Chapter 4 - The Wolf's Lair
“To catch a beast, you must walk directly into its jaws.”The rain had turned into a torrential downpour by the time they reached Portland. Alexander had bypassed the main highways, utilizing a network of backroads and a stolen pickup truck he had hotwired with terrifying ease.
He didn't take them to a safehouse. Instead, he drove straight to a high-rise construction site overlooking the Willamette River. The skeleton of the half-finished luxury condo building towered into the stormy night sky.
“Why are we here?” Elena asked, her nerves frayed to the breaking point. She had been clutching a scalpel from her kit the entire drive.
“My family owns the development company building this tower,” Alexander said, pulling a heavy duffel bag from a hidden compartment beneath the floorboards of the truck’s bed. He had retrieved it from a dead-drop location near the docks. Inside were heavy automatic weapons, passports, and stacks of banded hundred-dollar bills. “Dmitri has set up his temporary headquarters on the top floor. He thinks he is safe here because he controls the security.”
“This is suicide,” Elena whispered. “There are dozens of them. You’re still injured!”
Alexander strapped a tactical vest over his black shirt, ignoring the grunt of pain that escaped his lips. He handed her a small, compact pistol.
“You know how to use this?”
“No! I’m a nurse!”
“Point, pull the trigger, and do not look away,” Alexander said flatly. “If they get to me, they will not be merciful to you. Remember your sister.”
That was all the motivation Elena needed. She took the weapon, its cold steel heavy and alien in her hands.
They entered the building through the subterranean garage. Alexander moved like a shadow, his movements silent and lethal. Every guard they encountered was neutralized before they could even raise an alarm—not with gunfire, which would make too much noise, but with swift, brutal hand-to-hand combat and a combat knife that seemed to appear in Alexander’s hand like magic.
Elena watched in a mixture of horror and awe. This was the man she had pulled from the freezing ocean. This was the monster she had brought back to life.
They took the freight elevator to the 40th floor. As the elevator ascended, the wind howled through the open concrete gaps of the unfinished building.
Ding.
The doors slid open.
Waiting for them was not a hallway of concrete, but a fully furnished, lavish penthouse suite built into the top floors of the construction site. And standing by the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, looking out over the twinkling lights of Portland, was Dmitri Volkov.
He didn't look surprised. He turned slowly, holding a crystal glass of amber liquid.
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“Alexander,” Dmitri said, a cruel, triumphant smile spreading across his face. “I must admit, I underestimated your resilience. And your choice of companion is... exquisite.”
Beside Dmitri, bound to a chair with heavy duct tape over her mouth, was Elena’s sister, Sarah.
