Page 48 of Den of Thieves

“What is going on here?” he asked the men who had weapons trained on the driver. It would be ballsy, as his wife would say, to deliver explosives to his home. Then again, this war was not like the ones from the past. His enemy didn’t obey the laws of man. Still, they couldn’t be too safe.

“This man says he is here to deliver a package. Only I don’t remember you ordering anything, boss.”

“Who sent you?” Vladimir frowned, assessing the whimpering man. His wife was the only one that had packages delivered to the compound. With her gone, the credit card bills would be reduced dramatically.

The driver hesitated, only making his suspicions grow. The guard that first answered Vladimir’s question hit the driver in the back of the shoulder, knocking him closer to the ground.

“I will not repeat myself,” Vladimir said, stepping on the man’s hand.

“I am just the delivery driver. I swear!” he cried.

Vladimir jerked his chin, and two guards opened the back doors to the van. One guard poked his head out a second later with a case of bullets.

“Boss, it’s filled with weapons and ammunition.”

“Search every crate, to be sure.” His eyebrow rose at the phone ringing in his pocket with an unknown number.

“What?”

“Cousin, don’t shoot the messenger. That would be bad for business.” Vladimir ran a hand over his face. He knew that voice.

“Vadim. What is this?”

“Your aid. What else?” Vadim sucked his teeth in annoyance. “I hope you didn’t kill the delivery driver. I paid the company extra for a quick delivery. Do you know how hard it is to get five hundred thousand bullets delivered in less than a week?”

Vladimir lifted his foot from the man’s hand and snapped his fingers to the guards to help him stand. “While I appreciate the extra ammo, it was unnecessary. You sent a helicopter on Monday.”

“Must I explain everything?” Vadim sighed. “Did you honestly think I would not do my part in helping my little cousin best his enemies? One crate is full of long-range guns, the other is full of ammunition. There is a metal compartment in the chopper to hold everything you and your men cannot carry.”

“I owe you.” Vladimir smiled at the rare gesture; his mood instantly brightened. It would seem this Angela was a good influence on Vadim after all.

“No need. You saved me a quarter million by already having a landing pad. Just bring the bastard here so we can have some fun.” Vadim’s maniacal laughter echoed through the phone as he clicked off.

“Psikh,” Vladimir shook his head. Crazy man.

“What is all this?” Dimitri asked.

“Gifts from Vadim.” Vladimir said, walking around to the back door. He lifted a crate and gasped in awe. “I take back every insult I have ever hurled Vadim’s way.”

Vladimir pulled out the five feet long green, black, and red metal rod. It had a thick, round top with a point at the end.

“Uh, what the fuck is that? And why does it look like a baby nuke?” Dimitri asked with wide eyes. Vladimir had a thing for weapons, but this was one of mass destruction.

“This is a Javelin. An anti-tank missile equipped with lazar reflective metal. It’s so advanced it doesn’t show up on enemy radar until it is too late.”

“Who are we going to war with, China?”

Vladimir’s muscles flexed as he lifted the javelin higher, balancing it on his palms. He didn’t dare mar its beauty with fingerprints. Dimitri had no idea the power he held in his hands.

“This is better than a nuke. Nukes are not mobile and require codes. This beauty is the thing nightmares are made of. Behold the J-9000. It has a 99% kill rate opposed to the 95% of other Javelins.”

“It is overkill. That thing could take out five city blocks!”

“Twelve.” Vladimir clipped, still marveling. “But you are right. I will save it for a bigger opponent.”

“Remind me to quit after this war is over,” Dimitri deadpanned.

“Thirty years of friendship and you only now want to leave me?” Vladimir laughed, going through the rest of the crates.

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