Chapter 14 Volodya
Volodya
Everything about this feels wrong. We’ve had eyes on Scott and we know that he knows we’re watching him, but that doesn’t ever stop the stupid fucker from trying some really lame moves to sneak off.
I swear he thinks of himself as some badass spy in a movie, but his attempts at being sneaky are so pathetic that it’s almost hard to laugh at.
You just sort of end up feeling sorry for the guy when he does a quick zip around the block, thinking he’s lost us.
Tonight, though, he makes no attempt to hide where he’s going. He drives slow, takes his time, and even I can see the big grin on his face. He’s obviously up to something. Valeri sighs from the passenger seat.
“What the hell is he up to? Why would he try to get us to follow him to meet his supplier?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
Scott has no idea that Adam isn’t even planning on showing up tonight, but it’s obvious that Scott has something planned, and not knowing what it is sets me on edge.
“Call Vasya and tell him something’s not right.”
Valeri pulls his phone out and makes the call. Vasily and several other men are coming in from the opposite direction so we’ll have Scott surrounded when he gets there. We have enough men and weapons to handle whatever trap he’s planning, but I don’t like not knowing what it is.
When we get closer, I turn off my headlights and park on a side street near the docks.
It’s a rundown part of the city, not where the expensive yachts are berthed with security cameras watching every damn thing you do.
No, this is the part of the city that everyone likes to forget about, the part that sane people don’t enter after dark.
Hell, they don’t even enter it before the sun sets.
A few men are leaning against a brick building, and when Valeri and I get out and start checking weapons, they quickly run off to mind their own fucking business somewhere else.
Several of our men show up and join us as we walk down the narrow alley.
A peek around the corner reveals Scott with five other men.
They’re standing by the water, trying like hell to look at ease, but I can see the stiff way they’re holding themselves, the way their heads keep looking around.
I watch Scott. He keeps looking up at the top of the building that we’re leaning against, and I curse the stupid fucker as I look back at my brother.
“Shooters on the roof. Let everyone know.” I smack his shoulder before running back around the building to find a way inside. I hear footsteps behind me and smile. He never could stay out of a fight.
We take the stairs, racing to the top, pausing before the door to the roof.
Both of our guns have silencers, but if whoever’s waiting on the roof sees us first, it’s going to get loud fast. Pushing the door open, I keep my gun aimed in front of me and take the lead, stepping in front of Valeri, even though he hates it when I do that.
If anyone’s going to get shot, it’s not going to be my baby brother.
There are enough lights at the dock to reveal two shadowy figures at the edge of the roof.
They’re lying on their stomachs, looking through the scopes of their rifles that are aimed at where Scott and his men are waiting.
I look back at Valeri and point to the man further away, letting him know I’ll take that one and then point to my knife.
He rolls his eyes at me but nods his head.
No shooting unless absolutely necessary.
Scott can’t know he’s lost his leverage just yet.
Valeri silently creeps towards the other man while I do the same.
They’re so focused on what’s going on below them that they don’t realize my brother and I are here until it’s too late.
Pressing the barrel of my gun against the back of his head, I say in a low voice, “Don’t fucking move,” while Valeri does the same to his companion. “Finger off the trigger,” I tell him.
He slowly moves his hand, keeping it open and raised to show me he’s listening.
“Why are you here and how many are there?”
“Scott hired us. There’s four. Two up here and two hidden in the building to the left.”
“What were you hired to do?”
“Fuck,” he sighs, because he knows how this is going to end for him. “Scott wanted us to shoot anyone who shows up tonight, but not the guy with the shaved head. I don’t suppose that’s you, is it?”
The hopeful tone of his voice almost makes me feel sorry for him. “I’m afraid not. I’m one of the ones you were hired to kill.”
He’s barely gotten the “goddamn it” out before I’m severing his carotid.
I take the rifle because it’s a nice one and sling it over my shoulder while he bleeds out.
Texting Vasya, I tell him about the two in the other building, and I’m not surprised when his response is already got them with a thumbs up.
Valeri meets me at the door with his dimple showing as he holds the rifle he took. “Nice fucking gun, right?”
“It is. What’d he tell you?”
“Hired by Scott. Two shooters in the next building.”
I nod, confirming that it’s what my guy said as well, and when we reach the alley again, we drop our new guns in the car and meet up with Vasya and the others.
“Let’s end this. I’m ready to be done with this fucker,” Vasily groans.
“You and me both, brother,” I tell him.
We walk towards Scott, making no attempt to hide our presence, and when he sees us, his eyes widen in surprise, but then he squares his shoulders and darts a quick look at the roof.
“They’re not going to help you.” I stop a few feet away from him. “We’ve already killed them.”
His face crumples for just a second, looking every bit like a spoiled child who’s just been told he’s not getting any Christmas presents this year.
I let the disappointment show on my face when I ask, “What the fuck were you thinking, Scott?”
The five other men with him take a step back, but there’s no distancing themselves from this situation. They showed up with him, they knew the plan, and they’re all going to pay for it. When I see Scott’s hand disappear behind his back, I raise my gun.
“Don’t fucking do it,” I tell him.
The words leave my mouth right as everything goes to shit. Scott raises his gun and says, “I know where Maddie is,” right as he fires a shot.
The bullet grazes my arm, and when I hear my brother’s grunt of surprise coming from right behind me, I shoot Scott in the shoulder, making him drop his weapon. I hear shots around me, but I don’t turn to look. I just yell, “Keep Scott alive!” and then drop to my knees beside my brother.
“Fuck,” I groan when I see the blood on his chest.
His green eyes are wide with shock and pain, and he’s already looking dangerously pale.
Vasya’s next to me in seconds, ripping Valeri’s shirt so we can see how bad it is.
Blood flows out of the bullet hole, and when I press the bunched-up shirt against it, Valeri grinds his teeth and grabs my arm.
We gently roll him over to see the exit wound.
The look on Vasya’s face says it all. It’s bad, and he needs to get to the fucking hospital right now.
I press my hand against Valeri’s cheek and lean close. “You will not fucking die,” I growl at him in Russian. “Do you fucking hear me?”
He nods and gives me a faint smile. “Don’t worry, brother. No way in fuck am I getting taken out by Scott. My pride won’t allow it.”
His words are strained, but I hear the determination in his voice, and it gives me some hope. I help get him in Vasily’s arms and then wave one of the guys over to keep pressure on the exit wound since it’s the bigger of the two.
“I’ll meet you at the hospital as soon as I can,” I tell them, and then watch my older brother run to his car carrying our younger brother, and the sight nearly destroys me.
I’d been wrong thinking I could protect myself by not falling in love, because the truth is staring me right in the face.
There’s always something that can be taken from us that will destroy us.
Even if I’d never met Maddie, losing one of my brothers would be the end of me, just like losing her would be.
You either choose to not let anyone in and live your life completely alone, or you accept the risk and try like hell to not let the fear of it overwhelm you.
I wait until I hear the rev of Vasily’s engine as he races to the hospital, When I turn back to Scott, he sees the look on my face and tries to back up, but my men are holding him, ignoring the groan of pain he gives when his wounded shoulder is jerked back.
Squatting down next to him, I ask, “What did you say about Maddie?”
His panicked eyes dart from me to my men, and he’s on the verge of hyperventilating. His wound isn’t as bad as Valeri’s because I hadn’t been trying to kill him. He’s bleeding and I’m sure it hurts like a son of a bitch, but he’s in no danger of dying right now.
“You can’t kill me. If you do, you’ll never find her,” he sputters out in a shaky voice.
I take my phone out and call Maddie, noticing the text she’d sent me earlier. When she doesn’t answer, I get my knife out as everything inside me goes cold. I point the blade at him.
“Start talking right fucking now.”
“You’ll kill me if I do.” He starts crying and the sound of it pisses me off so much that I punch him. The crunch of his broken nose makes me feel a little better, even though it just makes him cry harder.
“What were you planning tonight? Were you going to kill all of us? What about your dealer?”
His eyes jump to mine.
“I guess I should say our dealer, since he works for us now.”
Some of the rage returns to Scott’s eyes at that tidbit. He sounds stuffed-up because of the broken nose when he says, “I wasn’t going to kill him. Just you guys.”
“I guess you thought that would make you look like the big man in front of Adam, maybe he’d give you a better deal, maybe introduce you to other people who could get you access to stronger drugs?”