Gunslinger

Charlotte sat at her desk, a dreamy smile on her face as she absently tried to focus on planning her next class. A man had asked her out. A cute man with lovely eyes and intelligence. That just didn’t happen and immediately her face fell, he would stand her up or cancel. She could just never be this lucky. Her hands stilled on the files and she was still looking pensive when her boss bustled in.
“Well ?”
“I….errr….Professor Baker is wonderful, he’s asked me to go looking for the Warsaw convoy with him.”
Ulyanov raised an eyebrow, her own employers would be interested to know that another contender had joined that hunt. There was no doubt that the Americans would show interest but she hadn’t expected an academic and poor naïve Charlotte had clearly taken the bait. She perched on the desk and added a curious tone to her voice.
“And ?”
Charlotte blushed and added another book to the pile as the older woman waited expectantly. Her colleague was clearly eager to hear more and yet Charlotte wasn’t too inclined to share seeing as she would never hear the end of it. Already her mind was drifting to what she could wear and what he might like…
“Oh…he asked me out to dinner tonight.”
“He clearly has excellent taste. You also have more visitors. From the Ministry I believe.”
Charlotte looked up, surprise written across her features and Ulyanov got the hint that the girl was smarter than she looked. There had already been government visitors and this was unlikely to be a social call. The senior historian had got a good look and knew these were not men from the legitimate side of the law but she dared not warn the girl outright.
“Where are they ?”
“East Wing. Didn’t you leave some texts in the North Library ?”
Charlotte nodded, seeing the warning in the older woman’s face. They had all heard of the gangs stepping into the power vacuum that the fall of the old Soviet Union had caused. There was enough money in this haul to get their interest but she had never really believed that she would get involved. Nervously she stood and hurried out, checking behind her as she crossed the halls and went towards the huge library edifice. There was an exit there into a back alley and Charlotte decided to take it and go home.
Or should she ?
Would they look there ?”
Glancing back she saw three large men dressed in black talking to Ulyanov who was pointing in the opposite direction. The men didn’t look pleased and Charlotte now worried that her heels sounded too loud on the marble floor. She took them off and ran through the next doors, the students passing her now looking a little surprised. A nervous smile or too made it worse and there was no doubt that a little panic was starting to set in.
Maybe the police would be better or the British Embassy even though she had no real evidence that these men were anything other than what they said they were. There was just something so different from the government in their smart suits and uniforms to these men who looked like they wanted to bash someone’s head in. Charlotte’s hand was wet with perspiration as she gripped the handle to the library corridor that would lead to the staircase going down.
“Ah Dr Bingham ?”
The voice was deep and somehow sarcastic, causing Charlotte to turn slowly. A large man in dark clothes stood in front of her, his hair cut short into a crewcut and a thick gold chain around his neck that was somehow at odds with the overcoat slung over his arm. She smiled nervously, her hand still on the door handle.
“Y-yes ?”
“Vladimir Litvin. I represent some powerful men who would like your help with regard to the Warsaw convoy.”
Charlotte nodded a little helplessly, the man was close enough to grab her if he wanted and she wasn’t sure that she could make it through the door and down the stairs before he caught up even if he didn’t have a gun or a knife or some such horror. She backed up to the door more and turned the handle.
“I would be happy to talk to them if they would like to make an appointment.”
“They requested a meeting at their headquarters.”
Charlotte gasped as the man grabbed her arm, the other now pointing a small black pistol at her ribs from under his overcoat. Her mind went blank with fear and she didn’t struggle as he pulled her back along the main corridor, speaking clearly and slowly as though she were a child.
“Do as they ask and you won’t get hurt. Do you understand ?”
“Y-yes…”
The man nodded again and they carried on walking. Charlotte couldn’t believe that she was being kidnapped at gunpoint in broad daylight much less that she was walking through crowds of students as the bell for end of the lesson sounded. She dare not shout out or protest in case the man started shooting, her nerves screaming as they cleared the crowd and headed into the main arches. Below she could see the Grand Entrance and her mind started to work overtime. If they got her outside and into a car there would be no chance of escape.
“Charlotte ?”
The girl flinched as the man pulled her around and she saw Zacky Baker. He looked puzzled at the expression on her face and smiled, hurrying forward as Litvin looked him up and down. This was clearly a Professor and he relaxed, keeping his face neutral as the other man approached, his hands in his pockets.
“You ok ? I left my wallet in your office, do you mind helping me find it ? You look kind of busy…”
“NO ! That’s fine…”
Charlotte tried to smile, surely the man wouldn’t cause a scene if Zacky was there and she felt a surge of relief as Litvin nodded and the three of them headed back towards Charlotte’s office. Zacky was chatting away about the various places he hoped to visit in Moscow and the thug even offered some names of decent restaurants. It had all taken a surreal turn as they walked and Charlotte felt that it was ridiculous to be walking with a gun pointed at her and still holding a conversation.
Zacky picked up his wallet from the desk with his right hand and turned, his face cheery as the big man continued to hold onto the girl. He was well aware that there was a .22 calibre handgun under that coat and didn’t pull his own weapon. The hunch to hang around had been right and now he would be forced to remove this threat and potentially draw attention. It was annoying but couldn’t really be helped.
“Thanks, really was beginning to worry. Kinda hard to get all this replaced in a foreign country y’know ? Shall I pick you up at eight ?”
Charlotte nodded, the sweat pricking the back of her neck.
“Yes, lovely, we should be done by then.”
Zacky smiled and nodded once. The shot didn’t even make much of a noise, Litvin’s head exploding out over the desk as the bullet went through his skull from behind. Charlotte found that she was covered in blood and brain matter, unable to scream even as the corpse slumped down. Zacky calmly removed his glasses, tucking them into his pocket as his left hand appeared, a gun there now scaring Charlotte even more.
“Charlotte, look at me.”
Zacky smiled as she tried to focus, the specks of blood dripping down as he removed a tissue and handed it to her. Another man appeared, this one taller and lean, his eyes hidden behind dark glasses as he closed the door and moved the body to that it was shielded behind her desk.
“We need to go now. There’s a car outside, before the others find us here.”
“You killed him.”
“They would have used you to find the cache and then killed you or worse. Now move.”
Once again Charlotte found herself at gunpoint, the tall man grabbing her arm as they walked to the closest fire exit and down the stone stairs. This new Zacky was cold eyed and focused, nothing like the man she had met earlier and it was confusion more than anything that stopped her from fighting back. The familiar corridors and rooms flashed by until they were nearly out onto the street, a cold sleety rain now falling outside. The taller man spoke for the first time, flashing her a cocky smile.
“Relax kid, we just want the treasure and then you can go. Nothing else.”
“Syn, the car ?”
Gates pointed across to a smart BMW that sat opposite them, the engine running and Ana now looking in their direction. There were crowds all around and it was a risk to move out into the open without knowing the opposition were still inside but there was little choice, Zacky was about to move when he saw Ana pull into the traffic and slide the car around, a few horns honking but this was Moscow and traffic rules tended to be optional. Zacky pushed a still silent Charlotte into the back as Syn climbed into the front next to a dark haired girl in a hoodie who flashed her an apologetic smile.
“Any problems ?”
“One corpse. Charlotte, these are my friends Syn and Ana.”
“You’re kidnapping me.”
Zacky shrugged, the smile back on his face.
“Well…yeah. I suppose so.”
Charlotte started to protest, cut short as the car pulled away at speed. It was horrifying, the girl was driving fast but with some confidence, slipping in and out of traffic as they started to put distance between themselves and the University buildings. The radio was tuned to the police band and both women were listening intently to hear of anything that suggested the body had been found. Syn had the firearm down low, watching the roads carefully as Zacky loosened his shirt collar and turned to Charlotte.
“Like I said. This mission is really happening and you will get a cut if we find it and free passage out of Russia. Better that then those mob guys or the government.”
“I can only guide you…”
The sentence ended in a scream as another car veered wildly in front of them and Ana was forced into a tight swerve. On instinct Zacky grabbed Charlotte by the collar and threw her into the footwell as they skidded around a corner and Ana put her foot down. They had clearly been followed even if the body had not been discovered and now the race was gone.
“Fuck !! Any route out ?”
Ana swore again, nearly tipping them all out of their seats at another tight corner. The roads up ahead would be full of traffic and if they had any chance it would be the back alleys that would provide it. Syn reached under the seat for the sub machine gun and passed it back to Zacky. An open battle would not be good but if they could get a clear shot down one of the smaller roads it might stop the pursuit.
“Yeah but the radio just said cordon has been thrown around our route to the airfield. I can get us away but we will have to lay low and sneak out when the heat dies down.”
Syn nodded.
“Do it. Zacky, tell Johnny and get them to wait there. We can get the fuck out of dodge in the morning.”
Zacky grinned, there was nothing like the thrill of the chase and he smashed the back window of the car out, a spray of bullets raking the car behind them as Ana headed across an interchange. It brought them vital minutes and she kept up the speed, both Zacky and Syn remembering why they hated driving with the bitch. The short phone call was punctuated by swearing as Johnny listened, grateful they had the academic and unsurprised at the situation.
“Chances are they were secret service rather than mafia then.”
Zacky swore again as his head connected with the roof and watched Syn attempt to cling onto the dashboard. Ana was singing some kind of Russian lullaby as the poor girl in the footwell had dissolved into tears. She was pretty and again Zacky felt a rush of desire making it hard to concentrate.
“Yeah. We will find a motel and meet you at 0900.”
“YOU CRAZY FUCKING BITCH !”
The car took off over a set of railway lines and Syn dissolved into giggles, the rush of adrenaline was fantastic after so much downtime and he remembered all the times these mad chases had ended in a motel and his girl naked beside him. Ana glanced at him and winked.
“Relax babe, I never crash.”
“Uhh I remember that time in Chicago.”
“There was two foot of snow.”
Zacky chuckled and shook his head, helping Charlotte back up into her seat now that the car following them was nothing more than a puff of black smoke behind. She almost clung to him, her brain temporarily shutting off as he held her against his chest and tried to sound comforting.
“Gonna find a motel and then you can sleep. Tomorrow we start looking.”

Notes

ok my beloved fans....while Mr Baker has a love interest due to plot, the others are up for grabs...if you want a hunk let me know....