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“Not really.” Sergei cringes. “Let’s keep this on the down-low. Roman will lose his shit if he finds out.”
Charming. “And who are we rescuing?”
“Kai Mazur,” Felix says.
“Yeah.” I snort. “Not happening.”
“You owe me!”
“That man is seriously fucked-up, Felix. He will probably think we came to take him out and will try to kill us first.”
“You always see the worst in people,” Sergei pipes up. “Kai is a decent guy.”
“Kai is a decent guy?If I remember correctly, you two tried to kill each other at least five times.”
“A decent, fucked up guy?” he grins.
I pinch the bridge of my nose, barely able to believe this shit I’m hearing. It’s true. Crazy people just gravitate to each other.
“Come on, Az,” Sergei says. “We can’t abandon him.”
“All right, damn it.”
***
A crunch to my right.
I snap my rifle toward the source of the sound, seeing that it’s only a rodent scurrying amid the fallen leaves.
The air is heavy with humidity, making it hard to breathe, especially in full-gear tactical outfits and night vision equipment. I reposition, focusing my scope back on the wooden gate where two men are standing guard.
“That lunatic couldn’t let himself get caught in a cooler climate, could he?” I grumble.
“I’m sure he’ll be more considerate next time,” Sergei says as he keeps twisting the wires on his self-made bomb.
“How the fuck did he get captured?”
“No idea. Felix thought Kai was dead until his name came up in a message he intercepted over one of the unofficial channels. Can you believe that old bastard still has a back door to Kruger’s comms? Anyway, looks like the Mexicans had him for quite some time. Mendoza’s son-in-law got arrested in the US last month, so they’ve offered up a swap—Kai for sonny-boy.”
“How long issome time?”
Sergei finishes with the bomb and sets it down on the ground. “Three years.”
“Three years? Jesus fucking Christ. Are you sure he’s alive?”
“They would never kill him. Too valuable of a bargaining chip,” he says and reaches for his sniper rifle. “But what state we’ll find him in, that’s the million-dollar question. Let’s get closer.”
We move closer to the gate and take cover behind a big bush. I keep the guards in my scope while Sergei takes out a small tablet device from his backpack and flips it open. “By the way, I saw the recording of your funeral. Beautiful service.”
“Thank you.”
“Do they still believe it was a gas leak?”
“Those who need to, yes.” I nod toward the compound in front of us. “How many bombs did you set?”
“Twelve along the outside of the walls. Thirty-seven inside. Couldn’t do any at the gate since it’s guarded twenty-four seven.” He hovers his finger over one of the keys on the keypad and takes the bomb he just made in his free hand. “Man, I love this shit.”
He throws the bomb toward the gate. The thing lands between the two guards and explodes. A second later, a deafening boom fills the air as all the explosive devices Sergei had set detonate simultaneously. The ground shakes as if an earthquake has struck under our feet, sending dirt, wood, and building debris sky-high. I’m just waiting for the hellmouth to open and swallow us whole.
