Together they walked out of the room and Missy went looking for Doctor Zhang while Jiakun headed for the hospital exit.
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Down in New Jersey, Tracy, Lila, Sam and Sandy were wearing their bridesmaid dresses and stood in line with Matti, Sally’s maid of honor. This was Sally and Troy’s big day and they wanted to fully support the two of them. Their efforts, however, were slightly dampened by the news a few of them had received earlier about Missy. While they were very hopeful that Missy was okay, knowing her billionaire had been murdered the way ithad happened was disturbing. And, of course, Missy might very well have perished along with him had those Fabulous Fates not helped her out.
Troy and Sally were standing in front of the preacher while Troy’s best man Scott and his groomsmen John, Smitty, Trevor and Patrick stood on the opposite side of the church from where the bridesmaids were. After the happy couple had both said their vows and the preacher had announced them to be man and wife, everyone there began cheering.
Soon everyone exited the church and headed over to the hotel where the reception was being held. There were about ninety people in all and the weather was cooperating. The many outdoor photos would turn out great and inside the hotel ballroom, a good time would be had by all.
There was a table off to the side where the seating plan had placed those who were supernaturals or else knew about them but who were not at the head table. Troy’s mother Angelica, head of the New York coven, was at this table with several other witches from their coven. So were Captain Bonomo and his wife Linda along with Scott’s sister Emily and Donald Quigby.
At the head table, Matti and Smitty were listening to Sally explain how Troy planned to continue living and working in New York while she was eight hundred miles away at Fort Gordon in Georgia for her thirty-seven weeks of Cyber Branch training. Sally said, “I know we’ll somehow make it work regardless of how complicated things might be.”
Matti said, “Yeah, Smitty and I are finding that arranging time for the four of us to become a family is even more challenging than we had anticipated. We have yet to finalize adate for our wedding, mainly due to his parents wanting to make it a really huge extravaganza of an event.”
Smitty said, “We’ve also been looking at some places on Long Island where the four of us can make a home but, so far, we’ve not made an offer on anything.” Matti had purchased a small house in Highland Falls near West Point where her aunt Shelley and Matti’s son Jacob were currently living. The plan was to sell that and buy a much larger house.
Sally nodded and said, “Your aunt Shelley is a saint for taking care of Jacob. Having her continue doing that for the foreseeable future while you two sort things out is wonderful. I’m sure it must also help that Smitty can continue living and working in New York since you’ve been assigned right nearby at Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn.”
The Army had waived the requirement for Matti to do Military Police Branch Training due to her having served for two years in the Military Police in between her second year and third year at West Point. Thus, she had received a three year assignment right after graduating from the academy.
Matti smiled and said, “Yes, that helps and our friend Missy had something to do with that. I spent several weeks training at Fort Hamilton last summer and when Missy heard how they wanted me to return for my first assignment as an MP officer, she made some calls. Since Smitty helps manage those three Roseanne Fund communities of hers … well, you know how she is.”
“Yeah, we all do,” agreed Sally. “I know she would have liked being at my wedding today only, like you, she started her first duty assignment and is overseas somewhere with that Special Forces team of hers.”
Smitty said, “She’s hoping they’ll let her return for her pack’s full moon celebration tomorrow night. I’ll be up at the Missy Mansion for that and will be sure to share all the details about this fabulous wedding with her.” Since he managed those Roseanne Fund communities, he typically attended full moon celebrations so he, along with Mark and Alice, could brief Missy on how those were going.
On the opposite end of the table, John and Tracy were reading the text message which Lisa had just sent them. Patrick had also received this. Lisa’s sources had confirmed that Missy was doing well and being released from the hospital already. She was still scheduled to fly back to Moscow Monday morning but Lisa doubted Missy would be free to teleport home anytime soon after that. The Russian authorities were definitely going to be interviewing her and there were a lot of repercussions she would need to deal with now that Yury had died.
John looked at Tracy and said, “I’d better let Smitty know that Missy won’t be back for this month’s full moon celebration. Lisa is alerting Fred that he’ll have to lead that, same as when she missed coming back after getting blown up last year in that tunnel over in Iran.”
Tracy said, “Your sister may be a cat with nine lives but at the rate she keeps getting blown up, those just might not be enough.”
Chapter Thirteen
Monday, June 13, 2022
When Missy exited the plane and entered the terminal in Moscow, there was a huge crowd waiting for her. She had finally been released from the hospital the previous evening, after threatening to involve the Russian Embassy on her behalf.
She had been assisted by the two bodyguards who had gone off duty the morning she and the others had left for theExhibition Center. They had thus been spared. They had been assigned to protect her and had proven to be very helpful. They had brought her back to the hotel where she had spent the night. They also had collected all of Yury’s things from that room so she would not need to deal with that.
That morning, they had assisted her with checking out and had accompanied her to the airport. They explained how their boss Mr. Aleksandr Novikoff was most anxious for her to return home to Moscow safely and would be waiting there with other bodyguards. They also warned her the paparazzi would very likely also be waiting to greet her.
Inside the terminal, standing amongst the many journalists and photographers clearly there for her was a man holding up a sign with her name on it. There were two large men standing stoically beside him, obviously more bodyguards. She approached this man and asked, “Are you Aleksandr Novikoff?”
“Yes, Miss Kabachnik, I am. Please call me Alek. We are all so sorry for what has happened. It is a miracle that you somehow managed to survive. Yury’s death is a tremendousloss and all his business associates are still in shock. They have instructed me to represent them and provide you with whatever assistance you might require.”
Missy suspected those business associates were scrambling to understand who would be replacing Yury and what, if any, Missy’s claims might be. They were no doubt also curious to learn what the Russian police investigation might reveal. How would that possibly affect things?
With a sad smile, Missy said, “All right, Alek. And you must call me Missy. Thank you for offering to help me. For now, I only need to return to my apartment. I will need a new phone as mine was destroyed in the car explosion. So was my driver’s license along with some other identification documents but I have already ordered replacements for those online. Thankfully, I do still have my passport as well as my laptop.”
“I will have your phone replacement taken care of, Missy,” explained Alek. “We have a car waiting for you outside and these men will stay with you. We will have at least two people watching over you until it is clear there is no threat remaining on your life. Our police here are anxious to speak with you but I have arranged for that to happen tomorrow morning rather than today.”
“I am most grateful for that,” said Missy with a sad smile. “I’m sure they have already talked to the police in Beijing. The impression which I was left with was that they believe Yury’s assassination might be some sort of Chinese conspiracy related to the energy contracts that China has made with Yury’s businesses.”
Alek nodded and said, “Yes, we are hearing that as well back here. Dealing with foreign governments does perhapscome with some risks. We are thankful that your life was spared.”
Missy let Alek collect her bags while she spoke briefly to the paparazzi. She agreed they could take a few photos of her but asked that they then grant her some privacy. She was wearing the same black dress as she had worn at the hospital, anticipating this. It was the only black outfit which she had taken to China. She was wearing some makeup and had her hair up in a messy bun. She still had a few bandages on but she knew she would probably look pretty good in their photos.
