Retribution

This. Is. Amazing.

I am so happy to hear that you aren’t the most perfect goddess in the world and that you do have faults. This. Is. Amazing!

A perfect goddess?  Who’s lies have you been listening to.  Can’t have been my own--I couldn’t come up with something that good.  Although I want to start the rumor that I’m the goddess of war more than I am the goddess of food.

“Abba.”

In any other situation with any other person Ayelet would’ve found a way to hide the crack in her voice, some other way to cloak the need to see her own father.  But she couldn’t.  With Noam sent back to Israel to handle some business matters and the chaos that recently shook through the Russian camp, all she wanted was to be home.  She didn’t want to be in this den of snakes for much longer and no matter how much she respected her father, she would have to explain the situation to him.

“There’s my beautiful girl,” her father, Ran, said as she watched his smile grow.

Feeling her own heart swell, she looked away momentarily, laughing.  “How’re things in Israel?” she asked.

“Everything is moving,” he replied, nodding his head.  “I know you’ve waited a long time for us to move there, but it’s taking longer than anticipated.  Our ties here are deep and strong--I must make sure those are in considerable shape before I make it to the U.S.”

Ayelet only shook her head, “No need to explain.  I understand.”

“I know, but the way you said hello makes me wonder if you’re feeling the strain.”

The last thing the Levin daughter wanted her father to think was that she wasn’t capable of staying.  As much as she longed for the streets of home, the dry heat that came with the old neighborhood, the warm family homes she would enter and the feeling of community at the local synagogue, she knew leaving would be a sign of weakness.  Ayelet was also very sure that if she even flirted with the idea of asking Ran to come home, she’d never be able to live with herself.

She shook her head and smiled, “Launceston is very stressful.  It’s hard not to feel the strain.”

Ran’s eyebrows furrowed, “Maybe you should think about some R&R back ho--”

“Please don’t say it,” she interrupted, looking into the camera.  Crossing her arms and setting her elbows on the table in front of the keyboard, she gave a small smile.  “I called to touch base with you.  I’m having trouble sticking to this...plan.”

“Explain.”

“I think our plan to stick with the Russians to get our foot in the door in Launceston is becoming more of a way for us to sever our own foot from our body.”

A silence passed over them as they sat.  Ran was obviously working through her words and trying to work through what his daughter was telling him.  “How so?”

Sighing deeply, Ayelet knew this would take a while to explain.  “For starters, the Russians are absolutely despised by every other family in the city.  Every other family--the two Italian families, the French family--all banded together to orchestrate the biggest blow to the Russians’ operations here in Launceston.  And I’m not talking one event.  They set fire to a Russian business in Valence, an Italian stronghold, they set fire to Dmitri’s house with him in it, took out the docks where the Russians trade their weapons and a raid was executed masterfully through their human trafficking business.”

She bit her lip as she shook her head.  She’d never been fond of the Russians and their business practices before, but she’d always loathed the idea of them trafficking young girls and women into a life of dependency and sex.

“How’re they taking it?”

“Not well.”

“How did they react at first?”

“Abhorrently,” Ayelet replied, shaking her head.  “They weren’t even a day removed from this and all they could think about was how the other families would pay.”

“That’s a natural reaction--”

“Not when the entire city worked together to destroy you in a single night.  This is so much bigger than revenge,” she said, her tone darkening.  “They’re unable to see past their own self-destructive ways.  They’re unwilling to evaluate mistakes and learn from them.  From the information I’ve been gathering, it’s obvious I’m not the first person the Russians have fucked over royally, but I am one of the lucky few that’s alive to tell the tale.”

Ran cursed, running a hand over his face.  “What have they done to other families?”

“Lots, but just a few that stuck out: Alek apparently is very fond of his basement.  He captured the head of the St. Clair family and kept her down there for months.  She’s only recently been returned,” she said.  “The Russians attempted to assassinate the head of the Auditore family and failed miserably.  They murdered the wife of Sal Mancini, the head of the other Italian family in Launceston.  They killed one of the Hathaway daughters, a family that’s widely known for neutrality.  They’ve been poking at a sleeping bear for a while now and it finally woke up.”

More silence stretched and Ayelet was unsure how to continue.  Her distaste with the Russians only grew over the last month and the last thing she wanted to hear was that she would have to stick with them until everything was ready.  The thought made her physically sick.

Blinking a couple of times, she turned, her face only appearing in profile at the bottom of her screen.  “I cannot do this,” she whispered.  “I cannot physically fight an entire city just to save face with them.  Our connection to them only means we condone the way they do business.  And it couldn’t be farther from the truth.”

Ran nodded his head and it was obvious that he was mulling over her words.  If anything could be said about her father, it was how he valued the opinion of those close to him.  If they had a problem with something, he would take that into consideration.

“For the moment, sit tight.  I’m not asking you to work closely with them, but sit tight.  I’ll call you back tomorrow, 1700, your time.  I’ll run this by Ashraf and Ariel,” he said.  “In the meantime, you and the rest of our people go dark.”

“Yes sir.”

“Aye,” he said, looking straight at the camera.  “Take care of yourself.  Noam wants a wife to greet him at the airport as I want a daughter to stand with me when I arrive in Launceston.”

She cracked a smile, nodding her head as she tried not to shed a tear.  Their conversation didn’t feel long enough.

So, we need to have a serious talk about what the fuck happened and what this means for us.

You’d think the wedding ring and the fact that you’re entirely out of his league would have been enough to keep him away. 

Precisely.  While English isn’t my first language, I’m sure I’m saying no correctly.  But maybe no one taught him what no means.

I love when you talk dirty. What’s gotten into you?

Nothing...

Wow. What did he do to piss you off so badly?

Flirt--well, a sad attempt at flirting, which is bad enough on its own.”

“So you’d say the truth is always safer than a lie? Interesting. Unless you just adore trouble a little too much, maybe that should be telling you that’s there’s something you’re doing you might want to reconsider, though. Or are you just drawn to it like a moth to the flame?”

“I leave lying up to the politicians and the silver tongues.  I’m neither.  Just a foot soldier.  More like trouble is the moth and I am the flame.  It finds me frequently.”

I’ve seen plenty of reports of missing people being reported if that’s what you mean. Not every city can be a blessing. I work here occasionally depending on the day and live elsewhere. It’s kind of fun bouncing from place to place though at times.”

Missing people are just the tip of the iceberg.  Also, the cleaner version of what happens in this city.  What kind of work do you do that brings you to Brenton?

Shir: Let´s go out tonight.

Shir: I´m having a severe case of allergies to men. One in particular.

Ayelet: But I just settled in to watch some "riveting" American TV...

Shir: Who wants to see extremely big men running after a tiny disk on the ice?

Shir: I have tickets and it´s fun, according to one of my clients that plays for the team.

Ayelet: I'm down for watching guys who wear massive amounts of padding push each other over.

“I’m a social person is all. Didn’t cross my mind to check my phone, but no, I’m over here for work actually.”

“Social or not, I’d still be careful who you socialized with.  Launceston has a way about it, I’m sure you understand.  Are you new to the borough then?”