Chapter 307 - Negotiating - mdtres
Alfredo
"Say thank you. Let's go," I refused.
"You have a guard." I approached the guy. "There's no time, and I know you only work for them."
"Screw you."
"We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Do you have a family?" The guy, with a pained expression, nodded. "Are they protected? I'll pay you to tell me where they have Arnold, and your family won't suffer financially."
"How do I know you'll keep your word?"
"Unlike your boss, we keep our promises." I showed him the money. "Give me an account, and I'll transfer this amount once you tell me where and why they have Arnold."
"Nikolay called Blaz very angry and told him to finish off his son. In my right pocket, I have the card with the address where they are. This was my first month on the job."
"I'm sorry, buddy," I said as he turned paler. I made the transfer once he finished giving me the numbers. "Transfer completed." I showed him, he nodded, and he died. "Rest in peace."
"And now?"
"Did they bring down Arnold's bag?"
She shook her head. I went back to Lupe's room, saw two backpacks, opened them, and found the bulletproof vests in one. I closed it and took it, removed my glasses.
"Patricia."
"Yes."
I had denied so much what that girl made me feel, and I still don't know what was happening, but it made me angry when they looked at her... No, she was the sister of one of my bosses, leave her alone, I don't want anything serious in my life, and she was an innocent girl.
"Hey!" She waved her arms to get my attention.
"Close the front door, please."
"It's closed," I confirmed. I reopened the apartment door and helped her down, she held onto my arm. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Right now?" she nodded. "Let me get down." I threw the backpack with my friends' suits, activated the automatic lock, and fell onto the bed. "Go ahead."
"What you said before killing the guy you were fighting with..."
"Look, girl, it was just a saying, you know perfectly well that you don't attract me." She bit the inside of her cheek to hold back the tears. "I'm glad you understand."
"Then I'm going to ask you not to hold my hand, not to touch my nose, and not to give me any signs of affection beyond friendship." She was absolutely right.
"It was just a normal act of kindness from me to any friend."
"Fine." Her eyes... she was sad.
"Forgive me if I made you think something different. As I've said before, you're attractive, but you're not my type."
"Got it, crystal clear. We should go, Arinka must be waiting for us in the living room."
"Patricia, don't cry, please." She stopped and started laughing.
"Look, Alfredo, it's true that I like you, I can't deny you're the most attractive man I've ever seen, you have that mysterious aura of a know-it-all trained in the military that makes you look damn attractive.
"But I've already learned the hard way that I'm missing that last penny to make a dollar." I frowned. "If you don't understand the saying, I don't give a damn. You'll never see me drooling over you again.
"I acknowledge, and I'm not ashamed to express my feelings, that what you did when you came for us made my heart race and I got my hopes up. But, just as I'm telling you this, I'm also telling you I won't fall for your friendly displays of affection again.
"I'm just a girl, I tried everything to get your attention, it backfired, and it was quite literal. I also know when to back off. Don't worry, I'm the kind who cries today, not tomorrow. We need to go."
She left my room, and I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth... Why did it make me angry that she could forget about me? It was best not to think about it, or her.
……
Arnold
I spit blood again, as my old lady says. The bread burns at the oven door, but thank God I got out, otherwise those ten men would have found my Tadpole and little tadpoles, and I wouldn't have forgiven myself. The damn cowards hit me again.
"Come on, little girl, hit harder."
I said, they had me tied with my arms extended above my head, I let them hit me to gauge their strength, to know if they hit harder with their right or left hand. Since they left me in the warehouse with two of their biggest and burliest, but slow, assholes, an hour had passed.
If they knew about me, it was because someone had slipped up. I don't speak much German, but I've been practicing the language and can catch a few words, so I deduced that Blaz had been informed of my arrival.
They knew about the apartment since, as soon as I stepped out, they got out of the van. When they saw me, I pretended not to know them and started jogging. The two vans followed me; there was snow, and the cold was brutal.
I prepared my mind to be captured, to draw them away from my wife, giving Rino time to take care of her. If they knew, it was because something happened to Lobo. This is what I get for being too trusting, for not wanting to ruin a morning. It wouldn't have cost anything to check if they had arrived. Roland always scolded me for this.
They brought me to this place and called their boss, who said he would arrive in a couple of hours. They left me with two men who beat me while the rest left. I heard the sound of three vans, and Blaz, Nikolay's arch-enemy, got out.
"Well, well, well! You really are the spitting image of your father."
"Yeah, but I don't like men, just to be clear!"
I said in English. The laughter of that well-dressed man was loud. No one knows him for drug dealing or anything illegal, but his brother-in-law traffics other things, and I'm keeping an eye on his brothels to find out if he's involved in human trafficking. If so, I will take pleasure in bringing him down, and if he's implicated, I'll ruin his life too.
"So, you discovered your father's deepest secret."
"Don't call him my father. He only donated a sperm cell; that's the extent of his paternal contribution."
"You hate him." It was a statement.
"If you think you can use me to break him and fuel your rivalry, forget it."
"I see. But he must hate you a lot; Nikolay Petrov himself called me to give me your location."
"Yeah, I played several tricks on him." The enemy of your enemy is your friend; sell him the idea of screwing him over. "I've been dismantling his empire little by little." Blaz raised an eyebrow; you're falling for it. "I'm going to annihilate him, and if you don't let me go, you'll be collateral damage in the Nikolay Petrov operation."
"Explain."
"Give me a reason to."
"I authorized many of his people to enter and kill you and everyone living on the ninth and tenth floors of that building. I don't know what's there." My heart raced, but I showed nothing. "I sent three of my men to capture what Nikolay wants."
They handed him a cell phone. He spoke rapidly in German, and I only understood the angry look on his face. If one of my brothers was there, his men must be dead.
"They're dead," I said as he returned the phone. "I told you, if you don't join my group, you'll be collateral damage. Our common enemy is Nikolay; I only want to destroy him, nothing more."
"Talk, depending on what you say, I'll let you go if you're still fit to fight."
I laughed. Let's show this guy that I was just waiting for him. Using my arms, I lifted my body to the bar. With my weight on the iron bar, they watched me. I began to untie the rope with my teeth, my wrists bruised, and I freed myself.
I fell next to Blaz, pulled the audio isolator from my jeans pocket, and put it in my ear. Before speaking, I punched the gorilla who had beaten me in the nose and knocked out a tooth from the other one for the same reason.
"I don't need to talk; I was just killing time until you arrived." The magnate's smile was enough. "Now take me to the apartment, stay back, and watch how we take down the group Nikolay sent. If that convinces you, I'll meet you in Russia at the abandoned hangars outside Moscow.
"Now, can you give me a ride, or should I call a cab? My wife and kids are waiting for me to protect them." The man's laughter echoed throughout the warehouse.
"I like you, kid. Do you need weapons?"
"Only if they're already attacking."