CHAPTER 28
Dmitri hopped in the car and pulled back onto the causeway, continuing west across the bay. When he reached Clearwater, he turned south toward St. Petersburg.
He knew even his best friends could be compromised. That's how things work in the mafia life. You can't trust anyone but true family, and sometimes not even them.
People can be bought, or threatened, or both. Plus, he was headed to one more place where he might be ambushed by Ivan's people. Everyone knew about the store.
But Dmitri had to take risks to have any chance of saving Sonya.
He slid his gun out and held it by his side as he knocked on the door of the Russian store, peering through a slit in the blinds. Even though the store was usually open at this hour, a sign hung on the door:
Closed.
"Can I get some service here?" he said, the usual boyish joy gone from his voice.
He saw the door to the back room crack open and two narrow eyes peek out.
"It's me," Dmitri yelled.
Andre hesitated for a moment, then came out of the storeroom and opened the front door.
“Quit making so much noise out here,” he said. “Show some respect for the dead.”
Once Dmitri walked inside, he saw Oleg's massive body sprawled out on the floor, a puddle of blood beside his head.
"Bastards," Andre mumbled, his voice choking with swallowed tears.
“What happened?” Dmitri asked quietly, a shimmer of sadness flickering in his eyes, though he would not let teardrops form and fall, not now.
“You can see what happened, my friend… Who did it, you mean? I don't know. If I'd been here, he'd still be alive, or I'd be on the floor with him.”
“I know. But why weren't you here?”
“I had a late night, came in at ten this morning. You know Oleg was always up by dawn. They broke in the back door, must have been last night, and waited. They didn't even blast the safe open. This wasn't a robbery. It was a hit.”
“They'll come back for you, Andre. You shouldn't be here. Everybody close to me is on their list. It's Ivan. He's cleaning up. He knows there's resistance to his rule.”
“Ivan? But he's the new boss of the Saratov Syndicate. Why is he killing his own men? And why have you been gone for two weeks? Why would he want to kill you?”
“He's not the new Pakhan.”
“Who is then?”
“I am.” Dmitri said it for the first time. It was strange to say, but it made him feel powerful.
Andre smiled as well as one can smile when their best friend is lying dead beneath them.
“I hope I live long enough to work for you, kid,” he said.
“You must go into hiding for a while. But you can start working for me right now,” Dmitri said, then looked down at Oleg's body, walked over to the counter, unfolded a large tablecloth and covered his fallen comrade.
“What do you need, Dmitri?”
“Can you track the location of a cell phone call?”
“Sure. Well, I can tell you the city, at least. Triangulating the exact location is trickier.”
“The city is all I need,” Dmitri said as he pulled out Gilad's phone. “Look at the last number dialed, what city did they answer from?”
Andre took the phone and went into the back room. Dmitri waited, pacing back and forth in the little store. He glanced at all the foods he usually craved, but for once he wasn't hungry. A man on the warpath has not need for food.
Andre came back out fifteen minutes later.
“It's a Verizon number. Once I figured that out, I just needed to hack into his online account. Call records are updated daily, so I can only tell you that as of yesterday the phone was in New York City. Breaking into Verizon's servers would take more time – or a friend in the NSA. I can check again tomorrow, if you'd like.”
“I don't have until tomorrow.”
“So we're heading to New York?”
“You're not a soldier, Andre. You're a thinker. I'm will take care of this alone.”
Andre started to protest, but before he could get a word out of his mouth, Dmitri shook his head and flashed the faintest of smiles. They both knew he was right. Andre wasn't a warrior. He'd gotten his hands dirty before, but action wasn't his expertise. And this was a time for real violence.
“You look tired, my friend. I've got a cot in the back. I suppose you don't have time for a nap, either, do you, Dmitri?”
“No. But one more thing, do you have a radar detector?”
“Of course.”