Page 4 of Bratva Warriors 1
When Sergi and Nikoli entered, Artem went to step out but Sergi held up his hand.“Please stay.”
Artem glanced at Briar then at Sergi and asked, “What do you need?”
Sergi smiled slightly.“I need Briar to reach out to her friends again.This time we’re looking for a group of people going by the name of Blue Crusades or Triple Triangles.They might be watching this hotel as they are waiting for a man from Russia who has broken out of a prison.”
Briar shook her head.She went to the bedroom and they all heard her speaking to someone on the phone.When she returned a few moments later, she looked at Sergi and nodded.“Pippy said he saw some men watching the hotel.In fact, he said he was going to call me about this.They don’t look like people from here but they are obvious about their surveillance.He said people on the street have been telling him about these guys for at least two weeks.”
Sergi shook his head.Swearing under his breath, he looked at her and asked, “Blin, did he say anything else?”
Briar nodded.“Pippy has eyes in all five burrows and some of these guys have been speaking Italian as well as Russian.Pippy said there’s a group of about thirty that they know of.The word out there is that they are waiting on a plane that’s due very soon.”
Sergi looked over at Nikoli and shook his head.Then he looked back at Briar, “Please thank Pippy for the information and please ask him to let you know if he hears anything else he might deem important.”
Briar nodded.“I’ll do that.So what are your plans if they come after you?”
Sergi shook his head.“We don’t know enough about what these guys plan to do yet.I have Nicky and Serenity looking for anything they can find about these two groups.Hopefully, they can find something before time runs out.”
“But time is fleeting fast,” Nikoli grumbled.“He’s going to be here and come after you before we know about it.”
Sergi shook his head.“You need to have a little faith in your own team of people, Nikoli.Not only do you have your own security team looking, you have Nicky and Serenity on watch and Briar’s people as well.No one is going to get close to this place without us knowing about it.”
“We had an explosion out there, Sergi.I know we have a lockdown now, but we can’t be sure about what might happen.”Nikoli stared at him.“ And these street people.You actually trust them to warn you in time?”
“Da, I do.”Sergi nodded without hesitation.“I trust them to keep us all safe.”
Briar asked him.“How do you trust people you haven’t even met yet?”
Sergi turned his head to look at her, then he reached out and took her hand in his.“I trust them my dear, because they helped raise you.They watched over a very scared five year old little girl and they kept you safe when they could have turned their backs on you.Pippy went above and beyond anything to keep you safe and to teach you what you needed to know to grow up into the woman you have become.”He smiled at her.“You think I do not know or care about the supplies both you and Artem have been providing for your friends?”Shaking his head he said, “I knew.I saw the bridges you have built between these street people.My Raven has the same type of network where she lives that you have here.Your people are good people and I appreciate their help.I know they would never step up just for me, but they will bend over backward for you.And I am grateful for the help they give you.”
“What would you do to prove that?” Briar asked softly.
Sergi tilted his head and looked at her.“What do you need?”
“I need a tent and a puppy,” Briar told him with a challenge in her voice.
Sergi actually chuckled.“Then you will have a tent and a puppy.But why only that?”
Briar nodded.“A friend of mine was living on the street.His name is Willie and he’s the one who showed us where to find those sisters you were looking for.A while back, he had a red tent and an old dog.They were best friends.Red and his guys saw Willie there minding his own business, just playing with his dog.So Red and three of his goons came over and disturbed his camp.They stomped all over the things Willie had out and then they started on hitting Willie.The dog objected and one of them slashed at him.The dog bit him and the guy grabbed his jaw and crushed it then he kept stabbing at the dog’s belly.Two of the others held Willie back and Red pounded on him.When Willie was passed out they burned his red tent.Willie didn’t have much in the first damn place.He wrecked the man’s tent and killed his old dog, just because he could.Willie didn’t choose to live on the streets but life is hard you know?When he lost his job, he ran out of money.Now he’s broken and that’s just not right.”
Sergi looked a bit stricken by her story as he shook his head.“No, it isn’t right.I’ll make some things right.Maybe you can be a bridge between us and these people that brings opportunity to them if they are willing to speak to us.”
Briar studied his face.Possibly to discern if he really meant it.“I have some ideas.Like a few more shelters.Maybe even having people like Wille and Pippy working and living at a shelter.Having a purpose.Ya know?”
Artem reached over and took her hand in his.“I want to help with this as well.”
“Right now though, we gotta save Sergi’s tail,” Briar said.
Nikoli stared at her while looking a bit stunned.
Sergi laughed.“Yes, I need my tail saved.”
