Page 1 of Fallout

ONE

One month ago

Elyan ducked into an alley, tucked his body against the wall, and waited. All he could hear was the pounding of his own heart. The rush of each breath in his ears. Had they followed him?

Would today be the day they killed him?

His life now was a far cry from what it had been months ago. Accountant to a powerful Russian family, one of the highest paid people on their payroll. Living it up on fancy vacations, all the whiskey and women he wanted. Now he was being hunted like a dog.

The gangbangers who’d been protecting him were dead.

His mother had been slaughtered in her bathtub.

Breath shuddered through him. He was too old for this. Sooner or later, he would face his end, and it would be over. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. He wanted to drop to his knees and ask the Good Lord for more time. A second chance.

Guys like him didn’t get a do-over.

Two men rounded the corner into the alley. Far too young and well-dressed to be connected. The people that had come after him were the gun-for-hire types, men with no scruples. Ones who would take money and kill a man in cold blood, leaving him leaking in an alley to meet his maker. His final judgment.

He’d be headed southward, down into the pit of hell. A man didn’t do the things Elyan had done and still go to the good place after they died. No, there would be no chances for him. He’d written his own judgment a long time ago.

The young men didn’t glance at him. He listened to their chatter, trying to think of a time in his life he’d ever had an inane conversation with a friend. He’d gone from school to home where he took care of his mother, then out to the club to work in the office. Even in freshman year, he’d been pegged as the numbers guy.

The Russians had foot the bill for his college education, forcing him to stay close. Taking care of his mother while he was gone.

Then came a lifetime of servitude to their crime family. Creative calculations and tax returns that hardly reflected reality.

He pushed off the wall and headed down the alley. Two steps later, he heard a noise behind him.

Before he could turn, a heavy weight slammed into Elyan’s back, and he hit the asphalt. His head bounced off the ground and everything went black.

Elyan woke sometime later in a sitting position, unable to move.

He lifted his head, already groaning. He couldn’t have stopped the noise coming from his throat if he tried. His hands wouldn’t move. He tugged against them, able to flex his fingers, but his wrists were tied to the arm of a wooden chair.

He blinked at the room around him. Darkness stared back.

This is it. There’s nothing I can do.

Time moved slowly. He didn’t know how long he’d sat there with his ankles secured to the chair like his hands. No bladder control. Dirty clothes he had been wearing for a week. He could smell himself, and it wasn’t good. His stomach remained empty, the half-eaten sandwich he’d found in a dumpster behind a restaurant long gone now.

At some point, the door opened, casting light into this empty room in some forgotten old house.

The man spoke to another, and minutes later, Elyan was drenched in a bucket of ice-cold water. While he gasped and spit, the man said, “That should help a little.”

Elyan blew out more water. “Who are you?”

“If you think, I’m sure you can come up with something. Smart man like you. Connected.” He sounded lethal. That voice coming from the shadows, could make a man think dark things about his future.

He stepped forward, and a sliver of light hit his face. So much emptiness. Looking into this man’s eyes now, he could see through the window into his soul.

And it was black like oil that seeped into everything. Tainted. Corrupted.

A stain that could never be washed away.

This was the man who had been scooping up territory. Who, for months, had been killing off dealers, claiming corners, and amassing all the power in Benson. It must be him. He’d eliminated the Russians and targeted major dealers using a bomber who had been a friend.

Three of them had collaborated and destroyed a container ship decades ago.

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