Page 62 of The Pakhan’s Heir

“If it’s made well, no.” He glances up at the camera, then back at me. “We need to get the fuck out of here. He’s probably in there calling for reinforcements.”

I don’t want to leave. I stare at the metal wall, steam coming out of my ears. I can’t believe this son of a bitch⁠—

“Alex,” Rikki says. “We need to go.”

I nod and follow him out of the hallway. Rotten piece of shit got away this time.

He won’t next time, though.

“This isn’t over,” I mutter. “The next time I see him, I’m blowing his fucking brains out. He’s going to bolt once we’re gone. Probably already has a safe house set up.”

“Don’t sweat it, Brother,” Rikki says as we walk down that first hallway. As I pick up my gun, discarded when Slavik fell, he says, “We’re not leaving here empty-handed.”

He walks me back to the room he was just in and opens the door. Lying on the floor of Slavik’s den is a man with a buzz cut, wearing a dress shirt and slacks, Russian tattoos on his forearms.

“Ran into each other in the hallway,” he says. “I knocked him out and dragged him into the parlor. Didn’t see Slavik when I walked in⁠—”

“And that’s how he got the jump on you.”

Rikki nodded. “If Slavik’s going to move to a safehouse after this, I’ll bet you a million dollars this guy knows where he’ll be.”

“If not,” I respond, “it’ll be fun breaking him while we get him to talk. I saw a service elevator down the hall. Probably leads to the alley.”

“Roger that,” he said. “I’ll get him in the elevator.”

“I’ll get the car.”

I toss a bucket of hot water in his face. Slavik’s spy jolts awake, gasping, sputtering and yelling. He’s tied to a chair in the cellar of one of my warehouses, which Rikki objected to. “It’s better to find someplace isolated.” That’s all fine and good at three in the morning, but we’re in the city in broad daylight. I told him we need something close by with thick walls.

And so, here we are in the Central Park warehouse basement, Slavik’s right hand man tied up and soaked with scalding hot water. He blinks through the pain, peering at me and Rikki as we stand before him.

“Rise and shine, comrade,” I say in Russian.

His eyes dart from me to Rikki and I know that in this moment, he knows he’s fucked. “Let me go,” he says immediately. “Let me go and I’ll talk to Slavik about going easy⁠—”

I slap him across the face. “Shut your fucking mouth, Irkutsk scum,” I growl at him. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll answer every question we have for you. Or else…” I look back at Rikki, who, as always, is ready to lay into this guy at my command.

He swallows hard and a slow smile spreads across my face. He’s scared shitless.

“You know that we call my brother chudovishche, don’t you?” I say to him. “The Monster. That’s not just because he’s a big, scary looking guy, you know. It’s because of his brutality. My brother has a P.H.D in breaking skulls.”

“H-His reputation is known,” he says as his knees start to shake.

“Good. This is going to work really simply. No complicated torture rituals. No pulling out fingernails or using rusty nails on your balls. I’m just going to ask you some questions and you’re going to answer them. If you don’t or give me an answer I don’t like, then you’ll have to face the monster. Sound fair?”

He doesn’t answer. He’s looking at me with a mix of fear and disbelief. Like I couldn’t possibly do something like allow my brother to pound him into dust.

“First question,” I say. “Where is Slavik going?”

“I… I don’t understand.”

“Yes, you do.” I just wait for him to answer without elaboration.

He stammers for a moment, then he says, “I… I don’t know.”

I step to the side and Rikki steps in. This man starts screaming before Rikki lands the first punch. I let my brother beat the shit out of him for a few seconds before I say, “All right, that’s enough.”

Rikki steps back and Slavik’s spy’s face is a mess on one side. The bone under his eye is bloodied and crushed and his eye is already swelling shut. His bloodied mouth shakes and he says, “Please… please, no more…”