Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“We saw each other a couple of times around the holidays. I would see Dmitriy every now and again. He was alright. A little crazy. I guess I shouldn’t say he was wild. That’s probably not true. I mean, they all were kinda weird, but wild might be pushin’ it. Except for Nikolai, of course. He really is batshit crazy.”
“Of course he is.”
“Yeah. That was mostly Nikolai and the oldest one. Them two were the oddballs.”
“Nikolai has just the two brothers, Dmitriy and Mark, correct?”
“Yeah. Those are the only two that I know about. Mark was strange, too.”
“How so?”
“Mark was nerdy, first and foremost, and ya know what? It didn’t match ’cause he was big like the other two. He’d read books all the time and do math ’nd shit. I think he was in Chess club, too. They all look like Shrek!” He cackled. “Nikolai was kinda a jock, I guess. He got good grades, I think, and got a lotta bitches, but he was kinda quiet and weird. Like his old man.”
“Yes. You’ve made that clear.”
“He didn’t use what he had to his advantage if you ask me. Women like that look, I guess. Tall and muscular. Dmitriy was probably the most normal. He’d socialize. Come to the bars ’nd shit at least. Watch the game with us.”
“From what you can remember, does Dmitriy or Nikolai have any tattoos?” She brought her laptop closer, dragging it on the table.
“Nikolai has a black rat on his neck. No. A bird I think. Yeah, like an eagle or somethin’. His brothers? Eh, I don’t remember no tattoos on either of ’em. Maybe. I don’t really pay attention to shit like that on other men. Checkin’ out their bodies ’nd what not. I’m no homo.” He chuckled, making her feel all the more nauseated.
The fingers of one of the men were clear—not one tattoo. She couldn’t clearly see the hands of the other man. Nikolai has tattoos all over his fingers. I would think at least a couple would cause a discoloration of some sort in this video. These fingers look pretty clear or any words or designs. Just skin.
“So, do I get the $10,000, Porky?”
“I don’t know, Dolph. Maybe since I’m Porky to you, you should ask Looney Tunes for the $10,000 reward? And that, and that, and that’s all, folks!”
She abruptly ended the call in disgust and proceeded to search online for photos of Nikolai’s brothers. She’d only seen old pictures of them as children. Nikolai had shown her plenty of those from a family album. Nothing recent. Every now and again, he would even bring them up, but the conversations never lasted long now that she reflected on it. She kept searching and finally found Mark Raven.
Yup. He’s a pediatrician just like Nikolai told me. She looked at the photos of the man with a kind smile. He and Nikolai favored a bit, but definitely didn’t look alike, with the exception of both being tall. Mark was thinner and clean cut. He had no facial hair. No visible tattoos. He had dark brown eyes and wore glasses, too. She saw a picture of the man’s wife, and a child she presumed was their daughter. She found reviews of his practice. A 4.6 rating. Pretty good. She looked at as many public photos as she could of the man, as well as his wife’s social media, and it seemed they spent the bulk of their time right there in Vermont. She then typed in: Dmitriy Raven.
He didn’t have much of a social media presence, but she did find an old, defunct page. Her fingers slipped from the keyboard.
Dmitriy and Nikolai could practically be twins. The picture posted was dated over three years ago, but it still help true. Same thick eyebrows. Same eye shape and color. Same hair texture and color. Same nose. Same mouth. Same build. Dmitry had long, dark hair in the photo, which could throw off an untrained eye, and no tattoo on his neck. His fingers were clear of tattoos, too. She saw no photos with him wearing braces, and if he wore Invisalign, it would be difficult to see that in a picture.
Come on. Think! What makes Nikolai and his family any different from anyone else? Not much… Well, he’s Russian American. Still tied to his culture due to him being third generation American.
Raven Whispers… Nikolai said Raven Whispers… I Googled it. Nothing. What if I typed in Russian Whispers instead?
She typed the words, and a 2019 movie came up. She watched the trailer. It was about the planning of a wedding, and there were family woes involved. A Russian family, just like his. ‘…We’re all family. No secrets here…’ was a line in the trailer. She repeated it out aloud. He’d said something about family loyalty in Russian on the police interrogation tape, too.