Ganglands: Russia: Russia Read Free Page B

review the CCTV footage from Sokol station.The pictures aren’t clear enough to make any positive identifications, but we’re convinced that your girlfriend was attacked by a skinhead gang called the Moscow Eagle 88s.’
    ‘Skinheads?’ Alexei echoed incredulously.‘Why would they attack Lena?’
    Darius Jordan glanced out of the window.‘I wish I could give you a proper reason, son, but it looks like a simple case of wrong place, wrong time. Today’s April the twentieth – skinheads like the Eagles often go looking for targets on this day.’
    ‘What’s so special about April the twentieth?’
    ‘It’s Hitler’s birthday,’ the woman in the front seat said, her voice deathly cold.
    Alexei listened in dumb shock as Jordan continued:‘Seems your girlfriend stepped in when these thugs started beating up a Tajik on the metro.Compared to Lena, the old guy got off lightly – he’ll be out of hospital within the next few days.Owes his life to your girlfriend.’
    ‘Typical Lena,’ Alexei said faintly.‘She never walks away from a fight.’
    ‘She sounds like quite a girl.The worst things always happen to the best people.Don’t know why the world has to work like that, but it does.’
    Alexei frowned.‘But how do I know that this is true?How come you can get hold of this information so quickly?’
    ‘Contacts,’ Jordan said simply.‘By now you might have guessed that Trojan Industries isn’t like other businesses, Alexei.We’re not interested in selling products or making money or anything like that.’
    ‘So what are you interested in?’
    Jordan’s eyes glinted in the darkness.‘Gangs,’ he said.‘Trojan is a shell, a front for a covert military operation.Under its auspices, we travel from country to country trying to break up the world’s most violent gangs.Three months ago, we had our first successful operation in Brazil.We came to Russia because of the Moscow Eagles – our sources here have been tracking them for quite some time.Even by neo-Nazi standards, they’re a brutal bunch.Now we have the perfect opportunity to take them down.Look at this.’
    Opening up a slim briefcase, Jordan produced a copy of the Moscow Times , the city’s English-language newspaper, and passed it to Alexei.On the front page, aphotograph showed an angry-looking skinhead in handcuffs being marched through a crowd by a policeman.
    ‘Recognize this man?’
    Alexei shook his head.
    ‘His name is Nikolai Borovsky.He’s a member of the Moscow Eagles.He’s currently on trial for the murder of two Azerbaijani workmen last August.The verdict’s in tomorrow – and it looks like he’s going to jail for a long time.’
    ‘OK,’ Alexei said slowly.‘But what’s this got to do with me?’
    ‘Borovsky is the Eagles’ main enforcer – losing him is a massive blow to their organization.Right now, they’re vulnerable to infiltration.Trojan needs an agent to gain the gang’s confidence and gather enough evidence to enable us to smash the 88s for good.’
    Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place in Alexei’s head. ‘Are you saying you want me to do this?’
    ‘That’s exactly what I’m saying, Alexei.Be under no illusions: this is a dangerous assignment.The Eagles are a violent and unpredictable outfit, and if you get into trouble I can’t guarantee that we can help you.Trojan is a black-ops organization – if the Russian authorities find out about us, it will be an international scandal.It would spell the end for us.’
    ‘This is crazy!’ exclaimed Alexei.‘I’m not a spy!I can’t do this!’
    ‘I think you underestimate yourself,’ Jordan said calmly. Returning to his briefcase, he pulled out a brown file and began flicking through it. ‘Alexei Zhukov,’ he read out,pursing his lips. ‘Judging by his school records, he’s an exemplary student.Shows particular promise in the sciences – potential to study engineering at university.Outside of school, he’s a trained kickboxer who’s competed