Chapter 155 Chapter 155
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Five
Irina
Dmitri showed the message to everyone.
"Two hours?" I whispered. "That is not enough time."
"We need to warn Viktor," Dimitri said. "Tell him to evacuate the safehouse now."
He called Viktor. It rang once. Twice. Three times. Then voicemail. He called again. Same thing.
"He is not answering," he said.
"Try the others," Alexei suggested.
He called every number he had for our people at the safehouse. None of them answered.
"Something is wrong," Dimitri said. "We need to get there. Now."
"Dimitri, we cannot," I protested. "If the attacks are happening, we will be walking into a trap."
"Viktor is there," he said. "And twenty of our men. I am not leaving them to die."
"Then I am coming with you," Alexei said.
"Me too," Mikhail added.
"You can barely walk," Dimitri argued.
"I can fight," Mikhail replied.
Elena stood. "I will come too."
"Someone needs to stay with Irina and Nikolai," Dimitri said.
I looked at him. My brave, strong husband. "I will stay," I said. "Take everyone else. Go save our people."
He looked at me. "Lock the door," he ordered. "Do not open it for anyone except me."
"I will not," I promised.
He kissed me and Nikolai one more time. Then they left. Piled into one of the cars. Alexei drove while Dimitri tried to call Viktor again.
I waited. Minutes passed. Then more minutes. I held Nikolai close and prayed.
When they finally walked back in, I knew immediately. I saw it on Dimitri's face.
"Viktor?" I asked.
He nodded. Could not speak.
I came to him. Held him while he broke down. While he mourned the man who had been like a brother to him.
"I am going to kill Pavel," he said through his tears. "I am going to make him pay for this."
"We all are," Alexei said.
His phone buzzed again. Another message. This time it had an address and four words. "Come alone or die." It was from Pavel. He was finally revealing himself. Finally stepping out of the shadows. And he wanted Dimitri to come to him.
This was it. The final confrontation. The end of everything.
Dimitri looked at the address. It was an abandoned warehouse on the docks. Of course it was.
"I am going," he said.
"Not alone," Alexei protested.
"Yes alone," he replied. "That is what he wants."
"It is a trap," Mikhail said.
"I know," Dimitri said. "But I do not care anymore. I am ending this tonight."
He grabbed his gun. Checked the clip. Ready.
"Dimitri, wait," I said. "Please. Think about this."
"I have thought about it," he said. "This is the only way."
He kissed me one more time. "If I do not come back, take Nikolai and run. Go somewhere far away and never look back."
"You will come back," I said. "You have to."
I wanted to believe him. But as he walked out that door, I knew the truth. One of us was going to die tonight. Either him or Pavel. And I had no idea which.
I watched Dimitri walk out the door and my heart shattered into a million pieces. He was going to die. I knew it. I felt it in my bones. Pavel had won. He had destroyed everything. And now he was going to take Dimitri too.
"We have to do something," I said to Alexei.
"What can we do?" Alexei replied. "He told us to stay here."
"And since when do we listen?" I demanded.
Alexei looked at me. Then at Mikhail. Then at Elena.
"She is right," Mikhail said. "We cannot just let him walk into a trap alone."
"What do you suggest?" Elena asked.
"We follow him," I said. "Stay hidden. Watch his back. And when Pavel makes his move, we are ready."
"That could get us all killed," Elena warned.
"So could sitting here doing nothing," I replied.
I looked down at Nikolai sleeping in my arms. My sweet baby boy. He needed his father. I needed Dimitri. And I was not going to lose him without a fight.
"I am going," I said firmly. "You can come with me or stay here. I do not care."
Alexei stood up. "I am coming."
"Me too," Mikhail said.
Elena hesitated. Then nodded. "Someone needs to keep you all alive."
"What about Nikolai?" Alexei asked.
I looked at my son. Leaving him felt like tearing out my own heart. But bringing him was too dangerous.
"We leave him with the hotel clerk," I said. "Pay him to watch over Nikolai until we get back."
"And if we do not get back?" Mikhail asked.
"Then we call someone we trust to come get him," I replied. "But we are coming back."
We found the clerk downstairs. He looked nervous when he saw us.
"I need you to watch my baby," I said. "Just for an hour. Maybe two. I will pay you whatever you want."
The clerk looked at Nikolai. Then at me. "How much?"
"Ten thousand," I said.
His eyes widened. "Ten thousand dollars to watch a baby for two hours?"
"Yes," I confirmed. "But if anything happens to him, if anyone tries to take him, you protect him with your life. Understand?"
The clerk nodded quickly. "I understand."
I kissed Nikolai's forehead. Whispered that I loved him. Then I handed him to the clerk. It was the hardest thing I had ever done.
We got into a car and drove to the docks. My hands would not stop shaking. My heart was pounding so loud I could hear it.
"Are you okay?" Alexei asked.
"No," I admitted. "I am terrified. But I am going anyway."
We reached the docks and parked a block away. Got out quietly. Moved through the shadows toward the warehouse Pavel had specified.
It was dark. Silent. Ominous.
"Where is Dimitri's car?" Mikhail whispered.
We looked around. Did not see it anywhere.
"Maybe he parked somewhere else," Elena suggested.
Or maybe we were too late. Maybe Pavel had already killed him. No. I refused to believe that. Dimitri was alive. He had to be.
We approached the warehouse carefully. Found a side entrance. It was unlocked. We went inside.
The warehouse was massive. Full of old shipping containers and machinery. Perfect place for an ambush.
Then I heard voices. Low. Talking. We moved toward them.
And that is when I saw Dimitri. He was standing in the center of the warehouse.
Hands at his sides. No gun visible.
And across from him stood someone I had never seen before. A man about Dimitri's age. With dark hair and cold eyes.
Pavel.