Chapter 14 Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN 

Dimitri

I sat in my office, staring at the clock on the wall.

Twenty-two hours had passed.

Twenty-two hours since I gave the council their ultimatum.

The bottle of vodka on my desk was almost empty. I did not remember drinking most of it. My hands shook as I poured another glass.

The room smelled like smoke. 

Cigarette butts overflowed from the ashtray. I lit another one, watching the smoke curl towards the ceiling.

The door opened and one of my guards entered cautiously.

"Sir, we still have not found any trace of…" his voice trembled.

I threw the glass at him. It shattered against the wall next to his head. Vodka dripped down the expensive wallpaper.

"Get out," I said quietly.

"Sir, I just…"

"GET OUT!"

He ran.

I stood up, swaying slightly. How much had I drunk? It did not matter. Nothing mattered except getting her back.

Another guard appeared in the doorway, fear visible in his eyes. "Sir, Mikhail Reznikov requests your presence for lunch. He has invited several Pakhans to discuss…"

"Tell him I am not hungry."

"Sir, he insists."

I didn't say anything. I grabbed the bottle and walked past him down the hallway. My guards pressed themselves against the walls as I passed.

The dining room was already full. Mikhail sat at the head of the table. Five other Pakhans were seated around him all wearing expensive suits.

They all looked up as I entered.

"Dimitri," Mikhail said carefully. "We were just discussing…"

"I do not care what you were discussing." I took a long drink from the bottle. "Have you found my brother?"

There was silence.

"That is what I thought," I said.

"Dimitri, please," one of the old Pakhans said. "Be reasonable. We are doing everything we can. But your brother has gone completely dark. No phone calls. No credit card usage. No sightings. It's like he vanished."

"Then you are not trying hard enough," I said, my vouycokd as winter.

"We have mobilized every resource," another Pakhan said. "Every contact, every informant. But…"

"But nothing!" I slammed the bottle down on the table. The sound echoed like a gunshot. "You’ve had almost twenty-four hours. And you have nothing to show for it."

"These things take time," Mikhail said. "You must be patient."

"Patient?" I laughed again. "My brother kidnapped the woman I love. And you want me to be patient?"

"We understand your frustration," one of the Pakhans said. "But starting a war will not bring her back. It will only…"

I grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it.

Food flew everywhere. Plates shattered. The heavy table crashed onto its side with a deafening boom.

The Pakhans jumped back, fear flashing across their faces. Only Mikhail sat still.

"Do not tell me what will or will not bring her back!" I roared. "You old fools sit here eating expensive food and talking about patience while she is God knows where with that bastard!"

"Dimitri!" Mikhail stood. "Control yourself!"

"Control?" I stepped over the overturned table. "You want control? I gave you twenty-four hours. That was control. I could have started burning this city down the moment she was taken. But I gave you a chance. And you failed!"

"The twenty-four hours are not up yet," Mikhail said. "We still have time."

"Two hours," I said. "Two hours left. And then Moscow burns."

I turned and walked out, leaving them standing in the wreckage.

Back in my office, I smoked another cigarette. Then another. The room was hazy with smoke.

I poured more vodka and drank it straight from the bottle. It burned going down but did nothing to numb the pain in my chest.

The hours crawled by.

Twenty-three hours. Then, finally, the clock struck midnight.

Twenty-four hours were up.

I stood up. The room spun slightly but I steadied myself.

It was time.

I walked to my weapons cabinet and opened it. Inside were enough guns and ammunition to start a war.

I loaded a pistol, tucked it into my belt, grabbed an assault rifle and checked the magazine.

I heard quick footsteps in the hallway. My guards appeared. Twenty of them, armed and ready.

"Sir," Ivan said. His face was still bruised from where I hit him earlier. "We are ready. What are your orders?"

"We start with Alexei's known associates," I said. "Everyone who might be hiding him. We go door to door, building to building. And we do not stop until someone talks."

"Sir," another guard said hesitantly. "The council... they will not approve of this. They will see it as…"

"I do not care what they see it as," I interrupted. "The twenty-four hours are up. I kept my word. Now we do this my way."

The guards looked at each other. Some nodded, some looked uncertain. But they all followed me as I walked towards the exit.

We made it to the main hallway. Then every light in the mansion went out.

Emergency lights flickered on, turning everything red.

"What…" I started.

Metal shutters slammed down over every window. The sound was deafening. Like thunder rolling through the house.

"Sir!" Ivan shouted. "The doors! They are locked!"

I ran to the main entrance. Pulled on the handle but it would’nt budge.

"Break it down!" I ordered.

Three guards rammed their shoulders against it but the door did not move. It was reinforced steel, designed to withstand attacks.

"Check the other exits!" I shouted. "Find a way out!"

My men scattered. But I already knew what they would find.

This was a total lockdown. Every entrance were sealed. Every window was barred. 

This was a built-in security measure in the mansion designed to keep people in or out during an attack. And the control room was in Mikhail's study.

He had locked me in intentionally. To keep me locked in. To prevent me from starting a war.

I was tapped.

"MIKHAIL!" I roared. My voice echoed through the mansion.

I ran up the stairs, my boots thundered against the marble floor.

His study was locked.

I pounded on the door. "Open this door! OPEN IT NOW!"

"I cannot do that." Mikhail's voice came from inside. "I am sorry, Dimitri. But I cannot let you start a war."

"You locked me in?" I could not believe it. "You locked me in my own house?"

"For your own good," Mikhail said. "And for the good of Moscow. You are not thinking clearly. You are drunk and angry and about to make a mistake that will destroy everything."

"The only mistake I made was trusting you!" I slammed my fist against the door. "Let me out! Let me OUT!"

"I will unlock the doors in the morning," Mikhail said. "When you have had time to calm down. To think rationally."

"I will kill you!" I screamed. "Do you hear me? I will kill you for this!"

"Perhaps," Mikhail said quietly. "But at least you will be alive to do it. And so will she. Because if you go out there now, if you start this war, you will all die. You, her, the baby. Everyone."

"You do not know that!"

"I do," Mikhail said. "I have seen this before. I have watched good men destroy themselves over women. And I will not watch you do the same."

I pressed my forehead against the door. My hands were shaking. My whole body was shaking.

"Please," I whispered. "Please, Mikhail. She needs me. She is out there somewhere. Scared and alone. She's with him and I cannot get to her. I cannot…"

My voice broke.

"I know," Mikhail said softly. "I know, my boy. But this is not the way. Starting a war will not bring her back. It will only get her killed."

"Then what do I do?" I asked. "Tell me. What am I supposed to do?"

"You wait," Mikhail said. "You wait and you think. And tomorrow, when you are sober and clearheaded, we will find another way."

"There is no other way," I said, my voice low.