the final mission

06

Yakutsk was cold.

The boys were bundled up in their largest coats, yet the cold still seeped through the triple insulation. And the jackets were not cheap in the slightest. The Russians kids seemed to be having the time of their lives, running through the streets as the snow continued to fall.

"I-I-I am freezing! Can we check into the hotel?" Kai cast Brody a look in attempts of silencing him, but he continued to wine anyway. "Pretty please?" Kai grunted and put the directions into his phone. They walked in solitude, trying to fit in as best as they could.

When they arrived at the hotel, the workers tried to grab their coats. Keyword is tried. Brody was being a stubborn child again and did not want to give up his only source of warmth. Kai yanked on his hair and muttered about Brody being a spoiled brat.

Once they were settled in front of the many heaters and fireplace of their shared living room, the four boys finally got down to business. They tried figuring out a way to ask the owner of the makeup shop about the specific batch number, but that would most likely only give them a raised eyebrow in return.

"I know! I'll just charm him away. I am a handsome American boy, I bet he doesn't get those very often." At that point, the boys unfortunately had to decide that was their best option. None of them even spoke Russian, so hopefully the shop owner wouldn't be intimidated.

Kai put the address of the shop into his phone and walked towards it with the boys. It was a fifteen minute walk of "pure torture" according to Brody. When they arrived at the quaint shop, they immediately noticed the plethora of customers. For the below freezing temperatures outside, this shop was doing exceptionally well. Kai interestingly noticed the CARD ONLY sign hanging next to the neon OPEN sign.

"Privet! Am Tuymavsky, am own shop! Welcome!" Mr. Tuymavsky smiled at the boys and gestured them in. The boys were met with a fulfilling coziness as they walked in further.

"Hello, am Brody. Am American." Brody spoke slowly, enunciating every syllable. He even threw a wave in there. Kai and Cale slapped his head at the same time, one on each side. Brody groaned, emitting a chuckle out of Mr. Tuymavsky.

"What you need?" Mr. Tuymavsky's very thick accent made Brody almost let out an "aw." He found the short man to be nothing short of adorable.

Kai brought out the empty lipstick container and handed it over to the shop owner. Mr. Tuymavsky quickly turned the lipstick over and read the number that was there, his eyes widening slightly. This lipstick tube had been made at least three years ago. He pretended to wonder why the boys had it.

Brody gentle grabbed the lipstick back. He placed it on the ground and cleared his throat with much more force than necessary.

Kai groaned.

"A long time ago, there was fire. Boom! Pow! Wazzam! Everybody died." Brody pretended to slit his throat with his finger and Mr. Tuymavsky gasped. "There was no proof of who did it. But we found this lipstick." Diego snickered at Brody gesticulating all over the place. He looked like an idiot. Luckily, he did get the point across. Mr. Tuymavsky understood a lot more English than he spoke.

The shop owner shuffled towards the back and came back with a paper in his hands. He handed it to Kai and the others huddled around it, inspecting it. They quickly released it was a sheet for every lipstick that was every purchased. All were card transactions because Mr. Tuymavsky didn't want to purchase a cash register. Too much extra work for an old man like him.

"Number 7363313193 is what we're looking for." Cale scanned the thick wad of paper. He found the number below it and the number above it, but 7363313193 was a no go. The four boys found this strange. There were no tear marks indicated he had cut it out and nothing looked suspicious on the sheet. Kai huffed and walked away.

Diego thanked the man and handed him a thick wad of cash, trudging out the store with the other four. They walked in silence once again, the air thick around them despite the freezing temperature. Something seemed off about that whole affair.

"Guys, we can't seriously think that innocent old man is hiding anything." Brody chuckled at them. Mr. Tuymavsky was one of the cutest men he had ever seen in his life, no homo, and he couldn't even imagine him killing a fly.

★★★

Mr. Tuymavsky walked to the front of the store, locking the door as the last of his customers left. It had been a successful day for him in more ways than one. He flipped the neon open sign around to closed and let down the shutters, darkening the store.

He made his way to the back of the store, where he got on his secret email account and looked for a message he had gotten long ago. He had never thought that the day would come.

"Hello?" A muffled voice spoke on the other side.

"Mr. Tuymavsky speaking. The boy came in today, just as you said he would. He had the other three tall boys with him as well. I showed them the receipts just as you asked and they left perturbed."

"Thank you. Your work here is done. Your payment will come soon." Mr. Tuymavsky thanked the person and hung up. He was a happy old man, but he had gotten involved with the wrong crowd.

He took the gasoline he kept in the back of the story and sprayed it everywhere. Mr. Tuymavsky removed the shiny white lighter from his pocket and light the flame. His whole building was engulfed and he prepared to burn with it.