Page 178 of Blood & Snow

Stepan takes my personal car, wearing my black coat and driving toward the coordinates the Sokolovs provided.

Igor and I follow in the second vehicle, staying far enough back to avoid detection.

Ivan takes the third car with two more men, circling around to cover alternate routes.

The streets are mostly dark at this hour.

Stepan's taillights disappear around a corner, heading toward themeeting point where armed men wait to kill whoever emerges from the vehicle.

He's a brave soul putting his life out there in exchange for mine and I'm not going to let him regret it.

His one task is to draw them out so they'll give chase.

He just has to stay alive and to that.

"He's in position," Igor says, watching the tracker on his phone that shows Stepan's location.

We park three blocks away, engines idling as we wait for the Sokolovs to make their move.

Minutes crawl past while we listen on our coms units to hear what's happening.

Stepan knows what he's doing, and he obeys orders well, but nothing about this sits right.

If he dies tonight, Leonid will have my head for directly disobeying his orders.

"Movement," Igor reports.

"Two vehicles leaving the factory. They're following Stepan."

The trap has sprung in reverse.

The Sokolovs believe they're pursuing me through Moscow's streets, unaware that we're tracking them from multiple positions.

Stepan leads them on a winding chase through industrial zones and residential districts, never quite letting them catch up but maintaining the illusion of panicked flight.

"He's good," Igor observes as Stepan executes a tight turn that forces the pursuing vehicles to slow.

"Drawing them away from us…"

"Good. Now we move," I tell him, easing the car forward.

We park less than a block away from the bakery's entrance before I give the rest of my men the signal.

"Everyone converges on my position. We don't have long."

With half the Sokolov crew chasing Stepan he has his work cut out for him, but it makes our job easier.

Within minutes the team is assembled in front and back of the bakery ready for my signal.

Without knowing how many men were in here to begin with, we don't know fullywhat we're up against.

And we don't know how many men gave chase after Stepan but there's no doubt in my mind once they've lost him or they figure out it's not me, they'll be coming back with a vengeance.

"Now we go in and take her back," I tell them, chambering a round in my Makarov as I stare up at the dark street.

My men fall in behind me and we make a silent approach.

If this place has security cameras I don't see evidence of them.