Page 1 of Code of Captivity

Prologue

Ania

I frowned at the screen as my green coding filled the screen. My heart always pounded at this part, but there was something about this job that was odd. I couldn’t find anything on the person who requested the job, and the anonymity made me nervous. The final payout was substantial, and that was what persuaded me. A notification popped up in the corner of my screen. Someone had clicked on the attachment that I’d sent in the email. I cleared my screen and quickly accessed the user's computer.

The files were in the exact location the buyer said. I quickly applied the coding and began to break through their antivirus software. I grabbed my energy drink, downing half the can before continuing my work. Once I was in, I sat back, downloading all the files while watching the code on the screen.

Someone was trying to dislodge my malware software by running an antivirus programme. My virus was unique and usually undetectable. I’d accessed government systems using my creation without any problems. I continued to tap away on my keyboard because it was too late for them. Once I was inside their system, I had control. The files were in the process of downloading, with 16% remaining.

Almost done, and I could get out of there.

As soon as the files were done, I clicked on it, but it was encrypted. I needed to steal the key. What was so important that it had so much security?

I rubbed my eyes and began typing code so fast that it whizzed on the screen. I toggled to my other window to cut out some of the additional coding I needed before transferring it to my current page.

When I found the key, I snatched it up and removed it from their system. Usually, the other party never knew I’d been in and out of their system. I rarely damaged the system or the hardware, but in this case, the damage was unavoidable.

I began to work on the encrypted files. The data made no sense it was coded because there were letters and numbers mixed together. I accessed the other files and it had similar coding. I started with the common denominator and worked most of the night to break it all down. This wasn’t what I was paid to do but I needed to know whose system I’d hacked.

By early morning, I realised that I had hacked into Adrik Ilyin’s system and stolen files containing accounts of all his criminal dealings—dates, locations, amounts, and names. I deleted everything, but not before I copied it onto a drive. It was my insurance because when the head of the Bratva found me, I was as good as dead. The man was fucking homicidal. I pulled my phone out to instigate my safety protocol.

Me:I messed up, real bad. If you haven't heard from me for a while, I went underground. If I don't get in touch with you after six weeks to confirm my safety, then Adrik Ilyin has me or has killed me. You know what to do. Thank you for being a true friend to me when I needed one the most.

My hands were trembling, but I couldn’t give in to the fear. Rurik was a client but a good man, considering he was a wealthybusinessman. He was a rare anomaly in a world full of greed and survival. I sent the accompanying email, which had my data, funds and will on how to distribute my wealth. He held the key to unlock it.

I was the infamous White Rabbit, and I had collected a considerable amount of funds over the years. I had several hideouts under various names, and although I used safety measures to protect this location, it was never against someone like Adrik Ilyin—the youngest and most brutal Bratva pakhan in the Brotherhood's history.

I had never worked for a criminal organisation, not even when I first started out. The problem with working in the shadows was you got to know all the monsters. Adrik was one of Russia’s most prolific, and no one could touch him.

I scrubbed my computers, grabbed my go bag and set the fire. There was no time to be sentimental and watch my base go up in flames. I pulled my hood up and ran to my motorbike.

It was time for this rabbit to run.

Chapter 1

Adrik

Failure was never an option for anyone in my Bratva brotherhood. My predecessor, Yuri Velichko, discovered this the hard way. The old man was weak, but he made me the most powerful man in Russia through his harsh lessons. Through his men’s sadistic tutelage, I evolved to become who I am today. Anyone who crossed me suffered the consequences of doing so.

“V Bratve neudacha nevozmozhna,” I said to Níka in a cold voice devoid of the fury that simmered beneath the surface.Failure is not an option in the Bratva.

The man who compromised my entire operation for a titty email knelt before my desk with his head hung in shame. Killing people was second nature to me, from my first sloppy kill at the age of twelve to becoming more—creative over time. Ineededthem to suffer. It was never about money in the band of brothers. It was all about respect and power because, without it, people thought you were weak.

“Hold his head,” I snapped, and Pyotr moved forward to lift Níka’s head by using a handful of his hair.

The stench of fear was seeping out of his every pore. His face was covered in dirt, sweat and blood. It was his wide, bloodshot eyes that gave me the most pleasure. The desperate look in them, knowing he would perish within seconds. They had a quality of crazed wildness when he saw my dagger. Everyone in the room knew his fate was sealed.

“Slabost' nepriyemlema,” I said before I plunged the pointed dagger through his nasal cavity until it hit the top of his skull.Weakness is unacceptable.

His warm blood ran down my hand, and I watched his eyes twitch until the final twinge of light vanished, leaving a vacant look. My grim satisfaction didn't last long because it wasn't enough. I pulled my dagger out and reached for the cloth Pyotr held for me. Níka’s lifeless body fell on the plastic sheet as I cleaned the blood from my hand and dagger.

“Otchet,” I said as I sat behind my desk to look at my laptop.Report. Díma stepped forward as two others began to roll up Níka’s corpse.

“Denís believes it to be the work of a hacker named the White Rabbit, Pakhan. We are searching for the individual, but by the time Denís got a location for us, the hacker was gone, and the place had been torched,” he said, keeping his eyes lowered.

A rabbit? I’d heard of this hacker a number of years ago, but I was unable to find the individual who had refused my invitation to work with me. It would seem that fate handed me an opportunity.

“Put a bounty on the hacker's head, use legitimate channels and the dark web. Tell Denís that I want the word spread in every part of Russia. I want the hacker breathing,” I said to Díma. “Once we have the hacker kill Denís.”

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