Chapter 240 242

Chapter 240 242
I pivot around the loading truck and squeeze a few shots off at the nearest shooters. I miss one, but hit the other square in the chest.

When I pivot back in, Tolya takes my place and finishes the one guy off while knocking off a third.

“You got a car?” he asks.

“God, I hope so.” I check my ammo and toss him a spare magazine I had the presence of mind to grab from the jet. “If it’s not Swiss cheese by now, it’s out back behind the hangar.”

Tolya nods. “Meet you there.” And before I have a chance to protest, he runs out firing and heads for the rear door of the hangar.

Fuck me.

I steel myself for the oncoming onslaught. Don’t get shot. I’ve got too much to lose this time.

My own attempt to make a mad dash for the back exit is cut off by some asshole with an automatic. I have to throw myself down to the pavement just to avoid the stream of bullets that fly overhead.

I roll onto my stomach and scan the hangar until I spot him, then squeeze a few more shots until I hear him scream and watch him drop like a sack of potatoes.

A long shadow suddenly covers me. It’s the only warning I get before Raizo’s lieutenant aims his gun right at my head.

I manage to roll away just in time; the sound of the blast is damn near deafening. He readies himself for the next shot but I’m not fucking around—I swing my legs over, catching him behind the knees. He cries out in surprise and I snatch the gun from his hands as he stumbles to the ground.

“The fuck is your problem?!” I demand, whipping him with the butt of the gun. I could just shoot him point-blank where I have him, but I need some fucking answers.

The lieutenant laughs. He fucking laughs. Blood trickles from his mouth and his eye starts to swell up pretty quickly, but he apparently finds something about this fucking hilarious.

“You can’t cheat Raizo!” he spits between chuckles. “You owe him a shit ton of money, you⁠—”

“Call your men off and I’ll talk with Raizo.” I cannot believe all this is over something so fucking stupid. Of course, there’s no way the Zakrevsky vors in Sochi would just let fifty million slip away.

“It’s too late! You owe him way more than you can afford to pay!”

The attacks. The factory. The slaves.

This is about more than money and a few misunderstandings.

“Don’t worry,” he cackles. “I hear that pretty slut is going for even more now that there’s history.”

“The fuck did you say?!”

But I don’t wait for him to answer. I pistol-whip him again, then press the barrel to his head and pull the trigger.

I’m beyond pissed. The next man who lunges at me doesn’t get the swift dispatch of a bullet to his brain because I need to fucking obliterate something with my bare hands. I grab his gun and toss both of ours aside so I can beat his ass into a bloody pulp.

He gets a few hard blows in, I’ll give him that much. I feel a rib crack when he yanks me down and slams his knee up into my side at the same time. It only fuels my rage and I roar at him, tackling him to the ground to beat his face in until he stops moving.

A quick glance across the hangar tells me Tolya’s dealing with his own set of attackers, one of whom is stupid enough to try and take him barehanded as well. Tolya makes quick work snapping the man’s neck, but he doesn’t see the second one pull a gun from behind his back.

I don’t think; I just aim.

BANG.

The would-be shooter drops dead.

It’s a break in the chaos I need to take advantage of. Whether the Yakuza are regrouping or they’re all actually dead is not something I have the time or willpower to check on—I just need to get to the Hummer stashed away out back.

“Let’s go!”

Tolya falls in behind me, constantly checking our backs for any surprise shooters. “I think they’re regrouping,” he confirms.

“Let them. We won’t be here when they launch another attack.” I kick the back door open and breathe a sigh of relief. The Hummer is still under the tarp.

And the keys are still inside.

We waste no time loading ourselves in and firing it up. Just like I’ve always ordered, the tank is full and everything on the dashboard indicates it’s been maintained.

I don’t fuck with fate. Lady Luck has never really been an ally, so I always make sure to be prepared for the worst-case scenarios.

Tolya groans and wheezes as he buckles himself in. I quickly glance over at him and notice more than a few trails of blood on him. “You good?”

“Yeah,” he grimaces. “Just feel like I attracted more bullets than I dodged. Don’t worry about me, though. We need to get to Clara.”

He doesn’t have to tell me twice.

I floor the Hummer around the backyard of the hangar and burst out into what was definitely intended to be our second round of Yakuza hell. We catch them by surprise, however, and quite literally mow down a handful who were unfortunate enough to be in the way.

A few more bullets puncture the sides of the Hummer. I don’t try to retaliate. It’s going to take them more than a few minutes to collect themselves into vehicles and pursue us, and by then we’ll be well out of range.

I keep one eye on the road while syncing my phone to the Hummer’s system. The second it beeps confirmation, I hit Pavel’s name on speed dial. “Talk to me.”

“Good news or bad news first?”

“Bad,” Tolya answers for me.

“Raizo’s definitely pissed. He’s also got Clara, no thanks to Patterson. Seems like now that Greg’s out of the picture, Raizo needs a new ‘in’ and has his sights set on⁠—”

“Wait. What do you mean, ‘Greg’s out of the picture’?”

Pavel’s grin is obvious through the sound of his voice shifting. “Our Clara has been a very busy lady. LVPD is in utter chaos over the investigation she cracked open over her dad’s head. He’s in custody and won’t be seeing sunshine for a very long time.”

“I’m assuming that’s the good news.”

“Part of it.” His voice grows serious again. “You were right. Raizo’s been monitoring her for weeks. Word on the street is he had his own plans to extract her from Oleg, and now that he’s gone and Greg’s under house arrest…”

I frown. “But she’s with Martin. Bambi said he’s the one who took her.”

“Right. And thanks to Raizo’s weird obsession with her, we know exactly where they are.”

I was not aware I’d stopped breathing entirely until that sigh of relief rolls through me. “Please tell me⁠—”

“Willow’s safe. She’s shaken up, but we managed to retrieve Princess from police custody once they saw her instantly calm down around the kid. You also owe me a few hundred bucks.”

“Help me get Clara back, and I’ll give you a permanent pay raise.”

“Shit, I’ll do that for free. Sending you the coordinates now.”

As the map pops up in the navigation console, I feel myself begin to white-knuckle the steering wheel.

Clara’s okay. She’s got to be okay. Martin wouldn’t…

Please, God.

Let her be okay.