Val Read online

We had always known The Civic Centre for two things: pretty tall buildings and Crowd so it was no much surprise that Ms. Davies had chosen this part of town to flag off her campaign to run for District Attorney and of course, what’s a Campaign without its sponsor, Mr. Dmitri Udinov. People claim it’s only a hear-say but a keen look at their body language definitely proved that these two people had an affair going; I suppose that also added to their long list of secrets that had to remain out of public view-or maybe not for long.

  My sniper was in place already as the gentle breeze blasted my face. 8 stories below, there was a valley full of people, most of them raising banners and flags of which most read: ‘Davies for D.A’, if only they saw the other side to things. Newspersons filled the area with all the press vans dispersed about and the cops too loitered around. I reached into my pocket and pulled out Jian Li’s phone, at first it looked absurd considering all the Chinese that was being displayed and I was quite unsure why he’d set his phone’s language to Chinese. Alexia Davies’ name was only a few clicks away because just as I had anticipated, it hovered somewhere on the Frequently Called list.

  “Hello Mr. Li” her voice made memories of that fateful day at the interrogation room flood into my head, it hadn’t changed one bit and I guess it was same with her attitude.

  “Mr. Li should probably be at a morgue by now” I said into the earphone as I walked towards the edge of the roof where the sniper was positioned.

  “Excuse me!! Who’s this?” She replied, I noticed her tone had changed from calm to shock.

  “Oh, and I must say, you look better than the last time we met” I peered through the sniper’s camera, getting a view of her startled look as she turned around in search of whoever was at the other end of the phone call. “Now don’t panic, or at least don’t make it obvious just like I did 11 years ago.”

  “Who are you?” She replied, signaling at a security to come over. Dmitri gave a quick concerned look at her before turning his look back to the crowd.

  “Another victim of yours” I answered, moving the sniper’s target to her forehead “Another victim from years ago.” She was silent for a while as she gave signs to the security to cross check the area again and “get the car ready” I heard her whisper to him over the loud chants of the people and the noise from the speaker.

  “Did you ever ask why you were being paid to jail me?” I asked as I watched the security leave her, taking along two other guys and saying something into his earphone. “It was really smart how you guys pulled that one, using my supposed lawyer to be my very own prosecutor. I should have known, even my granny would’ve defended better than you did at trials.”

  “What are you talking about?” She retorted, loosing off a button from her neck.

  “And then out of the blues, you get pulled out of the case after I’m convicted.” Flashes of the trial came back to me: The jury, the ‘evidences’, the pictures of Morgan’s cold body, Ms. Davies weak defense, my pleading of innocence, it all poured in like a raging sea. I moved the sniper’s target to her chest “Valerina Barkov. I’m sure you remember your clients.” There was a moment of silence but the look on her face showed that she probably had a clue of who it was.

  “Now let’s welcome… our very own person, a servant of the people, an epitome of Justice, Alexia Davies!!” A loud cheer from the crowd followed the announcement, she seemed limp for a second there with the phone still clenched to her ear. I could see the terror in her eyes as she hesitated standing up, Dmitri Udinov jostled her with his elbow gesturing for her to move forward but I could only see her lips move in response. My hands slid into position as my finger felt the trigger; I wanted the press to get a full view of this. The security guy returned whispering something into her ear which made her stand up almost immediately and follow him, the security guard acting as cover for her. I fired into the guard’s thigh which made him fall to the ground creating a clear view at Ms. Davies whose blood spattered as another bullet was buried into her forehead. There was chaos as the crowd jumbled, the cops forcing their way towards the scene and the paramedics which had been on standby swung into action. I moved my sniper to face Dmitri Udinov who jerked in shock as his ‘lover’s’ body dropped to the floor. He rushed towards her and grabbed her phone which she now held loosely before being dragged out of the scene by his guards.

  I grabbed the sniper and flung it back into the case, using the staircase didn’t seem appropriate now- at least not at this point when I could see my next target getting out of sight- so I raced towards the side of the roof, getting over the sill and heading on to the fire escape. The weird gazes and terrified looks from the tenants as I hurried down the fire escape were absolutely inevitable. I got off into the alley and raced towards the main road only to see a wild crowd of people behind yellow tapes but no sign of Dmitri or his car. Dammit, I could hear myself whisper as I rushed over to the other end of the alley where the car was parked. The car tweaked, its door opening slightly and me rushing in, flinging the briefcase to the seat behind. No sooner had I ignited the car than Li’s phone rang. I paused for a moment at the sight of Ms. Davies name.

  “You’re going to pay for this” a grumpy voice started from the other end of the call, “I promise you one thing, I’ll find you and make you suffer.”

  “You already tried once, didn’t work” I replied, reaching for the file to see if there were any useful information as to where he was heading since I knew it couldn’t possibly be his house.

  “Then you must be pretty lucky” he replied, I could feel the rage in his voice. I still couldn’t find anything useful and I couldn’t possibly ask about his whereabouts.

  “No, you were just too weak, and you still are.” The phone beeped as he ended the call and needless to say, I had just made my way to #1 on his Most Hated list. The engines revved and ‘that’ voice came up again except of course this time, it just might prove its worth now.

  “Hey, what USEFUL thing can you possibly do?” I asked, flipping through the file for the umpteenth time.

  “Everything I was programmed to do and that’s classified info.” The voice responded, wrong question, wrong answer and I wasn’t ready to play this Tell-me-what-you-know game.

  “How about tracking a call” I blurted as the idea flashed through my mind, if there was satellite for detecting locations then odds were it sure had high chances of tracing a call.

  “Please plug in your device to the USB port, be sure to-”

  “Done” I interrupted, “Now I need the location from where the last call was made” The screen on the dashboard turned green with cryptic notes running all over it for a moment before a blank screen appeared and then;

  Last caller: Ms. Davies, I skipped the other parts of Device used and Phone number to

  Location: Larson Road.

  Nearest Landmarks: Stripes and Drake, Curtis Yvonne memorial hospital, La Miason hotel, Open store Warehouse.

  Open store Warehouse! The name registered. I quickly flipped the pages of the file again, there it was: Dmitri Udinov…owns a ware house which was bought under a false name. It serves the main purpose of storing K-12. I really didn’t need anybody to explain what K-12 was; it just had to be a tag for one of their many their ‘product enhancer’ (Hard drugs). How Boqin got all this classified information, I don’t know but I must have to admit, he is pretty good. I hit the pedals, throwing the file back to where I picked it as directions were being displayed on the screen.

  “Pull over, I say… pull over” these guys had been on my tail for the past 28 minutes and they seemed to be a diehard set of cops. I had plans and these cops weren’t stopping me. The car screeched as my foot hit the brakes, my hands turning the steering fully and switching gears to Reverse. The car was still in motion but was moving backwards, I could see the shock in the cops’ eye as they slowed down.

  “I’m sorry guys, I know you’re only doing your jobs” I said, pointing at their car. The car screeched at the impact of the bullets as air e
scaped the front tires, sending them through a café’s window, the other car ran into a pole.

  I finally reached the warehouse minutes later and it seemed like Mr. Udinov had arrived just a bit earlier considering the newly made tracks along the graveled floor. I stepped out of the car, taking in my environment. The whole place was almost a mess with loads of abandoned trucks which possibly had been used for transportation and I couldn’t help but wonder why a company like Nervana would still keep them in possession. There were multiple numbers of large containers used for shipping goods, grey clouds floated from behind the building, most likely to have been polluted and the whole environment looked sort of deserted to be an active warehouse.

  The huge metal door creaked open as I forced my way through. The inside was a large hall made of metal with a U-shaped floor above and multiple columns of stacked goods, my best guess, K-12. The hall was poorly lit and it smelt damp and just as it was above, there were columns of stacked goods too, all wrapped in brown coverings except of course, there were more stuff on the ground floor than above. I walked a bit further, unstrapping my guns from the belt on my thighs. There were movements and I could tell but from what direction, I wasn’t sure because of all the random sounds I could pick out. I had gone past four rows already when something whizzed past me, sticking into one of the stacked goods which released white dust into the air. I dashed behind one of the stacks, taking a slow breath. This wasn’t what I planned, I didn’t include any uncalled for casualties for this day but then, it all looked like I’d just have to deal with it. I heard footsteps again and this time, they were more distinct. My heartbeat slowed down, every other thing slowing down with it too as I paid close attention to the elements around me just like Sharon had taught me. I took a sharp turn, my finger hitting the trigger multiple times as I fired. There was a guy two stacks behind where I was, one a bit further and another at the other end of the row. Their cry of agony synced together as I engraved a bullet into them.

  “Look guys, all I want is a little talk with Mr. Udinov” I yelled as I walked with light footsteps away from the spot I had been, the pile of stacked goods acting as cover for me.

  “Last time you talked with someone, she ended up choking on a bullet” was the response from a patently Russian tongue. I smirked; at least he couldn’t doubt my abilities now, not after that demonstration.

  “Come on, we can’t be so sure it was me who did that” I responded, taking a quick look at the dim corners. I heard clanging sounds from above, only to turn and see a figure aiming at me. I fired almost immediately as if I had been programmed to do so and a loud scream followed as the figure dropped the weapon, falling off the railings. I made another turn and was welcomed with a heavy punch on my face, how could I have missed that. I raised up my head to see a huge guy crackling his hands. I shook my head, wiping off the blood that had dripped down my nose. He made towards me and that was when I realized I wasn’t with my gun anymore. Footsteps approached me and the last thing I remember was being hit from behind with something hard.

  “Wakie wakie sleepy head!!!” I still couldn’t decipher if I was in a trance or real life as I felt light taps on my cheeks. My eyelids twitched at the dazzling effect of bright light. I shook my head slightly, my messy hair dangling over my head as I tried opening my eye again. “You think she knows what’s happening?” came the same voice again. I finally opened my eyes but all I could see was a blurred vision of figures around me. The whole world spun before my eyes as I tried comprehending where I was. I could hear whispers and wicked laughter around me as I turned my head from side to side, the bright light still making it hard to see a thing. There was a splash of water on my face, I gasped in shock as the laughter around me got louder. I tried to wipe my face but that was when I realized that my hands were tied behind me, it was starting to make sense now. I was strapped to a wooden chair just under the dangling bulb at the center of the warehouse with a couple of people around me.

  “You’ve been out for 2 days now” I heard the same voice that had threatened to make me suffer. I raised my head to see Dmitri Udinov nibbling on a candy bar, 3 other guys standing behind him. “Okay, I lied.” He said and his companions gave a subtle laughter.

  “Too bad I forgot to laugh” I finally responded, finally getting full control of myself.

  “Oh, you would laugh. Trust me little girlie, you would laugh all you want today.” He replied, flinging off the candy bar’s wrapper. “Now I’m not a big fan of torture, neither are these men here” he got off from where he was seated and walked towards where I was tied “So I’d ask a simple question and you’d give a simple answer” he continued, his Russian accent being so obvious and his head swinging as he spoke- perhaps that’s the only way people got to know when he was being serious since he always kept a smile on.

  “And what happens after I give you answers?” I asked, breathing slowly as I tried giving a blind examination of what was used in strapping me.

  “There’s only one way to find out. How about we start with the questions.” He answered as he pulled out another candy bar from within his coat. He was now only a stone throw from me and I could tell that he just had a shave recently. “Who’re you working for?”

  I giggled lightly at the question, so they did have enemies of their own. Why would I be surprised, they dealt with hard drugs and hard drugs meant cutting deals off other people so there, if they did bid so much to get ‘exclusives’, they were bound to have rivals.

  “See?! I told you, you would laugh all you want today and that’s only the beginning” he replied, his mouth stuffed with candy bar. “Now answer the question.”

  “I don’t work for anybody. YA dazhe ne v etom vide biznesa [Russian: I'm not even into this kind of business]” I answered, as I tried shaking the chair a bit. It was old and most likely weak; it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

  “Ahh, she’s Russian too.” He said in delight, “This should be easier then. Chto vy khotite s Nervana [Russian: What do you want with Nervana?]”

  “Okupayemost [Russian: Payback].And to show the world the monster behind all those pills in their rooms.”

  “Chtoonagovorit o? [Russian: What is she talking about?]” He asked one of his guards who only stared back with a grim expression on his face.

  “Morgan Sanchez, one of Nervana’s biggest ‘assets’ gets murdered after one wrong job and not a single word is heard about it. Like it never happened, like he never existed. What shows up in the news following the massive financial loss that wrong deal caused, Black Hole as you guys called it, is that your products got seized by the authorities.” I paused, “Nervananikogdanebyl chist, ne tak li? [Russian: Nervana has never been clean, has it?"]”

  “Wow!!!” he started, clapping his hands in satisfaction. “You’ve been keeping up with the news but Morgan Sanchez and Project Black Hole? Eto bol'she, chem novosti. [Russian: That’s more than news.]” I had caught his attention now as the smile which seemed to have been plastered on his face faded off. “Oh Wait, you’re the Columbian’s girlfriend that was found in the apartment that day. We just had to do what we did to you for our own interest; at least prison’s better than dying”

  “I’m going back there once I’m done here” I replied, still fiddling with the rope that bounded my hands behind me.

  “No, I won’t let that happen again. Who told you of Black Hole?” he asked as he motioned to one of the guards to get something. I didn’t reply for a while as my hands were still trying to come up with something behind me. The guard returned with a silver colored medium size briefcase which he held open as Dmitri Udinov got out pair of gloves from it. “Kak tebya zovut ?! [Russian: What’s your name?]”

  “Valerina Barkov.”

  “Barkov?! I used to know one Barkov, he’s dead now” he answered as he gave a look that was enough to terrify the ghost out of anybody, I had outgrown that stage of being threatened so it wasn’t working with me. He pulled out a tattered picture from his wallet and put it i
n my face, there were two people in it holding each other and smiling, one was him and the other looked familiar, if only the picture weren’t tattered maybe I would’ve gotten a clearer thought of who it was. “Simon Barkov. He was just too smart to be cheated; I just couldn’t resist the urge I got every time he got up the podium to give a speech on our next brand or research program”. My heart skipped several beats at the mention of the name and all I could mumble to myself was “Papa”.

  I remember that fateful day like it was an hour ago. He died in a car crash alongside my mother on their way home from a fundraising gala; they didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to me. His death was the beginning of all my misfortunes, his research facility got taken away from the family and I was just a child then, what did I know? I got sent to America months later to live with my mother’s family and the memories of all the abuses I got still stay with me. I couldn’t endure it any longer so I left home and the only welcome I got was from the streets-the drugs, the gangs, the drinks, the nudity, all welcomed me with open arms. Now here I was, facing the genesis of my troubles, Dmitri Udinov.

  “Well like I said earlier, I’m not a big fan of torture and I’ve kept my word.” He said as he sucked out the content of a tiny sealed glass container “I forgot to tell you I have my own ways” he tapped the syringe a couple of times before turning to me. “K-12 is yet to be certified but it works magic for diabetic patients. All it does is to breakdown sugar rapidly as soon as it hits the blood stream thereby taking a load of work off insulin. The bad side however, is that at some point, both insulin and K-12 breaks down sugar at the same time and this leads to increased sugar loss from cells and then shrinkage of the body’s cells and eventually…” he paused “…death.”

  “Well thanks for the heads up” I replied.

  He came towards me with the syringe and just as the needle almost broke into my skin, I jerked back with force causing the chair to tilt over, breaking its legs before it crashed to the floor. I flipped over, my hands still bounded together as I hurriedly picked up one of the chair’s broken leg as defense. I battered the leg into one of the guards face, swiftly dodging a punch from the other as I grabbed the former guy’s gun from his side and placed a bullet into the latter guy. Just as I turned, I got intercepted by the huge guy that had hit me earlier. He pulled me so hard by my tied hands that the gun fell off before he tossed me away. It reminded me of that day Morgan was murdered, of the huge guy that bruised my jaw so badly, it opened up the gateway to all of my rage. He breathed heavily, fixing his gaze on me as I stood up. The ground shook underneath my bare feet as he charged towards me in fury, I ran towards him too, calculating my moves. Just as we got within each other’s reach, I ran up his well-built chest in a flash till I was as high as his collar bone before smacking the sides of his head with my foot, blood tricking immediately from his ears and nose but I wasn’t done yet as I wrapped my foot around his neck and attempted a back flip. I barely got his feet off the ground but we crashed to the concrete floor together. My bounded hands found its way about his neck until he struggled for air, the ropes with which I was bound choking him to death. The metal staircase clanged as Dmitri fled upstairs, I picked up the gun and followed slowly, it’s not like he was getting away with this.

  “We could make this all go away, Proshu [Russian: Please]” he cried as I got to the upper floor too. I didn’t reply, there were no words to say now. The barrel pointed at his shoulders as I approached him.

  Bang! “That’s for Papa” he clenched his bloodied shoulder as he let out a loud cry. Bang! “That’s for mama” he dropped to the floor, his two shoulders being injured. I gave him one last look in his eye and all I could see was fear, terror, his end. I saw me there. Bang! The bullet carved a hole in his chest. “That’s for Morgan.”

  I found my way downstairs, picking up my jacket and the syringe from the floor before heading out of the warehouse. My eyes flickered as I emerged from the dimly lit warehouse, the air here had a different feel and there was an instant gust within me. One more evil to purge the world of!

  I walked the distance to the car and reached for the tire where I had placed the key. The down side of this model of Sharon’s car was that anybody had access to its normal functions which of course, doesn’t feel right. The car tweaked open and I got in, throwing my jacket to the seat beside me before reaching for the camp knife at the side of the loaded black bag that lay on the seat. A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I cut myself loose.

  “Alexander Sparks” I muttered to myself, staring at the file in my hands. According to Boqin’s reliable information, he was a sucker for ladies, age sure didn’t matter one bit. I checked the time; the day had started drifting out of noon. I flipped the file over again; Alexander Sparks lived in a hotel in the suburbs of town from where he flew in his Chopper to work if the need ever arose. I revved the engine of the car, “One final round and we’re back to where we started” I said to myself as the car crept out of the Warehouse.

  After a long drive filled with curvy roads and turning effects of leaves from the roadside, I finally arrived at the address. A medium sized building, with an open roof top occupied by people which overlooked the plains ahead. There were cars parked, lots of them and I wondered if news had even gotten to him yet. With all those dead bodies in one day, the cops were bound to be hovering around somewhere or at least be on standby for any suspicious acts. I got out of the car and headed for the path which led to the hotel’s building. The security at the door nodded, pushing the door open for me as I walked through, handbag in one hand. I managed a simple smile back at him and walked towards the receptionist.

  “Good day, I’m here to see Mr. Sparks” I said, trying very much to be patient and not arouse any suspicious thoughts so early.

  “Oh, I guess you’re here for the Valentine special, it’s on the roof top” she replied with a friendly smile. I simply nodded, heading away towards the stairs. The marbled floor staircases with gold painted railings led up to the roof top in a spiral manner. Although not a very big hotel, one could tell that it had class from the manner in which it was setup and organized. I was welcomed with loud music just as I pushed the roof top’s door open. There were people dancing around and I didn’t need a censor to tell me that there were more close-to-naked dressed ladies than half drunk men present there. I walked through all the flirty greetings and look from the men there, in search of Alexander Sparks. It wasn’t until a few minutes later did I see him at the far end of the platform, surrounded with a couple of ladies and some men who laughed out a bit too loudly, only adding to the already existing noise. I reached for Li’s phone within my jacket and beeped Mr. Spark’s phone. I watched him jerk a bit before reaching into his pocket for his phone. He got up from the gathering and kissed the unclad lady who had been lying on his laps before walking towards the edge of the platform. The phone buzzed under my palms as a call came through. I accepted the call, and then ended it immediately just so he got the impression that the service up here was bad. I grabbed a drink from a waiter and walked towards the exit, keeping my eye on him as he stopped at different times to greet people. I tripped over just as he approached the door, he drink in my hand spilling on his shirt as I fell to the ground.

  “I’m so sorry lady, are you alright?” he said in awe, reaching out for me. I gave a short lighthearted laugh as I sat up, giving him a lustful look.

  “I’m fine.” I replied, fixing my hair back “Oh my!! Your shirt’s stained.” I replied, running my hands over the stained portion in an attempt to get the stain off.

  “It’s okay, I’d fix it” he replied with a grin. I could feel myself blushing at a man much older than me. “I’d just have to get to my room downstairs-” he paused staring at me again “you should also get changed or something, your cloth’s stained too” he ended, winking at me. Moments later we were at his apartment downstairs. No sooner had we gotten in than he grabbed my arms, threw it over his neck and lifted me off the floor, his he
ad buried in my chest as we walked towards the bed. I bounced lightly as we fell into the bed, his hands reaching to pull off my pair of jeans while mine fiddled with his belt’s buckle.

  “Wait” I mumbled under his lips but he was far too taken to hear me speak. His hands explored my curves, as he kicked off his shoes, what an addict he was. “Wait!” I whispered again between gasps, pushing him further away from me gently. He finally stopped and got his weight off me.

  “What’s it?” he asked inattentively.

  “I’d love to show you something” I said, sliding out from under him, he fell to the bed and I got on top of him. I took off my shirt and his eye widened as he reached for my skin.

  “Oh no, you don’t.” I teased, blindfolding him with my shirt. “Now just give me one moment” I reached for my bag on the floor and pulled out the syringe I had taken from the warehouse. I got back on top of him and ran my hands over his chest and below before sticking the syringe into his left arm, sending its content into his bloodstream. He jerked in pain as its needle broke through his skin and he removed the blind fold immediately.

  “What was that?” he asked in surprise as I got off the bed.

  “K-12, you should know its capabilities” I answered as I left the room into the bathroom. I emerged later with a hairdryer only to see him with a gun.

  “Who are you?” He asked, pointing the gun at me.

  “Oh come on now, save your strength. Udinov claims K-12 works wonders with diabetic patients; I hope you are because if not, that drug will work way faster than I’m thinking.” I replied, cutting off the long wire of the hairdryer “and I assume you’ve already called the cops”. I threw Jian Li’s phone on the bed.

  “How did-” I interrupted with a punch on his nose which started bleeding immediately. He fell into a chair and I strapped his arms to the chair’s handle.

  “Now let’s see how long this would take” I said, reaching for the remote control as I fell into the seat opposite him. There was news everywhere and I wasn’t shocked one bit when my face showed up at the corner of the T.V as ‘On the loose, armed and dangerous’. Of course they’d know it was me, it’s not like I hid my face or tried staying away from the CCTVs, I was aware of all the negative fame that this day was going to bring me and I wasn’t shying away from it. I turned to Mr. Sparks; his jaw dropped in surprise at all the reports coming from the TV.

  “I-I know you now,” he stuttered slowly, breaking his silence that had been on for minutes now. “You’re the girl from that day” I turned to him; he was worn out as K-12 sure was working wonders with him. “All we wanted was Morgan out of the picture,” he paused, squinting his eye in pain “I’m sorry you turned out a victim.”

  It was too late for apologies now. I watched him gasp lightly for air. He struggled with the chair and moments later, there was silence from his side. The only thing audible was the Live reports of all the murders of the day. I felt at rest with myself, all those years behind bars had been paid for now and there was only one thing I could do at this point, Brace myself for the future.

  About an hour later, the door busted open with Police men trooping in. I remember the look on his face as he barged into the room. He looked totally different from the way he had left the house that morning and there was something in his eyes, it was disbelief, disappointment, but all that didn’t matter now. I stood up willingly from the chair I had been in and tossed the other part of the file Boqin had given me, it sure was time for the world to see the Lies behind the truth. Some men came towards me, pinning me to the ground and I was marched out of the room, handcuffed as the paramedics rushed in.

  “Happy Valentine Parker” I whispered into his ears as I walked past him. I felt a wind of freedom as I walked out the building, sirens blaring and a lot of police cars parked around. I felt the stare of people burrow into me but that didn’t count now to me. I got tucked into the Van and just as I was drove off, I caught a last minute view of Parker as he stared at the moving van, one hand on his waist while the other caressed his fluffy hair.