Lucifer's Apostles

Lucifer's Apostles Episode 27

Tank and Katie walked into the Italian restaurant together. He seemed nervous, so she hooked her arm into his. Seven people were seated at the table for ten. At least they were not the last ones to arrive, Tank thought. Katie introduced Tank first to her parents, Marko and Linda. Marko stood to shake Tank’s hand with a huge smile, “Pleased to meet you. We know nothing about you”, he said, looking at his daughter.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both”, Tank said. “We have just started seeing each other. You have a beautiful daughter who looks much like her mother”. Tank was not lying. Katie was a younger version of Linda. Katie then introduced Tank to Aleksandr, his wife Claudia, their daughter Nina and finally to Nicolay and his wife, Svetlana. Tank thought she was being formal. She usually called her siblings Aleks, Nic and Ana, who was not here.

“Anastasia is running late again”, Katie said directly to her father. The two sat down, and Tank was then bombarded with questions about how they had met, what he did, and whether he had children. These were just the usual questions from a family who had heard nothing about him.

A woman a little older than Katie walked to the table. The table fell silent as she kissed Marko and Linda on the cheek. She had fiery dark orange hair, and by her complexion and freckles, she was a natural redhead. Her eyes were the same ocean blue colour as her mother and sister. “This is my sister Anastasia”, Katie said to Tank.

Before he could answer, she said, “Call me Ana, please. Only my father and grandparents call me Anastasia”. Her smile was as radiant as Katie’s.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ana” Tank said. Marko clicked his fingers, and a waiter rushed over, asking if they were ready to order. Everybody ordered. Tank had Ossobuco, while Katie had Spaghetti Napolitano. Nobody raised an eyebrow when both Tank and Katie ordered lemonades.

There was a lot of small talk between everyone. They all talked about their day and what was coming up for their families. Aleks and Nic had children, making Tank wonder why only Nina had been invited. He also wondered if Ana had a partner.

Katie would tell Tank on their drive home that Nina had reached the age of twenty and could attend family dinners. Ana had a partner, although no one had met him or knew his name. It was like the rest of her life. Katie thought that she had ties with the Russian mafia, the Bratva. After everyone had finished, the waiter brought dessert menus, but nobody took him up on the offer.

Aleks then told the family his news. It was a little worse than a sore toe. He was going to file for bankruptcy. The company he owned that imported sportswear and sporting goods had gotten into debt because of online shopping. His father asked why he had not come to him earlier. He could have helped him, to which Aleks replied he wanted to do it himself. “Rubbish”, Marko said, “We have money. How much do you owe”.

Aleks replied that he was over three hundred thousand dollars in debt. Marko told him he would have the money in his business account first thing Monday morning. Tank was impressed by that statement. When the bill arrived, Tank reached for his wallet, Marko looked in his direction, and Katie softly put her hand on his arm. He did not know that her father would take it as a personal insult if someone else offered to pay. He would have also thought little of him if he had not at least reached to do so.

When everyone was ready to leave, Marko pulled Tank to one side. With a trace of a Russian accent, he said. “You seem a good man, honest as well as personable. You are a huge man, Mr Dodge. If you hurt my daughter, it will not matter how tall you are. You will still have trouble walking with broken kneecaps. Do I make myself clear”?

Tank looked down a little at Marko, who was a tall man himself, “I understand precisely”, Tank answered and shook the man’s hand. “It has been an absolute honour to have made your acquaintance, and I look forward to meeting you again”.

“You too, Sergeant Dodge. Next time, we may share a little cognac”, he said, to which Tank politely declined. He told Marko that he was a complete teetotaller.

When they returned to Katie’s, it was 9:30 p.m., and they were both tired. “No movies tonight, Tank. I know you have an early morning, and I have to do tomorrow what I did not get done today. That is, of course, if you do not need my services”, Katie said.

“I hope I don’t need you, Katie. I would love it if you could come in tomorrow afternoon to go through CCTV or anything, just so you are close. That’s just me being selfish and wanting to be near you”, Tank told her.

She replied, “I will check my schedule and get back to you on that one”. She gently took his hand in hers, “Go and have a nice cool shower, not too cool”, she told him with a cheeky smile.

Before he left her, he said, “I need to go home in the morning, Katie. I have no clothes, toothbrush or a razor. Everything’s in my car”.

“Luckily, I went shopping this afternoon before returning to the station. I bought you a toothbrush, a new razor, and a comb. I also got you two new shirts, a packet of boxers and some socks. I hope they fit. When the salesperson asked your size, I said gigantic. I have a feeling she knows you because she took me straight to them”, Katie said with a laugh. “I also got you some summer pyjamas. And wait for it, some deodorant and the icing on the cake, some cologne that smells much better than the one you wear”.

He raised his eyebrows as she smiled the same cheeky grin. He lifted her, and she assumed her favourite position with her arms around his neck and her legs wrapped around his waist. They kissed, and when she pulled her head back, he was aching for more. “I hope I am not being presumptuous”, she said.

He looked into her blue eyes and said, “No, Katie, I needed you today, and you were in my mind. I thought tonight was perfect. I don’t know whether we’ll get married next weekend or not. THAT might be taking it a little fast”, he said.

“Aww, now you have gone and broken my heart”, she said while she was giggling. “Now get in that shower, Sarge, before I jump your bones here and now”. Tank put her down and did exactly that. He had a nice, cool shower. The mugginess in the air was still stifling. The pyjamas, to his surprise, fit perfectly.

Katie was waiting on the bed for him. There was no sheer nightie on her tonight. She was naked except for her jewellery. She would hold him until he went to sleep. There was just some business he needed to finish first. She was giggling like she had earlier in the night when he climbed into her arms, only this time it was with delight.

***

Snake returned to Sally’s room before lights out. Sleep would not come to him. All told, he had been in and out all afternoon, sleeping for around an hour. He had taken Sally’s dinner into her. He had two plates, one for himself. When it was time for her to bathe, he took the dish and accessories into her. Now, he sat on the bed beside her, not waiting to be asked. “I hope your day wasn’t terrible for you”, he said.

“You made it better for me”, Sally told him. She took Snake’s hands in hers. The pain in her right hand was terrible, and she pulled it away. “You said you’d make it right. I have faith in you to do that. You’ll never have to go to prison from my testimony. I promise you that”.

“You’ll never be able to forgive me for what you’ve been through. It’s a traumatic experience. It will take you years to get over it, and you mightn’t ever recover”, he said.

“We can lie to everyone about how we met. We can say we met in the fish shop. This isn’t good. It will be worse if I lose you”, Sally said, holding back the tears.

She moved into Snake and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arms around her and felt her chained hand slide up and down his thigh. Snake said, “Please, Sally, you know I can’t do anything. The cameras are always on”.

Sally rubbed his leg and whispered, “Come back when the lights are out”.

“That won’t help, they’re infra-red cameras, they see in the dark”, Snake whispered back. Sally’s hand roamed further up his leg, and Snake pulled away and stood up. Most nights, whoever was on slept. Melissa was on tonight, and she was diligent at her job.

“I’ll wait. I only wanted a cuddle tonight”, she pleaded, “Just for you to hold me until I went to sleep. Is that asking too much”?

“It is tonight, the Nazi princess is on”. As soon as Snake said the words, Sally knew he was talking about Melissa.

“I would prefer your big mate over her any day”, Sally said, “please, it’s my birthday”.

“I wish I could”, he replied. “See how easy it is if you ever visit me when I’m behind bars”.

Sally said, “You should put her in one of these cages and see how she likes it. I want to stick that stun gun thingy up her backside and watch her eyes light up”. Snake smiled as the picture of that entered his mind.