by Beth Abbott
“Got that.” Hannah confirmed.
He could hear her in the background relaying the information, and he guessed she had Ellen somewhere on comms with the Russians.
“Hollywood? I’ve just got word that the Hungarians have started digging.” Hannah confirmed. “Make sure the women know what to expect, and that they stay absolutely quiet.”
“Got it.” Hollywood confirmed. “I’ll go and speak to Niko now. Kris will be on comms if you need us for anything.”
“Ok. Be safe, H. In fact, all of you stay safe.” Hannah cautioned. “We don’t want to fuck up our very first mission.”
Kris snorted, and Hollywood chuckled as he made his way back into the pen, where he beckoned Niko over.
“Hey, what’s happening?” She whispered.
“Ok, the Hungarians are going to start to dig underneath the walls, so you need to make sure the women know what’s happening.” Hollywood explained. “Have them sit around three feet from the walls, but in a tightly packed line, so nobody can see what’s going on from this side. The women forming the barrier need to stay there until last, understand?”
“I understand.” Niko nodded. “I’ll get them sorted now.”
“And Niko?” Hollywood smiled as she stared up at him. “I’ll see you on the flip side for my date.”
Niko’s eyes lit up for a second and she nodded.
“I can’t wait.” She murmured, before heading back into the throng of women.
Hollywood turned back to his men and called them all together.
“I want Yuri and Kris up on the roof of each truck with the AK-9’s.” He instructed. “If anything kicks off, you’ll be well-placed to snipe at anyone who looks like they may have any skill with a gun. Take them out first. We have a green light to shoot to kill.”
“Our pleasure.” Yuri nodded as Kris grinned.
“Kellen and I will hover around here and try and block anyone who tries to get through to the women.” Hollywood continued. “Logan and Evan, I want each of you to take a truck, and settle down out of sight underneath. If anything starts and you can’t get a decent angle without becoming targets yourselves, then just stay well back and shoot the fuckers in the ankles. Once they’re on the floor and rolling around in confusion, then you can finish off anyone still waving a gun around.”
“Ooh, such cruel and unusual tactics.” Hollywood heard Hannah murmur in his ear. “I like it!”
Hollywood leaned casually on the rails, watching his team-mates move to their positions. He glanced around to see Niko getting all the women in line. She was following his instructions to the letter, and even leading by example by being one of the women in the middle of the blocking line.
As he watched her pull Roman onto her lap, he almost wanted to yell at her to make sure she was the first one out. The last thing he needed was for her to delay her own departure until the rest of the women were safe.
A few minutes after he started watching, Hollywood noticed a couple of women glancing behind them.
All of a sudden one of them wobbled as the ground beneath her must have given way, and she fell backwards, her legs flying up in the air.
As the woman disappeared, the women on either side of her shuffled a bit further away from the wall, obviously not wanting to suffer the same fate. In no time at all, another woman had crawled forward, filling the gap, making sure nobody could see what was going on behind them. Once they were all sure of their positions, Niko called a few of the other women forward and whispered something to them.
With a nod, they moved to the end of the line, and started calling other women forward, directing them to crawl behind the line.
Hollywood was amazed at how calmly they all moved, and how easy it seemed for the women to organise themselves.
In the first five minutes, he must have watched thirty women disappear.
When the one end of the pen had emptied, the women rearranged themselves, spreading themselves out to hide the gaps, and the women at the other end started disappearing.
Twenty more had gone down the hole in no time at all.
When it was the turn of Marla, the woman Niko had been speaking to, she turned to Niko and pointed at Roman.
Hollywood held his breath, knowing that she was offering to take Roman with her.
Niko glanced at Hollywood, and he knew she was seeking his guidance.
“Yes.” He nodded, knowing everything would be so much easier once he knew they were both out of the way. If this Marla was prepared to take Roman sooner, then it was all to the good.
He watched Niko kiss her son’s cheek and then point towards Marla.
Roman obviously had no clue what was going on, and thankfully, didn’t seem at all perturbed at going to see one of his new friends.
Without hesitation, the woman scooped him up, and within seconds she’d disappeared behind the others.
He glanced back at Niko to find her sitting with her hand covering her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
Brave didn’t begin to describe the woman who put her son’s interests before her own.
He was desperate for her to look at him, so he could offer her some reassurance, but Niko had ducked her head down so her chin was on her chest, trying to hide her anguish from everyone around her.
“How’s it going?” Hannah’s voice came through his earpiece.
“About sixty are out already.” He murmured. “Niko is still here, but she allowed one of the other women to take Roman out, as she was far closer to the front of the line.”
“Oh, the poor woman.” Hannah breathed. “I don’t think I could have been so selfless.”
“Can you check he’s safe?” Hollywood asked.
“Ok, hold on…”
Hollywood could hear Hannah murmuring something in the background, and then there was an endless silence as he waited for her to come back.
“Hollywood?” Hannah’s voice was excited. “I just spoke to Sophia, and Roman’s with her. He’s absolutely fine.”
Hollywood felt a lump in his throat. Thank God’s gracious mercy for that!
He waved over at Niko and the woman next to her spotted him, giving Niko a nudge.
“He’s fine!” Hollywood mouthed the words to her, giving her two thumbs up. “Roman’s safe.”
The relief on Niko’s face made him want to run over and gather her in his arms. Sure, she was tough enough to handle her brother, but at the end of the day, she was a mom, and her baby was nowhere close. Even at this distance he could see her heart cracking open.
Just then there was an outburst behind him, and Hollywood turned to see Ilya on his feet, the table that he’d had his boots on a few moments before smashed up and in pieces on the ground.
“What do you mean, Niko runs the place?” Ilya reached down and grabbed one of his idiot thugs, dragging him to his feet and holding him so high his boots barely touched the ground.
“My sister does what I tell her, when I tell her.” Ilya spat in the guy’s face. “And if she keeps you fucking assholes away from my cargo, it’s because she wants to make sure they fetch top-dollar when we get to the auction in Rotterdam. That’s the top-dollar that goes in my pocket, you hear me? Not hers, and not yours. Mine!”
Ilya threw the man on the ground.
“But what’s the good of that if you can’t even touch your own cargo?” Another man jeered. “She keeps you away as well, doesn’t she? That’s just not right.”
“Why do you think I brought Vanya with me?” Ilya sneered. “She’s waiting at the hotel for me to get back, so she can suck my cock!”
“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit of variety for a change?” The man challenged him. “Oh, I forgot! You can’t, because your sister won’t let you!”
Hollywood listened to the man and his attempts to goad Ilya into action, and his heart sunk. They still had about twenty-five women to get out, including Niko, and if just one of Ilya’s men went near the pen, it would be nearly impossible to hide the f
act that most of the women were already gone.
“NIKO!” Hollywood heard Ilya’s yell and his stomach churned. “Get the fuck over here!”
Hollywood glanced into the pen and immediately knew that Niko had heard him. She wasn’t stupid enough to wait for them to get caught out, so she was scrambling to her feet, heading towards Ilya as fast as her legs would carry her.
“No, don’t go out there.” He whispered as she reached him. “Call to him from here.”
“If I do, someone will come over and spot the women are missing.” Niko was right, but damnit he hated her going anywhere near her psychopathic brother.
“NIKO!” This shout was louder than the first time if that was even possible.
“Ilya, I’m not deaf.” Niko walked past him, and her hand brushed deliberately against Hollywood’s.
“Get everyone ready, Hannah.” He murmured. “The shit could be about to hit the fan, and Niko is right in the thick of it.”
“It’s Ok, H. We’re following you on your cameras, and we’ve got a satellite following the heat-signatures of everyone inside the building.” Hannah confirmed in his ear. “If Niko can just stall them another minute or two, we’ll have all the women out.”
Hollywood watched Niko walk out into the middle of the warehouse, seemingly fearless in the face of more than forty of Ilya’s men, and the evil bastard himself.
“Finally!” Ilya said sarcastically. “Where the fuck have you been? I’ve been calling you for ages.”
Niko stood and gaped at him.
“Firstly, you just called me once, Ilya, about ten seconds before I got here.” She hissed at him. “And secondly, are you forgetting that you banished me to sit with the women? You can’t have it both ways, brother. You either want me to stay next to you so I can do your bidding, or you want me out of your sight, so you send me packing. The decision is always yours, but it can only be one or the other, Ilya. I can’t be two places at once.”
Ilya grabbed Niko by the hair and dragged her forward.
“Steady.” Kellen put a hand on Hollywood’s arm, making him realise he’d already taken a step toward them.
“My baby sister.” Ilya snarled into Niko’s face. “Even as a kid you had a big mouth. But then you had a mama and papa to defend you and think you were precious, didn’t you? You and Valentina had them wrapped around your fingers. Always asking for new clothes and shit. Ballet lessons, music lessons. Always costing them more and more money.”
“That was Valentina.” Niko whispered. “She was the talented one, always singing and dancing.”
“And you were always the pain in my ass, following me around everywhere.” Ilya sneered. “If only you hadn’t been such a sporty brat, I would have gotten rid of you with them. You just had to stay behind in school didn’t you. You couldn’t just die with them.”
Niko stared at her brother, and Hollywood could see the look of shock on her face.
“The day they died, they picked Valentina up from school, but I refused to leave because I had hockey practise.” She said quietly. “Papa was cross, but he agreed to come back for me in an hour. They never came back. I waited for two hours with the school janitor, until finally the police came instead.”
“Yeah, well if you hadn’t been such a stubborn bitch, I’d have been rid of the lot of you. It was all so well planned, and you just had to fuck it up.” Ilya pushed her away harshly, and Niko just about stopped herself from face-planting hard on the ground. She winced as her hands dug into the dirt.
“You killed them.” She whispered. “You needed the inheritance, so you killed them all.”
“Finally, the penny has dropped.” Ilya laughed, looking around his men. “See what I have to put up with? A sister so retarded she doesn’t even know who killed her parents.”
“You bastard!” Niko threw herself on her brother, slapping his face and anywhere she could reach.
Hollywood stepped forward again, held back by Kellen’s iron tight grip on his arm, but Niko’s attack was short lived, when Ilya literally picked her up and threw her at some of his men.
“There!” He growled. “Do what you want with her.”
As she landed, Hollywood watched as Niko’s head hit a box, and blood ran down the side of her face.
“Are you serious?” One of the men grabbed her and hauled her up off the floor, barely conscious. “We can have her? You don’t care?”
Ilya waved him off as if the subject was boring him.
“Do what you like with her.” He shrugged. “Just make sure she’s no longer my problem by morning.”
The four men, who’d been sitting until Niko had virtually landed on top of them, stood up in unison, and followed the guy who was carrying Niko like a limp ragdoll. It was obvious they weren’t going to miss out on their turn.
“Hannah, are we clear to engage?” Kellen whispered.
“Thirty seconds until the last few women clear the building.” Hannah confirmed.
Hollywood watched as the men carrying Niko headed for one of the vans.
Those were going to be the longest thirty seconds of his life.
Chapter 62 – Evan
From his position underneath the truck, Evan could see the men pick up a barely conscious Niko from the floor, and head in his direction. There were two vans parked just a few metres from the truck he was beneath, so their intended destination was pretty obvious.
What he knew, however, and they didn’t, was that Drago had already locked the doors of both vans, to stop anyone getting at the guns and grenades inside. So, if these assholes thought they were going to turn one of these vehicles into their own personal love-shack, then they were gonna be shit outa luck.
“Hollywood, hold your position.” He murmured into his microphone. “They’re coming straight towards me and the vans, and thanks to Drago they’re not going to be able to get inside. It’ll slow them down and give us time for the Russians to join the party.”
“Understood.” Hollywood’s voice was strained, and Evan couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy. It was obvious that despite his best intentions, the man had fallen for Niko in a big way.
Not that Evan blamed him. Niko was beautiful and smart, and, as they now realised, a good person unfortunate enough to live in a bad world.
“For God’s sake, Ilya! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Drago’s voice was angry. “You can’t just give your sister away like that.”
Evan glanced over to see Drago and Ilya were mere feet from each other in a stand-off.
“Can’t?” Ilya pretended to be amused. “You think you can tell me what I can’t do? Do you have a fucking death wish? Or is it that you wanted me to give Niko to you? You want to fuck my sister, huh? Is that it?”
“Fuck you, Ilya! You know I have no interest in Niko like that.” Drago growled. “But what happened to loyalty, huh? What happened to recognising those who work their ass off for you, and help you get all the fucking money and power you crave? Forget the fact that she’s your sister. She’s still helped you get where you are these last few years.”
“She did what I told her.” Ilya sneered. “She doesn’t have enough brains to run a business like this. I make the decisions. I call the shots. Me! And if people piss me off, I remove them. I don’t give a fuck about DNA, and I sure as hell don’t give a damn that she’s a woman. If anything, it’s come in useful. At least some of my men will feel like they had a bonus.”
Even at a distance, Evan could see Drago was blood red in the face, looking like he was ready to explode.
“Guys, the Russians are ready to move in.” Hannah’s voice came through his earpiece. “The women are clear, so we just need you to give the word.”
“Hold.” Hollywood’s voice was authoritative. “Evan, give us a signal the second Niko is behind the vans, and out of the way of any stray bullets. That will be the signal for the Russians to move in. As soon as it all kicks off, I’ll come straight to you as back-up.”
Evan watched
the group of men walking towards him and noticed that Niko must have come around a little, as she was struggling and kicking out, making it harder for them to carry her.
He wanted to yell at her to stop, as she was doing nobody any good, least of all herself.
After a particularly accurate kick, he watched as one of Ilya’s men punched her, and heard Hollywood’s tormented growl through his earpiece.
“Twenty seconds and we’re ready to go.” Evan murmured, as he watched the men approach the vans. He didn’t care if all of Ilya’s men were out of harm’s way, just Niko, and they were carrying her at the front of the group like a trophy.
“Ok, in five, four, three, two, one… and go.”
For a split second there was no sound.
Out of the corner of his eye, Evan just caught a glimpse of Hollywood stepping back behind the truck, but otherwise it was as though everyone was in suspended animation.
Drago and Ilya were still in a stand-off, and Ilya’s men were watching carefully, probably trying to work out how long it would take before Ilya lost his shit and just put a bullet between Drago’s eyes.
If it hadn’t been for the imminent arrival of the Russians, Evan would have put his money on Drago lasting less than another minute.
The first indication that the Russians had arrived was the sound of metal hitting concrete, and the hiss of gas escaping. Smoke cannisters had been thrown into the warehouse from the doors at the far end, and within seconds they were doing their job and filling the place with a thick white cloud.
The men carrying Niko were obviously far more interested in what they were about to do, than in paying any attention to noises at the other end of the warehouse.
It took them a couple of seconds to realise that their love-shack plans were fucked, and then they started pushing and shoving among themselves to establish who had the van keys.
“Evan?” Hollywood’s voice sounded close. “Can you pick them off?”
“Sure, but I’ll have to start at the guy towards the outside, and work my way inwards, to make sure I don’t hit Niko by accident.” He warned.