Page 56 of Prey of the Bratva

“Copy that.”

Within seconds, Katya ran to the front, her black jacket already unzipped as she took out the explosives she was carrying. With a motion of her hands, she asked everyone to move back, and we quietly took a few steps away from her. She was an expert with this. It took her less than ten seconds to plant the bombs, and they exploded the moment she backed away.

“Now!” I shouted, and the girls made their way forward through the smoke and the haze.

Locks were overridden with a precision only a trained person could possess, and entry points opened like they had been waiting for us. My team, along with Kliment’s men, flowed in behind me, shadows slipping into structure with practiced precision. Every step was measured and every movement deliberate. The warehouse was bigger than I could have imagined from the outside, and the silence that filled the place made me wonder if anyone had been present to even hear the bombs being used to pry open their gates.

Inside, the air hit differently. It was cold and sterile, and the usual scent of rust and decay was faint, almost masked, as if someone had gone to great lengths to erase evidence of use. My gut immediately signaled once again, and I knew no one was here. The place would not be this clean otherwise. However, it was clear that whoever was here had left rather recently. Which only meant one thing. They had known we were coming.

Fuck.

My jaw tightened slightly.

“Clear left,” Sera murmured.

“Clear right,” Diane confirmed.

“I have surveillance from inside. It seems as if no one is here,” Alina murmured, gaining access to the cameras inside the warehouse through our movement.

“Continue searching,” I barked into the comms, “We might find someone or something. Any person, any symbol, any sign, any files, or any kind of evidence. Pick up whatever you can get your hands on or anything that looks suspicious.”

A chorus of yes, boss echoed through the walls as everyone scattered. We moved in deeper, everyone’s eyes scanning the plane now. Crates lined the interior, stacked neatly, labeled with medical export codes that I had memorized weeks ago. These were the same codes that had flagged inconsistencies. The same ones tied to missing shipments. I stepped closer to one, running my fingers briefly over the surface.

There was no symbol or marking over them. It felt as if they had never even existed in this world.

“They cleaned it,” I said quietly.

“They scrubbed everything,” Sera added, anger visible in her voice. “It seems as if they have tried to erase every single bit of evidence on purpose. Now we can’t say if they did it because they knew about our potential raid or because this is a part of their protocol.”

“They knew we were coming,” I finished. No one would go to the lengths of scrubbing away evidence otherwise. This must have taken hours.”

Everyone around me remained silent, trying to find a clue, some clue that would give us information.

“Misha,” Alina shouted from the comms, her voice panicked. “We have movement at the back exit. Run.”

“Contact, everyone to the back exit!” I shouted in turn, and a flurry of men and women immediately leaped towards it at the cue.

I turned immediately, my gaze falling on the two men who were inching the walls of the barricades to run outside. Their tactical gear was enough to tell me that they were definitely not guards or fighters or anyone who might be a part of port logistics. They were Sidorov’s men, and right now they were trying to flee, but it was too late.

We were already upon them.

“I want them here alive,” I ordered.

That was all the encouragement everyone needed, and all of us moved as one. Sera cut left, intercepting the first man before he made it over the barricades. Diane moved right, sweeping the second off his feet with brutal efficiency. Katya and a few other girls were already upon them, weapons in their hands, holding them down before they could even think about moving again. I closed the distance in seconds, grabbing the first man by the collar and slamming him hard against the nearest surface.

He gasped, panic flooding his expression instantly.

“Please, please, I don’t—”

“Wrong answer,” I said calmly. “Don’t act like you know nothing and have no information whatsoever because it will only take me one bullet to kill you.”

Behind me, I heard the second one struggling, muffled by Diane’s grip. Some of Kliment’s men, including Viktor, had their grips on him, and he was handcuffed within seconds,completely immobile. I knew this was not what I had come for, but something was better than nothing after all. I got whatever I could get.

“Bring them inside,” I ordered, and the two men were dragged inside while they continued to shout, beg, and plead for mercy. A part of me almost felt bad for them, knowing fully well that they had just been caught in the middle of war, but when you were a part of a bratva, you paid the price.

No one in this business was clean, and no one could escape cleanly either.

We didn’t move very far since interrogation didn’t require comfort. It required efficiency. We dragged them into the center of the warehouse floor, forcing them to their knees. Their breathing was uneven and frantic, eyes darting between us as if searching for mercy that wasn’t there. I crouched in front of the first one, meeting his gaze directly.