Page 22 of Sheltering Hollis

“Not yet,” I replied, my tone dropping to a more serious note. Although it did make me laugh that Maddox bad-mouthed my brother, it was true that Maxim and I had only very recently reached a tentative understanding. “But soon, he’ll be very dead. I need to ensure we get all the information we need first. Makarovich is attending a party tonight at Rodriguez’s place, and I’ll get what I need there. Then he’ll be dead.”

“You haven’t killed him yet? I thought that was the plan. That’s the only person we were interested in. What do you need more information for?” Maddox’s voice was harsh and worried. There was a pause on the line. “Rodriguez is a sick fucking bastard. Those cartels are notorious for their ‘entertainment. You are far from our help, Dimitri. Why are you in so deep?”

He wasn’t wrong. I was in way deeper than I ever intended to go. Initially, the plan had been to ghost along the edges of the businesses here in Colombia to find Makarovich. That was the hope. Plan B had been to use the Bratva persona to approach Rodriguez. To lie and say that my brother was swayed by me and the promise of money and pussy to invest in sex trafficking. Now, I was past that. I had the information I needed. Makarovich was in the bag.

Now, well, now. There was a deep-rooted need that burned in my gut to get the individuals who had taken Hollis away from her life with her daughter. They had traumatized her in some way. I wanted to ask her about it, but I didn’t want to press for more information than I already had. When she asked me to put Gregor on the list and then if she could watch while I killed them with those wide hazel eyes of hers. Well, I was a goner. That was it for me.

“I’ve heard about the parties,” I confessed. Maddox wasn’t wrong. The parties were notorious. “I’m bringing someone with me as part of my cover,” I added.

Maddox's voice grew sharp. “Bringing someone? What the fuck? Who? Someone from the Bratva? That Luka fucker?” Maddox didn’t have a high opinion of any of my brother’s people, even if they helped us out a few months ago. He especially didn’t think highly of Luka, who he knew had been sending reports to my brother.

“A woman named Hollis. She was trafficked by Makarovich down here to Colombia. When Rodriguez took me for the tour, she was there with some others.” Thinking of Hollis in that place sent a frisson of unbridled rage through me. That someone had put her in that cage infuriated me.

“Jesus.”

“She’s been through hell, Maddox. She has a little girl she’s trying to get back to.” Objectively, I knew that there had been other women there. They had lives, too. I would try my best to help them, but like I’d told Hollis, my primary mission here wasn’t to rescue everyone or put an end to trafficking. But I could save her, I would.

“Jesus, Dimitri. Why the fuck don’t you just bring her back here? Why would you keep fucking around? You know where Makarovich is. Don’t keep traumatizing the poor girl. Why would you put her through that?” Maddox asked. I could hear a door slamming in the background as he moved out of the room. “What are you thinking?” he demanded.

“Look. You’re right; I know where Makarovich is. I found him yesterday.” I scrubbed my hand over my head, a habit I picked up when I was younger. “But they have this system. I’m not sure how it works, but there are bounty hunters who drop off women at this clinic. Hollis said the man who took her brought her there to this doctor. Something happened to her there.” Looking over the streets of Bogotá, I saw that it almost looked beautiful from here. The hotel where we stayed was in a nice area of the city that was considered suitable for tourists, with boutiques and little flower markets. “They’re on my list.”

“I see,” Maddox said simply. He didn’t say anything else because he had known me for a long time. We had worked together too long for him not to know what was going through my mind right now.

“She’s strong,” I said, thinking of the determination in Hollis’s eyes. “She asked me to put that man and the doctor on the list,” I paused. “She wants to watch them die. She needs this closure. Plus, her being with me adds to the cover story. Rodriguez expects me to bring a woman, and she fits the role perfectly.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Alright. Just make sure she knows what she’s getting into. This is dangerous, Dimitri. This line you’re walking. If she’s been traumatized, and you’re expecting her to … I don’t even know. Fuck. Go with you while you whack these people? Then, she needs to know what she will see at these parties. I’m not so sure it’s a good idea for her to be watching you kill these men, Dimitri,” Maddox went quiet.

I’d gone circles on all those things but hadn’t changed my mind. She’d asked to be there, and there wasn’t any way I’d deny her.

“I’d rather not take her. There’s no way I can take my time if she’s with me. That doesn’t make it very satisfying. It’ll have to be clean and quick,” I grumbled. I had already thought about that dilemma. I would very much like them to suffer. These were some of my skills, torture, and death. However, Hollis’ well-being was more important than my satisfaction.

“I’m glad you have at least thought that part through. I am not super happy that Makarovich will get a quick death, but given the circumstances, that’s best. At least he’ll be dead. That’s what we wanted,” Maddox conceded. “That’s enough.”

“I might sneak him in early so I can give him some special treatment if I can leave Hollis with Luka. We’ll see.” If I got the information I needed from the party, I might go ahead and kill Makarovich tonight and dump his body in another area of a competing cartel. It was risky, though. “I’m watching the other stuff, making sure she’s okay,” I added. But I heard him, and I had been thinking about how she would handle it and how I could mitigate the disaster.

“Not everyone is like us, Dimitri. You know … okay, with the killing.”

“I know that.”

“Okay. Just be gentle with her. Fuck. Helena still has nightmares about what that bastard Sergei did to her. Just make Makarovich dead and come home. Bring the girl with you if you want.”

Helena had been kidnapped by Makarovich’s henchman, Sergei, after Makarovich had run off to Colombia. Makarovich had taken the easy way out and left a frustrated man behind who was desperate, grasping at straws and blaming one person who was innocent of everything — Helena. Sergei knew Helena had information about their dealings and wanted to head her off. Unfortunately for Sergei, Helena had been too clever for him, leveraging her knowledge of what Maddox had told her. She’d been able to escape with her life, but images of her bruised face still flashed through my mind. Maddox and I agreed that the root of Helena’s problems started and stopped with Makarovich. He was the only one who knew she was ever involved. There was no way we could let him live. We certainly hadn’t let Sergei live. At least he’d died slowly — very slowly. The thought brought me immense satisfaction.

“Understood,” I said, “I’ll call you after it’s done.”

“Do that. And Dimitri?”

“Yeah?”

“Be careful, man. We miss you here. You’re going to be an uncle, too,” Maddox said slyly.

“You work fast, Jesus. Must still have some juice even though you are older than the dinosaurs.” I teased. “Good for you.”

“Fuck off, you dick,” he chuckled. “Hey, Helena would remind you that she had something to do with that too. But, I got to lock her down,” he laughed. “Got a ring on that finger too. Hurry back, and you can be the best man.”

“Guaranteed,” I assured him. My chest swelled with pride at the thought of being able to stand up with Maddox and being asked to be an uncle to their child. The Brotherhood was my chosen family, and the fact that they wanted me there made it even more special.

“Keep Hollis safe. We can’t wait to meet her and her daughter. Introduce them to their new family.” I’d like that too. It sounded like Hollis hadn’t ever had anyone else besides Olive. That she and her daughter were alone in the world.

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