The Search II

It sure had its benefits to be an Astor. Like the men and illegal shit, I was able to do without anyone interfering into my business. Especially when it helped my family and friends, I was down for whatever and couldn’t be controlled nor convinced to go a route that only would, in my humble opinion, complicate things.

Aiden and Levi decided to go after the hotel manager as well as the staff that was clearly hiding something. Especially Aiden was keen on finding out when the hotel was exactly built, insisting on seeing the original architecture plan and who owned it. I didn’t understand it, yet I knew that he was after something that couldn’t not be helpful.

I turned my head to the side and watched my best friend lean back. He had his eyes closed and was breathing silently through his nose. From the outside it might appear like he was resting peacefully, but I knew better.

The tension in his body, the locked jaw and tapping of his fingers were all clues that he was anything but peaceful.

We were currently observing a location to find more clues about the whereabouts of the little Volkov girl. Eli and Creighton got into a fight before when they found out that someone was messaging the Volkov’s with fake messages about her well-being. The crazy tatted Sokolov boy had some IT guy hack into the system to find out if there were others who used Annika’s phone number to send her parents messages. And not so surprisingly there was, which confirmed Aiden’s theory only more, that the fuckers behind this were definitely trying to prevent the Volkov’s and the mafia to get involved in this.

The IT guy also found out that the last message “Annika” had sent told her parents that the internet got horrible over the last days which is why she wasn’t able to facetime, when her mother asked her if they could one evening. That message was sent from here, a haunted looking place in the middle of nowhere. 

We were here for almost three hours now and I could tell that Xander was close to combusting. It was hell for him to be away from Cecily now that he got her but he was a loyal friend and the image of almost losing his daughter only fueled his desire to find the other girls so his friends wouldn’t experience what the Sokolov family didn’t even know about yet.

Mia Sokolov was dead, and it all sucked us into a horrible reality that none of us wanted to be in. That could happen to Annika, Glyndon or Ava and solely for that reason Xander was pushing through though his worry and urge to get back to his princess was vibrating from every cell of his body. Me on the other hand? 

I realized that I was a horrible dad.

Because I welcomed the opportunity to not look into the dead eyes of my son.

When Remington told me what happened to Ariella I almost vomited right then and there. I remember how my hands were shaking and memories from a dark past had engulfed me in that exact moment. Pictures of women with bunny ears and high cliffs overflooded my brain, triggering echoes from a past I never wanted to think of ever again. My blood boiled thinking of what Ariella had been through, her body clearly remembering the violence when her mind couldn’t keep up yet. The little princess was waking up every hour with either a scream or a sob, not being able to recollect what made her cry and what was going on.

Cole? Cole was a fucking mess. His collected demeanor was breaking with every tear that Ariella was losing and so was his sanity. Silver had called multiple times, but he wasn’t able to pick up because what should he say?

I didn’t tell him what had happened to his daughter, and I knew that Aiden also knew about it. I wasn’t so sure that he had told his cousin yet, but I understood that he didn’t want to involve any girl-dad into the dark truth that would make them lose their minds quicker. Especially when the girls weren’t in safety yet.

Teal had tried to call too. My Belle was worried sick and I knew that she was probably also trying to be there for her sister and friends by getting some information from me but I wasn’t.. able to face her right now.

Teal loved Ariella. They had a special bond since she was younger because little Ari was also called to the dark aesthetics like my wife. She wasn’t as deeply into the goth vampire world as she was, but she had love for a certain gloomy and depressing atmosphere that made them bond over the time. 

My wife had been over the moon when Remington and little Nash started dating and even said to Remi that this was the proudest she has ever been of her son. So how the fuck was I going to call her and explain to her what had happened? 

I wasn’t able to lie to her, but I also didn’t want to burden her with the truth because a) she would die internally when she couldn’t tell Silver about what happened to her daughter and b) it might trigger her brain of memories of her horrible childhood like it did with me. And I couldn’t risk that.

I wanted to be there for her when the truth would hit her. It was paradox that I wanted to be there for her but couldn’t for my son because I… just couldn’t look him in the eyes. 

Remington and I always had a close bond and we never shied away from expressing our love and care for each other. He could always talk to me, tell me about his crazy adventures – which made me proud because I saw myself in this boy – as well as problems that his friends couldn’t see because that was how Astor men were. Loud with their happiness but silent with their pain.

And I never wanted him to go through the broken-trust me and my dad went because of that fucker of an uncle I had.

I always wanted to be there for him and yet here I was, not being able to tell him that everything was going to be fine.

I’ve never seen my son this pained, and I just couldn’t endure watching him like that anymore which is why I was here, far away from the hotel and his devastated expression whenever Ariella clung onto him. 

The vibration of my phone interrupted my thoughts when a familiar number was visible on the screen. It was Nikolai’s.

Xander next to me sat up upon also recognizing the number when I picked up.

“Another message was sent. I will send you the location, as well as the message”, he said clipped before he ended the call.

Mere seconds later a message popped up with the location and an audio attached to it.

“Hey Mum, we are at the airport right now. I won’t be flying back to England but instead am surprising you guys! So, surprise” She giggled. “Don’t worry about school next week, you will know why when I arrive. Pick me up at the airport? Love you!”

I furrowed my eyebrows scanning the address.

“The airport?” Xander asked. And he didn’t mean Annika’s voice message, he meant the location which was clearly the airport.

Why was the location the same as the voice-

Xander gasped suddenly next to me eyes widening.

“The airport, fuck Ronan, the fucking airport. She is there!”

“But why would she be where-“ My eyes widened as realization slammed into me like a brick stone. Without further discussion I backed out of the hiding spot and drove through the streets not caring about the speed limit. 

Surprising you guys.

You will know when I arrive.

Pick me up at the airport.

“Fuck FUCK!”, I screamed, slamming the steering wheel. This message wasn’t an empty one, like the others. They weren’t lying to hide Annika’s true location. They were actually telling the truth. The fucking goddamn truth because they would send Annika back to their parents.

But not as they would expect her.

Not alive.

--

We arrived at the airport at the same time as Jeremy Volkov. After we figured out what was going on, Xander had called him and explained to him what we believed was the scary situation. Him and his men immediately started scanning the airport whilst Nikolai’s hacker friend got into the system to look through all the passengers to find a hint. The fucked up thing was, we didn’t know if Annika was alive.

She could be dead by now and would be just sent off today because today was their official departure and they only waited for the right time.

There was no one in the system named Annika Volkov which only made things worse because that definitely meant she wasn’t actually flying as a passenger.

When Jeremy got out of the car Cecily followed him.

“What is my daughter doing here, Jeremy?”, Xander almost barked, remembering where he was, he turned it into a threatening hiss.

“I’m not leaving her out of my sight anymore. She is safer with me than with anyone else.”

Jeremy’s bodyguard – I think his name was Ilya – joined the two.

“You motherfucker, here are people who were clearly after my bab-“

“Papa”, Cecily’s soft scared voice interrupted him. “I didn’t want to be away from him. I’m.. I’m scared to be alone” Cecily fought with her tears but swallowed them down knowing very well, that her dad wouldn’t be able to endure it. My best friend took a deep breath and pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair.

“Promise me you stay close by and never ever leave my or Jeremy’s side, okay?”

She nodded immediately, her hands finding her boyfriends. We entered the airport, the people inside definitely not knowing that they had fucking kidnappers and murderers amongst them. 

Jeremy was standing in front of us, hand tightly wrapped around Cecily’s, Ilya standing on his other side. He looked murderous but by the way he was scanning his surrounding, analyzing every passenger that was passing us I could tell that he was on the verge of panicking because he couldn’t tell for sure if his sister was alive.

He commanded his men, that had accompanied him in masses, in Russian which made them spread into different directions.

“What if-“
“No”, Jeremy interrupted Cecily who was, like us, thinking about the worst case scenario.

Xander tensed next to me, obviously not liking the tone Volkov spoke to Cecily with but there was a mutual understanding that he couldn’t blame him for not wanting to think about Annika being dead. We started walking, observing the Check-In counter and trying to stay away as far as possible from the police that were set at some corners.

I looked around when a family passed us, a little child smiling happily whilst trying to push a suitcase, that was obviously too big for him when something popped up in my mind.

I picked out my phone, dialing the number that called me last. 

“Niko – scan the luggage and packages!”

“What?”

“Do as I told! Look up if there is a bag, a package or delivery of some sort that is addressed to the Volkovs!”

I watched Jeremy’s eyes widen when he realized what I was saying and picked up his own phone to make a phone call.

We were now rushing towards the suitcase delivery section when Niko called back.

“Fuck man, there is seriously a bag that is addressed to the Volkov’s” I tried not to look at my friends in front of me, but Xander caught my eyes and cussed, yet again the worst case scenario overwhelming our minds.

“Where?”

“You guys must get to the storage. I will hack into your phone and tell you where to go”

Looking at Xander I pointed at my ear, mouthing ‘airpods’ when he nodded understanding, picking out his from his jacket.

I instantly put them in and waited for Nikolai to tell us the direction.

Not so surprisingly we had to leave the terminal and get into our cars to get directly to the runway, where the planes would take off. Jeremy had already collected his man by now, that were following us with big Range Rovers. 

Soon we saw out destination so I hung up on Sokolov. Xander’s phone then went off. He picked up putting the speakers on and I heard Creighton King on the other line.

“Uncle, Nikolai won’t let me in. I know you have a location” He groaned in pain. “Tell me. Please tell me!”

“I can’t Creigh-“

“I HAVE THE RIGHT TO KNOW!”, he screamed, interrupting him. Xander took a deep breath, trying to not bite off his fist.

“Creighton I will call you as soon as I..” he hesitated for a mini second, trying to find words that wouldn’t allow Creighton to know that we weren’t even sure if she was alive. “.. as soon as I find her. I promise son!”

“There is more you’re not telling me. Something happened to her”, he deadpanned, his voice barely audible now.

“No. I’m calling you back, Creigh. I promise!”, he ended the call without waiting for an answer.

We exchanged a look, and I knew that we both made a single prayer, hoping that Creighton wouldn’t have the same fate as Landon.

Jeremy took the lead as he understood where we were heading, when we crashed through the barricade that didn’t allow passengers to enter the runway. The security didn’t even have a change as we watched a gun coming out from Jeremy’s window, knocking everyone out that was getting in his way.

I passed him again when we reached the big landing strip, a plane in the distance starting while others were still loading luggage.

Nikolai had told me the gate number and where to find the right plane so when I found it I hit the brake harshly, Xan already jumping out when the black cars following us surrounded the plane. 

Jeremy got out of the car, Cecily instantly rushing to his side, hiding behind his back.

Volkov yelled a command in Russian again that made his men take out his gun and aim at the workers that were loading the bags. They were four men that held their hands up, seemingly surprised and scared when Jeremy passed them, pushing Cecily into Xan’s arm. I stepped forward to follow him, but my best friend pushed his daughter to me telling me with his eyes, that I should take care of her. 

I intended to turn around and put Cecily into my car when suddenly one of the workers had managed to use the moment of silent exchange to aim into Jeremy’s direction and shoot.

“JEREMY!”, Cecily screamed but I caught her before she could run towards him. The guy who had shot was immediately gunned down when the other workers behind the bags.

“NE MERTV!”, I heard suddenly Jeremy scream. I rushed to his side with the protection of his men when I realized that it wasn’t him, they had shot but-

“XANDER!” I rushed to his side, Cecily screaming for her father the moment she saw him with blood on the floor. 

“Stop screaming Astor, I can hear you for fucks sake!”, my best friend groaned, blood oozing out of his shoulder.

Jeremy kneeled down, taking off his shirt instantly to help my best friend up so he could lean against his chest.

He used his shirt to press it against the wound.

“Papa!” Cecily cried, unsure where to touch him.

“Hey, hey baby I’m okay. It’s just my shoulder I’m really fine!”, he cooed, stroking her face and cussing himself when he realized that blood had dripped down his arm and tainted his daughters face.

He sat up slowly, groaning when I pulled him up, throwing his healthy arm around my shoulder.

Jeremy’s men approached from behind, holding the three men that had survive the shooting, and asked him something in their mother tongue.

“Where is my sister!”, Jeremy asked, death dripping from each word. 

The captured men looked at each other when Jeremy lost his patience and picked out a knife from God knows where and slid one of the men’s throat open. Cecily gasped in shock and hid in my chest, between me and Xan.

“I’m not asking again”, Jeremy growled, stepping closer to the last two.

“Already in the plane, behind the red cartons!”, one of them finally spoke in perfect English. That’s when Cecily’s head shot up and she dared to look at them again. 

She tried to step closer when Jeremy held her back.

“Lisichka-“

“Speak again!”, she demanded suddenly. I furrowed my eyebrows.

Jeremy clearly was confused too but he looked at the men to do what she wanted. 

“Want me to read you a poem, Knig-?”

Volkov didn’t even wait for him to finish his sentence when he slammed him down with his fist, making him groan in pain.

Cecily’s little frame started shaking when realization spread across her face.

“It’s him.”

“Cecy, what are you saying?”, Xander asked, leaning against me as he tried to keep his pained groans for himself.

“It’s him who called Glyn the ‘King Girl’, Papa! It’s him. I recognize his voice when they took me out of the car.” 

Jeremy pulled her against his chest when he nodded towards his men to bring them away. Clearly when it came to Glyndon it was Captains concern. And probably also the Carson boys.

“Jeremy”, Xander spoke, his panting getting heavier. “Go look for your sister!”

The latter nodded, his jaw setting for a moment. “Thank you”, he said, his eyes moving to his hurt shoulder and back then to his face.

Cecily blinked confused, surely not understanding what the exchange was about but she could later figure out that clearly her overprotective father had probably saved her boyfriend. 

“I’ll come with you”, I suggested as I helped Cecily and Ilya standing by to help Xander leaning to them so they could take care of him.

When he was secured, I patted Cecily’s cheek encouragingly and followed her boyfriend to the luggage storage of the plane. In the distance I could hear sirens coming closer so we needed to hurry before the police could interfere.

“Annika? Annika!”, Jeremy called, scanning through the bags. He first pushed the luggage away but then remembered that his sister might be in one of them. 

“Fucking hell, ANNIKA!”

I looked around and remembered that they said that she was behind red cartons. In the far back behind a lot of bags I discovered a bit of red when I rushed to it.

“Damn it Anoushka.. please make a sound” I tried to not focus on how Jeremy’s voice broke at the end and not of the possibility that the reason why Annika didn’t make a sound was because.. she couldn’t.

I pushed the bags and cartons away and behind the red ones, like the fuckers said, was a suitcase addressed to Adrian Volkov. 

“Jeremy..”

I stepped away, not daring to touch it let alone open it. He rushed to my side, and I saw him hesitate for a second, his body tensing upon realizing what probability was lying in front of him.

He took a deep breath, and I watched the tattoos on his skin flex when his whole body tensed.

He grabbed the handle and pulled the suitcase closer, clearly something heavy was inside.

He laid it down carefully and grabbed the zipper on the side to open it in one go.

The first thing to spill out was Annika’s brown her and then her hand.

Jeremy took a deep breath when he flipped the suitcase open and there she was, lying in the bag cramped together with her little frame…unmoving.

“No, no, no, no…”, Jeremy choked frantically when he pulled her out, lifting her in his arms. I leaned for immediately and checked her pulse.

I held my breath when I didn’t feel anything for an endless moment and then…

Thump ……. Thump

I let out a shaky breath and allowed myself to smile, sudden tears rimming my eyes. Jeremy mimicked me, a trembling “Thank fuck”, leaving his lips when he buried his face in his sister’s neck, holding on her for dear life. 

She was out of it because of the lack of oxygen probably so if we had come too late then-

“Boss!”, Jeremy’s right hand called. “We need to leave!”

Jeremy and I quickly rushed out, Annika secured against his chest when we saw police cars surrounding us, guns pointing in our direction.

“Fuck..”, I muttered but was happy to see that Xander and Cecily were already brought out of the situation.

“Don’t worry about it”, Jeremy said next to me, getting down of the storage. “Get into my car”, he nodded towards the red vehicle. Without any exchanges he gave me his sister, entrusting her with me to get us into the safety of his car.

The captured workers were also gone, so I assumed they had already wrapped them nicely for Levi to play with.

I hurried inside quickly, putting Annika’s head carefully against my chest and the moment I closed the car the shootout begun.