Page 180 of The Lazarov Bratva

“What is it?”

Andrev holds out a phone with August’s name displayed on the screen. He settles onto the seat next to me and attaches the call to the iPad resting by me on the table, ending the gentle hum of music.

“Alena,” I call softly. “I have to take this.”

Alena doesn’t look up, only waves one hand at me and continues working. At the press of a button, August’s bushy face appears on the screen and he grins immediately. Nothing dampens that man’s spirits.

“Kristof!” he booms. “You’re looking better.”

“Yeah, uh…” I glance across at Alena as memories of a few weeks ago when we had an intense session flash in my mind. “I’ve worked a few things out.”

“Good. It’s important to take the time to care for your health. But you’ve had enough time to rest!”

Oh, Alena certainly made sure I was healthy, alright.

“So,” I ask, leaning forward and causing the wicker to creak underneath me. “What’ve you got for me?”

“The guy we captured from the convoy a few weeks ago? The tip he gave us about Aleksander turning tail and fleeing back to the USA? False. The fucker’s just gone into hiding. My guess is he wanted us to think he’d left so we’d let our guard down.” August grumbles under his breath. “Luckily, we didn’t act on that fucker’s claims.”

“If nothing else, it shows that he’s trying to play us,” Andrev says tightly. “Even his own men are in on it. I don’t know if it’s loyalty or stupidity that has them spreading his lies like that, but either way, that fucker won’t be a problem anymore.”

“You took care of him?” I glance up at Andrev, and he nods.

“Six feet under.”

“Good.”

“I do have some good news, though,” August says, moving about on the screen. “Well, depending on your outlook. I have a lot of ties with the smaller families. You know, the outliers who do some of the grunt work or run the day-to-day legitimate businesses.”

“The Families we’re not supposed to worry about?” I scoff.

In the old days, my own Family was considered an outlier. The small Families simply seek protection and do simple work like ferrying cash or driving drugs across the border. These people are often much smaller groups of people only looking to make cash and are rarely involved in the inner workings of the Family.

“Exactly.” Objects clatter off-screen as August talks. “Well, turns out Aleksander reached out to one of the smaller Families, and I’m talking about lowest of the low in terms of ranking. They’ve done nothing but small-time deals. The biggest thing they are in charge of is getting products onto the streets and taking money in return.”

“What does Aleksander want with people like that?” Andrev’s brow pinches together.

“I keep an eye on everyone here, big and small. They might be grunts, but cannon fodder can be dangerous, so I make sure to know everyone. So, when Aleksander reached out to them, they reached out to me to see if it was legitimate.”

“No wonder,” I scoff, rubbing one hand through my beard. “Small fish like that getting a call from the Boss probably doesn’t feel real.” My mind runs, thinking back to how often Aleksander scoffed and looked down on the outlier Families. They were barely a blip on his radar. “What the hell is he playing at?”

“Do you think it’s a cover?” Andrev glances at me. “Trying to make it look like he’s over here on business since we wrecked his convoy?”

“Who is he trying to fool?” This doesn’t make sense. “The Irish are in shambles. No one knows what the fuck the Italians are up to. Who is he putting on a show for?”

“The Cartel?” August offers. “The Kuznetsovs were dealing with them, weren’t they? The weapons that were supposed to replace ours. If Aleksander has to look competent to anyone, it has to be them if he’s still trying to secure a deal.”

“Maybe… but why? Showing interest in the lower Families, the day-to-day running of things… if he’s trying to make himself look like a competent leader, then that looks desperate.” Try as I might, none of this makes sense.

“To us, sure,” Andrev points out. “But the support behind you and August is immense. Sure, no one knows all of your actions with Alena, but everything you’ve done to maintain communications here, and to keep everything in the Family rather than relying on outsiders like the Cartel, has people noticing. It makes Aleksander look weak, so to us, he looks desperate.”

“Is he buying time?” My mind starts to race. “He’s been here for weeks now, but he hasn’t made a move since the last attack. In fact, ever since the attack on his convoy, he’s bleeding men, and now he’s reaching out to the outliers here.”

“Maybe we’re looking at this all wrong,” August says, pulling shards of crystal on screen and laying them out.

They distract me for a moment, and I snort. “What are you doing?”

“Oh.” August chuckles deeply. “I was overzealous a few nights ago and broke my wife’s favorite swan. I am being a good husband and fixing it by hand.”

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