AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Mr. Ivanov, you’ve got more work cut out for you, I’m afraid,” I said.
“Oh, shall I begin to make us some lunch?” he asked with the formality of someone who’d been trained at Buckingham Palace, rather than a butler slash technology maestro employed by the Russian mafia.
“No, Mr. Ivanov. Thank you, but that’s not what I meant. We need you to find a way to see what pipes and plumbing are leading into Vladimir’s house. Where exactly is their tap water coming from? I don’t know how you’ll do it, but I know you can find a way. And then you,” I turned to Roman, “we need you to concoct some sort of poison that will give his guards unbearable stomach pains, wiping them out of commission. The poison needs to be created so that it will not take full effect until Friday evening. Even more importantly, it is absolutely crucial that you make sure this poison has no possibility whatsoever of being lethal. It’s possible that Nikolai’s grandfather is drinking the tap water. We might have to—and I’m sorry for this
Nikolai—allow for him to get a bit ill in order to save him.”
“Are you kidding me?” Nikolai said, angrily. It was the first time he’d looked me in the eyes in what felt like ages. Those two light blue winter wonderlands had faded to gray; he was so incredibly depressed that the color was literally seeping out of his body like a painting getting wet and beginning to run down the canvas.
“Nikolai, I promise I won’t hurt your grandfather too badly, that is even if he is drinking the tap water,” Roman assured him. Nikolai resumed his earlier position—arms crossed, staring downward, pretending like he was somewhere else.
“Won’t Vladimir get sick as well? Is that the plan?” Mr. Ivanov asked.
“Unfortunately, the man only drinks bottled Fiji water. He’s somewhat of a germaphobe and is afraid of tap water. So we won’t be able to get him that way.”
“Igor, once we have a better understanding of the house’s layout, I’ll need you to find a way to help Svetlana break in, discreetly of course, and go undetected as she positions herself somewhere in the dining room, or wherever it is that Vladimir plans on having this ‘feast’ of his. Svetlana,” I said, turning to her, draped in her usual tight black uniform, “Nikolai will be checked for weapons as soon as he enters the house, surely. As much as he’s become a master shot, thanks to you, he will have to go in unarmed. And so, after the guards become sick and Vladimir begins to panic, I’m sure he will pull out his own gun and try to kill Nikolai right there and then. Just as it’s Nikolai who must kill Vladimir, Vladimir knows he would need to be the one to pull the trigger on Nikolai in order for his followers to see him as a rightful heir. When he pulls the gun out, that’s when you must shoot it out of his hand, disarming him.”
I turned to Nikolai then. “Nikolai, that’s when it’s your turn. Roman will create another poison, this time an extremely lethal one, which you will need to discretely smuggle on your body into the house before wiping it on your dining knife. Ivanov will be serving steak, I’m sure of it. And so the knife will be sharp, but more importantly, it will be coated in a poison that will kill him instantly. Once Svetlana has shot the gun out of his hand, you’ll need to quickly run to
Vladimir and stab him, ending this once and for all.” “What if the guards find it?” Nikolai asked.
“We will need to make sure that they don’t. You will need to hide it…in your underwear, perhaps. And Roman, it needs to be powerful enough that even the tiniest vile will do the trick.” Roman nodded. Nikolai seemed less sure.
“And what will you be doing during all of this, if I might ask?” Nikolai said, looking at me.
“Once we know the layout of the house and exactly where he is keeping your grandfather, Igor will help me break in as well so I can set him free while all of this is going on. The guards will be ill, but they might recover, or even still try to shoot you dead. Your job is to get out of there as quickly as possible, while I find your grandfather and set him free.”
Nikolai nodded his head. I couldn’t imagine how low the boy must have been feeling and tried to ignore it. I wasn’t here to give him a hug and tell him everything would be alright, even if I wanted to. Even if every cell in my body was telling me to go grab him, to hold him, to kiss those sweet lips and tell him I was sorry and that I would fix all of this.
That’s just not how gangsters behave.
“So, does everyone understand their roles over the next 48 hours?” A chorus of “yes” erupted from the table.
“Good. So get to it. And Nikolai,” I addressed him directly as he stood from the table,
“you get as much rest as you can. You need to mentally prepare to kill a man.”
Nikolai walked up to me. The rest stood, frozen and halfway standing from the seats, aware of Nikolai’s unfazed attitude and drastic change in personality.
The icy blue of his eyes looked more hollow than I’d ever seen them, sending a chill down my spine as if I were standing out in the snowfall butt naked. In them, I saw only the reflection of myself, and did not like what I saw.
“I could kill that son of a bitch without a thought in my head,” he said, his face so emotionless it frightened me. He walked away and all I could feel was regret for ever letting things get to such an awful point.
Sweet Nikolai was still sweet. He was just hurting.
He walked out of the room.
“What’s eating him?” Svetlana asked. She lit a cigarette and began smoking it by the window, which was slightly open and letting in the frigid winter air.
“His grandfather has been kidnapped. Oh, and he found out his entire life was a lie.” I didn’t want to mention that he might also be feeling some degree of heartache—not that I wanted to flatter myself—or perhaps at least disappointment, maybe even betrayal. I didn’t want to say:Because I failed him. Because I let Vladimir kidnap his grandfather.
“Doesn’t mean he has to be so rude to us,” Svetlana barked back. “He’s acting like we’re his enemies when we’ve dedicated our lives to his wellbeing.”
“He’s afraid, Svetlana,” I replied. “Don’t you understand?”
“Of us? What’s so scary about us?” Svetlana literally had a pistol in her belt and a shotgun leaning against the wall behind her. She was practically goth, she wore so much black and her skin was white as the snow outside.
“Svetlana, he’s scared of losing us. That boy has already suffered enough loss. If he convinces himself that he doesn’t care for any of us, then any of our deaths will be easier for him to bear. Especially if we die trying to save him.”
