by Lexi Blake
“Not the same at all. We’re not risking our necks for some rebel soldier who’ll probably shoot her the next time he sees her. And this is going to be easy. That’s it, right?” Brody pointed to the nondescript restaurant half a block away.
“Yes, but we won’t actually go in. There’s a small garage up ahead,” Nick explained. “We’ll have to park there if we want to get in. There’s the restaurant. The garage entrance is beside it. It shouldn’t be full now. We’ll see if they even let us in.”
He stopped the car at the light, his anxiety already rising. This was not a world he wanted to venture back into.
“So what’s the likelihood of us getting in and out without someone trying to kill you?” Brody asked the question in a perfectly calm voice. Like they weren’t about to walk into a den of vipers.
“The man who owns this place isn’t an enemy, but then again I wouldn’t call him a friend. I did him a favor and he owes me.” The light changed and he moved forward. “I sent him a message. He’ll meet us in the garage if he chooses to meet us at all. I would not be welcome in the restaurant. I’m not welcome in Little Russia at all.”
“Good to know.” Brody shifted and his Ruger made an appearance. He started to watch the street.
“We’re all right in the car. Damon tints the windows so we should be relatively safe. I could drop you off back at The Garden. I should have done that. I’m not thinking straight.”
That’s exactly what he should do. There was no reason to risk Brody. The Aussie had insisted on going with him when he’d left this morning, but that was when they’d been going to MI6 headquarters. No one was going to attack them there. Walking into the stronghold of the Bratva in London was a completely different thing.
“Don’t you bloody dare.” Brody pointed forward. “You keep going. Ain’t no way I’m letting you walk in there without backup. Who do you think I am? Owen can’t do this anymore so you need to learn to rely on me. Hell, I look forward to it. With Walt as my partner I spend way too much time in stinky labs. Why does the science stuff always smell so bad?”
He turned to Brody. “Don’t risk yourself for me.”
“All right, I’ll sit back and watch ’em gut you then. But I’m not going back to The Garden. I need a bit of entertainment.”
Nick sighed. “Please be careful.”
“Always am. Who are we meeting?”
“His name is Boris Sokolov. He is a shestyorka to the Lebedev syndicate.” Not everyone knew the inner structure of Bratva families. And Brody definitely didn’t speak Russian. “Uhm, he’s like an associate to the organization.”
“So he provides the brotherhood with information but he doesn’t tend to be involved in their actual crimes.”
Then again, Damon tended to force his operatives to learn as much as possible.
“Yes. He will give information he gathers to the brigadier he reports to,” Nick explained. “The brigadier runs a section of the syndicate’s businesses. Boris owns this place. This is where much business is done, so he always has intelligence. I helped his brother back in Moscow. This is me calling in a favor, but he won’t be happy about it.”
Especially given how he’d helped the man’s brother.
He turned and stopped in front of the garage entrance. The gates were open at this time of day, but the guard stepped out. He wasn’t dressed in any kind of uniform, but there was no doubt in Nick’s mind who he was. He was the gatekeeper and he would be heavily armed.
“I’m here to see Boris.”
The man stared at him for a moment and then slowly nodded at him.
Nick drove into the garage.
“Not much on talking, eh?” Brody asked.
“He won’t talk for fear someone will record him. He doesn’t speak to people like me at all. It’s good sign that he didn’t wave a weapon our way. It means this might be friendlier than we thought.”
“Or it might be a trap,” Brody pointed out.
Yes, that was a possibility. “I have to take that chance. If anyone is going to have his ear to the ground, it’s Boris. It’s not only Bratva that runs in and out of this place. Many independent contractors come here looking for work or information about work.”
Surely someone knew something about the mysterious person out to get Hayley.
He moved from the bright light of day into the gloom of the garage. It consisted of two stories, the first reserved for guests, but Nick knew he wouldn’t be considered a guest. Business would be handled on the second floor. He drove right past the empty spaces and up the ramp that would lead him to the section devoted to Boris’s staff.
At least there wasn’t a question of where Boris wanted him. The big man stood at the back of the garage, his form shadowed. Nick pulled the car into a slot across from Boris, easing into the forward-facing position. He wasn’t about to turn his back on anyone in this place. He’d learned that lesson.
“I’ve got you, mate. This ain’t nothing but a piece of piss job. Easy in. Easy out.” Brody nodded his way. “You tell me what you need.”
“Just be ready for anything.” Nick opened the door and stepped out. “Privyet, Boris. Kak dela?”
Boris frowned his way. He was dressed for work in a T-shirt that bore the name of his restaurant and jeans, a half apron around his waist as though he’d walked out of the kitchens and wasn’t happy to have been called away from his job. “I’m fine. It’s surprising to know you still speak our language since you spend so much time with foreigners. I thought you would only be speaking the Queen’s English now that you work for her.”
“I don’t work for the Queen. I work for a private business.” This was one of the problems he had anytime he moved back into this world. He got called a traitor. When he tried to work with MI6, he was met with resistance because he’d once been SVR.
Sometimes he wondered if he belonged anywhere at all.
Except he’d felt perfectly comfortable for the last two days, locked away from the world with Hayley. He’d fit in with her.
Boris’s face wrinkled into a pointed sneer. “You work for Damon Knight. That means you work for Queen. Worse than that, you work for US president through that Taggart bastard.”
Nick stood his ground. It wasn’t going to be the last time he dealt with this kind of anger. “I’m not going to apologize to you. I’ve come for information. You owe me after what happened in Moscow. Your brother is alive because I saved him.”
“Yes, while killing everyone else. Believe me, everyone remembers you. We tell story often. You’re the villain, by the way. In Moscow they call you palach.”
Butcher. Yes, he’d heard they called him that. He’d earned the name. What would Hayley think of having the Butcher in her bed? “That part of my life is over. It was vengeance and now it’s done. No one needs to fear me as long as they stay out of my way. Surely you can understand.”
Boris nodded slowly. “Bloody vengeance. Yes, I understand this. I also understand that a man must always pay his debts.”
Something about the way Boris said those last words made Nick’s hopes leap. “You found information?”
“Yes,” Boris replied. “I actually heard something about this yesterday evening. Someone in the States put out word that there would be much money paid if the American girl was brought in alive. Half a million in American dollars. None if she’s dead, but they do not care if she is damaged in transit.”
Nick felt his hands fist at his sides. Whoever was behind this had given free rein to a bunch of criminals to rape Hayley, to do anything they liked to her as long as she was given over alive.
Perhaps his time as the Butcher wasn’t over.
“I would like to know who placed the hit on the American woman.” He was well aware that the words were ground out of his mouth between clenched teeth.
Boris waved a big hand dismissively. “This I do not know. I was not contacted directly by buyer. I know several men who were, but they will not tell you who buyer is. You should know this.
They’re all professionals.”
No one was that professional. Everyone broke at some point. Or had a price at which their professionalism could be bought. “Was Martin Donaldson on that list?”
He needed to know if Boris’s information tied back into his own. Donaldson had been the man in the alley. Had he been one of the men now after Hayley due to the mysterious job offer?
Boris’s eyes flared. “The one from Islington? I hear rumor he didn’t make it back home a few nights back.”
This wasn’t an exchange. He had no intention of giving anything away that he didn’t have to. “I only know that my people tell me he was following the woman at one point.”
“We all know who the woman is, Nikolai,” Boris said with a frown. “There’s no point in playing this ridiculous game. She has connections to the bitch goddess, and everyone knows that she would run straight to the goddess’s whipping boy. She runs to you and you are hiding her. This is why they have all come to London.”
Well, he’d known someone had figured out the connection between Desiree and Hayley. Though now even that was mysterious. How many criminals had made their way to London? How many were waiting for him to make a mistake so they could take her? “I need names.”
Boris’s eyes closed briefly. “I need promise that this will pay my debt. I will owe you nothing after I give you these names and you will never darken my door again.”
It was the best offer he was going to get. He was grateful that he’d had mercy on Boris’s brother, despite the fact that he’d been working with the syndicate that had killed his sister. He’d granted mercy to the men who had not taken their oaths at the time. That one decision might help him to save Hayley. “You’ll never see me again. Not in this capacity. I can’t promise my firm won’t come after you one day if you pose a threat.”
“Understood, but never let it be said I did not pay my debts.” He held out a piece of paper. “These are the names of two people I know received the job request and the information about the American girl.”
Nick took the envelope. It wasn’t the end of the road, but it was a place to start. It would give him something to do, a path to walk down while he waited for Penny. And he’d gotten valuable information. They knew Hayley was in England. It might be time to figure out how to move her.
They could go someplace off the grid. Somewhere quiet. He would go with her, watching over her every step of the way.
“Spasibo, Boris.” It was one more thing closed and done. Boris was the last person who owed him anything from those bloody days. The last person who owed Nick. There were still a few who believed Nick owed them. Owed them his blood and his pain and his life.
And that was something to consider when he thought about convincing Hayley to stay with him. There would always be someone coming after him and that meant potentially coming after her. She would be his weak spot and the smartest of his enemies would use her against him. None of it mattered at this point because she was in more danger without him than with him. For now he could keep her without guilt.
Everything would change once he made sure she was safe again.
“Good day, Boris.” He turned, satisfied that at least he hadn’t gotten Brody killed. The Aussie was standing behind him wearing a grim expression. He’d stood back, as though he was Nick’s enforcer and not his partner in this venture. He was excellent in the field.
It was time to take the names he had in his hand back to The Garden, study them and then figure out a plan of action.
Though mostly the plan of action would be hunting down these bastards and torturing them until they talked.
All in all, not a bad plan.
“Are you ready?” He started toward the car but stopped when he realized they weren’t alone. Three men were walking up the ramp, each holding a gun.
He whipped back around to Boris.
The big man shrugged. “You’re not the only one I owe. Good luck, Nikolai.”
He heard Brody curse right before the bullets started to fly.
Chapter Twelve
Nick’s heart started to pound in his chest as he heard the door behind him slam closed and then the heavy thud of a lock falling into place.
They were trapped.
That bastard had played him and quickly, too. But then Nick had walked into the one place in the country where such a double cross could be put together in the course of an hour.
Nick put his hands up. The only thing he had going for him was the fact that the men in front of him would want to torture him for a while. A long while. “Let my friend go and you won’t get any trouble from me.”
He heard Brody huff beside him, but ignored it.
“Ah, Markovic. As if we’d do anything you asked of us. My employer would prefer I bring you in, but he did not specify how many pieces would be acceptable. I think many. It is difficult to ship bodies in a single package these days,” said the biggest of the men. He was dressed in all black, a cap on his head. He was a beast of a man and he wasn’t alone. He was flanked by two other men, both with guns in hand.
Nick didn’t recognize them but there was no doubt the trio had been sent from someone back in Russia. He’d killed the men responsible for his sister’s death, but he hadn’t done what Desiree had implored him to do. He hadn’t scorched the earth. He hadn’t found it in himself to destroy their families, to ensure no one was left who would want vengeance on him.
At the time, he’d almost welcomed the thought that one day one of the children or relatives left behind would come for him. Life had seemed cheap and inconsequential then. He’d done his duty and been at peace with the consequences.
He wanted to be back in bed with Hayley, touching her, laughing with her.
Life seemed far more precious now.
“I could come with you willingly or I could cause an enormous amount of trouble. It’s your choice.” Yes, he’d figured out too late how precious life was and he couldn’t cost Brody his. “All you have to do is let my friend drive out of here. He has nothing to do with what happened all those years ago and killing him will bring hell down on your heads. He works for Damon Knight. Do you know who that is?”
“What are you trying to do?” Brody’s voice was a harsh grind.
The big guy ignored him. “I know the name. You work for him, too. Killing one or two of his men won’t make much of a difference.”
“Ah, but he only hired me because he was trying to catch my girlfriend. He doesn’t care about me. He was working for the government to bring her in. My friend here is a true war hero, and killing him will bring many of his friends after you. The Taggarts will come after you.” He was willing to use any and all information if it got Brody out of this fucking death trap. “Perhaps even the Denisovitch syndicate.”
That got all three to stop and a long moment passed. They knew the names. It was plain in the way they paled. He could still salvage part of this cursed day.
“I ain’t going,” Brody said under his breath.
“You will.” He looked over at Brody. “You understand what they will do?”
He could hear the tension in his own voice.
Brody didn’t look his way. His Ruger was up and aimed somewhere in between the two on his right. He was coiled and ready to strike.
He was going to die. He was too big a target and there was nowhere for them to go.
Unless…
“Perhaps we can make deal,” the big Russian said. Nick could see the tats creeping up his neck. He would be covered in them, each one detailing the crimes he’d done in the name of the Brothers. “I don’t want trouble. Well, I don’t want more trouble than I can handle. You put down your guns, come with us, and we leave friend behind.”
They would likely shoot Brody as they were leaving but he had to believe that Brody was smart enough to avoid them. The other asshole knew the odds. Three on two when everyone was trained wasn’t that great. He had to wonder if Boris had told them he would be all alone and vulnerable.
&nb
sp; Still, he couldn’t take the chance.
“I’ve got a gun in a holster at my back,” he said. “Do you want me to hand it over or would you like to disarm me yourself?”
He was reckless. He shouldn’t have come here but pride had driven him, and now it would cost not only him but Hayley, since the damn names were in his pocket. He actually trusted that those names were real. Boris was a man who did pay back his debts, even when he found it distasteful to do so. He would have found it incredibly amusing to manage to pay back two debts at once and nullify any advantage Nick would have gotten from it.
If he’d waited and sent Damon in his stead, had thought for two seconds about protecting himself, he wouldn’t be in this situation. He wouldn’t be leaving her alone. It wasn’t his own life he gave a damn about. It was the one he could have had with her.
It struck him quite forcefully that his sister would have loved Hayley. Would his sister be happy with the vengeance he’d sought? It hadn’t brought her back, hadn’t stopped other women from dying. It had merely brought suffering to other people and brought him here. His vengeance had cost him Hayley the first time around, and now it would cost him again.
“Stand there. Do not to move.” The leader nodded toward the smallest of the men, who began to walk toward Nick.
He kept his eyes on the man walking toward him. “Please tell Hayley that I’m sorry.”
“Sorry that you’re such a pessimistic arsehole? What is it about you Russians that makes you so bloody dour? You know it makes me happy my normal partner’s an American,” Brody shot back. “Walt always knows that if you want to get out of a situation, someone’s got to bend over and take one for the team. Walt never questions, just does what has to be done.”
Shit. He should have known Brody wouldn’t let them take him without a fight. Bending over and taking one for the team was Brody’s lovely way of saying he was about to move and Nick better be ready. Bringing in Walt’s name told him to duck. It was Walt’s highest order in the field. Walt ducked; Brody dealt with the bad guys. Walt’s genius-level IQ and his innate understanding of both physics and geometry made it possible for him to accurately describe the path any bullet would take. His lack of fine motor skills, however, made it impossible for him to hit the side of a building, so he dove away from the bullets.
