

Jo looked over at Nyssa whose face turned red from embarrassment. Jo turned away and smiled. She did not need to ask who that was.

"Yes, well, my mother has her quirks." Nyssa swiftly changed the subject. "I'll come by with pictures of safes, and you can pick it out for me."

Without going into detail, Nyssa explained her plans so that Danny and Karen would understand. Of course, Karen had to explain again in simpler terms for her son.

Nyssa promised to help fix Karen's front door lock later in the day, and the two women left. Nyssa braced herself for a slew of questions that was on Jo's mind as they walked back to Marilyn's house.

"So, what is going on between you and Lucas?" she asked with a smile.

"What?" Nyssa asked abruptly. She was not expecting that to be her first question. "Nothing... Nothing whatsoever."

Jo laughed.

"Oh, I've noticed how he looks at you, how you look at him. You even act differently around each other."

"He's decided to help me with this case. That's it!" Nyssa snapped.

Jo was surprised by Nyssa's tone when she spoke. She watched Nyssa's expressions change as she increased her pace back to the house. There was more to their story than what she was saying. Nyssa's sudden burst of anger had proven that.

Jo decided that now was not the best time to tease Nyssa about Lucas. She could tell the conversation was making her uncomfortable.

After they reached the front door of the house, Nyssa turned to Jo. Her expression softened as she placed her hand on Jo's shoulder to stop her from going inside.

"Jo, I'm sorry for snapping at you a second ago. I'm not good with talking about these things to people, so what's going on between me and Lucas is private. I really can't talk about it right now.”

"That's fine." Jo smiled. "It's not my business. I shouldn't have asked."

They both nodded in acceptance. Nyssa reached for the door handle when her mobile phone rang. It was Lucy. Nyssa excused herself and walked away for more privacy. Jo nodded again and walked back into the house while Nyssa continued with her conversation.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Nyssa.

"I thought you would like to know that I've tailing your Egyptian spy, and I think I know of how you can get close to him. Meet me in front of the hotel."

"Alright, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Nyssa hung up the phone and went inside. She finished cleaning up then made her excuses before leaving for the hotel.

Nyssa parked her Indian a few blocks away and walked toward the front of the One Aldwych Hotel. She found Lucy facing the hotel on the opposite side of the street. Lucy pointed at a middle-aged balding man waiting at the entrance.

"There he is. He's waiting for his Mercedes." said Lucy.

"Wow! He's lost a lot of hair," Nyssa commented while still keeping an eye on him.

"I've been tailing him for a while. He eats at expensive restaurants, drives a luxury rental. He lives pretty good for a spy."

"It mostly comes from bribes. So, when do you think would be a good time?"

"I'd say the day after tomorrow. He's having lunch with a couple of delegates from the conference at this Lebanese restaurant."

"Great! The sooner, the better."

"And, then what?"

"You know what." Nyssa was growing frustrated that her sister was steering the conversation back to their tired, old argument. "I get Bakari to find me a copy of the blacklist memo, and I finally get a name."

"And, then you get your old job back, and it's off to the races." Lucy was sounding just as frustrated as her sister.

Why can't she see what is right in front of her?

"Lucy... Not now... I can't do this now," Nyssa said before she turned away and headed back down the street toward her Indian motorcycle.

"You're gonna have to talk about this eventually," Lucy called out before she breathed an irritated sigh. She watched her sister for a few more seconds before turning in the opposite direction toward her car.

Unknown to the two sisters, a third person watched the entire scene from the driver's side of his vehicle. He snapped a few pictures and waited for the girls to leave before he pulled out into traffic and drove away.

Reviews are most welcome. I hope you have been enjoying this story so far.