The Exit Strategy Bundle

by Jocelynn Drake

  Justin hesitated. He couldn’t immediately follow right after Sacha, or it would look damn suspicious. He wasn’t quite sure where Gabriel was hiding. And then there was still the stack of papers that he was dying to get his hands on. Fuck.

  As if the man could sense he was needed, Gabriel appeared in the doorway with his sheet wrapped tightly around his body.

  “You ready?” Gabriel asked, his voice sounding like a disgruntled grumble.

  “Sure. You don’t sound relaxed.”

  Gabriel sighed and stepped farther into the room. “Definitely not the best massage I’ve ever had. The woman couldn’t have been more than eighty pounds soaking wet and she couldn’t apply enough pressure to get the knots out of my shoulders. I feel like a kitten walked across my back.”

  Justin laughed because he simply couldn’t help it. Gabriel didn’t get a massage, but his description of one was hilarious. But it also gave him an idea.

  “Hey!” Justin turned toward Jozsef still lounging alone in the pool. “Do you know where my friend could get a good massage in the city? He’s nervous and grumpy about his upcoming wedding. I don’t want to listen to his bitching the entire trip.”

  When he looked over at Gabriel, there was a question in his gaze, but he went with the story Justin was weaving. “Screw you. I’m not that bad.”

  “Alcohol isn’t making you better. You need a good massage.”

  Jozsef smiled up at Gabriel. “Your friend is right. A good massage will take all the weight from your shoulders and aches from your body.”

  Gabriel moved over to Jozsef and kneeled down so that he had the man’s entire attention. “Then you’ve got a reliable spot. Seriously, money is no object. My back, neck, and shoulders are killing me.”

  “Across the Danube in Pest, there is a little shop. It is run by a small woman who does both massages and acupuncture.”

  Gabriel waved one dismissive hand at him. “I’ve already done the small woman massage.”

  Jozsef chuckled. “Trust me. This sweet woman is much stronger than you would expect. She will get you to relax, I promise.”

  Justin tuned out their conversation as Gabriel continued to pepper the man with questions about the shop, its location, the shop level of cleanliness, and the woman. He was doing quite an amazing job of keeping Jozsef’s attention fully on him while Justin paced back and forth a couple of times before walking fully behind the Hungarian. As he resettled his sheet around him, he silently picked up the papers and hid them in the folds of his sheet.

  “You got a handle on where this place is?” Justin asked, breaking into their conversation.

  Gabriel nodded and stood again. “Yeah, I think I can find it.”

  “Good. We’ve got to get going to meet the rest of the guys.”

  Gabriel looked at Jozsef and smiled at him. “Thanks for the suggestion.”

  Jozsef offered a little wave as he sank down into the waters. “Enjoy your stay in Budapest, and good luck with your wedding.”

  They walked out of the pool and down the long, mostly empty halls to the changing room where their clothes were stored. They needed to move quickly to get redressed and follow Gabriel’s uncle. The conversation with Jozsef had cost them only two or three minutes. It would have taken the older man that long to walk to the private rooms. If they could get dressed faster, they should be getting to their car at the same time as Sacha.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Gabriel asked as soon as they were alone.

  “This,” Justin said, holding up the sheaf of papers. “I think your uncle was directing the head of the Hungarian state-run media to put focus on some Russian-fabricated stories to stir up trouble.”

  Gabriel swore softly. “It’s like my father just wants the whole world to burn simply because he’s got the power to influence people.”

  “We’ll look at it when we get a quiet moment. Maybe Marilyn can round up some interested parties who would like to pay for this information.”

  Gabriel lifted his eyebrows at Justin. “You’re not going to just hand it over because it’s the right thing to do?”

  “Hey! I gotta eat too. Nothing is free in this world. We can make a little money off this endeavor and stop the bad guys.”

  One way or another, the information would get in the right hands, but for now, Justin’s main focus was on Gabriel’s future. He was keeping his man alive.

  Chapter 5

  Gabriel paged through the documents Justin stole from the Hungarian. The information was just as Justin had described. It was several fake news stories that had been created to drum up more hatred toward immigrants and further unrest within the country. There was also a hefty amount directed at the EU, which would only work to drive more sentiment for its breakup. The only good thing that had come from the UK’s attempt to leave the EU was that it had banded the other EU countries more tightly together. Who wanted to leave if it was going to turn into a giant mess?

  But Gabriel was sure his father was trying to stir that mess up again. He believed that a weaker EU worked to Russia’s benefit.

  Fucking politics. He preferred it when Marilyn just sent him a new contract, and he tracked down his target. No politics. No worrying about who was pulling strings or what the impact was going to be.

  Maybe it was better if he left this life completely and tried something new with Justin.

  The car hit a pothole, and Gabriel looked up from the papers. Justin was keeping a good distance away from the silver Mercedes, but it was still clearly in view as they wove their way out of the city proper. They were on a two-lane highway with guardrails on either side of the road. Other roads would come and go, following alongside the highway before darting off again in a different direction.

  A gray sky hunkered down low against the snow-covered scenery, and the weather had warmed enough that rain had started to hammer the countryside. The trees were barren and smoke trickled steadily up from chimneys atop each house they passed. At late morning, there weren’t a heavy number of cars on the rutted and worn road. People preferred to stay warm and dry in their homes on the cold, dreary day.

  “I think he’s heading to the airport,” Justin said. “Heading out of town so fast?”

  “By now, he should have heard of my little disappearing act in Germany. The bodies were probably found. Uncle would be heading back to Russia to talk to my father in person. He’s already lost two sons.”

  As he said it, Gabriel knew he should have felt something. Anguish. Regret. These people were related to him by blood. But they were never really his family. Not in the sense that he took the word to mean—people who were supposed to love and cherish you regardless of being straight or gay.

  Not these people.

  Anatolii and Vanya Krestyanov had been different. Gabriel was sure they’d both been born spawns of Satan. They lived to torment anyone they ran across, particularly if that person happened to be smaller, weaker, or poorer than them. They killed small animals for fun and lived for weapons and combat training as soon as it was introduced into their lives.

  Gabriel had been one of their favorite targets when they were all growing up together. Twins, Anatolii and Vanya were only a year older than Gabriel and had loved to make his life hell. The few times they’d turned their attention to his sister, Nadia, it had blown up in their faces. Sure, they’d gotten in their licks, but she’d proved to be smarter and more patient. And Nadia specialized in humiliation rather than physical pain.

  When the order came down to kill Gabriel and Ivan, he could only imagine that his cousins had jumped at the chance to take it.

  And his Uncle Sacha had to have lost his mind in blind rage when he learned how his only children had been staked to the ground in the middle of a frozen field, gutted, and left to die.

  When Gabriel thought of these people, he felt only anger and pain. Muscles tightened and a queasiness returned to his stomach as fragments of memories from his captivity flashed through his head. They’d beaten him, humili
ated him. They stripped him down just to see how long it would take him to freeze to death. And before he could finally die, they’d warmed him up again so they could beat him some more.

  These people, this “family,” didn’t deserve any mercy from him. Nor would they receive any.

  He started to fold up the papers in his hands so he could turn his full attention to his uncle when something in the corner caught his eye. Reaching up, he hit the little individual light over his seat and tilted the paper one way and then another under the faint glow. It looked as if his uncle had placed another piece of paper on top of the page Gabriel was holding and written something, leaving behind an impression.

  “Maryska,” Gabriel read in a whisper.

  “What?”

  “On the paper, I think my uncle wrote ‘Maryska’ and circled it.”

  “So?”

  Gabriel continued to stare at the paper for another couple of seconds before dragging his eyes away to look at Justin. “That’s my mother’s name.”

  “I thought you said your mother was dead.”

  “She is. I…I don’t know why he’d write this. It’s not a common name.”

  “What do you want to do?”

  He could feel the car slow down a little as Justin waited for his answer. Did he grab his uncle instead of killing him? Beat the man until he finally coughed up some answers regarding his mother? It was a big risk, and there would be no way of determining if his uncle was telling the truth until it was too late, and they were already in whatever trap had been set.

  His mother couldn’t be alive. She was dead. She’d died in a car accident when he and his sister were away at boarding school. He never even got to see her lifeless body to say his good-byes. She’d been cremated. Could his father have lied?

  Yes, his father could have lied. Nicolai Krestyanov was Russia’s fucking spymaster. He built a life on lying. But why about his wife?

  No, Gabriel couldn’t let himself get distracted. Not when he was so close. The only thing that mattered was finishing this so he could start his life with Justin. So they could at last be free to live their lives without having to look over their shoulders.

  “Nothing changes,” Gabriel said sharply. “We need to get him before he reaches the airport. There’s too much security there.”

  “Then we need to act now.” Justin pressed on the gas. The car surged forward, weaving between the other vehicles on the road until they were on right on Sacha’s bumper.

  Gabriel couldn’t stop himself from gripping the handle hanging from the roof on his side of the car. “Do you have an actual plan?”

  “Sure do, G Love.” Justin looked over and flashed him a cheeky grin. “We’re going to run him off the road. And while they’re climbing out of the car, we’re going to shoot them in the head.”

  “In broad daylight?”

  “You got a better plan?”

  Gabriel snorted. “Nope.”

  “See? Why unnecessarily complicate things?”

  Gabriel had to agree with Justin on this one. He wasn’t keen on endangering the lives of others, but it was best to get this done as quickly as possible. It was clear that it wasn’t just his life his uncle was attempting to destroy. Following the orders of Nicolai Krestyanov was putting countless lives at risk.

  “You know,” Justin started with a shake of his head, “we should have planned this better.” Gabriel was about to agree with him, when he said, “We should have picked out some good car chase music.”

  Gabriel could only stare at him for a moment and then finally spoke. “You mean music to play that matches the chase?”

  “Yeah, something with a great fast beat. Makes you wanna go fast. Think about it. How many movies have you watched with a car chase and wished you had that soundtrack when you were running after a target?”

  “Like ‘Highway to Hell’?” Gabriel suggested.

  “Ooooh…that’s a good one. Or ‘Radar Love’ by Golden Earring.”

  Gabriel smirked. “ ‘Nowhere to Run.’ ”

  “That’s it!” Justin slammed his hand down on the steering wheel. “Next time, we’re building a playlist before we go on a job.”

  It was on the tip of Gabriel’s tongue to remind Justin that they weren’t going to have jobs after taking care of his family, but he swallowed back the words. There was no telling what their lives would be like after they cleaned up this mess.

  Tucking the paper inside of his coat, Gabriel grabbed the handgun that he’d shoved into the glove compartment of the hunter-green Land Rover they “borrowed” upon arriving in Hungary. He quickly checked the chamber and then the magazine before rolling down the window. A rush of cold, wet air swept into the car, pummeling them. Gabriel lowered his face into his coat, trying to protect himself from the wind and rain.

  “Why don’t you give them a little nudge?” Gabriel suggested.

  “I was just thinking that.” Justin stomped on the gas and the larger vehicle lunged forward. He angled the SUV so that it slammed into the right side of the car, pushing the Mercedes toward the left. Justin backed off and snickered while they watched the Mercedes fishtail to the left and then right on the wet road as the driver overcorrected, trying to get them in their lane.

  “Again!”

  Justin repeated the process, this time hitting the car on the left side. When it jerked to the right and slammed into the guardrail, Gabriel pointed the gun out the window. He squeezed off two rounds into the driver’s rear tire. There was a loud popping noise, but the tire didn’t go flat as he’d expected.

  “Fucking run-flat tires!” Justin snarled. “Those fuckers have made the whole ordeal of running people off the road that much more difficult.”

  “Yes, I miss the good old days too,” Gabriel muttered. “Get them again. I want to take out a tire on the other side. They won’t go flat, but it will limit their maneuverability.”

  Justin sped up, but it was harder to catch them now. Sacha’s driver had caught on that they were being attacked and sped up as well. He wasn’t even trying to counterattack. The Mercedes was built as solid as a tank and could inflict some damage to the Land Rover if the driver wasn’t a complete idiot. Gabriel figured that it was likely they were racing to the security of the airport.

  The other drivers must have caught on that something was happening, because the cars around them seemed to drop back and give them a wide berth. The two-lane road shifted to four lanes briefly as they got away from the smaller cities surrounding Budapest and into a brief flash of snow-frosted countryside.

  Justin hit Sacha’s car once more before the bodyguard not driving the car rolled down his window and fired at them. The bullet pinged off the side mirror next to Gabriel, and he couldn’t help but duck his head.

  “That’s just what I was looking for,” Justin suddenly declared.

  Gabriel ripped his eyes away from the Mercedes and glanced around the road, trying to figure out what had Justin practically bouncing in his seat. The road in front of them was rising into a bridge over another road that was cutting under the highway. The only barrier was two steel ropes running along the road.

  “Do it.”

  Gabriel didn’t even need to speak. Justin was already gunning the car, racing toward the Mercedes. The driver tried to shift lanes as if he suddenly realized the danger they were in, but it was too late. They should have gotten off the highway rather than taking the bridge. Metal crashed and howled as it scraped together. Already weakened by the bullets, the tires on the Mercedes gave out, shredding in a horrible scent of burning rubber on the asphalt. The car tried to swerve once, but the force of the Land Rover and the weight of the Mercedes had it plowing through the flimsy barrier and over the side of the road, falling to the street below in another loud crash.

  Justin instantly jerked the car into the opposite, empty lane and slammed on the brakes. As soon as the car stopped, he threw it into reverse and barreled down the road to the bottom of the overpass. Cars had stopped everywhere on th
e road in a squealing of tires and honking of horns, but Gabriel ignored the noise. His heart was pounding hard in his chest.

  On the road that ran alongside the highway, they found the Mercedes lying half on its roof and half on its side. A couple of cars were stopped, but it looked like no one was under the Mercedes when it landed on the road. Justin hadn’t even put the Land Rover in park when Gabriel was leaping out, his gun tightly clenched in his right fist. Rain was starting to fall in sheets, soaking through his wool coat and dripping down from the tip of his nose.

  “G!” Justin called behind him, his shoes slapping on the road as he ran after him.

  Gabriel couldn’t wait. He needed this done at last, needed it over. “Check out the driver.”

  Grabbing the handle on the rear door, he jerked it open with a loud whine of scraping metal from where the hinge had become warped on impact. Lying crumpled and bloody in his dark tailored suit was Sacha Krestyanov. The same man who’d goaded his sons into tormenting him when their families spent the summer together. The man who’d wrapped his meaty hand around his nine-year-old throat and told him that he planned to kill Gabriel and Gabriel’s father Nicolai, Sacha’s own brother, because Nicolai wasn’t strong enough to lead their family.

  The old man blinked against the blood running down his forehead and into his eyes. “Viktor?”

  “Uncle,” Gabriel growled, raising the gun in his hand.

  Sacha spit a wad of blood at Gabriel and gave a weak chuckle. “Nicolai is ready for you.”

  “Good.” Gabriel squeezed off two quick rounds, placing one in his forehead and another in his chest. He stood there watching the life fall from his uncle’s eyes. The bastard had probably wished he’d killed Gabriel when he had the chance so many years ago.

  A strong hand clamped down on his arm, jerking Gabriel from his dark thoughts. There was a questioning look on Justin’s face, but he said nothing about his worries. “Time to get going.”

  It was only then that Gabriel noticed the high-pitched scream of police sirens getting closer to their current location. The proximity to the airport had to have been what cut down their response time. They definitely needed to go. He was not going to waste his time in a Hungarian jail when he needed to hunt down the last two people in his family that made—and continued to make—his life hell.