Nikolai parks on the side of the road just behind a thicket of trees. The three of us get out of the car while the rest of the caravan queues up behind us and begins to unload and arm themselves.
Dimiv tucks his phone away. “Dominik is right behind us. Should be here in a minute or so.”
“Good. Dimiv, take a couple of men and try to scope out the back of the house. I want to know what kind of resistance we’re dealing with.”
Nodding, Dimiv picks out three guys and they slip off down the road, using the trees as camouflage. Meanwhile, I grab the binoculars from the back seat of the SUV and aim them at the house in the distance. “We’re looking at two guys in the front… That’s all I can see.”
Nikolai pulls out a box of cigarettes and lights one up. When he sees that I’m watching, he offers me one.
I wave him off. “I’m good. You haven’t smoked in a while.”
He shrugs. “I’m feeling a certain kind of way.”
“Yeah? What way is that?”
“This is the same bastard that killed our parents. Fucked up Lev. This is the motherfucker that tried to sell Polly into sex slavery, tried to rape Alyssa, and now, he’s abducted her for the second time.” As he recites the list of Boris’s sins, I can feel my blood heat up to a boil. “It’s about time we finish off this asshole once and for all.”
I nod. “I couldn’t agree more.”
“Incoming!” Vlad calls from the jeep behind us.
Dominik arrives with two carloads of men in tow. He gets out of the lead vehicle and strides towards Nikolai and me.
“What happened to you?” he asks in alarm as soon as he’s close enough to see Nikolai’s face.
Niko shrugs. “Walked into a door.”
“Must’ve been a hell of a door.” He purses his lips, but doesn’t ask any more questions about the bruises. “What are we doing standing around out here?”
“Just doing a little recon. There’s Dimiv on his way back now.”
My cousin approaches. “There’s a car parked a couple of yards away. Two men inside. There’s bound to be more soldiers inside the house, but we couldn’t tell for sure. Windows are closed, curtains drawn.”
I nod and turn to Dominik. “Can you take care of the guys outside the house? That’ll give me time to get inside without being noticed. I need to do this silently and quickly.”
Dominik checks his weapons as he listens. “No commotion?”
“Not if you can avoid it. I don’t want to risk them hurting Alyssa. She’s in a delicate position and anything might set her off.”
Dominik nods and gestures for his men to follow him. I give him a minute’s head start, then we follow quietly, hidden from sight by the mass of trees. But the closer we get, the more the treeline begins to thin. We stop a few feet shy of where we’d be easily seen.
Dominik twists around to lock eyes with me. “I can try taking them out from here. But there’s a chance I’ll miss.”
I move forward, put my silencer on and take aim. “Don’t worry about it. I got this.”
It takes a second to get my hand to stop shaking, but once I focus on the man on the left, I feel a strange sense of calm settle over me.
This is what I know. It’s what I was raised for, trained for, molded for.
More importantly, the stakes have never been higher. Instead of agitating my nerves, it pulls them back. I’m not about to put Alyssa in further danger because I couldn’t get a hold of myself when she needed me most.
I take a deep breath, open both eyes, and fire. The first bullet catches the first guard right in the forehead. My aim is perfect. I don’t hesitate from there—I slide my gun two inches to the right and shoot again. I’m aiming for this mudak’s forehead, too, but I get him in the nose instead, obliterating his face as his blood splatters like abstract art against the white-washed stucco wall behind him.
Nothing moves. Not the birds or the squirrels or the warm California night beyond.
I lower my gun and turn triumphantly to the men behind me. “All’s clear on this side.”
Dominik is staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Jesus.”
Nikolai just rolls his eyes. “Show off,” he mutters, pushing past Dominik and his men. “Come on, we gotta move fast.”
I give Dominik a parting nod as he takes his men and marches around back. Quietly, I murmur commands to my troops. “Nikolai and Dimiv with me. Anton, watch our backs. Have a vehicle ready to move Alyssa fast if we need to.” I make eye contact with Artem. “And call Dr. Emily. Tell her to be ready at a moment’s notice.”