Chapter 41


    It was a perfect night for two young lovers to explore the wonders of the opposite sex and first love. It was just before sunset, and the approaching night was clear, and the late summer temperature was perfect along the Vltava River. Sixteen-year-old Alexey Novak was experiencing what all men do when they first experience the marvels of a woman’s body: absolute wonder and awe! He was amazed how God could create something so similar yet so amazingly different? The beautiful Annika Dvorak was just that person. Also sixteen, she had transformed from a caterpillar to an absolutely stunning butterfly in the past year. Always an attractive girl, her body seemed to transform itself overnight from a young girl into a shapely woman, and all the boys took notice. Annika’s breathing was coming in rapid, shallow bursts from the exploring hands of the boy she had always loved and hoped to marry someday.


    Their passion was quickly extinguished when they heard someone coming up the deserted road. They peered over the tall grass as two vehicles came down the dirt road that ended at the river.


    Alexey’s motor scooter was lying in the weeds just ten feet off the trail but was hidden in the high grass and brush. At first, they thought one of Alexey’s friends had come to harass them. However, that thought quickly vanished when they saw the Mercedes van, followed by what looked like a big silver sedan, slowly drive by and stop at the river’s edge.


    “Who are they, Alexey?” Annika whispered.


    “I don’t know, I’ve never seen those cars before.”


    From over the top of the high grass, they watched as a man exited the passenger door of the sedan and walked over to the driver’s door. He had broad shoulders and was very solidly built, and one of his arms was in a sling. The sight of this man frightened Annika and sent shivers down her spine. He looked very mean. The passenger had a short conversation with the driver, and to Annika’s surprise, he quickly opened the car door, pulled the smaller man out, and threw him to the ground. The second man was much older and seemed somewhat timid and frail. The larger man pulled the smaller man to his feet and shoved him toward the van. Seconds later, there was a loud argument between the two men. The older man seemed to be pleading for his life, and then suddenly he turned and started to run toward the river. To their utter disbelief, the man with the sling casually pulled a pistol from his sling and shot the fleeing man in the back of the head.


    There was very little noise emitted from the gun. But they knew the man was dead because the front of his head had exploded as a red mist escaped from his forehead. Annika let out a sound of sheer fright but was stopped quickly by Alexey’s fast hand placed over her mouth from behind.


    “Don’t make a sound, Annika, or they’ll find and kill us both,” Alexey whispered.


    *****


    Ivan turned at the sound and peered into the woods and high grass. A bird flew over, screeched, and landed in a nearby tall tree.


    "Did you hear something?" Ivan asked Dmitri, who had just stepped out of the van.


    Dmitri just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head and said.


    "Just birds!"


    Ivan scanned the woods for another minute and said, "Load him into the back of the van and be quick about it."


    Dmitri knew the driver''s fate as soon as Ivan jacked his car after the man pulled over to help them. They needed a car, and the Good Samaritan provided it when he pulled over to assist them with their fake vehicle breakdown. He was just glad that it wasn''t an entire family because Rakov would have killed them all without remorse.


    With a long sigh, he grabbed the shirt collar of the man''s lifeless body and dragged him next to the van, pulled him into the back, and shut the door.


    "Now get behind the wheel and drive the van to the river''s edge, then we''ll push it in from there," Ivan ordered.


    Dmitri started the van and pulled it just to the slope of the river''s edge as ordered. He placed the van in natural and was about to exit when he sensed movement out of the corner of his eye. He looked out the driver''s window and was horrified to see the muzzle of Ivan''s gun pointed straight at his face.


    "Drive it into the river," Ivan said coldly.


    “But… but, Ivan…I can''t swim." Dmitri said in a pleading voice.


    Ivan laughed and said, "Then you should''ve taken lessons."


    A few seconds later, he stopped laughing and raised his voice.


    "Now put the fuckin van in gear and drive it into the river, or do you want me to ventilate your fucking head right now?"


    Dmitri had no doubt that he would do it, so he put the Mercedes in gear, and it started to move forward. He just hoped that he could jump out before it slipped into the river. But when the van''s rear wheels broke the slope''s apex, Ivan stepped back and put three rounds into the driver''s door.


    "I should''ve done that a long time ago, you dumb bastard," Ivan said with sincere hatred in his voice.


    The van struck the river hard, then bobbed up and down and started to drift downriver. Ivan watched with amusement as Dmitri climbed out of the driver''s window. He could see that the man was hit by at least one bullet. His left arm was covered in blood. He held onto the van as long as he could until it started to slip beneath the river''s surface; Dmitri had no choice but to attempt to swim to shore.


    One thing was certain: Dmitri didn''t know how to swim, and Ivan watched him flounder in the slow-moving current. Eventually, Ivan got bored with the spectacle. He held the barrel of his gun in the notch of a small sapling along the river bank and fired three shots. The first two missed the mark, but not the last one. Finally, after a few desperate attempts to stay afloat, Dmitri slipped under the surface of what now appeared to be liquid mercury in the fading light.


    Ivan walked over to the Toyota sedan and got behind the wheel. Invigorated, he pulled out a bottle of vodka and took a long drink. He started the car, backed it up, and swung the wheel hard to the left. As the car turned to head back out, the headlights caught a reflection off a bright object a few yards off the road. Puzzled, he stopped the car and walked over to where he had seen the reflection. In the failing light, he spotted the scooter in the tall grass. The mirror on the handlebar was sticking up just enough to catch the light from the car''s headlights.


    Ivan bent down and touched the motor. "Fuck”! It was still hot. Now, the shrill noise raced back to him. Someone was out there, and they must have witnessed what had just transpired. Looking at the motorbike, Ivan suspected it was someone very young, probably a teenager.


    *****


    After Alexey witnessed the man shoot the man in the water, he crawled back to his motorbike and grabbed Annika’s purse. They needed her cell phone to call the police. He had just gotten back to Annika when the lights from the sedan swung past them. They were surprised when the silver sedan suddenly stopped on the road. Then, to their horror, the killer got out of the car, and Alexey’s heart started to race when he saw the man walk straight at his motorbike.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Annika’s hand went to her mouth, and she whispered, “He knows we’re here, Alexey! What are we going to do?”


    “We have to get away from here and call the police.”


    “Follow me and be very quiet… and stay low.”


    They stopped one hundred yards later, and Alexey told Annika to pull out her cell phone. Her hands shook so badly that Alexey grabbed her purse and pulled out her phone. He handed it to her, dropped her purse on the ground, and told her to unlock it.


    Annika did as she was told and handed it to Alexey, who quickly punched in 112.


    Annika started to cry as he pushed the call button.


    *****


    Ivan had no idea who or where this person was, but he knew one thing for sure. He was probably close. Now he just had to find him in case he saw anything. He didn’t want any witnesses that could identify him or the car before he got back to Mother Russia. He looked around and quickly assessed where the individual might be. He reasoned that he would be on the same side of the road as his motorbike and probably toward the river. He ran in that direction, angling slightly away from the road.


    After only traveling twenty yards, he spotted the wool blanket on the ground in a small clearing of short, soft grass. He was only somewhat amused to see a pair of lace underpants off to one side of the blanket. Now, the shrill noise made sense. Two young lovers were out having sex, and they saw the whole thing transpire in front of them. Ivan got down on his knees and looked in the direction where he had killed the two men. They had a perfect view. Ivan knew the girl must have made the noise. Boys don’t tend to be so squeamish about killing.


    *****


    “Sargent Laska, what’s your emergency?”


    “A man just killed two men with a silenced pistol, and now he knows that we saw him, and he’s coming after us.” Alexey’s voice was calm despite his situation, although it contained a sense of urgency.


    “What’s your name? And where are you right now?”


    “My name is Alexey Novak and I’m with Annika Dvorak.”


    Alexey described the killer and told him about the Mercedes van that was driven into the river with the dead man inside and the silver sedan that the killer was now driving.


    “What color was the van?” Sargent Laska wondered if it was the same Mercedes Sprinter that was involved in the killings in Prague.


    “It was a dark blue or black.”


    “Where exactly are you, Alexey?”


    “We’re on the east side of the river and south of Roztoky, where the large ravine comes into the river. We’re heading up the north slope along the river.”


    Sargent Laska knew precisely where they were. It was an isolated area popular with young people looking to party and have sex.


    While Alexey was talking with the police, Annika kept a lookout for the killer. Suddenly, she saw movement through the trees.


    “Alexey, he’s coming our way fast.” She said too loud.


    “I have to go; please come quick.”


    Alexey turned toward Annika. “Keep quiet; you’re going to get us killed. Just follow me and keep up,” Alexey whispered.


    They started to run. Alexey tried to shove the cell phone into his back pocket, but it slipped out of his hand and was knocked into the weeds by the back of his calf. He stopped suddenly, and Annika almost ran into him.


    “What’s wrong, Alexey?” she asked with obvious concern.


    “I dropped your phone. We have to find it.”


    They both looked for it on their hands and knees; however, it was nowhere in sight.


    After a short search, Alexey said, “We have to leave it. Let’s go!”


    Alexey knew the area like the back of his hand. He lived on a small farm not far from there, and he and his father did a lot of bird hunting in the ravines along the river. Only thirty seconds into their escape, Annika started crying again.


    Alexey stopped, grabbed Annika by her shoulders, shook her, and then he said in a low voice, “Annika, I know you’re scared, and so am I, but we need to keep very quiet. I want to get to that cave I took you to not long ago. The entrance is small, and I don’t think he’ll find it?”


    Annika just nodded and brushed back her tears.


    “We can be there in a few minutes, but we must hurry.”


    “I love you Alexey,” Annika whimpered.


    “I love you too, Annika; now, please, we need to be quick.”


    Alexey grabbed her arm, and they started up the hill to find the cave.


    *****


    Ivan had only fifteen minutes to find them before the sun was down. However, another event by Mother Nature was about to complicate things. It was going to rain. The winds had picked up from the north, and the skies turned much darker and unpleasant looking. In the distance, Ivan could see lightning flashes, but the report of thunder took a long time to reach his ears. He cursed his luck. Nothing was going right for him on this assignment; first, that fucking Chakinski, and now this. He slipped his left arm out of the sling and ran in the direction of a small hill that sloped down to the river; that’s where he would go. He came across a game trail and followed it along the ravine and up the hill. After two minutes at a full-out run ignoring the pain on his hip, he paused to rest and listen. He didn’t hear a thing, only the sound of his labored breathing from his years of smoking. He was about to turn back when he spotted movement through the brush and trees approximately forty yards further up the hill. He raised his pistol, elevated the barrel to compensate for the distance and elevation, and fired four quick shots.


    *****


    They were only thirty yards from the small cave entrance when Annika screamed out in pain; she had been hit in her right thigh, eight inches above her knee. Alexey turned and saw Annika lying on the ground. At first, he thought that she had just stumbled, but then he saw the blood and was instantly at her side.


    “Oh, my God,” was all Alexey could say when he saw the bullet hole leaking blood.


    He immediately took off his belt, placed it around her upper thigh, and cinched it tight. He then took off his shirt and wrapped it on the bullet wound, hoping to stop the bleeding.


    “Leave me, Alexey. Get away before he comes,” Annika said barely above a whisper.


    “I’ll never leave you, Annika. I will die with you if I have to.” Alexey bent down and kissed her as tears ran down her face.


    *****


    Less than a minute later, Ivan stood over them with his Beretta pointing at Alexey’s chest.


    “Why, isn’t this a touching scene,” Ivan said mockingly.


    “Why are you doing this to us?” Alexey shouted with hatred in his voice.


    Ivan ignored his question and asked, “Did you call the police?”


    “No, we don’t have a phone,” Alexey shot back angrily.


    Ivan could see that the young man had no cell phone in the back pocket of his tight jeans.


    “Get up and turn around slowly,” Ivan said, motioning with his pistol.


    Alexey complied and said, “You see, I don’t have a damn phone. Now leave us alone; we won’t tell anyone.”


    “Oh, I know you won’t tell anyone,” Ivan said with a sneer.


    Alexey knelt down and returned to his girlfriend’s side. When he looked back up, Ivan whipped his pistol to the side and brought it down across the side of Alexy’s head.


    Annika screamed, “Leave us alone; we’ve done nothing to you.”


    “That is true, but unfortunately, you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnessed something that you shouldn’t have seen. Now you’ve left me with no choice. I’m going to ask you just one more time. Did you call the police?”


    Blood was streaming down the side of Alexey’s face from a gash opened up just above his left eye.


    "No, I told you we don''t have a cell phone." Alexey yelled.


    "Is that right? I just want to make sure that you understand my concern. Now back the fuck away from the bitch, or I''ll put a bullet in your head."


    Alexey slowly moved backward, and Ivan bent down, transferred the Beretta from his right hand to his left, and held it on Alexey. He checked the pockets of Annika''s jeans, then he placed his hand under her blouse, found her firm breasts, and started to fondle her, all the while looking into Alexey''s eyes.


    "I can see why you like this young slut. Your little girlfriend has nice tits. And I would be willing to bet that''s not all she has; that''s nice. I just might have to sample it myself before I kill her. You can watch if you like. I''m sure she won''t mind. But I''ll have to put a few slugs into you first so you can''t run away. I''m sure you understand. What do you say, you little whore? Would you like that?"


    Ivan turned for a second to look into her face, and when he did, Alexey screamed and launched himself forward, driving his head into Ivan''s injured shoulder.


    *****


    Ivan was surprised by the quickness of the young Czech, and although he had his pistol pointed at him, he didn’t get off a shot. Alexey was only half of Ivan’s weight, and he was no match against the much larger man, but the blow to his shoulder caught him off guard and sent a shock wave of pain through his entire body. The impact of the blow caused Ivan to lose control of his Beretta, and it fell harmlessly into the tall grass and brush.


    “Aahhh, you fucking little cock sucker. You are dead, you hear me! You’re fuckin dead. But first, I’m gonna cut your fucking balls off and shove them down your fucking throat before I kill you.”


    Alexey heard every word coming from the enraged man’s mouth, but at the moment, he was more concerned with finding the man’s gun before he detached his testicles and served them up for dinner.