Chapter 15 Vadim
VADIM
It's been almost a month since I married Danica and I'm no closer to finding Lebedev.
It's really frustrating considering I extended my stay here by getting hitched and the woman I'm with still doesn't really admit that things have changed between us.
What used to be a cavernous hole between us on the bed has become more like tectonic plates shifting in our sleep.
Though she still won't get up to have coffee with me before I leave the house.
This morning, we had sex before I left the house and my God, does she drive me wild.
She was still dripping wet from the shower and I couldn't help myself.
I just came in to remind her that I may be later today and she was in nothing but a towel.
I bent her right over the sink and fucked her as I watched her reflection in the mirror.
Just thinking of the look on her face threatens to make me hard and it definitely distracts me.
"You good, Boss?" Vuk asks, and I snap out of it and look up at the target house.
Yet another tip that Lebedev would be within reach, but this time, I'm not taking chances.
We're gonna sit on this house from every angle for a few minutes while I, myself, watch the activity.
If he's in there, I want to know. I won't risk walking into a trap again.
I'm lucky I made it out alive last time.
"Yeah, you ready?" I pull my gun from its holster and check the clip to make sure it's full. Fifteen rounds should be more than enough if Andrei's actually inside.
Vuk nods at me, and I look to the northwest corner where Nenad is posted.
Jovan is around back to watch the rear, and I'm ready to give the signal to go when my phone buzzes.
Yuri's name flashes on the screen as I pull it out, so I know I have to take it.
I hold up my hand to signal the men to wait a second, then step away to take the call.
"Yeah, Boss," I say quietly. We have to keep a low profile and not draw attention today. With Milo?'s men anywhere, it's possible this is a setup too. If so, we need to get in and out clean, and letting people know we're here because we're talking too loudly is a bad idea.
"Where are you?" Yuri sounds tense.
"About to move on Lebedev." I watch Nenad crouch down as I continue. "If this pans out, I'll have him by tonight."
"And if it doesn't?"
"Then I'm going after Milo?." I say the politician's name like a curse. "That fucker's been protecting the target for way too long and it's time we take him out.
"Milo? is dangerous," Yuri rumbles, and I hear the hint of warning.
"Yeah, well I'm dangerous too. You know?" My jaw tightens as I stare off at the back of the house, looking for any sign that Jovan is doing his job. I hope the fact that I can't see him means he's paying attention.
"Do what you need to do. Update me when it's done," Yuri says, though I know despite his casual tone, he's more anxious to get this moving than I am. It's his son I'm avenging, after all.
"You'll be the first call I make, Boss," I say before hanging up.
Vuk jerks his chin up at me as I slide the phone in my pocket, and I nod at him, giving the signal. It's time to move in.
He raises two fingers in the air and points them in two quick bursts at the house, and I watch Nenad rise from his crouching position.
We start moving toward the house with our guns raised, but every step feels foreboding.
I'd like to think it's just nerves after what happened last time, but my gut is roiling.
It doesn't feel right. Something feels off.
It's just too quiet.
But we move forward almost nearing the porch when I hear a beeping noise and realize what's going on. It's definitely another setup. But this time, because I'm more aware, I'm able to save us any fatalities.
I grab Vuk's shoulder and pull him back just as the explosion rips through the building, narrowly missing him. We were barely on the porch steps, and the force throws us backward into the street.
I land on my back hard, knocking the wind from my lungs, and roll to my side to try to cough. My ears ring and I can't hear anything except a high-pitched whine. Smoke pours from the shattered windows and flames lick at the doorframe. I manage to roll onto my side and push myself up.
Vuk is lying nearby. His face is covered in blood but he's moving. Nenad is farther down, holding his arm at an odd angle as he sits up and rubs his head. We were close to being killed. Ten seconds earlier and we'd have been in that house when that bomb went off.
"Where's Jovan?" I ask, and I shout because the ringing in my ears makes it impossible to focus. But Vuk must not hear me. He sits up, looking around dazedly.
I get to my feet unsteadily. The ringing in my ears fades and I can hear shouting.
People coming out to see what happened. I turn in a circle looking for Jovan, but he's not here.
After losing Boris, my heart is hammering.
The idea of losing another man guts me. These men look to me for guidance and protection.
I hate that I could fail them so easily.
"Where's Jovan?" I ask again, and I grab Vuk by his jacket and haul him upright. "Did you see where he went?"
He shakes his head and winces. Blood runs down his face, dripping onto his shirt.
"Find him." I shove Vuk toward Nenad and grunt, "Check the perimeter."
The men search but Jovan's gone. He's nowhere in sight.
Either he was in that house or he got out and ran, but we can't find him.
Sirens cut through the noise, announcing the police and fire department are on the way, and I know we need to leave.
I whistle sharply and gesture for the men to fall back.
They converge on me in the alley where we started, and I notice Nenad has a bit of a limp too.
"We can't stay." I wipe soot from my face. "Police are coming."
"What about Jovan?" Vuk asks, seeming concerned. And I understand that concern, but if we stick around here, we'll be arrested. The police will take one look at our weapons and see that burning house and we'll be blamed. We have to leave.
"If he's in there, he's dead. If he's not, we'll find him later.
" I start walking toward the cars, but my mind is really getting messed up.
I'm walking away from a burning house where one of my men has most likely been killed.
It doesn't sit right with me. It makes me regret taking that intel because hindsight is twenty-twenty and now that I know it was a trap, I start rethinking every choice I made leading up to it.
But when we round the corner at the end of the alley to head to the cars, Jovan is standing talking to two men I recognize immediately as men who were with Milo? in that last attack. He doesn't see me at first, and I hold up my fist to halt the others.
Vuk stops by my side and sees where I'm staring, and Nenad leans on the corner of the building as he tracks our line of sight.
"What the hell's he doing talking to them?" Nenad asks, but I know exactly what he's doing. It makes perfect sense now.
Milo? has known every move we'd make ten minutes before we made it.
We've been given intel on where Lebedev's been hiding multiple times, but every time we've gone searching for him, he was gone—warned or never there to begin with.
This whole time, I thought he was just that good at evading us, and the whole time, I've had a mole on my team.
"He's a fucking rat…" Vuk grunts, but it's worse than that and I know it.
"No… He's a mole, and he's gonna fucking pay." Just as I finish my sentence, the man looks up in our direction and his eyes lock with mine. He says something. I watch his lips move, and the Serbians look up at me too, then bolt.
"Follow him," I order as Jovan takes off running.
"And track every fucking thing he does from here out.
Got it?" I say, but Vuk is already taking off, and Nenad is limping after him.
Jovan thinks he'll get away with feeding me bad intel while working with that bastard Milo?? Well, he has a rude awakening coming.
With him out of the picture now, I should be able to hunt Lebedev down easily, and then Milo? Popovi? is next.
No one double-crosses me and lives to tell about it.