Page 19 of Blood & Snow
But tonight their expansion ends.
Igor positions himself at the rear exit while Ivan covers the loading dock.
I take the main entrance, automatic rifle loaded with hollow-point ammunition that will drop targets immediately.
It's going to be loud and messy, but it promises to yield eight bodies to my count, and that means one-tenth of the list I have to tackle before New Year's.
The Brotherhood’s soldiers move through their transactionwithout the foggiest clue I'm hunting them.
They believe superior tactics and careful planning make them untouchable.
It's somewhat of a blind spot I've allowed them to have, and it proves fatal when I kick open the front door and begin firing.
The first soldier drops before he can reach for his weapon.
The chest shot punches through his sternum and exits between his shoulder blades, painting the concrete behind him with blood and tissue.
His partner spins toward the sound of gunfire and takes two rounds center mass, folding over a shipping crate and sliding to the floor.
Muzzle flashes illuminate the warehouse interior in strobing bursts.
Shell casings ring against concrete as they hit the ground.
The smell of cordite fills the air while the Brotherhood's carefully planned operation dissolves into chaos and screaming.
My men move quickly as I push through the front.
I hear their shouts and the ricochet of their rounds as they stalk their own prey in the dark.
The third soldier reaches cover behind a forklift and returns fire, his shots sparking off metal supports and shattering windows.
I advance carefully, using shipping containers for cover while closing the distance between us.
Fear makes him sloppy and panic ruins his aim.
I put three rounds through the forklift's engine block, and like a scared child, he runs.
He breaks cover, running toward the loading dock where Ivan waits with a shotgun.
The blast takes off most of his head, dropping him in a tangle of limbs and spreading brain matter across twenty feet of concrete.
The fourth soldier tries to escape through the rear exit and runs directly into Igor's rifle.
Single shot to the throat that severs his carotid artery and drops him to his knees,choking on his own blood.
He bleeds out in less than thirty seconds, hands pressed uselessly against the wound while his life pumps onto the warehouse floor.
And it's over almost instantly, only four minutes from entry to silence.
The Brotherhood's smuggling operation at this facility has been reduced to corpses and overturned crates.
I offer no mercy or explanation, and these men have learned that.
Exactly the message I intended to send.
"Secure the perimeter," I order my men.
"Watch for police response or Brotherhood reinforcements."
