Page 63 of The Pakhan’s Heir

“Where is Slavik going?” I ask again.

He takes a second, and I can see Rikki bouncing on the balls of his feet out of the corner of my eye. “He-he’s going to the safe house,” he says.

“And where is the safehouse?”

“Please,” he says again, “if I tell you, he’ll have me killed. I can’t tell you.”

I nod to Rikki and he steps forward. His spy starts to weep.

This pattern doesn’t go on for long. Slavik’s sovietnik is pretty weak and he breaks after the third round of Rikki’s fists. He tells us where Slavik is hiding—a little apartment on the south side. After he talks, he hangs his battered and swelling head, his breath labored as blood drips from his face to the floor.

An opportunity appears before me. A sovietnik is usually the key to a Pakhan’s secrets. Or at least his gameplan in a war. Rikki’s wiping the blood from his hands with a rag. “Come on,” he says. “If we hurry, we can get this done before lunch.”

“Hold on.” I step up to him and kneel before him. He lifts his head, peering at me through two swollen eyes.

“So, your boss's whole plan all along was to try and wipe us out?” I ask him. He just stares at me. “I believe that was a question. You might want to answer it.”

He swallows and shakily says, “You… you will pay… for this. All of you. Putting the… the blame… on him… You won’t… You won’t get away… with it.”

I tilt my head and glance back at Rikki, who’s standing stock still with interest. “What are you talking about?”

“Your… father… You blamed the Irkutsks… We had nothing to do with it.”

“Right. And someone else attacked my brother and our businesses?”

“No… no, that was us.” His shoulders start to shiver as a rattling laugh comes out of him. He smiles with bloodied teeth at me. “You… you have no idea what’s going on, do you? Not a clue.”

“Maybe you could explain it,” I say, my anger starting to rumble inside me.

He takes a breath and his smile slips from his beaten face. “The plan was to destroy you… from the inside… With his daughter. She… she was supposed… She was supposed to give him information… but of course she didn’t have… didn’t have the stomach for it… I told him… I told him she wouldn’t be able to do it…”

I have to ball up my fist to keep from slapping him again. “Your boss didn’t count on his daughter being smart enough to know better,” I say.

He just stares and through all the blood and bruises, I see him regarding me with what looks like pity. “She was always such a pretty girl. It’s a shame that she let you corrupt her.”

“Watch what you say about my wife,” I growl at him.

“Your wife… is the reason… you will all die. Slavik will never allow… his bloodline to mix with the poisoned blood of the Molotovs. Never.”

An ice-cold feeling rushes over me. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

He smiles his bloody-toothed smile at me and says, “You don’t know… That’s funny. That’s actually very funny.”

I glare at him as he sits back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. Then he says, “Slavik has always had eyes on his daughter,” he says. “It’s been a standing order for me since she turned thirteen. I am always watching her. Whenever she leaves your home, I have eyes following her and I report back to Slavik…”

He pauses and brings his head back down, staring directly at me like a demon peering at me through the gates of hell. “One day, not so long ago, I received word that she took out the trash in your home. Seems like a normal activity for a young wife… Except she never takes the trash out of your home. She’s a wealthy woman. Why would she ever think to do such a thing… unless there was something she was trying to hide from you?”

He leans forward. “Have you guessed it yet? Or should I go on?”

I don’t answer him. I’m doing everything I can to keep from pulling my gun and shooting him in the head.

“I had my man go through that trashcan,” he says. “And he found a pregnancy test. A positive pregnancy test.”

I stand up slowly. Nona’s… pregnant? I look back at Rikki and he stares back, open-mouthed with shock.

That’s what he meant. Smert Rodu Rostovyk. My bloodline is about to continue…

“Slavik would never let your spawn live,” he says, then he shakes his head and in a sad tone, mutters, “Such a pretty girl… Too bad she has to die.”