Devon and Varga had some time to waste, so they spent the next day stripping and cleaning all of their guns. The following day, after still not hearing from either brothel, they decided to polish up their skills with their weapons. The handguns were new to both of them. While Varga had used an AK-47 before, he had never fired the model they now found themselves in possession of, and Devon had no experience with the weapon at all.
They both thought it would be a good idea to practice with their weapons and because they Devon had purchased more ammo than they would hopefully would ever need, Varga and Devon decided to spend some time at a shooting range using some of that surplus up. Besides, it was never a good idea to go into battle with untested firearms. It was also not a good idea to use guns that you were unfamiliar with in a life or death situation.
So the following day, Devon did a search for shooting ranges in Istanbul, and Poligon 34 kept on cropping up. It had some very good reviews. What was important is that they allowed rifles and automatic weapons to be used. Some shooting ranges were only equipped for handguns, and that would simply not do.
They spent the next couple of hours practing at the firing range. They made quite a spectacle with their AK-47s and their automatic shotguns. Their sigs also performed flawlessly. While they did not have enough ammo or time to become expert in their weapons, they at least were now proficient in their use.
That evening, sensing that this might be their last day walking with the living, they decided to go out and splurge a little on a really good meal. After some research, they came across a likely restaurant. The Las Tapas Restaurant looked nice. The selection was quite impressive. At least the photos looked good, and it did have 4.9 customer rating, so it had to be good.
The restaurant did not disappoint, both men were quite pleased with meals. When they finished up, they opted to go back and make an early night of it. Something was telling both of them that tomorrow was going to be the day. Devon and Varga knew that they were going to be seriously outnumbered, so they needed to be as sharp as possible. A good night’s sleep might just give them the advantage they needed to get out of the brothel alive.
Devon, having already survived a gun fight at a brothel in the Czech Republic, did not hold out much hope of surviving the day. He prayed that he was wrong, but he knew one thing they had no choice in the matter. Because as long as Popovic walked this earth, he would not give up. His reputation depended on, and no, it demanded his utter ruthlessness.
Varga waking up first decided to go out to a local bakery and picked up some pastries at Tarihi Savoy Pastanes.
The selection was huge, which made it nearly impossible for him to choose, so Varga picked half a dozen different pastries and added two cups of black coffee for good measure. When he arrived back at their villa, Devon was up and stirring about. As they sat down and wolfed down the pastries, Devon’s phone started ringing. When Devon answered the phone, it was Ahmet, the manager of Club 2010, and without any preamble, he started. “My boss brought in a new batch of girls. You better hurry up if you want to show him the girls you have.”
Devon stated matter of factly, trying to control his excitement the whole time, “We will be there in less than 10 minutes.” Devon and Varga loaded the rest of their gear into the van and took off racing to Club 2010. They made it just as the boss was loading in the old girls into a large panel van. Varga and Devon looked at each other and nodded their heads that this definitely was not Popovic. However, that didn’t rule out the club, this man may still have a boss over him. So Devon walked up to Ahmet and addressed him abruptly, “I thought you said the boss would be here? This man is not the boss.” The boss abruptly turned to look at Devon and his manager and loudly questioned Ahmet, who are these men? Why do they talk this way to me?” Before Ahmet could answer, the boss turned around and addressed Devon and Varga, “My Name is Mehmet Bardacki, and this is my shop, I own it along with brothels all over Turkey. Who do you think you are disrespecting me in this way?” He further blustered, “I could make both of you disappea with the snap of a finger. What is it that you want?”
Devon looked at Mehmet and replied in a subdued manner. “I am sorry we made a mistake, have a nice day,” and walked away with Vargo in tow behind him. Mehmet, somewhat decompressed, shrugged his shoulders and turned back around to Ahmet and resumed giving instructions to him.
As Varga drove the van back to their villa, Devon spoke up “Well that was disappointing, to say the least. We still have Club Diana. When and if Hakan calls, I want to take a different tact this time. I want to abduct Aleksey and take him back to our villa for interrogation. If it turns out that it is an alias, we, of course, will just kill where he stands. If he is one Popovic’s upper management, we will dispatch him after he tells us what we want to know. Finally, if he turns out to be an innocent we will get him go, by that time it won’t matter if he recognizes where he was held, because we will be leaving Istanbul anyways, since we will have exhausted Turkey as a country where Popovic has set up his operation. What say you, Varga?” Devon queried.
Varga remained quiet for a while as he processed what Devon had said. He finally spoke up, “ok, I am in on your plan, now all we have to do is wait for the phone call. In the meantime, instead of waisting time, let’s start planning on what our next move will be if Cub Diana proves to be a wash.”
As he finished making this statement, he predicted into the driveway of their rental villa. On the second floor their was a large conference table set up in an oversized room. When this villa was built, the owner had a plan in mind. He wanted to cater to corporate business types, so he had a room set up where conferences could be held. The large table was perfect for laying out maps and making plans.
Covering most of the conference table was a large-scale map of Europe that Devon had brought with him from the US. A map that Devon and Varga were now studying closely. Devon looked at Varga, “You worked for the man if he isn’t here in Turkey. Where do you think he would be?”
“That is a good question.” Replied Varga, “Legalized prostitution is quite pervasive in Europe. Referencing Wikipedia will give us a more definitive answer, then I can remember off the top of my head,” Varga added has he spun the laptop around so Devon could see his search results.
“Based on this information, we could be here a long time.” Devon said dejectedly.
“It may not be that bad,” Varga interjected. “People tend to stick with what they know. We know that historically, Popovic had brothels in Turkey, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Since he was captured in Germany, I think he would be a little gun shy about starting business up there again, so if Turkey proves to be a dud then he has to be in the Czech Republic. At least I hope he is there,” Varga added sheepishly. If he isn’t there, then I am at a total loss as to where he might be.”
Devon commented, “If I had my official contacts, I could find out if there is any country or area in Europe that is reporting an uptick in prostitution and sex trafficking.”
Varga said excitedly, “There may be around that hurddle. This is where the press may be able to help us. All we have to do is scour the internet looking for news postings on the subject.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Devon thrilled. He further added, chuckling, “Since it was your idea, you can take the first shift surfing the net.”
“Gee, thanks,” Varga retorted back in a friendly manner. As they bantered back and forth good naturedly, Devon’s cell phone started ringing. When he answered the phone, Hakan’s voice resonated gruffly, “Dominic is on his way and will be here within the hour. When I told him about your girls, he seemed excited about getting some fresh faces in the club.”
“Great,” replied Devon. “We will be there shortly.” When Devon hung up the phone, he looked at Varga, “This could be our big chance.”
They had brought their oversized windbreakers with them in case they needed to conceal their long guns. Because they did not know if Dominic was affiliated with Popovic, they didn’t want to go all John Wick on them, so they loaded their shotguns with non-lethal bean bag rounds. Devon had purchased several boxes of these rounds just in case there was a need for a non-lethal interaction.
They would also have their four Sigs, two Sig P320s in shoulder holsters, and two Sig P365 XLs in concealed ankle holsters,with them just in case things went wonky. Devon and Varga realized from the start that they would be outnumbered in every firefight that they would like to become embroiled in, so the only way to even the odds was to have more firepower than their opponents. Their automatic Luigi Franch SPA shotguns and their Great Dane Custom AK-47s, not to mention their handguns and tactical knives, should give them that edge.
A dark SUV with tinted windows pulled up before them at Club Diana. Two heavily muscled body guards got out of the SUV. One of the guards opened back door and helped out, who could only be Dominic. Mr. Niberg, as he was called by his underlings, was greeted warmly by Hakan, the club’s manager.
This did not look good. God knows how many men were inside. As the show unfolded before them, they decided that they had better put their vests on and bring the AK-47s as well, just in case. As they got ready, Devon and Varga looked at each grimly. No words were needed. They both knew that this could go bad very quickly. The problem was that they still had to take Dominic alive. If they were going to get Popovic, he most likely was the key to their success. They didn’t even want to think about the alternative, that this group was not part of Popovic’s syndicate.
They decided that they armed body guards and anybody else that carried any firearms would be dealt with in a lethal manner. Anybody else who offered any resistance would get the bean bag treatment. Those who carried guns had to know that they were playing a dangerous game. You play with the big boys you have to he prepared to pay the price.
When Devon and Varga excited their van, they immediately hurried to the front and entered the club. Since it was still daylight, there were no clients present. Thankfully, there were only a couple of girls present. They were kind of milling around in the corner of the bar talking among themselves. In the bar, there was Dominic, his two armed body guards, Hakan, the bartender, and a bouncer. The bouncer was not armed, the bartender most likely had a scatter gun under the bar, and Hakan had a small bulge that indicted that he had a gun in a shoulder holster. So the only ones that would get the bean bags were Dominic and the bouncer. Everyone else, by necessity, would get hit with lethal rounds. This analysis by Devon and Varga took less than two seconds.
Varga, by placement, took out everyone on the left of the room, and Devon took out everyone on the right. Just as the bodyguards started turning around to greet the possible threat presented by the two men that entered the front door, they both opened fire. Devon had the bouncer and Dominic on his side. However, training dictates that you always take out the most dangerous opponents first, and that was the bodyguards.
The firefight lasted less than five seconds, their custom AK-47s made short work of their opposition. It didn’t matter if they were wearing bodyarmor or not. The AK-47 rounds were armor piercing. Besides, most vests were only rated for handguns. The last reports were of the bean bags being used by Devon’s shotgun. It took him a little longer because he had to switch guns.
As Dominic and the bouncer hit the ground, Varga raced over and zip tied the bouncer first and then proceded to restrain Dominic. While Varga put the restraints on the two disabled men, Devon provided cover with the AK-47 that he had switched back to. The girls were nowhere to be seen as they had disappeared as soon as the firefight started.
Devon felt bad about taking out Hakan, but since he carried a gun, they had no choice. Within 30 seconds of the opening salvo, they were exiting the club with a blind-folded, gagged, and restrained Dominic in tow.
To reduce their paper trail, Devon and Varga opted to drive 1800 km to the Czech Republic. Google Maps estimated the drive would take close to 20 hours. With Devon and Varga taking turns driving, they figured they could drive straight through, just stopping for gas, calls of nature, and to eat. Time was of the essence now
The drive back to their rental villa was uneventful. They decided that since they had a pool and lawn furniture, they would do their own version of water boarding. But first, they would try the easy way. Who knows, Dominic may be a coward who was only interested in saving his own skin. The latter proved to be the case. As soon as Varga pulled out one of their tactical knives and started grinning at Dominic, he wet himself and immediately started singing like a canary. Hell, he was giving up people they didn’t even care about. Devon thought Dominic threw his mother under the bus for good measure.
The names were coming so fast that the only way Devon could keep up was by recording everything with his phone. Finally, the name they had been waiting for, Popovic, came up. The poor fool didn’t realize that by saying that one name he had signed his own death warrant. When Dominic finally finished giving them all the information they needed, they mercifully ended his life with a bullet to the back of the head from one of the Sigs.
What really surprised Devon and Varga was that Popovic was living in Germany. His second in command, Aleksev Viktorovich Bilyuchenko, was living in the Czech Republic.
Devon and Varga waited till it was dark out before they loaded the body of Dominic wrapped in a waterproof poncho into their van. They then drove into the industrial area of Istanbul, where they dumped his body in a deserted warehouse. To ow down the detection of his body, they covered it up with some old building materials that were lying scattered around in the dilapidated building. When they were done, they went back to the villa.
This would be their last night in the villa. In the morning, they packed all of their clothes and gear, rolled up their map, and put it back in its shipping tube. They contacted the rental agent and told them that they were done with the rental. Devon was informed by the agent that the lease was still good for five more days. Devon told her not to worry about a refund, “Consider it a bonus for a job well done.”
Even though Aleksey was closer to them, Popovic was their primary target. If they somehow missed taking out Aleksey, they could live with it. However, missing out on taking out Popovic was not an option. He is the one that ordered the hit on Devon’s family, and he is the one who put out contracts out on both Devon and Varga, so he had to be taken out.
The distance to where Popovic lived in Germany was 2221 km or about 23 hours of driving. Devon figured with him and Varga taking turns driving they could make it in a little over a day, stopping only for gas, calls of nature, and eating. If all went well, they would be taking out Popovic very soon.
Unfortunately for them, Popovic was already aware of the hit made on his brothel in Istanbul. Devon and Varga’s act of kindness was responsible. Once the bouncer got free, he called the police. Eventually, one of the deputies who was on Popovic’s payroll got wind of the hit and contacted Popovic. Of course, Popovic warned all of his brothels and his management. The houses of Popovic and his second in command were now veritable fortresses. A fact the Varga and Devon would soon find out.
One thing that Popovic was not counting was the determination of Devon, and second, the weaponry that he had amassed.
Popovic lived in one of most afluent neighborhoods in Munich, Germany, called Grunwald.
With the increased security that Popovic brought in, he now had 10 bodyguards guarding him at all times. All the guards were armed with Uzi machine guns. Popovic’s house was no longer a soft target. It was a hardened target. Aleksey’s house in the Czech Republic was almost as well guarded. Devon and Varga now had an almost insurmountable obstacle in front of them.
This is what faced Devon and Varga when they arrived in Munich and went and scoped out Popovic’s estate. Obviously, he had been warned in advance. Now that the element of surprise was gone, they had to regroup and come up with a new plan. In order to regain the element of surprise, they had to utilize stealth instead of overwhelming firepower. They decided the best way to do that was to attack at night and to use knives and tactical crossbows, I stead of machine guns and shotguns. When they had eliminated all but the last few guards, they then could resort to those weapons. Now they had to go shopping again.
Devon and Varga went first to an army surplus store wherever purchased two night vision goggles.
They next went a sporting goods store that carried hunting gear and purchased two Ten Point TRX 515 Oracle X Crossbows.
After they had acquired their new toys, they needed to do some practicing. So Devon and Varga went out into the woods outside of Munich, and they practiced for several hours. They continued until they could hit a bullseye 10 out of 10 times at 100 yards. That, however, was not good enough they had to be able to do the same thing at night wearing their night vision goggles. This time, they had to practice an entire night to finally replicate what they had done the previous day. Now, they felt like they were finally ready to hit Popovic’s estate. In order to have total stealth, they waited till the new moon. This gave them the darkest night possible.
While they were waiting for the new moon to rise in the night sky, Devon and Varga decided that since they had time and definitely the need for some reconnoitering, it would be a good idea to check and see what the security was like at night. They were quite pleased when they saw that none of the guards were wearing night vision goggles. To compensate for this lack of tech, the property was lit by halogen lights on poles spaced every 50 ft. This arrangement of lights provided ample illumination for the guards. However, after carewfull inspection of the grounds, Devon and Varga detected a fatal weakness in their security. The bright lights surrounding the house, while they served a critical role in lighting Popovic’s property they compromised the guard’s night vision. It also made the guards stick out like sore thumbs. Once Devon and Varga got close to the property, thanks to these security lights, they would no longer need their night vision goggles. It was evident that their tactical knives would not be as useful as they first thought. There was simply too much light for a stealthly approach and a quick throat slashing from behind. So the crossbows, therefore, would be their best choice for taking out the guards. They would have to time their shots carefully so that the other guards would not see or hear their compatriots fall. Their knives might still come in handy as the numbers of the guards were whittled down. Only time would tell.
So the now the plan was that they would take out the guards from behind the tree-line. It was a good thing they had spent so much time practicing with the cross bows. During the initial planning stages, they had considered silencers for their AK-47s and their Sigs, but in real life, the sound suppression was not as great as it was in the movies. Anyone within 20 yards would still be able to hear the shots that were fired, rending them totally useless in this engagement. Not to mention that they were illegal just about everywhere and damned near impossible to get in Europe.
After their initial inspection of Popovic’s security, Devon and Varga realized that taking him out would take some time, they rented a small little house in the outskirts of town. It was small, and they had to share a double bed, but by this time, they had grown more comfortable being in close proximity, so the sleeping arrangements no longer presented a problem. Besides, they could start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and they were becoming laser focused on their mission. Their was little bantering now between them. They were now all business as their final plans were made.
The best part about this house is that they were able to come and go at all hours without attracting a lot of attention. Most of the available housing in Munich was limited to apartments. This option was just not feasible, thanks to the countless prying eyes in all of the surrounding apartments. Finally, the night arrived. Neither man exhibited the least sign of any emotion. They had shed the blood of countless men since they had been together, so there was no loger any guilt associated with the taking of lives. This, therefore, negated the need for any psychobable that would commonly be associated with coming to grips with the taking of a human life. Devon and Varga had also become quite adept at getting all their gear ready. There was little wasted motion as they donned their protective gear and loaded their weapons into their now trusty van.
Devon and Varga drove as far as possible into the woods so that the van would be hard to see from the road. They even smeared mud on the license plates to obscure the numbers from the casual viewer. These are all tradecraft tricks to obscure your identity and location. Devon and Varga then quickly geared up with all of their body armor. weapons and night goggles and took off through the woods. Navigating at night with their night vision goggles was quite easy. You could see all the obstacles well in advance, thus making their avoidance simple. Once they got to the edge of the forest, the goggles were no longer necessary because Popovic’s estate was lit up like a night game at Rigley Field.
Now, all they had to do was pick off the guards with their cross bows. When two guards were too close together, Devon and Varga would release their quarrels at the same time. Every shot would be a throat shot, so yelling out would be impossible. In order to take out all of the guards, they would have to move their positions a few times. Six of the ten guards were in static positions, while the other four circled the grounds in groups of two. These are the ones that they would take out simultaneously.
They started with the static guards first. When the quarrels hit the guards’ throats with such force that they literally ripped their throats apart, causing instantaneous death. They were able to take out the first four from their initial location. To take out the other two, they relocate to a new and less concealed position. Thanks to their black face paint and black uniforms, they were virtually invisible. Devon and Varga took out the last two static without any mishaps.
Now they had two wait for the roving guards. They needed to wait till they were as far apart as possible so that when their bodies hit the ground, they would not be heard. Finally, the time was just right. To time, their shots used his hand that steadied the cross bow as a signaling device. He simply held up three fingers and counted down with those. When the finger went down, they fired. It wasn’t perfect, but the results were still quite spectacular. Both guards hit the ground at the same time.
Devon and Varga had to double time it now. They had to race around the property to intercept the last two guards before they came into view of their two fallen comrades. As soon as they couldn’t see the bodies, they set up again to wait for the guardscto come to them. They soon entered their vision. Even though the distance was a little further than they were used too they didn’t want to risk their raising the alarm. Like before, they released their quarrels on the count of three. The results were identical, as the bodies just crumpled to the ground like before.
They slung the crossbows by their slings across their backs. Devon and Varga trotted over to the bodies and dragged them to positions of concealment in the large bushes that abounded on Popovic’s. After these last two guards were concealed, they went back to the previous two roving guards and repeated the same treatment to them.
Now that the exterior guards had to be taken care of, the hard part remained, mainly because they had no way of knowing what awaited them. This is when the night vision goggles could make the difference. To make it easier for the guards to make trips to facilities, the doors were left unlocked. Once Devon and Varga had entered the house, they out their night vision goggles back on. While they both had their guns at the ready, the tactical knives were the perferred weapons to disable any guards in the house. Neither Varga nor Devon were expecting much resistance jnside the villa. The only guards they came across on the first floor were two sleeping soundly. These guards were quickly dispatched with throat cuts.
Devon and Varga quietly made their way to the second floor. Even though they suspected that the last door at the of the hallway was Popovic’s madter suite, they checked each room comaker sure there were no surprises. They came across several empty roo.s, obviously being used for guests and two runs with slumbering teenagers, those of course were passed by. They finally made it to the last door, Popovic’s room…..
Devon twisted the know slowly. His efforts met with no resistance. It had already been decided that Popovic’s wife was an innocent like their children and would not be harmed. It had also been decided since Devon had suffered the most at this man’s hands he would have the honor of taking his life.
Varga went over to the side of the bed where Popovic’s wife lay and waited. Devon likewise stood by Popovic’s side. As before, they used the three fingers hand single. On three, they both put their hands on their respective targets. The only difference was that Devon had a very sharp and large knife in his other hand, while Varga had a gag and zip ties.
Popovic immediately stopped struggling when he felt the cold steel of the tactical knife on his throat. Popovic’s wife also stopped struggling as soon as she realized that she wasn’t the target.
As Devon took his hand off of Popovic’s mouth, he shook his head at him. Popovic understood his meaning as he remained quiet. Devon took his balaclava off so Popovic could see who his captor was. Devon could see the immediate recognition in Popovic’s eyes. When Devon was satisfied that Popovic knew who he was, he slashed his neck so forcefully with the tactical that he decapitated him.
Devon immediately went over to help Varga subdue Popovic’s widow, who was now sobbing hysterically. Devon put his balaclava back on. There was no sense in making it easy for Popovic’s wife to identify him. With the two them working together, she was gagged and restrained. As they left Popovic’s room, they checked on Popovic’s children. They were still all asleep. So Devon and Varga opted to forego gagging and restraining. Besides, they could free their mother in the morning. If they tied everyone up, there is no telling when they would be discovered. There had already been enough bloodshed for one night. He did not want to add innocent blood to his already large body count.
The success of their mission depended on the element of surprise. If the enemy were to discover what their methods were, they could devise methods to combat them. So Devon and Varga performed probably the most grisly task of the night, and that was to collect all the quarrels that they had fired. Some of course would be damaged beyond repair, but most of them would be reusable. It took the better part of an hour to extricate them from the bodies. Now that they were removed from the bodies, the investigating team would have a very difficult time figuring out what caused the damage to these guards. Eventually, they would figure it out. That was ok. As long as it didn’t happen before they were done. It always paid to be careful. In reality, they had no way of knowing what weapons they would be using in their next engagement. But by obscuring the crime scene, they also made it harder to find out who the assassins were. Not only did they not want to fail, they didn’t want to get caught either.
Devon and Varga walked back to their van in total silence, as they worked through the enormity of what they had done on this night. They had killed Thirteen human beings. Since they had started on this odyssey, they had taken the lives of 22 people. The bad part they still weren’t done. Popovic’s second in command Aleksey was worse then Popovic himself, he enjoyed torturing and killing the girls that were no longer suitable for the sex trade, because they were either too abused or disease ridden for even the most deranged of individuals to want to have sex with. With his boss dead, so went the only one that could control Aleksey. He would not stop until Devon and Varga were dead. So they had no choice but to finish what they started.