Chapter 1 #2
My father had sent me to save my sister.
To me, there was nothing more important than that.
She was innocent. She wasn’t involved in any of this like I was.
She’d gone to school when I’d had private tutors.
She’d gotten good grades in subjects I’d never studied, and she was supposed to be living her life happy and carefree as a freshman in college this year.
It was my job to take care of her and I would stop at nothing until she was safe back home with me in Belarus.
I crept forward, closer and closer. I knew that there was a fancy meeting room up ahead that had been redone some years ago so that the mafia heads could feel like bigwigs when they met for poker night once a week.
It was all just a glorified dick-measuring contest.
I paused before I came around a corner, listening. Finally. There was someone in the hallway up ahead. Maybe I’d actually get to have a little fun.
I pressed my lips together to keep myself from laughing in open mockery of the mafia here in the States.
It was nothing compared to the one back home, in the neighboring country of Russia.
If the Russians came here, it would only be a matter of time until they took over.
With the current state of things, it would probably take them less than a week.
The man I’d heard in the hallway was asleep.
I could hear his heavy breathing, his occasional snoring and when I peeked around the wall, I could see that he was sitting in a chair at a weird angle that didn’t really appear to be that stable.
If he wasn’t careful, he was going to fall flat on his face on the floor.
He had several guns in holsters on his waist. Now that could be useful.
Without hesitating, I flew toward him. I covered his mouth and used my other hand to jerk his head hard as he squealed in tired confusion.
I heard the telltale crunch of his neck snapping and I guided him back down to the chair.
I closed his eyes and leaned him so that he was positioned as if he was still sleeping.
I slipped the guns from his belt and tucked them into the back of my dirty blue jeans.
I procured a knife and a Taser, fully arming myself to the best of my ability from this single guard.
I’d killed people with far less. When I was through, I pushed closer to the door of the meeting room and pressed my ear against it.
This was the back service entry. There was a much nicer stairwell that led down from the casino floor in the VIP high roller section at the other side of the room. I knew it was likely that there was another fully armed guard at that entrance. Everyone inside would probably also all have guns too.
That didn’t matter.
The best way to kill was to take advantage of the unexpected.
I took a deep breath and slipped my arms behind my back.
I glided both hands around the two 9mm Berettas and enjoyed the feel of them against my skin.
I knew they were fully loaded by the weight.
I used my pointer fingers to disengage the safeties and when I was ready, I burst inside the room with both guns held ready.
The shocked looks on the arrogant fat men’s faces were just as good as I had imagined they would be.
“What the fuck?”
“Isn’t that one of the girls?”
One of them was so intoxicated that he couldn’t even form words anymore. His glazed eyes stared back at me like I was a dream or something. I decided he was my first target. They needed to know how serious this was and that I wasn’t going to leave this room without answers.
Without a word, I pulled the trigger and shot just over the drunk guy’s shoulder. I didn’t clip him, but I came damn close.
The drunk man screamed, and it sounded shrill enough that he might have pissed himself. I didn’t sniff the air to check. Instead, I turned the gun on the individuals in the room, most of whom I recognized.
Vinny Genovese. The head of the reigning family here in Vegas, especially here at the Tropicana.
Joe Shapiro. Another big kingpin who allied with Vinny.
Tony Siegal. A third boss who held probably as much power as Joe.
There were two other men who weren’t famous enough to warrant me knowing them, but from the way they were leaning toward the man to their right, I could guess that were the right-hand men to each of the bosses there.
The drunk guy must have been Vinny’s consigliere because he looked the most ticked off.
I smiled and directed my guns at Joe and Tony next. I’d save Vinny for last.
“I’m looking for someone,” I began.
Vinny sat back. Of all the men, he was the one that didn’t appear to be flustered by this at all. This definitely wasn’t the first time he’d had a gun aimed at his face.
“Aren’t we all?” he answered brazenly.
I lifted my chin the slightest bit, sliding my gaze back and forth across the table. There was a stack of chips in the center. Most of them were orange. From a glance, I saw the number five thousand written around the edge.
High stakes. I wouldn’t guess anything less.
“I’m looking for a woman. Her name is Irina Kotova,” I continued. “If you tell me where she is, I’ll let you walk out of here alive.”
I wouldn’t, but I wasn’t going to tell them that until the very end.
“The polite thing to do would be to tell me yours,” Tony muttered, and I didn’t waste any time before I pulled the trigger again and took out his consigliere. “Motherfucker!” he yelled. Without any further delay, I spun quickly and locked the door I’d come through.
I circled around the table and kept one gun aimed at Tony as I kicked the other entrance shut. Upon its closure, a locking system engaged.
“I’m going to assume that this is something of a panic room,” I said confidently, and Vinny grunted in annoyance. “The walls are thick. The locks strong. The doors bulletproof. Am I right, Vinny?”
“Yes,” he sighed unhappily.
“I’d bet all the chips on that table that it was soundproof too,” I added cockily, and Joe growled with vicious anger.
“You little Russian bitch,” he screeched.
“Keep it up, Joe, and I’ll shoot you next. I’m here for answers and you’re going to give them to me,” I continued. “Oh, and for fuck’s sake. I’m not Russian. Your men took me from Belarus.”
He just sneered at me when Vinny cleared his throat.
“I want you all on that side of the table. Go. Move,” I directed.
Joe and Tony slid their chairs closer to Vinny. Their men followed.
“It’s five against one,” Tony blurted.
“I can make it three against one if you keep pushing me,” I answered. His lips smacked together comically fast. He was younger than the others. Probably freshly put in power and in all likelihood, this was probably the first time he’d ever been in any sort of real danger.
I slipped one hand backward and slid my finger into my back pocket with the gun still in my hand. I pulled out the picture that I knew would still be there.
It was a picture of my sister. Her hair was a lighter blonde than mine, straight and fine.
Her face was delicate with high cheekbones and a pointed thin nose.
Her lips were full and rosy. Her eyes were a sage green, like mine but brighter.
She held the look of innocence in the most beautiful way.
Not like me. I’d seen too much to look like that.
I tossed the picture on top of the stack of chips and Vinny reached forward to pick it up. A movement flashed to my side, and I realized that Joe and Tony’s men were trying something. I ended it.
I took out each of them without blinking. My shot was clean, straight between the eyes of both men, leaving only the three bosses to contend with me now.
No backup. To be honest, I liked it better that way.
“Don’t do anything stupid. I’m here for answers. That’s her. Irina. Where is she?” I pressed.
“What are you? Bratva? KGB? Something else?” Vinny asked.
I just smiled and aimed at the other two men at his side. Three dead. Three left.
“I’m the one asking questions. You are the one that’s supposed to be giving me answers,” I replied curtly. Joe glared at me, and I didn’t much care.
“You’re lucky we haven’t thrown you on the table and fucked you raw,” Tony blurted, and I cocked my gun threateningly.
“Such a reliable weapon, a Beretta,” I mused. “Well made. Steady. Doesn’t jam much, but it does on a rare occasion. Want to test the odds to see if they’re in your favor?” I stared at the younger man without even the slightest bit of patience.
He didn’t answer. Vinny cleared his throat, probably trying to rescue his friend from his own stupidity.
“I don’t have her,” he answered. “She’s not in any of our hotels.”
“I don’t believe you,” I replied and without a second’s hesitation, I took Joe out next without even giving him a warning.
Tony shrieked like a little girl. He ducked forward and covered his head.
“Want to try that again?” I pressed. I cocked my head expectantly.
Vinny looked a bit paler than when I’d first entered the room.
Now that my attention wasn’t as widespread, I studied him a bit closer.
His face was crisscrossed with heavy set-in wrinkles.
Time had not been kind to him. I knew he was somewhere in his late fifties, but it looked like he was at least ten if not fifteen years older than that.
He’d gone mostly gray with a few odd patches of darker hair in between.
Bushy eyebrows that looked like caterpillars sat atop his dark brown eyes and his lips were set in what appeared to be a permanent grimace. Still though, he remained calm.
Tony on the other hand was maybe late twenties. He was cleaner cut, with stark lines cut into his beard. He reminded me more of a gang leader than a mob boss, but the Vegas Underground was as turbulent as one would expect in such a quickly changing city.
“I don’t,” he began, and I cleared my throat.
“Look at her picture closer. Really think before I just decide to kill you all anyway for wasting my time,” I spat and the two of them finally did what I asked.