Panthera Spelaea

Anna hadn’t gotten much sleep and didn’t feel like staying up all day shopping, so she took Svetlana’s dress and shoes with her and headed home. We headed back to Red Square for a few more hours touring, then to GUM for some afternoon shopping.

My girlfriend had been reluctant to accept me buying things for her, but I finally convinced her that I had money and I liked doing it for her. I promised not to go overboard, though. I bought her a pair of earrings, some sportswear, and a bag of unmentionables from a lingerie shop she bought without me. We spent more time shopping for food and drinks than anything else. After all, I was eating a lot.

My metabolism was off the charts when it came to food. I figured I was eating twice as much as before, and Svetlana’s notebook backed that up. Despite the extra food, I hadn’t gained any weight since I left the hospital. “I don’t know where you put it,” she complained as I polished off my big lunch, half of hers, and dessert. “I just LOOK at cheesecake, and I gain weight.”

“I’ll help you work it off,” I promised. I’d have to figure out the best way to do that. She couldn’t keep up to my pace, and I wouldn’t find a workout sticking to her running pace.

“You did a fine job of that last night,” she said as we ducked into a store selling hundreds of kinds of aged cheese. Their apartment didn’t have a large kitchen or refrigerator, so we favored foods we could store at room temperature, including smoked meats, canned foods, and fresh fruits and vegetables.

Svetlana’s phone rang as we sampled various cheeses while the store owner talked about them. “Work,” she said as she walked a few steps away. I pretended to look at the merchandise while focusing on listening in on the conversation. I didn’t catch it all, but I could smell Svetlana’s reaction.

Fear.

She hung up, white as a sheet. I walked over and pulled her into my arms as she began to cry. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve been suspended pending completion of an investigation!” She wiped tears away, still clinging to me and speaking softly so no one would overhear. “Someone lodged a formal complaint with the hospital, claiming I had sex with a patient under my care! I’d never do that!”

It didn’t take me long to figure out what was going on. “Viktor Kaprisov,” I told her. “His lies about you being an agent didn’t break us up, so now he’s going after you to get me.”

“But I didn’t do anything!”

“I know, baby, but he doesn’t care who he hurts to take me down.” She buried her face against my chest as she processed all this. “What did he tell you about the investigation?”

“I have an interview at noon tomorrow.”

I rubbed her back. “It’s going to be all right,” I told her. “This isn’t about you. If they are smart, they’d know how good a nurse you are and how stupid this complaint is. There’s no evidence, so it’s just harassment.”

“I can’t afford to lose my job!”

“I won’t let that happen.” I got her calmed down, and we continued shopping. Her mood had changed, and I could tell her heart wasn’t in it anymore. We at dinner at the Bosco Café, then purchased some boxed desserts to take home. By the time we returned to the subway station, I had six shopping bags full of purchases.

Anna was awake when we got home, and she’d gotten a call as well. She had to go in to work early tomorrow night and meet with Human Resources, but they hadn’t told her why. I made dinner while my roommates discussed what was going on in Russian in the living room.

The news put a damper on the mood, and an hour later, I knew I had to distract them. “Who wants to go see FC Spartak play Arsenal Tula?” I’d checked their schedule while thinking about date ideas since their stadium wasn’t far from here. Spartak was the second-place soccer team in the Russian Premier League, but you could get tickets if you were willing to pay for them.

“Really?” Anna’s face lit up, and Svetlana was interested enough to agree. The girls ran off to get dressed. Anna was a big fan, so she had an extra jersey for Svetlana to wear with shorts and sandals. “You can buy a jersey outside the stadium. You’ll blend in better that way,” she told me.

I changed into shorts and a T-shirt along with canvas shoes, and we caught a cab outside to the stadium. It didn’t take me long to get a red jersey and three tickets near the pitch. Anna took pictures of us outside the stadium in front of the statue of Spartacus. It was huge, almost twenty-five meters high, including the red pyramid base. We wandered around the stadium and took more pictures before sitting down for the game. It reminded me of the Dallas Cowboys stadium in design, but much smaller, seating forty-five thousand fans.

The quality of play was high, the company was fantastic, and even the stadium food was good. Svetlana sometimes watched soccer but wasn’t as big a fan as Anna was. She had a good time, and the game was exciting. I had to learn some of the songs, which wasn’t easy in Russian, but Anna tried.

We left with the crowd of others after a 3-1 win. The taxi stand was full of people waiting for rides, so we headed to the bus stop. It dropped us off a few blocks from the apartment, and that’s when the fun started. Waiting in the shadows ahead of us were six young punks, wearing colors like the ones I’d beaten up on the subway. “Stop,” I told the girls as the six moved away from the building to block the sidewalk.

I looked behind us, and more of the guys were blocking our retreat. “Call the police,” I told Anna. She took her phone out, only for one of the guys to point a gun at her. Whatever he said in Russian was backed up by the pistol pointed our way. Anna put her phone back in her pocket.

I was looking for a way out. “When I say, run across the road into the park as fast as you can,” I told them. “Find a place to hide and stay there; they’re after me.”

I watched the passing traffic and spotted the break. “NOW!” The three of us took off between the parked cars and across the street. Since we were in the middle of the block, the punks following us had to wait for traffic, giving us ten seconds of a head start.

Once we entered the park, the darkness would make it hard for them to follow. We ran for a few minutes to get away from the streets. I led the girls off the trail, using my vision to find a clump of bushes. “Hide in there, and I’ll lead them away,” I told them. I broke left, taunting the gangbangers as I picked up speed and headed back for the dimly lit trail. The girls headed for their hiding place. There was no way they’d keep up with me in a foot race, and I could circle back later to get the girls.

It was a great plan until it wasn’t. I heard a scream, then another, and knew the girls were in trouble. I looped back to them, finding the girls on their knees. The leader had a gun to Svetlana’s head, and she was crying.

Pain blossomed in my head, and everything went dark.