V I K T O R    M A K A R O V I C H — T H E     B U T C H E R

I hadn't understood how a single person could be your reckoning until Peach McCoy smiled at me.

It was yesterday when she'd told me how much this running and hiding was bothering her. I hadn't really thought about it because the sense of danger and the thrill of a kill had always been as normal to me as breathing was. I hadn't considered the fact that she would be struggling with this whole thing but then she'd confessed and I understood. I really had. The same had been with Kira when we'd told her about the mafia and the kind of danger her life would be in for the rest of her life.

Peach smiled at me. Her expression had been so open and so bright. I vowed then that I would do my best to keep it that way. There was an innocence to Peach somehow. Her eyes told me that she's seen enough but the way she's so unsure and skittish makes me realise that seeing everything doesn't mean that you are accustomed or used to it. I simply wanted to help Peach like I had Kira when she had been in this situation.

Then I fucked up.

I came to Robert Battier's apartment earlier and there was a man there. He knew immediately who I was and our fight had started at the door. I remember the punches and the kicks we both threw. He was strong but I was stronger, a fact we both knew so he run and I chased him.

It was a hunt, a damn good one. We'd weaved our way through buildings and alleyways, over balconies and down fire escapes and it had felt good. The rush in my blood was still fresh when I came back to the hotel. I'd caught the fucker and put him down then dumped his body. I was high on the chase, high on adrenaline and I'd wanted more. I wanted another chase, another challenge and I sought it out in Peach. I don't know how she noticed but she had and put me to bed.

I'd stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. I wanted to go out and find something to do, something to chase, something to kill, something to hit. These urges were my own but they had always felt so foreign and dangerous. There was a stark difference between Viktor Makarovich and the Butcher. I'd earned that name and I was afraid of what Peach would think of me when she figured out how and why. Her opinion mattered to me. Not many people's did but Peach had a way she saw the world and I liked that. She was selective about what she believed, a trait both good and bad.Despite my inner turmoil, I managed to sleep. My sleep wasn't deep and I was haunted by my mistakes. 

In the morning, I showered first. Peach had left the clothes she'd picked out for me on one of the chairs in the room so I wore a fresh outfit when I got out. Going to the living room, Peach was already at the monitors. Her phone was in one hand as she typed with the other and her sleek black laptop was next to her as well. The light o the screens made her bronze skin glow.

"Breakfast is in the kitchen. I made coffee but it is not that good," she told me without glancing my way. I nodded nonetheless and pushed my wet blonde hair from my eyes. I raked it back with my fingers so it would at least try to stay back when it dried.

Breakfast was a few fruit and sandwiches. I ate from the kitchen, the only sound it the house being Peach's vicious typing. I cleaned my stuff out and put them in the dishwasher before joining Peach in the living room. I leaned next to the desk until she looked up at me.

"You look awful," she commented. I rolled my eyes.

"So do you. How long have you been up?" I asked her. Her eye was open now but still swollen. The bruising had gone down a bit but the bags under her eyes were prominent.

"A while," she confessed but didn't elaborate. I let it go. "I wanted to talk to you about something though. "

"Go ahead," I said and crossed my arms, the black long sleeved shirt I wore pulling at my bulk. "I'm all ears."

"I found a link between us. How this whole this is so... fucked," she sighed.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Before I tell you, I want to ask that from now on, we must be completely and utterly honest with each other. There is no way we can pull his whole investigation together with you hiding things from me and vice versa," she rambled, her hands wringing together. She does that a lot but I didn't think she noticed.

"Okay," I dragged out.

"I'm serious Viktor," Peach pressed. "Naked honesty is seriously needed. We can just make it a game. I ask you a question and when I say um... policy. I need the truth. No matter how dark it is."

"Fine," I gave in. "What have you got?"

Peach smiled at me again and my heart did a thing. I couldn't explain it. It raced and then settled, beating softly like a butterfly's wings.

"Two weeks before we met, I was messaged by this guy who asked me to hack into your network for a nice sum of money," she explained. "But I found out last night that its the same guy hired these goons to find me."

"That makes no sense," I mumbled.

"Exactly! But get this, he doesn't want me dead."

"He doesn't?"

"Nah ah. He wants you dead and I'm just like a conduit to get to you. My theory, we are dealing with someone who knows you. An arch-nemesis perhaps. They provided the right conditions for you to come after me and they must know me as well. It might not be personally because I have a bit of a reputation," Peach stated making we wonder what trouble an innocent looking girl like her could get into. Then again, her mind was intimidating in its own way.

"Not many people know who I am," I told her. "They don't know Viktor Makarovich."

They know the Butcher. I wanted to add but didn't. Not yet.

"Then that narrows our search down right?" she asked and I shrugged, not sure.

"You said you talked to this... guy."

"Yeah. There's a game here, Bullet Mercenary. I was playing it, just checking it out and I got a message from him."

"Can you show me?" I inquired and she shook her head sadly.

"The chat collapsed and the game isn't mine nor is it on any legal internet. Even getting in through the Dark Web seemed futile. The damn thing is so open. No firewalls or anything. I'm sure a lot of sketchy people use it including our culprits."

"Well... what can you give me that's... helpful," I asked trying not to be rude or anything but everything she told me led to a dead end.

"The guy's username, the one he used to message me is _m.a.r.k.v.i.k_. Here. "

Peach typed out the username but she didn't have to.

"That's my code name," I mumbled under my breath.

"What? What do you mean?"

"In missions, our Bratva's way of creating code names is with the first letters of your name, surname first," I explained to her, something not many people knew and had led to people getting killed.

"Makarovich... Viktor.... damn. Doesn't that mean you might know who we are dealing with?"

"Not exactly," I sighed. "It narrows our search down but that's just about it. We are looking at my father's old inner circle and their inner circles. That's three hundred people max."

"I can't do a background check on three hundred people," Peach deadpanned.

"I know," I stated and run a hand over my hair. "Is there nothing more, something we can hone down on?"

"When I messaged our little mastermind, I told him I'd been captured and they were looking for answers from me though when 'the hitmen' fail, they want more money to find you. He'll send us cash if I message and say 'Peach hasn't talked'."

"You can find out where the money came from can't you?" I asked her and she rolled her eyes with a self righteous smirk.

"Would I suggest anything if I couldn't? I checked with the hotel, we have ten more days here... free. I'll message next week not to raise any suspicion."

"You're a fucking genius Peach," I complemented under my breath when she turned her attention to the screens.

"What was that?' she called, having not heard me.

"Nothing," I was quick to brush it off. "So everything goes down next week?"

"Yep."

"Huh," I breathed and scrubbed at my jaw. I could feel a stubble forming and didn't have the urge to shave. "Do you think you can help me contact someone."

"Why?" she asked.

"Nothing important," I answered casually.

"Policy," she demanded. I sighed.

"I think its best of we took our battle somewhere else but Brookehills. It will be easier to hide everything in Las Pavita. Plus, The Martinelli Familia has been a close associate for years. I'm sure I can get us help if we need it," I explained to her.

"Ok," she said after a while. "Who are you getting in touch with?"

"An old friend, Javier. He works with the Castellano Cartel but mostly deals with cars."

"Race cars?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "But he can get me a jeep if I ask nice enough."

Peach blew out her cheeks with a sigh. "Ok. If you can get me a new phone, not a burner, something more modern, I can get it protected for you so you don't have to keep switching all the time."

I nodded. "I think I saw somewhere I can get that down the street. I'll be back before it gets dark. Lock the door behind me."

I prepared to get my coat and leave but Peach called out to me. I turned and watched as she stood up from the chair, getting within arm's reach.

"Last night..." she begun and I didn't want to hear it but remained still, guarding my expression. "You weren't exactly 100%. I know I don't have a right to say this, seeing as we just met but... could you please come back in one piece."

The silence between us was heavy, her request almost hanging on deaf ears.

"We are being hunted Viktor and I know danger for you must be like walking in a park but you can't just... relax so much—"

"I'm not relaxing," I contradicted in a snappier tone than I wished to use.

"Well then relapsing," she spat back at me. "Our lives are on a fucking platter here Viktor. You can't give in to every single urge or desire that comes your way."

"And why not?" I snapped. My body was tense, my muscles ready to pounce. I needed that rush again. I needed it to forget everything else.

"Because I've seen what addiction does to people and—"

"I have to go," I murmured under my breath and grabbed the coat she'd worn yesterday. I'd been given this talk so many times, I couldn't hear it from Peach as well. On my way out she grabbed my arm and pulled me back so that she was the only thing in my line of sight as I glanced down.

Peach opened her mouth and then closed it. Her eyes searched mine and then her hold went slack. She was letting me go.

"I can't tell you what to do Viktor. I can only say that because fate or the universe decided it, we are stuck together. If we are not embracing some sort of friendship or cooperation, we might as well fall into death's arms," she professed. "I'm stuck with you and you are stuck with me. So, go out and do whatever it is that gets you high over your head but remember I'm here waiting. I don't want to have to learn from a local paper that you're gone. I'd like to believe you want to stay and help me as much as I want you to so we can both keep your heads on our necks but you choose your own path. The 'highway' isn't always a joyous ride."

Peach turned away from me at sat at the monitors again. She didn't acknowledge me in any way after that. I slipped on the jacket and left.

Her words inked themselves into my brain.