Chapter 48
Chapter Forty-Eight
Radik followed Havel through a darkened alleyway as they closed in on their prey. Leeza was behind Radik, rounding out their team of three. Jozef was coming at their target from the other side with Ayaan, and Cooper.
They were in Minsk, preparing to take Prime Minister Branislav Makovsky and his wife into custody. Radik’s mercenaries had secured the city block for the strike teams.
Havel held a hand up once they were in position, texting Jozef to let him know. Seconds later, Havel asked, “Are we go, team?”
“Go team,” Radik said.
“Go team,” Leeza echoed softly from behind him. He heard the click of her safety disengaging.
“Leeza, you stay behind Radik, got me?” Havel said, his voice hard.
“Yes,” she hissed, her tone annoyed, and Radik grinned into the shadowy darkness.
Good to know that even after several years of marriage, there was still tension. Havel’s need to protect his wife prickled her combative pride. Radik suspected it would be somewhat the same between him and his soon-to-be wife.
Having learned Guard Dog’s coded communication, Radik was ready for the signal to strike. Three beeps sounded in his earpiece, telling him it was time.
Havel, Radik and Leeza moved in unison, crouching low as they approached the house from the front.
Jozef’s team would take the rear.
Leeza helped Havel plant explosives on the front door while Radik covered them, then the three of them took cover. When Jozef’s signal came, Havel hit the button, blowing the front door off its hinges.
They heard the echo of a similar explosion come from the back of the house.
They waited, not entering, and seconds later, two men rushed out the door, semiautomatics at the ready.
Havel took them out with one headshot each.
Pop, pop.
Gunshots sounded at the back of the house telling them Jozef’s team had engaged as well.
Silence fell and they waited. When no one else came out the door, Havel waved at Leeza and Radik to follow him.
Another shooter engaged them as they entered the house and all three scattered for cover. Jozef killed the man with a shot to the head as he strode into the room.
“The family is hiding upstairs,” Cooper said entering the room behind Jozef, his gun at the ready.
The capture of Prime Minister Branislav was anticlimactic considering the wide surveillance net Havel had set up and the scale of planning involved in the operation. It took less than two minutes to infiltrate the house and neutralize all hostiles.
In short order, they had five people on their knees in the living room, fingers locked behind their heads. Branislav, his wife, Irena, her sister, Katya, the sister’s husband, Ivan, and their seventeen-year-old son, Alvin.
“Let my wife and her family go,” Branislav begged. “They had nothing to do with this.”
Havel, who was frowning down at the body of the security specialist Jozef had killed, said, “They’re hiding you, which means they’re complicit.” Then he asked, “Was this our old friend Alan Dietrick?”
Radik remembered that Jozef had shot a Dietrick in the shoulder when he’d dared to engage Jozef in a high-speed chase with Shaun in the car. It was in the extensive file Radik kept on Guard Dog and all its employees and associates.
“Yes,” Branislav confirmed, his arms trembling either from fear or having to hold them over his head. “My head of security.”
“Not anymore.” Havel smirked. Then he said to Jozef, “We take Branislav and Irena, leave the rest?”
“No!” Branislav shouted as he was hauled off the floor, his hands wrenched behind his back and zip tied. “None of this is our fault. It was all President Urban.”
“We know,” Havel said, watching dispassionately as Irena, who was dragged off the floor, cried out for her sister.
“Which is why he won’t be running for office in the upcoming election.
He’ll gracefully drop out, back the candidate of our choice, set his affairs in order, then, after an appropriate amount of time has passed, die peacefully in his sleep of an injection that will stop his heart. ”
“Why would he agree to that?” Branislav asked, horrified.
“It was better than the alternative,” Havel said, then so Branislav understood, added, “Dismemberment.”
Take them, Jozef signed. Let’s get out of here.
Before leaving, Havel and Radik made sure Katya, Ivan and Alvin understood their lives depended on their silence. “We walk away, we don’t come back,” Havel said. “Everyone is happy.”
“Irena?” Katya whimpered.
Radik shrugged. “She made her bed when she married a lying, cheating politician.” His tone spoke to how much he hated corruption in politics.
It was rampant in the area of the world he worked and lived in.
“You sheltered them and it’s my wish to punish you for that, but today is your lucky day.
We agree to leave if you go quietly about your lives.
No alarms raised, no fuss, no theatrics. Understood?”
“We understand,” Ivan said, speaking for the first time, his displeased gaze on Branislav as Cooper dragged the Prime Minister out the door. “Take them and go. I will guarantee our silence.”
“Spoken like a man who wants to live,” said Havel jovially.
Katya was crying softly, clinging to her son, but she nodded her agreement.
Upon landing in Prague, Jozef had their hostages taken to the estate where he dismissed his mercenaries, leaving only Havel, Jozef and Radik to deal with Branislav and his wife.
Leeza was given the option to stay, but she left, saying, “No thanks. I don’t enjoy this part. I’ll go hang out with Saskia and the kids.”
Radik did enjoy this part. He had his own sense of justice, and it thirsted for blood, especially the blood of those who betrayed him and the people he loved.
“You tried to kill my woman,” he said to Branislav, who was tied to a chair, alongside his wife.
Branislav’s eyes widened as they travelled over Radik, taking in his massive size. “I have no idea who you’re talking about.” His tone was pleading, whiny.
“Her name is Saskia Koba.” Radik smashed his fist into Branislav’s face.
Branislav’s teeth were knocked into his throat, making him choke. He screamed as blood sprayed from his mouth.
“Whoa!” Havel said, stepping between Radik and Branislav. “We have a plan we need to stick to here. You agreed.”
Radik stepped back from Branislav. “Apologies. I didn’t like his tone.”
Nor did I, Jozef signed, watching dispassionately as Branislav sputtered and gagged. But maybe you could pull your punches a little.
“Yeah, man,” Havel said, rubbing his jaw where Radik had punched him when Havel refused to allow him to go after the ambulance. “Your fists are made of concrete.”
Radik grinned, unrepentant. “I will give you a chance to take your revenge later in the boxing ring.”
“Deal!” Radik didn’t doubt Havel wanted to fight. They were roughly equal in size and ability. It would be fun to pit their skills against one another.
Jozef snapped his fingers to gain their attention. Branislav had quieted down, but his wife was now wailing.
“What should we do with this one?” Havel asked, circling Irena.
“Please don’t hurt my wife,” Branislav begged, his words slurred. “She’s innocent.”
“You brought her into this when you ran to her family,” Havel said dismissively.
Radik added, “She enjoyed the riches you provided from your corrupt tenure in office. She is not an innocent.”
“We were in a partnership,” Branislav appealed to Jozef. “Your wife, Dr. Koba, saved my life once. We were friends. Please, at least let Irena go. I’ll do anything.”
With those final three words, he buried his wife. They told Radik how much the man loved his wife, which meant she could be wielded for maximum mental anguish as they tortured him.
We were never friends, Jozef signed while Havel translated.
My wife saved your life because it’s her job.
It’s my job to run the Czech branch of the Bratva.
I own this city and I own this country. You are a fly who has become annoying and must be swatted to make room for the next fly I install in the office of Prime Minister.
“Please, I’ll do anything you want. We’ll disappear and you’ll never hear from us again.” Branislav finally seemed to realize how insignificant he was. He was Prime Minister because Jozef allowed it and now Jozef was withdrawing his support in the most brutal manner.
I’m done talking, Jozef said. Kill the wife.
“Allow me,” Radik said, bloodlust rushing through his veins.
“No!” Branislav screamed as Radik put a bullet between her eyes. She slumped forward in her chair, dead. Branislav sobbed, “Oh god, Irena.”
Kneeling next to his chair, Radik said, “You would have done this to Saskia if given the chance. This pain you feel is what you wished on us when you targeted one who we love. Spend your last few moments on this earth thinking and atoning, for the sake of your now departed wife.”
Radik didn’t know if Branislav made his peace, but soon the Prime Minister was beyond caring as Radik, Havel, and Jozef made short work of their prisoner, taking out their rage on his rapidly weakening body.
As they finished, Branislav having taken his last rattling breath, Havel looked down at the mess they’d made. “Not sure how we’re going to make this look like a car accident.” All three of them were spattered in Branislav’s blood.
We’ll bribe the coroner, Jozef signed with a shrug. The world will believe they both died on the highway, coming back from visiting Irena’s sister in Minsk. Come, I prefer to finish this operation with the scent of something besides blood in my nostrils.
Jozef led the two men to the house and into his office where a fire snapped cheerfully in the fireplace, a vase of white roses on the mantelpiece. Jozef handed out cigars and the three of them lit up, the scent of blood, roses, and cigar smoke mingling in the air.
Jozef held his hand out to Radik.
Radik took it, giving it a squeeze. “Truce,” he said the word Jozef couldn’t say out loud. “We are bound by this moment.”
A companionable silence fell until Havel broke it. “But fuck with Saskia and you end up in a chair in the shed, like Branislav.”
Radik grinned. “I would expect nothing less.”