In one swift move, Artem slices the knife in his hand across the man’s throat like he’s carving meat. More blood spills, mingling with all the rest, as one screaming voice silences itself forever.
This is the third of Sobakin’s safehouses we’ve come down on like a plague in the last three days. It’s the clearest message I can think of to send.
I’m not playing around anymore.
More screams surround me as I walk through the burning house, hot embers biting at my skin. Another few minutes and we’ll need to move out. I can already smell cooking meat. You’d think that human flesh would have a distinctive smell, but no. It smells like anything else.
It just goes to show—at the end of the day, we’re all animals.
I notice a small pile of bodies in the corner. The pile is moving slightly and from underneath emerges a small man, trying to crawl his way out of his fate by playing dead.
He should have played dead a little longer.
He doesn’t see me coming until I’m standing right over him with my gun pointed at his head. He lets out a tiny, terrified gasp and the smell of piss fills my nostrils.
Smoke and ash quickly swallow up the acrid tang. “Where do you think you’re going, friend?” I rumble.
I shove him over with my foot and he collapses onto his back, revealing the dark stain on his pants. “P-p-please… don’t kill me…”
“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t.”
“Because…” His eyes dart from side to side, hoping for a way out that I’ll never let him find.
“Let me be very clear: you’re a dead man. But at least you can have some autonomy over your death. Do you want it to be quick and painless? Or do you want it to hurt?”
His jaw starts quivering. “Don’t kill me. Please.”
“I killed every other man in this building. What makes you so special?”
“I-I have information.”
I nod. “Yeah, so said all the other men I spoke to. They fed me lies and—” Another strangled scream pierces the air. Perfect timing. “—now, they’re paying for it. Tell me: what’s your name?”
Beads of sweat slide down the side of his face. “Akim.”
“Akim. You seem like a smart man, Akim. Like tends to recognize like, wouldn’t you say?” He nods frantically. “Then you’ll believe me when I tell you that I can spot a lie a mile away.”
He struggles upright, as much as he can with a nasty, sucking wound in his ribs. “I won’t lie to you! I swear it.”
The fire’s licking my back now, oppressive enough to match the inferno inside me. “Get on your feet and keep walking until I tell you to stop.”
He scrambles upright and does exactly what he’s told until we exit the building. I walk him over to my vehicle and order him to stop. “Turn.” He turns slowly. His gaze is fixed on me. “Where is Sobakin?”
“I don’t know.”
I sigh. “Disappointing.”
“You wanted the truth,” he blurts, speaking fast. “That is the truth! I don’t know where he is because no one knows where he is. He knows you’re coming for him and he’s retreated into his personal safehouse. Only his inner circle knows where it’s located.”
“And you are not part of that.”
“No. He likes to keep his most trusted vors close.”
I smirk. Another strangled scream breaks through the thicket of smoke and fire. “He knows I’m coming for him?”
“He’s known for years now.”
That gives me pause. “Years?”
Akim nods. “He said that he always knew it would come to this, no matter how careful he was.”
I take a step forward and Akim flinches. His quivering legs look like they’re seconds away from caving. But his jaw clenches and he stays upright.
“Tell me what he meant.”
Akim swallows. “This was before my time. I joined the Sobakin Bratva only a few years ago.”
“Poor choice.”
A sob escapes through his teeth. “I did it for my family. To keep them afloat—”
“If you think telling me about your sweet, beautiful wife and your sweet, rosy-cheeked children is going to sway me, you don’t know me very well.”
He blinks and moisture rolls down his cheeks. It could be sweat; it could be tears. It’s hard to tell at this point. It doesn’t really make any difference.
Akim clears his throat and tries again. “He’s boasted that… that he’s the one responsible for your parents’ deaths.”