Danila was sitting in a car, watching a young woman with a toddler walk across the street as she smiled at the little boy. She walked into the kindergarten building and in a few minutes, emerged alone and began walking back.
Getting out of the car in the darkness of the early morning, he swiftly approached her and began walking with her as she stopped in her tracks, her face changing from neutral to scared.
"Don't be scared. You're Lyosha's sister right?" Danila's eyes sparkled with threat when he looked at her.
The young woman gulped and raised her hand at him and slowly began backing away,
"Please...please...don't...I have nothing to do with him...please..." she begged as tears stung her eyes.
Danila pouted his lips and then smiled,
"Shh...shh...I said don't be scared. I haven't done anything yet. I just want to talk. Get in the car." He firmly grabbed her upper arm and began nudging her to his car but she resisted so he added,
"Do you want little Sasha to see his mom dead on the sidewalk outside his kindergarten? They're going to go out for their morning recess soon. If not, walk." He spoke gently as the young woman was now turning red and breaking down into real tears.
Danila opened the car door for her and sat down in his seat as he locked the car. The young woman sat beside him shaking and crying.
He hated doing this. It was always, always the vulnerable women who were used as leverage.
And it never failed.
"Your name is Masha, yes?" Danila was looking at her with a smile. "Why are you crying? I haven't done anything. Calm down, calm down. I won't touch you." He spoke reassuringly as he looked out the window and scanned to see what was happening outside.
A few gulps later, Masha did calm down and wiped her tears.
"How did you find me?" She asked Danila as she sniffled.
"Masha, come on. You know you can never escape. Just because you moved cities and have a different last name, doesn't mean we don't know that you live in apartment number 37, building number 5 on Soviet Army street." Danila smiled at her as she looked at him stunned. "Time for them to rename the streets, don't you think? We live in the Russian Federation now, there is no more USSR, no more Soviet Army." He spoke matter of factly, like he was discussing it with a friend.
Masha stayed silent and looked down as she sat there, scared for her life.
"Masha, I'm not going to touch you. I just wanted to meet you, that's all. How many kids do you have?" Danila asked her and watched her start crying again.
"T-two" she barely managed to get out as sobs overpowered her body. Danila waited for her to calm down and spoke again,
"Two is good. Your daughter is in grade three right? And Sasha is still in kindergarten. He's a heartbreaker, what a cute kid. Does your husband know what your brother does?" Danila continued on as she tried her best to keep it together.
She shook her head and wiped her nose with her manicured fingers.
"No." She gulped out, "Please, please don't touch my family. We haven't done anything, please...I haven't talked to Alexei in years." She continued crying as images of her dead family floated in her mind.
"Masha...why are you lying? I know you keep in touch. I know everything, Masha. I know that Lyosha really loves you. Like the good older brother that he is. I got lucky, I don't have any siblings." Danila spoke almost mocking her.
"What do you want from me?" She pronounced in a quiet voice as her tears continued crawling down her face.
"Nothing. For now. I just wanted to meet, that's all. Hey, why are you crying so much? I just wanted to meet Lyosha's sister, that's all." He paused but then turned to her and leaned in. "You're pretty...more so than I thought..." Danila leaned even closer and she flinched away from him and pressed her body against the car door.
Danila smiled at her again, but he didn't look kind at all. No, he looked at her like he enjoyed watching her break down and shake from fear in front of him. Like a lethal predator.
"Shh...shhh...it's ok, don't worry so much. If Lyosha really does love you, you won't ever see me again...if not...then we will definitely see and feel each other again...Masha." He quietly said to her and placed his hand on her thigh just above her knee and gently squeezed it.
Masha closed her eyes shut as she shuddered from his touch. Danila lingered for a few more seconds but then let her go and started the car. He silently drove her home and once he pulled up to the building and parked, he asked,
"When are you talking to him next?"
"I don't know. He calls me." She said sniffling, completely destroyed from this encounter.
"Here is his number. You're going to go home now and call him. Tell him Danila says hello and that I came to visit you, just to meet. And that's it. You're a smart girl, Masha, you will know what to say."
Danila unlocked the car while still smiling at her and without a last glance at him, Masha quickly got out of the car and ran into her building.
As soon as Danila landed back in Moscow, his phone rang,
"Alexei! You're quick! I like that. Did you talk to Masha already?" Danila spoke with laughter.
"Danila...why are you scaring my sister like that? Why don't you just come talk to me?" Alexei sounded annoyed, not scared.
"Oh yeah? The way you talked to me while you've been busy looking for a buyer? Not good, Alexei, not good. I don't need to talk to you. Now, you're just going to do what I tell you."
There was dead silence on the other line and Danila knew that Alexei was a smart kid, and understood everything.
"When do you want me to come see you?" Alexei sounded defeated.
"Tonight. You know where to find me." And Danila hung up the phone as he breathed out a sigh of relief.
Fuck, he hated doing all this shit. He just wanted to make money and not play these ridiculous games. But now he was deeply in it.
Danila walked inside his apartment to see Kirill and Mia sitting on the couch together and chatting about something. Mia had her legs in Kirill's lap and Danila understood that they made up.
His day went from bad to worse.
"It's all done. He will come see us tonight." Danila called out into the living room and walked into his room without saying another word.
"What's done, who is coming?" Mia looked curiously at Kirill. Kirill smiled gently at her as he cupped her cheek.
"Just an old friend. I haven't seen him in years."
With their newfound knowledge about Oleg's plan, Kirill and Danila knew they had mere days to finish this. There was no time for Oleg to leave the country, they had to figure out how to circumvent his intentions and end this once and for all.
A massive risk, one or both of them could go to jail for life. There was no way to pay your way out of this, no way to escape Russia's justice system which was 100% on Oleg's side.
But the prospect of Oleg kidnapping Mia and selling her into prostitution made them both choose the chances of lifetime jail without a second thought.
They both asked Mia to give them time before they told her anything. She didn't like that but didn't want to get into another fight with Kirill so she agreed and didn't ask them any details.
Danila increased his and hers security but she still had to perform at the club to keep the semblance that everything was the same.
At 11:30pm that night, Alexei arrived. Walking into Danila's office, he saw Kirill and both surprised and on edge, began to wildly try to figure out what was needed from him.
"Privet Lyosha. Long time no see." Kirill started with a smile.
Alexei was not in a laughing mood. He was nowhere close to having the influence and power they both had but he knew they needed him for something they couldn't pull off themselves.
He felt good about that, like he had a hold over them finally but just as that thought crossed his mind, he remembered his morning phone call with his sister and knew he was trapped.
Danila spoke first,
"Here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell us everything that Artyom was doing for Oleg as it pertains to Mia. And then we're going to tell you what to do. If you slip up somewhere or the plan doesn't go according to plan and it's your fault, your nephew's life is on the line. Another slip up, and then you can decide who goes next, your niece or sister. You refuse to decide, we will end them both. You understand the terms?" Danila finished as he stood at his desk with his arms crossed and looked down at Alexei.
"I understand." He only responded.
"Good. We're both listening." Danila encouraged him and pointed to the couch.
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