Stolen Jewel by Alexis Abbott
Jewel
Istand at the big hotel window gazing out across the vast metropolis of New York City. Even though the sky is a velvety dark blue, there’s not a star to see. The city below is lit up with a fuzzy halo of neon glow. Signs flash, traffic lights change from green to gold to red. My stomach is twisting into knots. I’m shaky all over thinking about what we’re going to do tonight.
Stefan stands just behind me with his strong arms draped around me. His warm breath tickles my neck as he leans in to kiss my cheek.
“You can do this, Jewel,” he assures me.
I nod slowly, in a daze. “Sure. Yeah. I can handle it.”
“Remember that you are not alone. We’re not in the dark anymore. The pakhan is on our side, and he has connections your father doesn’t even know about. And of course, I will be right there to jump in if anything happens,” he says.
“Run it by me one more time?” I ask for the fiftieth time tonight.
Stefan is patient as ever. “I used Victor Brusilov’s cell phone to set up a meeting with your father at an abandoned shipping warehouse on the edge of town. He thinks he’s meeting Brusilov, and I made him swear he would arrive alone and unarmed. He wants to discuss how to proceed with the prisoner at the black site.”
“But instead of Brusilov, he’ll meet me,” I mumble.
“Exactly. You can confront him, give him one last chance to repent and repair the immeasurable damage he has done before he goes to prison,” Stefan explains. “The pakhan has payroll cops on standby to sweep in and detain him for arrest at my word. I will secure the scene until they arrive, and then you and I will get out of dodge.”
“Okay,” I sigh. “Let’s go. I want to have time to… get ready.”
“You’re right. Let’s get going,” Stefan says. “We’ll put an end to this once and for all.”
My heart is aching the whole ride across town to the shipping warehouse. I can’t believe my tumultuous, unhappy relationship with my dad is going to end this way. It was always just the two of us, and now I’m going to betray him. I try to remind myself that he hurt me far more than I could ever hurt him, and that he tried to do much worse. But it’s hard. I still feel the crushing guilt on my shoulders. Stefan senses my anxiety and reaches over to squeeze my hand. I feel my tension ease up just a little. I look out the window and watch the city get smaller and less shiny as we move closer to our destination.
On arrival, I have to admit this is a perfect meeting place. Clearly, nobody has been out here to upkeep the place in a long time. The warehouse is rundown, the shipyard outside a total disaster of old broken machinery, shattered glass, and moldy ropes. Stefan easily breaks the shoddy lock on the door, and we step into the huge, musty old warehouse. There are cobwebs and thick dust lining every surface. I see shelves and shelves of rusted metal pieces, probably tools and hardware for whatever company used to exist here. The place is perfectly dark except for the wide shafts of moonlight beaming in through two huge, high-up windows. Stefan leads me to take my spot just a few feet back from one of the moonlit spotlights, so I’m still hidden. He takes my shoulders in his hands and peers into my eyes.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
“Honestly, like I’m gonna throw up,” I answer.
He pulls me in for a tight hug and kisses the top of my head.
“You’ve got this, Jewel. Confront him. Say what you need to say. You don’t have to do anything but talk and keep him distracted while I tip off the backup crew,” Stefan recounts. “I’ll be right over there out of sight. He won’t know I’m here. All he’ll see is you. It’ll be a surprise for him, but I don’t predict that he’ll turn violent. Not immediately, at least.”
“I thought he was supposed to show up unarmed,” I mutter nervously.
Stefan nods. “He told Brusilov-- or who he thought was Brusilov-- that he would abide by that rule. And if he thinks he’s meeting an ally, he’ll have his guard down.”
“What if he does freak out? I mean, he thinks I’m dead,” I point out.
“Then I’ll be here to protect you. I won’t let him touch you, Jewel. I will never allow any man to lay a finger on you without your consent,” Stefan promises me fiercely.
I take a deep breath. “Okay,” I mumble. “I can do it.”
We hear the soft, muffled rev of an engine and the crunch of tires over shattered glass outside. My heart leaps up into my throat. Stefan looks at me hard and mouths, I love you.
I mouth the words back to him and he gives me one last hug before he retreats into the deep shadows between shelves, probably twenty feet back and to my left. I’m petrified down to my core, standing here in this dirty building on the outskirts of town, waiting for my own treacherous father to show up. It’s scary enough to play bait for a dangerous man, but there’s an added level of stress because he raised me. Or at least, he hired a bunch of nannies to raise me. He has spent my whole life finding ways to avoid spending time with me. I’m sure it’s a load off his shoulders to think I’m dead. But tonight, finally, he has to confront me. He has to face me. He has to look his own daughter in the eyes and confess his sins.
I only hope I’m strong enough to stand up to him.
The car sounds stop. I hear footsteps approaching, then the creak of the door opening. I swallow hard and stand my ground in the darkness as my father comes strolling into the warehouse. I feel a rush of conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he’s wearing a dark blue suit that awakens childhood memories in my head of watching him board a plane from the tarmac. On the other hand, I remind myself how many times I had to do that: watch him leave, with little more than a joyless wave goodbye. He’s as tall and rotund as I remember, with a perpetually wrinkled nose and downturned mouth. He looks around the warehouse with disgust, taking cautious strides in his shiny patent loafers.
“Victor!” he calls out in his familiar booming, brash voice. “Where the hell are we? You couldn’t have picked a nicer meeting place?”
He gets no response. I stand in silence, shrouded in darkness, shaking from head to toe as my father’s imposing frame moves closer and closer. He groans with frustration and checks his expensive wristwatch. He throws up his hands and steps into the first shaft of light.
“Come on, man. Don’t keep me waiting,” Dad calls out. “We have a lot to discuss.”
He blinks around in the bright light, getting annoyed at the silence.
“Victor, I don’t have all night. If you wanted to make a businessman wait, you should’ve picked a nice hotel bar or something. This filthy place is beneath men like us,” he complains.
“Actually, Dad, I think it’s just dirty enough to suit you perfectly,” I interject.
“Jesus, fuck!” he swears in shock.
I step out into the second shaft of light and his eyes go wide. His jaw drops and he gapes openly at me. I fold my arms over my chest and feel that long-buried rage bubble up inside of me. Suddenly, my anger overrides my fear.
“What’s the matter, Dad? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” I quip sarcastically. “But that makes sense, considering you thought you had me killed.”
He gawks at me, shaking his head slowly like he can’t believe his eyes.
“Jewel. My daughter. I-I can’t believe you’re alive! I’ve been worried sick since you went missing. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he says, waggling his finger at me.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Come on, Dad. I know you don’t value me very much, but even you should know I’m not that stupid.”
He stands up straight and glares at me, all pretenses of fatherly love gone in an instant. He’s terrifying and cold. I feel the same old lurch of nausea I always felt in his presence growing up. I’m a grown woman now, and yet he can still make me feel so small. But I remind myself that I’m not alone-- Stefan is just several yards behind me, hiding in the shelves with his gun aimed at Freddie. One false move, and Stefan will take him down.
I see the cogs turning in my father’s cruel mind. He frowns at me in that disapproving, stomach-churning way he always does. He points an accusing finger at me.
“You turned on me! You weren’t kidnapped by the mafia, you’ve been working with them all along, haven’t you?” he hurls at me.
“No point lying to me anymore, I know everything,” I retort.
“You ungrateful little bitch, scheming to get even more of my hard-earned money. I should’ve known my sister’s weak-minded, stubborn little brat would turn against me one day!” he spits furiously.
I feel my whole body go rigid. His words pierce me like a bevy of needles.
He smirks cruelly at me. “Oh, that’s right-- you know everything, hmm? You think you’ve got it all figured out. You thought you’d trick me, huh? You don’t even know yourself, Jewel. I did my best; I tried to raise you right. But your mother’s faulty genes must have taken over. You were always too weak, too slow, too soft. I couldn’t have that, not in my family. You have to find that weakness in your breeding stock and eliminate it.”
There’s that word again. Eliminate.
“My mother? Your sister?” I repeat, my voice shaking as the truth dawns on me. “I thought my aunt-- my mother-- died in an accident.”
“Accidents happen, of course. But sometimes you have to give them a little push,” Freddie cackles. “I have the strength of will to make things happen.”
I feel so cold and dizzy. I’m speechless. He goes on.
“That’s right. You’ve embarrassed and dishonored me, but at the end of the day, I don’t have to claim you as my own. I thought I could teach you to be obedient and strong, but you’re too much like your bitch of a mother,” he snarls. “Yes, I did order your execution. My only regret is not doing it years ago when it became clear you were going to be worthless to me as an asset.”
“You never loved me. You never even liked me,” I mutter breathlessly. I bite back tears. I’ll be damned if I let this scumbag see me cry at his words.
He takes a few aggressive steps toward me, grinning like a wolf.
“And now I don’t have to pretend to anymore,” he snaps. “Don’t worry, Jewel. You’ll be back with your mother very soon.”
He pulls a dark item from his waistcoat and it catches the moonlight as he points it in my direction. I realize it’s a gun as he closes one eye to take aim. I’m frozen in place, stunned to see the man who raised me ready himself for a kill shot.
The next thing I know, a loud crack splits the air. I scream and duck down, assuming the bullet is coming to me. But instead, I watch as the first shot rips straight through Freddie’s extended forearm, forcing him to drop his weapon and clutch his bloody arm to his chest with an agonized cry. He looks up at me with pure hatred in his beady eyes. He puts his head down and barrels toward me like an enraged bull.
I jump back and squeal with fear as two more shots are fired. Freddie crumples to the ground as the bullets strike one knee, then the other. He lets out a horrible bray of pain and fury as he curls into the fetal position on the ground. His one free arm swings out to try and grab his gun, lying just inches from his fingertips. But Stefan comes darting out of the darkness to kick the gun far away into the shadows. He looks down at my former father, writhing and screaming on the ground, with a scathing look on his handsome face.
“Don’t kill me! She’s a liar! Don’t listen to her, I can give you money!” Freddie screeches. Stefan kicks him hard in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him. He spits in Freddie’s contorted face.
“I’m not going to kill you tonight, Mr. Albany, but don’t count your lucky stars just yet. You will never harm another living soul again. Your days are numbered, you slimy bastard. You and your rat will make great cellmates in prison,” Stefan threatens him ferociously.
Only a moment later, the door bursts open and a team of police officers in all-black tactical gear come rushing into the warehouse. They shout instructions and draw their weapons as they close in on Freddie’s cowering body. He puts up both blood-soaked hands in surrender as they make quick work of him. Stefan hurries back to wrap his arms around me and hold me tight while the payroll crew drag Freddie out of the warehouse, moaning and screeching.
“Jewel! Don’t let them do this to me! Your own father!” he bellows as they pull him away. “Show me some mercy!”
But I hold my tongue. I stand strong and resolute, with Stefan behind me, as I watch my father get arrested and taken into custody. As he disappears out the creaky, rusted warehouse door, I hear his tortured cries get farther away. I turn and bury my face in Stefan’s chest. He holds me while I softly weep in his arms. I know that’s the last I’ll be seeing of my so-called father-- the man who killed my mother and tried to kill me, too. I won’t be visiting him in prison, and he won’t last long there anyway. The Bratva won’t allow the likes of Freddie Albany to ever roam the streets again. He’s been exposed for his cruelty and corruption, and it’s only a matter of time before they have him killed in a prison yard, along with his informant. Maybe I should feel bad for him. Maybe I should feel pity. But instead, I just feel relieved.
The man who made my life a living hell is gone, soon to be dead.
And the man who brought me back to life is here, still standing, right beside me at this darkest hour. When I look up into his dark eyes, I know I’m right where I need to be. Come what may, we will face it together.
Finally, we are free.