“Wow, that’s quite a development!” exclaimed Lisa. “I can see how your threats to Nikolai would go away if he not only managed to kill you but killed Yury at the same time. If he was involved, I bet he was rather unhappy to see you back from the dead and asking him questions like that.”
Missy said, “Yeah, he was unhappy but he also was no longer worried. Yury was the only one he needed to fear should his treachery be revealed. He can bluff his way out of trouble with Yury gone. I’ll bet he’s already taken some actions to further cover his tracks relative to that treachery. I had planned on having you dive back into that but now that I realize he was involved in killing Yury, let’s find some proof of that instead.”
“Well, you can always do yourbad girl stuff, making those three assassins implicate him.”
“While I can make them talk, they might not all know who was behind this. Were you able to determine who the ringleader in the group might be?”
Lisa replied, “We’re pretty sure it was Stepan Valnovitch. The other two men work for him. We have found evidence showing he paid them from an account which somehow accumulated a million euros. Some of that was before the assassination while the rest came later. We haven’t been able to trace where that money came from, however.”
“A million euros? Obviously, that was their payment. Keep digging. Perhaps Nikolai transferred the fundsintoStepan’s account in a way that cannot be traced but, if you can show that amount of money recently transferredoutof Nikolai’s accounts and somehow disappeared, that will be proof enough. I might confront Stepan and do as you suggest, use mybad girl stuffand make him confess Nikolai paid him.”
“Well, you said you had two requests for us, Missy. What’s the other one?”
“Oh, you’ll love hearing about this. After the reading of Yury’s will today, his wife Natalya wanted to talk to me. It turns out she knew all about my blackmailing Yury and being his fake mistress.”
“Really? That’s a surprise. Did she know about all those banking transfers …”
“No, no, she didn’t knowhowI was blackmailing him, only that I was doing that.”
Lisa asked, “How will you keep her quiet about that? And, how did she feel about it?”
Missy chuckled and said, “She won’t tell anyone and she actuallythankedme. Yury abused her, you know, just like he abused his former mistresses. She was very pleased that I made him suffer some consequences. Because of all that, she has arranged for me to continue staying in my apartment with that being abusinessexpensefor one of the companies she has now inherited. I’m also to continue being paid my three hundred thousand euros every month. This all stops at the end of the year but by then I will be able to make other arrangements.”
“I do love hearing all this, Missy! Amazing. Soooo … if that’s all a business expense …”
“They’re putting me on the board of directors for the company which will be making all those payments so it then will be legal and proper enough,” explained Missy. “The company isBoris-Apteka and that’s what my second request is about. Since I’m going to now be on the board, I want to know everything there is to know about this company, the contracts it has, the way it operates, etc., etc. Make me smart. I do know many of those contracts are with German companies since I helped Yury win those when I bribed that Swiss banker Julius de Weck.”
Lisa giggled and said, “I remember that story. When you sensed his mistress would love a bright red sportscar … oh, wait! Wasn’t that the mistress we saw you with on the beach in Cyprus?” She and Marie had wanted to surprise Missy only that had backfired somewhat when Missy had managed forcing them both to pose for a Greek photographer with a camera.
“Yep! Emilia and I are best buddies now since she’s originally from Spain and loves that I am fluent in Spanish. The new executive director for Boris-Apteka knows how I’m on good terms with Julius and wants me with him when he first goes to Zurich. I’m supposed to influence more good things for his company. Or, since I’m a board member now, should I be saying forourcompany?” Missy laughed.
“Good grief, you totally should be saying that. And don’t worry. Marie and I will find all sorts of helpful things which you can use to help you runyourcompany. Who is this director you’ll be with when you’re schmoozing Julius?”
“He’s one of the better managers Yury had helping him run things. His name is Gavriil Reznikov and I’ll try to infect his phone or computer later so you two can keep me updated on everything he might be up to.”
“This means you’ll continue spending time in Russia in the weeks and months ahead, right?” asked Lisa rhetorically. “Instead of being a fake mistress you can now be a legitimate board member on this company. Will your physical presence be required very much? I know Marie and I can cover for you whenever you are away, sending emails, etc.”
“Well, they will want me to attend board meetings in addition to making this trip to Zurich with Gavriil. But when I explained I was leaving on Friday for three weeks, that was not a problem.”
Now Lisa giggled and said, “Gosh, how could I forget? You need to squeeze in time for your wedding and honeymoon, right?”
“Exactly! Since everyone in Russia will assume that I need to get away after what happened in Beijing, I have the perfect excuse. I plan to fly from Moscow to Cyprus and then disappear from there.”
“If you want, I can have someone meet you there with some fake identification documents. You can use those to maybe set yourself up somewhere on that island. Since the Republic of Cyprus is recognized as an independent country, finding yourself a hidey-hole over there might come in handy. You certainly can afford it.”
Missy said, “Hey, I like that idea, Lisa! Yes, I can withdraw some money from my account as Missy Kabachnik and go over to another bank and deposit that into a new account using my new identity. If you can find a small cottage which I can rent …”
“Yes, you can store your stuff in that and disappear. Then, when you teleport back three weeks later, you can collect your bags and head to the airport where your ticket to Moscow will be waiting for you under your Missy Kabachnik identity. There won’t be any trace of where you’ve been and nothing that connects you to this latest identity.”
“I can definitely see how that new identity in Cyprus might be useful for me in the future. Can you girls really arrange for all this in just two days?”
“Hey, we love a challenge and I have no doubt we can have someone meeting you there with everything you need,” said Lisa. “What nationality will you want for yourself for this latest identity? Hold on … let me check something.”
Lisa went online for a few minutes to review tourist requirements in Cyprus for foreigners. Then she said, “I see that if you are from Spain, you can live in Cyprus for up to ninety days without a visa since Spain is an EU country. Since you have red hair, we’ll have you come from somewhere up north in their Basque Country. They have redheads up there. It’s a Spanish community on the border with France and has some remote mountainous areas.”
“Sounds perfect, Lisa. I can explain my Spanish dialect not being from there by saying I spent time studying in the U.S. Be sure to have my passport show that I traveled there a few times.”
“Great. We’ll get you a passport and a few other documents and arrange for a rental cottage where you won’t be bothered or noticed. Let’s say goodbye so I can get started on all this.” Due to the seven-hour time difference, while it was earlyevening in Moscow it was only mid-afternoon back at the SOD Group.
