Page 65 of Nikolai

"We need weapons," I tell him. Victor grins. My father and I follow him to the back of an SUV. Opening the hatch, he pulls out a hidden compartment, loaded with extra guns and magazines, then opens a nearby trunk. "You need more?" he raises his brow, and I begin to arm myself.

"This will do." I reach for a semi-automatic with a night scope and laser point accuracy, load it, then sling it over my shoulder. "For now," I add.

With every man armed, we load into the vehicles. Victor takes a call as he drives down the road, and I listen to his conversation from the backseat. He looks in the rearview mirror as he ends the call. "They know we are coming," I state, checking my gun.

Victor keeps eye contact with me. "Yes."

"And?" I ask, sensing there is more.

"Novikoff was last spotted in building C near the loading dock. There hasn't been any sign of Mrs. Volkov."

As we approach the shipyard's east gate, an explosion rocks the SUV we're in, and Victor slams the brakes bringing us to a dead stop. In front of us, three vehicles ahead, I can see one of the SUVs carrying a few of our men in flames. A spray of bullets peppers our windshield, only cracking the bulletproof glass. Men are shouting as they step out of their armored cars, returning fire on the unseen gunmen. I need to get to Leah. "Go—go—go," I yell, and Victor floors it, surging ahead. "Get us through the gate."

"Hold on," Victor yells, just before busting through the metal gate. The SUV crashes against the side of an empty shipping container. The windows shatter, sending shards of glass flying. Through the window, I catch the approach of an armed man.

Lifting my gun, the laser point finds its mark, placing the red dot center of his forehead, and I pull the trigger. Flinging the doors open, we exit the battered vehicle. Gunfire erupts around us, and bullets bounce off the pavement as the three of us climb from the wrecked vehicle. My father and Victor ready themselves. At the gate, I notice the rest of our men in a battle of their own.

My father looks at me. "Go."

Keeping to the shadows, I weave my way past containers until I have Novikoff's location in my sights. Scanning the area, I spot three men standing guard outside the building. I'm a fair distance away, so I ready my rifle. Kneeling, I look through the scope, lining up my first target.Pop. In quick recession, I squeeze the trigger two more times, dropping all three men in a matter of seconds. With my gun raised, ready to fire again, I approach the building. Out of nowhere, a car appears, barreling toward me. Blinded by the headlights, I fire, emptying the magazine before feeling the impact.

Propelled backward, the side of my body slams against the pavement, knocking the air from my lungs. Shaking the daze from my head, I look for my weapon, which lies several yards away. I get to my knees, feeling a burning pain in my side. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end at a shuffling noise from behind. I fight through it, quickly getting to my feet. A fist to the side of my head causes me to stumble. My eyes lose focus. Just before the asshole lands another blow, I block it. Bringing my fist up, my knuckles crack against his chin, knocking him back a few steps. My attacker steps into the path of the headlights. Novikoff's other son, Yuri, advances on me, pulling a long-serrated blade from a sheath on the side of his thigh.

"You killed my brother." He lunges, and a searing hot pain hits my shoulder as the blade cuts into my flesh. I take hold of his wrist, contorting it in an unnatural angle until the knife falls from his hand. Stepping behind him, I wrap my arm around his neck in a chokehold. Stumbling backward, he slams my body up against the building. The back of my head smacks against the brick wall. He does this repeatedly, before throwing his weight forward, rolling us both to the ground. He elbows my ribs, and I struggle to maintain the hold I have on him. Within arm's reach, I spot his blade. In a risky attempt that may give him the upper hand, I release him, grab the handle of the knife in my hand, swing my arm back around and impale the blade into his chest, then rip it out. Doubling over, Yuri clutches his chest, blood dripping between his fingers, pooling on the ground beneath him.

Breathing heavy, and wincing from pain, I stand. Walking a few yards away to where my weapon lays, I bend, picking it up off of the ground, but spin on my heels when I hear the sound of heavy footfalls coming up behind me. The barrel end of my gun comes face to face with my father. "Shit," I do my best to take deep breaths as the pain in my side intensifies. My father looks at the body on the ground.

"Our men—Victor?" I ask, heading for the stairs leading into the building.

"Cleaning up the mess," my father states.

With precious time wasted, I jog up the stairs, flinging the door open. A bullet whizzes past my head, leaving a hole in the door behind me. Before I can raise my weapon, my father kills the man who fired the shot. His body falls over the second level railing. Ascending the second set of stairs, we cautiously approach the only room on the second level, overlooking the ship dock. With the door already open, I enter the room, finding it empty—our heads jerk at the ringing of a phone lying on the desktop, a cell phone. Walking over, I swipe the screen, putting the phone to my ear.

"Nikolai?" Leah's weak voice comes through the other end.

"Leah. Baby, where are you?" I ask, desperately waiting for her to answer.

"Come now. You didn't think it would be that simple, did you?" Novikoff's sinister voice is what I hear instead. "The clock is ticking, Volkov." An explosion rattles the glass window panes. "In twenty minutes, a bomb, similar to what you just heard, strapped beneath your wife's chair will detonate. I wonder if you will find her in time before all that's left of her is tiny pieces."

"I'm going to kill you with my bare hands," I seethe, my hand tightening around the phone.

He laughs. "It's your wife or me. The choice is yours." The line goes dead, and I throw the phone against the wall.

Rushing from the room, I say to my father, "Tell the men to search every container, and block all exits. Find Victor. He's the only man we have who knows explosives." Stepping outside, a dark figure steps away from a fifteen-foot container across the yard. Raising my arm, I look through the scope, trying to get a look to see if it's one of my men: the motherfucker himself, Novikoff. I put a bullet in his leg and watched him fall to his knees as I stride toward him. He reaches into his jacket, pulling a small pistol from his pocket, and aims it at me. I fire again. This time, I put a bullet through his forearm, causing him to drop the gun in his hand. My steps never falter.

"You son of a bitch. You can kill me, but rest assured, my other son will avenge me." Novikoff spits at my feet.

"You mean the one lying in a pool of his own blood after I drove a knife through his heart?" Fear strikes his face knowing his bloodline dies with him. I walk up behind him as he sits on his knees before me. Bending, I whisper in his ear, "You didn't think it would be that simple, did you?" I use his words against him before gripping his chin and the back of his head, snapping his neck.

"Nikolai," I hear my name called out from the nearby container.Leah.

Sprinting, I fumble with the hinges, before pulling the heavy metal doors open. On a chair inside sits my wife, her head rolling from side to side. I fall to my knees in front of her. Her face is swollen, and her lips split open. She's in bad shape. I suddenly remember the bomb. I have no time to assess her injuries. "I'm here," I press my lips to hers.

"Nikolai?" she whimpers as I look beneath her chair, finding the device fixed to the seat with tape, and a small, red flashing light coming from it. Lifting my head, I make quick work of the restraints on her wrist then her ankles.

"Wait," Victor's voice stops me from making another move. Kneeling, he looks beneath the seat. "It's not attached to any type of trigger device, so it's on a timer." He looks at me. "Get her out of here." He jerks his head.

Lifting Leah in my arms, I cradle her against my chest and carry her away from danger. An SUV pulls up, and one of our men opens the back door. Not letting her go, I climb into the back seat with her in my arms. Looking over my shoulder, Victor closes the container doors and makes a run for it. The bomb detonates, rocking the container from side to side, but the thick steel keeps it contained.

---