Chapter Thirty

A ferocious autumn storm ripped through Memphis as the Medlov jet land. However, all the men on the plane were aware of the fact that things were going to get a lot worse in the city in just a minute.

Briggy and Renee were escorted in one car to an off-site location with no explanation of why; neither asked.

The men loaded up in six of Anatoly’s bullet proof Land Rovers and headed to Mother Russia.

The meeting would take place in fifteen minutes. Suiting up, Dmitry rode in one car with his bodyguard Davyd and three other men, fully strapped with his trusty Glock, a bullet-proof vest, two AK47s and a knife from his childhood.

Anatoly rode in a separate SUV with Vasily and three of his men, fully loaded and ready to attack. Cracking his knuckles as they rode, he smiled to himself, ready to finally taste blood again.

Gabriel rode in an SUV with a few men who had been tapped specifically for this job. As they drove, he finally texted Agent Lee the location of the drug warehouse and the time to meet him there. He had been in contact with him since the night of his uncle’s talk and had arranged a swift attack.

Three additional SUVs ran protection around the convoy, each carrying men in tactical gear just in case things got out of control. Other men rode high-grade bikes through the rain on the convoy’s flanks.

***

As the storm raged outside, Agosto sat at his desk with his feet up eating Chinese food with chop sticks and going over the notes to a file he was working on regarding three children who had come up missing. His worry was that he was dealing with a possible child-ring. Exhausted from being at the office all night, he popped a couple of caffeine pills and drank a protein shake.

The phone rang on his hip, pulling him away from his work. Frustrated, he answered.

“Yeah,” he said quickly.

“Agosto. I just saw the biggest fucking Medlov convoy since the restaurant thing,” the airport worker said, looking around him as he made the call on the pay phone.

Agosto jumped up. “Did you see Dmitry Medlov?”

“The big, seven-foot tall motherfucker. Yeah, I saw the dude. He was with like a hundred men. They loaded up and headed out of the airport about five minutes ago.”

“Shit. Alright. Thanks.” Agosto jumped up from his desk and grabbed his coat and pulled his drawer open to grab his extra clips. “Hey, Martinez!” he screamed.

“Yeah,” the detective said, sticking his head through the door.

“Get your shit. Dmitry Medlov is home. Something big is going down. He’s headed somewhere. I need someone out at the fucking restaurant...” He slammed his drawer shut and locked it. “And I need cars ready to rock when I give the word.”

“Got it boss,” Martinez said, walking off.

“Hey, Martinez...”

“Yeah,” he said, coming back to the door.

“Call Harrison. Tell him that this might be the only chance to get that bastard Anatoly Medlov back for fucking his ex-fiancé.”

“On it,” Martinez said disappearing.

***

The convoy pulled up to the back of Mother Russia restaurant, and the men quickly flooded out, opening the doors for their bosses to escort them safely inside out of sight.

Since the restaurant had been rebuilt, there were several entry-ways that lead to the downstairs basement and several exits that led out.

Hitting the stairs, they opened the doors and cleared the halls as Dmitry and Anatoly made their way down to the meeting. The people eating out in the restaurant didn’t have a clue that on the other side of the bullet-proof walls, and a few feet below them a war was about to ensue.

The council members sat waiting Anatoly to arrive. No one knew what was keeping him so long with the exception that maybe the conditions had gotten too bad to fly. Suddenly, they heard footsteps, only it sounded like more than normal.

The door swung open and in flooded men in tactical gear. Shortly after, Anatoly walked in and then Dmitry followed. The room silenced, gasps were held.

Dmitry walked in with a bright, devious smile. Showing the deep dimples in his square jaws, clenching his teeth and staring his council down, he smirked.

“Don’t look so happy to see me,” he said, walking over to the head of the table. Anatoly pulled the chair out for him and he sat down. Wiping the rain water from his face, he took a deep breath and poured himself a glass of water. “It’s good to be home. Anatoly, check the room before we begin.”

Anatoly did so quickly. He nodded when they were clear. “Ten minutes until they arrive,” Anatoly said, checking his text from the detective Cory, who had actually gotten useful Intel to them on time.

“So, I guess that I’ll make this short. You motherfuckers were supposed to support my son, not kill him. Not allow him to be killed.” Dmitry’s voice was a low, menacing growl. Looking like a predator stalking his prey, he set his knife on the table.

“We have done our jobs,” Khalid answered confidently. “We have not forgotten the code.”

Dmitry nodded and pointed his long finger. “Some of you have forgotten. Two of you at least.” His point landed on Oleg and Yuri.

“Eight minutes.” Anatoly said, counting down the time they had before the police arrived.

“Let this be a lesson to you who may have forgotten. This is my house. I built it!” Dmitry screamed, hitting the table with his fist. “And there isn’t a thing that either of your sons of whores can do about it. As long as I live, as long as I draw breath, my son will not be removed from this table as boss, will not be over-thrown by anyone on this council and will not be plotted against by the very men that I put in charge to protect his interests. And each and every time that I have to come here to make that point, it will be a motherfucking, bloody damned massacre.”

Standing up as the chair fell behind him, Dmitry pulled his Glock and shot Yuri and Oleg in the head. He then pulled out his knife. The serrated edge gleamed. Walking over to them, he bent down on his knee and snatched their head back. Their dead eyes looked up at the ceiling. Pulling their shirt open, he cut off the stars on their chest, indicating their status in the Vory. Throwing the pieces of flesh on the ground, he looked around.

Breathing heavily, he wiped the blood on his shirt. “Are there any questions?” he asked.

The men shook their heads, mortified by what they had just witnessed, specifically Oleg and Yuri’s sons - who were spared for some reason. They sat in complete shock as they watched their fathers murdered. Still, they felt relieved in some ways that Dmitry had been merciful than expected.

Spitting, Dmitry looked at his son.

“Four minutes,” Anatoly said, looking at his watch.

“Vasily, I want every man in both of these men’s camp dead by dusk. Do you understand? Take Roman and Alesky to a safe house until it’s over. I don’t want them harmed. I’m sure that they’ve been through enough watching what has happened to their fathers.”

“Da, boss,” Vasily answered quickly.

Dmitry looked at both of the quivering men and smiled. “Don’t worry. I don’t have any plans to kill you.”

“Let’s go, papa” Anatoly said, opening the door. “Council members still standing, let’s go.”

Wiping the blood off his face, Dmitry walked back out of the basement and was guided back out into the rain by his bodyguards. Two men stayed behind to get rid of the bodies.

Everyone knew that they would have plenty of time to clean up the mess and get rid of the bodies before the police department could get a warrant to search.

Within five minutes, everyone was gone. Sirens blared behind them in the thunderstorm. The trucks split off in different locations, going unnoticed as they disappeared into traffic. Dmitry headed in one direction. Anatoly headed in the other.

***

“Damn this is a lot of coke,” Agent Lee said, hitting Gabriel on the back. “Good job, man. I was worried about you, but you did it. You brought the bastards down.”

“Yeah, we didn’t get Anatoly or Dmitry, but we got the people responsible for it. Between the tapes and this, I’d say this investigation was successful.”

“There is always next time for them. And you say that these warehouses belong to Yuri and Oleg?” Lee asked, watching the warehouse being emptied by the undercover agents.

Gabriel nodded. “Not just them. Their two sons are on the council as well. Roman and Alesky. Those are the only men that I really got a chance to ever meet, but they were supposed to be here. I don’t understand where they went to.”

“We’ll get them,” Lee said, holding up the umbrella to protect himself from the fierce storm. “They all can’t run forever, right?”

Gabriel smirked. “I’m sure that they’ll pop up. I just doubt that you’ll get anything out of them. Vor don’t talk to cops. They’ll do their time quietly.”

“We don’t need them to talk with all of this evidence. They can sit in jail and rot.”

“Alright, well, I’m out of here.”

“I need you back at the office to debrief tomorrow,” Agent Lee reminded.

“About that,” Gabriel said, pulling out his badge. “I’ve been through enough. I did what I came to do.” He passed his badge and gun to Agent Lee and nodded. “I won’t be needing that anymore.”

“You’re going to take the girl and run?” Agent Lee asked.

“Yeah, I am,” Gabriel said, walking way. “Take care of yourself, man.”

As the rain beat against his face, Gabriel walked away, feeling free for the first time in his life. He stood straighter, saw things clearer. Even in the storm, everything finally made sense.

***

Dmitry was back on a private plane headed on a long journey back to Prague out of Tunica, Mississippi by night fall. Still in his bloody clothes, he sat back and enjoyed a glass of vodka knowing that his family was safe and his point had been made. It was definitely worth the trip. Now, he could return to his family, to his wife, to his twin boys, to his daughter, to his wife. He smiled at the thought. Everything was just as it should have been.

***

Fifty miles away, Gabriel and Briggy were loading into a car and heading far away. He didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Anatoly, possibly because his father had already told him about who he really was – possibly because it would be oo painful for his cousin to see him go, but he knew for once that he had their blessings. And more than anything, he knew who they were and they know who he was. Kissing Briggy’s hand, he headed out on the dark highway with no luggage and just one envelope. He had no idea where they were going to start their new life, but he would take his uncle’s advice and make sure that it was somewhere that did not extradite.

***

The rain beat against the windows with a definite fury at Anatoly’s mansion. He stood looking out of the windows of his solarium and drinking a glass of vodka straight. He needed something to take the edge off of a very long day.

Reflecting, he thought about the men who were headed off in to the world with his last name. His father had risked everything to protect him again, and he had risked everything by protecting his cousin even though he was a cop.

Anatoly had found out the truth of Gabriel’s identity through Aldolfo at the docks. He’d tipped him off as soon as he saw him. Considering that the Cuban’s dealings had them in contact very often with DEA, he had run across the man unbeknown to him.

Anatoly had made up his mind to protect Gabriel when they were in his office after the job. He could see that his cousin was torn, hurting. It was then that he had called his father and asked him what to do before the trip to Jamaica.

“Let him fly,” Dmitry had said quickly. “We owe it to him.” Anatoly had taken his father’s advice. He knew that Gabriel was looking for anyone to take the fall to protect them. So, it was only fair that he do the same. Now, they had all settled up.

In the morning, Aleksey and Roman would be found holed up in a hotel by the DEA and take the fall for their fathers. And he would start to rebuild the council based upon his own choices.

He was actually grateful for this adventure, every part of it. Victoria had taught him the meaning of lust. Destiny had taught him the meaning of revenge. Renee had taught him the meaning of love. And Gabriel had taught him the meaning of family.

“Baby, are you coming to bed?” Renee asked, walking into the room.

He turned to her and smiled. “In a minute,” he said, licking his lips. His blood began to burn at the thought of what he was going to do her tonight. I was made for this, he thought to himself of his life. And she was made for me.