“Help me.” Her mother’s accented voice came from the back seat as the sirens drew closer.
I lowered my weapon.
Luna put his hand on my shoulder. “You didn’t have the shot. The risk was too great. We’ll get her back.”
I glanced at Tyler on the ground then glared at him. “That’s how you fucking train your men? To shoot at hostages?” I was so fucking pissed, I couldn’t see straight.
“Boss?”
I spun and glared at the asshole who must’ve been Collins. “Did you fucking know who was in the vehicles before you started firing?”
The fucking pussy went white. “Tyler said the women were in the second vehicle. They fired first, sir.”
“And you didn’t confirm—”
“Marek,” Luna barked.
Enraged, ready to lay him out, I turned.
“I’ll handle them,” Luna snapped, all business. “Get out of here before the cops arrive. Call Neil and Talon, they’re both in town. Recon and get a plan together while I take care of this. Don’t go after her half-cocked and alone. You’ll need backup on this.”
I was so goddamn angry, I couldn’t speak. I stepped around him and glared at the blonde in the back seat of the SUV who had the same colorless eyes as her daughter. “If anything happens to your daughter, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
Sitting with her hand over a bullet wound in her arm, she glared back. “Get me a doctor!”
She could fucking bleed to death for all I cared. “You’re lucky you’re still breathing.” I kicked the door shut.
Luna handed me Irina’s cell phone. “Call Neil.”
I worked alone, always. Because when you didn’t, this was the type of shit that happened. I snatched the phone.
“It would’ve gone down the same way no matter what,” Luna said, as if reading my thoughts. “We were outnumbered.”
I was always outnumbered, and I’d never failed before. “That wasn’t the problem.” I was outsmarted because I didn’t plan and I didn’t fucking think because I was too goddamn busy getting my dick wet.
Luna glanced up the street as the first cop car rounded the corner. “Go.”
I didn’t hesitate. I disassembled my rifle as I cut through the garage and exited out the back. Jogging to my truck, I shoved the rifle in my backpack. Two minutes later, I was pulling out of parking garage and dialing, because now I didn’t have a goddamn choice. I wanted to drive to Fedorov’s and shoot my way through every goddamn one of his guards, but I wasn’t stupid. He’d kill her in a heartbeat. My only option was to go in with a coordinated attack.
Neil answered in Danish on the second ring. “Ja.”
“It’s Dane. I have a situation.”
He switched to English, but he had a heavy accent. “You and your escort friend.”
I paused. “Which one?”
“Brandt picked a fight with a quarterback.”
I didn’t have time to dick around. I cut to the chase. “I picked one with Viktor Fedorov.”
Silence.
“You there?”
“Ja.”
“I’m going after him.” I waited to see if he commented. He didn’t. “I’m extracting his wife.”
“I am assuming this is not a paid assignment.”
Neil was one of the few people who knew what I did. “Personal.”
“You do not get personal.”
No fucking shit. “I do now.”
He paused. “Location?”
The slight pause told me he was in. “His residence on Key Biscayne.”
“There is only one road in. You will not have the advantage.”
“There was an altercation at Indigo. He’s now short four guards. It’s enough of an advantage.” And road access wasn’t the only option. “Is your boat still docked in Largo?” He had a house on the water there and a thirty-five-foot Cobalt cruiser.
“Ja.”
“I want to go in by boat after nightfall. There are tunnels to access the property and bypass the guarded gate.”
“The existence of the tunnels is rumor. The contractor who supposedly built them is dead.”
Figures Fedorov would kill his contractor. “I have confirmation of their existence and the location of the end of one of the tunnels outside the main gate.”
“The main gate is only one obstacle. He will have men inside. The tunnels could have cameras.”
“His wife got out through them without being detected.” I fucking hated calling her his wife. “I’m going to assume they’re still accessible.”
“Ignorance is brought about by assumption,” Neil countered.
Fucker was always quoting proverbs. “I’ll be armed.”
He stated the obvious. “You are not calling because you want to go alone.”
“I’m asking for backup.” And I felt like a fucking pussy for doing it. I didn’t call for favors, ever, and Neil Christensen wasn’t a man you wanted to owe.
“And the Cobalt,” he reminded me.
“Affirmative. Talon’s my next call. Luna’s on board once he’s done dealing with Miami PD and Fedorov’s four dead guards.”
“Sunset is at seven-fourteen. I will be at the marina at Luna’s condo with the Cobalt in four hours.”
I exhaled. “Copy.”
Neil hung up, and I dialed Talon Talerco. Talon was a Navy-trained hospital corpsman who’d served with André’s unit as their medic. When the Humvee that Vega, Brandt and I had been in got hit with an IED, Talon was the first medic on the scene. He’d saved Brandt’s life.
Talon answered on the first ring. “Had a feelin’ I’d be hearin’ from you.” His southern accent was as strong as his attitude.
“Because?”
“Did a favor for Vegas last night.” Talon nicknamed everyone, Vega included. “Figured y’all run as a pack. What’s up, Ink?”
Talon had seen the tattoo on my back when he’d triaged me after our Humvee was hit. That’s when he’d started calling me Ink. “Luna says you’re in town.”
“I could be,” he hedged. “Why?”
“I need backup.”
“Thought you worked alone these days.”
“Not asking for help with a client.” I didn’t specify what kind of client. He knew what Vega, Brandt and I did.
“I’m not talkin’ ’bout chargin’ the ladies.” He chuckled. “Although, can’t say I’m not curious about y’all’s clientele. I’m talkin’ ’bout your other job, Ink. The one you pretend I don’t know about. Nice work on the Cuban traffickers last month though.”
My jaw ticked. I’d taken out the top level of a human trafficking ring out of Havana. The asshole was sending women and children over on makeshift rafts that were drowning faster than the Coast Guard could pick them up.
I didn’t know how the fuck Talon knew about it, but I ignored him. Irina was my priority. “I’m going after Viktor Fedorov.”
“That’s ambitious. Must be some payout. His competition pissed off?”
I ground my teeth. “It’s personal.”
Talon paused. “How personal?”
“I’m extracting his wife.” And killing him.
“Damn, Ink.” Talon exhaled low. “I knew you were fuckin’ crazy, but come on. That’s just askin’ for fallout.”
“I’m not leaving witnesses.”
“I should’ve fuckin’ known.” Talon chuckled. “When’s this all happenin’?
“Four hours. Neil’s bringing the Cobalt. We’re meeting at Luna’s condo then going in from the water.”
“You got a plan to get in after that?”
“Yeah.” Kill everyone I see except her.
“All right, I’m in. I’ll shoot some shit up tonight.”
“Thanks.” I started to hang up.
“Hey, Ink?”
“What?”
“She hot?”
“Fuck you.” I hung up to his laughter.
The rest of the drive back to my house, I fucking festered. Replaying every goddamn second, I thought of a hundred different ways I could’ve handled it, but it all came down to one mistake. I should’ve left her at Luna’s. Whatever the fuck Fedorov was doing to her now was my fault.
I turned into my driveway and the cell Luna gave me rang. I answered without speaking.
“Where are you?” Luna asked.
It was quiet in the background on his end. “Home. I don’t hear cops.”
“I’m back at the office.”
“How’d you walk?”
“Friends on the force. The cops were glad to have Fedorov’s men out of their hair. I told them I had to take care of Tyler and get my stolen vehicle back. I promised to give a statement later.”
I didn’t say shit. I was still irate at Tyler.
Luna read between the lines. “You didn’t have to hit him. Tyler knew what he was doing. He saw the driver and the guard behind him. He watched Fedorov jump in the back seat after impact. He wasn’t aiming at the women.”
I didn’t give a fuck what he thought he was doing. “I’m not going to waste my time having a conversation about ricochet and collateral damage.” Tyler was lucky I’d only hit him.
“Fair enough. You get a hold of Christensen and Talerco?”
“Yeah. Neil’s bringing the Cobalt to your dock at your condo at seven. Talon will meet us at the same time.” I heard Luna start typing.
“How are we getting past his front guardhouse?”
“We’re not. We’re going in through underground tunnels he has all over the property. Irina gave me the location of one.”
“How do you know it’s not a setup?”
I refrained from telling him to go fuck himself. “It’s not.”
“All right, all right. I’m running backgrounds on the guards we took out right now to see if I can find any known associates. Maybe we can get an idea of how many we’re dealing with. Did she ever say anything to you about his workforce?”
“No.” Another mistake. I should’ve fucking asked her.
“I’ll run a scan on your security when I’m done. Did you have any more problems after last night?”
“Not that I know of.”
“I asked a friend on Miami PD about the guard you torched. They don’t expect to get an ID and the vehicle was stolen. They don’t have any leads.”
Fedorov hadn’t made good on that threat yet, but he would. “Copy. I’m pulling into my garage now. I’m gearing up, then doing recon. Meet you at your condo in an hour.”
Luna stopped typing. “What kind of recon?”
“Drive by.”
“Mierda. Are you trying to get killed?”
“I’m going to see what kind of surveillance cameras he has.” And let the fucker know I’m coming.
“Dios mio, what the hell do you expect to find? He’ll have more surveillance than Dade county lockup. He’s a paranoid Russian mafia gunrunner. Don’t risk it. We’ll recon after dark once we get there.”
No, we won’t. Come sundown, I’m going in and getting her. “I’ll see you in an hour.”
“Come on, bro. What are you going to do?”
Drive up to his guardhouse and fucking announce myself. Targets never took you seriously when you knocked on their front door. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll handle it.”
“Shit.” Luna sighed, exasperated. “Give me twenty and I’ll come with you.”
Not happening. “I’ll see you at your condo.” I hung up.
I checked my security feeds on my mobile app then got out of the truck and scanned the perimeter of my yard before I headed inside. Hunter circled around me then whined at the door and barked once. I opened the door, but he didn’t go out. He just glanced in the garage then looked accusingly at me.
“She’s not here. I’m alone.”
He lay down at the door.
Christ. I went to the bedroom and opened my gun safe. Exchanging the rifle for my retrofitted AR15, I loaded up on extra magazines and ammo. Then I dumped food in Hunter’s bowl. I was back in the truck in five minutes, and a half hour after that, I was taking the bridge onto Key Biscayne.
I didn’t notice the view or the afternoon sun or the boats on the water. I didn’t pay attention to the swarm of gardeners cleaning up lawn debris on multimillion-dollar estates. I didn’t catalog shit.
I broke every speed limit and tried to convince myself going in now without backup was a bad fucking idea. My control hanging by a thread, I turned down Fedorov’s street and pulled right the fuck up to his front gate.
With a rifle on a shoulder harness resting crossways against his chest, an armed guard stepped out of the small guardhouse.
I lowered my window.
“Private property. Turn around.” He made a circle in the air with his finger.
His first mistake was stepping up to the vehicle. His second mistake was not keeping both hands on his weapon.
I grabbed the rifle and jerked it and him against the side of the truck as I shoved my 9mm into his temple. “You made a crucial mistake.” His third mistake was keeping the safety on.
He swore in Russian. “You’re dead.”
“Not before you.” I quickly scanned the two cameras mounted on the guardhouse and additional cameras mounted on the security wall at every third section. None of them were moving. I spotted the sprinkler pump housing ten yards behind the guardhouse.
“You’re on camera,” he spat out. “I record everything.”
“Good. Make sure Fedorov knows I’m coming for him. Tell him the marine is going to kill him.”
The guard yanked against my hold. “You tell him. He will be down here the second he sees you on camera.”
“Thinking you had the upper hand with your security cameras and your weapon, you underestimated me. That was your crucial mistake.” In one quick, precise movement, I released the rifle, and applied the right amount of pressure at a precise spot on the side of his neck.
He dropped to the ground, unconscious.
I glared up at the security camera for two heartbeats then I threw the truck in reverse and drove to Luna’s.