Massive Attack (A Guy Niava Thriller Book 1) by Dana Arama (diy ebook reader TXT) 📕

“I am afraid that they are really in control of the situation,” he answered, and looked once again at the glowing clock opposite him. “Another hour…”

“An hour and ten minutes,” I corrected him. Alex got off the Jeep and started walking in between the parked cars. At random he would peek into a car he deemed suspicious. “It is starting to get chilly,” I noted.

“I can’t switch on the car and warm it up. Sorry,” he said, not sorry at all. “I can give you my jacket.”

I laughed. “I’m not that cold.” I looked to my right and then to my left and also tried looking out the back window. “Can you see Alex?” I asked.

In response, Aldo took out his gun and locked the doors. He punched in Alex’s number and he answered immediately.

“There is nothing suspicious. Everything is quiet over here.”

“Come back to the car and we’ll change positions.”

We went through this routine three times before Dubroshin notified us that it was starting.

“What is their layout?”

“I can’t tell. Either a broad defense or a narrow attack… There are already a few cars spread out around the meeting point. The boss hasn’t arrived yet.”

I had one last conversation with my father. He said, “You’ll have to go to the meeting. There is no choice.” He added, “I love you,” then hung up. I asked myself if that was a farewell. Did he know I was going to die?

The wheels squealed as they came down to the third floor. It seemed symbolic, a meeting under the ground. As if it foreshadowed the entrance to hell. The black limousine appeared and stopped in between two marked parking bays, as if it meant to stop for just a few minutes. A small pool of water started forming around the car. I thought that when the limousine eventually left, it would look like a coffin.

We stopped a short distance from the limo. The ground between us was empty, and I could identify the Reds with their weapons drawn and their threatening looks. I didn’t see Dubroshin or his team at all and that worried me. I tried not to; not being seen was his specialty.

Aldo said, “Dubroshin just texted that they have shut off the area to this floor,” and then added an explanation of his own, “They don’t want guests…”

One of the Reds approached the vehicle and peeked inside. He signaled me with his weapon to get out of the car. I was sure that Aldo and Alex could hear my heart beating and both of them opened their doors to get out as well to escort me. Both the Reds pounced on them, slamming their doors and preventing them from getting out of the car.

“I can shoot them,” Alex said.

“No! Stay here. There is no reason for you to die as well.”

“As if they will leave eyewitnesses….”

I took a deep breath and sent up a quick prayer to God, who I knew was punishing me because I had breached the Besa code. I promised to do everything in my power to save the kidnapped kid, if I made it out of there alive. I opened the door and got out. With quick strides of confidence, I walked over to the limousine opposite me. Its engine was still running. The Red who had signaled me before to get out of the car now signaled me to stop. I stopped about a meter from the door of the limousine.

The limousine door opened, and a leg clad in grey suit pants and a stylish leather shoe emerged. I felt like a pauper in my cowboy boots and jeans.

On the door a hand appeared, bejeweled with a gold ring, upon which rested a huge diamond. I tried in vain to see if the hand was young or old, but couldn’t make it out through the dim light in the parking lot.

“We will close this deal under my terms,” the man said as he got out of the limousine with agility. “There is no room for discussion.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Vladi, how are you?”

“We are not hanging out in a club now, Murat. This is business.”

I became serious and nodded my head in agreement. “What are your terms?” I asked.

“All the profit for the weapons transaction goes to us. We will confirm or not confirm all future dealings with this cell, and we supply the arms.”

“And what do I get in return?”

“Besides your life? You get the drug market.”

I felt a smile spread across my face but then he said, “Maybe ‘get’ is too generous a word… You get the right to continue with your new business partner in this drug deal of yours.” He then smiled and added, “I am planning on working with you on this matter, so don’t disappoint me. By the way, have you tried this new drug? It is out of this world.”

***

We had entered the parking lot during the day, and by the time we left the sun was setting. The night came like a dark icy cloud, along with lightning and thunder. Under any other circumstances, it would have affected my mood. I am a summer person, accustomed to cold margaritas and beauties in bikinis, but now even the frost was welcoming. I had earned my life back, my friends’ lives, the honor of my community, as well as an amazing deal with a friend I regularly partied with. I preferred to ignore the fact that he was a representative of the Russian mafia and that they had the tendency to take over anything they got their hands on. Life looked good, even amidst the raindrops hitting my window. I was starving, like a young wolf.

“What do you think about Joe’s Den? I feel like ribs.”

Yassin’s call came exactly at the right moment. It was a bit suspicious. Immediately after the meeting had ended, reminding me that my troubles were far from over.

“Yes,” I answered briefly.

Without asking how I was, he asked, “Do you