“It was Ivan and Misha that your club helped send to prison,” he replied angrily.
“Jesus, how many of you Bulykins are there?”
“Enough to handle you and your club, that’s for sure,” Sasha snapped.
“Is that so? Not big enough to stay out from underneath the Beast’s thumb though, huh?”
“My family’s business is no concern of yours Evel Knievel. We came here tonight to settle a gambling debt, but little miss zookeeper had to stick her nose in our affairs.”
“Your family is gonna be short exactly two brothers if you don’t leave this woman alone.”
“She’s a witness. She must go. There’s really no other option, you see?”
Aero let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I do.”
True to his word, and before I knew what happened, Aero fired two shots. The first hit Yuri in the middle of his forehead. Dropping him like a stone. The second, hit Sasha in the neck. Blood instantly spurting from the wound. Sasha managed to get off a single wild shot, but the bullet missed us both by several feet. Sasha dropped to his knees and Aero kicked the gun out of his hand before pressing his own to Sasha’s temple.
“I told you to walk away,” he said before squeezing the trigger one last time.
My mind swirled as the sound of the gunshots rang through my ears. I could barely make sense of what I’d just seen. Of what I’d just been a part of.
“Violet!” Aero shouted, pulling me back to reality. He’d clearly been calling my name for some time, but I had no idea how long.
“W...what?”
“Security cameras?”
“Huh?” I stared at him blankly.
“Are there security cameras filming this parking lot?” He asked.
“Um...y...yes. Yes, I think so.”
“You need to tell me where they store the hard drives.”
“Joe. Joe will have access,” I said, only half aware of the words I was saying.
“Who’s Joe? Violet. Who’s Joe?”
“He’s inside,” I said, pointing back to the zoo. “He’s the one they were feeding to the lions.”
“Lions? Jesus, Letti. Are you okay?” Aero asked, examining me.
“I’m fine. They tried to throw him into the exhibit, but I think I was able to stop them, and then I ran, and you came, and...”
“Everything’s gonna be okay, baby. Listen to me,” he said, gently taking my face in his hands. “I want you to drive to the cabin and wait for me. Don’t stop for any reason and don’t say a word to anyone. Do you understand?”
I nodded, then immediately shook my head. “No. I have to stay.”
“You need to get the fuck out of here.”
“I’m not leaving Joe to deal with this crap. If you’re here, I’m here. I’m going to go back inside and find Joe and deal with the cameras.”
He sighed. “I’ve gotta make some calls and I’m probably gonna be tied up for a while dealing with these two.”
“Right,” I whispered, tears flooding my eyes as everything suddenly hit me. “Oh, my God, Aero. You killed them.”
“They would have killed us both, or worse,” Aero replied, sliding his hand to my neck. “The Bulykins’ kill guys like me and traffic women like you all the time. I made sure you were safe and did the world a huge favor by taking them out and I’d do it again without hesitation.”
