Song- Godzilla (feat. Juice WRLD), Eminem
Nikolai lets his wrist hang over his steering wheel as he stares at his phone. “Looks like Enzo has a project for us.” He flips the screen around so I can see the texts. “We’ll pick up Alexei, first.”
Reapers have been spotted with another load of coke. Enzo sent a picture of the truck and license plate.
The cell dings in my hand as Nikolai pulls out in the street. An update from a traffic camera spotted their vehicle heading north through Vegas.
“Didn’t your brother say he wanted more info the next time they got drugs in?” I wasn’t with them the last time they took some from the Reapers, but I was there for the ass chewing that Mikhail dished out for not taking advantage of the information they could have gathered.
Nikolai grunts.
None of us liked getting scolded. But, I see the point. He needs to know who’s pushing the narcotics to the Reapers when we’ve effectively blocked most of their income sources.
I guess it’s why they’ve been acting more bold lately.
Alexei cackles as he crawls in the back seat. “Finally! I can’t wait to slice and dice some of these fuckers.”
Nikolai holds up a finger, pointing towards the ceiling of his Hellcat. “Only after we find out where they are getting their supplies.”
Alexei leans forward, his head jutting between our shoulders. “Okay. But when is the time up? Ten minutes? Twenty? I need to know how long I have to wait before I can cut out their hearts.” The car bounces as he jumps up and down, his back pressing against the roof.
“Knock that shit off,” Nikolai growls. “Or I’ll make you stay in here while Jax and I have a discussion with them.”
“Talking?” Alexei stills. “Is that what it’s called in English?” He leans away, his arms stretching across the backrest. “Then I can’t wait to exchange words.”
I can hear Alexei muttering under his breath. It almost sounds like he’s reciting the dictionary.
“Turn here.” I direct Nikolai while watching the updates from Enzo.
We’re in a section of Vegas most people don’t see. Dilapidated buildings, potholes, and overgrown lawns pass us as Nikolai slows down.
Watching the driveways and alleys, I spot the rear of the truck sticking out of a rundown building that looks like it used to be a mechanic’s shop.
Nikolai parks a block past so we can sneak up on them.
Darting behind worn fences and forgotten, broken down vehicles, we manage to work our way close enough to look in the windows.
Waving to Nikolai, I hold up two fingers. That’s all the men I can see inside.
He nods and disappears around the corner.
A scream rips through the hot afternoon as Alexei barges through the front door, startling the two men bent over the crates.
He leaps onto a box, pointing his pair of pistols in their faces, all while keeping up his deranged keening.
“Alexei,” Nikolai says as he walks in calmly behind him. “You’re going to shatter the windows if you don’t stop.”
“I got them, Niki! Time to talk!” He leaps up and down like a chimpanzee before landing on the dusty floor. “On your knees, motherfuckers!” Alexei screeches, pressing the muzzle of his gun into the forehead of the closest wide-eyed Reaper.
Nikolai shakes his head and steps closer to me. “Jax, make a quick sweep. I’ll get these two tied up before Alexei makes us deaf.” He winces as Alexei makes another hawkish sound from behind him.
It only takes me a few minutes to clear the area before I’m back inside.
“Well, at least you stopped yelling.” I look at Alexei as he is opening up the boxes.
Cellophane wrapped bundles are stacked inside. Each one has a sticker with an embellished letter “V” on it.
“Vacation. Visitor. Various,” Alexei mutters, pulling the packages out and stacking them in our duffel bags. He turns to me, his silver tooth gleaming. “I’m practicing my English before I take it out on them.” His thumb jerks over his shoulder at the two bound and gagged men kneeling on the concrete.
“Did they tell you where it came from?” I ask Nikolai.
He’s working on tying a rope over one of the old car lifts. “Niet. They seem to want Alexei to do all the babbling.” He paces over and grabs the taller of the two captured and drags him over to his makeshift noose.
He loosens the tie around the biker’s mouth and slides the lanyard beneath his chin. “I’m not going to give you many chances to talk since I have your buddy, too.” Nikolai tightens the slack on the line until the guy’s toes are just barely touching the floor and his eyes bulge manically.
I whip a chair over and straddle it so I’m leaning on the back. “So, who’s supplying you?”
Sputtering, the Reaper tries to answer. “I don’t…know.”
Alexei saunters over. “Where did you pick these up?” He waves one of the tightly wrapped kilos in front of the strung up man’s face. “No answer? Let’s start with the clues…” Alexei pulls out a long knife. “I want to teach you words. V is for violence.” He lunges forward and drags the tip of his blade from the left shoulder to the middle of the chest. Then, from the right side, to meet his mark in the middle.
The scream echoes inside the cavernous room.
“See? What other things start with the letter V?” Alexei’s voice takes on a sing-song quality as he dances in front of the sobbing man.
Blood drips down to puddle beneath his feet, struggling to keep his weight off of his neck.
Nikolai wanders to the other kneeling Reaper, brandishing a weapon that looks identical to Alexei’s. “I want to see if I can make you cry as loud. Do you think I can?” He wiggles the gleaming edge beneath the chin of the older enemy.
“Fuck you,” he spits. “Knox is going to kill you all for what you’re doing.”
“Knox is a pussy. I made him fall like a child with one teeny tiny bullet.” Nikolai leans back and thumps himself on the chest. “I’ve been shot with a bear gun and still stood and fought.”
My eyes flick to Alexei, who nods enthusiastically.
Jesus.
“I need to know who is supplying. Or I’ll ask for Alexei to assist me.” Nikolai squats and rocks forward.
“Jax? Can you soften this one up a little?” Alexei steps back from his hanging victim and gestures at the sopping belly.
“Gladly.” My first punch cracks a rib. The next hits him hard enough that he stops breathing for a moment.
He gasps like a fish as his lips turn blue.
Nikolai slices into number two, but that one doesn’t make nearly as much noise. “Alexei, I need your help. I think this guy knows more than yours.”
Alexei grins at me. “I can do that.” With a wild look, he reaches behind his unconscious mark and saws loudly with his serrated edge.
Tossing something at Nikolai, it takes me a moment to realize what he’s done.
A dismembered hand floats through the air and lands with a messy thump next to Nikolai’s foot.
The kneeling man starts to hyperventilate, fixating on the lifeless limb.
“Alexei, is this an English thing?” Nikolai raises an eyebrow as he looks down.
Giggles erupt. “I gave you a hand.” Alexei is laughing so hard he’s bent over, clutching his knees. “English is fun.”
Nikolai picks up the body part by one finger and dangles it in front of the man’s paling face. “You will end up in pieces. Do you want to be alive when it happens, or a fast death?”
Vomit spews from the guy’s quivering lip, making Nikolai jump back.
“You’re not making a very good case for yourself. Maybe I should make you lick my boot clean first?” Dropping the chunk of flesh, the giant Russian wraps his palm around the back of the man’s neck and shoves his face into the fetid stomach contents. “Tell me the name of the contact, and I will end this.”
“Kirill,” he grunts into the frothy bile against his mouth.
Alexei lets out a groan. “Oh, damn. Time for cleanup.” He runs his knife over the throat of the hanging man at the same time as Nikolai stabs his blade through the skull of the Reaper at his feet.
The red puddles merge into the old oil drain in the middle of the floor.
Nikolai stands, wiping the steel before sliding it into his sheath. “Jax, let’s get this loaded while Alexei works. He gets messy.”
As we finish loading the drugs into Nikolai’s Hellcat, Alexei shoves the last of the pieces of body into the back of their vehicle.
Following Alexei through the streets of Vegas, he heads directly towards the club that the Reapers call home. Leaving the truck in drive, he dives out the door and then runs to where we wait, diving into the backseat just as it crashes into the side of the building.
“Go!” he yells, still laying down.
Dirt and rocks fly as we’re thrown back from Nikolai accelerating us away.
“I’ll drop this off with Mikhail. He will be happy with a name.” Nikolai rolls to a stop outside my house.
Alexei crawls over the seat as I get out, then plops himself down.
“Alexei? You got blood and shit all over the inside of my fucking car!” Nikolai growls before the door slams shut.
I can hear Alexei laughing through the glass as they pull away.
It was a productive day. A month ago, I’d be heading towards one of the bars to have a few drinks to unwind.
But, my family is waiting for me.
