Page 4 of The Quiet Smile

I worked at a small neighborhood store that was part bakery, part butcher, and part convenience store. When my neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock, bought our building, they turned one of the ground-floor apartments into a store everyone needed. They were the grandparents I never had, showering me with love and providing me with a safe place to work and hang out. As a result, most who came to the store never bothered me.

I relaxed behind the register as I felt eyes upon me. Glancing up at the sound of the door, I groaned inwardly as I saw Carl Miller walk in. Everything about the man gave me the creeps. I gave him a slight smile and made myself look busy behind the counter.

“Hi Amelia, you sure do work a lot. I imagine you don’t make much money here. You should come to work for me. I would make sure you are taken care of real good.”

“Carl Miller! You leave Amelia alone. How many times do I have to warn you to stay away from our sweet girl? Now go on, get out of here.”

I watched as Carl gave me a cruel look before he quickly left. With a shudder, I turned to Mrs. Whitlock and breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” I signed as I whispered the words.

“Oh, you are so welcome. That man gives me the creepiest of vibes and if he bothers me as an old woman, I can only imagine how much he bothers you. Now I made a plate of food for you. It’s close enough to closing time that I’m just going to close up a bit early. So head on upstairs.”

Giving Mrs. Whitlock a quick hug and a kiss on her cheek, I grabbed the food she brought me and went to the back of the store where I could access the stairs to the second floor where my apartment was. I used to share it with Momma until she died in her sleep from alcohol and a bottle of pills. I understand why she did it, but it still hurt.

I sat down at my table and glanced around thinking that maybe I should get a pet of some sort. I needed to have someone to come home to. Maybe that way the apartment wouldn’t seem so sad and empty. I glanced down at my phone as I ate my dinner.

I was still in shock that Daniil Baranov gave me his personal phone number and that of his brothers as well. Daniil had always been the elusive bad boy that everyone seemed just a little bit afraid of. The crazy thing was that I’d never felt that way with him. More than once his presence seemed calming and safe. And then he and Nik left.

The boy was now a man. He was more handsome than he’d ever been. He emitted a darkness that I’m sure kept most people at a distance. What shocked me most was that he knew sign language. I kept wondering if perhaps he had learned it because of me. I knew that was ridiculous but there was a tiny voice in my head that whispered, “Maybe. Just maybe.”

There was no point in fantasizing over what would never be. It was best just to keep moving forward one day at a time. I quickly washed up the plate so I could return it to Mrs. Whitlock and then I headed into the bathroom to start my nighttime routine. All this thinking and peopling was exhausting. Before long I crawled into bed and was quickly asleep.

~~~*~~~

It was in the middle of the night when I was pulled from sleep by someone in my room. I screamed as an arm pressed across my throat attempting to cut off my breath. The smell of body odor and too much cologne choked me with every small breath I could take.

The man’s other hand was behind my neck completing the chokehold he had on me. I clawed at him, digging in and drawing blood but nothing broke the hold on me. I knew I had maybe three seconds before I would blackout.

I couldn’t fall unconscious, I didn’t know what would happen then. Two seconds. My vision dimmed around the edges. With the drop of oxygen, my strength sputtered. I concentrated all my remaining power on my hands, shoving and desperately trying to dislodge his chokehold. The darkness claimed me as my final thoughts were of Daniil.

Chapter 4

Daniil

It was early as I worked out in the gym keeping my body honed. Fast and silent were keys to surviving a mission. I took out our enemies before they could move against us. I was known as Ghost in the assassin world. I had no set method, I adapted to each situation.

As hard as I tried to keep thoughts of Amelia out of my mind, I finally gave up and just thought of how it felt to hold her hand in mine. To breathe in her soft lavender scent that calmed the darkness in me. She made me want to be everything she deserved.

I started my run on the treadmill, my mind thinking how I could have her. As always there was that voice that protested and wanted to keep the darkness away from her light. For once though it wasn’t very strong.

I was just finishing up my run when my cell phone buzzed. Looking at who was calling, a sense of dread filled me when I saw it was the Whitlock number. Immediately answering it, I asked, “What’s wrong?”

“When we went to open the store, I noticed that Amelia’s door was open. She’s gone and it’s obvious something happened. Her wallet, her phone, her keys, everything is there but furniture is turned over and she’s gone. The cameras were dead when we went to check them Mr. Baranov.”

Mrs. Whitlock's voice cracked as she talked. I knew she loved Amelia as much as I did. Amelia couldn’t be gone. No one knew of her connection to me and there was no reason why someone would take her to get to us. I had to think. No, I had to go and see if I could find out who took her. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

I left the gym and ran up to my room as fast as I could. Throwing on a tshirt and jeans, I went and banged on Nik’s door. He knew that if one of us were knocking like this, something happened. He answered the door with a look of concern. Keeping my voice low I told him, “Amelia’s missing. I need you.”

“Give me two minutes. I’ll meet you in the garage.”

With a nod I turned and ran down the hall and stairs and headed right for Konstantin’s office. “He looked up from the papers on his desk as I burst in. “Amelia’s missing. Nik and I are going to find out what’s going on.”

“Call me. Take as many men as you need.”

I nodded before heading back down the hall and towards the garage. Where the fuck was she? I opened the door to the Escalade and climbed into the driver’s seat just as Nik showed up.

“What do you know?” His anger, much like my own, turned him into a beast. His eyes had an intensity to them when he was angry that made you feel a sort of primal fear. You felt like he was a predator and you were definitely the prey.

“The Whitlocks called. As they went to open the store they noticed the door to Amelia’s apartment was sitting open. She was gone but her phone, wallet, and even keys were still there. They said it was obvious something happened by the state of the apartment.”

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