I get out of the car and check my weapon. The Glock is loaded and ready, though I'm not expecting trouble tonight, but I'm always prepared for it. The evening air is warm and humid, and within minutes I'm sweating. I roll up my sleeves and start walking.
The laundromat's door is propped open with a cinder block. Light spills out onto the sidewalk and I can hear voices insidemurmuring. At least three men, maybe more… I pause at the entrance and let my eyes adjust to the interior lighting.
The space is gutted. The washing machines have been ripped out, leaving only concrete pads and exposed pipes. The drop ceiling sags in places, revealing ductwork and wiring. A folding table sits in the center of the room while dangling fluorescent tube lighting buzzes overhead.
Ruslan stands at the table with two other men I don't recognize. They're younger, probably mid-twenties, with the hard eyes and easy stance of soldiers. Ruslan himself is in his early forties, with close-cropped dark hair and a face that's seen its share of violence.
He's wearing a short-sleeved shirt. My eyes go immediately to his left arm and I feel everything inside me focus in an instant. I don't even have to pull out my phone to double-check the image. I've stared at that thing for long enough to know that is the tattoo in the picture on the arm of the man who shot at Dominic Gravitch's SUV. While he may not have fired the mortal blow, he definitely played a part.
I force myself to breathe normally and school my expression as I step inside and start walking. Ruslan looks up as I approach and offers a smile, but it's forced and tight. Every muscle in my body is tight, like a viper ready to strike, but I have to play my cards right. I need this man to lead me back to whoever is in charge, and I need answers for Yuri more than he needs justice.
"Vadim," he says, extending his hand. "Good to finally meet you face to face." It's odd to hear clear Russian after so long of speaking in broken Serbian to men who can't quite get my dialect for so long. Refreshing, but I'm not pleased at who I'm speaking with.
I shake his hand and apply just enough pressure to make my point without being obvious about it. "Ruslan, I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow."
"Changed my flight. Figured the sooner I got here, the sooner we could wrap this up." He gestures to the two younger men. "These are my associates, Ilya and Konstantin. They'll be assisting with operations. I'd like to get started right away. I have some thoughts on how to make things move faster."
I nod at them but don't bother with pleasantries. The way he's talking sounds like he thinks he's in charge, and he very much isn't. "Fyodor said you were coming to help, not to take over the operation."
Ruslan's smile widens slightly but his eyes darken. "Help, take over, semantics. The important thing is getting results. Speaking of which, why don't you bring me up to speed on what you've been doing for the past eight months?"
The challenge in his tone is unmistakable. This isn't a request for information between colleagues. This is a superior demanding a report from a subordinate. The problem is, he isn't my superior. I outrank him by leagues. I consider pushing back but decide against it. Better to play along for now and see where he's going with this.
"I've been tracking Andrei Lebedev," I say calmly. "He's the primary suspect in the shooting that killed Dominic and Semyon. The working theory is that he gave the order based on bad intel about a drug deal that went wrong."
"And you believe this theory?" Ruslan asks. He calmly reaches into his pocket and pulls out a phone, swipes through it nonchalantly, and then slides it back in. It's almost as if he'splaying a part of a bored, uninterested boss who is humoring me. I could throat punch him right now.
"I believe Lebedev was involved. Whether he gave the order himself or was acting on someone else's instructions remains to be seen." I study him as I tell him what I really think, hoping to see a tell—a twitch, or a wince, or even a tightening of his jaw—but he doesn't react.
"What evidence do you have?"
I walk him through it. The witness statements placing Andrei in the area at the time of the shooting. The financial records showing unusual cash withdrawals in the days leading up to the hit. The communications between Andrei and known associates that suggest he was planning something big.
"But you haven't found him," Ruslan says when I finish.
"No. He's gone underground. Every lead I've followed has gone cold." And that's the truth as of right now. But Vuk is working on more leads for me and without Jovan putting his fingers in the pie now, it's only a matter of time before I find him on my own.
"Because you've been following the wrong leads." Ruslan leans against the table and crosses his arms. His feet grind on the floor as it shifts and he loses balance for a second, then he sits on the edge and scowls at me. "You've been dawdling, Vadim. You take too much time planning and executing things."
"That's how you build a solid foundation for action."
"That's how you waste time." He taps on his temple and smirks at me sardonically. "I know exactly where Lebedev is hiding and who's protecting him."
The claim is too convenient. I've been searching for eight months with every resource at my disposal and haven't been able to pin down that man's location. Ruslan arrives and within hours he has actionable intelligence? Either he's lying or he knew where Andrei was all along.
"Where?" I ask.
"There's a political figure here in Belgrade who's been providing Andrei with protection in exchange for certain services. They're both holed up in a hotel outside the city."
"And you know this how?" Also very convenient that he knows about Popovic the minute he lands in Belgrade. Yuri would've let me brief him, not the other way around, so this guy is up to something.
"I have sources—good ones. Better than yours, apparently."
I let the insult slide and focus on the substance. "What hotel?" If he's really got good intel, I can't afford to be prideful and let him take credit for the kill. And I can't let him get to Lebedev before me and kill the man before I have answers.
"They have good security—private guys who know their stuff, but if we go in hot and hit fast, we'll get him." Ruslan jerks his chin up at Ilya and the man smirks. These guys are bloodthirsty fools. They're gonna make mistakes and when they do, it'll get them killed.
"We're not hitting anyone until we have confirmation that Andrei is actually there."
