The front of the police station has been reduced to rubble and flames, with bodies scattered across the steps and smoke billowing out through shattered windows. The heavy destruction guts me as I push into the opening, listening to my coms crackle as more reports of the destruction come in. This isn't good.
"Take half the men and secure the front entrance!" I point at Kirill. "Kill anyone who's not wearing a badge!"
My men begin rushing toward the chaos while I head around the side of the building toward the back entrance. That was the extraction point, where Rashid and Popov were supposed to bring Tatiana out safely while the attack provided a distraction, but if they blew the front that badly, the back exit might be compromised too.
I round the corner and find the rear door intact but surrounded. Three Kozlov soldiers are stationed outside it with weapons ready, clearly positioned to catch anyone trying to escape. I raise my weapon and fire three times quickly before they even realize I'm there and watch the bodies fall one by one as I approach. One of them is still alive, reaching for his weapon, dropped when he got hit, and I put a bullet between his eyes before he can find the trigger.
This whole thing escalated beyond what I was planning, which is what I feared might happen. I tried to tell Tatiana how risky this was, but she refused to listen to me, and now she's in there doing God knows what while the whole fucking Kozlov alliance descends like a swarm of angry wasps.
The handle won't turn when I try it—locked from the inside or jammed by the explosions. So I step back and put two rounds into the lock mechanism. The shots are deafening in the narrow alleyway, and the metal sparks and deforms, but the door still won't budge when I throw my shoulder against it.
"Son of a bitch." I look around for another option and spot the fire emergency box mounted on the wall twenty feet away.
I run to it and smash the glass with the butt of my gun, then reach inside to grab the axe that's mounted there. Strange how these things are available on almost every building, yet I've never seen one used for its intended purpose until now. I carry it back to the door, raising it above my head and bringing it down on the doorknob with all the force I can muster. The impact sends vibrations up my arms, but the knob barely dents.
I swing again, and again, and each impact rings out like a bell, but the mechanism holds. On the fourth swing, something finally gives and the knob breaks free from the door, falling to the ground with a clatter. I drop the axe and pull my gun again, shooting out the lock mechanism in the core of the knob assembly, and the door bumps open. I swing it wide, bringing my gun up on aim, praying to God that somehow in the middle of this chaos, Rashid and Popov have managed to keep Tatiana safe.
The back hallway is a nightmare of red emergency lighting and thick smoke that makes breathing difficult. Gunfire echoes frommultiple directions and I can hear men shouting in Russian, Serbian, and English. Bodies litter the floor, some wearing police uniforms and others in tactical gear. I step over them and move deeper into the building with my weapon up and ready, fighting back the urge to cough and give away my position.
Two men in black tactical gear emerge from a side room and raise their weapons. I fire first and they both go down before they can get a shot off, and I don't even slow down. I keep moving through the smoke, checking each doorway I pass for threats or for any sign of Tatiana.
When I get to the main room, I see a man slumped against a wall wearing a police badge. It's not either of my men, but I can't be picky about someone seeing or remembering me right now. I have to find her.
"Where is she?" I grab him and give him a shake. "The witness, where did they take her?"
"South wing." He points down a hallway to my left. "The woman went that way…" He points into the area of heavier smoke where I still hear the heavy report of gunfire, and I grimace.
I release him and head in the direction he indicated, feeling a growing sense of dread in my gut. The south wing is even worse than the main room, with more bodies and more damage from the explosions. I have to step over debris and avoid small fires that are burning in offices where the windows blew out.
A man appears from a doorway ahead of me, and I recognize him as one of Malcom's inner circle. He raises his rifle, but I'm already moving, diving to the side as he opens fire. Bullets tear through the space where I was standing as I roll back to my feet, closing the distance before he can adjust his aim.
I grab the barrel of his rifle and shove it upward while driving my fist into his throat. He chokes and stumbles backward, losing his grip on the weapon, which I toss aside and follow up with a punch to his jaw that snaps his head back. He reaches for a knife on his belt, but I'm faster, grabbing his wrist and twisting until something breaks with an audible crack.
His screams alert anyone nearby that there are still combatants alive, and he tries to pull away, but I'm not done with him. I drive my knee into his stomach and when he doubles over, I bring my elbow down on the back of his skull. He collapses as I pick up my gun from where I dropped it and keep moving.
"Tatiana!" I shout, not caring who hears me. "Where are you?"
The offices along this hall are all dark and filled with smoke. I check each one, clearing them the way I was trained decades ago, but they're all empty. A dead cop slumped over a desk in one room gives me a start for a second, but he's been dead at least long enough to stop bleeding and there’s still no sign of her.
The fourth office has a desk in the center, and something makes me look closer. I move around the desk and drop to one knee, looking underneath where I find her pressed against the back wall with both hands over her mouth and her eyes wide with terror, large crocodile tears streaming down her cheeks.
"It's me." I holster my weapon and reach for her. "You're safe now."
She scrambles out from under the desk and throws her arms around my neck, nearly choking me, and I feel her shaking as I hold her. I can't fucking believe this shit. I couldn’t make it up if I tried. This woman has got to be the luckiest woman alive to survive two attempts on her life so close together.
"Are you hurt?" I pull back, running my hands over her shoulders and arms looking for blood. "Did they shoot you?"
"The vest…" she chokes out, and her voice is hoarse from smoke inhalation. "My ribs hurt, but I think I'm okay."
There's a small cut above her eyebrow that's bleeding, but it doesn't look deep. I grab her hand and pull her toward the door, keeping my weapon ready in case we encounter more hostiles on the way out.
"Stay behind me and don't stop moving no matter what happens," I tell her as I lead her back into the hallway where the smoke has gotten even thicker. "We're getting out of here right now."
We make it back through the south wing without encountering anyone else. The gunfire has died down significantly, which either means my men have secured the building or the Kozlov forces have pulled back. I'm not waiting around to find out which.
The back door's still hanging open where I busted it open, and we emerge into the alley where fresh air has never tasted so good. Tatiana gasps and coughs, doubling over as her lungs try to expel all the smoke she inhaled. I keep one hand on her back while we walk, and I watch both directions for more threats.
"Boss!" When Kirill pops his head around the corner, he almost cops one to the forehead, but I manage to stop myself as he says, "We've secured the front. Hostiles are retreating."
