15. Drake

Shado:Are you on your way back?

Drake:Yeah. I just dropped CiCi off.

Shado:Got the sniffer?

Drake:You act like I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.

Shado: My bad. You get distracted by pussy.

Idrop CiCi back off at her and Miranda’s apartment and then make the short drive to Vanguard Enterprises, eager to plug in CiCi’s tech to see what information it obtained.

Taking the elevator down to the basement, I descend the few steps to the bunker, throwing my ripped jacket on a chair as I pass by. Daniil and Shado are standing next to the desk of computers as I walk in.

“Surprised you two fucks haven’t killed each other.” I smirk as I walk past, inserting the drive into the back of the monitor.

Shado scoffs, “Thought about it.”

Daniil rolls his eyes. “Likewise.”

The computer hums to life as it loads countless amounts of data across the screen. All three of us stand there as I scroll, looking for anything that may hint to the shipping manifest and when the buy in is happening.

“There.” Shado points to the screen at a file labeled “Takedown.”

“Real original,” I mumble as I click the link.

“It’s happening tonight,” Daniil declares as he points to the screen.

A small box in the right-hand corner of the document is dated for today. I look at my watch. We have thirty minutes to get to the docks.

Without hesitation, I stalk over to my weapons cabinet. Pulling open the top drawer, I grab the four Semtex grenades, small plastic explosives that will easily destroy the contents of the crates. Shado walks over and grabs them, packing them carefully into his bag.

Closing that drawer, I open another. As I grab bullets to fill my Glock, I hear someone screaming my name coming down the steps.

“Drake!”

Looking in the direction of the voice, I see Miranda frantically running toward me.

“They took her!” She screams as she approaches me. Anger bubbles within me when I see red marks on her arms that resemble hand prints, and a bruise forming under her right eye.

“Are you okay? What the fuck happened?” I demand, as the same fear from earlier washes over me, accompanied with dread.

She angrily points at Daniil, “His fucking father! They took her!” She charges toward him.

Shado steps in front of her, blocking her path to Daniil. “Why would they just take her? Why not you?” He turns to face Daniil. “It’s not like your dad gives a fuck about collateral damage.”

After shoving my Glock securely in its belt holster, I say, “They’re trying to draw me out.”

Shado quickly loads his gun and cocks it, placing it in his thigh holster. He pulls his backpack on. “So, we’re headed to the docks, or what?”

“It would make the most sense. To bring her to where the buy-in is going down. They wanted to start a war, but I will finish it,” I say, pulling on my leather jacket.

“I’m coming with you,” Miranda pipes up. “Give me something to shoot.”

“Sit your ass down,” I snap. “You’re not coming. CiCi would kill me.”

Turning toward Daniil, I glare at him. “If there is even the tiniest scratch on her, I’m going to kill your father.”

“Not if I kill him first, friend.”

***

Pulling up to the docks, I park my black SUV behind two stacked 40-foot steel shipping crates. Turning off the ignition, I let out a large sigh and stare out the window for a beat, trying to gather my thoughts. Off in the distance, I can see a large rusted shipping freighter approaching the dock, with the word ‘Doblest’ painted in white letters on the side.

Russian for Valor. That’s ironic.

Glancing at Shado, I notice he has been unusually quiet on the ride over.

“You ready?” I ask, concerned that my partner isn’t fully prepared.

He nods. “Head on a swivel, brother.”

He reaches over to the door handle and presses the button, unlocking the doors.

Daniil leans forward from the backseat. “You get your girl. I’ll handle my father.” Looking in Shado’s direction, he adds, “You get to the freighter, set the grenades up, and handle any surprises.”

Shado acknowledges his role with a simple nod.

Climbing out of the car, we line up against the crates, weapons drawn. The air is heavy and thick with humidity.

Peering around the edge of the crate, I observe the scene before me: three armed men dressed in dark suits standing guard by a door of a portable building, where I assume CiCi is being held. Emerging from the door are Dimitri, Demassi, and Enzo. They are deep in conversation as they walk toward the ship, docking at the end of the pier.

“We need to wait until they board the freighter so I can get to the guards and take them down quietly,” I say as I slip the balaclava over my face. Instead of grabbing the gun on my hip, I slip the knife from my boot, flipping it open.

A quick, easy, and quiet attack.

“I’ll cover you. Let’s go,” Daniil says, abandoning the idea of going after his father. “One of my men will get CiCi to safety, and then we will assist Shado on the freighter.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Shado already making his way over to the ship, crouching down and weaving between the crates.

Staying low and out of sight, we swiftly advance our position toward the door. The portable building is nestled between two shipping crates. Daniil and I crouch behind the shipping container to the left of the building, proceeding to sneak around the back side of the crate.

“I’ll go ahead of you to give you an advantage.” He nods toward the men.

Making sure our paths are clear, we walk between the portable building and the shipping crate, creeping up behind them.

Nodding to each other, we march forward, hurtling in the guards’ direction. Daniil charges ahead of me, approaching the first guard, and forcefully plunges the knife into his back. Upon impact, he crumbles to the ground, unable to arise. The second guard turns, noticing the commotion, and attempts to draw his gun at Daniil. Before he can fire off his shot, Daniil zags toward the side. I lunge forward in front of him and shove my knife upward into the guard’s sternum. Within seconds, his eyes glaze over and blood pours out of his mouth and he slouches against me. I throw his lifeless body to the ground and step toward the door.

“We don’t have a lot of time. Get in there and get her out!” He shouts. “I’ll guard the door.”

Ascending the ramp, I swing the door open. The old portable building is about the size of two shipping containers, put together with a rotted wooden floor. At the peak of the ceiling, there is one hanging light barely illuminating the space. In the middle of the room, I see a chair tipped over. Tied to the chair is CiCi, bound by thick rope, and gagged. She is laying lifeless on the ground with her eyes closed. As I get closer, I notice her shirt is ripped, and she has a deep laceration above her right temple.

Feeling like I have the breath knocked out of me by the sight of her, I kneel beside her, carefully cradling her head in my hands.

A pained moan leaves her lips at the movement.

“I’ve got you, beautiful,” I choke out as a knot forms in my chest. “No one is going to hurt you again.”

Slipping my second knife from the other boot, I carefully slice the rope, freeing her arms and hands. The mouth gag is so tight, I struggle to get it off. Sliding the knife as carefully as I can between her delicate skin and the rope, it finally slices through.

With a sigh of relief, I scoop her up in my arms and rise to my feet.

When I approach the door, I hear gunshots firing off in the distance. I know they’ve made Shado’s whereabouts on the freighter. Exiting the building, I see Daniil motioning to his guard that is approaching me.

“Take her to Edinburgh General. Now!” He orders.

Shaking my head, I argue, “I can’t leave her, Daniil.”

“We have to go after Shado!” He yells. “She will be safe. You have my word. Your friend needs help.”

The word friend strikes me like a dagger in the heart. I can’t leave him.

Hesitantly, I hand CiCi’s limp body over to Daniil’s guard. She barely whispers my name as she leaves my arms.

Quickly pressing a kiss to her forehead, I whisper, “Time to go burn the world down for you, beautiful.”

Looking up at the guard, I threaten, “If anything happens to her, it’s on you.”

He nods in acknowledgement and disappears with her behind the shipping container to his parked car.

Daniil shouts, “Come on!” as he runs toward the docks.

I see Shado running toward us as we approach the pier.

“Get down!” He shouts, waving his arms.

Heeding his warning, Daniil and I quickly duck behind the nearest shipping containers.

Within seconds, the explosives he set on the freighter fire off, one by one, starting at the stern and ending at the bow of the ship.

The flames from the explosions heat the air and light up the night sky as I watch the entire destroyed ship and its contents burn, sinking into the dark water of the Edinburgh Port.

Standing up, I round the corner of the shipping container as Shado approaches.

“Where are they?” I growl through gritted teeth.

“They fucking got away. I w-was outnumbered,” he says, his breath coming out in short spurts. “I’m sorry.”

He turns his back to me to watch the fiery destruction.

That’s when I hear the click of a gun.

“Ah. No. They ran away, but I have business to attend to,” a thick, familiar Russian accent says behind me.

Turning around, I see Dimitri holding his gun up to Daniil’s head. Daniil stands there, still, waiting for him to pull the trigger.

“Betrayed by my own son, again,” he sneers. “Not only are you working with Draco here,” He waves his hand motioning at me, “but you told Mikhail of my plans.”

He makes a ‘tsk tsk’ sound with the click of his tongue as I draw my Glock from my hip.

He lets out a loud roar, laughing, “I wonder, who can pull the trigger the fastest?”

“That would be The Dragon,” I huff out, as I pull the trigger.

CRACK!

The bullet whizzes past Daniil, and collides with his father’s chest. With a loud groan, Dimitri drops to his knees behind his son as the gun falls from his limp hands and hits the ground. His body falls face first into the cement as his last breath leaves him.

A flash of relief takes over Daniil’s face as he drops his shoulders.

“I fucking owe you again, Draco,” he says as he walks toward me.

“I know what it’s like to kill your own blood. I would not put that on you,” I say as I slap his shoulder.

“Plus, you helped save my girl.” I pause. “We’re even.”

***

Leaving Daniil behind to clean up at the docks, I rush to Edinburgh General. The news of the attack is already coming across the radio and flashing across every television screen I pass in the waiting rooms.

Luckily, Shado pulled a favor with an inside person at the precinct and any mention of The Dragon was left out of all news and investigative reports. The only mention was my real name with the headline: “Drake Reign staves off attack by Russian mobster,” making this crime lord a hero, if only for a night.

As I approach the nurses’ station, their eyes grow wide at my appearance. Looking down, I see the bloodied, torn suit that I neglected to change out of in my rush to get here.

“Cecilia Bianchi, please,” I choke out. My breaths are ragged as I wait for them to respond.

Nervously, the nurse looks at the computer and quickly scans the room numbers. “Room 31.”

Striding down the long, sterile, white hallway, I pass by everyone in a blur. When I find the door marked thirty-one, Dr. Anders is emerging from the room.

“Ah. Mr. Reign,” he says formally, acting as if he doesn’t know my night job.

“How is she?”

“She is resting. Surprisingly, only superficial wounds to the right temple, both wrists, and the corners of her mouth. Her exam showed no blunt force trauma,” he explains. “You may go see her if you’d like.”

I nod, and he offers a soft smile, patting me on the back as he walks away.

Entering the room, I’m greeted with the familiar smell of bleach and the soft lull of machines beeping, monitoring her vitals.

Miranda is sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. When she sees me, she offers a soft smile.

“I’ll give you two some privacy.” She rises from the chair and when she passes me, she lightly squeezes my arm. “Thank you for saving her again.”

CiCi looks so small and fragile in the hospital bed. When I see her chest rise and fall, it is as if a wall of relief hits me, confirming that she is okay.

I quietly pull the chair that sits off to the side close to the bed, and sit down. Gently, I take her hand in mine and the tears that I haven’t cried in thirteen years fall from eyes.

She’s safe.

“Did you kill them?” Her soft voice breaks through my sobs.

Looking up, her soft green eyes catch mine. “You will not have to worry about Dimitri anymore.” I say as I bring her hand to my lips.

“And the others?”

“I will not sleep until they”re both dead, CiCi. They will never hurt you again.”