I Came Home Early for My Son's Birthday Then Found My Wife Being Treated Like a Servant / Chapter 19 / 20

Chapter 19 - The RaidAt 10:00 PM, a fleet of unmarked black SUVs rolled silently into the industrial district on the east side of Nashville.

Marcus had pulled strings at the highest levels of the FBI. When he mentioned Volkov’s red ledger, the Bureau authorized a full SWAT assault.

I was sitting in the mobile command center, wearing a kevlar vest, watching the drone footage on the monitors. Amy was safely back at the secure location, guarded by federal marshals.

"Thermal imaging confirms six heat signatures inside Cumberland Meats," the tactical commander reported. "One is in the central freezer office. Heavily guarded."

"That's Volkov," Marcus said, racking the slide of his rifle. He looked at me. "You stay in the van, Connor. You're a civilian."

"I'm the bait," I corrected him. "If SWAT breaches, Volkov will destroy the ledger and shoot his way out. He needs to think he's winning. He needs to see me."

Marcus hated it, but he knew I was right.

At 11:30 PM, I walked up to the heavy steel doors of Cumberland Meats alone, holding a briefcase. I knocked twice.

The door slid open, revealing a towering enforcer with a scarred face. He patted me down, taking my burner phone but missing the wire Marcus had taped to my chest. He grabbed me by the collar and dragged me inside.

The plant smelled of blood and freezing ammonia. I was shoved through a pair of heavy plastic curtains into a massive walk-in freezer that had been converted into a luxurious, bizarre office.

Sitting behind a stainless steel desk, wearing a heavy fur coat, was Viktor Volkov.

Handcuffed to the wrist of a second enforcer standing next to him was a steel briefcase. The ledger.

"Mr. Bradley," Volkov smiled, though his eyes were like chips of black ice. "You are early. And you brought the drive?"

"I brought it," I said, my breath pluming in the freezing air. "Reverse the steel order on my building. Call off the hackers. Give me my life back, and the drive is yours."

Volkov laughed. "You Americans. You always believe there is a deal to be made. Give me the drive, and I will make your death quick. That is the only deal on the table."

The enforcer behind me drew his weapon, pressing the cold barrel against the back of my skull.

I didn't flinch. I stared Volkov dead in the eye. "I have a better deal. You give me the red ledger in that steel briefcase, and I let you live."

Volkov’s smile vanished. "How do you know about that?"

"I know everything," I said. "And so do they."

I yelled the code word into the mic hidden in my vest. "Now!"

The entire eastern wall of the freezer exploded inward.

Deafening noise and blinding flashbangs filled the room. SWAT operators poured through the breach like a tidal wave of black armor.

The enforcer behind me dropped his gun, clutching his eyes from the flashbang. I didn't hesitate. I spun around, burying my fist into his throat. He went down hard.

Gunfire erupted, deafening in the confined space, but it was over in seconds. Volkov’s men were vastly outgunned and outmaneuvered.

I looked up through the smoke to see Volkov scrambling toward a back exit, the enforcer with the steel briefcase dragging behind him.

Marcus was faster. He tackled Volkov to the freezing floor, pressing the muzzle of his rifle against the mob boss’s spine.

"Viktor Volkov," Marcus yelled over the ringing in our ears. "You're under arrest."

I walked over to the second enforcer, who was pinned by two SWAT officers. I unlocked the handcuff with the key from the enforcer's pocket and took the steel briefcase.

I stood over Volkov as he was roughly pulled to his knees, his fur coat stained with frost and dirt. The untouchable ghost of the Chicago syndicate was finally caught in the light.

"You think this is over?" Volkov spat blood onto the floor, glaring at me. "My people will never stop hunting you."

I held up the steel briefcase. "Without this, you have no people. You have no money. You have no power. You're just an old man going to a concrete box."