"Tell me," Volgin cleared his throat, downing the last drip of vodka from his glass. "Why did you call me? I mean - at first I thought it was some serious problem, but this…" he pointed towards papers that Aleks neatly sorted back into his briefcase, "is something you shouldn't have problems with." 

Aleks smirked as he listened to the man's question. He was a fierce as ever, even if he was drinking more alcohol than in the past. "And [i]you[/i] shouldn't be drinking on a duty." He fired a statement of his own as he saw Volgin signaling "one more" to the waiter. "Touché. But when you are as old as me, especially in a job such as this - you need a little remedy every now and then. To forget." 

To forget - Aleks knew that all too well. He was not keen on alcohol, although he was not a stranger either. What Volgin said was true, though. Alcohol helped forget. Drugs were helpful too, it seemed. Aleks had seen it more than a few times - boys his age succumbing to the sharp needle. Wanting to fly away to a better plane. Nothing sickened him more than to see someone throw his life away without even putting up a fight. He branded those people weak. 

But, Volgin… Volgin was far from weak. Or at least Aleks' past with him manipulated the opinion. The man saved his neck once, after all. He was sixteen years old, still an inexperienced kid - and he made one stupid mistake. One mistake and he was apprehended by the police, bound to get beat in order for them to get information. That's when he met Volgin, on his way to the station. Whether he was paid by his foster father to get him out of trouble or he acted on his own accord, Aleks did not know. But back then, Aleks thought he owed the man a lot, which probably shaped his opinion. In reality - he did not owe him anything.

Worst case scenario, he was working for Nikolai even back then and Aleks was even more in debt to his foster father than he realized.

"It's on me," Aleks said with a sigh, as the waiter brought the glass to the table. Contrary to his old acquaintance, he was drinking green tea and still had half-full cup in front of him. "I will tell you the truth," he finally begun, "I needed to ask you about something a tad bit more… personal." 

The sentence made Volgin curious as he prompted him to go on. "I recently heard some rumors about those two grizzly murders - heartless men." As he mentioned it, Volgin's face lit up. He actually loved talking to Aleks about his cases and the fact that he seemed eager to talk about it, made Aleks wonder whether he was directly on the case. It was good to know that the possibility was there. "Yes - two men were found dead, both missing their hearts. It was not a pretty crime scene, I can tell you that. What are you interested in?"

"I'm worried," Aleks quickly replied, "about Nikolai." The sentence made Volgin burst into laughter. His deep, raspy laugh echoed through the coffee shop, before he settled down. "Somehow I don't believe you - he is not a man that others worry about," downing the glass of vodka, Volgin continued, "At least, not genuinely." 

Taking a sip of his tea, Aleks continued as if he was never interrupted. "I'm worried about my debt. You know the history between the two of us. If he dies while I have such an amount of money to give him back - I would be the main suspect, even if the murder was a carbon copy of the past two. If not by police, then by Bratva." He quieted down before saying that particular name. Volgin merely nodded as Aleks explained, he had to admit the boy had a good point. "So - I heard those two men were wealthy, powerful. Not extremely, but they had some connections. Obviously, someone is targeting those who have power. Don't you think Nikolai is the perfect target?"

Volgin could not argue that, but was still slightly confused as to what Aleks was getting at. "That favor I need from you is simple…"

"I want to help with the investigation."