46. Back Home

The drive back home had been swift. The news that Dmitri Rudenko was back had put him on high alert.

***

He wanted to be back in his familiar territory. Rubbing his thigh reflectively where the bullet had lodged itself and caused him to limp, Lucien frowned. He had a hunch that Dmitri Rudenko would never leave him alone till he had exacted revenge; Lucien had taken down the man's empire ruthlessly, killing his close confidantes and ending what was a rival to his own arms empire.

They had had a long-standing feud running for years, ever since Lucien, Shark, and Schwartz had entered the world of gunrunning. Dmitri Rudenko, an East European warlord, had been running the show till then.

At first, the man retaliated by attacking the men who were supplying them with the arms and ammunition, trying to intimidate their buyers, petty things like that. Later, things had gotten serious. A bomb went off, killing Schwartz’s wife and young son, who had been in the car. Schwartz had been delayed tha