“Pick a gun.” Saskia ducked her head so Ayaan wouldn’t see her grin.
Ayaan turned on her heel and strode toward the weapons room, jabbing her fingers into the pad next to the door, entering the code, showing that she had indeed been approved to be on the estate.
Saskia trailed after her, watching as the other woman stalked the room, eyeing the weapons. She stopped in front of the cage that held the heavy artillery. Saskia watched in fascination as Ayaan once again flawlessly entered a code and opened the door.
She didn’t waste time but chose an Uzi. She set it on the shelf next to the cage and searched until she came up with the correct magazine. Slamming the cage shut, she reached for the next one, entering the code, walking in and returning with a rifle and a box of ammo.
“Don’t close it.” Saskia stepped forward and entered the cage, choosing a rifle for herself. If Ayaan got to have some fun with the heavier weapons, then Saskia wanted in on that action.
She slammed the cage shut and hefted the rifle across her shoulder. “Let’s go.”
The two women left the artillery and walked through the indoor range to the door that led outside.
Saskia suppressed a shiver as a blast of cold winter air slapped her in the face. She jogged to keep up with Ayaan who was taller and faster. She seemed in a hurry to establish her skills. Saskia wondered what she was trying to prove and who she was trying to prove it to. She wanted to know everything about this mystery woman.
Ayaan set herself up quickly on the range, showing no awkwardness. She was clearly comfortable with the weapons she’d chosen and the range itself. She’d used it before.
Saskia wasn’t surprised. All of Jozef’s team members went through rigorous training. A woman would be no different. But her place on his elite team meant he was making significant changes. Shaun’s influence, no doubt.
Ayaan pushed her mufflers over her ears and picked up a pair of safety glasses. She hefted the Uzi up, set it on one of the wooden benches and kneeled to load it. Once the magazine was in place, she stood and brought the weapon to her shoulder, hunching to look through the sight.
She was breathtaking. Saskia couldn’t take her eyes off the other woman. When the hell had she learned to use a weapon of war? She looked like she was born to it. She had to be tough as nails.
The first blast of gunfire reminded Saskia that she needed to cover her ears. She set her own weapon down and pulled her blue mufflers on. She watched in fascination as Ayaan aimed at each target, then shredded it with a volley of bullets. Though an Uzi wasn’t considered a precision weapon, Ayaan’s aim was impeccable.
When she’d finished with her targets, she set the weapon down, careful to point the muzzle away from both women.
Saskia gave her a slow clap and flashed her a smile. “Well done.”
“That was nothing.”
Ayaan picked up her rifle next. She knelt on the ground and took careful aim at a target that was clear across the range. Saskia knew that some of Jozef’s men would struggle to hit the target Ayaan appeared to be aiming at. Somehow, Saskia had confidence that Ayaan wouldn't miss.
The blast shook Ayaan’s body, but she held steady. The top of the target disappeared as it was shot clear off. Ayaan glanced over her shoulder at Saskia to make sure she was watching, then she stood and jogged over toward a barricade, lunging behind it, then taking aim at the next furthest target. She repeated the process until she’d reached the end of the obstacle course.
Saskia followed behind at a slower pace, admiring Ayaan’s form and skill. The other woman could out-shoot most of the security experts on the estate. Truly impressive.
It was a hike to reach the last target where Ayaan was waiting for her. She was rolling her shoulders back and tipped her head from side to side, working out some kinks. Her warm breath was creating puffs in the cold air. She looked more relaxed than she had when the two women met, like she’d needed to work through some tension.
“Feel better?” Saskia asked, leaning on the fence at the edge of the property line. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught one of the guards watching them.
“I’m fine.” Ayaan scowled at Saskia.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
Ayaan stared at her, then sighed and dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged.
“It’s my brother. He’s found out that I’ve left France and he’s furious. He’s demanding that I go back immediately.”
Saskia sat down beside her, cringing as the cold hit her backside. “Are you afraid he’ll come find you? This place is crawling in security, he’d have a hell of a time getting inside.”
Ayaan smiled grimly. “He is more than capable of cracking this place wide open. Who do you think taught me to shoot? No, he won’t attack while I’m here. He won’t risk hurting me. I’m afraid that he will find out who I am staying with and make life difficult. I’m afraid that… that Jozef will insist I must leave. I’m happy here, maybe happier than I’ve been since I was a child. I finally found a place where I fit in and I don’t want to leave.”
Saskia felt a sharp pang in her chest. She knew how that felt. She’d never felt like she belonged in the Koba family. She wasn’t like the rest of them. She had no interest in the mafia world. She didn’t want to be arm candy for some old man who bought her through a family merger.
“Jozef knows who you are, right?” Saskia asked. “He knows about your brother?”
Jozef wouldn’t leave any stone unturned in checking background on his hires. There was no way he would hire Ayaan without knowing about her baggage.
Ayaan nodded. “Yes, he knows. He met my brother a few months ago.”
“Then you’re good,” Saskia said dismissively. “He won’t give you back just because your brother demands it. If Jozef wants you for his team, then it’s done. You’re part of the family. That’s how he works. You will be protected until the day you die.”
Saskia pushed off the grass and stood, brushing the back of her pants. The ground was cold enough to be uncomfortable to sit on. A recent snowfall had melted, but the ground still froze each night. She didn’t know how Ayaan stood it.
She reached a hand out to the other woman. “Come on, let’s see if you have any hand-to-hand skills.”
Ayaan took her hand in a firm grip and allowed Saskia to pull her to her feet. Saskia suspected Ayaan was more than competent in hand-to-hand combat and that she was about to get her ass handed to her. It was worth it to see such a formidable woman in action.
Ayaan gave Saskia hope. If Ayaan could break free of her oppressive life, then so could Saskia.
The two women moved together in fluid unison, taking out targets as they made their way back across the range.
Chapter Thirty-One
Two weeks.
That was how long it took Dasha to get to Shaun. She’d had to be patient for two solid weeks as the other woman came and went, free as a bird. Dasha’s fantasies of murder and mayhem became bloodier and bloodier with each passing day.
Shaun killed her husband.
Shaun took her home.
Shaun twisted her nephew, turning him against his family.
It was all Shaun’s fault.
The mantra repeated itself in her mind over and over until she wanted to scream. She didn’t, of course. She kept it all in, the same as she kept everything in from the moment she realized, as a child, that watching, waiting and learning was the best way to get to what she wanted.
She wouldn’t fuck up this time. Everything had been timed down to the second. She wouldn’t wait for Shaun to get the upper hand, she would take her out quickly and walk away, like the ghost she’d become as she flitted around the hospital, avoiding cameras and guards.
Shaun walked confidently through the front doors of the hospital, her purse over her shoulder, her four bodyguards with her. One stopped in the conservatory, taking his usual post where he could see the front door. The others would patrol the hospital, checki
ng in with each other and making sure no one got near their principal.
Cooper was the one Dasha would have to worry about most. He was diligent, sharp, and he never left Shaun’s side. He watched the woman like she was the baby chick to his mother hen.
Dasha had learned about him and the rest of Shaun’s detail from Nikolay. He despised the American bodyguard, taking every opportunity to badmouth the other man. Jealousy clouded his judgement though. Where he thought Cooper was lazy with slow-reflexes, Dasha soon discovered were simulated character traits used to lull those around him into a sense of calm. She suspected the bodyguard could strike with lightening efficiency and deadliness.
He was the one she’d have to get past.
She’d come up with plan after plan and discarded them all as impractical with a high chance of failure.
This wasn’t like the poisoning or the attack in the restaurant. She no longer had the element of surprise on her side. Shaun was well prepared for round three, surrounded by experts in security, working in a highly secure wing of the hospital.
Dasha had a plan though, one that would work.
Though Shaun’s security team did their best to make life as safe as possible for their charge, there were always loopholes. It was impossible to cover a person at all times.
Dasha had something else on her side. Her fatality meant nothing to her. If she had to die to reach her goal, then so be it. She had little to live for anymore. Even if she could reestablish relationships with her daughters, she would have to rely on them for handouts for the rest of her life. She would rather die than have to beg for every scrap of food.
It was time to enact her plan. She’d been perfecting it for long enough that it felt like clockwork. As Shaun passed Dasha in the hospital corridor, her head down, reading something from the file she was holding, Dasha waited three seconds for Cooper to pass before stepping out of her alcove and following them.
In her stolen lab coat, Dasha fit in perfectly. She held her head up and walked with confidence. She wore large, thick-framed glasses that helped obscure her face, which was scrubbed of makeup. She looked as far from her former self as she could get.
Turning the corner, she followed the two toward the imaging center, where Shaun would spend some time examining x-rays and carefully choosing her patients.
Dasha had considered taking Shaun out in her new office but had discarded the plan. The office was small with only one entrance. The door was locked and coded with a code specific to Shaun. If Dasha had managed to get hold of the code, then she would have gone with the office plan. She would have stood in the shadows and the second the younger woman entered she would have put a bullet in her head. Cooper would likely have taken Dasha out immediately after, but that didn’t matter.
Instead, she was forced to go with a more difficult plan that had a higher probability of success. Once Shaun and Cooper disappeared into imaging, Dasha flashed the identification card she’d stolen from a radiologist in the cafeteria that morning.
She’d had to be careful when stealing ID badges. So far, she’d gotten her hands on three. The first two were cancelled within 24 hours of their owner’s discovering them missing, which made Dasha realize she would have to work quickly.
She’d taken the first badge as an experiment. When it had been cancelled, she’d used the second badge to map out every section of the hospital Shaun frequented, deciding that imaging was the best place to launch her attack. The hallways were wide. Even if Cooper stepped through the door ahead of Shaun, she should be able to get past him quick enough to put a bullet in Shaun.
She’d stolen the third badge that morning, which meant she had to go through with her plan or risk having the badge become inactive. Eventually the hospital was going to catch on, making it more difficult for her to get her hands on more badges.
Her heart hammered in her chest as victory seeped into her veins, pumping excitement through her. She was so close, so very close.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, coming to peace with her own demise. She would join her husband in death. She would tell him of her victory. Tell him she had avenged the family. She would spend eternity with her lover.
She pretended to study the file she was holding as she walked toward the imaging center where Shaun would pick up her case files before heading back to her office.
Four minutes.
That was the average time it took for Shaun to chat with the imaging technician before she left the office. Cooper would step out ahead of Shaun, clear the hall, then allow his charge to go ahead of him. Dasha would walk past him as he swept the hall, and she would kill his principal before he could step in front of Shaun.
If he got in front of the girl before Dasha could get to her then she would shoot him in the knee, sending him to the floor, kill Shaun then finish the bodyguard. She couldn’t risk shooting him in the head in case he toppled backwards into Shaun, accidentally covering her and forcing Dasha to lose precious time. The knee was best, it would send him straight down or forward.
The door to the imaging center opened.
The scene crystallized in front of her, and it felt like everything slowed down as Cooper walked through the door, exactly how she’d predicted. His gaze swept the hallway and landed on her, paused, then moved past. No recognition.
Shaun stepped out behind him, her head down as she scanned the images on the page in front of her.
Dasha strode down the hall as though she owned it, her hand sinking into her pocket and wrapping around her gun. It was small, but it packed a punch. It would drill a hole through Shaun’s skull, turning her brain to mush.
Cooper eyed Dasha coldly as she walked toward them. She smiled slightly. She could sense the moment he realized there was danger, but it was too late. She’d already passed him and could see Shaun out of her periphery.
Dasha pulled the gun out of her pocket and swung her arm around, her finger tightening on the trigger.
Before she could get a shot off, Shaun leapt forward, grabbed hold of her wrist and pushed her across the width of the hall, slamming her into the wall. Dasha was so stunned by the sudden counterattack that she lost precious seconds to the other woman, who used them to slam her injured arm into the wall again, forcing Dasha to drop the gun as agony ripped through her.
Dasha stared at Shaun with incomprehension.
Except the other woman wasn’t Shaun.
A decoy.
Not as tall or slender as Shaun, but compact, fast and strong. Her hair had been done in Shaun’s style, a short afro pinned at the sides. She wore heavy makeup, reshaping her face in Shaun’s image, but now that Dasha was up close and personal with this woman she could see the differences.
Her plan had failed.
Jozef must’ve known that she’d been stalking Shaun at the hospital and had set her up.
Well, she wasn’t going down without a fight. She’d rather die here and now than risk being taken back to Jozef. She’d seen his handiwork in the shed, and while she could stand a lot of pain, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stand up against his brand of torture. He tore people to pieces over days and weeks, piece after piece, never allowing them the death they would come to crave. And those were the people he had no feelings for. Dasha was his aunt, a woman who had loved him and then betrayed him.
Dasha recovered quickly from her shock, sending her fist flying into the mystery woman’s throat. The woman ducked it and sent a fist back into Dasha’s chest, then her face, flinging her back against the wall. Dasha pushed off, flying toward the other woman, but met with Cooper’s fist when the woman ducked again.
The last thing Dasha heard was the sickening crunch of breaking cartilage as her nose shattered, then blackness overtook her and she sank to the ground.
Cooper stared down at Dasha, glad that the operation was finally over. It had been exhausting spending half his days at the hospital following first Shaun around, then tucking her safely in her office with a three-man guard, then following Ay
aan around for a few hours hoping to draw Dasha out.
“I thought she’d put up more of a fight,” Ayaan pouted, stepping back as Interpol filled the hallway.
It was just like law enforcement to show up after all the excitement had ended. Too much red tape and rules to actually accomplish anything.
“Go fight Havel, you’ll feel better,” Cooper drawled as they leaned against the opposite wall while a doctor looked Dasha over before pronouncing her fit to be moved.
“I can’t win against him; I’d rather fight someone I can win against.” Ayaan watched with disappointment as Dasha was hauled away.
Cooper had known the moment Interpol connected with Shaun in Elisa’s office. They’d been watching her for a while, setting up a rotating team of men to give them the best chance at making contact. Once they finally did, Cooper had texted Jozef while Shaun was talking to the agent hiding in Elisa’s office.
Jozef had refused to use Shaun as bait, but appreciated the opportunity to take his aunt into custody. He didn’t care how it was done, as long as she could no longer threaten Shaun. Even better if Dasha took the fall for the criminal activities of the Koba family. Then he would be clear to move forward with his plans for the organization without Interpol breathing down his neck.
Cooper admired the way his boss worked through a problem. Instead of hotheadedly taking Dasha out at the first opportunity, he waited and watched, like the spider carefully weaving his web to trap the fly.
Now she was in Interpol’s custody and no longer their problem. She was still alive, which would please Shaun as well as Jozef’s cousins.
Cooper pushed away from the wall. He could finally get back to his actual job of tailing Shaun and setting up an impenetrable wall of security around her. He lived to protect. He’d worked as a secret service agent in the United States before quitting in disgust when politics overrode his ability to do his job. He’d been working as a mercenary-for-hire for several years before Havel picked him to fill out the team at Guard Dog Securities.
Goodnight, Sinners (Sinner's Empire Book 3) Page 21