Chapter Two
He turned around and saw a man rushing toward him with a knife in his hand. Felix reached for his weapon but he only raised it so far before something odd occurred.
The man coming at him, stopped abruptly and had a crazed look in his eyes. He suddenly fell to his knees and then slumped face first onto the cement.
Felix looked down and saw an arrow in the middle of the man’s back. Next, he heard footsteps.
Raising his head, he saw a woman standing in the shadows.
In her hand, she held the bow she had used to shoot the man charging at him. Beside her stood a massive dog. Like a German Shepard breed. The dog’s eyes were alert as it studied Felix.
Finally, the girl took a step closer toward him and asked, “Are you okay?”
When she moved into the light, Felix could see her better. Her hair was dark while pulled back into a long braid and her eyes were covered by sunglasses even though it was dark outside at the moment. Her jacket was a long peacoat and the edges were fraying. She wore jeans and tennis shoes.
Felix kept his weapon at his side and asked, “Who are you?”
The woman stood very still. “My name doesn’t matter just now. Are you alright?”
“I am fine but who the hell is he and what did he want here? Doesn’t he know we are Bratva and if he kills one of us the rest will come after him?”
The woman nodded. “He knew that but he still came here with murder on his mind.” She looked down at the man with her arrow in his back.
“He was hidden by the warehouse near the water tonight. He was supposed to be watching over the place in case trouble showed. Well, tonight it did and he followed you guys back here. His only way inside was when you opened this door and his job was to try and get the sisters free.”
Felix kept staring at her. “And how do you know all this?”
“Because I know the sisters, hell I know the whole damn family and this is something they would do.” She motioned at the man lying on the ground at Felix’s feet with her bow.
“Your group has taken down almost every member of the Dimitricoff family but they have a lot of followers that are still out there. You need to tell your boss he isn’t done yet with that family. ” She turned to leave.
Felix didn’t want to lose her yet as she had information they needed. “Wait, you need to tell my boss this yourself.”
She turned back to stare at him then shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?” Felix asked.
“Because the family has someone watching this hotel. And I can’t be seen here. I am what you might call a traitor and no one betrays that family. I have to go before I am discovered here talking to you.”
“Just who the hell are you to them?” Felix asked.
Just then, Gennadi and Kirill stepped out of the shadows. Kirill grabbed the woman. Gennadi clamped a muzzle of sorts over the dog’s snout. The woman screamed and the dog went ballistic trying to protect her but the two Bratva men wrestled them both into submission. They walked both toward Felix.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The bullet grazed the woman’s shoulder and she screamed again.
Felix heard footsteps running away in the dark as he ran to the door to hold it open as the men rushed her and the dog inside.
In a rush, they all headed down the hall to one of the office rooms.
Kirill opened the door and waited for everyone to enter before following them inside. He looked at his brother and nodded. “I’ve sent someone to get the body already.”
Felix nodded and gazed back at the woman sitting in the chair. He noted her wound and growled. “What the hell is going on here?”
She looked up at him and sighed. She didn’t act like the wound hurt as she just stared at him. “Let my dog go.”
“What guarantee do we have that he won’t attack us if we do?” Felix asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.
“You don’t have any guarantee, but if you don’t and he gets free on his own, he will tear out your throats,” she told him calmly and shrugged. “He’s very protective of me like that. Just let him do his job and no one has to worry.”
Felix snorted. “And if my brother breaks his neck?”
She surged to her feet and glared at him. “I saved you from a knife in your back!”
“We don’t know who you are and we are at war with the very people you seem to know so well.”
She glared at him. “So much for any spasibos from you.”
Felix shook his head and gave her a formal bow. “Spasibo,” he thanked her in Russian.
She now warned him, “If you hurt Buttercup, I will remain silent and escape from this place and you won’t have any idea what’s coming for you. People will die and their blood will be on your hands.”
Felix met Kosta’s gaze and muttered, “Buttercup?”
They both looked over at the canine.
The dog looked fierce as he viciously snarled through the muzzle.
The door opened again as Sergi strode in followed by Nikoli.
Sergi looked around the room and felt the tension.
The woman was bleeding and the dog wore a muzzle while in a hold by Kirill.
“Chto, chert voz'mi, zdes' proiskhodit?” Sergi asked. What the hell is going on here?
She glared at the older man speaking and asked, “Who the hell are you?” Kto ty, chert voz'mi, takoy?
Sergi’s brows rose at her use of Russian. “I am Sergi Constantine. Now someone here better tell me what the hell is going and right now.”
The woman shook her head as she scoffed. “Entitled much?”
The men in the room all gasped at her disrespect to Sergi.
Felix shook his head as he motioned at the woman to explain, “I stepped outside to get some air and someone rushed at me in the dark. He had a knife in his hand and before he could stab me, she shot him with an arrow. At first, I didn’t see her as she was behind him but when he fell, I saw her and the dog.
She told me the guy was at the warehouse tonight and had seen us hauling the sisters out.
So she followed him here. According to her, he was on watch tonight to make sure the warehouse would be safe and that the guy she killed would rescue the sisters as soon as he could get inside the hotel.
She also claims there are more Dmitricoffs followers out there and they are watching the hotel. Someone shot her and ran away.”
Sergi studied the wounded woman and shook his head. “What is your name?”
The woman remained silent and refused to give her name.
Felix sighed hard and turned to look at Sergi. “She says her name doesn’t matter. Claims that the Dmitricoffs calls her a traitor.”
Kirill was having a hard time restraining the dog and couldn’t hold onto him.
The dog whined as it got free and went to the woman. Buttercup moved to stand beside her and wouldn’t move.
She took his muzzle off. He didn’t attack anyone but he remained on alert to watch if anyone made a move toward her.
Sergi stared at her calmly then asked, “Why did you follow us back here?”
“Because I saw the other man following you.” She sat down quietly in the chair then placed her hand on the dog’s head. “I knew he wasn’t here for pleasure. His name is Slavik Petrivic and he only came here to see if he could find the sisters and get them free.”
Sergi cocked his head to one side and asked her, “What else do you know of the Dmitricoff’s little operation?”
The woman snorted. “Enough to know that they will all die from Treason against the Bratva and their only saving grace has been keeping their operation secret. They are all greedy and very, very stupid to think they would never be found out.”
Sergi stared hard at her. “It sounds as if you know them personally. Why is that?”
She looked up at him and she said, “Da, I know them personally. I never said I didn’t.”
Segi and Nikoli glanced at each other as the room got quiet.