Storm Chaser: Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Elena laughed as Tina recounted her latest battle royal with the man they all only knew as Him. Since Tina had taken the job at Groban Inc, Him stories had cropped up frequently and with much good humor. She was far too much the professional to ever give his actual name but couldn’t resist story time over brunch.

“You are so making that up,” Lisa said with a grin.

“Hand to God,” Tina said. Lisa shook her head.

“I certainly hope he had a change of clothes stashed somewhere.” All three shared a laugh. Elena found the light conversation more refreshing and celebratory than last night’s champagne had been. It was nice for a while to not worry over interstellar politics.

“So is it odd working with your grandfather?” Lisa asked. Elena saw Lisa’s inner lawyer swim up for a peek.

“Actually he stays mostly out of the way. He and Peter are mostly silent partners. They come in look over the ad campaigns, nod and smile, then leave again.”

“That would be Peter Baranov?” Lisa asked. This time Tina shook her head.

“I was wondering how long that would take,” Tina said. Lisa frowned and Elena smiled.

“I didn’t actually thing she’d wait this long,” Elena said. “I figured it would come with the coffee not the check.” Elena indicated the mostly empty and ready to be cleared plates. As if on cue the waitress returned to collect their plates. When she was gone Lisa looked pointedly at Elena.

“Yes that would be Peter Baranov.” Elena answered.

“There are rumors about him.” Lisa said. Elena raised her eyebrows in surprise. She figured all of the stories about Peter were guild based and not likely to surface Earth side.

“Really?” Elena said. Lisa smiled.

“You aren’t surprised there are rumors just surprised I’ve heard them.”

“True,” Elena confessed. She had forgotten how sharp Lisa could be.

“Do you want to know what the rumors are?” Lisa asked.

“You know that is a rhetorical question,” Tina said, stirring her coffee. “She had been dying to discuss this with you since she found out.”

“The rumors are,” Lisa continued unfazed, “that while no one really knows that much about him, which is strange in this day and age where you can find out nearly anything about anyone, and that he is somehow involved in the Russian Mafia.” Lisa leaned back in her chair as if awaiting Elena’s rebuttal. Elena shook her head and smiled.

“He does imports and exports and is originally from Moscow and attended Oxford. He still does work in Russia and I have a feeling that the rumors of mafia connections serve him well. My grandfather has known him for years. I saw him often while I was growing up. I think he likes an air of mystery.” Elena couldn’t add that he wasn’t dangerous because it would not only be an outright lie but one that would be blatantly obvious. Anyone spending more than five minutes with Peter knew he was dangerous.

“So you don’t think he is involved with the Russian Mafia?” Lisa asked. Elena sighed.

“I have a feeling that he has some association with them considering the nature of imports and exports but I doubt it amounts to much more than paying extra fees.” Elena said. In this she was fairly confident. Getting involved with highly illegal activities brought the notice of the police. Avoid notice was ingrained on all of them. Peter was council as well as guild raised and would stick to that.

“See, I told you it was something like that,” Tina said.

“It makes sense,” Lisa replied slowly. “But I don’t like the sketchy information about him.”

“Not everyone has all their old files digitized,” Elena said with a smile.

“It would make life easier,” Lisa commented.

“Uh huh,” Elena said. She and Tina shared a smile. Lisa’s need for the entire world’s information at her fingertips was something they both found amusing. She wasn’t happy that the world wide web had gaps.

“You know your information is pretty sparse too,” Lisa said grumpily.

“You looked me up?” Elena asked, not really surprised.

“She looks everyone up,” Tina said.

“True. I’m not surprise it is sparse. I kind of grew up bouncing around.”

“After your parent’s died,” Lisa said. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she looked as though she wanted to suck the words back down her throat. “Oh Elena I’m sorry, I didn’t…”

“Its all right,” Elena told her. “It was a long time ago. A boating accident.” Elena thought of that night. Her grandfather’s face solemn as he took her hand and told her she was going to be staying with him for a while. It had been several days before the truth of the matter had actually sunk in. Not for the first time she wondered if it had been an accident. Talk moved on to lighter subjects and Elena pushed the thought away. She left the other two with hugs, smiles and promises to let them know how her date with Andre went. As she walked back to the store, flashes of memory jolted her from within. Little details she had been too scared to look at faces that hadn’t meant anything compared to the news. Peter had been there that night as had Riko. They were background noise. Static that meant nothing to her then.

“But they shouldn’t have been there at all,” Elena muttered to herself. Elena let herself into the back of Nibbles. She once again climbed the steps and set out to record the receipts from the night before. As she worked thoughts began to turn in her head.