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“Youwould be dead within a year, Kalash,” Sergey cuts in. “But you’re only interested in yourself. Other people can lead.”
“Why do you suggest me instead of Vadim?” I ask.
Sergey leans over the bar and cups his drink in both of his hands, tapping his thumb against the glass. “The elders are set in their ways. They don’t see Vadim as a full-blooded heir to your father.”
“He’s no elder, Sergey,” Kalash argues, tipping the bottle of vodka at me. “He’s a fighter.”
Sergey leans back, giving up on his suggestion. “Being an elder is not a bad position. Still have power, but you don’t have to fight wars to keep it.”
Kalash scoffs. “Is that what you want? To sit on your ass?”
Sergey leans his head to the side. “Not now, but maybe one day. It would be nice to actually spend the money I’m risking my life for.”
“Claim your prizes now, Sergey,” Kalash says with a wild urgency in his eyes. “There’s no comfortable life waiting for us at the end. If your prize is your enemy, kill them. If your prize is money, spend it. And if your prize is a woman, fuck her like it’s your last time, because it might be.” Kalash erupts in a hedonistic laugh and ends his speech by raising his bottle to his lips and finishing what’s left inside.
I watch Sergey and Kalash debate each other, feeling like I’m somewhere between Sergey’s calm, calculated manner and Kalash’s daring nature. Lately, I care more about the future. About consequences. My mind wanders to Tatyana, but I dismiss the thought that she would have such an effect on me. No woman could ever change me. Even if Tatyana could, what would happen? I end up weakened by vulnerability and Tatyana would need protection from the danger my life puts her in. We’d both lose.
I lower my drink to the bar counter, deflated over that thought when I hear shouting erupt from the offices. I head over, not sure what to expect until I come up to Eugeny’s office and see him yelling into his phone before slamming it into the receiver. He clenches his teeth and looks out the window, lost in thought, then picks the phone receiver back up to dial. Eugeny glances at me and punches numbers into the keypad, flipping through a stack of papers on his desk as he waits for an answer.
“Da,” he says with the receiver of the phone propped on his shoulder. “Just got off the board of directors meeting for the holding company. There’s a problem with our asset accounting.” He shakes his head as if he doesn’t believe what he’s about to say. “The warehouse isn’t listed. There’s no record of ownership or sale. The other directors suddenly claim they don’t remember ever having ownership of a warehouse.” He pauses and listens to a response. “Ah, ha,” he says before hanging up. He looks up at all of us in the room. “Vadim’s coming down now,” he announces coolly before resuming his search through the stack of papers on his desk.
“The warehouse that received Vadim’s shipment of weapons the other day?” I ask Grigor. He lifts his eyebrows and nods his head slowly at me to confirm.
That meeting ended with me killing the truck driver. It was far from a smooth business transaction, and it makes me wonder if this is some consequence of that day.
“Is it possible Vadim transferred ownership on his own?” Grigor asks.
“No,” Eugeny replies factually. “It would need to be voted on by the board.” He sighs in frustration. “The problem isn’t that ownership was transferred. According to the board, we never owned the warehouse at all.”
“A building full of weapons?” I add.
Eugeny leans over his desk. His eyes bounce around the contents scattered across it. “I’ll call the Land Registry and see what their records show.”
This entire situation has the unmistakable signs of a setup. I turn to Grigor. “Call the warehouse and find out what’s going on there.”
Grigor nods and pulls out his cell phone. “They might have some records in the office.”
Vadim appears with two women wearing fur coats, one cradled in each of his arms. One lady turns to us and waves, letting her coat open for us to see she’s naked underneath. Vadim kisses the woman and turns to the other, kissing her. When he tries to pull away, she closes her arms around his neck and keeps her mouth on his, laughing as she slips her tongue inside his mouth. He unlinks her arms from the back of his neck and sends the ladies on their way before stepping into the office.
I switch my attention between Eugeny and Grigor, trying to decipher the tense conversations each of them have on their phones. Vadim leans against a wall, waiting for the end result of their conversations, but otherwise doesn’t look bothered. His lack of alarm grates on me.
“You need to wake up,” I warn Vadim.
He turns to me with a smile on his face. “What is it you think is happening right now?” he asks condescendingly.
“You’re being fucked,” I snap back. I motion my head in the at the door the ladies just walked out of. “And it’s not by those women.”
Vadim turns his head from me without responding.
Eugeny lowers the phone with the same puzzled look on his face. “The Land Registry has no records of ownership of the warehouse.” He pauses for a moment, nodding his head before continuing. “Someone destroyed those records.”
Vadim narrows his eyes in disbelief.
Grigor lowers his phone. His mouth hangs open as he exhales hard. “The men at the warehouse told me someone came this morning and cleaned out the warehouse. All our weapons are gone.”
Vadim clenches his jaw and turns to Grigor. “The warehouse was robbed, and we’re just hearing about this now?”
Grigor looks up at Vadim. “They were told it was your order.”
