Darke Beginnings

Chapter #11

One by one, Lucien saw the pieces of his plan fall into place.

It began with the day after the reception. He'd returned to the compound with Vladimir and Juliet as though he'd not tested the waters with Korsikov's less-savory associates, chatting with the Ambassador about his intentions to visit Moscow for an international conference. Of course, all this was under the ruse that it was for matters of state, rather than what it really was, a conglomerate of Bratva bigwigs. As Vladimir spent the entirety of the day on the phone finalizing both his and Juliet's travel the following week, it gave Lucien the opportunity to connect with some of the men he'd met. He had managed, afterwards, to steal into Korsikov's office and copy down the contact information for them without coming under suspicion of the spectre by using the ruse that the Ambassador had asked him to retrieve several things. Being as how, only moments before, the spectre had seen Lucien conversing with Vladimir and motioning towards the office, he had no reason to be suspicious. When Lucien returned to Vladimir's room, arms laden with notebooks.

Little did anyone else in the house know, Lucien had meticulously copied the contacts onto he list in his pocket, carefully noting not only Bratva, but those who might be sympathetic. Once he returned to his room, he slid a disposable cell phone he'd managed to purchase during one of the Ambassador's many sojourns into the city out of the space between his mattress. He flipped it open, turned it on and dialed the first number. It rang twice and a woman answered. "Zdravstvuyte," he greeted with his best pronunciation, "Vy govorite po-angliyski?"

"Da, konechno," she answered, then with a thick accent continued, "How can I help you?"

Lucien grinned to himself. "May I please speak with Aleksei Dorosh?"

"One moment, please." She set the phone down and he could hear her calling for the man he sought.

It took a few minutes for Aleksei Dorosh to answer the phone. When he did, he greeted Lucien with a gruff, "Da."

"So sorry for intruding upon your evening, Mr. Dorosh," Lucien began. "I hope you will remember me, Lucien Darke. I work for Vladimir Korsikov?"

"What do you want?" the man on the other line was direct, at least. "I've already told your employer that he's got my support next week."

Surprised at the statement, Lucien weighed his options before he continued. If this man had already pledged his allegiance to Vladimir, would he be open to the ideas Lucien wanted to present or would he ruin the plan. "How much of that support is genuine?" Lucien asked.

"Why do you ask?" the man was suspicious, and rightly so.

Lucien took a deep breath. "There are certain..." he paused, "Individuals who are unhappy with my employer's regime and would be extremely pleased if he were to suddenly retire." He put emphasis on the final word of his statement, hoping the man would get his gist. "Are you one of them?"

There was a moment of silence on the line, quiet muted by a hand put over the speaker, broken only by the muffled voice of Aleksei Dorosh. When he finally returned to the conversation, it was to apologize. "I'm sorry," he said. "I needed to excuse my staff before I said any more."

Excellent, thought Lucien. Out loud, he asked, "Why is that, Mr. Dorosh?"

The man coughed and took a sip of the drink he'd had with him. "I mean your employer no harm," he said, his voice more hushed than before. "But I believe he's bad for business. Already, he's made a mockery of the Bratva, flaunting his connections as he threatens other worldly officials. But, please, no one can know I feel this way."

"Your secret is safe with me, Sir," Lucien smiled. "Do you know a man named Martin Goins?" When the man answered in the affirmative, he continued. "Martin and I go way back. He's both my friend and my mentor."