46
The electrician
Andrey
I was used to becoming a ghost or a chameleon when the need demanded it; in fact, that's what I had turned into over the past three days. That was my nickname in the army, Khameleon , because I could blend in and go unnoticed during the most perilous missions.
That was it. As soon as my boss told me what was going on, I knew that the omission of the truth would lead her straight to the firing squad, one with a proper name that didn't mess around. Sooner or later, everything would blow up, and by then, I needed to collect evidence that would exonerate Koroleva, if not completely, at least by seventy-five percent.
I had to create reasonable doubt, enough that, combined with Romeo's love for her, it would provide her a shield against the Capulet family.
Getting into Yuri's house wasn't easy. The atmosphere was tense, too risky to make a move immediately. Korolev’s men were everywhere, and I needed to get an idea of their numbers at the very least.
The first day, I kept watch and tried to count the personnel. From the outside, it was difficult; I counted three vehicles, but the windows were tinted, so I only saw the men in the front seats.
I needed to get in without arousing suspicion, a reconnaissance route to map out the terrain, the building, and the enemy troops. The easiest way was to wait until night so that the next morning they would wake up to an electrical failure.
I intercepted the phone signal so that if they made a call to the company, I would find out.
Like in all houses with service, the first to notice the power outage was the maid, who didn’t hesitate to contact ENDESA.
They took the bait. There was only one access road to the house, so I only had to wait at a safe distance and intercept the service vehicle.
When I saw it appear around the bend, I stepped into the crosswalk to make it stop. I pretended to be a delivery driver needing directions.
The worker, who didn’t know the street I had invented, offered to look it up on his GPS because I told him I couldn’t find it on mine.
He turned his head, and I gave him a little prick that would send him straight into the arms of a deep sleep.
The narcotic I administered gave me a couple of hours to maneuver before he woke up. Enough time to get an idea of how many guys were in the house, make a mental sketch of the spaces, assess possible access and escape routes, and, of course, evaluate the internal security system that was now offline due to the power outage.
I didn’t want to go in blind; when I re-entered that same night, I needed to find a place to hide and gather the information I needed.
I stripped the guy and tied him up. He was a bit shorter and thinner than me, but the loose-fitting clothes he wore did the job.
I couldn’t go in armed; that would be too risky in case they decided to search me, so I stashed my weapons and prayed none of those guys recognized me. I hadn’t come across any of them before, at least not the ones I saw through the front windshield of the vehicles, though I couldn’t guarantee they hadn’t been watching Nikita and thus knew who I was. I had to accept that possibility as a risk.
I hadn’t called my boss; in fact, I didn’t have my phone on me. I was worried about being tracked. The best thing in these kinds of missions was to stay out of communication until you were out of danger.
I adjusted the company cap, kept my head down, modified my posture, and faked a slight limp that wasn’t mine.
You can never be too careful when entering hostile territory.
When I knocked on the door, I tried to stay calm. Two guys armed with AK-47s let me in after a frisk and presenting my installer credentials.
I reached the main door of the house escorted by one of them, observing every corner of the property out of the corner of my eye.
There, the housemaid waited to explain the problem. Yuri was nowhere to be seen; he might not have been there or hadn’t gotten up yet.
“I've never been greeted with so much protection before,” I noted, trying to gain the maid’s trust.
“Here, no precaution is too much. Don’t worry, they won’t harm you.” If they knew who I was, I was sure they would. “Follow me, I'll take you to the meter room.”
I continued memorizing the rooms.
“What a house, it must be a lot of work to clean it. Especially with so many men around, they surely don’t make it easy for you.” She gave me a knowing smile; she was petite and pretty. When needed, I knew how to win over women.
“Yes, although there are two of us.” The security guard had stayed at the door.
“Two women for how many men?”
“Eight, seven,” she corrected herself, her expression tightening as if a painful memory had been triggered. Perhaps there had been a recent casualty. “Although they are quite clean.”
“And they all live here?”
“Yes, they share a couple of large rooms. We have our own room as well. We’ve arrived,” she announced.
She opened a door leading to the garage.
“It’s here.”
The room wasn’t very large. It was a space where the meters, the house’s home automation system, the security panel, and the electricity were distributed.
“Everything okay?” asked a voice behind us.
“Yes, Kulkov, it’s the worker the boss called for.” So, Yuri was in the house; good to know.
“Leave, I’ll stay with him.” I glanced sideways at Kulkov.
He was almost as tall and broad as me, with tattoos marking him as a member of the Bratva. His appearance would intimidate most people; shaved head, piercing gaze, and an AK-47 slung over his shoulder.
We were alone, and I didn’t waste any time. I knew what I was doing, and since I was the cause of the outage, fixing it wasn’t a challenge. However, I had to pretend it took me a bit to find the problem that would take me to the upper part of the house.
After fifteen minutes, Kulkov grew impatient.
“What’s the problem? Don’t you know how to fix it?”
“It’s not that simple. In a house like this, it could be several things. I need to rule out a few to pinpoint the source.” He must have picked up on my accent because the next thing he asked was about my origins.
“Where are you from?” He stretched his neck to observe my profile.
“Ukraine,” I replied, fiddling with one of the circuit breakers.
There were many Ukrainians settled in Spain, children taken in, especially for their summers, after the Chernobyl nuclear explosion.
“I thought you looked Russian.” I gave him a tight smile. Ukraine hadn’t been part of Russia since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. “Do you speak Russian?”
“I can get by. Excuse me, but I need to keep working if you don’t want all the food in your fridge to spoil.”
He gestured for me to continue. I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck.
“Which part of Ukraine?” I wasn’t sure if his questions were to catch me out, so I answered without hesitation.
“Pripyat. Do you know it?”
“I’ve never been, but I know it’s near where the accident happened.”
“That’s right, almost three kilometers away. My mother was pregnant with me at the time.”
“Well, I don’t see that you were born with two heads or any deformities. They said children were born with malformations.”
“That’s because you haven’t seen my foot; I’m missing all my toes, that’s why I limp. Excuse me, but I need to concentrate,” I cut him off. He went silent again. After five minutes and with a circuit breaker changed, I toggled it without success.
“Do you see where the problem is?”
“I’m trying, but I think it might be a bad connection. It rained a bit last night; maybe something near the roof got wet. I’d need to see the second floor.” He seemed uneasy. “Hey, if you don’t want me to go up, no problem, call someone else.”
“Net, the boss will be very angry if you don’t work a miracle soon. Let’s go up, I’ll accompany you.”
I crossed my fingers not to run into Yuri.
We were climbing the stairs when I saw a pair of shoes too expensive to belong to one of Korolev’s thugs. They shone on the top step, making me keep my head down.
“Who is this?” the voice questioned in a guttural tone.
“He’s a compatriot, from Ukraine, sent by the power company to fix the problem,” Kulkov added.
“I don’t care if he’s Polish. Get the power back on immediately, or I’ll kick your ass back to your country.” I didn’t move; men like Yuri wanted to intimidate, so the smartest move was to stay humble.
“Yes, sir, I’m on it,” I murmured meekly.
“You,” he growled, addressing his man. “Tell Ivan to prepare the car, I’m going out. Any news on R’s dog?” I tensed up hearing the nickname.
“He’s still in the ICU.” The ICU? Who was in the ICU? The possibility that it was Aleksa made my pulse race.
“Will he get out of there?” Yuri was trying not to give too much away, probably because he was talking in front of a stranger.
“Everything points to yes.” Okay, whoever was in serious condition was recovering.
“Then make sure someone brings him flowers when he’s moved to the ward. You know what to do.” They wanted to kill him; it was their subtle way of saying it. I had to warn Nikita as soon as I could.
“Of course, boss, I’ll deliver them myself. I’ll accompany the electrician and then go inform Ivan.”
“What the hell are you? A damn tour guide? I doubt the electrician can’t manage on his own, right?” Yuri insisted. His gaze heated the top of my cap.
“Yes, sir, a house is a house,” I asserted.
“Good. And you...” he commented in a warning tone, addressing his man.
“Going to get Ivan.”
“That’s right.”
Kulkov hurried down while a cold sweat ran down my back as I climbed the last steps and passed by my boss’s brother.
Would he recognize me? A hand gripped my forearm tightly, and I clenched my teeth, thinking he had discovered me.
"Hurry up, if you finish in ten minutes, there will be a nice tip waiting for you downstairs."
"Don’t worry, sir, I’m good at my job."
"Then prove it."
He let me go and left the way he had come, giving me a clue about where his quarters were. If I could, I would take advantage of his absence to find some information now that I had free rein on the upper floor.
Time was ticking, and it never played in your favor. I had to hurry.