Ganglands: Russia: Russia by Ross Kemp Read Free Book Online Page B

backstory over and over again, his eyelids finally falling shut as the sky was lightening, and the LED timer had clicked down to six hours.
    A backstreet off Komsomolskaya Square: zero hours until mission commencement.In the back seat of an unmarked Lada, Alexei felt his gut turn another somersault.He had already been sick twice that morning – and even though his stomach was empty, he wanted to throw up again.Accompanied by Valerie and Madison, he had been watching the gym across the street for nearly an hour.In that time, ten Eagles had entered the building.
    Madison checked his watch, then looked back from the driver’s seat.
    ‘Ready?’
    Alexei took a deep breath.‘Guess so.’ He looked over at Valerie.‘Any last-minute words of advice?’
    The Israeli woman gazed levelly at Alexei, then answered in Russian: ‘If you get a chance to kill any of them, don’t hesitate.I’ll cover you with Trojan.’
    Richard Madison gave Valerie a questioning glance, but she didn’t elaborate, coolly selecting another cigarette from a battered packet.
    It was time.Alexei picked up his kitbag and got out of the Lada.As he crossed the street, he saw a teenage girl leave the gym and sit down on the pavement by the door.She was dressed in a short purple dress and ripped black tights, and her hair was streaked with blonde highlights.Pulling out a mobile phone, she began texting, a look of sour boredom on her face.
    ‘You going inside?’ she called out as Alexei walked past her.
    He stopped.‘Maybe.Why?’
    ‘Maybe you’re not welcome.’
    Alexei looked pointedly up at the sign above the door, and then back at his kitbag.‘It is a gym, right?It’s got weights, punchbags, that kind of thing?’
    ‘ Private gym,’ the girl corrected him tartly.‘They don’t like strangers.’
    Alexei gave the girl what he hoped was a winning smile.‘Then how about you put in a word for me?’
    She looked away, uninterested.
    With a shrug, Alexei walked through the door and into the gloomy interior.The Moscow Eagles’ gym was dominated by a raised ring in the centre of the room, surrounded by square blue training mats.Punchbags hung down from the ceiling like slabs of beef in a meat locker.Old posters advertising boxing matches were peeling away from the walls, and dumbbells and weights were scattered across the floor.
    It looked like every other gym Alexei had spent time training in – with one major difference.No one was actually working out.Instead, a group of burly men had congregated around the benches at one side of the room, talking in low guttural tones.There was an edge to the atmosphere in this room that went beyond concentrated physical training: a suppressed air of violence thicker than the smell of body odour. The men stared at Alexei as he entered, their conversations ending abruptly.
    Alexei was almost tempted to turn around and walkstraight out again, but then the thought of Lena came into his head.It was two of these bastards who had attacked her – they could be watching him right now.There was no way he was going to back down.Instead Alexei walked over to the punchbag at the far end of the gym, trying to look unconcerned by the scrutiny.Slowly, deliberately, he dropped his kitbag to the floor and took off his T-shirt, displaying the swastika on his chest.He began working the punchbag, quickly losing himself in familiar combinations of lefts and rights.
    As he built up a sweat, Alexei became aware of a teenager breaking away from the knot of men to approach him.A baseball cap was pressed down on his head, half-obscuring his face, and his black-and-white checked shirt was buttoned up to the neck.The teenager stood and watched him train, his arms crossed.
    ‘Nice work,’ he said eventually.‘You know what you’re doing.’
    Alexei ignored him, concentrating on throwing rights into the punchbag.
    ‘Mind if I ask you a question?’ the boy continued.
    ‘Knock yourself out,’ Alexei replied.‘You’re in the right