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Chapter 13

The next few days were filled with hard work, anticipation and lack of sleep. Nick and AJ were following Granger and his team around the small town accompanied by three Russian police officers, walking from door to door, asking people if they had seen or heard anything concerning Ali. They were mostly paired up in groups, trying to maintain the capacity that they had and make the most out of every hour that passed. It wasn’t very efficient, but it was the only way to get things into a perspective. None of them knew where to look, and the only way to get a full overview was to talk to the local people to put all the pieces together. So far, they had had no luck.

As the first week was coming to an end, Nick and AJ could both feel the pressure form working non stop for days. Even in their sleep, their minds were working out different ways to improve the investigation, even though none of them knew what the next day would be like. Diametric Karkaroff, the man who’s DNA was found on the envelope, had not been found, and after searching for him on his current address and everywhere else in the small town, they had come to conclude that he had either left the area or was hiding somewhere.

Nick and AJ were now sitting in the lobby, waiting for Granger and his search team to get back. They had been working with Tara and a Russian officer that day, and Nick couldn’t help but feel like he was wasting time when he was working with Tara. She was shoving a very unusual interest in Nick, for a police officer at least, and Nick couldn’t help but think that he was distracting her from doing her job properly. He was also dying to discuss this matter with AJ, but every time he tried, she walked up to them, as if she knew that they were talking about her behind her back. And then, when they finally got back to the hotel after a long day, they were too tired to even consider staying up talking to each other. Nick was about to drag AJ with him to a corner and tell him how he felt about working with Tara, but just as he was about to stand up, Granger and his team walked through the revolving doors and over to the sitting group that had became their meeting spot.

“Hey guys,” Granger said as he approached them. “How’d it go?”
Nick shrugged. “Nothing…” He looked up at Granger and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You?”
Granger sat down opposite to Nick and AJ and signalled for everyone to gather around.
“Actually, I think we might have gotten a clue.”
Nick quickly sat up straight, waiting for Granger to continue.
“We spoke to two teenage boys, just before we got back here, actually, and they claim that they saw a guy and a girl, matching Ali’s description, last night. They were playing around in a small village north from here, called Tura. It’s an old deserted mine village. No one lives there anymore, and according to the boys, people stay away from there because of incidents that happened there in the past. In fact, parts of the area are restricted because most of the deep mines aren’t secured and people can easily fall into one of them. Last night, around midnight, the boys saw a man and a woman walking down the street, but they were too busy hiding from them to get a good look at their faces. They said the woman had long brown hair and that the man was short. At least shorter than the woman. They’re coming with us tomorrow to show us where they saw them.”
“Tomorrow?” Nick interrupted. “Why can’t we go right away?”
Granger shook his head. “Nick, I know you’re eager to find her, but we’re all tired, and we need to rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, and we need to be prepared. Besides, we need the Russian team to come with us, and they already went home.”
Nick sighed. “But---“
“No buts Nick. I can’t speak for you, but I am exhausted, and I intend to get some sleep.”
“He’s right Nick.” AJ agreed. “We should really get some sleep.”
Nick ran his fingers through his hair and sighed again. “Alright…”
And with that, they all stood up and headed towards their rooms, eager to get some rest.

~*~

She was cold again.
But this time, she knew there was nothing she could do to stay warm. Hours ago, she had been taken to a place where she had never been before, where she had been tied up and blindfolded. There was no blanket to keep her warm and there was nothing she could do to move herself from the mattress she was lying on.

She didn’t know why she was there, yet, she never really knew why she was taken away from home in the first place. The only thing that kept her from falling apart was the thought of Nick. She knew there was a chance that the letter had reached him, and if it had, he would be on his way looking for her. He was telling her in her dreams, in her thoughts, to hold on.

Hold on….

~*~

AJ was in bed.
The woman in the pink bikini was running towards him, the sun glistening on her wet skin. She was getting closer and closer and ---
*knock, knock*
AJ groaned. “Fuck!” He muttered under his breath as he saw the beauty disappear from his mind. He stirred and slowly opened his eyes. Glancing over at the alarm clock next to the bed, he groaned again.

01:45 AM.

*knock, knock*
Confused, he stumbled out of bed, and walked across the room, careful not to hit anything in the dark. He reached the door and slowly opened it, not surprised to find Nick standing on the other side.
“Nick… what are---?”
“Shhh….” Nick whispered. “Keep your voice down.”
AJ rolled his eyes. “What are you doing here?” he looked at his friend. “And what the heck are you wearing?”
Nick rushed past him and into the room, leaving AJ by the door, looking like a question mark. He was wearing a pair of black boots, black pants, a thick black jacket and a black cap with a black hood over it. To AJ, it looked like he was about to kill someone.
“We’re going out.” Nick said, sitting down on AJ’s bed.
“We are not going anywhere."
“AJ, I can’t wait until tomorrow. If she’s in that village, I have to find her. Now!” Nick threw a bag onto the bed. “I got you the same outfit as I’m wearing.”
AJ stopped in the middle of the room, looking at Nick as if he had lost his mind. “You’ve got to be kidding me?”
Nick smirked and shook his head. “Nope! Here, catch.” He threw the bag at AJ. “Get dressed. The taxi will be here to pick us up in ten minutes.”
“I’m not going.” AJ protested.
“Please! I can’t go by myself.”
AJ shook his head, determined to get back under the covers.
“Come on Jay” Nick argued “… this is what we’re here for. To find Ali.”
“We don’t know anything about the place Nick, and we shouldn’t go there without Granger. At least not wearing an outfit like that. People will definitely get suspicious if they see us.”
“No one is going to see us. It’s in the middle of the night. AJ… Ali is out there somewhere, and I’m not going to sit and wait for things to happen when I can do something about it myself. Please AJ. Do it for me.”
AJ sighed and ran a hand across his face. “I must be out of my mind…”
Nick smiled. “Thanks man.” He stood up and handed the bag over to AJ who unwillingly accepted it. Without a word, he walked into the bathroom to get changed.

~*~

“I knew this was a bad idea.” AJ said with a shivering voice. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this cold in my entire life.”
They were standing on a street corner, looking around, trying to find some kind of clue to where they could start looking. The village looked worse than they had imagined. It was completely deserted, and the buildings looked like they were going to fall apart any minute.
“Cause it’s all so dark and mysterious…” Nick sang.
AJ laughed sarcastically. “You sure know when to say the right things…”
Nick shrugged. “Come on, let’s start over there.” He started walking towards a small house at the end of the street, AJ following closely behind.

Half an hour passed and Nick and AJ were starting to feel the cold. They had been through half of the houses in the village by then and still, there was nothing. Nick kept looking for footprints in the snow, but whenever he saw something, it was either his own or AJ’s.
“Nick, I honestly think we should get back. Seriously, I can’t feel my legs…”
“Just fifteen more minutes.”
“Fifteen minutes, and not a second longer.”
Nick nodded and made his way across the street. Just then, in the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow moving. He quickly pulled AJ by the arm and pressed himself up against a cold wooden wall.
“What the---“
“Shhh… there’s someone there!” Nick whispered, urging AJ to hide behind a post. AJ was about to respond when they both saw a shadow moving towards them.
They held their breaths.
As the shadow was getting closer, a man appeared in the middle of the street. He was walking straight towards them with determined steps, his face hidden by the darkness.
Nick and AJ exchanged looks and seconds later, the man had stopped right in front of them. Nick knew he had seen them, and he felt his pulse rise as the man pulled out something from his pocket.
A gun.
His heart skipped a beat and he looked over at AJ who seemed just as petrified.
No words were exchanged.
The man raised his hand and aimed the gun at Nick, not once showing any sign of hesitation.
“No…” Nick muttered under his breath.
“NOOOO!” Before Nick had the chance to react, AJ stood up and threw himself in front of Nick just as the gun went off.
“AJ, NOOOO!”