Chapter Three
Briar walked over to Willy and placed her hands on his shoulders.
“You didn’t fail him. You were set up. Blame was placed on your shoulders that never belonged to you and lies were told to keep the blame on you but now it’s time to let the truth be known.
You carried that burden for too long, Willy. ”
Willy heard her words and let them settle.
Maybe she was right and it was finally time to bring the truth out.
He nodded as he reached up and his trembling hand settled over hers.
“But we have to find him alive first.” He now looked at Felix and the Ghosts.
“Let’s go find him. You can do whatever it is you do to the bitches that took him. ”
Just then, an SUV pulled up and stopped nearby.
Viktor and his group piled out of the vehicle.
Several of them went to the back of the car, hauling their equipment bags out.
Viktor walked over to Felix and nodded at him. “Sergi wants us to secure the rescue.”
Felix nodded. “Willy is joining us. He knows where the warehouse is.”
Viktor nodded and motioned to the darkness. “Lead the way.”
Willy led the group through the silent city streets.
Finally, when they got close to the waterfront warehouse he crouched down and pointed it out.
“That’s where they stay. They’ve been here almost a year now and no one in the area thinks much of them.
They are rude and very hostile. They’ve run everyone off but I still watch them.
They don’t know about me yet or they would have chased me away too. ”
The Ghosts disappeared into the darkness and the rest of Viktor’s Nomads spread out as well.
Felix stared at the warehouse then he looked at Briar and Willy. “Do you have any idea what they are doing here?”
Willy nodded his head. “Yeah, they are keeping Anton going. They have been buying food and clothes and such. Taking it over to the island at night when no one is awake to notice them on the water.”
“They’ve also been coming and going on a regular basis,” Briar added. “Almost like they are getting something set up, but when they get into the city, they aren’t going to a job.”
Felix cocked his head at her. “What do you mean? Where do they go?”
Briar snorted. “They hang out with an undesirable crowd and you can almost bet they are up to no good. I think they’re planning a takedown and my best bet would be they are planning to run the Bratva out of the city.
” She held up her hands to stop his protest. “I know you don’t believe that will ever happen but Pippy told me three days ago that someone is watching the hotel and that someone seems to be looking for a way inside.
Also, he's been hearing things around the city that are beginning to worry him.”
Felix just stood there staring at her. Then after a long moment he turned and stared at the warehouse again. Finally, he growled, “The Bratva will never allow themselves to be run out of this City. Instead, we will bring the wrath of Russia down upon their heads.”
Willy nodded. Then he looked at Felix, “If you want, I can show you a back door to get inside.”
Felix turned to glare at him. “You know of a way inside?”
Willy nodded. “The streets aren’t very warm when winter hits.
Most of the homeless find somewhere out of the way to hunker down when the temp drops and I used to stay there years ago.
There’s a way inside if they haven’t blocked it and I don’t think they know about it.
” He shrugged. “I never made a big deal about it because I didn’t want anyone to find me.
I also didn’t go upstairs too much because I didn’t want to get caught but yes, I know a way inside. ”
Felix reached for his phone and texted Viktor his coordinates.
The small group then waited for Viktor to meet them.
When Viktor and the others showed up, Felix told him what Willy had said.
Viktor pondered this news for a moment then he looked at Willy. “Can you show us? Maybe we can get inside and if he is there, we can get Misha out safely before they even know we are there.”
Willy nodded. “Yeah, I can show you... And I hope you catch them by surprise. Those terrible women deserve everything you can throw at them.” He motioned for them to follow him and he led them into the darkness.
After a moment or so, Felix and Briar decided to follow. They watched as Willy and Viktor descended into the ground. As they got closer, Felix noted the entrance was in the back, at a rusted door. Willy and the others didn’t even lift the door; they simply stepped through it.
Felix and Briar followed them through the basement of the warehouse. Willy showed them a staircase leading up to the main floor. But rather than open the door, Willy moved to the side and showed them a small hall between the main hall and the outside wall.
He moved slowly and the others followed him. A ways into the hall, it expanded a bit and the men could move a little better.
Finally, Willy stopped and held a finger to his mouth and pointed at the wall.
Viktor stepped up and found himself looking right through the wall.
He could see the main room clearly and when he looked around he could see someone had made the room beyond into a comfortable space.
There was a small living area, a couple of sofas, and a dining room table with six chairs.
Along with a small kitchen, complete with a working stove.
A refrigerator and even a television. From where he stood, Viktor could see two older women and one man sitting there, talking quietly.
Viktor looked over at Willy and motioned him toward the narrow hall.
Willy moved along until they came to the end of the hall then he stepped into a smaller room.
The others followed and gathered in the smaller room.
Viktor turned to him and quietly asked, “What did we just travel through?”
Willy shrugged. “I think at one time they put that in to allow for the heavy-duty wiring that the warehouse needed back in its heyday. From what I found several years ago, this place made ceiling tiles and they needed that kind of wiring and clean air. What you looked through was a vent. There are bigger vents in the floor on the upper level and in the ceiling of the first floor.” He shook his head.
“All of that was taken out when the warehouse closed down and they put the vents in when they moved the clean air fans.”
“Did you see any trace of Misha in there?” Felix wanted to know.
Viktor shook his head.
Willy shrugged his shoulders. “He wouldn’t be in that room.”
Felix frowned and asked, “Then where would he be?”
Willy motioned for them to follow him. He moved toward the second hallway.
When he stepped in, Viktor and Felix followed.
He walked about a quarter-length of the second hall then stopped in front of another vent. Willy looked into the second room and he froze. Then he stepped out of the way.
Viktor stepped up to the vent and looked inside the room.
Misha was indeed there, chained to the wall and he looked a little beaten up but he seemed to be alert enough. His wrists were handcuffed and a chain was wrapped around the handcuffs with a padlock through the links of the chain.
Felix stepped up next and he grunted when he saw Misha.
Misha lifted his head and looked around the room but saw nothing.
Felix turned and went back to the smaller room where Briar and the others were waiting.
“Is he here?” Briar asked.
“Da, he is here and he’s fucking chained to a wall.” Felix growled.
Viktor nodded. “I would like to know how they got close enough to snatch him from a private airport.”
“So how do we get him out of there?” Deter, Viktor’s second in command, asked. “If we start a diversion, one of those women will go straight to him and probably slit his throat.”
Willy was silent for a moment then he said, “I can get him out.”