Leonid

by KJ Dahlen

  The car door opened and an older man got out. “You must be River Collins. I’m so very happy to finally meet you but my dear, we can’t allow you to leave here. At least not yet.”

  River turned her head to glare at the older man. “You can’t exactly stop me. You and them...” She nodded at the men standing there. “Came here for a reason, but I don’t want to know what that reason is and I don’t care why the shooter was here either. I just want to be gone.”

  “The shooter has seen you. He would know who you are. He might come after you,” the old man told her.

  She shrugged. “He can try. But he’s not likely to find me where I’m going.” Then she eyed the older man. “Did you know my grandfather?”

  The older man nodded.

  “Tell me something if you can, did he know about me?” she asked. “I know my mom left here a long time ago, but did he know about me?”

  The older man nodded. “He did know about you.”

  “Did he know when his daughter died?”

  Again, the older man nodded.

  River took a deep breath and tried not to show her disappointment. “Then he knew I was just a kid when she died didn’t he? He never came to claim me.” She looked around at the farm. “I was so hoping I was wrong but I wasn’t. Well, he didn’t want me then and I sure as hell don’t want this now. Enjoy.” She walked over to her car and opened the door. Snapping her fingers, Sammy came over and jumped into her vehicle. River got in after him and went to shut the door but the big ape that covered her when the shooting started, grabbed the door, and held it.

  River looked up at him and growled, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

  “My uncle doesn’t think you will be safe out there and I can’t ignore that. Someone was shooting at you just now. We can’t protect you if you aren’t with us.”

  “Too bad for you, then isn’t it?” She glared at him. “I’m not staying where I’m not wanted. I been there done that and not bloody likely to do it again. Besides, how do you know they were shooting at me? Huh, they might have seen you guys here and were shooting at you.” She tried to pull the door shut but Leonid wasn’t letting it go.

  The older man began to walk toward the house. He bent over to pick up the keys and told Leonid, “Bring her along.” Then he walked toward the door, found the right key, and opened it.

  Leonid raised an eyebrow and held out his hand to her.

  River sighed and said, “You aren’t going to let this go are you?”

  Leonid shook his head.

  River huffed angrily as she stepped out of the SUV. Snapping her fingers, Sammy jumped out and began following her into the house.

  Chapter Four

  The men all followed her and once they were inside, they spread out to explore the farm house.

  River gazed around at the room she was in, which was the kitchen. Everything was clean and neat although there was a thin layer of dust everywhere...a kitchen that hadn’t been used in a while. She understood this, as her grandfather had died two weeks ago, according to the attorney she’d spoken with.

  Moving into the living room, she gasped as she found herself staring at the wall of photographs. They were mostly of her mother growing up but there was one of two of her there as well. One of the pictures was of her, when she was about three. There was another one of her the day she graduated from high school.

  River walked over to it and frowned. The picture itself was ten years old. She couldn’t believe he had it. She had grown up not too far from here but she’d never got to meet her grandfather. She didn’t even know he existed to be truthful. Her mother never told her about him, she only knew her parents didn’t have any other family.

  She felt someone walk up behind her and she stiffened.

  “He was there the day you graduated,” the older man told her. “Did you know that?”

  River couldn’t speak, so she shook her head.

  “Alexi was an old friend, so we spoke quite often. He kept track of you when you were growing up. I thought you should know that.”

  “Why?” she finally found her voice. “Why would you rub salt into the wound he left me?”

  “Pardon me?” he asked.

  River turned to the old man and shook her head. “No I don’t pardon anything. How dare you tell me this horseshit? If he knew where I was why didn’t he come to me and tell me who he was? Why did he let me think I had no other family out there somewhere? Why did he let me think no one cared about me all those years?”

  “He did what he did to protect you,” he insisted.

  “No... I think he did what he did, so he wouldn’t have to care about anyone but himself. He certainly never cared about his own daughter, now did he?”

  The old man slapped her across the face.

  River was so stunned, she couldn’t do or say anything.

  The older man glared at her. “Don’t you ever say Alexi didn’t love his child! Everything he did he did for her. Sonya meant the world to him.”

  “Listen old man, don’t you ever raise your hand to me again, or I swear I will knock you the hell out!” River growled.

  “My name is Vlad Birizin,” he explained with affront. “I deserve your respect at least.”

  “I don’t care who you are or think you are. In my world, respect is earned not given freely. You respect me and I’ll give it back to you but nothing you and your friends have done today has earned that yet. And slapping me is no way to earn it. I cannot understand you even thinking that it would.” She turned and went back to the kitchen leaving the men in the living room. These men weren’t anything she cared to know about. His old friend? Who the hell cared? Not her and why the hell should she? She should have had Sammy grab him. Then she tried to cool down. That would have earned her the muzzle of one of those weapons they’d used earlier in the shootout. And that was another thing, what had her supposed grandpa been doing that someone would shoot at her? She didn’t want any part of this.

  Leonid joined his uncle and shook his head. “You should have told her the reason he never made contact with her.”

  “No I don’t think she’s ready to hear the truth, not yet anyway. She would never understand his reasons.” Vlad shook his head sadly.

  “You would rather she thinks her family didn’t want her? That he left her out there all alone and unprotected?” Leonid asked.

  “He never did that,” Vlad insisted angrily. “After her parents were killed, he had her watched and protected. He just couldn’t come forward at that time. He had his reasons for what he did and he thought he was doing what needed to be done.”

  “I don’t think we should stay here very long,” Barron told the group. “I think we need to get what we came here for and go back to the compound. Someone was here already looking for the secret tunnels and that can only mean one thing.”

  “Da.” Vlad sighed heavily. “Our enemies are here to see what they can find to expose us.”

  “You told us yourself this information is useless nowadays,” Barron stated. “What information could your enemies use to hurt you now?”

  “Russia still has spies in place all around the world. If our enemies can find them they would not only lose their lives and possibly their families lives, but Russia could lose whatever amount of respect we have left in this world. We may no longer have our superpower status but what status we do have is growing again, and I don’t want to see that damaged. Our enemies would cross our borders and wipe us out. I refuse to allow that to happen.” Vlad shook his head. “I won’t see that happen. Not to my homeland.”

  “Let’s just find what we came here to find and leave.” Barron growled. “We’ve already been here too long.”

  Vlad nodded. “Da, you are right.” He moved over to the fireplace and taking a key from his pocket, he inserted it and pressed a secret panel.

  A door popped open and the men standing there were surprised.

  “Bylad!” Barron swore out loud.

  Anot
her room stood behind that door hidden from the rest of the house. Peeking inside, they all saw a huge safe. There were several smaller safes as well but the large floor to ceiling safe took up the whole back wall.

  Leonid backed out and headed to the kitchen. “Come.” He motioned to River.

  River wouldn’t look at him. “Go to hell.”

  “Look Miss Collins, I know you found out some things today about your grandfather you didn’t like but if you leave, his secrets could put your life into danger. That shooter today wasn’t only shooting at us, he was shooting at you too.”

  River snapped her head up and she glared at him. “How the hell would he even know who I was before today? Huh? Answer me that you, big dummy. How the hell would that man shooting at us know who I even was?”

  “Because my child,” Vlad spoke from the doorway. “He’s probably the same man that murdered my friend, your grandfather. Maybe even the man responsible for the deaths of your parents.”

  River slowly turned her head to stare at him. “My grandfather was eighty years old, I was told he died. I guess I never asked how but I assumed it was from old age. Are you now saying he was murdered?” She paused then asked, “Do you know how my parents died?”

  Vlad nodded. “Alexi telephoned me two weeks ago. He thought I should know something. He said he’s been getting threats, nothing specific but just general threats. Someone had run off his cattle and horses. They set fire to one of his outbuildings then wrecked his hunting cabin. He even got your photograph with a scope site drawn on it in a red substance he thought was blood. Someone was coming for him and he knew it. It was just a matter of time.” Vlad shook his head. “Then two days later. another friend living in the area phoned me and told me Alexi had been found murdered. I had to come. I called my nephew Leonid here and told him I was coming.”

  Leonid stiffened while Vlad was making his case to her. This was news to him as well. “Why didn’t you tell us about the threats Uncle?” he growled. “We could have stopped it.”

  Vlad shook his head again. “I wanted to. I did but Alexi wouldn’t let me. He told me if he died, it would be to protect her.” He motioned toward River.

  River got to her feet. “To protect me? How did he do that? He never even met me!” she called out in protest. “You said he knew about me all my life but my mother never told me she had a father living here, or living anywhere for that matter. I used to ask her if I had any other family still alive and she always said no. Her and my father were all I had. My mother wouldn’t lie to me, not like that. How could he protect me if he was never there? And protect me from what? From who?”

  “Come on old man, we don’t have time for this right now,” Barron called out from behind them. “We need to get what we came here for and get the hell out of here. You can explain later.”

  River looked from one to the other and back to the old man. “You came here to rob my grandfather didn’t you?”

  “Not exactly rob him, just take back what was ours to begin with,” Vlad tried to tell her. “Your grandfather was holding certain things for us and now that he’s dead, we have come here to collect them.”

  River shook her head, holding up her hand to stop him. “I don’t think I want to know. Go get what you came here for and then get the hell out. I just wish I’d never come here.”

  “It’s too late for regrets now child,” Vlad told her. “The man that was here today saw you, he’ll know who you are and now, your life is in danger. That was one reason Alexi stayed away.”

  River shook her head. “It doesn’t matter anymore does it?” She sat back down on the chair. Turning her head away she said, “Go, get what you came here to get and leave.”

  “I’m afraid we can’t do that without you,” Vlad told her.

  River frowned and turned back to him. “Now what the hell are you talking about old man?”

  “Alexi told me he’d gathered the papers we would need and stored them where we could get to them but we need you for the combination to open the safe he put the items in.”

  River shook her head and looked entirely confused. “But how the hell would I know the password you need? I never met the man remember?”

  Vlad shook his head. “He told me it was something your mother would have told you to remember.”

  River started to shake her head then remembered something she hadn’t thought about in years. It was a memory of her mother tucking her in at night when she was very young. When she went to kiss her goodnight, she always whispered a phrase, ‘Remember this, remember the name Jenika.’ The name stood out in her mind now. She looked over at Vlad. “Who was Jenika?”

  Vlad paled at the name. “She was Alexi’s wife.”

  “That’s your password then,” River told them.

  Suddenly, Sammy began to growl. He began pacing back and forth from River to the back door and growling.

  Leonid frowned and went to check out the backyard. He looked out the window in every direction. He didn’t see anything but the dog alerted for a reason. Someone was out there.

  He turned to his uncle as he took out his weapon. “Get what you need to get and let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Vlad nodded and turned to go back to the living room.

  Barron, Sasha and Koyla all had their weapons out as they followed him.

  They all stood and watched as Vlad entered the hidden room and went to the safe there. He looked at the dials on the safe and shook his head. “It is a Russian safe. How did ole Alexi get this big behemoth here in the first place?” He quickly spun the dials to spell out Jenika’s name and the door popped open. He stepped back and pulled open the heavy door. The safe was filled with things they needed to get out of the house.

  He looked at the others and asked, “Can you just box everything up, and I’ll sort through it later?”

  Barron nodded. “Is this all of it?”

  Vlad shook his head. “Not everything by a long shot but Alexi would know what to put aside to protect those in harm’s way.”

  Chapter Five

  River stared after them all as if she feared what was happening. “Who are you people?” she asked Leonid, as he was the only one left in the kitchen with her.

  Leonid looked over at her. “If this keeps up, you are going to know us pretty well, I would say.” He knew she would be coming with them to the compound if his uncle had his way, and the man usually did get his way.

  Leonid looked out the window that was over the sink again, but nothing moved outside. At least, nothing he could see. He looked down at the dog and noted he hadn’t relaxed his alert status. The dog knew someone was out there. He moved to the other window and peeked out at a different angle. He didn’t see anyone out there but now his own gut was churning. The view was in line with the barn and when he looked out there, he thought he saw the shadows moving. He was about to move the curtain back when he saw the shadows moving on the back porch. Then he heard a footstep walking closer.

  Leonid turned and reached out to grab River. He hauled her to him and placed a hand over her mouth, cutting off her scream as he moved them to a place they wouldn’t be seen by anyone looking in the windows. “Sorry sweetheart, but someone is looking for us and I don’t want them to know where we are,” he whispered in her ear. “Now be a good girl and don’t fight this.”

  River didn’t struggle, but she didn’t want to let him think he could manhandle her either. She lifted her foot off the ground and slammed it down on the top of his foot, grinding her heel in. Her work boots were tough and heavy and she knew what she was doing had to hurt but the big guy didn’t say a word. Other than to growl in her ear, he didn’t make a move to stop her or release her.

  When Sammy’s growling got louder, Leonid whispered in her ear, “Can you shut him up? I don’t want whoever is outside to know he’s here.”

  River snapped her fingers then gave him a sign and Sammy stopped growling. He kept his eyes on the door but he wasn’t growling at least.

  T
he shadow paused a moment then continued on his walk around the corner of the porch.

  Leonid released her and she moved away from him hurriedly. She didn’t even bother to look at him or she would have seen him take a step and wince.

  Then it was like a curtain came down over his face and he glared at her. “Look, I don’t know what your problem is but don’t do that again. Those men out there don’t care about your life and they wouldn’t hesitate to shoot you. In fact, I think they would very much like to do just that. I don’t think it would even bother them to die for their effort. As long as you were dead, they had done what they set out to do.”

  “Then don’t manhandle me.” She snarled at him. “Use your words and tell me what you want me to do. And not any of that Russian all the rest of them are speaking. I do know how to protect myself and if you come after me again, prepare for me to protect myself.”

  Leonid didn’t say anything, instead he walked into the living room to alert his brothers they had company again.

  He found his uncle standing in a small room just off the living room. The walls in here were lined with huge pictures of various places all around the United States. One showed the wild horses in Colorado in full gallop while another showed the vastness and color of the Grand Canyon. The red and golds of the rock formations making up the walls of the great canyon were incredible. Another one showed the rapids of the river up close and personal. So close you could almost feel the spray of the waves as they crashed around you.