Chapter 28Damir
28
Damir
I finish the video conference with my international security team, satisfied with the new protocols we’ve established for our operations in Eastern Europe. The digital clock on my desk reads 3:47 p.m. Elena should be finishing her shift at the hospital soon. I make a mental note to call her to see if she wants to have dinner at that new Filipino place she’s been mentioning.
My private line rings, and it’s the dedicated channel reserved for Elena’s protection detail. My stomach tightens since it’s rarely used for anything but emergencies. “Antonov.” My voice is steady despite the sudden tension in my body.
“Sir, we’ve been compromised.” Fydor’s voice comes through, controlled but urgent. “Ambush at the hospital. A precision rifle fire took out our tires. Smoke grenades followed immediately, and someone attacked Valeriya. She came to a few minutes ago and stumbled out to us. She couldn’t find Elena in the hospital, and Lev, Korov, and I were temporarily blinded.”
I sit up straight, every muscle in my body going rigid. “You lost Elena?”
“It appears that way.” He sounds afraid, but it seems to be from concern for Elena, not his own skin. “By the time we recovered and searched the hospital, she was gone, sir. No trace. Valeriya needs to the see emergency doctor. Her head is still bleeding, but she refuses…”
The world narrows to a pinpoint. I don’t waste time with questions that won’t change the outcome and barely address Valeriya’s injury. “Implement Protocol Crimson. Now.”
“Already initiated, sir.”
“Report for debrief. I want every detail.” I hesitate, knowing Elena’s fondness for her primary guard. “Except Valeriya. Tell her she’s ordered to go to the ER before coming in for debrief.”
I hang up and press the emergency button under my desk. Throughout my building, silent alarms trigger my security teams into action. Within seconds, my office door opens, and Anton stands ready.
“Hospital breach. Elena’s been taken.” My voice remains level, betraying none of the rage building inside me. “Deploy three tactical teams to establish a perimeter. No one enters or leaves without our knowledge. Coordinate with Fydor’s team on the ground before he and Lev come to debrief.”
Anton nods once and disappears. I turn to the wall behind my desk and press my palm against what appears to be a normal section of paneling. A scanner reads my handprint, and the wall slides open to reveal my private security center.
Six monitors light up as I sit down at the command station. I pull up the surveillance feeds from the cameras my team installed throughout Elena’s regular routes. The hospital, the parking garage, the cafeteria she frequents, the entrance and exit to the staff lounge and changing rooms, and the OR. I scan them all but see nothing unusual until I access the parking lot footage from thirty minutes ago.
Elena exits from the ER entrance, as has become her habit. A man approaches her wearing a suit identical to my security team’s. The deception is flawless—same cut, same insignia, and same earpiece. Elena wouldn’t have known the difference.
I watch her body language change as she realizes something is wrong. Smart girl. She steps back, pulling out her phone. Maybe getting a call, or more likely, pretending to make a call. Creating distance. The fake guard moves with practiced efficiency, closing the gap between them in seconds. He pulls something from his pocket. It’s a cloth. Chloroform?
Elena struggles briefly before going limp in his arms. Definitely chloroform. He drags her to a black SUV parked nearby, places her in the back seat, and drives away a minute later. The timestamp shows this happened twenty-seven minutes ago.
My phone vibrates, and Elena’s number flashes on the screen. A text message appears: “ Surrender everything, or she dies.—Nikolai ”
I stare at the message while I calculate every possible angle. Nikolai has finally made his move, using the one piece on the board I can’t afford to lose. I press a button on my desk. “Anton, my office. Now.”
While waiting, I access the tracking system on my computer. Elena’s phone shows movement, heading south on I-95. The signal moves steadily for several seconds after I receive the text before suddenly stopping. They’ve discarded the phone, as expected. Amateur kidnappers keep phones to taunt. Professionals know better.
Anton enters without knocking, his expression grim. “I heard. What do we know?”
“Nikolai.” I turn one of the monitors toward him, showing the kidnapping footage. “Professional job. They’ve already dumped her phone.” I pull up another program on my computer and enter a sixteen-digit code. A new tracking window opens, showing a faint signal.
“The emerald necklace?” he asks, leaning closer to the screen.
“Yes. RFID chip embedded in the setting.” I zoom in on the map. “Signal’s weak but moving southeast toward the Chesapeake.”
“Nikolai must have a safehouse there, or a designated holding area.”
I nod. “Organize three SUVs with full tactical gear. I want our best men. We leave in fifteen minutes.”
Anton nods and pulls out his phone, already making calls as he heads for the door.
I stand and hurry to the bedroom, where I change into black tactical pants and a fitted black shirt that won’t restrict movement. After that, I return to my office to retrieve my gun and holster, strapping on the shoulder holster for the custom Glock 19, my preferred weapon. I check the magazine, chamber a round, and secure it. Next comes a ceramic knife that slides into my boot sheath. Finally, I tuck a smaller snub-nose into an ankle holster.
The emerald necklace tracker blinks on my phone screen. The signal grows slightly stronger as our systems recalibrate. They’re definitely heading toward the Chesapeake. Nikolai thinks he’s clever, but I’ll find him.
I pull up the records Anton and Mikhail have been putting together about Nikolai’s holdings. Mikhail has focused on the legally acquired ones, and our IT person, Nazhya, has organized everything into an easily searchable database. I input “Chesapeake” and get back three hits, all for properties owned by companies Nazhya has linked to Nikolai’s holdings or shell corporations.
The most likely one seems to be the ostentatious mansion he acquired four months ago…just about the time I got married, as if he’s been planning this for that long. Sounds just like the bastard.
I study the satellite imagery of the property, which is a modernist mansion on five acres, with a private dock, and surrounded by trees on three sides. Four entry points and minimal external security cameras. Nikolai relies on isolation for protection. His mistake.
My phone rings again. “Yes, Anton?”
“Convoy’s ready. “
I grab my coat and head for the door. “What’s our ETA?”
“Ninety minutes with traffic.”
“I want real-time updates on all movement at the property. Anton?”
“Yes?”
“No one touches Nikolai. He’s mine.”
I end the call and take the private elevator down to the garage level. Three black SUVs wait, engines running. My men stand at attention, dressed in tactical gear, faces grim with determination. They know what’s at stake.
Anton approaches as I reach the vehicles. “Thermal imaging shows movement inside that mansion. We think they might have two guards with her. She seems to be in a room on the second floor, east side.”
I nod, processing this information. “The necklace signal?”
“Getting stronger. We’ll have precise coordinates the closer we get, but it matches what Nazhya dug up about things he owns. Same general location, so I’d bet he’s taking her there.”
“Unless he guessed I tagged her necklace.” I strive to remember if I ever mentioned the item, or its significance, around Nikolai. Considering we were once like brothers, I probably did. I hope he doesn’t remember or make any connection to the emerald necklace and the possibility of me tracking her with it.
We climb into the lead SUV. Viktor, my driver, pulls out immediately, while the other vehicles following close behind. Traffic parts before us as we weave through the city streets.
My phone displays the tracking signal from Elena’s necklace, growing stronger with each mile we travel south. The dot pulses steadily, like a digital heartbeat connecting me to my wife.
“She’s smart,” says Anton, checking his weapons. “She’ll buy time.”
“She shouldn’t have to.” My voice is ice. “This is my fault. I should have anticipated Nikolai would find a way to get to her.”
“You can’t predict everything, Damir.”
“With Elena, I should have.” I stare at the tracking signal. “I promised to protect her.”
Anton loads a magazine into his sidearm. “We’ll get her back.”
The convoy speeds down the highway, each mile bringing us closer to Elena. I review the property schematics on my tablet, memorizing every entrance, every room, and every potential hiding place. Nikolai thinks he’s forcing my hand, making me choose between my empire and my wife.
He doesn’t understand there was never a choice. If there was, I made it long ago, when she first came into my life. The irony of it is, if Nikolai had approached me without the betrayal, indicating he wanted to take full control of the illegal side of our endeavors, I would have agreed months ago, even before Elena. Now, he’s going to die instead.
The traffic is thick, but my men move carefully and quickly, seizing any opening. It feels like forever but is less than an hour before the signal on her necklace gets stronger.
“Signal’s stabilized,” says Anton, showing me his table even as I’m looking at my phone. I haven’t really looked away from the flickering red dot since getting in the SUV. “They’ve stopped moving. Definitely the bay house.”
I nod, studying the thermal imaging feed. Eight heat signatures inside the house. One isolated in what appears to be a study with two possible guards nearby. The others are scattered throughout the property. Which of those eight is Nikolai, and does he have more waiting nearby?
“Any way to tell if Nikolai is there too?”
“Speculation, but maybe.” Anton points to a signature on the second floor. “Based on movement patterns and the respectful distance the others are keeping, I’d bet that’s him.”
“Ten minutes to the safest place to stop that isn’t too far but also isn’t too close, boss,” says Viktor. “We’ll go in on foot from there.”
“Affirmative.” I check my weapons one final time. The rage I’ve kept contained now focuses to a sharp point. Nikolai has crossed the final line. He’s taken what’s mine. What I love.
The emerald necklace tracker pulses steadily on my phone screen. Hold on, Elena. I’m coming.
“Anton?” I look up from my phone to meet his gaze.
“Yes, Damir?”
“No survivors except Elena.”