Page 247 of Bossy Hero

“Now the rifle,” Patterson prods.

Continuing at a barely discernible pace, I repeat the process with my rifle. Once both firearms are on the floor, I raise to my full height.

Aaron relays their location, his breath choppy. “Hold on, Boss. Forty-five seconds.”

Oblivious to the ticking clock, Patterson orders me to slide my guns across the deck toward him.

One at a time, I nudge them in his direction.

Patterson glances from my guns to Lenkov twice. I have to stifle my laugh. He wants Nikolai to pick up the weapons, but he’s too chickenshit to ask him.

Lenkov makes no move to assist.

“Take two big steps back,” Patterson barks at me.

Ah. He’s come up with a new plan.

Get me farther away so he can bend down without receiving a boot to the skull.

Nice try. I’m still gonna smash his brains out the first chance I get.

After Patterson secures my weapons, he eyes me down over the barrel of his gun.

It dawns on me how little I’ve studied him. In all our past interactions, my focus has been on other individuals or things. Throughout today’s clusterfuck, I’ve had my head on a swivel to seek out trouble, never realizing it was walking in lockstep with me.

Lenkov clears his throat and shifts his focus to Patterson. He extends an open palm toward the traitor. “Give me his weapon.”

The first four words the pakhan utters in my presence are a pathetic disappointment.

Rather than forking over my gun, Patterson holds it slightly out of his reach. “After this, we’re good. Right?”

Lenkov snarls at him, ice coating his features. In a thick Russian accent, he seethes, “You didn’t bring him alone. You let him do this to me.” He gestures a stiff hand toward his bloody face. “And some of my men are dead.”

Finding an ounce of gumption, Detective Doublecross sputters, “The deal was that I’d bring him to you. And I did that. Here he is. Alive and unarmed.”

Avoiding a response, Nikolai restates his earlier order. “Give me his weapon.”

Through my earpiece, I hear the clear signs of a struggle. Fucking hell. More resistance.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume Patterson freed some of the men I left with him in the engine room, including the ogre. And they’ve found my guys.

Perhaps I can buy some time if I get them talking. “What’s your plan here?” I tip my head to the side, arching my brows at them. “If you shoot me, you won’t get away. We’ve incapacitated all your men. My people are surrounding the boat as we speak. Therealcops are on their way or probably ready to board. There’s no way you win this. It’s over.”

Small bluffs. They’ll never know.

“Gun,” Lenkov commands in a thunderous voice.

Patterson folds instantly, handing over my SIG.

I don’t like that. Not one fucking bit.

Lenkov tests the feel of the gun in his hand, turning it from side to side. “I wait such a long time to do this.” He turns to me, one half of his battered face raised in a sneer. “Look at you.” He clicks his tongue three times. “All your life, you try to save everyone. Try to be hero. But you fail every time. Like you fail today.”

“You know nothing about me.”

“Oh, I do know you, Alan Lancaster.” He paces in the narrow hallway, only getting two steps before turning on his heel to repeat the motion. “Spent entire life trying to fix what you did. Replace what you lost.” He shakes his head, jutting his lip into a mocking pout. “No matter how many people you have around you. No matter how many you try to save from sad lives. You still want the one you never can have again. Because nothing can bring back dead brother.”

My chest seizes, and my vision grows hazy. There’s a tremble in my legs.

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