Loyalty Test

Smoke still filled the room as Viktor dragged Luca behind an overturned table. Bullets split the wood above their heads.

"It's Katerina!" Viktor yelled over the gunfire. "She's working with Nikolai!"

Luca's eyes widened in shock. "The woman who saved us in Berlin?"

They'd been duped again.

Anya crawled toward them, blood pouring from a cut on her forehead. "Side door," she gasped. "Now!"

They fled through the kitchen as the attack team entered the main room. Outside, they raced three blocks before diving into an abandoned subway entrance.

"How did they find us?" Luca asked, his breath coming in short gasps.

Viktor's face was grim in the dim emergency lighting. "Someone told them. Someone who knew about this safe house."

"But only five people knew," Anya said. "You two, me, Tony, and—"

"Sal," Luca finished. "My own cousin."

Viktor shook his head. "We can't be sure it was Sal. Or Tony. Or even you, Anya."

The quiet that followed was heavy with suspicion.

"We need a loyalty test," Luca said eventually. "For everyone."

They found shelter in an old hotel owned by a distant family link of Luca's. The place was nearly empty, great for laying low. In a room on the top floor, they planned their next move.

"Five suspects," Viktor said, writing names on the hotel notepad. "Katerina, Tony, Sal, Dmitri, and Maria."

"Six," Luca corrected. "We need to include Anya too."

Anya didn't protest. Her eyes met Viktor's. "He's right. Test everyone."

Their plan was simple but smart. They would tell each suspect different information about their next move. When Nikolai's men showed up, they'd know exactly who had shared the information.

Viktor planned the tests with cold precision. Each piece of information seemed important but wasn't critical to their real plans. To Dmitri, they referenced a weapons delivery at the East River docks. To Maria, they spoke of moving money through a specific bank. Sal was told about a meeting with rival families at an Italian restaurant in Queens.

For Tony, who was still acting strangely since they'd discovered he was being forced to help Nikolai, they mentioned a safe holding important papers in their old office building.

And to Anya, they revealed an allegedly secret meeting with a police informant.

"What about Katerina?" Anya asked. "We know she betrayed us."

"Do we?" Viktor's voice was thoughtful. "The attack was led by someone who looked like her, but I only caught a glimpse. It could have been a double."

Luca raised an eyebrow. "You're defending her?"

"I'm considering all possibilities," Viktor replied. "Something about this doesn't add up."

They spent the next day watching and waiting. Luca handled the interrogations, his style more personal than Viktor's. He could read people, feel their fears and lies.

"Sal's nervous," he reported after speaking with his cousin. "But it feels like regular fear, not guilt."

Viktor nodded. "Dmitri is too calm. It's unnatural given the situation."

By dark, they had their first answer. A team of Nikolai's men was spotted near the East River docks. Dmitri had failed the test.

"One down," Luca said sadly. "But is he the only one?"

The next morning brought more shocks. No one had shown up at the bank Maria had been told about, but someone had searched the safe in their old office – Tony's information.

"That doesn't make sense," Anya frowned. "Tony is being held hostage by Nikolai. How could he pass information?"

"Maybe he found a way to send a message," Viktor offered. "Or maybe..."

"Maybe he's not really a hostage," Luca ended.

Their fears grew when reports came in that Nikolai's men had also been seen watching the Italian restaurant – Sal's information.

"Three leaks," Viktor said, looking at their notes. "It's not possible unless..."

"Unless they're working together," Luca realized. "Or someone got information from all three."

The tension between them rose as their frustration grew. Viktor wanted to confront the suspects directly, while Luca chose to gather more evidence first.

"Your way takes too long," Viktor objected. "Anya's life could be in danger."

"I'm right here," Anya told him. "And rushing in could get us all killed."

Their argument was halted by a call from one of their few remaining loyal men. There had been a shootout at the Italian restaurant. Three of Sal's protectors were dead.

"Sal?" Luca asked, his voice tight.

"Missing. Possibly taken."

They rushed to the scene, staying in the shadows as cops swarmed the area. Blood stained the white tables. Bullet holes dotted the walls.

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Luca whispered. "The test information was meant to be observed, not acted on."

Viktor's face darkened. "The traitor knows what we're doing. They're eliminating suspects to confuse us."

Back at the hotel, they found a note slipped under their door. Four words written in blood: "STOP TESTING YOUR FRIENDS."

"They're watching us even now," Anya said, her voice shaking.

That night, as Luca and Viktor took turns keeping watch, a text message came from an unknown number. It contained a movie.

The video showed Tony, tied to a chair, his face bruised and bloody. A figure moved behind him, just out of view.

"Tell them," a distorted voice ordered.

Tony looked straight at the camera, his eyes filled with fear. "Viktor, Luca... I had no choice. They have my daughter. I told them everything."

The camera moved, showing a young woman also bound to a chair, tears streaming down her face.

"You have until dawn," the voice continued. "Bring the seal to the address I'm sending, or they both die."

The video finished. Viktor and Luca stared at each other in shock.

"Tony never mentioned having a daughter," Anya said slowly.

Viktor frowned. "In all the years I've known him, not once."

"Because he kept her hidden," Luca realized. "To protect her from this life."

A second message arrived with locations for the exchange.

"It's a trap," Viktor said. "We all know that."

Luca nodded. "But we can't let them die."

As they prepared their guns, Anya's phone buzzed. Her face went pale as she read the message.

"What is it?" Viktor asked.

Anya showed them the screen – a shot of the three of them, taken just minutes ago, through the hotel window.

"They've been watching us this whole time," she whispered.

Viktor moved to the window, scanning nearby buildings. A flash of light caught his eye – a reflection from a faraway rooftop.

"Get down!" he yelled, just as the window exploded inward.