CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Since they arrived at the apartment of Ivillisa Ortiz looking for Bobby and finding Lex dead, Black and Victor had been in the street. They had gone by Impressions and were told by Tara that Bobby was there, but he left after getting a call from Nick. But when Black told Tara to call Nick, she got no answer.
They were about to leave the club when Tara came rushing to the front door to stop them.
"Black! Wait a minute," Tara yelled.
"What’s up?"
"You got a call in the office," she said, trying to catch her breath.
"Who is it?" Black asked as they returned to the office.
"It’s Angelo Collette."
When Black got to the office and picked up the phone, Angelo, to his surprise, was still holding.
"What’s up, Angee?"
"For Christ’s sake, Mikey, you need to get a fuckin’ phone. At least while Kevon was around somebody could get in touch with you, but now that he’s dead, you know how many places I had to call to get you?"
"Sorry, Angee. You know I don’t like being all that accessible."
"And believe me I understand why you feel that way. I mean, there are times when I wanna throw this fuckin’ thing out the fuckin’ window."
"Then why don’t you? Not havin’ one works just fine with me. One less place a mutha fucka can listen to you."
"You got a point."
"What you got for me?"
"You feel like ridin’ out to Brooklyn?"
"Not really."
"Well, if you wanna talk to Oleg tonight you’ll be at his uncle’s restaurant in Brighton Beach at midnight."
"Good look."
"He’ll be there waiting for you."
"Thanks, Angee. Save that bottle of Remy for me. I’ll get with you in a couple of days."
"You do that."
It was just after midnight when Black and Victor pulled up in front of a restaurant on Neptune Avenue in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. The place was closed when they arrived. Victor knocked on the door.
"Yes," the large man said when he opened the door.
"Mike Black to see Oleg Mushnikov," Victor said.
The KGB targeted Oleg for recruitment even before he graduated. He spent seventeen years as a mid-level agent in the KGB’s foreign intelligence wing, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. After a few years spying on foreigners in Leningrad, he attended the elite foreign intelligence training institute, and then was assigned to work with East Germany intelligence, the Stasi, and the raw intelligence was sent directly to Moscow.
The downfall of communism left an economic, moral and social vacuum. Oleg began to fill the gap, supplying luxury items, jeans, cigarettes, vodka, chewing gum and stereo equipment to those who could afford them. Then he got involved with members of Izmaylovskaya that were running prostitution and gambling rings in Sri Lanka and scheming with the Colombian drug cartel. Once they tried to sell their newfound Colombian friends a Soviet-era submarine.
The man stepped to one side and allowed them to enter. Black saw Oleg sitting alone at a table near the back of the restaurant. Oleg waved for him to come back. Black handed both of his guns to the man who opened the door and made his way to the table. Victor surrendered his weapon and took a seat at the bar.
Oleg stood up to greet him. "Mikhail," Oleg said, calling Black by the Russian name for Michael.
"How’s it goin’, Oleg?" Black said, and the two men shook hands. "I know that you are a busy man. Thank you for agreeing to see me."
"Please sit," Oleg urged. "You know, when Mr. Angelo Collette calls and says Mr. Mikhail Black wants to talk to me, I say, oh no, I have no Remy Martin for him to drink." Oleg pointed at his man, and he brought a bottle of Remy and placed it on the table in front of Black, along with two glasses. "I sent someone to find a bottle so we can drink together."
"Thank you, Oleg. This means a lot," Black said and reached for the bottle. He poured a drink for himself and Oleg.
Both men shot their drinks and Black poured another. "I tell you something else. When Mr. Angelo Collette calls and says to me Mr. Mikhail Black wants to talk to me, I say to myself, what is the reason for this? I have my suspicions about a reason, but still, I wonder. I have shared a bottle with you many times, but never has Mr. Mikhail Black wanted to talk. Drink yes, talk no. So, I am wondering, what it is that brings you to me?"
"Are you familiar with a woman named Jada West?"
"Yes," Oleg said slowly and curiously. "I am familiar with Jada West." Oleg picked up his glass and pointed at Black. "You surprise me my friend. This was not what I was thinking you wanted to talk about. Now tell me, what business is this of yours?"
"Ms. West tells me that you’ve shown an interest in her business."
Oleg sat back in his chair and smiled. "This woman, this madam, this Jada West, she belong to you?"
"No, Oleg, Ms. West is a personal friend. I have no interest in her business."
"Now I am wondering, why are you here?"
"I came to ask you as a favor to me, to forget about Ms. West and her business."
Oleg laughed when he heard that. Then he reached for the bottle and poured them both a drink. Oleg held up his glass and Black followed suit before both men shot their drinks. "You, me, Mr. Angelo Collette, we have done this many times before, but this is the first time you have ever asked me for anything other than to pass the bottle. I do not know whether I should be honored or insulted that you ask me this now."
"That was a mistake on my part. Please believe me, I meant you no insult. We should have had a conversation about business long before now."
"I wish that we had too. But your business is gambling. Mr. Angelo Collette, his business is extortion and narcotics. Me, I am just a poor Russian trying to earn a living in your wonderful country. Now you come to me and say Oleg, you cannot earn a living because Jada West is a friend."
Black put down his glass. "Oleg, listen to me. If you were willing to forget about Ms. West and her business, I think there are some things that you and I can work on that in the long run, would be much profitable for you and your associates, should you choose to involve them."
"What did you have in mind?" Oleg asked, seemingly intrigued by what Black was telling him. Oleg was always looking for ways to make money, which was how Jada West came to his attention.
"My partners and I are looking to make some investments in Russia," Black said. "In order to make that happen, we need a presence in Russia; a Russian presence. In exchange for your consideration about Ms. West, I would talk to my associates about taking you on as a partner."
"What type of businesses we talking about?"
Black thought back to the last meeting he had with Meka Brazil and tried to remember what she said about foreign investment in Russia. "There’s a company that makes multimedia switching gear for cable companies that just got certification for its product line in Russia. Communications infrastructure investment could represent a significant opportunity," Black said, trying to repeat what Meka said, but Oleg didn’t seem impressed. "Then there’s wind."
"Wind?"
"Are you familiar with The Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk region?
"Yes, it’s located in the northwestern part of Russia. It borders Finland and Norway. The Peninsula faces the Barents Sea in the north and the White Sea in the south," Oleg said proudly.
"Did you know that area of Russia has the greatest capacity for wind power in the world?"
"I did not know that. I know that another oil and gas field had been found under the seabed of the Barents Sea. The Shtockmonovskoye gas field is considered to be the largest offshore deposit of natural gas in the world."
"Really? That might be something that my group should look into. But this wind thing is the future, Oleg. The problem is that a lot of the area available for wind power in Russia is far from major cities. But right now there are settlements, fishing villages, border stations and shit like that, that are far from the electrical grid."