Chapter 18 Blood and Bullets
Chapter eighteen
Blood and Bullets
Mariana
The Riverside warehouse looks like a mouth waiting to swallow us whole.
"I don't like this," Mikhail says for the fifth time, his hands tight on the steering wheel. "Something feels off."
"We've been over this. Mila, Alexei and Boris have everything under control, as much as possible. We just have to make Harrison believe I’m turning against you. He needs to see me playing the part."
"We could make him believe it from a distance. With you safely—"
"Stop." I place my hand over his. "We do this together as we planned it."
Through our earpieces, Mila's voice crackles: "Thermal imaging shows thirty-two bodies inside. Pavel brought friends."
"Positions?" Mikhail asks.
"Scattered. Professional placement—multiple sight lines, overlapping fields of fire. They're expecting a fight."
Boris adds through the comm. "My teams are in position. Just say the word."
I check my weapon one more time. The wire in my bra feels heavier tonight, like it knows what's coming. "Remember the plan. We need Harrison's confession before—"
"Before we spring the trap. I know." Mikhail's jaw is tight. "If Pavel makes a move toward you—"
"You'll control yourself and stick to the plan."
"That's not what I was going to say."
"Mikhail—"
"If Pavel threatens you, I'll kill everyone in that building."
"That's not—"
He kisses me, hard and desperate. "Your safety trumps everything else."
Before I can argue, Harrison's text comes through:
Time's up. Inside. Both of you. Or your mother pays the price.
"Showtime," I mutter.
We exit the car slowly, hands visible. The warehouse door is already open—an invitation.
The inside is exactly what you'd expect—concrete floors, metal rafters, shadows that could hide an army. Harrison stands in the center, trying to look confident, but I can see the nervous energy in his shoulders.
And behind him, partially hidden by shadow but unmistakably real—Pavel Volkov.
"Agent Castillo," Harrison says. "And the infamous Ghost. Together, as expected."
"I did what you asked," I say, moving slightly away from Mikhail like we discussed. "I brought him."
"Yes, you did." Harrison's smile is cold. "The question is why."
"You know why. You have leverage."
"Your mother. Yes." He pulls out his phone, shows me a photo that makes my blood freeze. My mother at her apartment, unaware she's being photographed. "One call, and ICE raids her building. Finds irregularities in her paperwork that weren't there yesterday."
"You bastard—"
"Careful, Agent Castillo. Or should I call you Mrs. Kozlov? How quickly you fell for the enemy."
Mikhail steps forward, and immediately red dots appear on his chest. Laser sights from hidden shooters.
"Ah ah," Pavel says, finally stepping into the light. His scarred face is even worse than at Pier 17—the water escape must have aggravated old wounds. "No sudden moves, Ghost. My men are jumpy."
"Pavel." Mikhail's voice could freeze blood. "I thought I smelled something rotting."
"Still charming as ever." Pavel moves closer, favoring his left leg. "Tell me, how's my dear Mila? And those beautiful twins of hers?"
The threat is clear. Mikhail's hands clench into fists.
"Don't," I warn quietly.
"Listen to your woman," Harrison says. "She's the smart one. Smart enough to realize she backed the wrong horse."
"Did I?" I let doubt creep into my voice. "Is that true?"
"What?" Mikhail turns to me, and the betrayal in his eyes looks so real I almost believe it myself. "What are you talking about?"
"Have you been working with Pavel all along?" The words taste like poison, but Harrison needs to believe I believe it. "The warehouse rescue, the protection, the marriage—all part of Pavel's plan, isn't it?"
"That's insane—"
"Is it? You just happened to be there when I needed saving? Just happened to fall for the FBI agent hunting you?"
Through my earpiece, Mila whispers: "Selling it perfectly. Harrison's buying every word."
"You believe him?" Mikhail's voice cracks with what sounds like genuine hurt. "After everything?"
"I believe the evidence. And the evidence is telling me that you've been Pavel's weapon from the beginning."
"Bravo," Pavel claps slowly, the sound echoing in the empty space. "Though not entirely accurate. Ghost was never my weapon. He was my opponent. But you, Agent Castillo? You were easier to manipulate than expected."
"What?"
"Did you think Harrison came up with this plan alone?" Pavel laughs, the sound like breaking glass. "I've been feeding him information for three years. Every witness who died, every family destroyed—that was us."
"Pavel—" Harrison starts, alarmed.
"Oh, don't look so nervous, Cole. She's wearing a wire, obviously, but my men swept for frequencies. Nothing's transmitting." He pulls out a device, aims it at me. It screams immediately—but it's screaming at everything, just like before. "Fucking Mila Morozov. Girl's too smart for her own good."
"So what now?" I ask.
"Now you choose. Work with us—really work with us—or die here tonight."
"That's not much of a choice."
"It's more than what Ghost gave my men three years ago."
"Your men were trafficking children," Mikhail says flatly. "They deserved worse than death."
"Perspective."
"Then you're standing in the wrong place."
Pavel pulls out a gun, aims it at my head. "Choose, Agent Castillo. It's simple. Join us or die."
Through the earpiece: "Teams ready. Say the word."
But I need more. Need the full confession.
"If I join you, what happens?"
"You help us destroy the legitimacy movement. We need someone reliable and skilled out there doing field work. You will use your federal knowledge and training to identify reformed families, their weaknesses, their protections."
"And Ghost?"
"Dies tonight, obviously. Can't have him running around causing problems."
"You think you can kill me?" Mikhail laughs, dark and dangerous. "Better men have tried."
"Better men didn't have your wife as leverage."
The gun swings toward my stomach. "I know you think you're protected, Agent Castillo. But at this range, even a vest won't save you."
"She's not wearing a vest," Mikhail says, and something in his voice makes everyone pause.
"No?" Pavel's eyes narrow. "How come?"
"Because she's pregnant."
The words hang in the air like a bomb.
No. We weren't supposed to reveal that.
Harrison's face changes. "Pregnant?"
"Only a few weeks. Still very early." Mikhail's moving slowly, positioning himself between me and Pavel's gun. "So if you're going to shoot, shoot me. Not her. Not our baby."
"Baby?" Pavel laughs. "Ghost reproduced? This is too perfect."
"Pavel," Harrison says nervously. "We didn't discuss—"
"Plans change." Pavel's gun is steady. "Though this does make things more interesting. The Ghost's child. More leverage in our favor."
"You're not touching our child," I say, and it's not acting anymore.
"Watch me." He nods to his men. "Take her."
Everything happens at once.
Mikhail moves faster than humanly possible, knocking Pavel's gun aside as he pulls me behind a concrete pillar. Gunfire erupts from everywhere—Pavel's men, Boris's teams crashing through windows, Harrison diving for cover.
"Now!" Mikhail shouts into his comm. "All teams, now!"
The warehouse becomes a war zone. Through the chaos, I see Harrison trying to reach an exit. Can't let him escape—we need him alive.
I break from cover, sprinting after him despite Mikhail's shout of protest. Harrison turns, sees me coming, raises a gun I didn't know he had.
"You should have taken the deal, Agent Castillo," he snarls.
The shot is impossibly loud. But I'm already moving, training taking over. The bullet grazes my shoulder instead of hitting center mass. My return fire catches him in the leg, dropping him, and making the gun fall from his hand.
"Federal agent!" I shout, though I'm not anymore. "Do not move!"
Impossibly, some stop at my words. The gunfire continues in all directions, but a kind of bubble suspended in time has formed around Harrison and me, and those around us, even amid the chaos, seem to notice.
The second the sound of gunfire quiets down just a little, it's enough to be able to hear Harrison whimpering, Pavel cursing in Russian, and sirens in the distance.
"It's over," I tell Harrison, standing over him with my gun trained on his head. "We have everything. Every confession, every solid piece of evidence that connects you with the cases. Mila bounced the signal off satellites—your jammer only blocked local frequencies."
His face goes white. "You played me."
"No. I just—"
The explosion rocks the building. Smoke grenades, I realize too late. Pavel's backup plan. The warehouse fills with thick, black smoke in seconds.
"Mariana!" Mikhail's voice, but I can't see him.
"Cover the exits!" Boris shouts through the chaos.
But it's too late. By the time the smoke clears, Pavel is gone. Harrison too—dragged away by Pavel's men, leaving only a blood trail where I shot him.
Rodriguez bursts through the door with a full FBI tactical team. Of course he didn't listen. Of course he's here.
"Mariana! Are you—" He sees the blood on my shoulder. "You're hit!"
"I'm fine. But Pavel escaped. Harrison too."
"Damn it!" Rodriguez looks around at the chaos—dead and injured men from Pavel's team, but the principals are gone. "We need to—"
"Track them. I know." I'm already pulling out my phone. "Mila, did you get Harrison's confession?"
"Every word," her voice comes through. "But Mariana, I'm tracking heat signatures leaving the building. They had tunnels. Old maintenance access that wasn't on any blueprint."
"Of course they did." Mikhail appears beside me, blood on his knuckles but otherwise unharmed. "Pavel always has an escape route."
"We need medical help for her shoulder," Rodriguez says.
"It's a graze—"
"It's a gunshot wound and you're pregnant!" Mikhail snaps, then freezes, realizing what he just said.
Rodriguez's eyes go wide. "Pregnant? Mariana, what—"
"Not now, Rodriguez."
Assistant Director Williams enters with more agents. "What's the situation?"
"Harrison and Pavel Volkov escaped," Rodriguez reports. "But we have recorded confessions, multiple arrests from their organization, and—"
"It's not enough," Williams cuts him off. "Without Harrison in custody, this looks like a rogue operation. The Bureau will spin it as Harrison being kidnapped by Volkov, not working with him."
"But the recording—"
"Could be coerced. Without Harrison to corroborate it, without Pavel to interrogate, we have half a victory at best."
I look at Mikhail, see my own frustration mirrored in his eyes. We were so close.
"There's more," Williams continues. "Given the evidence we do have, I believe the Attorney General would be willing to offer immunity to both Mr. Kozlov and Mrs. Castillo-Kozlov."
"Would be willing?" Mikhail's voice is dangerous.
"I can't make guarantees without Harrison in custody. But with the recorded confession and what we've uncovered tonight, I'd say it's highly likely. The AG wants this corruption cleaned up."
"Likely isn't certainty," I point out.
"No, it's not. Which is why you're in a legal grey area right now. You're no longer shoot-on-sight, but without Harrison personally to take the fall, his friends in high places will fight any immunity deal."
"So what are we supposed to do?"
"Find them. Bring them in. You have resources—use them. With Harrison and Pavel in custody, I can virtually guarantee full immunity. Without them..." He shrugs. "You're gambling with your freedom."
As the medics examine my shoulder, I see Boris coordinating his remaining men, already hunting for Pavel's trail. Mila's voice comes through our earpieces, rattling off possible escape routes based on traffic cameras she's hacking.
"This isn't over," Mikhail says quietly, just to me.
"No. It's not."
"They'll regroup. Come at us again."
"Probably."
"Are you ready for that?"
I think about our baby, about the life we're trying to build, about the freedom that's just out of reach.
The medic finishes bandaging my shoulder. "You need proper medical attention. That baby needs you to be healthy."
"The baby needs her parents free," I correct.
Rodriguez approaches carefully. "Mariana, we need to talk. About all of this. About him. About... pregnancy?"
"Later, Rodriguez. Right now, we have fugitives to track."
"We?"
"You're going to help us. Because despite your feelings, you're a good agent. And good agents want Harrison brought to justice."
He looks between Mikhail and me, and I see him finally accepting what he's been denying—that we're together, really together. All on the same side.
"Fine. But when this is over, we're having a long conversation about your choices."
"When this is over, she won't be having conversations with you at all," Mikhail says coldly.
"Mikhail—"
"He's right," Rodriguez says, surprising us both. "When this is over, you'll be free. Both of you. And I'll... I'll find a way to accept that."
Williams calls out: "We've got something! Traffic cams caught a medical van leaving the area. Heading north."
"That's them," Boris confirms. "Pavel has medical facilities in three locations upstate."
"Then we follow," I say, standing despite the medic's protests.
"You're injured—"
"I'm functional. And we're not letting them get away again."
Mikhail helps me toward the door, his arm around my waist more possessive than supportive.
"No more warehouses," he murmurs. "No more games. Next time we find them, we end it."
"Agreed."
But as we head out into the night, Harrison and Pavel somewhere ahead of us in the dark, I can't shake the feeling that they wanted to escape. That the smoke, the tunnels, the medical van—it's all part of a bigger plan.
"Mikhail?"
"I know. It was too easy."
"They're leading us somewhere."
"Let them. I'm tired of being hunted. Time to be the hunters again."
Through the earpiece, Mila's voice: "I've got them. Medical van just pinged a toll sensor heading toward Bear Mountain. Only one property up there that makes sense—"
"The Volkov estate," Mikhail finishes. "Pavel's ancestral home."
"It's a trap."
"Obviously. It's his territory."
"We're going anyway?"
"We're going. Pavel doesn't know, but we hunters know: sometimes moving into familiar territory makes you much more predictable. He will fall, and his own decision will be the cause."