Alanna, Destiny, and Daniel arrived at the building location about and hour after the sun had disappeared from the sky. Stars twinkled from above as they walked up the hill that led to the building. It stopped abruptly and ended in a steep cliff just above the roof of the place. They dropped three roped down and propelled themselves to the rooftop. Slowly, they made their way to one of the skylights and peeked inside. Below them was another thirty-foot drop to the building floor.
“Someone’s coming,” Alanna warned as she saw shadows moving around below. Three men crossed the floor and were soon out of visual range.
“They went through a door,” Destiny whispered from across the roof.
“There’s nobody else in there,” Daniel added.
“Okay, I’ll pry off the window and go down. Wait for me here until I make sure everything is clear, okay?” Alanna replied. The others nodded. She pulled a crowbar from the backpack on her shoulders and began to gently pry the window off its frame. It creaked open, but pulled off easily. Alanna looked down to make sure she was clear to drop a rope. With no one in sight, she climbed down.
The room was empty except for a few wooden chairs and tables. It was the abandoned cafeteria. The cold storage area was to the right through a door behind the serving counters. She slipped behind one of the counters and check behind her again to make sure that no one was around. Just as she turned and opened the door, someone came up from behind her and slammed a wooden chair leg into her skull, knocking her out instantly.
* * *
Alanna didn’t know how long she had been knocked out, but she could feel her arms tied behind her back and her legs bound tightly to the chair she was sitting in. She rolled her head as her eyes became accustomed to the low light level. She focused on the first body she saw, Vladimir Bronnikov.
“She is awake,” Bronnikov said in a thick Russian accent as he stood from his chair and walked over to her. His hand slapped her across the face, and she cried out in pain.
“Vladimir, get away from her,” a stern, angered voice came from behind him. Bronnikov turned around and immediately walked away from Alanna.
Alanna’s eyes locked on the man who had entered the room. He looked oddly familiar. His silver hair shined in the dimmed lights as his bright blue Russian eyes focused on her. “Alanna,” he said. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
“Am I supposed to?” she retorted, glaring at him. He just nodded and began to walk around her.
“Still the wild spirit I remember you as,” he added. “How’s your mother doing?”
“She’s dead, you dumb ass,” Alanna spat.
“She’s dead?” he asked, almost too softly. It seemed as if those words had struck something deep inside of him. “When?”
“I’m not telling you shit,” Alanna answered. “Who the fuck are you?”
“I don’t know, you tell me,” he replied. He lowered himself so that their eyes met. Alanna was taken aback by them and gasped at how much they resembled her own.
“Who… Who are you?” she cautiously asked again, her heart beginning to pound.
“You really don’t recognize me, do you?” he replied. “It’s me, your father.”
Alanna’s mouth dropped open as her heart stopped beating. All the muscles in her chest seemed to tighten at those words. This couldn’t be her father. He had left over twenty years ago when she was only five years old. What the hell was he doing in San Francisco? How had he found her?
“No need for words. I’ll explain,” he said. “You see, I left your mother because Vladimir gave me an offer I couldn’t resist. If I joined him, he would give me thousands of dollars a year just to help him smuggle things into Russia. I told your mother once, and she thought I was crazy, and then I left.
“Vladimir has made me a rich man, and he’ll pay you just as much, maybe even more if you’ll help us.”
“You backstabbing son of a bitch,” Alanna hissed. “How dare you come back and try to tell me all these things and try to get me to swing to your side? I won’t do it!”
“It’s a shame, your brother said the same thing, but we took care of him,” her father replied.
“What have you done to Dmitri!” she screamed.
“Oh, nothing, just diluted his mind enough so he won’t remember a thing that’s happened,” Vladimir answered. “We were about to start on your boyfriend, but he’s useless. He doesn’t know anything.”
“Don’t you dare touch Darren!” Alanna yelled. “You do so much as lay a finger on him, and I swear to God that I’ll kill you.”
“Not if you’re tied to that chair,” Vladimir’s chilly voice retorted. He laughed and left the room with her father.
“Son of a bitch,” Alanna cried as she began tugging and pulling at the ropes around her hands and legs. It seemed to be hopeless until she heard a tapping from above her. Looking up, she saw Destiny and Daniel staring down at her through the skylight. Destiny pried the window off and jumped down into the room with Daniel.
“Oh, thank God we found you,” she said, untying the ropes.
“Get me out of these things quick. I think they’re going to hurt Darren,” Alanna said in desperation. As soon as she felt her hands were untied from the chair, she began to work on her legs. Daniel walked over to the door and peeked through it to make sure the coast was clear.
“Where are we?” he cautiously asked.
“Far from the freezer. Come on, follow me,” Alanna replied. She quickly led Daniel and Destiny out of the office and into the hallway.
“Who were those people?” Destiny asked.
“The fat one was Vladimir. The tall one was my father,” Alanna answered, clenching her fists.
“Your father?” Destiny replied in surprise. “I thought he left your mother for another woman.”
“Apparently not. Vladimir offered him money to switch sides,” Alanna explained.
“That’s fucked up.”
“I know. I think that’s why my mother joined MI6. I think she wanted to find my father and find out why he had done that.”
“I guess you’ll have to find out once we bag these bad boys.”
After a long, tense walk from the office and down the three hundred foot hall, they were finally within reach of the cafeteria door. Unfortunately for them, two guards were posted in front of them. “Shit,” Alanna whispered as she ducked back into the safety of the hall. “Goons.”
“Great,” Destiny groaned as she pulled out her gun and cocked it. She was ready to shoot, but Alanna had a better idea.
“Don’t!” she said. “Take off your jacket and pull down the sleeves of your shirt then walked over and start talking to them. Stay with them until you see either me or Dan come back.”
“What? No!” Destiny protested.
“Do you really wanna kill someone?” Alanna asked.
“No,” Destiny groaned as she did what she was told. She walked down the hall and began to talk to the men in Russian. She used her seductive qualities to lure them into submission and away from the door. Alanna grabbed Daniel’s hand and pulled him down the hall towards it. The door clicked open, and they entered quietly, making sure that no one was around.
“Go over to those chairs,” Alanna ordered as she and Daniel parted ways. He hid behind a knocked over table and watched as she began to inch her way back to the freezer door. Alanna put her ear against it and listened for any voices or movement. She only heard a few low grunts and groans then decided to go in.
Unlatching the heavy metal lock, she let the door swing open by its own gravity. It revealed to her a whole other world. There were two cells inside the freezer, which wasn’t a freezer at all. It felt more like a boiler in there. The first cell contained the mangled body of her brother with the other cell contained a bound and gagged Darren.
Alanna ran to her brother’s cell and tried to pull it open, but her efforts were futile. She needed a key to get in. Without thinking, she pulled a few clips out of her hair and began to mess with the lock. After a few minutes of tinkering, she finally got the door open. She quickly made her way to her brother to find his eyes swollen shut, a bloody face, what appeared to be a badly broken leg, and cuts and bruises all over the rest of his body.
“Dime,” Alanna softly whispered. “Can you hear me?” He nodded slowly. “I’m getting help.” She left the cell and went over to Darren’s. Messing with the lock again, she opened it with ease and walked in to untie him.
“Thank God you’re here,” Darren said as she pulled off his gag.
“Thank God Vladimir hasn’t touched you,” Alanna replied with a relieved smile as she ripped through the ropes. With his arms and legs finally freed, Darren stood up and began to message his wrists. If felt good to be moving around again.
“Now what?” he asked.
“Now we get out of here,” Alanna whispered. “But not without Dmitri.” She walked into her brother’s cell and gently untied him also. With Darren’s help, they carried him out of the cell and back into the cafeteria where Daniel was still patiently waiting.
“Guys, move a little faster. I hear someone coming,” he warned. Just as they were about to make a mad dash towards the table, the door creaked open and Vladimir walked in with Alanna’s father.
They stopped talking the moment they noticed the freezer door open. “What the hell is going on in here?” Vladimir asked in Russian.
“Freeze fatso!” Alanna yelled as she jumped up, her guns cocked and pointed towards him. “You too,” she added as she turned to her father.