Head Of The Snake. G. Rehder
Lake is located in the Ozero National Park and Yaroslavi Oblast about 150 kilometers from Moscow, once a summer home to the Czars, now a tourist destination. Mariya purchased her dacha from an old woman from a once royal bloodline.
Her family had miraculously held onto the property during the revolution. The price paid for keeping this dacha in her family was not something that the aged Faina Plotnikov wanted to talk about. But old rumors in the village of Pereslavl indicated that some family members were eager to turn over the names of other family members who were still supportive of the Czar.
With these revelations, the new revolutionary regime we’re provided with “traitors” to execute and given the opportunity to make examples of those who supported the old way. In turn, the rest of the Plotnikov family and their property were left alone.
The dacha Mariya occupied had six bedrooms and three updated bathrooms, a formal dining area, a large kitchen, and a huge great room with an enormous rock fireplace. She had a private study and a large basement. There were several secret tunnels leading out of the basement. They ran hundreds of feet out from the dacha and exited in the deep forest that surrounded the five-acre estate.
She had walled off the tunnels about twenty feet out and took pride in the wine cellars she had created in the stone passages. When the outside January temperatures would dip to eleven degrees Fahrenheit, her cellar stayed at a consistent forty-two degrees, a great temperature for the dessert wines she loved to collect.
The basement also had a very large coal burning furnace located in a far corner. She planned on updating the heating system as more illicit money rolled in.
In October, it generally did not get colder that thirty-four degrees. Tonight, she had a large fire going in the great room, thanks to Viktor. He would rather deal with firewood than shovel dirty coal in the basement.
Both Mariya and Viktor sat in front of the fire, feeling its warmth on their faces as they sipped vodka and ate smoked Ryapushka. The wingback chairs they sat in were old, but Mariya had them reupholstered with new leather.
They sat, quietly waiting. The plan for the night had been rehearsed many times already. They both knew what had to be done, and they were ready.
At 11:20 p.m., there was a buzzer heard on Mariya’s monitor for the front gate. Mariya walked to her study and brought her desk screen to life. She hit a few keys, and an image at the front gate came up. It was Klopov. She hit a button on a panel on the desk, and the gate began to open slowly.
“It is time, Viktor. Get up quick. Come here.”
Viktor rose slowly and moved with his glass and plate of Ryapushka into the study, making sure he left nothing behind to indicate the presence of anyone but Mariya.
He then walked into a large closet. Its doors paneled to look like part of the wall. He closed the door behind him, then watched through a small peephole mounted in a way to keep it hidden. He had the garrote in his pocket, and he played with it nervously as he waited and watched.
Minutes later, he heard the door chime sound. He knew he was only moments away from taking the life of another trusted friend. He tried hard not to think about it that way. He had been trying hard not to think about it all since he and Mariya had put the plot together.
He saw Mariya move out of the study and listened to her heels clicking on the polished wooden floors. Then voices. Mariya and Klopov both talking fast as if they did not have time to get out what needed to be asked and said.
Then he heard Mariya say, “We need a moment, catch our breaths, have a vodka.”
Klopov said, “Da, I need a drink badly. I have had nothing for days.”
“I have a bottle of Beluga gold line in my study,” Mariya said almost in a seductive way.
They both walked into the study. Mariya looked small behind Matvej’s six-foot-two frame.
“Sit, my friend,” Mariya told him as they entered. She pointed to a chair across her desk. The back of it was to the closet that Viktor occupied.
The bottle and two glasses were already set out on the desktop.
There was one glass that had been dosed around the rim and at the bottom with a strong narcotic cocktail Mariya had perfected and used many times in tranquilizing the trafficked females she had brought through Russia over the years.
She made sure that the particular glass was closest to Klopov’s chair. She uncorked the bottle and poured both hers and Klopov’s glass to the rim.
Mariya picked up her glass and said, “Za na-shoo droo-zhboo” (To our friendship).
Klopov stood and repeated the same, “Za na-shoo droo-zhboo.”
They both drank then slammed their glasses down on the desk, and Mariya poured another round. This time, they both tilted their glasses back and drained the liquid without a toast.
“Let us sit and talk,” Mariya said, watching Matvej closely for signs of drowsiness.
He sat, and as he did, he almost fell back into the chair. Big men fall hard, Mariya thought. She sat down, watching his head began to sway back and forth. He was trying to look at her as he knew something was not right, but his eyes would not focus, and he was soon asleep, barely able to stay in his seat.
Mariya moved quickly and grabbed the zip ties she had in her top desk drawer. She zipped both of his arms to the chair twice on each side. Then she bent down to do his legs, and she realized Viktor was still in the closet.
“Get out, you swine, and help me!” she yelled.
Viktor walked out and snapped back, “You don’t need my help for what you are so good at, my sister.”
She had his legs secure, and Viktor asked, “So now what?”
“We wait. We wait for him to regain enough consciousness so Lehan will know he was alive when you strangled him, you fool. We talked about this. You don’t remember?” She looked at her brother. “Are you drunk? You don’t get drunk, Viktor.”
“Nyet, just nervous. He is a strong man. What if he gets loose?”
“Then I shoot him in the legs, and you finish the job. Don’t be such a worrier.”
“I have my phone ready to record. Where is the garotte?” she asked.
“I have it in my pocket.” Viktor reached in and brought out the garotte. He held it up with both hands, stretched it tight, and walked behind Matvej.
They both stood there for what seemed like an hour, but only five minutes had gone by before Klopov started stirring. As he did, he shook his head as if to awaken his senses, he was able to see a little now, and he looked up at Mariya.
“So this is what happened to Bogdan,” he said slowly, then continued, “and Viktor?”
“Nyet, not Viktor,” she answered. “He is right behind you.”
Matvej was barely able to turn slowly. He could make out Viktor’s silhouette, but not bring him into focus.
He asked, “Why, Viktor? I have been a loyal soldier.”
“Da, but you brought shame to me with Andre Sarnev. Now I am told to take revenge for him, to please Joseph Lehan.”
When Viktor finished speaking, he quickly put the garotte around Klopov’s neck and began to pull back.
Mariya yelled, “Wait! Wait for me to film.”
He released a little as she grabbed her phone and began to scan over the image in front of her.
Viktor put all his weight into the pull. The partially sedated Matvej Klopov put up little if no struggle at all.
“It was over in several minutes.” Viktor, making sure there was no breath coming from the big man’s lungs, he put his ear to the man’s mouth then a hand on his chest. Two forefingers to the neck assured him Matvej was dead.
Mariya