by Sybil Bartel
“Goddamn it,” Luna snapped. “Get them the fuck off me. Take this fucker out.”
I followed the projectile and scanned the other buildings, but same as a few minutes ago, I was against the light. The mirrored windows of the building opposite the restaurant was reflecting the afternoon sun right back at me and I couldn’t see shit. “I have no visual.”
“Find the motherfucking visual.” Luna slowly turned in a circle. “I’m no good to you dead, and now I’m pissed the fuck off.”
My jaw set, I ground out a response. “You’re costing me time I don’t have.” Fedorov was going to fucking bleed for this.
“You ever seen me pissed the fuck off, brother?” Luna countered.
I blindly aimed at the building, starting halfway up. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he could see me. Taking time I didn’t fucking have, I started to scan up. “Move two feet left.” I needed him in my sights as I scanned.
Luna stepped left. “When I get pissed the fuck off, people die. I’m gonna fuck that Russian up.”
Not before I did. “Halt.” Luna in my field, I adjusted my aim in a slow, upwards arc. “Hold.” The laser stayed on his head. “I’m canvassing. If I give the word, cover right, use the south exit.” I put my hand on the scope.
“What’s the word?”
Raising my aim, I kept the scope trained on Luna. Three floors up, I hit pay dirt. The laser disappeared off Luna and I gave the command. “Now.” I picked off two shots.
“Motherfucker!” Luna dove right and hit the exit.
The distant sound of shattering glass traveled across the street and I was on the move.
Luna breathed heavy in to the com. “Tyler, Collins, you’ve got Fedorov, four guards and two women coming at you. All exits need eyes.”
I didn’t wait for the elevator. I took the stairs and jumped every other half flight. Rage like I’d never known ripped through my veins, and I hit the ground level and burst onto the street with my weapon drawn.
Two seconds later, Luna flew out of the side exit of the building. “Marek, conceal!” he barked through the com.
Fuck that. “Where the hell are they?” I yelled.
Luna signaled for me to go left as he went right. “Tyler, report,” he snapped into the com.
“Exiting east garage, I have visual. Two white SUVs. Target and women in the rear vehicle. Engage?”
I started running.
Luna, that motherfucker, not only had his men on coms, they were in position. I was too fucking enraged at Fedorov to call Luna on it.
“Collins, call Miami PD for backup. Tyler, hold position and detain. Do not let that asshole get on the street. We’re coming around now. Marek and I are on foot.”
I heard the crash before I saw it.
My rifle in both hands, I sprinted around the corner as automatic fire started raining down around me.
A white SUV T-boned by a black Luna and associates vehicle was halfway up the exit ramp of the garage. The driver door of the Luna and Associates vehicle was open as Tyler crouched behind the bulletproof armor and returned fire at the men in the front seat of the T-boned SUV.
A second white SUV was street level but was blocked in by a second Luna and Associates vehicle as the driver of Luna’s SUV shattered the windshield with automatic fire.
“Cease fire, cease fire!” Luna yelled.
I didn’t fucking hesitate. I walked straight at Tyler as he eased off the trigger and slammed the butt of my stock into the side of his head.
He dropped like a fucking stone and I spun, weapon aimed. “Fedorov,” I growled. “Get out.”
A guard sitting in the seat behind the dead driver extended a shaking arm around the bloody mess of the driver. His body riddled with seeping bullet wounds, he aimed his weapon at me.
The telltale click of an empty chamber sounded in the sudden silence.
My nostrils flared, my jaw clenched, I put one round between his eyes then trained my gun on the passenger door and forced myself to wait. If she was fucking shot by Tyler, I was going to kill him then and there.
The back door of the SUV creaked open and her feet, then her knees hit the ground. Her back arched as the top half of her body stayed in the vehicle. I couldn’t see her face but her chest rose and fell in rapid succession.
My heart pounding, I held my aim. “Fedorov,” I warned.
With her hair in his fist and his gun shoved against her temple, the fucking coward stepped out of the vehicle and yanked Irina to her feet, pulling her against his chest.
Fedorov looked me up and down then smiled. “You can shoot me. But then I will shoot her.”
“Shoot him,” Irina demanded.
At the sound of her voice, I fucking took a breath, but this wasn’t over. Not even close. My gaze locked on Fedorov, I didn’t spare her a single glance. “You injured?”
“No,” she bit out. “What are you waiting for?”
“He’s not going to shoot, pet. Calm down.” Fedorov pressed the gun harder into her temple. “But he is going to give me the vehicle of the marine he hit in the face. Then he’s going to back away like a good little soldier.”
He wasn’t going anywhere with her.
The fucking asshole kept talking. “Do you know why, pet?”
Irina didn’t hesitate to answer. “Because he’s going to shoot you once you’re in the vehicle so he doesn’t have to drag your stupid body across the ground.”
Luna moved into my peripheral vision. “Not a clean shot.” His whispered warning came through the com. “Keep him talking. I’m circling behind him.”
“You always did have a flair for the dramatic, pet.” Fedorov chuckled. “Maybe I did take you too young.”
“Let her go,” I demanded.
“So you can kill me like you killed my men?” Fedorov outright laughed. “Not today, soldier.” He pulled on Irina’s hair. “Come on, pet. Watch your marine do nothing as I walk away with you.” He moved toward the SUV.
I raised my aim.
Luna’s voice came through the com. “Don’t risk it.”
Sirens sounded in the distance.
Fedorov backed into the driver seat, dragging her with him.
I exhaled.
“Stand down,” Luna ordered.
His grip on her tight, Fedorov climbed over the center console, careful to keep her between him and my aim. “You remember how to drive, don’t you, pet?”
My eyes on Fedorov, I still saw the change in her.
The anger contorting her face bled into disinterest, and like a fucking switch was flipped, her expression shut down. Jamming the gearshift into reverse, she locked her glare on me and threw two words out. “Fuck you.”
She stepped on the gas. The SUV’s tires screeched and she spun the wheel like a fucking pro.
He didn’t take the shot.
He didn’t take the shot.
Gripping my hair, his gun shoved into my temple, Viktor grinned at Dane.
I threw the SUV into drive and gunned the engine.
“Help me.” Her mother’s accented voice came from the back seat as the sirens drew closer.
I lowered my weapon.
Luna put his hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t have the shot. The risk was too great. We’ll get her back.”
I glanced at Tyler on the ground then glared at him. “That’s how you fucking train your men? To shoot at hostages?” I was so fucking pissed, I couldn’t see straight.
“Boss?”
I spun and glared at the asshole who must’ve been Collins. “Did you fucking know who was in the vehicles before you started firing?”
The fucking pussy went white. “Tyler said the women were in the second vehicle. They fired first, sir.”
“And you didn’t confirm—”
“Marek,” Luna barked.
Enraged, ready to lay him out, I turned.
“I’ll handle them,” Luna snapped, all business. “Get out of here before the cops arrive. Call Neil and Talon, they’re b
oth in town. Recon and get a plan together while I take care of this. Don’t go after her half-cocked and alone. You’ll need backup on this.”
I was so goddamn angry, I couldn’t speak. I stepped around him and glared at the blonde in the back seat of the SUV who had the same colorless eyes as her daughter. “If anything happens to your daughter, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
Sitting with her hand over a bullet wound in her arm, she glared back. “Get me a doctor!”
She could fucking bleed to death for all I cared. “You’re lucky you’re still breathing.” I kicked the door shut.
Luna handed me Irina’s cell phone. “Call Neil.”
I worked alone, always. Because when you didn’t, this was the type of shit that happened. I snatched the phone.
“It would’ve gone down the same way no matter what,” Luna said, as if reading my thoughts. “We were outnumbered.”
I was always outnumbered, and I’d never failed before. “That wasn’t the problem.” I was outsmarted because I didn’t plan and I didn’t fucking think because I was too goddamn busy getting my dick wet.
Luna glanced up the street as the first cop car rounded the corner. “Go.”
I didn’t hesitate. I disassembled my rifle as I cut through the garage and exited out the back. Jogging to my truck, I shoved the rifle in my backpack. Two minutes later, I was pulling out of parking garage and dialing, because now I didn’t have a goddamn choice. I wanted to drive to Fedorov’s and shoot my way through every goddamn one of his guards, but I wasn’t stupid. He’d kill her in a heartbeat. My only option was to go in with a coordinated attack.
Neil answered in Danish on the second ring. “Ja.”
“It’s Dane. I have a situation.”
He switched to English, but he had a heavy accent. “You and your escort friend.”
I paused. “Which one?”
“Brandt picked a fight with a quarterback.”
I didn’t have time to dick around. I cut to the chase. “I picked one with Viktor Fedorov.”
Silence.
“You there?”
“Ja.”
“I’m going after him.” I waited to see if he commented. He didn’t. “I’m extracting his wife.”
“I am assuming this is not a paid assignment.”
Neil was one of the few people who knew what I did. “Personal.”
“You do not get personal.”
No fucking shit. “I do now.”
He paused. “Location?”
The slight pause told me he was in. “His residence on Key Biscayne.”
“There is only one road in. You will not have the advantage.”
“There was an altercation at Indigo. He’s now short four guards. It’s enough of an advantage.” And road access wasn’t the only option. “Is your boat still docked in Largo?” He had a house on the water there and a thirty-five-foot Cobalt cruiser.
“Ja.”
“I want to go in by boat after nightfall. There are tunnels to access the property and bypass the guarded gate.”
“The existence of the tunnels is rumor. The contractor who supposedly built them is dead.”
Figures Fedorov would kill his contractor. “I have confirmation of their existence and the location of the end of one of the tunnels outside the main gate.”
“The main gate is only one obstacle. He will have men inside. The tunnels could have cameras.”
“His wife got out through them without being detected.” I fucking hated calling her his wife. “I’m going to assume they’re still accessible.”
“Ignorance is brought about by assumption,” Neil countered.
Fucker was always quoting proverbs. “I’ll be armed.”
He stated the obvious. “You are not calling because you want to go alone.”
“I’m asking for backup.” And I felt like a fucking pussy for doing it. I didn’t call for favors, ever, and Neil Christensen wasn’t a man you wanted to owe.
“And the Cobalt,” he reminded me.
“Affirmative. Talon’s my next call. Luna’s on board once he’s done dealing with Miami PD and Fedorov’s four dead guards.”
“Sunset is at seven-fourteen. I will be at the marina at Luna’s condo with the Cobalt in four hours.”
I exhaled. “Copy.”
Neil hung up, and I dialed Talon Talerco. Talon was a Navy-trained hospital corpsman who’d served with André’s unit as their medic. When the Humvee that Vega, Brandt and I had been in got hit with an IED, Talon was the first medic on the scene. He’d saved Brandt’s life.
Talon answered on the first ring. “Had a feelin’ I’d be hearin’ from you.” His southern accent was as strong as his attitude.
“Because?”
“Did a favor for Vegas last night.” Talon nicknamed everyone, Vega included. “Figured y’all run as a pack. What’s up, Ink?”
Talon had seen the tattoo on my back when he’d triaged me after our Humvee was hit. That’s when he’d started calling me Ink. “Luna says you’re in town.”
“I could be,” he hedged. “Why?”
“I need backup.”
“Thought you worked alone these days.”
“Not asking for help with a client.” I didn’t specify what kind of client. He knew what Vega, Brandt and I did.
“I’m not talkin’ ’bout chargin’ the ladies.” He chuckled. “Although, can’t say I’m not curious about y’all’s clientele. I’m talkin’ ’bout your other job, Ink. The one you pretend I don’t know about. Nice work on the Cuban traffickers last month though.”
My jaw ticked. I’d taken out the top level of a human trafficking ring out of Havana. The asshole was sending women and children over on makeshift rafts that were drowning faster than the Coast Guard could pick them up.
I didn’t know how the fuck Talon knew about it, but I ignored him. Irina was my priority. “I’m going after Viktor Fedorov.”
“That’s ambitious. Must be some payout. His competition pissed off?”
I ground my teeth. “It’s personal.”
Talon paused. “How personal?”
“I’m extracting his wife.” And killing him.
“Damn, Ink.” Talon exhaled low. “I knew you were fuckin’ crazy, but come on. That’s just askin’ for fallout.”
“I’m not leaving witnesses.”
“I should’ve fuckin’ known.” Talon chuckled. “When’s this all happenin’?
“Four hours. Neil’s bringing the Cobalt. We’re meeting at Luna’s condo then going in from the water.”
“You got a plan to get in after that?”
“Yeah.” Kill everyone I see except her.
“All right, I’m in. I’ll shoot some shit up tonight.”
“Thanks.” I started to hang up.
“Hey, Ink?”
“What?”
“She hot?”
“Fuck you.” I hung up to his laughter.
The rest of the drive back to my house, I fucking festered. Replaying every goddamn second, I thought of a hundred different ways I could’ve handled it, but it all came down to one mistake. I should’ve left her at Luna’s. Whatever the fuck Fedorov was doing to her now was my fault.
I turned into my driveway and the cell Luna gave me rang. I answered without speaking.
“Where are you?” Luna asked.
It was quiet in the background on his end. “Home. I don’t hear cops.”
“I’m back at the office.”
“How’d you walk?”
“Friends on the force. The cops were glad to have Fedorov’s men out of their hair. I told them I had to take care of Tyler and get my stolen vehicle back. I promised to give a statement later.”
I didn’t say shit. I was still irate at Tyler.
Luna read between the lines. “You didn’t have to hit him. Tyler knew what he was doing. He saw the driver and the guard behind him. He watched Fedorov jump in the back seat after impact. He wasn’t aiming at the women.”
I didn’t give a fuck what he thought he was doing. “I’m not going to waste my time having a conversation about ricochet and collateral damage.” Tyler was lucky I’d only hit him.
“Fair enough. You get a hold of Christensen and Talerco?”
“Yeah. Neil’s bringing the Cobalt to your dock at your condo at seven. Talon will meet us at the same time.” I heard Luna start typing.
“How are we getting past his front guardhouse?”
“We’re not. We’re going in through underground tunnels he has all over the property. Irina gave me the location of one.”
“How do you know it’s not a setup?”
I refrained from telling him to go fuck himself. “It’s not.”
“All right, all right. I’m running backgrounds on the guards we took out right now to see if I can find any known associates. Maybe we can get an idea of how many we’re dealing with. Did she ever say anything to you about his workforce?”
“No.” Another mistake. I should’ve fucking asked her.
“I’ll run a scan on your security when I’m done. Did you have any more problems after last night?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I asked a friend on Miami PD about the guard you torched. They don’t expect to get an ID and the vehicle was stolen. They don’t have any leads.”
Fedorov hadn’t made good on that threat yet, but he would. “Copy. I’m pulling into my garage now. I’m gearing up, then doing recon. Meet you at your condo in an hour.”
Luna stopped typing. “What kind of recon?”
“Drive by.”
“Mierda. Are you trying to get killed?”
“I’m going to see what kind of surveillance cameras he has.” And let the fucker know I’m coming.
“Dios mio, what the hell do you expect to find? He’ll have more surveillance than Dade county lockup. He’s a paranoid Russian mafia gunrunner. Don’t risk it. We’ll recon after dark once we get there.”
No, we won’t. Come sundown, I’m going in and getting her. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Come on, bro. What are you going to do?”
Drive up to his guardhouse and fucking announce myself. Targets never took you seriously when you knocked on their front door. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.”