AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It’s not a contest,” I say with a half-smirk.
“Better not be. If it was, I’d win.”
“Not with knives, you wouldn’t.”
She spins her gun around her hand in a smooth motion. “Which is why I didn’t bring any.”
Shaking my head with a light chuckle, I stretch my legs to keep my knees warm. Crouching as long as we have has made me stiff. I’m getting too old for this shit. Sticking close together we descend to the street. There’s good cover here, lots of dumpsters and cars parked by clubgoers that will probably end up towed by morning.
“Tell Kostya we’re ready,” I say to Mila once we’re tucked behind some awful-smelling garbage. I check my gun even though I know it’s loaded. But it never hurts to be sure. My blood is racing through my veins at such speeds I feel like I’m on fire.
Mila taps her phone, then peers over the dumpster. “We should go down that side street and circle through the alley. Otherwise, we risk being spotted.”
Darting into the shadows, we rush silently across the pebbled pavement near the club. None of the people in line glance our way. We’re not as interesting as their phones or the interior of the club they continuously crane their necks to see before the bouncers shove them back.
Still, there are enough pairs of eyes that I’m worried we’ll get noticed in the open air.
How do we get from here to the side street? I wonder, judging the distance, the level of shadow coverage.
“Hey, man!” a young guy in a red leather jacket shouts at the bouncer as he puffs his chest out, seemingly annoyed by how he’s being denied entry. “Do you know who I am?”
The guard grumbles something. I can’t make it out. Then he pushes the jacket-wearing guy so hard he tumbles back into the crowd. There’s a swell of voices.
Perfect. I point at Mila; she reads my silent signal. Taking advantage of the distraction, I rush down a back road with her close behind.
On a skinny street between two alley walls, we make a sharp turn. The section behind the Winter Palace is lit only by a pair of orange lights strapped to a huge set of rolling shutter doors. The music can be heard through the thick walls. Around us are construction-filled patches of dirt, projects that the city abandoned. We’re not going to be seen by any civilians here.
Peering up at the bricks coated in graffiti, I count multiple barred windows. The giant shuttered doors are locked to the ground with padlocks. I’d hoped there’d be a back entrance guarded by someone in charge of deliveries, but there’s nothing.
I’m gauging the best way to break in when I hear boots. “Tell them to move fucking quieter,” I hiss at Mila. My men should know better.
“Arsen!”
Wrenching around from the urgency in her voice, I see what she does. From the left, where we came from, are several of my soldiers. Most of the group has met at our rendezvous. But the other figures rushing our way aren’t faces I know.
But I recognize the uniforms.
Cops.
“Move!” I shout, reaching for my weapon.
Mila has hers out already; she sets off a bullet, and when the cop she aimed at spins to the street with a yelp, she dodges into the shadows. The darkness isn’t reliable though—the gunfire lights up the world. There’s nowhere to hide.
I frantically crouch in an indented section of brick along the building’s edge. It’s where people stand if it rains while waiting for their bus to arrive. It won’t keep me safe for long, but I need to catch my breath and collect my thoughts. Why are the police here? There are so many of them! It’s almost like ...
A bullet shatters against the brick by my face. Flecks of the wall slice my skin like shrapnel. “Mila!” I roar, pointing my gun around the corner, firing blindly. “It’s an ambush!”
She doesn’t reply. Over the barrage of bullets, I pick out the agonized scream of a man. The wretched sound cuts off early. Someone has died.
Peeking out, I quickly scan the situation. Twelve fucking cops, maybe more. It’s hard to be sure with the flashing red and blue lights blinding me. Of my men, I count seven still on their feet. Where the hell is Mila?
Lifting my gun, I level the barrel. Down the sight, I take aim at the bobbing head of an officer who keeps firing his pistol while squatting behind a partially open car door. He jerks when my bullet penetrates his skull, sending his hat flipping to the ground. Another shot, and he joins the hat.
But it’s not enough. My men are dying. Mila and I will join them at this rate.
Fuck! Galina, I have to make this up to you somehow.
“There he is!”
