by Beth Abbott
Before she had a chance to voice a protest, Ilya turned away, and Hollywood grabbed her hand to haul her back.
“Don’t argue, Niko.” He cautioned quietly. “If you take Roman in with the women, it gives us the upper hand when it comes to getting you both out of here.”
She turned to him with a frown, but instead of arguing, stepped past him and went straight to Roman and gathered him up.
“Come on, baby, let’s go and meet the nice ladies.” She kissed his cheek.
Kris moved one of the rails, so she could step inside, and closed it behind her.
“Don’t worry, Niko.” He smiled at her. “We’ll have you out of there before you know it.”
Hollywood watched as Niko made her way over to the woman he’d seen her talking to previously, and she said something to her quietly. He tried to remember what Niko had said the woman’s name was. Maria? Marina? Marla? That was it.
Marla looked around her before replying, but whatever she said to Niko, it was enough to reassure her it was safe to sit down.
“Watch what the other women are doing.” Hollywood cautioned Yuri, who was standing closest to where Niko was now sitting. “They could turn on her if they blame Niko for their misfortunes, and we don’t want a catfight erupting and reminding Ilya that they’re close by.”
Yuri nodded, and took up sentry duty as requested.
“It looks like he’s settling in for a party with his homeboys.” Kellen nodded to where Ilya had taken his place at the head of the group, in the most comfortable of the shabby chairs.
Hollywood glanced around to see what Drago was doing, but he couldn’t see him anywhere.
“Anyone noticed where the sidekick has slunk off to?” He turned to ask his team-mates. “He’s vanished. Stomped off in a huff, maybe?”
“I can see him.” Logan murmured, looking off to his right to where Ilya’s van was parked haphazardly. “He’s slinking around the van, probably up to no good.”
“No good for us, or no good for Ilya?” Evan murmured. “Now, that’s your sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.”
Whatever Drago had been doing only lasted a few more seconds before he turned and started walking towards them.
When he stood close enough to look into the pen where the women were being held, he turned his back on them and leaned on the railings casually, as though nothing important was on his mind.
“Would you like to tell me what you were doing behind the vans?” Hollywood asked, not inclined to trust the guy as far as he could throw him.
“I thought it might make the situation just a little bit safer if I locked the back doors.” Drago shrugged. “With the weapons Ilya has just purchased, he could take over a small state.”
Ok, so that might make Hollywood trust him just a little bit more.
“Did Niko tell you what was going on?” Drago asked Hollywood, not bothering to turn his head to direct his question. He didn’t need to.
“Yeah, she told us about your call.” Hollywood confirmed. “And that you wanted her people on standby to get the women out.”
“And are they?” Drago barely turned his head to glance at Hollywood before turning back to watch whatever Ilya was up to. “On standby, I mean?”
“Yeah, we’re ready.” Hollywood chuckled. “We were born ready.”
This time Drago did turn around.
“What do you mean ‘you’re ready’?” He frowned. “You’re not Niko’s people.”
Hollywood stepped a little closer.
“I can promise you we are most definitely ‘Niko’s people’.” He said assuredly. “We’re going to get her out of here, and the women too, and then we’re going to take Ilya and his men down.”
“Tonight?” Drago was still scowling.
“Of course, tonight.” Hollywood shrugged, as if it should have been obvious even to a moron, which he hadn’t realised Drago was until that moment.
“And your team are ready to move in?” Drago clarified.
“Ready and waiting for the signal to move in.” Hollywood confirmed, getting impatient with the line of questioning. “Why? Is there a problem?”
Drago sighed and shook his head.
“No problem, if you’re happy for this whole mess to turn into the clusterfuck of the century.” He snorted.
Hollywood was starting to get pissed now.
“Are you saying you don’t think we know how to do our jobs?” He hissed.
Drago held up his hands.
“Heaven forbid I should insult your intelligence or ability.” He snorted. “But you seem to have one fundamental piece of information totally wrong, and that one piece could end up getting all of us killed.”
Hollywood had a bad feeling in his gut.
“You see, you aren’t actually ‘Niko’s people’.” Drago shrugged as though he was stating the obvious.
“Of course, we’re her people.” Hollywood insisted, pointing at his team-mates, several of whom had stepped closer to listen to their conversation. “Why else do you think we’re here?”
Drago shook his head.
“Ok, I don’t know who you think she is, or what you think your connection is to Niko, but I really can assure you all that you and she are not connected in any way.” Drago smirked at them. “Not unless you’re all secretly members of the Spetsnaz.”
“Russian special forces.” Yuri murmured. “Kris and I were part of Spetsgruppa A, the counter-terrorist branch, before we left to join up with Gregor.”
Hollywood could hear Hannah murmur an ‘Oh fuck!’ in his ear.
“Hold on a second.” Hollywood shook his head to try and clear his confusion. “You’re telling me that Niko has connections to Russian special forces?”
Drago looked around casually before kicking the floor, looking like he was generally bored with life.
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.” He murmured. “I mean, Niko doesn’t actually know that’s who they are, as she’s been dealing with people in between. But she knows that there’s a rescue about to go down, and that the rescuers are in a building close by, ready to move once she gives them the signal.”
“And you know this how?” Hollywood frowned.
“I know this because I set up the contacts in the first place, two years ago. And because I’ve been monitoring her calls on a cloned phone.” Drago smiled.
“You set this up two years ago? Why the hell has it taken this long for her to act, if she knew she had their backing?” Kris demanded.
“She didn’t know.” Drago explained. “Roman’s grandparents contacted the Moscow police, desperate to find out what had happened to their son. They were sure that he’d been murdered, either by Ilya or one of his men, but they couldn’t prove it. Anyway, once the police realised Ilya was involved, it was escalated to a special unit. We’ve just been waiting for the right moment to step in.”
“You said ‘we’.” Hollywood interrupted him. “You mean that you’re with Russian special forces as well?”
“On the fringes, yes.” Drago nodded. “I’ve been embedded with Ilya’s crew for the last three years, working my way closer to the man himself.”
“Holy shit!” Hannah was obviously still listening in.
“They were told to try and recruit Niko to help bring Ilya down, but obviously her fear for her son stopped her reaching out until recently.” Drago shrugged. “Coincidentally, that started around the time I started reaching out to you. My immediate boss was killed on another mission, and I’d lost contact with my superiors. Being undercover, it’s not easy to step out to find out what the hell is going on, so I did the next best thing. I have an old schoolfriend who’s a wrestler, who also happens to be a friend of someone you know. A Hannah Simons? He gave me her name in case I ever needed a friend.”
“You’re our informant.” Hollywood stated the obvious.
“And that makes you ‘my’ people.” Drago chuckled. “I’m Angel.”
“Well flip me over and fuck me sideways!
He knows Dag.” Hannah’s expression had Hollywood smiling.
“I’ve actually got Hannah on comms, talking to me through my earpiece.” He admitted to Drago. “I think when this is all over, she’s gonna want to meet you.”
“It’ll be my pleasure.” Drago nodded. “But the first thing we need to do is make sure the Russians know what’s going on. If we’re going to have a two-pronged attack, it would be good if both prongs knew about the other.”
Chapter 60 – Niko
Niko watched as Drago, Hollywood and the others got deep into conversation. She really couldn’t work out whether it was a good or bad sign.
When she noticed Hollywood slip inside the rails and move towards her, she figured she was about to find out.
Roman was being fussed over by several of the older women and was in his element, so she glanced over at Marla.
“Could you watch him for me while I speak to my friend?” She murmured.
The older woman smiled at her.
“I think he’s got a hundred babysitters watching out for him.” She nodded towards the other women, almost all of whom were watching Roman, most of them with a smile on their faces.
Niko stood and walked towards Hollywood, anxious to find out what was going on.
When he reached her, Hollywood guided her over to one side, out of the view of anyone that wasn’t already in the pen.
“What were you talking about with Drago.” She asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
Hollywood turned her around, so she had her back to the women, but he could see everything that was happening around them.
He pulled his earpiece out and tapped a button on his jacket.
“Camera and microphone.” He explained. “Switched off now, so we can talk privately.”
“Oh.” Niko couldn’t help but be stunned to silence. What else could she say?
“Niko, I know about your plan to rescue the women.” Hollywood smiled. “Whilst it’s not exactly the plan I thought you had, it’s a relief to know that you really are the woman I thought you were.”
Niko stared at him, unsure whether to confirm or deny what he thought he knew. After all, this could still be one of Ilya’s traps.
“Niko, I know you reached out to Roman’s grandparents.” Hollywood reached for her hand and pulled her closer. “I also know that there’s a team of Russian Special Forces not so far from us, ready to rescue the women, thanks to you.”
Niko blinked her surprise.
“How do you know that?” She whispered.
“Drago.” Hollywood said simply. “He put Vasili’s parents in touch with the right people, and they were just waiting for you to get in contact. He’s been monitoring your calls and messages ever since.”
“But, Drago is Ilya’s man! He…” She was almost lost for words.
“He hates him even more than you do, by the sound of it.” Hollywood smiled.
Niko couldn’t believe it. All this time Drago had known how desperate she was to get out, and he’d never said a word.
“Why didn’t he just talk to me?” She whispered.
“Drago’s been undercover for three years, trying to bring your brother’s organisation down. That’s been his remit.” Hollywood explained. “Helping you and getting the women free only seems to have become a priority when your brother started to traffic in larger numbers.”
“But you said you were here to help the women as well.” She pointed out. “Are you working with the Russians?”
“Well, we are now.” Hollywood snorted. “But let’s just say that’s a very recent development. Like in the last five minutes type of recent.”
“And before that?” She pushed for answers. “How were you involved before five minutes ago?”
“It looks like that was down to Drago too.” Hollywood smiled. “Apparently, he’d lost contact with his superiors and was worried that you were too scared for Roman’s safety to reach out for help. So, with a little assistance from a mutual friend, he contacted my team anonymously, as an informant, and the rest, as they say, is history.”
Niko shook her head, trying to process everything.
“So, are you saying we have two teams trying to rescue us?” She clarified.
“It looks like it.” He nodded. “My team leader is trying to contact your people as we speak, to make sure we don’t end up with a blue on blue situation.”
“Blue what?” She asked, confused at why he was talking about colours at a time like this.
“It’s a military term that’s used when someone gets shot or killed by people on the same side. Like friendly fire.” Hollywood explained. “There’s a bit of annoyance amongst our Hungarian hosts that the Russians have dared violate Hungarian territory, but I’m guessing they’re going to put that to one side until the rescue is over and the dust has settled.”
“Can you find out what’s going on right now?” Niko looked around nervously. “We need to start getting the women out as soon as possible.”
“I’ll try and find out.” Hollywood squeezed her hand. “Can you stay here with Roman? This is about the safest part of the building, and I want you out of the way if the bullets start flying prematurely.”
“Who’s going to be doing the shooting?” Niko asked, panicked to think Hollywood was going to be involved in a gunfight.
“We can’t rule out that Ilya might try and start something when he knows we have him cornered.” Hollywood warned. “Hopefully, that won’t be until after we’ve got all of you out, but we have to be ready for whatever he tries.”
Niko stared up into Hollywood’s gorgeous face. He was risking his life for these women. For her, and for Roman.
“Don’t get shot.” She instructed. “I forbid it.”
His smile was glorious, and when he leaned in to kiss her she didn’t protest.
The kiss was hard and fast, and his lips didn’t linger, but it was the promise of more that Niko clung to as he stepped back and tapped his chest.
“Kevlar.” Hollywood smiled, as though the vest made him invincible.
Niko reached up and tapped the side of his head.
“No Kevlar!” She pointed out. “Don’t expect Ilya’s men to fire a gun with any skill or accuracy. They could aim for your feet and hit your head. And you, Landon Hillwood, are not indestructible.”
“No, I’m not indestructible.” Hollywood smiled down at her. “But I am cautious. I didn’t survive almost twenty years in the military by being gung-ho about safety. And while I might have survived a couple of bullets, I actually have an aversion to perforations. I think I’m allergic or something.”
“Then please don’t get shot.” She whispered. “I’d quite like the chance to get to know you properly, without you thinking I’m a heinous bitch.”
Hollywood opened his mouth as if to argue that he’d ever thought such a thing, but when she raised her eyebrow and stared at him, he backed down.
“Fair enough.” He smiled. “When this is all over, you and me, we’re gonna have a date, and we’re going to start from scratch, all truth and no more lies.”
She doubted that would ever happen.
“Deal.” She smiled. “Now go and get the evacuation started. The sooner it starts, the less chance Ilya and his men will have to hurt the women.”
“Ok.” Hollywood kissed her again, slower this time, almost with regret that he had to leave her.
When he lifted his head, she was slightly dizzy.
“Stay safe.” He whispered.
As Niko watched him walk back to his team-mates, she felt her heart crack open.
One way or another, she had a feeling that their future was going to be short-lived.
Chapter 61 – Hollywood
How Hollywood wished that he was still seven years old. The urge to skip back to his team-mates was almost overwhelming, even if it would have made him look like a dumbass pussy.
He walked to the gap where the two trucks met, nose to nose, and stopped in front of his team-mates.
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“Has Hannah come back with an agreed plan of action yet?” He asked, looking over Kris’s head to where Ilya and his mob had congregated in the distance.
“She was still speaking with the Russians, using Ellen as an interpreter, while her friends from Interpol worked to soothe the Hungarians’ ruffled feathers.” Kris grinned. “I think the plan is going to be for the Hungarians to get the women out, as they’re already on that side of the building and ready to move in. The Russians will launch an assault to take down Ilya and his men, either as soon as the women are clear of the building, or if Ilya starts any trouble beforehand. We’ll back them up.”
He pulled the earpiece out of his pocket and slipped it into his ear, tapping on the button to reactivate the camera and microphone.
“Hannah?” He murmured. “Are we any closer to having a plan?”
“Oh, welcome back H.” He could hear the smile in Hannah’s voice. “Had a nice chat with Niko, did you?”
Hollywood snorted.
“Brief, but very nice, thank you for asking.” He grinned. “So, do we have an action plan?”
“We sure do, and we’ll be ready to start in about two minutes.” Hannah confirmed. “Our Hungarian friends have been mollified by the thought that they’ll be hailed as heroes if we can get all the women out safely. Jordan and Alex are on their way to join up with the Russians, primarily so they can ID you guys and stop anyone shooting you by mistake. Ellen and Sophia are on site as well, Ellen with Jordan, Alex, and the Russians, and Sophia in a building nearby, where the Hungarians will take the women once they’re rescued. She’ll check them over and deal with any injuries should they arise. As soon as the Russians move in, Ellen will fall back to Sophia’s position to lend a hand.”
“Sounds like a good plan.” Hollywood watched as Logan and Evan unloaded their weapons from the lock-box. “I’m going to get a couple of our guys up on the roof of the trucks, so they can cover us if any trouble starts. Can you make sure the Russians know that they’re there, and don’t start shooting at them by mistake?”
