“Are you taking Hades with you?” John asks, giving the dog lying in the corner of the room a wary look.
Shit, I forgot about him. “We’ll bring him with us. At the very least, he’ll be good to have around in case someone decides to cause problems.”
Relief crosses John’s face. “Alright. Let us know if you have any issues. We’ll grab one of Carlo’s SUVs if we have to.”
“Good.” I look at Ivano and Titus. “Meet in the SUV in ten minutes.” I head to my room to grab the weapons I’ll need, Hades quickly following me. We won’t have a lot of time to get this little trip done, but I need to know if Carlo is working with Belov. Maybe if we can figure that out, we can figure out a way into Belov, or if we have to handle Carlo before we do.
Anyone in bed with the Russians can’t be trusted. Alliances and truces be damned.
I look at Hades who is watching me expectantly. “I need you to watch my back tonight, boy. I don’t know how you and your mama handled these situations, so you and I need to figure out our own rhythm.”
I swear the dog knows exactly what I’m saying, because he lets out a small chuff of sound.
When I head out to the SUV, I’m hit with Carlo standing just off to the side, a distrusting look on his face. Until he notices and it quickly changes to something friendly and curious.
Two-faced asshole.
“Alonzo,” he greets, intercepting me. “Have you got a lead? Anything I can help you with?”
“We do, but it’s not the most promising,” I lie. “For now, I’m going to go and check it out. If I need you or your men, I’ll call you.”
“Of course. Are you sure that you don’t want me to send you with a couple of my best men? Just to be safe?” He starts to turn, as if to summon someone.
“We’ll have Hades with us,” I assure him, making him still. He quickly turns his head, finally cluing in to the dog standing quietly at my side, watching him steadily. Carlo swallows hard. “I’ll call you, Carlo, if we need back up. For now, less is more.” I give Hades a quick command to follow me and we climb into the SUV.
“He’s going to have someone follow us,” Titus mutters once we’re on our way.
“We’ve checked the entire vehicle for tracking and bugs and came up empty, so that means he’s going to have his men follow or at least track us through the cameras,” Ivano gripes.
“He’s probably not tracking us because he already has his men stationed at the port to make sure that we don’t find anything he doesn’t want us to find.”
The two of them chat for a few more minutes, but I tune them out, my mind already racing to review the information that Zeno sent through. I can’t take any chances. I don’t have Massimo or my brothers here for backup if things go south. I need to play this smart.
Hades nudges me, like he’s insisting I don’t forget him. I give him a quick scratch behind the ears, but turn my attention back to the plans and notes.
We park a half mile away from the docks to ensure we’re not spotted. On silent feet we make our way past the unguarded gate and into the port. My first tip off that they know we’re coming. No fucking way this place is unguarded. Especially not when holding cargo for men like Timur and Carlo.
I signal for Ivano and Titus to split up, and I head down a dark corridor between containers on my right. Hades follows, and for being so big, he’s amazingly quiet. He’s at my side, adark blur in the shadows. If the information we have is correct, Timur’s containers are toward the end of the port, buried four rows back so they’re not in the immediate view of anyone passing by. Carlo has his a few rows further back, but still close enough that it can’t be a coincidence.
Thank God for memorizing the maps or this shit would be hard to find.
When we near the location, I slow my steps, Hades doing the same. He doesn’t even pant, his breathing low and slow, like he knows he has to be quiet. I’ll kiss Rori for that alone when I get her back. Right now, I need to get ahold of one of the soldiers that’s going to be hanging around here so we can figure out the information we need.
I hit the jackpot when I hear approaching footsteps. I press back against the container next to me, peering around the edge just enough to make out a lone soldier walking toward me, a large machine gun in hand and wrapped over his shoulder. He’s ready to take down anyone that might get in his way.
I’m going to have to time this just right, or shit will go sideways fast. Fast and quiet. Good thing I excel at this kind of thing. I listen, waiting, but my gut tightens when I realize that I no longer hear him. Shit.
I peer, carefully, around the side of the container, biting back a curse, realizing that the guard is no longer there. Guess we’re doing this the hard way.
It doesn’t take long for me to find him again as he makes his way down the stacks, still circling back toward Timur’s section. Whatever cargo is coming in, he doesn’t want it being intercepted, which means it’s not anything good. The guard is good, always checking over his shoulder, always moving quickly, but making sure not to make an overabundant sound of noise.
It takes me another solid five minutes to get him to a good place that will make it easy to take him and also to make surethat he doesn’t call out or draw any attention. I haven’t heard anyone else around, but that doesn’t mean they’re not hiding. I just have to hope that Ivano and Titus are having better luck.
I make my move the moment he starts to round the container I’m hiding behind. I slam my hand over his mouth so he can’t scream, while quickly kicking his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. Hades is on him the moment he hits the ground, a snarl echoing between the metal containers, making the guard give a muffled scream of terror.
His hands move to reach for his gun, but I slam my elbow down hard on his temple, knocking him unconscious, his entire body going slack beneath me. “Good boy,” I praise Hades softly, making the dog go quiet, but his gaze never leaves the man on the ground. Not even as I quickly remove the gun, setting it aside so I can gag and tie the bastard up.
I shoot a quick text to Titus and Ivano to let them know my location and to help me pick up this asshole. He’s not heavy so we should be able to carry him out without much issue. The less attention we can manage the better.
