Page 63 of Den of Thieves

“What’s going on out there?” A panicked cackled over the radio.

Vladimir, paid the noise no mind, stomping down the hallway. This ended now. He kicked the door open with a force that had the wood splintering from its hinges.

Ludchek, the weasel of a man, was flanked by two bald women with big guns. Vladimir shot them both in the center of their foreheads without preamble. Their bodies stilled before crumbling to the ground. It was more mercy than they deserved.

Vladimir advanced slowly towards Luchek. He wasn’t anything special to look at. Angry brown eyes. Hair as black as night. Short and almost frail looking. He backed up as Vladimir approached.

“Let-Let’s make a—”

Vladimir shot Luchek. Again and again until his body looked like it belonged in a Swiss cheese factory. He ran out of bullets in the Model 64 before pulling another gun from his waistband and emptied that clip, too.

Finally, he tore his gaze from the bloody lump on the floor and swept the apartment. There wasn’t much there save for the desk and a few chairs scattered about.

Vladimir rifled through the drawers. His brow quirked when he found a leather ledger with the word Osvoboditel’— liberator—embroidered on the cover. The fool fancied himself some kind of second coming of Alexander II. Vladimir scoffed. His fingers itched to pick up one of the bald women’s guns and fill his corpse with more lead.

Vladimir flipped through the pages in the ledgers. It didn’t make much sense to him. It was like Ludchek was trailing his highest earners as well as his cousins. Most of the scribbles were written in code and would take a while to decipher. The second ledger one was filled with serial numbers. To bank accounts if he had to guess. The rest of the book was empty.

Heard footsteps approaching. He glimpsed friendlies down below. He closed the ledger and stuffed both inside his vest. It wasn’t long before he heard footsteps approaching.

Instead of greeting his guests, he put his hands behind his back. It was his first time taking in the 40 million dollar view he purchased less than a month ago. Even with the fires in the distance and the haze of smoke covering the city, it was breathtaking.

“Vladimir?”

He turned, not entirely surprised to see Kida. He was shocked to see Kida’s wife, Renee, beside him. Not that she wasn’t capable of danger. He knew who her family was. He’d used the Korrin’s services on occasion when he wanted to keep his hands clean.

No, he was shocked to see them holding hands.

“It would seem you have your memory back.” He smiled, like they were visiting under different circumstances.

“Yup, the mind is a hell of a thing.” Renee smirked, tapping her temple.

Kida’s mouth twitched, but he said nothing. He stepped closer, making sure to avoid the bodies along the way. “These women are Femme guns, more or less, mercenaries for hire.”

“Yes, it would seem Luchek here bought himself an army to go to war with me.”

“Why?”

“I do not know. He has been planning this for some time. But there was no endgame in sight.”

“I think I can take a wild guess,” Karina said, strolling in.

“Solynchkna, I told you to stay at the house where it was safe.”

“Yeah, you should have known we wouldn’t listen to you.”

“I know. You owe me a new favorite helicopter. Among other things.” He growled, pulling her to his side. He captured her mouth, ignoring her intake of breath. This kiss was rough and demanding. He barely stopped himself from taking her against the window behind him.

Kida cleared his throat. Vladimir glared at him in time to see Renee elbow him in the side.

“I missed you so much, grumpy bear. So I will not properly chastise you for being horny.” Karina smirked. Vladimir ignored her words and spun her around so her back was to his front. He knew she could feel what she did to him. She was just as turned on; if her intake of breath was any indication.

“Is that him?” she asked.

“Aye. That is Luchek. The man behind the Osvo persona. He fancied himself some kind of liberator.” Vladimir scoffed.

“You said the brotherhood’s memory is long and full of secrets. Someone’s been feeding Luchek information. Information he had no right to know.”

“And you know who it is?”

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