The rains keep pouring down as Kirov and Marto make their way back to the Dragalevtsi safehouse. As Kirov pulled into the road, he noticed something. The house was dark. No lights, no cars parked outside, as if it were empty. Immediately, he slammed the car into reverse and reversed out of the road.
"Kirov, what's going on?" Marto was confused as to why Kirov was driving away from the safehouse, "We need to stop somewhere to plan and gear up." Kirov doesn't answer for a moment, keeping his head on a swivel as he keeps looking out for anything out of the ordinary.
"I left a light on in the house. Did you see any lights turned on?" Kirov turned to Marto, waiting for his response.
"No… There wasn't. You think that someone went into the house?"
"Not exactly, I think there is someone in the house right now." Marto started to understand the depth of the situation.
"What do you think, is it your father?"
"Him personally? No. But a hit squad sent by him, most definitely." Kirov kept his eyes on the road as he got a call on the Holo, checking to see who was calling him. His heart dropped.
It was his father.
Kirov took a moment to compose himself and answered the call.
"Kiril, where are you?" Those words echoed in his head for what felt like an eternity.
"I'm on my way back from Pernik. I had to make a collection from the contractor for the new motorway." Kirov was an amazing liar, but he rarely had to use his skills against his father.
"Is that so. Good. I think you know by now that we have some business to settle with Kang Tao. Come to my office now to handle it." Kirov was taken aback, for his father was being half-honest with him.
"I have been handling it, I have everything under control, you don't need to-"
"You don't tell me what I need to do!" Kirov bit his tongue, not sure how to respond to his father.
"You have disappointed me here, Kiril. I'm waiting for you in my office." The Holo cuts out.
BANG
Kirov punched the steering wheel, leaving a dent in it.
"What do we do now? If they are keeping them at his office, then that's where we need to go!" Marto started fidgeting with his chrome, getting ready for a fight.
"His office is arguably the hardest building to get into in all of Sofia. If we go in guns blazing, we won't get past the main lobby." Kirov got onto the circular road and started driving away from the centre. "We need a plan, and since my safehouse has been compromised, we need to go see a friend."
"Who is this 'Friend'? Is he some type of muscle?"
"No, He is someone you know, and you should be thankful to." Kirov looks at Marto and then back to the road as they drive towards the Tangra bar.
Once they arrived, Kirov parked his car in front of the bar and turned to Marto,
"Let's go." Marto was confused as to why they were back here, but he knew that Kirov must have a good reason, so he didn't question it. Walking behind the bar, there was a set of stairs that led underneath the bar. Opening the door, Marto started to recognise this space as the clinic where he got his cyberware implanted. Kirov went up to a reinforced door and knocked on it.
"Ivan, it's me." A peephole slides open, and Ivan the Ripperdoc optics start scanning.
"You shouldn't be here, Kirov. Some of your associates are in the bar, and they seem to be on the lookout."
"I'm painfully aware, hence I didn't come through the front door." The peephole slides shut as the door is unlocked and then opened.
"Kirov, you know I like you, you are a loyal customer, but I can't have any kind of heat in the clinic."
"I'm not here for the clinic, I'm here for my locker." Kirov made his way through the room, reaching a locker. He put his hand on the locker as it ran a biometric scan, and then opened. "Ivan, go to the other room. The more you see, the more your plausible deniability will go away." Ivan doesn't need to be told twice; he walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. Marto, as much as he had gotten used to the mafia lifestyle that Kirov led, was shocked by what he saw. Stacks of cash that were clearly in the millions, and enough weapons to arm a small militia. Kirov took out a toolbelt and his shoulder holsters, strapping them on. He then armed himself with two smart pistols before putting them back in the locker.
"What's wrong with them?" Marto is confused since Kirov should be arming himself to the teeth, not be picky.
"They are Kang Tao smart guns, no clue what we are walking into, better to not take any chances with my guns jamming from some Kang Tao Netrunner." Kirov then poked further into the locker and took out two more pistols, strapping them into his holster. He went on to take a combat knife and a Kevlar vest.
"I'm assuming you don't want to use anything aside from your fists, so take a vest at least." Kirov passes a vest to Marto, and Marto begrudgingly puts it on. Knocking out a false bottom in the locker, takes out a bottle of whiskey. Marto couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"A bunch of guns, knives, money and who knows what else, but you hide a bottle of whiskey?"
"1997, scotch. This bottle is worth more than this whole bar." Kirov took a good look at the bottle before opening it, and passing it over to Marto, "There is a decent chance we don't make it back, I'm going to try this, and you should too." Marto just stares at the bottle for a moment before taking a swig, nearly coughing up his lungs.
"This is disgusting." Marto Pases it back to Kirov. Kirov also takes a sip, smiling. Putting the bottle aside, he closes the locker as they walk out of the bar. Ivan was standing at the exit, blocking the way.
"Kirov, whenever you come to this locker,m you put stuff in, not take it out, this doesn't seem very good."
"Don't worry about me, Ivan, if anything happens to me, there is enough cash in there to cover my tab, and more, and a bottle of whiskey I know you will enjoy."
"I don't like how that sounds, Kirov, and how would I even get into the locker?"
"The locker has your biometrics on it; it always has." Ivan didn't give Kirov a response, simply reaching out his hand, and Kirov met it in a handshake. Ivan gripped his hand harder than usual. No goodbyes, just a handshake that was worth its weight in gold. Seeing this handshake, Marto looked down at his hand, knuckles bloodied and bruised. He said nothing.
Exiting the bar, Kirov and Marto get into the car. Turning to Marto, Kirov simply states,
"Next stop, Kirov Tower."