by Beth Abbott
“Shit!” Zach breathed the word. That could have left the women exposed, halfway up the stairs!
“Here we go.” Drago took a pace back so Abram could climb out through the ropes, and the three of them stepped back from the ring.
Zach glanced at Kris as the fourth round started, and he was pleased to see that there was hardly a mark on his skin.
“Did you place any bets with Sergei?” He asked Drago, without taking his eyes from the fighters.
“Yeah, during the last round I bet a million dollars that Kris will win in the fifth round.” Drago smiled. “I figured if I was gonna bet at all, I may as well bet big.”
Zach turned to the Russian with a look of surprise on his face.
“We agreed Kris would have to go the full six rounds.” He pointed out. “Why the fuck would you bet on him to win in the fifth?”
Drago shook his head as though it should’ve been obvious.
“To make sure I lose! That way, we’ve guaranteed that Sergei will want me to transfer the money tonight.” Drago shrugged. “If Kris wins at any point, we get the weapons, but if the worst happens and he loses, we might have to give up the weapons, but we still get the bank details and the women. If we had to get two out of three, that’s the only way I’d take it.”
“Where are the funds coming from?” Zach wondered.
“Ilya’s slush fund.” Drago grinned at him. “I always thought the man was a useless waste of oxygen, but I’ve had to revise my opinion slightly. His money has come in very handy since his death. He should be commended for that if nothing else.”
“Posthumously, of course.” Zach smiled.
Chapter 57 – Abram
By the end of the fifth round, Abram was fairly happy that they were going to have a favourable outcome.
Kris was keeping everything low key, even when the Russian fighter had really gone after him in the fifth, and the Guardian looked like he had plenty of gas left in the tank.
Sergei seemed immensely pleased to be taking Drago’s million dollars from him and looked over at the team with a huge grin on his face.
Of course, Drago was equally pleased but for different reasons, and he shrugged easily, as if to say, ‘you win some, you lose some’.
As Kris stepped into the middle of the ring for the last time, a hundred instructions ringing in his ears, Abram noticed Katya moving towards him.
He’d tried to broach the subject of her leaving Sergei’s casino and moving away the previous evening, but without being able to tell her the plan, it was difficult to make it sound anything other than a hypothetical scenario, and she had struggled to take him seriously.
As he watched her teeter on her high heels, he felt a twinge of something in his chest at the thought of leaving her behind.
Even if they’d just enjoyed a couple of nights of sex… make that great sex… it wasn’t as though they were destined to have a great love affair.
But, well, shit! She was a sweet little thing, funny and charming once she was away from the crowd. Abram hated the thought that she’d go back to the casino, prostituting herself until her body wore out or a punter went too far and killed her.
“Be back in a minute.” He whispered to Drago, stepping back from the ring.
He walked towards Katya, taking her hand as he reached her and pulling her to the far side of the room, behind all the chairs and out of sight.
“Katya, listen…” He smiled at her, but there was an urgency in his voice. “You know I said I wanted to help you get away from Sergei and the casino?”
Katya nodded, her frown telling him she was confused.
“Well, there’s a chance we might be leaving the ship tonight, as Drago has to be back in Moscow for business tomorrow.” Abram lied. “You can come with us when we leave, and I’ll take you somewhere and make sure you’re safe. We can get you a place to live and a proper job. I’ll even get you somewhere big enough that your aunt and uncle can come and live with you if you like.”
Katya looked at him as though he’d gone mad.
“How will you do this?” She asked. “You don’t have the money to help me, or you wouldn’t be here fighting for your boss.”
Abram grinned.
“He’s not my boss, Katya, he’s my friend, and I’m here doing him a favour.” He assured her. “The money to get you safe will not be a problem, believe me.”
Katya bit her lip.
“My aunt and uncle won’t leave their apartment.” She whispered. “I don’t want to be on my own.”
“You won’t be, I promise you.” Abram smiled. “But you have to decide quickly. If we leave tonight, it will be shortly after the fight.”
“But Sergei…”
“Sergei obviously knows nothing of our plans, and you can’t tell anyone, Katya.” Abram warned. “Not only would he not let you leave, he might be pissed at Drago for ditching the party early. Things could turn nasty and people could get hurt.”
“I promise, I won’t say anything.” Katya nodded.
“Good girl.” Abram leaned down to kiss her lips softly, hoping that would give her something to think about.
When he lifted his head, Katya’s expression was dazed.
“Make up your mind quickly, Katya.” He said quietly. “And be ready for any one of my team to come and get you if you want to come with us. If I’m not available to come to you, I’ll send one of the others. You can trust every single one of them to protect you, but when it’s time to leave, you’ll only have one chance to say yes. After that we’ll be gone, and it’ll be too late.”
Abram watched her nod in agreement before he gave her one last kiss.
Walking back to Drago, he prayed she’d say yes.
“Are you seeing this?” Zach grinned at him as he reached the corner of the ring.
Kris had his opponent pinned to the mat, and his arm wrapped around the guy’s neck, his chin in the crook of Kris’ elbow.
As he moved around to get a better view, Abram could see that Kris had him locked up completely with his legs, and he was stretching him backwards by his neck.
The poor guy was getting redder by the minute, and his eyes were starting to bulge.
“How long left in the round?” He asked Zach.
“About two minutes.” Zach smiled. “Long enough for Kris to keep pressure on his neck and make him pass out.”
Abram kept watching as Kris applied more and more pressure, and he could see his opponent starting to panic as his oxygen was restricted.
Kris glanced across at his corner and gave a strained smile. They all knew he had this, it was now up to his opponent to give up the fight.
Ten seconds, twenty seconds had passed, and the guy was still trying to wriggle his way out. At thirty seconds, he suddenly started to jerk, and at forty seconds Abram could see his hand start to twitch.
At fifty seconds, the guy must have finally given up all hope, as with a quick movement of his hand he tapped on the mat.
The referee called the fight instantly, and Kris released the guy, pushing him off so he could get some oxygen.
Kris leapt up, and in traditional fashion started jumping around the ring as though the result had never been in doubt.
“Yo, Rocky! Get your ass over here!” Kellen yelled at him.
As his opponent was half-carried from the ring, Kris skipped over to his corner, obviously elated to have done his part towards the success of the mission.
“You left that a bit late.” Drago grinned. “Forty seconds left on the clock.”
“I think that’s what’s known as being timed to perfection.” Kris grinned. “Not a second too soon, nor a second too late.”
“Yeah, well, you were giving me palpitations, that’s for sure.” Zach smirked.
“I’ll go and discuss terms with Sergei.” Drago grabbed a towel and shoved it towards Kris. “Go and get dressed quickly, grab the bag with all the passports and tablets, and then get yourself to the lifeboat and wait for us. I’m hoping this
won’t take too long, and we’ll be ready to go.”
“Ok, will do.” Kris nodded and headed towards the door.
“What have you told Katya about the plan?” Drago asked.
“Only that we might leave the ship tonight so that you can get back to Moscow for business.” Abram shrugged. “Katya won’t say anything to Sergei or his people. She understands what’s at stake.”
“Do you think she’ll come with us?” Drago frowned, knowing the risk they were taking, trying to get one of Sergei’s women to come with them.
“She wants to, I can tell.” Abram nodded. “I’m not sure whether she’ll find the courage, though. It’s a tough ask.”
Drago nodded his head in agreement.
“Look, I need you and Zach to go up on deck and take up strategic positions. Activate the radio signal to get the Russian sub to the surface.” Drago instructed. “As soon as Kris gets up there, he can take the first of the lifeboats over the side and help get everyone onto the sub. Once the lifeboat is launched, you and Zach can stand guard waiting for us to join you. Chances are that when we come up that staircase, we’ll be looking to get off the ship as quickly as possible. We need you to cover our asses in case anyone is following us.”
Drago waited for both Abram and Zach to nod in agreement.
“Ok, get out of here.” He smiled. “Kellen and I will get Micky, and hopefully Katya on deck as soon as the business is finished.”
Abram turned and headed towards the door, glancing back only briefly to see Katya staring at him.
“Please say yes.” He thought, willing her to find some courage. “Just say yes.”
Chapter 58 – Micky
As Micky watched the referee stop the match, her body almost sagged to the floor with relief.
It was vitally important that they won the fight, with all their plans to take Sergei’s money relying on them getting the bank access.
She watched Kris celebrating, and her pulse-rate spiked.
This was it!
Only a few more minutes until her life as an undercover agent might be over for ever.
Sergei climbed into the ring and started posturing, showing off for all his guests.
The losing team were obviously not happy with their lot, but after retrieving their fighter, they slunk off towards the exit without creating a scene.
Possibly the knowledge of what Sergei had done to the Polish team was still fresh in everyone’s mind.
Micky clutched her laptop as she climbed into the ring, waiting for Sergei to wind down his celebrations.
Drago climbed in from the opposite corner, and they reached Sergei at the same time.
“Shall we get the money sorted out first?” Drago smiled. “Once I’ve handed over all that cash, I can forget about it and enjoy the after-party.”
“Of course.” Sergei smiled benevolently. “I wouldn’t want to be accused of prolonging the agony.”
Micky pointed to where Sergei had been sitting earlier, and the two men followed her out of the ring.
She pulled one of the chairs closer to the small drinks table and set up her laptop.
Drago handed her what looked like a business card at first, only she noticed it had his bank details hand-written on it.
“Do you want all the money to go into one account?” She turned to Sergei. “Or do you want the money from the bet kept separate, and paid into the casino account? That would give it legitimacy as we could say it passed through the casino.”
“Good idea.” Sergei nodded, took out a piece of paper with some account details written on it. He pulled out a pen and added some numbers beneath it before handing it to Micky. “The winnings can go into the top account number, and the money from the arms deal can go into the other one.”
Micky nodded, and started tapping away, copying the details both men had given her.
When she turned the laptop around to allow Drago to enter his password, she noticed Sergei writing something on another piece of paper.
It took her a few minutes, but eventually the transactions were completed.
“Do you want to check your accounts, so you can see the money arriving?” She turned to Sergei.
“Of course.” Sergei shrugged. “No offence intended… but it is a lot of money.”
“No offence taken.” Drago shrugged easily. “I’d do the same.”
Micky opened up the banking page and turned the screen for Sergei to type in his password.
When he’d done it, she tapped onto the receiving account, watching as his face lit up.
“Excellent.” He nodded. “No need to check the casino account, Micky. I think if Drago is good for the twenty-five million for the arms, then I have no reason to believe the million he lost on his bet won’t have gone through successfully.”
Micky turned the screen back around and logged out of the banking app.
“Why don’t you take your guests into the dining room and start your meal?” She suggested. “I have to lock my laptop away in my cabin before I can join you. I’ll make sure the women are ready to come downstairs when the meal is over.”
“Umm, I’m sorry to point out the obvious, but aren’t you forgetting something?” Drago interrupted.
Sergei turned around with a grin.
“Sorry, was it this you were looking for?” He asked, holding out the second piece of paper. “The address in Kaliningrad where you can collect the hardware?”
“Exactly.” Drago grinned. “I have trucks waiting near the docks to take possession of the cargo.”
Sergei handed him the paper and shrugged.
“It was good doing business with you, Drago.” He nodded. “Maybe we can do business again some time.”
“Possibly so.” Drago nodded. “But maybe next time we can do it on dry land, and without the fighting. It’s a pain in the ass having to drag a team all the way out here.”
Sergei laughed.
“Are you coming into dinner my friend?” He nodded towards the dining room.
Drago pulled out his phone.
“I’ll just have to step outside to send the address to my men.” He held the phone up for effect. “I can’t get a signal down here with this useless fucking phone. Go ahead without me, and I’ll be there in two minutes.”
He turned to Kellen.
“Go and tell Kris and the others to hurry up.” He nodded to the stairs. “We don’t want to keep our host waiting. It’s party time!”
Sergei turned away from the three of them with a wave, and Micky turned and stared at Kellen.
“It’s time.” He nodded, turning for the door.
“You two go ahead.” Drago nodded. “I need to see Katya for Abram.”
“I’m here.” The small voice came from behind him.
Micky watched the woman step forward.
“Are you ready to come with us?” Drago asked quietly.
Katya nodded.
“Then let’s go.” Micky smiled. “Sergei won’t stay patient for long.”
Chapter 59 – Kellen
As soon as they were out of the entertainment area, Kellen grabbed Micky’s hand and dragged her forward.
“Do you have everything you need?” He asked, as he pulled her towards the outside staircase.
“I have my laptop and my phone.” She nodded. “That’s all I need.”
He glanced behind him to see Drago had hold of Katya’s hand, and he was pulling her along as well.
They made their way up the stairs quickly to find Zach and Abram sitting at the top. Abram handed them some semi-automatic weapons, and Kellen immediately slung his over his shoulder.
He glanced behind them to find the lifeboat with the women still there.
“I thought you were supposed to be launching the lifeboat.” He hissed at Zach.
“We tried. It lifted about eight feet, but when it started to swing out it ground to a halt. It looks like the control panel fused.” Zach shrugged. “Kris has just taken the fuse out of one of the other lifebo
ats and is trying to get it going now.”
“It shouldn’t be more than a few seconds.” Abram confirmed, moving to sit next to Katya. “The guy seems to know what he’s doing.”
Kellen looked at the position of the boat to see if he could get Katya and Micky onboard, but the gap between the deck and the boat was too big.
“Has anyone checked to see whether the sub has surfaced yet?” Drago asked.
Zach and Abram shook their heads.
“We were too busy watching the stairs to make sure none of Sergei’s men came up here.”
Drago crept forward and looked over the rail down into the black water.
It took a minute or so to get his eyes to adjust, but as the cloud cover moved and the moon shone out, he could just about make out a dark shape about sixty feet below them.
“Drago?” Kris hissed from above him.
Kellen watched Drago lean back so he could see the guy’s bald head sticking out of the lifeboat.
“What’s up?” He whispered.
“I think the motor’s fucked.” Kris hissed. “But there seems to be a manual winch thing that we can use. I could do with another pair of hands to help operate it. My arms feel like lead after that fight. I don’t think I can get us all the way down.”
“Give me a minute.” Drago darted back to the stairs.
“Kris needs someone to help him manually winch the boat down.” He explained. “Zach, are you up for it?”
“Wouldn’t it be better if it was you?” Zach pointed out. “You’ll be able to identify yourself to the sub commander and let him know what’s going on. I’ll cover the top of the staircase with Abs until Kellen gets the ladies on the smaller lifeboat, and then we’ll climb in once Kellen gets it moving.”
Drago looked as though he was about to argue.
“Go, man!” Kellen hissed. “There’s not enough room for all of us, and someone has to help Kris.”
Drago sighed as he realised that they were giving him no choice.
“I want all of you right behind us!” He instructed.
Kellen nodded. That was one order he was happy to take.