Page 49 of Den of Thieves

He found grenades in one and bulletproof tactical gear in another. The third crate was filled with CZ Bren 2 and Bushmaster 21S Remington rifles. They were lightweight, semiautomatic weapons that took larger AR-15 style magazines. Vladimir was once again thankful for his cousin. While they had their fair share of guns, they were a myriad of different styles that took specific bullets.

While the last five were filled to the brim with various types of ammo. He noticed that the .223 and .556 rounds were rare green tipped key point bullets. Made with steel instead of lead, they were both armor piercing and made to cause the maximum amount of damage once inside the body.

Vladimir felt his body get warm with anticipation. His enemies wouldn’t live to see the end of the week. He could feel it.

“We found them!” Nikolai yelled, waving the tablet in the air as he descended the front steps.

“What?” Vladimir frowned, hopping out of the van.

“Osvo’s four hideouts.”

Vladimir stood taller. Nikolai has really stepped up in Alvin’s absence. He nodded appreciatively at the good news. “Where is the main compound?”

“I don’t know yet, but it’s somewhere in this area.” Nikolai circled the Golden Mile in downtown Moscow on the map.

Vladimir was going to catch a lot of heat for bringing this war to one of the nicest parts of the city. He’d deal with the mayor later. It might take a bribe or two to remain on his good side. Unlike President Volkov, Sebastin Serkov was a brilliant man and a natural leader. He would have won the election without the Bratva’s influence. But as Gustaf taught him, everyone had a price.

“Do we have enough men to hit every place at once?”

Nikolai’s eager face fell. “No. We’re spread a little too thin as it is.”

“Fine.” Vladimir turned back towards the compound and Nikolai fell into step with him. “Let’s inform everyone. We’ll hit two hideouts at a time. Tandem and silent. Then we find the main compound.”

18. “Beware the Fury of a Patient Man.”

-JOHN DRYDEN

Vladimir and Nikolai walked into the basement where the men were bringing in all the crates. They lined the interior stone wall as men stood nearby, pulling on tactical gear and strapping themselves with supplies.

A commotion from a room down the hall had Vladimir and Nikolai looking at each other before following the noise.

Daniil, Dean, and David are there, as well as Kristoff Drukov and Boris Putneg, and a handful of high ranking local pakhans. Vladimir stopped at the doorway and Nikolai almost ran into him.

Nikolai opened his mouth to complain, only stopping when he saw what rendered Vladimir mute.

Shock reverberated off him in waves that were replaced swiftly by fury. The Vory were all yelling in a circle. They surrounded a group of equally pissed off women. Woman that should be very, very gone by now.

Vladimir’s deep rumbling grunts of agitation went ignored as they all fought to speak over each other. Finally, his booming tenor cut through all of them. “You were gone for eight days. Eight days!” he roared.

“And yet you accomplished nothing.” Aksana crossed her arms.

“If you think you can do a better job, be my guest!” David yelled with no hesitation.

“Who is Osvo?” his wife asked. Vladimir’s gaze zeroed in on Karina, who up until now has been quiet.

The men in the room traded glances. “How do you know that name?” he asked slowly.

“There’s a reason we came back. The compound was attacked. Before we killed them, they thought they had the upper hand. He cockily said, “Osvo sends his regards.”

“He’s the man in charge of our enemies within the Bratva. He’s been taunting us for weeks. Sacrificing men left and right, leading us on wild goose chases. We believed we tracked down his location and were headed out when you arrived.”

“Cool, we’re coming,” Karina declared, and the women all nodded.

“No. You are all on lockdown,” Vladimir said, staring at his wife and sister.

“We lost our pilot—” Dimitri said, rushing in. He skidded to a stop. “What the hell are they doing back here?!”

“We can do it. Venchi can take us, we can be backup,” Aksana said, ignoring Dimitri.

---