Red Reaper - Soldiers of Fortune [book one]

Chapter FORTY

Konstantin Ivanov

I step out of the bathroom pulling the door closed behind me to be greeted by the overpowering scent of hydrogen peroxide, bleach and sodium hydroxide.. Putrid acidic fumes offer a harsh affront that sting my eyes and chemicals burn in my lungs as I take an unsuspecting breath.. Quickly after inhaling the toxic air I lift the crook of my elbow to cover my face with a disgruntled snarl.. "Blyat'--Fuck-- Yuri! You are trying to kill uz all!"

The stout, stern eyed cleaner blinks up at me from beneath his mask, his pale silver stare squinting in judgemental annoyance as he steps over the plastic wrapped body that has been moved onto a sheet of pale blue tarpaulin.. from the mass of the dead man multiple tubes run to a bucket, blood draining away from his corpse..

To remove the body from the building unnoticed, I am certain Yuri will dismantle it.. The very thought of sawing through tissue and bone still causes my stomach to curdle..

It has been many years since I have disposed of a body for myself, I much prefer to outsource the gruesome task, but somehow I remember the last time like it was yesterday.. The tacky resistance of cutting through flesh and the crunch of calcium and cartilage.. I had always hated that part..

Yuri, however, appears blazè and completely unaffected by the nature of his task.. With a dry grunt he tugs a black cloth from his back pocket and tosses it in my direction..

"Ne bud' baboy, Koba.. Grow yourself a set of ballz, Pussy-man!" He taunts me, to call me a 'sissy' or something of the like with a low mutter.. I shrug, unbothered by his insult as I hastily tie the bandana around my face to cover my mouth and nose, watching him retreat back around the bloodstained room to begin ripping up the corner of the carpet from the wall.. With short legs, a round belly and a balding patch patch at the very top of his head, The Cleaner looks almost comical in his plastic pants, grumbling to himself the entire time about the excessive extent of work to be done.. "Ya tol'ko i delayu, chto rabotayu.. Nenavizhu rabotat.."

Yuri takes a razor sharp utility blade from his toolbox and begins to cut away the bloodiest section of the rug, kneeling down to inspect what lurks underneath, taking a spray bottle of fluid indicator to spritz the bare floor beneath.. We both watch as the chemical makes contact and mixes with the stains to form a stark, snowy white foam, informing him where to focus his bleaching efforts..

"How long will thiz all take?" I wave an impatient hand around the apartment and he pauses with a heave of exasperation, tossing his utility knife aside..

"It will take me twice az long if you do not shut you're fuck-hole and leave me to work.. You know better than to rush an artist, Koba.."

I chuckle at the hardened humour to his words and his unpleasant demeanor.. The man is an utter prick, if he weren't so useful I'm sure I'd have killed him by now for all his bad attitude.. Around me, he seems to forget his place, his lesser rank.. Probably because he knows his value.. He is not exactly expendable..

I suppose since I have exponentially much more patience than other Brigadiers, Yuri has come to know this about me and takes no issue exploiting the fact.

I smirk beneath my bandana and offer a curt nod.. "Da, Yura.. You will make beautiful, I am sure.. Or I will have to kill you and clean both messes myself.."

"Aghh! I clean, yah-yah!" He mutters, displeased by the threat though hardly intimidated.. Men like Yuri, and like me, we do not fear death, we have simply seen too much of it.. I understand that death is an escape, no, more so even.. Death is freedom.. It is life that hurts, it is living that is hard.. "And you will pay much, Kostya.."

I narrow my suspicious stare in his direction, getting a sense I am about to be fleeced.. "Ah there it iz, get on with it, name 'ze price.."

The Cleaner twists his fingers together to crack his knuckles in a series of sick pops.. "I am thinking thiz job iz vury important, Brat, worth much to you.. So, you pay twice.. Once for me to clean, and once again for silence.."

"Skazhite mne ser'yezno, skol'ko vy khotite? Yuri?" I growl, reiterating the question of cost with a little more force and a whole lot of irritation..

"Chetyresta tysyach.." He holds up a latex gloved hand with four wiggling, sausage fingers..

"Four-hundred-thousand Amerikanskiy?!" I throw up my hands.. I had expected he would jack up the price, but to double it is highway robbery and the man knows it.. "Fucking theif!"

Yuri laughs, a raspy snicker that soon turns into a smoker's cough and wheeze.. "Come now, Koba, thiz iz good price.."

"Okh, pizdets!" I cuss with a snarky scoff.. "Half a million! I could buy a new fucking apartment and burn thiz one to the ground for such a cost!"

He glances around and shrugs his stubby shoulders.. "You have gasoline and matchez? Make eazier my life?"

I chuckle at his crude indifference, as much as I may dislike the guy, he is crafty and I have to appreciate the business savvy and balls it takes to challenge me in the way he does.. "Nyet.. You clean.. Better make fucking spotless, motherfucker mudak.."

He bows in a sarcastic manner as if I were a Tsar and he is a humble peasant.. "It will be az if your man waz never here.."

"Yuri.." I step forward, losing all humour from my tone and he stiffens to attention, following suit to listen seriously.. "He waz never here.. Understand me? I will bury you cold if I hear a whisper of thiz in the wind.. Posadit' na piku!"

"Da, Avtoritet.." Yuri nods once, militant and dutiful.. "Take the devushka somewhere else tonight, in two days there will be nothing to find.."

I watch for a few moments as he resumes his meticulous work before I wander around to the cart of supplies he had brought with him, convincingly disguised as pest control equipment.. Tucked in among the various containers of chemicals I find a cheap bottle of vodka which I claim for my own.. "Since I pay for thiz, iz mine now.."

Yuri waves at me over his shoulder with a grunt, not looking up from the bloodstains. "Aga, ne vazhno.. Now fuck off!"