60
Kidnapped
Andrey
I screamed a curse as soon as I realized a guy was pulling Sarka out of the car without me being able to stop it.
I didn”t have my men”s escort, so I was alone facing that bastard who was kidnapping her right in front of my eyes.
Fifty meters, which seemed like a hundred kilometers, separated me from them.
A cold sweat filled my back with icy moisture. I dropped the damn box I was holding and sprinted out, pulling my gun from the inner holster of my belt, which was concealed in my jacket.
I tried to shoot, but I couldn”t do it for fear of hitting Sarka, who lay suspended in his arms.
I tried to shoot, but I couldn”t do it for fear of hitting Sarka, who lay suspended in his arms.
The motorcycle was positioned in such a way that it blocked my path, so I had to climb over the hood, run across the roof of my own car, and then jump onto the front of the vehicle of the guy who was just a few centimeters from mine.
The driver was about to protest, but when he saw my semi-automatic, he refrained.
The kidnapper reached a black car. He opened the rear door and got in with my boss”s sister. It was parked in double parking, so he could start and immediately turn right without any problem and thus enter a side street.
Shit! I couldn”t lose her!
A fast-food delivery guy had just arrived at the corner, riding a small displacement motorcycle. It would have to do. I approached him and threatened him with my gun.
”Get off or the next fried chicken you deliver will be to Saint Peter!” I exclaimed without hesitation. The kid”s face fell, and he got off that yellow clunker instantly.
”Take it, man, I didn”t even like this job anyway.” The crest that adorned his helmet trembled.
I mounted the bike and hit the gas. I didn”t care that the traffic light was red and my acceleration caused a multi-car accident involving three vehicles.
I had to get Sarka back, that was all that mattered.
The tires of the black car screeched as it took a turn. I needed a damn straight, a street where I could aim and shoot the tire to screw up their getaway.
A vehicle that came out from my right forced me to jump onto the sidewalk and plow through an old lady”s shopping cart as she was heading to the store.
I wobbled on the seat, not losing control, and kicked away the damn fabric cart to get back on the asphalt, under the curses of the woman complaining about her lost chard.
I accelerated again without losing sight of the license plate of that damn bastard.
Could it be the same one who tried to kill Nikita? The thought sent a sharp pang straight to my heart.
I sped up at the idea and looked for a good shooting angle, seeking stable footing.
I missed the first shot because of another damn corner.
I couldn”t afford to waste more time playing ”catch me if you can.”
The next street was much longer. If they wanted to turn, they would have to go against the direction as the no-entry sign indicated. A bullet grazed my temple.
It came from the passenger window, where a shooter had started his own personal target practice.
He didn”t manage to unsettle me; on the contrary, it gave me a target to aim at. I pulled the trigger, and the bullet gave him a lethal bindi, right between the eyes.
”One less,” I said to myself.
As expected, the car turned, ignoring that the street was downhill and it was supposed to go up. A brutal collision was heard.
I couldn”t be that lucky!
I jumped off the bike aiming forward.
Two cars were crushed nose to nose and smoking.
The rear door opened, and out emerged the guy who had taken Sarka, dragging her along. The coward was using her as a shield and pointing at her head.
He didn”t even take off his helmet. He had no possible escape route; the street was too narrow and his only path was to come towards me.
”Drop the weapon or I”ll kill her!” he shouted. If he had wanted to kill her, she would already be dead. I didn”t believe a word; it was a bluff.
He must have had direct orders to take her alive, but from whom? How many people knew I was taking Sarka to the airport? Had it been the Capulets who tried to kidnap her? To what end? Perhaps it was the Chinese, who had been spying on us from a distance and saw an opportunity they couldn”t miss. I continued advancing towards him, slowly. A cornered man can commit any kind of folly.
”Don”t move!”
The driver didn”t move; he might have been trapped or unconscious.
The person from the other vehicle made a move to get out, but seeing us with two guns, he immediately went back in.
Hearing the door sound, the kidnapper turned his head, making the mistake of his life.
I wouldn”t get another chance like this and the army taught you not to waste them.
I shot, aiming precisely at the hand holding the weapon. A slight deviation on my part, or a spontaneous gesture on his, would cause the projectile to stray and hit Sarka.
I crossed my fingers that it wouldn”t happen and boom!
The scream of pain reached my ears like a siren”s song. Two fingers from his right hand were blown off.
The man dropped Sarka due to the pain. He didn”t seem very skilled, maybe he was a rookie. Knowing he was at a disadvantage, he tried to flee, holding his wounded hand under his armpit.
Did he really think I was going to let him get away?
A second bullet lodged in his chest, slightly deviated to the left side.
Certainly, his look behind that darkened visor would be one of sheer terror. He fell to his knees and his face hit the asphalt. I reached Sarka in the blink of an eye. I took her pulse to make sure she was still alive.
She was fine, at most, she would have some bruises from the fall. I needed to check if the driver was still alive; I didn”t want a shot in the back.
Moreover, it was essential to gather some information. I slipped through the open door. The co-driver was dead, and the man sprawled over the steering wheel in an unorthodox posture seemed unconscious.
I took his pulse; he was still alive, and I couldn”t take anyone with me, much as I would have loved to interrogate him. I
aimed at his temple and fired.
The people in the car in front screamed. I observed them from behind my sunglasses. They were a young couple, probably in their twenties. They raised their hands so I wouldn”t finish them. I had no intention of doing so.
I quickly searched the glove compartment, I wanted the car papers, that would lead us to find out who they were. I didn”t have much time to search them for documentation; others would take care of that if I hurried enough.
My conditions were not optimal. Surely, someone would have already called the police to raise the alarm; it was only a matter of time before they found us.
We would have to manage without the suitcases. I returned to my boss”s younger sister”s side and took her in my arms. Sarka had her purse slung over her shoulder.
I had the documentation and the ticket in the inner pocket of my jacket. I hurried to reach the main street and hailed a taxi. I told the driver that for now, to head to the airport, if there was a change of plans, I would let him know.
The man looked nervously through the mirror, especially seeing Sarka unconscious.
”Wouldn”t it be better to take her to a hospital?”
”She”s okay, she suffers from nervous narcolepsy, it will pass in a while, don”t worry and just drive.”
The man accepted my answer, and if he didn’t, he said nothing about it. I dialed the boss’s number to update her and find out what she wanted me to do.
As soon as she picked up, I started speaking in Russian so that the taxi driver wouldn’t understand me.
Koroleva cried out when she realized that someone had tried to kidnap Sarka. She asked for the exact coordinates, both of the place where I left my car and of the kidnappers” vehicle.
I listened to her instruct Romeo, wanting him to send the guys to both locations as soon as possible and to notify the
police they had ”under guardianship.”
My fingerprints had to be everywhere. Although I wasn’t registered, I didn’t like it much, I mentioned it so she would keep it in mind.
I asked Koroleva whether she preferred I return to her father-in-law”s house with her sister or continue the journey. She replied that it was best to get Sarka out of there as soon as possible and that I should stay in St. Petersburg until things cooled down, and she would let me know when I could return. The image of Aleksa crossed my mind, although I said nothing.
”Do you have the passports and plane tickets?”
”Yes, boss.”
”Good, then get on that plane and scram. Make sure to assign a couple of bodyguards to my sister there, if necessary, let them sleep in the car stationed outside Olga”s house, I want her monitored at all times and inform her too, so she knows they”re there to protect her.”
”Yes, boss.”
”Were the guys you killed Chinese?”
”I could only see the faces of two, they weren’t. The third had a full-face helmet with a dark visor.”
”Well, that doesn’t really tell us anything, Cheng has Spaniards in his ranks.”
”I took the car papers; I didn’t have time for more. Sorry, boss.”
”You did what you could.”
”Everything happened in broad daylight and in the middle of Marbella, so there are witnesses, both of the kidnapping and the shootout.”
”Don’t worry about that, I”ll handle it. When you get to the airport, give the papers you’ve got to the taxi driver and pay him off with a generous tip to take them to Massimo’s house and take the rest of the day off. We arrive tomorrow, hopefully, with what you’ve obtained we can unravel this mess.”
”As you command.”
”You’ve done a good job, Andrey. Thanks for saving my sister”s life.”
”You don’t have to thank me, it”s my job, you pay me for it.”
”Still, thank you, and be careful. If you see anything suspicious, take cover. Call me before you board the plane and as soon as you land, it will keep me more at ease.”
”Don’t worry. I alerted our men to come pick us up, they’ll be waiting at the airport.”
”I like that you”re so cautious, take care.”
The call dropped, and I looked at the little blonde girl resting, oblivious to everything, next to me. I hoped we wouldn”t have any more problems, at least until we reached Russia.