Page 26 of Rogue

Sensing the chink in his armour, the aggression radiating off him; I pressed. Russians were, after all, a famously excitable race. “Yeah. And they were slow learners.”

That twitch again, and this time his mouth curled dangerously.

Unfortunately, the suit wasn’t the only Russian in the room.

American born or not, Roy was as hot-blooded as any of his countrymen. Red faced, he threw a desperate look at his Brigadier. “He’s lying Mikhail, we were-”

“Now, didn’t we have a little conversation earlier about that mouth of yours?” I barked, my voice even but suddenly hard with intent and an edge sharper than ice. Roy twisted back to look at me, his eyes black with hate, yet when our gazes met, he couldn’t help but look away. I kept my gaze hard on him regardless, wanting him to remember my words and the promise of pain to follow if he interrupted me again. “So why don’t you just shut up like a good gentleman, while you can still enjoy steak.” There was murder in his eyes at that, and if he was going to shoot me, it would have been then. Inwardly, I prepared myself to dive behind the tables, but he must’ve been sufficiently cowed because his hand stayed where it was. Forcing my boyish grin back into place, I turned back to the suit, who I guessed was called Mikhail. “See what I mean, slow learners. But they can be taught.”

“So, what are you doing here now?” Mikhail growled softly, dangerously, the insult about his men rankling more than if my threat had been directed at him.

I shrugged as if it was of no importance. “Well, I was just doing a bit of shopping when I ran into the waitress that had been serving us. Poor thing was in tears. Seems that Mr Gates over there blamed her for the whole thing, even fired her for it.”

“Oh, really?” he asked, with only the barest hint of interest, as if he were examining an ant crossing a table, before crushing it.

“Aww, don’t it just break your heart,” Dodolzksi said in a sing song fashion, mocking me openly, circling around the tables to stand just out of reach.

I didn’t rise to the bait.

Pretending not to have noticed the other man, I stared hard at the suit. “So I told her I’d get her job back and just came back to complain. Only I can’t do that with you boys hog-tying him to the bar and spit roasting him like one of your two-dollar gimps, now can I? So why don’t you pop off and boil an egg, I’ll only be a minute.”

If that didn’t get him riled, nothing would.

Life had taught me there were three simple truths about Russians you could set your watch to.

They loved their vodka.

They were as excitable as a bunch of four-year-olds in a sweet shop.

And the whole damn nation was as homophobic as a sainted Texan bishop.

“Go boil an egg…” Mikhail parroted, testing the words in his mouth, before throwing back his head and laughing a cruel barking cough that was as hard as nails on a chalkboard. “That is a funny guy over there.”

Then the moment passed. His laughter went silent and there was only the cold mercilessness in his predator’s eyes. “Alright, so what’s gonna happen is you’re gonna come along with us, funny guy, and we’re gonna talk about this lesson you gave my boys.” He motioned to Roy and his mate. “Take him.”

It was the signal the pair had been waiting for. Like well-trained dogs, they surged around the table to seize me, rough hands grabbing and twisting my arms behind my back.

“Come along, Mr funny man,” Dodolzksi instructed in that singsong voice, his gaping grin as wide and bright as an angel’s halo as he tugged me along towards the door.

“Yeah, it’s time we revisit your earlier remarks,” Roy snarled. His courage returned with his partner’s enthusiasm.

I didn’t resist and let them lead me. “What? Hey wait, come on guys, let’s just talk about this, okay, have you heard this joke? You’ll love this, I promise. So this bloke walks into a pub with his little dog under his arm. Goes up and sets the dog down on the bar before sitting down. The barman looks on, thinking what the fuck is going on here, and to his surprise the dog turns around and-” I lurched sideways, smashing the side of my skull into Roy’s battered face.

Bone met bone with a vicious crack, and Roy was sent reeling. Dodolzksi must have felt my body tense in preparation, because he was already trying to pull me back. However, that was just what I wanted from him. As Roy went down, his hold on me went slack and I was free to pivot into the younger man as he pulled me into him. I had just enough time to tuck my chin in before head-butting him hard enough for stars to burst before my eyes.

I caught the briefest glimpse of Dodolzksi slumped against a table, both hands up to his face, trying to stem the blood squirting through his fingers from a probably broken nose. Then I was moving again, barrelling through and over tables, charging at Mikhail.

His eyes went wide as he saw me coming at him, but an old soldier through and through, he reacted, his body shifting, lowering into a fighting stance. He expected me to launch a head on attack, so his hand cranked back, and he stepped in to deliver one of his own.

And that was his mistake.

The punch came in swinging hard and fast, but I was already moving, sidestepping out of the way, and as I did, my hand snaked out to grab his tie. Then I was twisting, bringing it up and over his shoulder, then down into the nearest table. In an instant, the knife sheathed at my back was in my hand, and I buried the blade down through the tie while driving my heel back into the rear of his knee.

The effect was immediate. His whole body dropped like a sack of potatoes. The tie snapped tight like a hangman rope and his feet, dressed in Oxford’s polished to a high shine, started drumming up the hangman’s jig while he clawed at the knot. It would do no good. Silk under tension was as non-pliable as it was unbreakable. He was stuck there, strangled by his own tie, eyes wide and bulging as I reached into his jacket and took his weapon from its holster.

It was a fifth generation Glock 17.

Unimaginative, but a good, reliable weapon, and expensive. So expensive, it almost tempted me to break the first rule and keep it as a souvenir.

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