I was gutted to know of Leo's capture and at the same time could finally let off some steam as a part of my wild mind in finally knowing who had destroyed my family. I drove down to the station to pick up some amenities and began my quest to save my best friend.

I hit the road in my Toyota Hilux filled with supplies and amenities as I had no clue when we'd return. After a short drive the heavens opened up and it poured, but it didn't bother me rather I felt a sense of calm as I enjoyed driving in the rain. It brought back some good old memories. The time Marian and I first met, the birth of our son, both of them at the door, waving goodbye as I left to work, our small fights during the day and the cuddling in the night, celebrating Malcolm's 1st birthday, Marian and I having some fun moments in the rain while Malcolm watched from the window and we shied away and laughed sheepishly. These memories brought tears to my eyes. The horn of the vehicle that overtook me brought me back to reality. I stopped at the next gas station to grab a bite and to refuel the vehicle.

The reason I chose to go by road which was a 1950 mile (40 to 48 hrs) ride and not by air was because I needed to have time to plan my actions on infiltrating the Ukrainian Mafia and also the amenities I brought along for the ambush. After a short break at the gas station I hit the road and was focused as hell and started sketching a plan in my mind. The smell of nature after a rain was musky and fresh. I lowered my window and let the breeze hit my face and was lost in thought once again. I dreamt of Leo and me meeting, becoming partners at the station and our first case together which was hilarious.
We were put on a case involving a criminal named Vincent La Paul who escaped the Winson Green prison and was on the run. We had information that he was a womanizer and a healthy tip from one of our informants that he was taking cover in a brothel nearby.
We reached the brothel and found out that he was put up in room number 5. The madam over there asked us to avoid too much commotion as they had other customers in the brothel and did not want to lose business. We acted swiftly because it was our first case and more so because of the adrenaline rush. We drew our pistols and stationed ourselves outside the door. I knocked on the door and pretended to be room service while Leo was giving me cover but Vincent with all his experience knew something was uncanny. What we were not informed about ,was that there were alternate exits in each of the rooms that was used by the customers when police carried out their raids to avoid getting caught. I grew impatient and knocked a few more times, then the prostitute who was giving him company opened the door giving a puzzled look because of my gun pointed at her chest and for a brief time stalled us. She had some big assets and we got distracted a little. But I quickly came to my senses and headed to the exit to catch Vincent while Leo who was oogling before, was having a conversation with her and I had to scream a little louder to draw his attention and remind him of the situation we were in. We started chasing Vincent who although a little old ,was swift and Leo said he knew exactly the reason and winked. Leo took a shortcut and I followed Vincent and was asking him to give up and surrender, but to no avail and finally Leo came around and took him down and I quickly cuffed him, both of us still panting. We were appreciated by the commissioner and that was the beginning of our many successful cases. It brought a little smile to my face at this moment of torment and despondency.

Throughout the journey I kept thinking of the torture Leo was undergoing and kept telling myself that they would all pay for this and would unleash hell on Mikhailo. I would leave no stone unturned and if I had to do it alone I wiould go in with all guns blazing. I tried sketching up plans but still could not figure out a way to infiltrate the mafia because it would be heavily guarded. All of a sudden I realized having watched something on the news recently of some people in Ukraine who were being beaten up and some of them even tortured and killed by the Ukrainian Mafia for opposing the drug lords and protesting for a ban. At that point I knew if I could somehow talk them into helping me, I'd have a chance of getting in. Now I felt a little confident and was thinking of a plan to convince them.

I drove through several borders for the last 40 hours and finally knocked on Ukrainian territory and was a bit exhausted but knew I couldn't rest as I had to save my best friend. I found out the place where these protesters resided and drove there. The place had a few guards to keep watch as they were regularly pulverized by Mikhailo's men. I got down from my vehicle and asked one of the guards to direct me to their head as I'd come by myself and was actually there to destroy Mikhailo and his Ukrainian Mafia. We had a little detailed discussion till he was sure I was not one of Mikhailo's men . He accompanied me to meet their leader and told me his name was' Abrahem Porkhovsky'. We entered a caravan and Porkhovsky was there sipping some 'Spotykach'. The guard told him who I was and the reason I had come. Porkhovsky laughed and said - "You one man, Mikhailo an army, are you crazy?" I told him that was the reason I had come to see him and also told of what I saw in the news recently and wanted his help. He wanted to know why I came all the way from UK, when the Ukrainian government wasn't in the least bothered. I then narrated the entire story and also told them that Leo was still held captive and I needed to save him. I tried to create some sympathy too and was hoping for it to work. I then asked him whether he was willing to help me to ambush the Ukrainian mafia and help get my friend back. He agreed but saw nothing in it for them, they did not have the right ammunition and he also needed to talk to his mates to decide. I told him if we succeeded, he would get what they always fought for - a drug free Ukraine and also notified him not to worry about the ammo and took him over to my car and showed him the amenities I had brought along. His eyes lit up and said "Cукиний син sukynyy syn" - Son of a bitch, you've come prepared. He asked to give him some time to convince his friends. I agreed and took shelter in my Toyota.
After a couple of hours Porkhovsky returned with 10 of his men and said that since the mission was going to be really dangerous these are the few who volunteered and also were the men who were most hurt by Mikhailo's destruction and wanted revenge. I was glad as 10 sounded better than 1. We planned for 1 of the men to handle the sniper and take out the guards on the watchtower and if possible to give us cover while the rest of us marched in. We then planned what the rest of the crew would do and picked our ammunition. Porkhovsky then explained that to catch them by surprise we should attack them by early dawn as they may even have their guards down. It sounded like a good idea and also gave me a few hours to rest.
At early dawn we gathered around my car and then slowly paced towards the enemy's den. The sniper took his position and we too got into formation to March in , once the sniper took down the guards at the watchtower. One of the men let out a roar "сьогодні ми вб'ємо того, хто смокче хуй підак
sʹohodni my vb'yemo toho, khto smokche khuy pidak" - today we will slaughter that suck a dick faggot . The sniper aimed and in quick succession took down both the watch guards and signalled to us that the coast was clear. We moved in slowly and past the watchtower, I felt a strange atmosphere engulf as everything seemed rather quiet and not a soul in sight other than those two watch guards, which created a sense of suspicion in me. I signalled Porkhovsky and told him something was not right and he too felt the same but we slowly but cautiously marched ahead. Then after a few seconds we started taking fire from five different angles and quickly rushed to take cover below the nearest watchtower and in the process lost two men. We took a couple of seconds to catch our breath before we could retaliate. We were under the impression that we were going to ambush them but it boomeranged ..for instead... we were ambushed. Someone in our camp rattled on us and now we were looking for a way out. Porkhovsky then said there was no way we could go back because Mikhailo would wipe out his entire troop and should hope for the best and move forward. I had only one goal and that was to save Leo at any cost and agreed with Porkhovsky to move forward. We signalled the sniper to be more vigilant and give us cover.
We started firing back at Mikhailo's men and the sniper helped us by taking out the two nearest to us and we slowly one by one started moving to their hideout while the rest gave cover. We now were divided into two groups as we were in two hideout zones. We were looking for an opportunity to move forward and were still taking fire. One of the enemy guards kept shouting for us to surrender but we didn't adhere. Then after a couple of minutes grenades started flying all over and it was total chaos. We took cover in our dugout and were watchful with no way out. Then all of a sudden the sniper who was stationed outside drove my car right through the ambush firing the 'Saw M249 Fully Automatic' machine gun that I had brought in full blaze which created a window of opportunity for us to take out a few more enemies and march forward. We somehow managed to reach the nearest building and take cover.
Seeing those bodies lie over there in a pool of blood brought back horrible memories of my wife and son and only infuriated me more. Porkhovsky placed a few plastic explosives on the door and detonated it. We moved in and got into position and began to search the place. The room was filled with a drug called 'Krokodil' which is similar to heroin and a few were damaged due to the explosion. One of the men took his gun and went haywire by smashing all the bottles and the rest of us just stood there watching. We then heard footsteps, we immediately took position. They were coming down the staircase. We tried to keep our cool and focus because one silly move could cost our lives.
We split up into four groups and took four different corners. We ran riot over the soldiers who came down until the last one was left. We needed one person alive to guide us through the building as we had no time, for ,in a couple of hours the entire military of Ukraine would be at their doorstep as they had ties with the government to cover up their dirty tracks. We just injured the final soldier and came to learn that her name was Perish Romanenko who was the lead Business strategist of the Ukrainian Mafia. Porkhovsky tried to extract information from her but she was stubborn and never spoke.He then blackmailed her that he would not only execute her but also her young daughter or even better.... sell her to a brothel. She was perplexed and wondered how he knew of her. When she was being frisked away, he found a wallet with a picture of her daughter in it. She was a little hesitant then began to cooperate. We asked where they had held my friend captive and Mikhailo's whereabouts. One of the men put a gun to her head and asked her to lead us. She took us to the room where Leo was held captive, he was badly bruised and needed urgent medical attention. I was happy to find him alive and asked the men to immediately rush him to a nearby hospital. Out of the blue a couple of soldiers barged in and opened fire, but were shot dead by Porkhovsky. But before they could die, they took down 5 men and also injured Perish Romanenko. I asked Porkhovsky and the other remaining men to rush the injured men, Leo and Ms.Romanenko to the hospital and I'd find and deal with Mikhailo. Perish Romanenko directed me to Mikhailo's hideout.
I cautiously moved ahead and was on guard at every step of the way. I had to get this done quickly before the military could get here. I came to a room and found two soldiers guarding it and had to take them down swiftly, I drew my machine gun and sprayed a few bullets killing the soldiers. I had a hunch Mikhailo would not be alone and so moved quietly towards the door. I sat there patiently thinking of what to do. I fired a couple of shots at the door and in return the soldiers guarding him inside opened fire destroying the door. I responded quickly by throwing in a grenade.Once it exploded I moved in and shot the soldiers guarding Mikhailo and was finally left with only him to kill.

Due to the impact of the explosion, Mikhailo had fallen unconscious on his table and I could not have asked for a better scenario to end this chaos. But for all the misery he had caused me I needed to see fear in his eyes and also as Leo requested, to put a bullet between his eyes. I woke him up and tied him to his chair. He kept wriggling trying to free himself and kept shouting -
ти дерьмо, ти заплутався з невірною людиною. Ви ніколи не залишите тут живих - ty derʹmo, ty zaplutavsya z nevirnoyu lyudynoyu. Vy nikoly ne zalyshyte tut zhyvykh. 'you piece of shit, you messed with the wrong person. You will never leave here alive'.
I drew my revolver and decided to play Russian Roulette on him. I emptied the chamber leaving only one bullet. I then asked him if he believed in faith and luck and gave the cylinder a spin and pointed the gun at his head. He was still yelling and wriggling, I gave him a knock across his face with the gun to shut him up. I asked him again if he believed in luck? He spat on my face and said - удача для маленьких шлюх, як ти 'udacha dlya malenʹkykh shlyukh, yak ty' - luck is for little w****s like you. I then pulled the trigger and only heard a click. Mikhailo started fiercely pushing and pulling his hands trying to set himself free but to no avail. I spun the cylinder again and pointed the gun at him and asked if he was scared? He started shouting - ти мертвий, ти мудак, я вб'ю тебе
ty mertvyy, ty mudak, ya vb'yu tebe - you are dead you ass****, I will kill you. I pulled the trigger and once more only got a click. He was scared now, I could see the fear of death in his eyes, sweat dripping off his forehead. He started mumbling - ти, сволоче, ти можеш мене вбити, але ти не втечеш, бо військові будуть будь-якої миті. 'ty, svoloche, ty mozhesh mene vbyty, ale ty ne vtechesh, bo viysʹkovi budutʹ budʹ-yakoyi myti' - you bastard, you can kill me but you cannot escape because the military will be here any moment. I spun the cylinder again and placed the gun between his eyes. He began to tremble, I said this was for what he did to my wife, my son, my happiness and also my friend, he smirked and said - ви заплатите за це 'vy zaplatyte za tse' - you will pay for this!. I pulled the trigger one final time and blood splashed all over, his head fell behind. I felt at ease at this moment because I had avenged my family's death.
I had to move swiftly as the military would be here any moment, I rushed out and found one of Mikhailo's vehicles parked. I drove in it by wearing one of their military helmets and in camouflage as to avoid being stopped over or getting caught. I met Porkhovsky and he told me that if he had taken Leo to the hospital it would have been difficult to escape because the soldiers would be patrolling the hospitals and so brought him to their place and had treated him. He would recover in a few days but should rest under medical supervision. I thanked him alot and also apologised for the lives lost and we shook hands. He said not to worry as they died for a good cause. He also told me that he found the mole in his camp and executed him. He then gave me a bottle of ' Spotykach' as a sign of friendship. I accepted the bottle gracefully and left in my truck with Leo resting behind before the military could show up or gun us down. I drove as fast as I could and dropped Leo under medical supervision in one of the best hospitals in the UK and went home to finally rest. I held the picture of my wife and child in my hand and finally slept with a sense of peace.

I woke up the next morning and found the commissioner at my doorstep. " What the bloody hell have you done ?" he exclaimed!. I tried to give a puzzled look but he showed pictures of me in Ukraine. I explained what happened and he assured me that I had not finished anything,but just started a war. He told me that Mikhailo had a twin brother Volodymur Mogelevich who was in Italy expanding his business while I executed his brother and he was seeking revenge. He was using his influence and the connections he'd got with the top officials to derail me. The commissioner then asked for my gun and badge as I had been suspended and that he received orders from some higher authority. He then ordered me to leave the UK and save my life and stormed off.

At that very moment I knew I could not let fear overwhelm me. I had to focus and outsmart them. I could not hide because with his influence and money I would not be able to do that for very long. I just had to play the waiting game now.

A Strange Atmosphere - Part 3 ( The Twin Brother).