Dark Desires: Deliverance (5 page)

"Andrei and I
are the only family he has. Now the woman he loves has been taken away from him
and I know for a fact that he would die trying to get her back. He's that
impulsive and Andrei is no better, so I need to guide them through this so that
everyone makes it out alive.

"Vlad wasn't
even the one that called to let me know what was going on because he respected
my wishes to stay away from shit like this for the sake of our family. That
alone speaks to the man that he is becoming because of her." He kissed her
nose and then her lips. "I promise you, I will be back. If this were you
Mihaela
, I know for a fact that he would do the same thing
for me."

She was at a loss for
words to say. There were only two people that she shared her husband's love and
loyalty with excluding their son. There was no way she could stand in
Razvan's
way in good conscience. She nodded her head in
assent and prayed that they all made a safe return from whatever it was they
were about to do.

*****

Vlad, Andrei and
Razvan
- who had arrived that morning, had converted the guest
house into a live in office. Vlad had gone through the email request and after
conducting a thorough background check on the prospective client, he remembered
why he had turned the contract down. Russia was in support of the current
Syrian president and his regime. The Organization known covertly as
Shaebi
that he had turned down was the opposition.
They worked alongside the rebel groups that were trying to overturn the current
government. This meant that getting the contracts signed between the supplier –
of Russian affiliation – and
Shaebi
would
contravene the treaty between the two states.

Fuck! Only the
Americans are supplying the opposition. If I buy from them I will lose all ties
with my Russian associates and if I supply the group through the Russians I
will face charges of treason
. There was no way he
could negotiate Val's release empty handed. He was damned if he did and damned
if he didn't however, he could not take the risk of simply doing nothing.

He heard his phone
ringing. Checking the caller ID he saw that it was Mike on the line and
answered, "Yes."

"I have news but
it doesn't look good."

"What is
it?"

"I've tracked
Valerie down, she's in Saudi Arabia."

At the discovery of
her location, Vlad mind began to put the pieces together. As far as he knew,
Saudi Arabia was against the Syrian regime along with Turkey and the U.S. They
were not involved directly through the military but they were funding some of
the rebel groups. He just needed to figure out why one of the rebel groups
would take up residence in the Emirate state, away from all the action.

"Are you sure
about the location?"

"I'm positive. I
picked up the facial ID of the man she was traveling with through the cameras of
the Qatari airport. She was wearing a veil so I couldn't get a positive ID on
her, but I tracked the number plate of the car they used to cross the border
into Saudi. The passports they used at Johannesburg were logged in at the
border. It's them."

"Okay, I need
you to gather as much
intel
on
Shaebi
who have requested the order. It doesn't make sense for a rebel group against
the current Syrian government to base itself in Saudi, which we both know is
supporting the war from afar. The money they are willing to pay for the
weaponry is not small change. These are some powerful players and I want to
know what their angle is."

"Got
it."

"Mike?" he
said before the call could be disconnected.

"Yes?"

"Is she alright?
Did it look like she had been harmed in any way?"

He heard the other
man breathe out into the receiver of the phone. "I can't honestly tell you
that. She appeared to be fine from the videos of her at both airports."

"Send me the
footage you have on her now and whatever other information you find as soon as
you can."

"Will do"
he replied before ending the call.

Both Andrei and
Razvan
had stopped what they were doing when the call came
through. They could sense the tension that Vlad emanated when he asked after
Valerie's well-being. They waited with baited breath as he finished the call
and hoped to the high heavens she was alright. Based on the fact that he was
not in a full on rage, the news must have been good.

"How is
she?"
Razvan
asked.

"He says she
looked fine but I want to see for myself."

He heard his email
alert and saw the file attachments that contained the footage of his missing
woman. He clicked on one and watched the two interacting. He clenched his fists
when he saw the man take her hand and slip a ring on before he bent down giving
the hand a chaste kiss. When he clicked on the next file, he began to shake in
rage as the man wrapped his arm around his woman's waist and kissed the crown
of her head. The only consolation was the look of annoyance that marred her
beautiful face whenever he displayed affection towards her.
Razvan
placed his hand on Vlad's shoulder in an effort to calm him down and Andrei did
the same on the other side.

In the next two
clips, she was covered from head to toe but the man she had been travelling
with could be seen clearly. He alternated between holding her hand and guiding
her forward with a hand on her back. She appeared to be fine, yet his
apprehension regarding her well-being was at an all-time high when he thought of
the things that man whispered into her ear to make her compliant. This man had
moved to number one on his hit list. He would cut off his hands for touching
her so intimately. That right was reserved for him alone. He had seen enough
and slammed the lid of his laptop shut.

Razvan
could not blame Vlad for his rage. If that were
Mihaela
,
he would also be in a state of fury. However, they needed to maintain their
composure for the tasks that lay ahead of them. Neither he nor Andrei knew
anything about arms dealing so it was up to Vlad to delegate what he needed
them to do. The workload had been split three ways to cut down the delivery
time as much as possible.

Vlad would head out
to Turkey to meet with
Shaebi’s
representatives and Andrei would go with him - he was in charge of the
transportation and personnel.
Razvan
was flying into
Russia's military base where he would contract a new consignment. If everything
went according to plan, they would meet up at the end of the week after
finalising the details of their assignments.

"I'm calling it
a night," Vlad told his brothers as he got up and headed for the main
house. "We'll talk in the morning."

"Goodnight,"
they both said as the door slammed shut with Vlad on the other side.

"So that's
Valerie" Andrei stated as he turned to look at
Razvan
.

"Yea…
"
Razvan
replied, mulling
over his own thoughts.

"She's quite the
hottie
with a body. I can see why he's so gaga over
her." He wiggled his eyebrows with a lascivious grin.

"Watch your
mouth. You saw his reaction to that bastard touching her."

"Yeah I did, but
I was still getting over the fact that she's black."

"What does that
have to do with anything?"
Razvan
asked
surprised at the turn this conversation was taking.

"Nothing, I'm just
surprised. I've seen the women he's had the hots for so she wasn't exactly what
I had in mind. I'm just voicing my surprise over all of this."

"Well, I suggest
you keep your thoughts to yourself. We've lost two brothers and I'd hate to see
what he'd do to you if you said the wrong thing about the woman he's in love
with."

"If you ask me,
love looks like obsession from where I'm standing. You and
Mihaela
now Vlad with Valerie, I must admit she does have quite a nice set of
- "

"Don't even
finish that sentence. If I heard you talk about
Mihaela
that way, I would knock your teeth out and gouge your eyes for good measure to
ensure your perverted mind would never again desecrate my wife!"

"Calm down
Rambo!" Andrei lifted his arms up in a show of surrender. "I'm just
paying the woman a compliment. Don't act like you didn't notice."

Razvan
did notice but he had somehow learned the art of decorum when it came to women
that his brothers had not. He had to amend that thought, Vlad had
learnt,
it was now only Andrei who remained a pig-headed
pervert. "I'm going to bed as well. Are you coming?"

"Yeah, I'm
coming. Vlad is a fucking slave driver. I need my beauty sleep if this is the
pace you people expect me to maintain. I don't even work this hard in my own
business."

They left the guest
house and headed for the guestrooms in the main house. The whole way there,
Andrei chewed his ear off about everything and nothing. He had to admit, his
younger brother was entertaining even though his thoughts tended to venture off
into the gutter more often than not.

After a quick shower,
Vlad climbed into bed and rolled over onto Valerie's side. He could still smell
the traces of her perfume and the body lotion she used on the pillow. When this
ordeal was over, he planned to do something special for her. He had already
come to terms with the fact that he would have to grovel for her forgiveness
after this colossal fuck-up. Maybe they could move to a different country.
Forget everything that had happened here and start afresh.

˜ζ˜

"You are going
to love it! You are such a carnivore so this will be right up your alley. Think
of it as an opportunity to pig out at a fraction of the price" Val told
Vlad excitedly.

"Are you sure
its beef? I'm already weary of buffets because the rumour mill has it that the
food is usually at the end of its lifespan and the meat isn't usually what the
label says it is."

"Of course, it's
beef. What else would it be?"

"I don't know…
horse meat, some wild animal? The point is
,
I just
don't see how a business can stay afloat if they are selling two pounds of beef
for what amounts to less than $10 without cutting corners somewhere."

Val sighed in defeat.
"Okay, do you want to see the process from start to finish? They do have
an on-site butchery.”

"Yeah, come to think
of it, that would make me feel better."

"You are bloody
ridiculous. Pun intended. Do you know how much a cow weighs? And more
importantly, how much it costs to buy one? I swear people who eat at
restaurants and buy from the grocery store or any retailer are experiencing
daytime robbery. They make about -
" Val
ran a
quick mental calculation "a 400% return on their investment. Of course,
you have to factor in labour and transportation and other overhead costs which
would put it in the 200%-250% region but still!"

Vlad smiled at Val in
that moment. She had a natural knack for business. Lately, he had been sharing
more and more details about the current project he was looking to invest in.
Her fresh approach was original and gave him the confidence he needed to buy
in. They were on their way to
Mzoli's
Place which was
a popular butchery and grill. They specialised in T-bone steaks, pork chops,
boerewors,
pap
and
chakalaka
. He had done his
research and there wasn't a bad review to be found, on the contrary, the venue
was featured on some sites as one of the top local hot-spots to visit in the
city. He had merely been riling her up.

When the cab came to
a stop, she got out of the car and stretched. The tight white shorts rose up a
bit higher to cup her perfectly rounded ass and the loose bohemian top revealed
the skin at the small of her back and lower midsection. His cock twitched in
his jeans as a show of appreciation. Getting out of the car, he saw that he was
not the only man to enjoy the view she offered. He paid the driver and placed
his hand on her midsection as he pulled her body into his. The action was an
attempt to block their view and also a show of possession – she was taken.

Leaning down he
kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear, "Babe, your shorts are too
short."

"What?" she
turned around to face him.

"Your ass cheeks
look… more pronounced."

"You saw me put
them on when we were leaving the hotel. Why didn't you say anything then?"

"Because
I liked the view."

"So what's wrong
with the view now?"

"Everyone has my
view now and I don't like it. If they don't stop staring, I may have to
introduce
long pork
as a new delicacy to the menu."

Val laughed at how
seriously he was taking the male attention she received yet failed to notice the
countless other women in shorts, dresses and skirts that were also in the
vicinity. "You are being ridiculous." She reached on her tip toes and
pulled him down to give him a quick peck on the lips. She took his hand and led
him inside. "Come on, I'm starving. I missed breakfast so I'd have space
for all of this
chisa
nyama
!"