Chapter 16 #2
I put my hand on the side of her neck. “You’re in a bit of shock. Let’s get you back into the vehicle.”
She obediently got back in, this time in the front seat. She didn’t even resist when I put on her seat belt.
“I don’t understand,” she said blankly. “It was so loud. My ears are ringing.”
I bent down and kissed her soft cheek. “It’s over now, and you’re safe. Just stay here a moment longer, okay?”
She nodded.
“Can you shut your eyes for me?”
She obediently shut her eyes.
“Keep them shut, doll. I’ll be right back.”
I shut the door and turned to face the carnage beside the vehicle. Maksim was kneeling beside one of the bodies. He looked up at me and then shook his head.
Anton, I noticed, had blood running down his arm. “You’ve been hit.”
“Grazed.” He shrugged.
Maksim dispassionately pulled off the perpetrators’ balaclava masks.
The three of us studied the faces of the dead men. They were all Volkov.
Maksim and I exchanged a long look. And then without speaking, he walked with me, away from the group, so we could speak in private.
“This is bad, boss.”
That was an understatement. The retaliation against us wouldn’t be pretty. “I know.”
“Do you think this has to do with how we stole our stolen goods back?”
It was exactly why they had escalated. “Probably.”
“Do you want me to call in a cleanup crew?”
This was that weird gray line where I buried evidence instead of saving it. “Yes, I want this and that abandoned vehicle buried deep.”
He nodded and started barking orders.
Anton was leaning against the car. His arm was wrapped, but the bandage was bright red.
“How’s the arm?”
“Just a scratch.”
“Get the doc to look at that, and then you clock out.”
He looked concerned. “I thought we were supposed to pick up Bandit?”
Damn. I’d forgotten about Mila’s convict dog. I looked back at the vehicle. “She’s not in any shape to go anywhere.”
He looked upset. “I did the best I could.”
I stepped toward Anton and grasped his shoulder. “You saved my wife’s life and you got shot in the process. No one could have done a better job. I’m in your debt.”
He nodded quietly. “Thanks, boss.”
I looked over at Maksim. “Can you call Oleg and ask him to come to the house as soon as possible? Send two additional men over as well.”
I was no longer taking chances with Mila’s safety.
“You got it, boss.”
Mila didn’t say a damn word when I drove her home. She was numb, a bit catatonic, as she stared out the window.
I was driving beside her, and every chance I got, I looked over at her and squeezed her hand.
“How are you doing?”
But when I spoke to her, she didn’t respond.
When we got to the house, she looked confused again.
“What about Bandit?”
“We can go tomorrow.”
Her face crumpled. “That means he’ll have to spend another night in the kennel.”
“I’ll send Oleg to go get him.”
She started to cry in earnest. “They won’t let him take him. You need to be there. You have to fill out the application form.”
I cupped her face in both of my hands. “I’ll make you a deal, okay?”
She nodded.
“You go inside and lie down for a little bit, and I’ll drive to the kennel right now and do all the paperwork. I’ll bring Bandit home.”
“Right now?” She looked up at me tearfully.
“I’ll leave when Oleg gets here.”
She nodded. “Okay. Bandit’s bed and toys and dishes are all ready.”
I knew that she was in some level of shock. She was focused on the one positive and was completely shutting out the trauma that she’d just witnessed.
“We’re ready for him. Why don’t you go upstairs and rest until he gets here?”
She looked pale but composed. “Okay.”
The day was a complete shitshow. I sat outside the shelter and called Maksim.
“Maksim, how’s it going?”
“The cleanup crew found that one of the Volkov men had a small short range bomb and some schematics for the warehouse. They weren’t expecting Anton to pull up.”
The Volkov weren’t playing anymore. I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “How’s Anton doing?”
“Doc cleaned him up and said the bullet took off the first layer of skin but no muscle. He said it was the least Anton could get shot while still taking a hit.”
“I’ll check on him later.”
“How’s Mila doing?”
Thus the reason for my call.
She was going to hit her wall when I returned without Bandit. “She’s in shock but hanging in there. Can you get one of our tech guys to immediately do a job for me?”
“Yes.”
“Access the mainframe of the Westhaven Animal Shelter and find out who adopted a dog named Bandit this afternoon. I want a full background on them. And I need this as priority.”
“You got it.”
Mila wasn’t in bed when I got back. She was instead waiting at the bottom of the staircase with Jordan sitting protectively next to her.
She took one look at me. “Where’s Bandit?”
I felt like I was delivering news worse than death. “When we missed our appointment, they put him back up for general adoption, and someone took him home just before I got there.”
“No.” Mila shook her head. “He sat there for four months, and no one was even interested.”
“I’m sorry, Mila.”
She stood up. “So now he’s with some stranger, all by himself?” She started to cry. “And he’s probably scared and wondering why I didn’t come back for him.”
“Mila.”
She got more and more worked up as she talked. “I promised him. I promised Bandit that I’d be back, and he looked me in the eyes and he believed me! And I let him down.” She crumpled onto the stairs, put her face in her hands, and broke into heaving sobs.
Jordan and I exchanged looks.
“Can you make us some tea or something?” I asked him.
He jumped up, desperate to help.
I knew this was the fallout of what she had witnessed earlier today, but it was still rough to watch. She was extremely distraught. Without hesitation, I lifted her into my arms. She curled into me, clinging to my neck. “Axel, I’m so sad.”
“I know.” I started to climb the stairs.
“I hurt all over. It hurts. I feel so terrible for Bandit. I keep thinking of how he looked at me when I had to leave him. And I promised him I’d be back.”
“I know.”
“He’s probably so scared.”
“He’s a brave boy.”
She lifted her tearstained face to me. “I promised him, and I let him down, and I’m not sure I can forgive myself.”
I moved into her room and gently laid her on the bed. I pulled off her shoes for her. In response, she curled up, facing away from me.
She stopped speaking. I thought her emotional outbursts were tough to listen to, but her silence was ten times worse. A real husband, a better husband, would crawl into bed with her, hold her, and try to absorb her pain.
I wanted to be that man, but I knew in the long run, it would only hurt her more. So, I helped her in the only way I could.
I walked out to the guardhouse, and all three of the guards stood up from the table when I knocked and entered.
I pointed at the large German shepherd lying at their feet. “Is that dog friendly?”
“Yes, boss. Would you like to pet him?”
“I need to borrow him.”
They all exchanged looks. “Boss?”
“Tonight his new role is emotional support dog for my wife.”
“Of course.”
“Come on.” I motioned to them. “You can sit inside the house tonight while he works. Bring his food dishes and whatever he needs.”
Ten minutes later, I was opening Mila’s bedroom door. She was still lying on her side, facing away from the door, and she didn’t respond when I spoke her name.
The dog looked at me and then looked at the bed.
“Up,” I commanded him.
Without hesitation, the dog delicately leaped up onto the bed.
Mila lifted her head and blinked at the dog.
“He’s here for the night, to keep Bandit’s place warm.”
She lifted one arm, and the big dog stepped over her, gently licked her face and then curled up against her stomach.
She sighed and put her arm around him, and his tail hammered with joy against the bed.
Neither of them looked back at me as I stepped away and closed the door.
My phone rang. It was Grisha.
I groaned before I answered. “Axel here.”
“Who attacked us?”
“You know who it was.”
“Do I need to send in some support?”
“I’ve got it handled.”
“It shouldn’t have happened in the first place.”
I pictured Mila frozen beside the vehicle as men fired around her. “I agree.”
Maksim: Mainframe hacked. Name, address and contact number of the person who adopted the dog was bogus. Dead end.
Me: Can you get any camera footage of who took him? License plate?
Maksim: I’m on it.