Chapter 9

Yuri walked out of his office to the elevator and pressed the down button. One of his brothers was in the office downstairs waiting for him. Normally, he wouldn’t break up a meeting like the one he was having with this Raven girl but Sazon said it was important.

The five of them had grown up together. Orphans in the streets of St Petersburg, they had formed a sort of an alliance. They knew they wouldn’t have made it on their own, so by joining forces, they became one person and together, they were strong enough to survive the brutality of the Russian winters. Together as a pack of sorts, they hunted the streets for food and shelter.

Yuri had always been a bigger boy and as such, he’d become the leader. But the others had grown up just as tough. Sazon, Roman, Barshan and Mikial, had all become men before their time as they battled just to survive. And survive they did. They fought for their own little piece of the streets until one man noticed their efforts to survive. Nikoli Silvanic.

Nikoli had been a young Lieutenant in the Russian underground twenty years ago but he was moving up the ranks quickly. He’d seen the solidarity the five of them shared and began working with them. He taught them everything he knew and before long, they had become a force to be reckoned with. When it was time to move from Russia and represent the Russian Bratva here in America, Nikoli brought them with him. Nikoli had stayed in New York after he set Yuri and the others up in New Orleans as their base. Just like at home, the five brothers had to fight for what they had but it had been worth the struggle.

Once they had the pecking order in place, each of them had started a business to maintain their cover. Yuri had the hotel-restaurant. Sazon had opened a fighting gym. Roman owned and operated a string of fishing boats and barges that ran goods up and down the Mississippi River. Barshan became a loan shark and a business man with his fingers in a lot of different pies and Mikial had opened a successful Import-Export business.

While they all were busy with their own businesses and such, they had brought together all the factions that made their home in New Orleans and formed a Council. Each group that lived and worked in the city was represented, the Cubans, the Blacks, the Hmong’s, the Mexicans, the Japanize and even the Ukraine’s had a place at the Council. While they all had a place, Yuri led the Council and the others enforced the rules they set.

When he entered his office on the ground floor, Yuri noted with a smile that Sazon was pouring a drink. It was barely eight in the morning, yet Sazon was pouring a vodka shot. 

When Sazon saw Yuri, he poured out a second glass. Handing his brother the shot glass, they clinked them together and downed the liquid. 

Sazon gasped slightly then set the glass down and moved over to the desk. 

Yuri sat down behind the desk and stared at the man he considered to be his brother. “What brings you here at this hour? Don’t you have fighters to train?”

Sazon nodded. “I do but something was brought to my attention that couldn’t wait.” With this news, he reached inside his pocket and brought out a crumpled dollar bill. Throwing it on the desk, he waited for Yuri to take up the bill.

Yuri smoothed out the crumpled bill and frowned. It was a dollar bill, the one with two zeros after it. It was a hundred dollar bill. He had a feeling he knew where this was going but he had to ask anyway, “This is interesting, why?”

“It’s a fake hundred,” Sazon told him. “Mr. Choo brought it over to the gym late last night. He told me it was the fourth one that has shown up in the past few weeks. One of his waitresses found it in his cash register at his place of business. He also suggested that this problem be addressed through the Council.”

Yuri sat back in his chair and glared at the bill on his desk. Over the past three weeks, fake hundreds had been popping up in various places all over town. They had all hit different businesses and there was no set pattern yet for the fakes to upset the locals. But if the factions started screaming for results, it could plunge the city into chaos and that was something Yuri didn’t want. 

For just a nano second, he wondered if the Ukraine’s had anything to do with this. They didn’t like the fact that the Russian Bratva had gotten here first and that they had to take the backseat in the hierarchy of the city. Yuri tried to be fair about it but the Ukrainian mob didn’t like to play fair or take orders from anyone else. “I’ll give Mr. Choo a call later today. We have more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.”

Sazon glanced over at him. “Oh, and what would those be? Anything you need my help with?”

“Perhaps, maybe you can help,” Yuri admitted. “My wallet was lifted yesterday on my way to the restaurant.”

“What?” Sazon looked stunned. This sort of thing just didn’t happen, not to them. “Are you serious?”

“I am. Not only that, but late last night, my suite here was broken into and the wallet was returned. Nothing was even missing from it, except for my cash but my credit cards were still there.”  Yuri waited for a moment while Sazon thought about what he told him.

“Did you catch your thief?” 

Yuri paused and replied, “Maybe?”

“Maybe?” Sazon chuckled. “And what’s up that curious look on your face?”