The Trust Ch. 06

Mason held her for a moment longer, then turned with her towards the others. Katey peeling off by the CX as Mason walked over to Aida by her car and told her the name.

Aida flinched. "Maslow." She muttered then louder. "As in Viktor Maslow?" and Mason shrugged. Aida pulled out her phone, but instead of calling one of the investigators like she had planned, she found and dialed the number for Big Ben Walker, the founder and CEO of Walker Security. They were a client of the firm and the biggest private security company in that part of the country.

"What can I do for you Ms. Caro?" His deep baritone voice came over the line, what sounded like a party in the background.

"I've got a client that needs immediate help, he might be having a problem with Viktor Maslow." She told him, reaching out and gripping Mason's arm as he started to ask her what she was doing.

There was silence on the phone for a long moment, then Ben was back. "That would qualify as trouble, what do you need?"

It was Aida's turn to think for a minute, then. "For now, why don't you send some of your people to Lawrence Memorial. My client and I are here, and one of the people involved will likely have to spend at least one night here. So we should leave a couple on her door just in case." Pausing as Mason nodded. "When they get here, I'll get my client to give them whatever information you need to get a team to his residence."

"Will do, expect the first team there shortly." He told her, "In fact, I think I'll come down there myself." Aida thanked him and ended the call.

"Thank you." Was all Mason could think to say to her. He still hated the idea, but if it kept the girls out of harms way, he didn't care what it would cost and knew that Allan wouldn't let him put it off any longer in any case.

Mason stepped into Ardella's room and Cybil was on him. Her arms almost strangling him as she kissed him, her legs locked around his waist. Aida stopped in the doorway surprised, the others piling up behind her. "You're here." Cybil breathed as she broke the kiss, leaning back and searching his face.

"Always." He told her, and she grinned, then jumped, her eyes going wide when he goosed her. The girls started pushing past them to get in and see Ardella, so he let her down, but kept a hold of her hand as he too stepped over to the bed.

Ardella was still a little glassy-eyed, but already complaining about having to stay there. Mason sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her up into a hug, holding her for a long moment, the room going quiet around them. "You scared me." He muttered into her ear.

Her X-rays had come back clean, no fractures or hematoma. But since she had lost consciousness and had been confused for a time after she woke, they said she had suffered a stage two concussion. This meant that she was going to be staying there over night so they could check her neurological responses every two hours. They'd given her nine stitches in the back of her head.

Cybil pulled him out in the hall after he moved aside so Becky could take his place. "I wanna hear everything that has happened." She told him, then thrust his phone at him. "But first you need to call Brigid. She should be almost here."

Mason had known she would be. As soon as the lawyers started filing into the room, he'd known that Cybil had called her. Checking his phone now, he saw that there were a half-dozen messages from her. Instead of listening to them though, he called her.

"Mason?" Brigid demanded before the first ring had ended, the anxiety in her voice freezing his response a second too long. "Mason, is that you?"

"Yes." He managed. He assured her he was alright, and found out they were on the ground. But waiting for Allan to come around with a car. He told them they were at the hospital and gave her directions. She knew Ardella's condition already, having talked to Cybil a few times. She told him they would go by the hall and drop her father and Danny off, then come on to the hospital, but Mason told her to just bring Marcus and Danny with her, saying he would explain when everyone was together.

Not finding Cybil waiting to grill him when he got off the phone surprised him. When he looked in through the door, he saw her over in a corner talking to a small dark-haired girl he kind of remembered from the lake. The room was absolutely packed, nine people not counting Ardella and himself. And more on the way.

***

Viktor Maslow was picking at his dinner, his usually healthy appetite gone as he tried to decide what to do about the whole fucking mess. If his nephew Alexei hadn't already been found dead, he'd fucking kill him himself. He thanked God his sister hadn't lived long enough to see what a piece of shit the boy had turned out to be. And even dead, he was causing problems. Pushing his plate aside, he shouted for Dmitri, his Councilor, he needed to decide if anyone else needed to die.

Mason watched the men coming down the hall, knowing the one in front had to be Big Ben Walker. The guy was at least six-foot six with shoulders broad enough to look out of proportion, like a comic book character. He was talking to a skinny man wearing a white lab coat with a stethoscope. They were being followed by a small mob of people.

Aida made introductions while the guy in the lab coat and another in scrubs pushing a wheelchair went in the room and started sending everybody out. "What's going on?" Mason asked.

"I'm having her moved to a more secure wing." The big guy told him. "The hospital has several VIP suites that are less easily accessed, easier to secure." Cybil appeared at Mason's side, taking his arm as she looked up at Ben, so Mason introduced them, then they all had to move aside as the medical people wheeled Ardella out.

The new room was easily three times larger and looked more like a hotel suite, although Ardella still didn't want to stay. Two of the security guys peeled off at the entrance to the hall, while two more took positions on either side of the door to the room. All four were big guys, at least when Ben wasn't standing next to them. Mason decided they must have light body armor on under the dark grey uniform shirt, because stuff didn't seem to shift right. And each had a holstered automatic on his belt. The last guy with him was small in comparison to any of them, but there was something dangerous about him. You could tell he was ready for anything, anytime. He didn't seem to have the armor on or the holster, but Mason thought he might have a shoulder rig under his jacket.

Ben introduced him as one of his team leaders, Eric Braden, saying he was retired Force Recon. Like Ben, he wore more casual attire. "His team is waiting outside, if you'll give him directions and some keys, they'll secure your residence and make an assessment if it's defensible or if we need to move you while this is being settled." Surprise and a slow grin spread across Big Ben's broad face as Mason explained about the hall.

Taking Mason's keys, Braden started down the hall. Watching him, Mason saw Brigid, Marcus and Allan stopped at the end of the hall talking to the guards there. "They're with me." He told Ben and the big man whistled, waving for his men to let them pass when one looked.

Aida and Cybil both came out of the room at the whistle, Cybil joining Mason as he started down the hall, Brigid rushing into his arms for a fierce kiss, then pulling back a bit to include Cybil. Marcus watched it, eyebrow rising a bit, but he was grinning. He'd wondered when his daughter would admit her feelings for the boy. The kiss she gave the girl was more of a surprise.

Allan and Aida saw each other and froze, a soft smile growing on Aida's face, filling her eyes as Allan looked at her. If there had ever been a woman who had gotten away from Allan, it was Aida. They'd been at Harvard together, had clerked together at the Stanton firm. Allan had loved her so much it hurt, but she'd had a fiance and Allan had just been a friend. He hadn't realized she was still with the firm, so seeing her again was bittersweet.

Marcus' greeting almost got the two guards at the door involved, but Ben waved them off, recognizing genuine affection in the bear-hug Mason was lifted off the floor with. The hug reminded Mason that his side still hurt, but he couldn't help laughing, hoping that his friend wasn't planning on wrestling there in the hallway.

"Danny's waiting outside for you." Was all Marcus told him when he put him back down, and Mason suddenly had a lump in his throat and was fighting back tears. Marcus just gave him a shove down the hall, and Mason kept going. Ben sending the two door guards to follow him.

Brigid kept her arm around Cybil's shoulder when she started to follow. "Give him a minute, then have him introduce you." She told her, then let her go.

Mason heard Danny whining softly before he spotted him. Marcus had left him sitting off to the right on some grass, and he was practically shivering as he looked at Mason. Squatting down, Mason whispered his name. Then fell over laughing as Danny trampled him, seemingly trying to lick Mason's whole face and squirming so frantically that Mason could hardly get a hold on him. Cybil watched it and found a lump in her own throat.

***

It was pizza for dinner that night, Brigid ordering a dozen delivered from Geno's as well as sending three to Ardella's room at the hospital for her and Cybil to share with the guards there. Cybil had refused to leave her friend alone, pointing out that the couch in the room was more than long enough for her. She had informed them that they had better be there early to bust her and Ardella out though.

Able Stanton had showed up, and there was a quiet discussion going on, which included him, Aida, Allan and Mason. Big Ben seemed to loom over the others at the table even sitting. He was the only non lawyer allowed to take part in the discussion, and then only after being retained by the Stanton firm as a strategist, making anything he said or heard fall under the attorney client privilege rule as work-product.

Cindy McFadden was having the weirdest day of her short life. She was eighteen and lived with her spinster aunt, working with her cleaning hotel rooms. Her mother was two years into a seven-year prison sentence for going after her last boyfriend with a steak knife. They didn't make much money that could be called extra, according to her aunt. She couldn't even afford to get a new prescription for her glasses, the ones she had not really doing the job anymore. So when she was invited to the lake that day, she'd jumped at the chance to do something fun, to forget her dull life for a day. Now she seemed to be stuck in somebody else's life.

At least the lawyer lady had called and explained things to her aunt, after telling her that she should come with them until things were settled, whatever that meant. And she'd been introduced to Mason, the cute guy that she'd been recording, though she found herself tongue-tied when he apologized for her loosing her phone. She really hoped he was telling her the truth about buying her any phone she wanted as a replacement. She sat off to one side, feeling really out-of-place, taking comfort from the beautiful dog that had decide to lean against her chair and be scratched.

Marcus and Pat were at the bar, each on his second Guinness getting acquainted. Becky was behind the bar listening to them and flirting with both. She'd always had a thing for older guys, though she hadn't acted on it, and had already started flirting with Pat earlier that day. Now that things were settling down, and there was a second good-looking old guy, she was having a hard time remembering why she'd never let herself go for it. Shelby, who had been clinging to her father, had long since fled blushing in the face of Becky's behavior.

Able told them that he had set a meeting at the firm the next day, so that whichever ADA got assigned to the case could get statements from Mason and the others that had been there. Going on to say he expected said ADA to have a waver from prosecution in hand when he showed up, Able having demanded it in exchange for their cooperation. Aida informed the others about the incident in the bar, and Mason filled in what he was willing to admit, while Allan frowned at him, causing Mason more discomfort at his disappointment than he would have thought possible.

Big Ben was giving his assessment of the security and suggesting some added measures, when his cell went off and Eric told him they had a visitor at the gate. The table going tense when he went on to say it was Viktor Maslow and a driver.

Mason stood at the top of the steps watching the dark town car approach. Ben stood on his right, Marcus and Pat in the doorway, everybody else having been told to stay inside. The car came to a stop, and Eric climbed out of the passenger side front door, the driver getting out on his side and walking to the front of the car.

"Mr. Maslow would like Mason to join him in the car." Eric told his boss, giving him a nod to indicate that he had already done his recon before allowing the car to approach. So Ben nodded to Mason when he looked at him, and was impressed when the kid went down the steps and got in the car.

Viktor Maslow was a square-jawed man who had once been powerfully built, but was slowly going to fat and greying. His eyes were still sharp though, and he watched Mason as he took a seat next to him, impressed with the way he held his fear. If Alexei had only been more like this one.

Viktor waited until the boy's door was closed before sighing and nodding to him. "You carry yourself well." He told him.

Mason nodded, and decided he needed to just get things started or his nerves were going to get the better of him. "Thank you Sir." He began. "I hope you don't take anything that has happened as meant to be disrespectful towards you." He finished, getting out the opening line Ben had coached him to use. Relaxing a little as he saw Maslow smile a little.

"My late nephew was an ass," he told Mason, "and I know he brought what happened between the two of you on himself. Nor was what happened today my wish."

Mason was having a hard time getting passed the description of Alexei as being late. "He died?" he asked, thinking of Cybil and vowing to himself that he would keep her out of it no matter what happened.

Viktor understood more of what was on Mason's face and in his eyes than Mason would have believed. The old bartender had given him a full account of what had happened in the bar that night. He knew it had been the girl who came in with this young man that had beaten Alexei, and he could see that the man planned on protecting her. Why couldn't Alexei, but no, that was a useless wish now.

"Don't worry Mason, may I call you that?" Mason nodded. "Alexei only died as an indirect result of what happened that night. He didn't die from the beating your young friend gave him." Holding up his hand to stop him from denying her involvement. "He was my sister's only child, and I brought him here for her sake, because she wanted him to have more. Unfortunately, that was never enough for Alexei. Nothing was ever going to be enough for him, because he was hollow, no soul."

"Misha died last year, and the little control she had over him seemed to die with her. What happened in that bar, when he tried to rape that girl, that would have been the last straw when I heard about it. No matter if you were there to stop it or not." And the old Russian sighed, slumping back in his seat. "Many in my profession view women as nothing more than animals, but I never saw it that way. My father, whoever the bastard was, got me on my mother much the way Alexei was planning for your friend, yet she never held it against me, worked her fingers to the bone to see me healthy and educated." He trailed off, seeming lost in the past for a moment.

"I let them have him." He admitted quietly. "I knew Alexei wouldn't survive long if all the ones he had run up against heard I was no longer protecting him. They found him a week ago, two shots in the back of his head. I've already sent his ashes to be buried with his mother, the only person that ever loved him."

"I'm sorry." Mason told him and meant it.

Viktor nodded and shook himself. "What happened today," he began, "the men who attacked you, they were Alexei's sycophants. A useless rabble that would never have risen in the brotherhood. If they weren't stupid enough to get themselves arrested, I'd have had to deal with them in some other fashion. You won't have to worry about them, I've already had my lawyer inform them, that they can either plead guilty to all charges and do the time. After which I'll send them home. Or they can join Alexei." And Mason could see the ruthlessness just under the surface.

"As for you and your friends." He went on, fishing a small box from his lapel pocket. "I apologize on behalf of my sister. And ask that you give these to the young lady Alexei attacked." Opening the box, he showed Mason a pair of tear drop diamond earrings. "I bought them for Misha, but she passed before I could send them. They won't erase what he did, but I think my sister would have wanted her to have them." He closed the box and handed it to Mason.

Viktor smiled and pointed over Mason's shoulder at the men gathered on the steps. "That is quite the pack of wolves you have." He told Mason, "But you won't need them for me. I'll make sure no one else thinks it's okay to come near you."

Mason closed his hand around the little box and breathed a sigh of relief, believing him. "Thank you."

Viktor nodded then waved Mason towards his friends. "I think we are done then." He told him with a smile, and Mason opened the door to get out.

"One final thing young Mason." Maslow spoke as Mason was getting to his feet. "Just because I like you. I looked into you and your life, to see who you were. And I found a name that I don't believe you've heard. It's a dangerous name though, so be careful how you use the information." And he paused, studying Mason's face for a long moment. "I'm told a man named Brian Meyer was a well-known PIRA demolitions expert." Then he waved for Mason to close the door and turned to face forward in his seat. Mason closed it mechanically, trying to grasp the implications of what the man had told him. He was still trying when the town car pulled away and everyone flooded from the hall to gather around him asking questions.

***

Brigid and Mason sat on the steps while Danny explored the night, they couldn't see him, but knew he wouldn't go far. The long day of worry and fear had left them just wanting to sit quietly and enjoy a little peace with each other.

Mason had related his conversation with the old Bratva boss with the others, leaving out the fact that Alexei was dead, simply saying Viktor had sent his nephew back to his mother. And he hadn't told anyone about the parting information. If he could believe it, he now knew the name of the man who had killed his parents, or had at least made the bombs used. But the warning wasn't lost on him, not after the way things had gone that day. He had decided to think about it for a bit, instead of rushing around bringing more danger around the girls.

Able Stanton had been the first to leave, reminding them that they still needed to go give statements even if the four men pled guilty. Pat and Ben had left together, Ben volunteering to take Pat to his pickup out at the lake, saying he lived out that way. Big Ben left his men on duty though, since he didn't trust the Russian and Allan had already talked to him about providing full-time security.

Cybil was relieved like everyone else when Mason called her and told her what had happened. And Ardella wanted to know if that meant she could get out of the damn hospital. Mason had just laughed and promised to be there early.