The only cars in the parking lot that Erik could identify were Stone’s sh*tty truck and Marie’s BMW. There was one red four door that Erik thought belonged to a ‘customer’ of Marie’s, but Erik couldn’t be sure. The Semya was not a booming business by any means, but it was still strangely quiet.

“Those assigned to locate Marie and Nikita, go in through the employee’s entrance. You two with me. We go in the front,” Erik told them all after they had gathered round him.

The men went on their way while Erik and his group paused in front of the bar. Erik pressed his face up to the glass on either side of the door. All the lights were off online except for the neon sign on top of the bar. It’s pink light blinked into the darkness, but still illuminated nothing of note.

“Closed?” Erik questioned. The bar closed when the last customer left. It didn’t even keep government regulated hours. He made a motion with his hand and one of his men tried to open the door. It jiggled uselessly over and over, no matter how hard the man pushed.

“I think it’s chained,” Erik grunted. The old lock on the heavy wooden door should have given way by now. “We can break some glass or we can break the door. Which one will be easier?”

“We don’t exactly have a battering ram, but it would still be easier to break the door. Much less chance of injury.” One of the men spoke in Russian, voicing everyone’s thoughts. They lined up and started running into the door, ramming it with their bodies.

Erik gritted his teeth. The sheer noise generated by them taking down the door alone was enough to alert anyone in the building. Flashes of light around the corner. Gunshots? Or something else? Erik aimed his gun at the glass beside of the door, startling the men mid-run. Several fell onto the pavement.

“I can’t wait for this. Those may be gunshots!” Erik crossed his arms over his face and pushed through the broken glass. It rained on the tile floor of the bar room and he was in. There was, in fact, no one there. It was almost eerily quiet until gunshot came from upstairs again. A woman screamed, too high pitched to be Jalisa. Nikita.

“I’m going further in. You follow when you can.” Erik barely glanced over his shoulder before running toward the upstairs steps. The employee entrance was busted open and the door swung uselessly on its loose hinges.

“Help!” Another scream. It was definitely Nikita. Erik kicked in the thin, cheap door to the apartment upstairs before jumping back a few stairs. Four more shots fired, all toward the door. Erik was smart enough to dodge them.

Keeping his head down, he made a beeline to the couch. It was cover. A trail of bullets followed him. The stream paused, and then two different people were calling his name.

“Erik!” Nikita and Marie both screamed in relief.

“Erik there’s these – Back off, asshole! – men trying to get to me! Help me!” Marie continued.

“Where is Jalisa?” Erik crouched down behind the couch. Standing in open doorways, their bodies shielded by corners, stood the two men that were tasked with taking down Marie.

“She’s fine! Help me!” Marie’s voice echoed before another round of horribly aimed bullets went flying through the air. She was positioned in her room, the barrel of a gun sticking out of the door.

“This woman says she will kill the kid if we do not let her pass,” one of Erik’s men shouted at him.

“You threatened Nikita?” Erik watched as Marie peeked around.

“Will you fu*king help me? Shoot one of them for God’s sake!” Marie was getting on Erik’s last nerve.

“Put down the gun!” Erik took a big risk and started walking toward where Marie was holed up. She looked at him with wide, panicked eyes. Marie would have to decide to let him get close to her or to shoot the man who could be her ally.

“Y-You don’t come any closer!” She pointed the barrel of the gun at him. Revolver. Most likely held six shots. She had used up the majority of them shooting blindly at nothing. A box of bullets beside her. There was a chance she reloaded, but probably not.

“I’m your friend.” Erik set his gun down on the ground and held up his hands. “Remember, Marie. You need your friends right now.”

“I guess you’re okay.” Marie bit her lip. “But why wouldn’t you shoot those guys? They’re trying to attack me!”

“Marie. You really do need some sort of help.” Erik sighed before crossing the five feet that separated them in a dive. His body crashed into Marie’s and they stumbled backwards. Erik’s men rushed in, all four of them securing their targets. Erik was right; Marie’s gun had been empty.

“Do you know where Jalisa is?” Erik had to yell to be heard over the sound of Marie kicking and thrashing her body about.

“She’s getting fu*ked! She’s got a client!” Marie made a disgusting noise in the back of her throat and literally tried to spit on Erik. The gob of gooey spit landed on the floor in front of him.

“What!” Erik was so angry he kicked the wall. “You all protect your targets.”

Spinning on his heels, Erik ran back down the stairs. He knew the room Marie ‘entertained’ her clients in was the first place to check. As he entered the main bar room floor, Stone was waiting for him. Stone sat at a table in the now illuminated bar, smoking a cigarette.

“Well, well, well, look who came to rescue his princess.” Stone leaned back in the chair, the front legs lifting off of the tile floor.

“Where is she?” Erik held his weapon at arm’s length, locking one elbow. “I don’t have time for your sh*t, Stone. This isn’t a game.”

“Isn’t it? I run; you chase. It’s a nice little game of cat and mouse. I’m almost sorry to see it end, but everything does, I suppose.” Stone leaned his weight forward, the legs of the chair coming back down with a smack that echoed through the empty space.

“I’m not playing your game.” Erik glanced toward the door to where Jalisa should be only to find it open and presumably empty.

“You already are.” Stone was haughty. He glanced over his shoulder, and three other men stepped out of the shadows. Stone had no real friends and these men were not part of the mafia, so they must be hired guns.