John Wick - Chapter 68: A Very Unconventional Parley (Patreon)

“Call your brother. In your condition, you probably won’t last until he gets here.”

The mob boss was silent for a moment.

Nate thought he was refusing, but then the mob boss finally said, “He’s on a plane. He can’t answer his phone.”

Nate had actually forgotten about that. He had never been on a plane in his previous life.

“Uh... right. Then send him a voice message.”

Outside wasn’t a good place to talk, so Nate and John carried the mob boss, now missing a leg, into the church.

Two bodies lay near the church entrance. The interior was dim, and music was still playing over the speakers. Nate listened for a moment and recognized Ode to Joy.

The pews were crooked and disordered, with shards of glass scattered across the floor. They placed the mob boss on the front pew.

His severed leg rested on the seat. The bleeding had mostly stopped, though blood was still dripping slowly onto the floor, one drop at a time.

The mob boss pulled a phone from inside his jacket. The screen was cracked, but it still worked.

He unlocked it with his fingerprint and swiped a few times with his thumb. Then he held down the voice-message button.

“Bro, something happened to me.”

His voice was faint. He was already extremely weak.

He released the button and sent the message.

A few seconds later, a reply came back. The mob boss played it, and Viggo’s slightly distorted voice came through the speaker.

“What happened? Explain.”

The mob boss didn’t respond. His hand trembling, he passed the phone to John.

John took it, raised it to his mouth, and held down the voice-message button.

“Your brother is at the church. His right leg is gone.”

He released the button and sent it.

The other side was silent for several seconds.

Then Viggo replied, his voice louder than before.

“Who are you? Do you have any idea who you’ve messed with?”

John listened without changing expression, then held down the button again.

“John Wick. Viggo, I want you to cancel the bounty.”

After sending it, he placed the phone on the pew beside him and waited.

Viggo’s response came quickly. There was shock in his voice, but even more anger.

“You killed my son, and now you want to negotiate with me?”

John didn’t answer immediately. He glanced at the mob boss.

The mob boss had his eyes closed, his lips pale.

Nate stood by the doorway with his gun in hand.

The phone sounded again.

Viggo continued, “You think taking my brother hostage means you can threaten me? I’m telling you, if you touch another hair on his head, I’ll make sure you die horribly.”

John picked up the phone, held down the voice-message button, and spoke quietly.

“Cancel the bounty, Viggo.”

He released it, sent the message, and put the phone back down.

This time, Viggo remained silent for a long while.

The mob boss’s phone screen dimmed and automatically went to sleep.

The mob boss opened his eyes and reached for it, but the movement pulled at his wound, making him groan.

Nate walked over and handed him the phone. The mob boss unlocked it again with his fingerprint. Once the screen lit up, he passed it back to John.

Viggo’s reply finally came through, his voice much lower now.

“What do you want? You’re at the church? Where’s the stuff?”

John held down the button.

“Cancel the bounty.”

He released it and sent the message.

Another silence followed.

Every so often, John tapped the phone to keep the screen awake.

A new voice message appeared. John played it.

Viggo’s voice came through.

“You killed my son, John.”

John raised his voice.

“Cancel the bounty, Viggo!”

Nate finally walked over and snatched the phone from him. He couldn’t watch this anymore. At this rate, the negotiation would never end.

With someone like Viggo, they needed to get inside his head.

Nate thought for a moment, then held down the button.

“I’m John’s partner. Your brother is right beside me. He’s lost a lot of blood. Do you want to say something to him?”

A little while later, another voice message arrived.

Viggo sounded exhausted.

“Let me talk to him.”

John held the phone near the mob boss’s mouth.

The mob boss opened his eyes. His voice was weak and already trembling with tears.

“Bro, it hurts. I couldn’t protect the stuff. We lost.”

Viggo’s brother’s voice shook as he spoke.

Viggo didn’t send another message.

Nate waited ten seconds, then twenty, tapping the phone every so often.

He couldn’t keep waiting. If this went on much longer, Viggo’s brother would bleed out.

Nate held down the button directly.

“Viggo, your brother isn’t going to last much longer. If you don’t cancel the bounty on John, we’ll come find you.

“Minsk isn’t that hard to deal with either. And John isn’t the same as before. He’s not alone anymore. Are you ready for that?”

After sending the message, Nate kept the phone clenched in his hand and glanced at John.

John sat there smiling and gave him a nod.

No new message appeared.

Viggo didn’t reply.

A little while later, John’s and Nate’s own phones rang instead.

They took them out and saw a message from Winston.

“John’s bounty has been canceled. Mission complete.”

Ten minutes later, an ambulance arrived.

Viggo’s brother was already unconscious. Several medical personnel got out and froze for a moment at the sight of the church plaza.

A female nurse even asked Nate what had happened.

Nate put on a shaken expression.

“Gang warfare. He’s our boss. We got here too late.”

Nate and John watched as the medical personnel carried Viggo’s brother into the ambulance.

Before they left, Nate casually asked which hospital they were taking him to.

Inside the ambulance, a female doctor had just finished giving Viggo’s brother emergency treatment and started a blood transfusion. She looked at Nate in confusion.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Is there a problem?”

Nate smiled.

“No. Just wanted to know where. We’ll come visit him tomorrow.”

The doctor nodded and said nothing more.

The ambulance drove away.

John looked at Nate questioningly.

Nate gave him a meaningful look.

He checked the time.

Even the fastest flight from Minsk would take at least four hours.

That left them roughly three hours.

Plenty of time.

“Let’s go, John. We’ll check the basement first and see if they left anything behind. They were in such a hurry, there’s no way they managed to move everything.”

Nate and John headed down to the basement.

The two female organizers were still locked inside.

They were crouched in a corner with their hands over their heads, trembling.

The basement had a keypad lock.

John was just about to ask the two women crouching in the corner for the code when Nate drew his combat knife.

With one slash, he struck the lock.

It snapped apart as easily as tofu.

Nate opened the door.

“Ladies, you can go.”

The two women fled in panic.

Nate looked around the basement.

Sure enough, they hadn’t managed to move everything.

Quite a lot was still there.

So...

It was time for some thrilling looting.