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She frowned. Unless someone had broken in and stolen it, she thought. She glanced back at the iPod hawker but he was already gone.
Her unpredictable turn had prompted a man thirty feet back to stop awkwardly and turn his head.
Annja smiled.
First mistake. Maybe she wasn’t dealing with professionals after all.
She hurried on, aware of a pungent stench of rotting fish assailing her nostrils. Three stalls of dead fish bedded on ice bracketed the next turn. Annja glanced at them. Even the fish were gray.
She had a decision to make. She could allow her tail to continue his surveillance, or she could turn the tables on him and find out who he was. The first choice was annoying because it meant she’d never be alone. The second choice was the more dangerous of the two. Confronting a tail was always a risk. He might be following her because he wanted to harm her. Possibly, he might even kill her.
Annja closed her eyes for the briefest of moments, confirming that Joan of Arc’s sword–her sword–was accessible. She could see it in her mind’s eye, hovering as it always seemed to. All she had to do was reach out and grab it.
She ducked under a low-hanging portal filled with cheap polyester tapestries done up in gaudy golds and bright reds. She could see the fraying edges and knew that the quality of the material only looked good to those who knew no better and had never had anything better in their lives. To some in this remote outback of Russia, polyester was the fabric of dreams.
She risked a glance back and saw the man clearly. He had no interest in any of the wares being hawked by the vendors. His face was as dour as the rest of the city. But Annja could see the deep lines etched in his face and knew that he had a past–probably that of a hired killer. She knew finding one in this part of the world was easy. And they were always competent.
If they weren’t, they simply didn’t survive.
Annja made her decision. She rushed ahead and instantly heard the yells behind her as her pursuer bumped into one of the fish stalls. Ice slid everywhere and the dead fish followed, causing several shoppers to fall.
Annja ran.
More voices joined the fray. If her pursuer was with the mafiya, most likely he’d be able to enlist some help. But if he wasn’t, then he was risking their wrath by upsetting one of the chief places they made their protection money.
Annja spotted an exit and took it. Fresh air smacked into her face and she saw the narrow alley ahead of her. Grateful that she’d worn her hiking boots instead of her sneakers, Annja raced down the asphalt street.
Behind her, footsteps pounded the pavement. He was close.
Annja skidded into the alley and saw that it was filled with trash. The smell of urine hung heavy in the air. She could smell cheap vodka and the aroma of body odor. Makeshift corrugated-cardboard-box homes dotted the edges of the alley. Annja had entered a town of sorts for homeless people.
She pressed on, dodging the clotheslines that hung between two buildings. Bits of spattered cloth, remnants of winter coats and shirts hung from the lines. Steam from several grates issued forth with a sharp hiss.
The entire alley seemed eerily quiet. Behind her, at the entrance of the alley, the footsteps stopped.
This was where it would get hairy.
Annja ducked low, aware that her vision was being compromised by the crowded nature of the alley. The steam, trapped by the many laundry lines and the clothes they held, seemed to hug closer to the ground, making the alley feel more like a moor drowning in early-morning fog.
Her pursuer would have moved into the alley by now. But he’d move slowly, aware that any one of the boxes might conceal his prey. He might walk right past her. Or she might ambush him.
Annja glanced ahead. Bricks. She frowned. A dead end.
Her heart hammered in her chest. She closed her eyes and tried to reach for the sword. But when she opened her eyes, it wasn’t in her hands. She tried again and then it hit her.
The alley was too narrow to swing a sword.
She almost yelped when the disembodied hand grabbed her around the ankle. She yanked her leg away and shot a kick into the hand. Someone on the ground grunted and she saw the hand retreat.
This was not a place she wanted to stay any longer than necessary.
The air around her grew heavy. Annja could feel his presence now, looming and drawing down the distance between them. She ducked down by the closest cardboard box and waited.
The steam played tricks with her eyes. She thought she could see his body parting the mist like some ship on the sea. And then she saw his feet.
Without even thinking about it, Annja launched herself at him, screaming as she did so. She collided with him, knocking him to the ground. He grunted and Annja felt a breath of air come out of his mouth as the wind was knocked out of him.
She winced. Judging by the smell, he was a fan of onion bagels.
He brought his hands up and twisted, trying to push her off him. She could see his left hand reaching for something in his coat. Annja chopped down with her fist onto his forearm, hoping his coat wasn’t thick enough to dull the blow.
He grunted again and rolled.
Annja slipped off him and scrambled to her feet, her hands held up high.
As he came up, Annja lashed out with a roundhouse kick aimed at his temple. He ducked under it and punched up into the underside of her thigh. Annja jerked back, surprised that he seemed so nimble after being knocked to the ground. Again, he reached inside his coat. Annja ducked her head and flew at him, tackling him around the waist. Using her momentum, she brought them both back down to the ground.
He was better prepared this time and as she landed, his hands were already trying to work the nerve clusters in her neck with his fingers. Annja could feel the sharp twinges as he dug his fingertips into the area under her ear.
She slid away and got to her feet.
“Stop!” the man shouted.
Annja braced herself. The man got to his feet and held his hands up as if he was surrendering. “I mean you no harm,” he said.
Annja frowned. “Really?”
He gestured at his pocket. “Do you mind? I will prove that I am no threat to you.”
“Go slow,” Annja said. “If I think you’re pulling a gun–”
“No gun. Just a note,” he said.
Annja watched as he fished a slip of paper out of his pocket, unfolded it and gingerly handed it to her. She took it and glanced down quickly at the words written on it.
Annja, welcome to Magadan. Please follow Gregor.
He will bring you to me.
Regards,
Bob
Annja looked back up. “Gregor?”
The man smiled. “Da.”
Annja smiled. “Nice to meet you.”
2
Annja followed Gregor out of the alley and back into the open air of the city. He turned and wiped his brow with a smile. “Robert told me you might not be an easy woman to track down. He did not say anything about you not being easy to take down, however.”
“You got the two-for-one deal,” Annja said. “I’m sorry if I hurt you.”
Gregor stiffened. “You did not…hurt me.”
“Of course,” Annja replied quickly.
“You always react this way to people who are behind you?” Gregor asked.
Annja grinned. “Past experience has taught me it’s better to go on the attack than wait for an ambush.”
“You must have some sort of peculiar background for that to be your normal method of behavior.”
“Nothing about my life has ever been normal,” Annja said. “Now, where’s Biker Bob?”
Gregor nodded. “He waits for us nearby. A libation establishment that he prefers to occupy during his awake time.”
“Never heard a bar called that before.” Annja smiled again. “Lead the way. I’ll follow you this time.”
“Perhaps that would be best,” Gregor said. He walked ahead of Annja, navigating the twisting streets and the throngs of people who bustled here and there. Horns sounded as the afternoon turned into early evening and commuters rushed from factories and offices to head home.
“This place gets busy in the evening, huh?” Annja noted.
“This city is not a wonderful place to be at night. Most people go home quickly to their families and dream of a time when they might leave.”
“How depressing.”
Gregor stopped and looked at her. “Have you not noticed how sad this city is? How sad its inhabitants are, as well?”
“It’s kind of hard not to notice,” Annja said.
“What’s the problem? The weather?”
Gregor shook his head. “This is the gateway to hell.”
“That’s a bit extreme. Even some of the grungiest places on Earth have something to look forward to,” Annja said.
Gregor shook his head and gestured at the concrete high-rises that surrounded them. “It is not my name for this place, but rather the people who lived here who called it that. There was a time when this truly was the gateway to hell. Millions of people came here first before journeying to the slave camps outside of the city to mine for gold under the Stalin regime. They say three million died in the mines at Kolyma.”
“This was where the mine workers first came?”
“ Da. Criminals, intellectuals, the poor—under Stalin, it did not matter what you were. If you were perceived as a threat, then you were shipped here to mine for gold. They used the railway to herd workers here first before dropping them off the face of the planet and into the very depths of hell itself.”
“Amazing.” Annja sighed. “Good thing we don’t have Stalin to worry about any longer.”
“The scars of those times will take a very long while to heal,” Gregor said. “My grandparents died in the mines. It is for me a very painful topic. One that is very close to my heart.”
“Maybe they should have destroyed the city when the mines shut down,” Annja said.
Gregor shook his head. “The mines are not shut down. They are under private companies now. The goal is the same—to provide wealth for the Russian government and the investors of the mine.”
“But they don’t use slave labor anymore, do they?”
Gregor shrugged. “Depends on your definition of slave labor, I would suppose. Some would argue that the wages paid to the workers are not much better than what the original laborers received.”
A light drizzle fell from the sky, spattering Annja’s face as she saw the lines around Gregor’s eyes deepen. He sniffed the air and shook his head. “Death on the wind is never washed away, no matter how many times God cries.”
Annja said nothing, but felt a cold breeze whip along the sidewalk. Gregor tugged her arm. “I apologize. Sometimes, I reminisce too much. You have a meeting to attend and I am supposed to make sure you arrive there intact.”
“Intact?” Annja asked, alarmed.
Gregor frowned. “In one piece? Is that better?”
“Either one works. I’m just curious as to why you chose those words instead of saying something, I don’t know, less dangerous sounding.”
Gregor smiled. “Robert told me something about you. He said trouble seems attracted to you. It was his wish I guide you along so that trouble this time keeps its distance.”
“Damned thoughtful of him,” Annja said. “Now, where’s the bar?”
Gregor led her down the street, passing a Mercedes dealership. Gregor nodded at it. “Russian mafiya likes flashy cars. They have the money to buy, so the dealerships come to supply them with their wants.”
“Are there a lot of gangsters around?”
Gregor sniffed. “Russia is run by gangsters now. Some of them wear suits, some wear army uniforms. All of them are dangerous men.”
“Lovely,” Annja muttered.
At the next block, Gregor turned right and the streets narrowed. Farther on, Annja could make out a blinking neon sign in red Cyrillic letters. Gregor nodded. “That is the place.”
When they stepped inside, the heat and the smell of alcohol hit her at the same time. Smoke hung in the air, belched out by a hundred cheap cigarettes all bucking for room in the crowded joint.
Gregor nudged Annja ahead. “Robert waits in the back,” he said.
Annja shouldered her way through the rough crowd. Some of them looked like greased pompadour playboys while others had the look of hunted men and women, all trying to scratch out some type of existence in a place that seemed to reek of death and haunting memories.
Annja spied a couple of Naugahyde booths in back and headed for them.
“Annja Creed!”
Rising out of one of the booths like a tall, rail-thin weed, Robert Gulliver rushed to hug Annja. To Annja it felt as if she were hugging herself, so lean was Biker Bob’s body. Still, she knew that despite his lack of weight, he was lithe and sinewy, with a great deal of strength from all the cycling he did.
“Nice to see you, Bob,” she said.
He hurried them back to the booth. Annja noticed that Gregor did not sit with them but lounged near the bar where anyone who wanted to get to the booth section would have to pass.
“Gregor’s not joining us?” she asked.
