Then, she was driven back to her apartment. After her bodyguards brought her bags up to her room, she thanked them for keeping watch over her. They advised her that there would be someone outside in the hallway and others in the lobby below and outside the hotel as well.
Once she was finally alone, she breathed a sigh of relief and then turned on her laptop. Since it was a Mac, she was able to make a FaceTime call to Mike. Thanks to all the software which Marie had installed, her call was secure. Although she was using the apartment building’s internet, there would be no trace for anyone to find.
Mike answered right away, exclaiming, “Missy? Is that really you? You know how worried I’ve been back here. Lisa has been keeping me informed but even so, I needed to hear it from you.” He could see her smiling at him and paused to give her a chance to talk.
“I’m back at my place in Moscow and once I Shift back and forth a couple of times, I will be completely fine. I do need to spend a few days here, however. I’ll be talking to the local police in the morning. In the afternoon, I’m meeting with someof Yury’s business associates over in the building where he kept his office.”
“Lisa gave us a head’s up on that. Fred will lead your pack at tonight’s full moon celebration. I don’t think I need to be there unless you want me to make an appearance on your behalf.”
Missy said, “No, I sent Lisa a message earlier and she has agreed to do that. She and Marie will be there along with Mark and Alice. Everyone in my pack knows them well enough now. There’s no need for any other non-werewolves to show up.”
They continued to talk for the next hour and Missy was able to share everything she had been through. As they neared the end of the call, she said, “My plan for right now is to establish myself as Yury’s grieving mistress while we see how all of his business associates sift and sort through what will become of his great wealth. Will the regime take some of it? Will his wife get everything? Will the various businesses be splintered off separately? Who will end up with what?”
Mike nodded and said, “And what will there be for you, the grieving mistress? I know you’ve got plenty of funds in that Cyprus account he set up for you. You can pay the rent on your apartment along with any other bills, if necessary, right?”
“Right. I’ll sort that out. My other reason for staying, of course, is so I can check on those three Russian guys who killed Yury. Who aretheyworking for? And, what am I going to do about that?”
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Nikolai Vassiliev had been very disappointed when he’d learned how Missy had survived. At first, he had wanted to punish Stepan for failing to kill her but he soon realized that wouldn’t accomplish anything. The assassination of Yury had been a huge success and it was important now that nothing be revealed that might trace back to himself. No, with Yury gone, Missy’s threat of exposing his treachery to Yury was also gone. There wasn’t anyone else who would care all that much about that and she herself might have difficulty explaining how she had obtained her proof.
After processing the remainder of the payment to Stepan, routing the funds such that it wouldn’t show that he was responsible, Nikolai had sat back and reviewed what he knew about Yury’s many businesses. While Yury had placed excellent people in charge of each of them, there wasn’t anyone who could come forward to oversee all of them the way Yury had been doing. With him now gone, the synergy which his leadership had made possible was gone as well.
The reason why Nikolai was the associate whom Yury had relied upon for conducting investigations, like the one which Nikolai had done concerning Missy, was because it was Nikolai’s law firm which was handling all of Yury’s affairs, both business and personal. That, of course, was why Nikolai had been in a position to embezzle the funds which Missy had discovered and then blackmailed him about.
Nikolai knew that Yury had named his wife Natalya as the one in his will who would inherit everything. However, that ownership would be somewhat complicated. Unless she could find directors who the current regime would accept, the state would insist on taking over. Many of Yury’s conglomerates might then get swallowed up by one of the state-owned giants.
However, there was one recent contract which Yury had obtained from Germany for his company Boris-Apteka which involved medical and pharmaceutical supplies. After making that deal, Yury had chosen Gavriil Reznikov, one of his better managers, to take charge of that operation. Thanks to Yury’s recent closeness with the Russian Defense Minister combined with the increased need for these supplies which the Russian military now had after invading Ukraine, this company might continue doing very well on its own provided the right person was chosen to become its executive director.
Since any recommendations which Nikolai might make to Natalya were likely to be followed by her, he had known he was in a very good position. He had decided to approach those managers like Gavriil and offer his influence in return for their agreement to continue using his law firm. Various legal matters would need to be handled as a business such as Boris-Apteka went forward, assuming Natalya managed to retain ownership. Yes, Nikolai had been very optimistic about his future.
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After Shifting back and forth a couple of times, Missy was now completely healed. Satisfied with that, she Shifted once more to her spirit form and teleported to where she could sense each of those three assassins were located. While she could confront them in person and make them confess to their actions and identify who had hired them, it suited her purpose to merely infect their electronic devices instead.
She knew Lisa and Marie would then unravel whatever secrets these men might have, where their funds might be and how those funds had been provided. She wanted to learn who had ordered Yury’s assassination without that person having anyreason to suspect she was on to him. Would she then be able to take advantage of that in a way which might help her future role as a spy in Russia?
It took her a couple of hours but she did then manage to identify the three men and get her Missy virus installed on two of their phones. She would return another time for that last man’s phone. She teleported back to her apartment where she sent Lisa a detailed message asking for her and Marie to do their usual deep dive into the lives of all three of these individuals.
It had been a difficult time for Missy these last few days. She allowed herself to drift off to sleep for a few hours.
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Lisa and Marie meanwhile spent the night at the Missy Mansion along with Mark and Alice. They joined Fred and Anya at the big feast which the pack now held prior to all their full moon celebration runs. With Missy as its Alpha, the pack had made such feasts their usual way to celebrate with most of the pack in attendance. The pack then gathered outside in the huge arena where they Shifted and headed out for the night, howling their joy to be in their wolf forms once again.
The non-supernaturals remained behind to watch over the children and babies until the pack’s eventual return in the morning. They also worked to prepare the big breakfast/brunch meal which had also become usual for how the pack would all finish their celebrations each month.
Anya was not a werewolf but being married to Fred, the pack’s Beta, she oversaw everything back at the Missy Mansion. She thanked Lisa for keeping them all updated on what was happening. “I’m really glad you were here to reassure our packabout Missy. They all understand how she’s a soldier but most don’t know she’s been spying over in Russia. As for her getting blown up while in Beijing, China? No, your simple explanation was much better for them all to hear.”
Lisa had omitted many details when she had addressed the pack earlier, telling them how once again Missy was on a mission and unable to return. She’d explained how, just as when something had happened a year earlier preventing Missy from being there, everything was classified. Since the pack members all knew Lisa and Marie, like their packmates Gene and Amanda Tremblay, worked at that secret government agency the SOD Group, they accepted this explanation without asking to know more.
The pack knew their Alpha always managed to help each of its members in the best way possible, even though she was often busy helping the entire country by serving as an officer in the U.S. Army.
Chapter Fourteen
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
WhenAleksandr Novikoff and several bodyguards brought Missy into the police station, it was obvious she was now an important celebrity. The assassination of Yury Borisovich over in Beijing had gotten nationwide attention and there was a lot of sympathy for his famous mistress. Not only that, but the station chief had also received a call from the Office of the Defense Minister impressing him on how important it was that they treat Missy with the greatest amount of respect.
