by Hamel, B. B.
Leo smiled. “Actually, it was. If it weren’t for Robin, my boss never would’ve gone for it. She went to bat for you.”
Ursula’s face softened a bit as she looked at me. “Then thank you. I hope we can stay friends for a long time.”
“Of course.” I stood and hugged her. She smelled like smoke and mint and rosewater.
“Goodbye for now, then.” She turned and walked off. She looked shorter, smaller somehow. Maybe it was her haircut, maybe it was the flats she wore. I couldn’t tell, but it suited her somehow. Like she could finally be herself, be vulnerable and small, the way she was meant to be.
I turned to Leo and helped him up. “What do we do now?”
“Now we go fuck Enrico’s day up.”
I laughed. “You can barely walk.”
“I don’t need to walk to shoot a gun.”
“Leo, come on.”
“I’m serious. If we can get to him, we can get to Maksim.”
I shook my head. “That’s crazy. There are other ways.”
“We’re going.” He looked at his watch. “Fuck it. We’re going right now.”
“It’s the middle of the day.”
“And he’s a fucking drunk, so I bet he’s hungover as hell right now.” He started toward the car.
I grabbed his arm and held it. He tried to pull away, put too much weight on his leg, and let out a frustrated growl.
“You can’t even fight me,” I said. “What makes you think you can take Enrico?”
“He’s hurt too. And like I said. I don’t need to walk to shoot a gun.” He looked at me and I could see the determination in his eyes. It was tinged with anger, and I knew this was about something more than getting at Maksim.
It was about loyalty. It was about revenge.
“Fine,” I said, voice gentle. “But I’m coming with you.”
He opened his mouth to argue then stopped himself and shook his head. “Whatever you want, little birdie.”
I took his arm and we walked out of the park together, taking it nice and slow.
24
Leonid
Robin drove. I hated it, but it was for the best. My leg hurt too much to get behind the wheel.
I knew this was stupid. I knew I should walk away and count myself lucky. I survived a bad gunshot wound that would’ve crippled most men and I was already up on my feet. I’d probably heal and be okay in a few weeks.
But I didn’t have a few weeks. Enrico was healing too, and one day he’d be strong. I had to strike while he was still broken.
Maybe I could call Hedeon and request some backup. Maybe I could bring Reid and Oleg and anyone else along.
Fuck all that. Enrico’s mine, that bastard, he’s all mine. I don’t know why I took his betrayal so personally. Probably because he acted so much better than me, like he was some perfect solider and I was a piece-of-shit interloper. Turned out he was nothing more than a dog and a traitor though, and I was going to be the one to bring him down.
Enrico’s place was a little hovel in a West Philly neighborhood not far from Drexel. College kids rode bikes and wore backpacks. I counted ten guys on skateboards along one block alone. I had no clue what Enrico was doing in a college neighborhood, but it didn’t matter.
Robin found a spot and parked. She looked at me and I looked back.
“You can back down,” she said. “No shame in it, you know.”
I snorted. “No, thanks.” I opened the glove compartment, got my Glock, and made sure it was loaded. I slipped it into my waistband. “Let’s go do this.”
I didn’t wait for her to help me out this time. I managed it myself, with a minimum of pain, and leaned on the flame-covered cane. She came around the car and went to take my arm, but I shook my head.
I had to do this on my own.
I walked down the sidewalk toward a house with vinyl siding at the top and brick along the bottom. The front door was dark blue and the windows had bars on them. Two young girls sat on a stoop four houses away and shared a bottle of wine. I smelled weed in the air. Someone blasted reggae music from a nearby window.
“Nice place,” Robin said. “What’s the plan?”
I laughed and climbed up the steps. I took a breath as I stared at Enrico’s door.
“Plan is I knock, he answers, I shove a gun in his face.” I banged on the door.
Robin flinched. “Is that a good idea?”
“Let’s find out.”
I stood, waiting, and reached behind my back to grip my weapon. The house was quiet, and for a long string of seconds I thought the motherfucker wasn’t home or maybe Ursula was wrong or something had gotten messed up.
But then I heard thumping from inside. I covered the peephole with my finger.
“Who is it?”
“Pizza. You ordered a pizza.”
“Uh, I didn’t. Wrong fucking place.” It was definitely Enrico’s voice. Robin rolled her eyes at me.
“Look, buddy, if you don’t just—”
The door pulled open and I yanked my gun out from my waistband.
He couldn’t shut it fast enough. I shoved the gun out and held it aimed at his face. He pulled back, eyes wide with shock, but didn’t move.
“Hey, Enrico. Should’ve looked out the fucking peephole.”
He blinked rapidly, trying to think through his shock.
“Fuck, uh, fuck, uh, what are you doing here? How did you find me?”
I pressed the gun harder against his throat. “You have a penchant for whores that like to talk. We’d better go inside.”
His jaw worked. I pushed forward. The girls on the stoop nearby were watching but neither moved.
I figured I had ten minutes at most.
Enrico stumbled backwards. I limped after him. His house smelled like body odors and vomit. He looked pale, his skin clammy. He had on a black t-shirt and gray sweatpants. His feet were bare. Empty beer cans littered the coffee table, and a blanket and pillow were on his ratty couch. A baseball game was on TV.
“Nice place,” I said as Robin came in behind me and shut the door.
“Okay, Leo, okay. You got me. You got me.” He held up his hands as he turned to face me. “We can talk about this.”
“Sit down.” I gestured at the couch.
He hesitated then sat. “Look, man. I’m hurt, okay? I don’t know how long I got left, okay?” He lifted his shirt and showed me a bandage on his side.
“That from when I found you sucking Maksim’s dick?”
He grunted. “It’s not like that. You don’t get it, man. You don’t get it at all, okay? You act like you know everything, but—”
I smacked him in the face with the end of my cane. His head whipped back. I don’t think it hurt him much, but it sure as hell surprised him.
“Keep talking like you’re in charge here and I promise, I’m going to hit you harder next time.”
He took a breath and nodded. “Okay, Leo. What do you want?”
“Why did you do it?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
“Maksim had something on me. That’s how it started. He knew where my mother lived, told me he’d kill her if I didn’t talk to him. So I talked to him, and he made me an offer. Said if I gave him information about Hedeon and the crew then he’d give me money and power in the Volkov family. More money and more power than Hedeon could ever give me.”
“So you turned your back for fucking money?”
“And my mother.” He shook his head and took a few breaths. “I swear, it was about my mother. The power, that’s whatever. That’s something I could use but didn’t need.”
“You dumb fuck. You fucked yourself, you know that, right?”
“Leo—”
“Listen to me,” I said, my voice a growl. I stepped closer, the gun pointed at his head. “You have one chance to survive this.”
“What do you want?”
“Maksim. I want Maksim. Tell me something that’ll save your li
fe, Enrico, and maybe I’ll let you walk away.”
He stared at me without speaking. I heard the reggae playing outside. I heard something glass clink off concrete. Maybe the girls dropped their bottle.
“Okay,” he said. “Okay. Maksim. I can give you Maksim.”
“How?”
“His house. He’s got another place.”
Robin laughed. “That’s not true. I don’t know about another house.”
Enrico looked at her and I saw the loathing flash across his face. “What the fuck do you know? You were barely a part of that family. They didn’t tell you—”
I hit him with the cane. This time, I put more force into the hit. He grunted and pawed at his cheek.
“Talk to her again and you die.”
He looked up at me and I could see the anger there. But the fear was stronger.
“I’m not lying,” he said. “He’s got another place where he takes the girls. In South Philly, Marvine Street, 2829 Marvine Street. He never brings guys, doesn’t want them to see him get up to whatever sick shit he’s into. If you hit him there, bring half the crew, you’ll get him.”
“That’s bullshit,” Robin said.
“Scope it out. See for yourself.” Enrico held up his hands. “I’m not fucking lying.”
I stared at him and didn’t speak. I could feel my pulse beat slow in my chest. I hated this motherfucker, hated him more than anything in the world.
But there were witnesses outside. Those girls saw my face. They saw Robin. If I killed Enrico, someone would come after me. The cops would come looking.
“Here’s the thing,” I said, keeping my voice soft and cool. “If you’re lying, it won’t matter to you, right? Because I’m either going to let you live, which means you’ll run out of here and head for Mexico or Europe or wherever, and you know I can’t and won’t follow. Or you’re not lying, and you’ll still run. So I can’t really trust you in this situation.”
“I’m not lying,” he said. “I know I fucked up. I never should’ve turned on Hedeon and the crew like that. But I’m not lying.”
I held the gun pointed at his face. “And you know what? I don’t really care either way. Because you’re a traitorous motherfucker and I don’t care what you had to say.”
“Leo—”
I pulled the trigger and blew his brains out. His head snapped back and he slumped down. Blood oozed out all over the couch.
Robin turned away and covered her face.
I spit on Enrico. The piece of shit deserved that.
“Come on,” I said. “We’ve got to go.”
I limped to the door.
Robin said nothing. Just followed.
I left and headed down the stoop. The two girls sitting nearby were still there and stared at me as I made my way gingerly down the steps.
“Uh, hey,” the one called out. She had short brown hair and a round face. “Was that a gunshot or something?”
“Fireworks,” I said. “Guy in there likes fireworks.”
Robin came out after me. She glanced at the girls then looked down at the ground.
“Sounded like a gunshot.” Roundface stared at me. “Is that guy in there okay? He’s a real fucking creep, you know.”
I laughed. “I don’t think he’ll be bothering you anymore.”
Her face went pale. I limped away. Robin moved to my side, took my arm, and helped me along. We reached the car, got in, and drove away.
I felt happier than I had in a few days and my leg felt like it hurt a little bit less.
The future was looking bright now that it didn’t have Enrico in it.
25
Robin
We spent three weeks watching that house. And for the first week, nothing happened.
I was convinced Enrico had fucked us. “I’m happy you killed him.”
Leo laughed. “Patient, little birdie. Be patient.”
Patience was not my strength, but I tried. We sat in a car watching the block most afternoons, though some of the other guys in the crew swapped out. We had a rotation going to keep Maksim or any of the other Volkovs from noticing our surveillance.
Then, after one entire week of staring at a boring brick front row home with an AC unit in the top left window, Maksim pulled up in a black car and stepped out into the evening. He opened up the back door and two girls came out, girls I didn’t recognize.
“That’s him,” Leo whispered, staring with wide eyes. “Holy shit. I didn’t think we’d actually see him.”
“Enrico wasn’t lying.” I leaned against the glass and stared out at Maksim. “I’m still happy you killed him.”
Leo chuckled, leaned over to me, and kissed my neck. “I don’t know when you turned into a bloodthirsty monster, but I like it.”
I turned around and met his lips with my own. I kissed him gently then let his tongue press against mine.
“I think it was right around the time I let you get me off. Or maybe it was right around the time I decided there’s no use in fighting whatever this is.”
He laughed and took my hair in his fist. We kissed one more time then turned back to watch Maksim fumble at the locked door, finally get it open, and let the very young girls inside. He slammed the door shut and all the lights in the place came on at once.
“Call the others,” I said. “Make them come right now. He’s right there, Leo. We can get him.”
Leo grunted. “Maybe. But I think we should wait.”
“Why? We don’t know when this’ll happen again.”
“I want to see his habits. And I need a little more time.”
I frowned, tilted my head. “Time for what?”
“To heal.”
I took a breath and looked away. I felt like an asshole. Of course that’s what he wanted. He still walked with a cane, though he was getting better every day.
“Another week of surveillance can’t hurt. Maybe another two.”
“There you go. Now you’re thinking.” He grinned at me. “Come on. Let’s go tell Hedeon the good news. I think he could probably use it.”
He started the car and pulled out. I studied his face in the shifting light and wondered how I’d fallen so fast and so far. It felt like waking up one afternoon buried under a mountain of ash and blood and gore, but not minding it one bit.
So long as he was there.
* * *
I thought spotting Maksim would end my tedium.
Of course, I was wrong.
We spent another two weeks watching the house. Maksim came and went a few more times and brought new girls with each visit. Once, he brought five girls with him, although I couldn’t imagine that a man his age could possibly handle so many.
He always showed up late, after midnight, and stayed until three or four. The girls would leave first and an Uber would pick them up. Then he’d follow and drive his own car back home or wherever he wanted to go.
It was a pattern. Leo discussed it with Hedeon and together they came up with a plan.
Remarkably, it was like what I told him to do the very first night.
“So we just sit here and wait?” I asked.
“For a while. When Maksim shows, I make a call, and four guys come running.”
“Why not the whole crew? I mean, this is the biggest, most important fight ever, right?”
“Can’t get that many guys on that sort of notice. And besides, he’s always alone, just with the girls.”
“Girls could fight,” I pointed out.
He nodded. “Let’s hope they don’t.”
It took another couple nights before Maksim showed up again. He parked in his usual spot out front and opened his back door. Three girls came out, in their early twenties or younger, and marched toward the door. From the angle we were at, I could see their faces, and none of them looked happy.
Leo got on the phone. “He’s here. Yeah, right now. When you’re in position, honk your horn once, real short. Yeah, got it.” He hung up and took a deep breath.
I
put my hand on his leg. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready.” He took his gun from the glove compartment. “No cane this time.”
“You could bring it, just in case.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then how about I come instead?”
He raise an eyebrow. “You want to come inside?”
“I want to see my uncle.” I met his gaze and took a deep breath. “I know what it means.”
“You’re going to watch him die.”
“I know.”
“You sure about that?”
“I’m sure.”
He shrugged. “All right. Won’t be dangerous. The old fuck’s wily and smart, but we’ll have him pinned down tight.”
“Really? You’re letting me come, just like that?”
“Sure am. I figure we don’t need to argue about this sine you’ll win anyway and I’ll cave.”
“That’s my man.” I grinned and kissed him.
We waited another few minutes before there was a honk from down the block. He nodded and patted my knee before getting out of the car. I followed him and kept close as he walked across the street toward Maksim’s place.
A figure came toward us, stocky and heavy. I recognized Oleg from a distance. His wily hair and big brown coat made him look like a bear.
“Reid and Des are around back,” Oleg said. “So if he tries to run, we got him.”
Leo nodded and pulled back the slide on his Glock. “You ready?” he asked, looking at me.
I shrugged. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Oleg eyed me. “You like danger, girl? You think this will be good time?”
“I think you’re going in there to murder my uncle. And I want to make sure he knows that I played a big part in him coming down.”
Oleg smiled at me. “I like you. Leo made good choice, saving your life. Stupid Pavel.”
“Rest his soul. Now come on.” Leo walked up the steps. “Should I do the pizza thing again?”
“No, let me.” Oleg moved past Leo, held his gun against the top lock, and fired two rounds. He kicked forward and used his considerable bulk and weight to break the door inward. It popped off its hinges and smashed against the inner wall.