Chapter 28 Danica #2
"Shut your mouth," Ruslan snarls. "You don't know what I'm planning to do."
"Stand down," Vadim says, and his eyes are locked on mine like he's trying to communicate something without words. "And maybe we can all walk away from this without anyone else dying tonight."
"Why in the world would I do that?" Ruslan asks. He scoffs and takes a step backward, putting more strain on my neck. I've stopped fighting, but my heart feels like it might explode in my chest.
"Every single one of us heard the confession." Vadim is advancing toward me slowly, but I feel so weak. "They all heard Lebedev say that you both worked together to kill Dominic. We know what you did, Ruslan."
I can't turn my head to see what Vadim is talking about, but I can hear movement. Footsteps shifting in the grass, weapons being adjusted, someone clearing their throat nervously.
"Ilya, Konstantin," Ruslan says, and he's starting to sound desperate too. "I'm giving you both a direct order. Kill Vadim and his men right now."
The sirens are getting closer now, and I can hear at least two of them.
But I don't hear any other movement. No one else moves to pull a weapon or shoot Vadim as he ordered, and my brain starts to spin.
If only I weren't in the way, Vadim could take the shot and kill this man.
It's what he does for a living. I'd be saved… But I'm right in front of him.
"I said kill them," Ruslan repeats, and he jerks me around a little bit. Now I can see Vadim, and he looks terrified. It might be the first time I’ve ever seen him look this way. "That's a direct order from your superior officer."
"You killed Dominic ," a voice says, and it belongs to one of the men I don't recognize. "You’re a traitor, Ruslan…"
"I gave you an order," Ruslan snarls angrily, and his arm tightens on my throat, but I've locked eyes with Vadim and I'm pleading with him to understand what I'm communicating. "You follow my orders. That's how this works."
"We follow orders from family," the other man says. "We follow men who honor the code and protect the bloodline. You're not family anymore. You stopped being family the moment you decided to kill Dominic."
The sirens are much louder now as the men put their weapons away and step back, like they're deferring to Vadim. The sirens sound like they're only a block or two away at most, and the sound seems to force Ruslan into some kind of action.
"You all made your choice," he says. "You're all traitors just like Vadim. When this is over, when the war comes, you're all going to die."
"Let her go," Vadim says, and he takes another careful step forward. "Yuri's going to want to question you. Who else was involved in this conspiracy?"
"Fuck you!" Ruslan jerks me around again, and I let my body relax. I can do this. If I just drop to my knees, let all my weight hang on that one arm of his, there's no way he can keep me up, right? It'd throw him off balance and give Vadim the opening he needs to take the shot.
The sirens are screaming now, so close that they're making my skull vibrate. They must be right outside the house, possibly already parking in front.
"It's my word against yours," Ruslan snarls again, but Vadim takes another step and his men start to back away. They pick up the dead man from the lawn, all four of them, and start to drag him away.
"We have all the evidence we need, Ruslan… Your calls to Popovi?, communication with Lebedev. It ties you to everything so thoroughly, Yuri will have no problem believing me, and when the cops wonder why you're dead, I call self-defense. You're on my lawn and—"
I drop.
My knees buckle and I let my dead weight hang from his arm, knowing if he is strong enough to hold me up, it will choke me to death, but it's my best shot.
And it works.
Ruslan leans and strains, and his gun goes off again. And as his arm slips from around my neck and my body hits the ground, Vadim's gun goes off too.
The blast is much louder than the first, and I cover my ears as I feel Ruslan's body shake the whole porch as he falls. A sob claws its way up my throat before I feel strong hands pulling me forward, away from the man who lies in a puddle of his own blood.
Vadim's strong arms wrap around me as his lips place kisses on my forehead and cheeks, and I throw my arms around him in a tight embrace.
"Oh my God, he was going to kill me, "I whimper, so glad this is over and he's holding me.
"You're safe, Rodnaya, you're safe now." He talks in comforting tones and holds me fiercely for the next thirty seconds, but the police burst through the gate and drag him away from me, and then I'm being hauled to my feet by another officer who insists I step away from the dead man on my porch as rain starts to fall.
It's over.
Vadim's target is dead, along with a few others. But now he's being handcuffed and put into the police van to be hauled off to the station for questioning.
And what if they don't let him go, and I'm just alone after this?
What will I do then?