Chapter 6Zane
6
Zane
I don’t have time to call for backup. This situation is critical. Someone has beat us to the punch, and they’ve already checked the mailbox. The rusty metal door to it is hanging agape like a broken jaw.
The sedan on the curb was the first sign that something was horribly wrong, but seeing that the front door to the house is open sets off all kinds of alarms in my head. They’re screaming at me so loud that I can barely hear my own thoughts.
I hold Kiro back before he can hop onto the lawn. “We’ve been compromised,” I mutter. “Stay quiet and shoot to kill.”
He nods, pulling a pistol from his jacket and cocking it. Kiro is always prepared. We have no idea what we might be facing. It could be an ambush. It could be Tema, here to make sure his package is retrieved. It could be a third party, one that could potentially cause the whole operation to fall apart.
I push open the front door, and the sound of my footsteps on the wooden floor echo through the small house. It smells like old carpet and lemon furniture polish, and it looks like it hasn't been updated in decades.
I have no idea why someone would leave a flash drive with insider stock data in the mailbox of a house like this. Surely, they'd realize it belonged to a regular person and not someone from the mafia.
My blood boils, the thought that someone is trying to get a leg up on me driving me crazy. This is supposed to be my moment. Tema is supposed to have delivered the goods.
Kiro comes in close behind me, but I already know we're in over our heads when I spot a bald man in a suit toting a rifle in the hallway. He spots me and lifts his weapon, but I'm faster, shooting him twice in the chest.
I duck to the side as the bullets from his gun rip through the air above my head, the sound deafening in the small space. There's no time for regrets as the man falls forward, his heavy body landing on the floor with a thud.
"There's no point in trying to hide now," I say. "The whole block will have heard that."
Kiro moves forward quickly, clearing the living room while I head for the kitchen. I'm barely halfway when a man stumbles out, blood oozing from his side and dripping like hot candle wax onto the floor.
I'm stunned by what I'm seeing, not because I don't expect there to be anyone else here, but because I was certain Maksim was still in prison. There's no way he'd be at the house, attempting to steal my prize.
And yet, he's here, bleeding from what appears to be a stab wound in his side, walking with an even deeper limp than when I shot him in the leg. He's carrying a torn box in his left hand, and a gun in his right.
I hear a gunshot from the living room, and the sound of a body falling the ground. It's too heavy to be Kiro's. It must be another one of Maksim's guys.
"You're early," Maksim growls, his voice gravelly from his injury. "Or maybe I'm late. Either way, the party is just starting."
"You look terrible," I remark, eyeing his bloody clothes and pale face.
He tries to lift his gun, but I'm first to shoot, hitting him in his shoulder and causes him to drop the gun. He's hard to kill, though, sprinting away when he realizes how badly he's compromised. His men aren't coming to save him.
I just can't let him escape with the package.
I shoot blindly this time, praying that I’ll hit him again before he can get away. His movements are unpredictable as he jerks his body around like a puppet with a few strings broken, but I land a hit.
Only, it’s not a hit I wanted to land. The bullet hits the package, sending the contents flying in every direction. Smoldering shreds of paper and metal fragments explode outward like a grenade.
Maksim drops what’s left of the package, hobbling out the back door and disappearing.
I have the sense not to follow him, as much as I want him dead. The back door would be the ideal place to get ambushed if he decided to wait for me, and I’d rather not get my brains blown out over a flash drive.
My eyes scan the floor, darting over the remnants of the package in search of the drive. It could still be intact, assuming my bullet didn’t hit it, but I saw more than paper leave that box. I fear the worst.
As I step toward it, I hear Kiro in the other room. “Drop that knife or you’re going to get it,” he growls.
Whoever has the knife isn’t with Maksim. They’re the one who stabbed him, which means they might just be the owner of this house. I don’t want Kiro to kill them. I have some questions that need to be answered first.
I rush to the kitchen where the noise is coming from, only to find that the source is not some vicious killer with a machete trying to hack Kiro’s head off. It’s just a woman, trembling and afraid as she braces herself against the edge of the kitchen counter.
“Maksim is gone,” I announce as I walk in.
Kiro glances at me, keeping his gun aimed at the woman.
“Don’t shoot the girl. She’s could be useful to us,” I say.
“For what?” the woman blurts. “For your sick fantasies? I want you to get the fuck out of my house before I stab you like I did to your friend.”
I’m surprised by her attitude. I like it, but I can tell it’s also going to present a challenge. “My friend? Are you talking about Maksim? He’s far from a friend, darling.”
“Get out of my house!”
I sigh. “Listen, darling, you don’t look like you want to get shot, and I’m sure Kiro here doesn’t want to shoot you, so put the knife down and let’s talk about this like civilized people.”
She hesitates, and that’s precisely what I was waiting for. I sprint toward her, grabbing her wrist and yanking it back behind her head. The knife clatters into the sink behind her, and she lets out a shrill scream.
She thought she could harm me like she did Maksim, but the only thing she’s doing damage to is my ears.
“Quiet!” I bark, pulling her away from the sink. “I need you to tell me exactly who you are, and what your involvement in this is.”
Kiro nods. “And where the flash drive is.”
I cringe at his words. I already know it’s been destroyed. Those metal fragments couldn’t have come from anything else, and there was no sign of it in the hallway. I shot it, so the guilt rests on my shoulders.
“I don’t know anything,” the woman says, her eyes welling up with tears. “Please, I really don’t.”
I know that the best way to get someone from blabbering on and on is to ask them questions that are easy to answer. Working up from there proves a lot simpler than trying to get them to admit everything at once.
“What’s your name?” I ask. “Mine is Zane.”
“Zane,” she repeats, looking up at me with a slight frown.
Her brown eyes are so pretty, even when she’s terrified. Her pupils are so big and deep, I feel like I could drown in them. I’m drawn to her, fascinated by her innocence. It’s obvious she has no clue what’s going on, and dare I say I find that attractive?
“Yes, Zane, and what’s your name?”
“Monroe,” she says, pulling her shoulders back. She tries to pull her hand out of mine at the same time, but I won’t allow her to escape. She’s the only witness to what happened today.
“That’s a pretty name, Monroe,” I say calmly, despite the tension in the room. “Kiro and I are part of the Russian Mafia, often referred to as the Bratva. I call the shots, so if I snap my fingers, you die. I don’t care about the law, police, or prison. I operate outside of all that. Do you understand?”
She nods, but I see the defiance in her eyes. There’s a burning ember of fur deep within her, waiting for the opportunity to burst forth and burn this entire place down. I’ll have to keep a very close eye on her. She might not look dangerous, but she most certainly is.
I squeeze my hand a little tighter over hers, looking into her eyes. “You received a package today that belongs to me.”
“That’s what Maksim said, too,” she replies softly.
“He lied.”
“How do I know you’re not the one who’s lying?” she asks, tilting her head to the side and pouting her lips ever so slightly.
“Because the address to my headquarters is frighteningly similar to your address. I will take you there and you can see for yourself,” I explain. “How does that sound?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.”
I chuckle. “Now, now, darling. You don’t have a choice. You’re caught in a precarious situation, and now that Maksim knows you’re involved, he’ll want to get his hands on you again.”
She shudders, and I know I’m getting through to her. Maksim is worse than I am. People don’t understand that things aren’t all the same in the Bratva. Some men have honor and values, even if they conduct criminal business. Others, like Maksim, will do anything and everything it takes to get rich, stepping on people on his way to the top.
We’re nothing alike, and I think Monroe already understands that from our brief interaction today.
“Can’t you just let me go? I don’t have the flash drive anymore. Maksim took it.” Her words reveal a crucial piece of information about what she knows.
“You’ve seen the flash drive,” I mutter, more to myself than to her. “Did you plug it into your computer?”
She shakes her head vigorously enough for me to know that she’s lying.
“Listen very closely, Monroe,” I growl, yanking her closer to me. I can feel the heat of her body close to mine, and the heightened thump of her pulse as I grip her delicate hand. “That flash drive has some of the most important information you or I will ever witness in our lives, and I have reason to believe it’s been destroyed. If you know something, you had better tell me.”
“Destroyed?” Kiro asks loudly.
I groan, turning to address him. “Yes, a stray bullet hit the package. There are little pieces of it all over the hallway. Go and check for yourself.”
He mutters cruses under his breath in Russian as he leaves the kitchen with his head down. I hope he discovers that it’s still intact, but I doubt it. Monroe is my only hope of getting anything off that flash drive. Even a small fraction of what was on there would still make me rich.
I turn my attention back to Monroe, keeping my expression stern even as I loosen my grip on her hand. I honestly don’t want to hurt her. She seems too pure, too innocent for this wicked world.
I can protect her, but it’s going to come at a cost.