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To Idaho.
Luka slowed his engine and looked out into the darkness to his left. Sure enough, he saw Vadim’s black coupe creeping along toward the intersection. They had finally converged at the same spot, and Luka was not about to let this opportunity slip away.
Luka kicked the engine into high gear, speeding dangerously toward the back of that van. He leaned out the window as the car skidded on the damp road. He readied the trigger of his gun, closed one eye, and fired two shots at the back tires. The first ricocheted off the back bumper, but the other punctured the right rear tire, sending the van into a slumped-sideways tailspin through the intersection.
Before it even stopped moving, Vadim and Ivan had hopped out of their coupe and dove behind it for cover. Luka did the same, ducking down behind his car in case of enemy fire. The van screeched to a smoky stop, slanted to one side with the punctured tire. Luka kept his eyes peeled for any movement.
There was a beat, and then both front doors of the van were flung open. Two henchmen dressed in hoodies and sweatpants burst out of the van and went careening off into the desert. Unsure of their identities, Luka decided to shoot to maim rather than kill, despite his desire to end these fuckers entirely. A bevy of shots came from Luka, Ivan, and Vadim, and the runaways dropped to the ground, howling and swearing with pain.
Next, the back double doors of the van opened with a bang. Luka raised his weapon instinctively, then changed his mind. He shouted, “Hold fire!”
Thank God, because when he moved a little closer, he saw that there were four young women sitting with their hands bound in the back of the van. They appeared to be suffering from varying degrees of unconsciousness, probably from some drug.
One of them, close to the front of the van, was Kira. Everything in Luka’s body wanted him to run to her, but he couldn’t. Especially when Rurik hopped out the back of the van, standing flush in front of it with his gun out and a wild-eyed look on his face.
He waved his gun around and shouted, “Move along, Sokolov scum!”
“Not a fucking chance!” Luka hurled back at him.
“You’re the one responsible for killing my uncle,” Rurik snarled at him. “I could have asked for revenge, but instead I’m taking payment.”
“That’s not payment. Those are innocent women!” Ivan yelled.
“Innocent? Not for long. These girls work for me now,” Rurik boasted.
“You want to die like your uncle did? In the middle of the desert with lead in his brain?” Luka roared.
“Go ahead. Shoot!” Rurik tempted him, flinging his arms out.
Luka gritted his teeth. Rurik was a bastard, but he knew what he was doing. At this distance, it wasn’t safe to fire at him with four nearly incapacitated women right behind him. One errant bullet could destroy them.
“Let the girls go free. Your revenge has nothing to do with them!” Luka ordered. He took a few steps closer, with his gun still pointed at Rurik.
“Fuck off!” Rurik snapped, brandishing his weapon recklessly. “These are mine!”
There was a shuffle of movement behind him, but Luka couldn’t make it out, not with Rurik waving his big gun around and shouting threats. But something clearly spooked the villain, because he startled and fired several warning shots into the sky.
“Now!” screeched a familiar voice from inside the van.
Before any of the men could react, the big green van reversed violently and plowed backward in a wide circle, the punctured tire hissing as it spun. There was a sickening thump as the van backed over Rurik, crushing him to the ground. He was badly injured and out of his mind with panic. Smoke billowed from the van’s hood, and it clunked to a stop in the ditch.
Through the smoky darkness, Luka saw Rurik’s mangled arm floundering for his gun in the sand. Luka rushed over to him and shot his forearm, shattering bone and sending sprays of crimson through the air. Rurik screamed and convulsed with agony in the dirt. Luka put his heavy boot on the criminal’s neck and pressed down, making his eyes bug out.
For a moment, Luka considered letting him live, if only to extract information from him. But he decided there were others left to interrogate who could give him the same information. Rurik did not need to live. He did not deserve to live.
So, without another thought about it, Luka aimed at Rurik’s forehead and fired at point-blank range. He didn’t flinch from the recoil, nor from the blood spattering his body. He barely waited for Rurik to fall limp before dashing to the back of the van. Ivan was untying and comforting the other three women while Vadim dragged Rurik’s lackeys off the side of the road to deal with them.
The driver’s side door popped open and Kira came spilling out onto the dusty asphalt. Luka rushed to her side, cupping her face in his bloody hands. He scooped her gently into his arms, holding her to his chest and rocking her.
“My sweet girl,” he murmured, kissing her and checking for injuries.
“My… my protector,” Kira whispered, a smile tugging at her lips.
“I should have protected you tonight. I should have been there to prevent this,” Luka hissed, burying his face in her fragrant, soft hair.
“You’re here now,” she said, clinging to him tightly.
“That’s right. I will always, always come to your rescue, Kira. I will never let anyone take you from me again,” he swore passionately. “I love you.”
