BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset
Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

“What’s this about, Timokhin?”

“Fathers love their daughters, don’t they, Igor?”

“You better start making sense or I’ll have the guards come in.”

“They love all their daughters, but they have a special place in their heart for the slut of the litter.”

Igor felt his blood boil.

“I’ll be sorry to have to slit the slut’s throat before getting to taste her other slit,” Timokhin said.

Igor’s mind went blank. The chair in front of him was solid oak, carved decades ago. He heaved it up and flung it across the table.

Timokhin didn’t flinch. He raised a hand, just one, and caught it mid-flight.

“Igor, Igor, Igor,” he said, putting the chair back on the ground with mock care. “It seems I’ve poked a tender spot.”

“Fuck you, Timokhin.”

“I had no idea she was so dear to you.”

“I think you better leave,” Igor said through gritted teeth.

Timokhin raised his hands. “Fine. I’ll leave. I’ll pursue this another way. Just remember, I came to you first, Igor. I came to tell you that your favorite little slut betrayed you. And you sent me away.”

He turned for the door. Igor indulged the fantasy of pulling out his pistol and shooting the man in the back. He pictured him stumble. A man his size would take more than one bullet to bring down. He would turn in time to see Igor pulling the trigger a second time. And a third. And a fourth. And a fifth. He wouldn’t stop until the gun clicked empty.

Tatyana had betrayed him? How was that possible?

“Fyodor, wait,” he said.

Timokhin smiled. He turned and looked at Igor again with that lurid, reptilian gaze.

“Tatyana would never betray me,” he said.

“If you truly believe that, then we have nothing to talk about,” Timokhin said.

Igor could barely stand to look at the man. He was so pleased with himself. So content. So smug.

“Why is it,” Igor said, “that every time you look at me, I feel like Gregor Samsa?”

Timokhin smiled. “Who’s Gregor Samsa?” he said.

25

Sofia looked down as the chopper descended. The entire hospital had been cordoned off. There were soldiers everywhere, on the roofs of the surrounding buildings, in vehicles on the streets, even in other choppers in the sky around them.

“This isn’t going to end well,” the pilot said through the comms.

Sofia nodded. What the hell did the generals think they were doing? They’d cut off the hospital as if they were containing a zombie apocalypse.

She’d told everyone at the staging area the same thing. The outbreak wasn’t a virus. It wasn’t going to spread. Contagion wasn’t an issue.

The only one who’d listened was the woman, Tatyana, but she’d disappeared after their meeting and left her alone to explain the situation to the military boneheads who were in charge.