Trigger

4

He moved to the sliding doors and heard movement inside. Kory had extensive security and had probably seen some of what was going down through the camera feed. He waited patiently by the hallway for the next group of toughs to charge past. The last one avoided his hit, and they had to dance back and forth while trading punches.

When he dropped him, Trigg noticed with satisfaction that it was Bruno, Kory’s personal bodyguard. Not only was the guy a top fighter, but he was also always by Kory’s side. That meant Kory was unguarded.

Sliding a hand into his pants pocket, he whistled a cheerful tune as he walked toward the office. His steps were long and calm, his breathing relaxed. He knocked politely when he reached the door but didn’t wait for an answer before letting himself in.

“Zdravstvuyte, Pakhan,” Trigg greeted, using the denoted title for the head of the organization, the boss. “Nice to see you.” Eh, so he lied.

Kory squinted at him, a fat cigar in one hand, the old Remington shotgun in the other. He took a long draw on the cigar and blew out the smoke slowly.

“I heard you vere locked up good and tight, Trigg. I’m surprised to see you.”

Trigg shrugged, taking a seat across from the desk and casually crossing his legs.

“You know me. No cage can hold me long.”

“That appears so,” Kory said, narrowing his eyes farther as he put the gun down. “To vhat do I owe this pleasure? I’m thinking if you vanted me dead, I vould already be.”

Trigg nodded, smiling, not wanting to answer the question properly.

Let the old dog sweat it.

“You owe me, Pakhan. It’s as simple as that. I’m here about a girl. I want her back.”

Kory blinked slowly. “What girl?”

“You know the one. American. An armload of trouble. Very valuable. Not like your usual trafficked slaves.”

Kory’s eyes widened. “That girl? Vhat do you vant vith her?”

Trigg shrugged. “Not your business. I can take her off your hands, get her out of Russia, then she won’t be able to f**k up your diamond mine anymore. Get what I’m saying?”

“I do,” Kory answered, touching a match to the tip of his cigar to relight it. “I have business vith her.”

Trigg shrugged again. “Well, I need her. You owe me a favor. The way I see it, we can help each other.”

They stared at each other coldly for a few seconds. Neither blinked. Eventually, Kory let out a hearty laugh.

“All right, old friend. For you, I make an exception. She’s at my country estate outside Ivangorod. I have to ask you, Trigg. Don’t you vant to get messy, bloody revenge on me? I’m surprised you came here to speak like civilized gentlemen.”

Trigg smiled, thinking about how much fun it was going to be to finally take this fucker apart. He didn’t want Kory to know that yet ... he had to get the girl first.

“I wasn’t as careful as I should have been,” Trigg said, easily. “It was really my own fault. There are no hard feelings. Especially since you’re helping me out.”

Kory nodded slowly. “You are a bigger man than vhat I took you for.”

Trigg smiled, flashing his teeth. He was thinking about how the second Stormy was on a plane, he was coming back to completely f**k Kory up. Kory took the smile for friendship and offered him a cigar.

Trigg declined, not wanting to get drawn into a conversation. The quicker he got going, the quicker he could finish the mission and get back. He hurried through the villa, dodging unconscious guards, and hurried to the nearest airfield. He didn’t have to wait long for a flight and arrived soon after in Ivangorod.

The first thing was to find a car. Even though he had been given plenty of money, he couldn’t leave a trail. No cabs, no hire cars. He stood on the side of the road, thinking. He’d prefer not to steal a car either.

Like providence, a man pulled up in front of him at an intersection. Trigg called out, waving a stack of cash.

“Hey!” he yelled. “Want to sell your car?”

The guy looked over, initially pissed, but his eyes went wide when he saw the cash. He jumped out, counted it briefly, and then ran off, barely even saying thanks. Trigg shook his head as he jumped in and gunned the engine. People were, as always, predictable.

He drove fast to the country estate, loving the feel of the car swerving almost out of control on the long turns. He kept his foot pressed to the floor and never touched the brake. He wasn’t just in a hurry to reach Stormy ... he loved to live dangerously.

When he got close to the estate’s perimeter, he stashed the car in a thicket of bushes and trekked through the wilderness to spy on the big house from a distance. To his surprise, the place was dark. There was no sign of life at all, no noise or evidence of anyone moving.

He crept closer, feeling suspicious. He wouldn’t put it past Kory to double-cross him again. Assassins could be waiting here, for all he knew.

He moved closer, almost to the back balcony. He could detect nothing, only a faint scent. There had been people here, but now there were none. Mixed in with the scent of men was a tantalizing and intoxicating aroma. It was very faint. He felt a desperate urge to follow it, but he was still pretty sure he was walking into a trap.

He prowled around the house, peeking into windows. Once he was finally satisfied that no one was there, he pulled out his phone and called Kory.

He expected the Pakhan to not even answer. He was still waiting for lights to come on and machine guns to start firing from every direction. Kory had more than enough time to prepare an ambush.