Yegor looked over Gabriel’s state with concern. When Gabriel first got here, the man was at least 10 pounds heavier and a lot less scruffy. His previously trimmed beard was now a thick rubble of black waves that covered a great deal of his face and the mop of wild, matted hair atop his head wreaked of urine and old blood.
But at least he wasn’t maimed.
Without even trying to hide it, Yegor fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the beacon, but Gabriel was too busy eating to notice.
“Are you fattening me up for the kill?” Gabriel asked, sucking his fingers. His green eyes were red with irritation, but he still managed to peer through his matted eyes enough to see his bowl.
“Your uncle is a very, very convincing man,” Yegor said, staring at Gabriel with both anger and wonderment. Who knew one man could be so powerful?
Gabriel stopped eating and looked up at Yegor. “He got to you, didn’t he?”
“I’m afraid so,” Yegor said, scratching his nose. Looking around the room, he found an inconspicuous space between the metal table and the window, turned the beacon on and carefully placed it where no one could see. Standing back up, he brushed off his pants.
Gabriel was curious now. “How did he get to you?” He sniffled again and then sneezed. “Did he get to your girlfriend?” He eyed his wedding ring. “Your wife?”
“My entire fucking family!” Yegor seethed, spitting as he spoke. Calming himself, he looked over at the door to make sure that he had not drawn the attention of the guards. “Just like you said he would. You must be very happy with yourself.”
“Did he kill them,” Gabriel asked. He did not know why, but he hoped not. He didn’t care for Yegor, but he hated him least.
“No, he’s holding them,” Yegor said, clenching his jaw. “Will he kill them?” he asked Gabriel. If anyone would know, he would. It’s not like it would change anything to tell him the truth. On the off chance that Dmitry would keep his word, he still would do everything that the man asked, because he loved his family that much. But he just wanted to hear it from Gabriel. He wanted to know the truth.
Gabriel’s gaze dropped to the floor. “Not if you do what he tells you to, whatever you’ve promised.” Gabriel shrugged. “If you don’t, he will kill them.” He sniffled again. “All of them.” He cast a look of confirmation across the room at Yegor.
“Your uncle is a monster,” Yegor said, walking back to the door.
“You can’t blame him. It’s the Medlov blood. Some people it makes them evil. Some people it makes them great.” Gabriel looked down and picked up more food with his fingers as Yegor walked out and slammed the door. He put a handful into his mouth. “Some people it makes them both.”
***
At exactly 4:30 p.m. a large convoy of trucks headed out of the Neo-Nazi compound to the center of the city to pick up Faddei’s hidden bounty. Standing by on the radio, Yuri and Yegor sat in his office, quarterbacking the entire extraction. But just as his men were checking in, so were Dmitry’s. They were strategically positioned in cars, at stores, at bus stops and over apartment buildings all the way to into the city and encircled around the perimeter of Faddei’s warehouse.
When the trucks arrived at 5:30, just as Yegor had promised, the teams pulled into the loading dock and went inside to load up the shipment. The sweltering summer heat made the metal structure nearly unbearable. Pushing open the doors, they quickly moved in while a few stood guard outside.
“Team One, move in. Over.” Marat said, keying up on his mic from the top of the adjacent building.
“Team One, moving in. Over and out,” a voice replied.
From both directions, two tactical teams moved in swiftly and silently on the unsuspecting guards and with silencers, dropped each of the six men where they stood before they could get off one round.
“Targets neutralized. I repeat, targets neutralized,” one of Dmitry’s team leaders confirmed over the radio. The men pulled the bodies out of view and threw them in the dumpster that backed up to the warehouse and waited for further instruction.
“Team two, are you in position?” Marat asked.
There was a short pause and static, then a response. “Team two. We have visual and are in position. I repeat, we are in position. Give green light to proceed.”
“Green light confirmed. Over,” Marat answered.
“Affirmative,” the voice replied.
Marat switched frequencies to Team One. “Bar the doors. Over.”
The men ran to the back door while the Nazi’s worked to pull out the large cargo boxes and locked the doors from the outside.
“Team One to Team Alpha, doors locked. Over.”
“Copy that,” Marat said, looking through his binoculars across the street at the warehouse. So far, everything was smooth sailing.
Emerging from the dark shadows the other side of the warehouse, Team Two came out locked and loaded on the workers. They had been in this heat box for long enough waiting for the green light, so being able to kill someone after suffering through it was icing on the cake.
Multiple gunshots rang out from inside of the warehouse while men on top of buildings and on the corners looked out for witnesses and police. No one came. No one wanted to come. Several minutes later, Team Two gave the confirmation that everyone inside was dead.
“Team Two to Team Alpha. All targets neutralized. Over,” a voice said over the radio.
“Copy that,” Marat said, looking at his watch. They were ahead of schedule by five minutes.
Loading into the empty trucks, Dmitry’s men drove off like nothing had ever happened.
“Check in,” Yuri said, coming over the radio. “What’s your location?”
One of the men working for Dmitry keyed up on the radio, using the information that Yegor had given the night before. “Foxtrot is loaded. We have three more to go, sir.”
“Over,” Yuri said, rolling his eyes at Yegor. “Fucking trainees. I told them to check in every 10 minutes. It’s like herding cats.”
Yegor shrugged and eyed Yuri placidly. “They are still learning.” He knew it was a lie. They were dead, but what did it matter now. “You want coffee?” Yegor asked, standing up and stretching. It was going to be a long night for all of them. He might as well get prepared.
“No,” Yuri said, pulling a bottle of vodka from his drawer. “I have something better.” He smiled at the vodka like it was a long lost friend.
Yegor walked over the half-empty coffee pot and poured himself a large cup in his favorite mug. Pretending to be supportive of this shit was almost harder than thinking about his family with Dmitry Medlov. He wished at that moment he had a sedative to take the edge off.
“Tomorrow we get confirmation of Valeriya’s dead body,” Yuri said, trying to change the mood between them. “After that, it’s all downhill.” He watched Yegor as he fumbled with the sugar container.
Yegor doused his coffee with cream. “In two days, this will all be over, and we can go back to doing what we do best.”
“You sound better about things. What did you do, go home and get some rest like I told you?”
“Da, I rested up, spent some time with the wife and just put things here on the backburner for a day.” Yegor turned with the coffee in his hand and smiled at Yuri. It took everything in him to do it. “It did make a difference. Thank you for the suggestion.”
“That’s what friends are for,” Yuri said, proud of himself. He stood up and downed a large gulp of vodka. “Watch the radio. I’m going to let some steam off.”
Yegor raised a brow. “Are you going to rough up the rich boy?” You sadistic fuck, he finished his sentence in his head.
Yuri shrugged and smiled deviously. “I’ve got time to kill. Why not.”
“Just don’t maim him, okay. We need to share proof of life tomorrow. And Dmitry will surely want to see all of his limbs.” Yegor put the cup to his mouth and watched as Yuri disappeared down the hall. As soon as he heard the metal door slam shut leading up to
the stairwell to get to Gabriel’s cell, he darted to the phone and called the guard shack at the front of the compound.
Before the man on the other end could say a word, he interrupted. “This is Lt. Kachur. There will be a large shipment coming through the gate at 6:30 p.m.” He looked at his watch. That’s roughly one hour away. Don’t bother stopping each and every driver. There will be a few loading trucks, and 18 wheeler and a few runner cars. They are traveling together and have top authorization. When they arrive, simply wave them in. We need to get that cargo inside of the compound as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Lieutenant,” the man answered.
Yegor took a deep breath. One step closer to his family. “Good.” Hanging up the phone, he walked back over to the coffee pot and kept a look out for Yuri to return.
Chapter Thirteen
Full Incursion…
6:30 p.m.
Neo-Nazi Compound
Donetsk, Ukraine
On time and just after dusk, a large convoy of covered military trucks, cars and two 18-wheelers pulled up the long narrow dirt road that led up to the Neo-Nazi compound. With their lights on, they slowly made their way up to the security gate and was waved in by the guards who had already received prior notice by Yegor.
The guards watched on at the long processional in confusion, knowing that their men had left with a lot fewer vehicles. Still, based upon Yegor’s earlier tone, it was clear that some information was above their paygrade and so they would not protest.
Instead, one of the guards got on the line and called to Yegor to let him know that the men had arrived back to base.
As soon as the phone rang, Yegor picked it up.
“The men are back,” the guard advised.
Yegor stood up and shot a glare toward the door. “Very good. See them inside of the gates without interruption.”
“There is just one thing, sir.” He paused. “There appears to be a lot more of them tonight than earlier today when they went out.” He looked out of the guard shack window as the vehicles passed.
“I’m aware of that,” Yegor said with a huff. “We had more weapons to bring back than first anticipated, not that it’s any of your business. But in the future, I will notify you when your superior officers decide on changing their plan of action.”
“Sorry, sir,” the man said, regretting he had mentioned it.
“Carry on.” Hanging up the phone, Yegor grabbed his keys off the table and headed out of the door. It was time to leave. He had done his part, and he was certain after this, if he stuck around, he’d be too dead to get his family back later.
The motorized steel gates connected to towering concrete walls that enclosed the compound, creaked open and the vehicles drove in, past the extra guards standing post inside the interior. The area inside the compound was laid out in a large square box.
A watch tower stood at the south of the building looking out beyond the guard shack to the main road a mile away.
There was an artillery bunker in the far right corner of the compound and another building used to store supplies on the far left side.
At the center of the compound was a parking area for official military vehicles. A hundred feet beyond the parking lot were three well-guarded buildings. One for training, one for barracks and one for the headquarters.
Per Yegor’s crude hand drawn schematic, the training facility and barracks sat on the left and right of the headquarters, where Gabriel was being housed on the top floor. However, in preparation for the impending battle, Yegor had tripled security on the lower floor of the headquarters and outside of it. So, it would be harder to get to him and more costly if they went in from there. However, Yuri did not have a contingency plan for an attack from above the building.
As a result, the safest and quickest way to get to Gabriel would be to use the emergency staircase on the back side of the barracks and then jump from the top of that building, which was about eight feet across, over to the headquarters and enter through the door on the roof, which Yegor had left unlocked. The service stairs would take him directly to the fourth floor to the cell where Gabriel waited.
Yegor passed by the long procession of vehicles as he drove out. Eyeing them one last time, he gripped the steering wheel and moved quietly out of the gate before it could close.
Slowing to a stop when the last vehicle pulled in and the gate closed behind Yegor, the lead driver rolled down his window as a guard carrying a rifle in its sling approached.
“Hey, pull that shit around to the back,” the guard yelled. “You can’t park it all here. You’re blocking up everything. It’s a security risk.” Aggravated, he approached the driver side window of the tall utility truck, expecting to see a less than apt trainee in the driver’s seat. “Hey! Did you hear me, dumb shit?”
Waiting until the man was in clear view, the driver pulled his weapon out and depressed the trigger, hitting the unsuspecting guard twice in the chest and once in the head, before he jumped out.
At the same time, inside of the 18-wheeler, eight men dressed in all black tactical gear and masks sat atop black Ducati speed bikes, lined up in pairs waiting with their gear in Park to exit. Slipping on her mask, Valeriya slipped behind Anatoly on his bike and flipped the safety off her automatic weapon.
“Don’t miss,” Anatoly said, keeping his eyes forward. His gloved hands gripped the handles and his feet were firmly placed on either side of the bike. In silence, he glared at the cargo door.
“I won’t,” Valeriya said, adrenaline rushing like an angry river through her veins. She looked back at Dmitry, Nadei, Vasily, Marat and three of his men also on their bikes and took a breath.
The driver and the passenger jumped from their seats inside the 18-wheeler and hit the button that unlatched and opened the back of the truck. As soon as the doors opened, two long ramps pulled down and hit the concrete and the bikes emerged, accelerating to full speed.
“Showtime,” Anatoly said, speeding down the ramp and out into the parking area. Valeriya positioned her weapon and held on with all of her might.
The shooting had already erupted. Less than a minute after the first guard hit the ground, the watch tower sounded the alarm and the security lights flashed on. Guards ran out from their posts and others grabbed their weapons and ran toward the sound of the fight.
One of Dmitry’s men emerged from one of the utility trucks with a German-made, handheld RPG Panzerfaust 3, fitting for the audience. Throwing it over his shoulder, he took cover, dropped to one knee, aimed directly for the tower’s center and pulled the trigger. An explosive warhead erupted from the launcher and flew through the air straight into the building. On contact, the tower exploded, sending shards of glass and metal shrapnel to the ground below.
Speeding through the compound at incredible speeds, Anatoly zoned in on the barracks, while Valeriya shot and killed as many militia members as she could. There were more of them than she expected. For every three she hit, she missed one. The sound of bullets whizzing past them and busting into the concrete and metal, was nearly deafening, but Anatoly never flinched. Dropping one mag, to load another, Valeriya flipped from semi-automatic to full automatic and put the butt of the gun in between her shoulder and neck. Aiming carefully, she hit one target after another as they sped toward the barracks.
Up above, a drone flew overhead, releasing a missile that locked directly onto the training center. The side of the building exploded and a plume of smoke and fire erupted upward into the air. Seeing that only a portion of the building had been hit, another man grabbed an RPG and ran as fast as he could toward the front of the building. Dropping to one knee, he pulled the trigger, just a bullet from one of the militias ripped through his back and exited through his chest. The missile still made an impact, scudding right into the front doors of the training center and blowing it up.
At the same time Marat hit the detonator while driving his bike, after his man placed the blocks of C4 on its alu
minum siding and blew up the artillery bunker, handicapping the Nazi militia from being able to acquire more weapons to fight.
As soon as the bunker exploded in the corner taking with it a portion of the concrete wall, another explosion erupted at the entrance as the gate flew several feet into the compound and landed atop one of the utility trucks. In rushed more of Dmitry’s men with automatic weapons, mowing the guards down as they prepared to take over the compound.
While Dmitry, Vasily and Nadei, headed with their men to fight through the bottom floor of the headquarters, Anatoly and Valeriya headed to the back of the barracks. Marat and his men took on the front side of the barracks, while the other men cleared and killed everyone else within the compound’s perimeter.
The mission was as easy as just pulling up to the barracks and waltzing to the back. As soon as Anatoly’s bike sped down the small alleyway between the buildings, they were met with gunfire. Valeriya turned toward the shots and pulled the trigger, sending a trainee to his back. Stopping the bike, Anatoly and Valeriya popped off the bike and ran along the side of the building in a two-by-two formation. Valeriya flung the MP-5 over her back and pulled out her pistol topped off with a suppressed silencer, while Anatoly peeked out to see if anyone was in the back of the building.
As soon as he looked, he heard the distinct sound of bullets knocking holes into the brick right above his head.
“Shit,” he said, ducking back down. He squatted with his gun in his hand, the muzzle pointed upward.
“How many?” Valeriya asked, covering him from behind. She was about to shoot when she saw several of their men headed toward them.
“Couldn’t see.” Anatoly pulled a grenade from the inside of his leather jacket. Holding up his fist in the air, he signaled his men to halt in their steps. With two fingers up, pointed at the left side of the building and then showed them the grenade. The shooting started again, this time heavier.
Gabriel's Regret: Book Two (The Medlov Men 3) Page 21
