by KJ Dahlen
Leonid paused and took in the beauty of the photographs. He just stared at the pictures on the walls around them.
“Aren’t they magnificent?” Vlad asked his nephew.
“Da, they are,” Leonid agreed. “Whoever took them knew what they were doing.”
“River took them. This is what she does for a living,” Vlad told him. “Alexi was very proud of her. In this respect, she was more like her grandmother than he ever thought. Jenika loved photography as well.”
“Uncle, why didn’t Alexi claim her when she lost her parents?” Leonid wanted to know.
“He couldn’t for the same reason her mother left this farm when she was barely seventeen,” Vlad sadly explained it. “He left Russia after his wife died. There had been a home invasion by a group of vigilantes proclaiming her photos were a coverup for the KGB. They weren’t of course but back then, people were afraid of the KGB for good reason. After this group murdered her and left him damn near crippled, the KGB got both Alexi and his small daughter out of the country. They settled him here with Sonya and he agreed to let us come here and spy on the rest of the world.” Vlad shook his head. “Alexi wanted revenge for Jenika’s death, of course he did. Any man that lost a wife like he did, would. But I urged him to bide his time, to let us find the men responsible and take care of it.”
Leonid stood and listened.
“The KGB were able to track down most of the men who broke into their home that night and they spent a long time in prison for what they did but we never found the main instigators of the mob group that night. We never found the two brothers that Jenika photographed by accident while committing treason against Russia. That is what she really photographed purely by accident that day.” Vlad began to pace. “She was out taking her pictures that day and she caught Dmitri and Adria Petchinko making a deal with the Ukraine mobster. Back then, it was considered treason to work with the Ukraine. Dmitri and Aria knew this and they did it anyway. To stop her photos from going public, they broke into her home and murdered her. Alexi tried to stop them and was badly hurt before they took off running like the real cowards they were.”
“Did you ever find the two men involved?” Leonid asked.
Vlad nodded. “Da, we did. About seven years ago. Ten years too late to save Alexi’s daughter and her husband.” Vlad looked out the window toward the barn and shook his head. “I know for a fact that Dmitri and Adria Petchinko are dead, so who these men are I have no clue. We were able to go in and get the girl out and keep her safe all these years but someone finally got to Alexi. After what happened earlier, I feel that woman out there is still very much in danger, I fear.”
Leonid nodded, silently agreeing with his uncle. Just then, they both heard a gasp from the doorway. Leonid turned and saw River standing there with tears running down her face.
She was staring around at her own photographs with wide, unbelieving eyes.
“Alexi kept track of you over the years,” Vlad told her quietly.
River nodded but didn’t say anything. She just gazed around the room in stunned disbelief. This was all her work. Then she turned and walked back to the kitchen.
Vlad growled and shook his head. “She doesn’t listen. Stubborn just like Alexi was.”
Leonid chuckled. “Uncle, all of this is new to her. Something she never expected.”
Barron joined them and nodded. “We’re about ready to go. I called in backup and they should be arriving anytime. I thought some of the boys could distract the men outside and allow us to get away.”
Vlad nodded then looked over at Leonid. “She’ll have to come with us.”
Leonid shook his head. “I’m not sure how she’s going to like that idea.”
They both began walking toward the kitchen.
Vlad sighed. “I’m sure she won’t but we have to protect her until we get a handle on the men who want to see her dead. They tried to kill her seventeen years ago and I have a feeling they won’t stop this time until they achieve what they set out to do.”
“What do you mean they tried to kill me then?” River had overheard their conversation and was standing beside the table when they came in. Sammy was standing next to her, between her and anyone else in the house.
Vlad stopped and stared at her with steady eyes. “Don’t you remember that day child?”
River slowly shook her head. “I remember bits and pieces of the day. I woke up in pain to see the police everywhere in the house. I remember seeing them carry two stretchers out, the bodies covered in a white cloth but it was stained with blood. Then seeing my mother’s hand on one of the stretchers because I could see her wedding ring. I was trying to scream but nothing was heard. I couldn’t get my voice to be heard by anyone. Then I don’t remember anything after that. I woke up days later, I think and was told I would never see my parents again.”
Vlad nodded sadly. “The men that killed your parents tried to kill you that day as well. The pain you were in was due to a bullet they shot you with. The doctors told Alexi the bullet only grazed your head, it didn’t penetrate your skull.”
“Sweet Jesus,” she whispered as she sat down in her chair looking utterly shocked. “That’s where the scar came from? On my head? What kind of monsters are these men?”
“They are the very worst of the worst my dear,” Vlad told her.
Chapter Six
“You seem to know them very well.” River looked up at him with a glint in her eyes. “What does that say about you?”
Vlad nodded. “I do indeed know them very well and yes child, I was once as bad as they were. Or are. But that is all in my past.”
“And my grandfather?” she had to ask. “Was that his world as well?”
Vlad shook his head. “No our world was never his. Alexi was always a farmer at heart. He lived for his wife and child and when he lost Jenika, he could barely go on, but he knew he had to. He had a daughter to raise.” Vlad looked around the room then moved over to the window looking outside. “This was his world. He loved planting seeds in the ground and watching them grow. Here, he could ignore the rest of the world and he was happy.” Shaking his head he admitted, “How two such different people became good friends over the years is beyond me but we did.”
“If he was such a good man why did my mom leave here before she was fully grown?” River asked.
“It wasn’t safe for her to be here any longer,” Vlad explained. “Alexi sent her to some friends but he watched over her all the years she was away.”
“Who are those men out there and why do they want me dead?” she had to ask.
Vlad shook his head. “I don’t know.” He couldn’t quite meet her eyes.
River took careful note of this fact. Vlad was lying to her and she knew it.
When the older man did meet her eyes, he knew she knew it.
She got to her feet and faced them both. “If you aren’t going to tell me the truth about what’s going on here, you can stay but I’m leaving. I don’t need this bullshit in my life and if they get me then my blood is on your hands.” She thought about something and tilted back her head back to glare at him. “You lousy bastard, did your silence end up killing your good friend Alexi too?”
Vlad’s face told her nothing. It was as if a veil had come down to hide whatever it was he needed to hide.
Just then, the silence outside was shattered by the sound of bikers turning into the driveway. Barron and the others joined them in the kitchen and they waited until the bikers began circling the outbuildings. They had in their possession three boxes of stuff from the safe.
Barron told Vlad they closed the safe and the hidden room. “We have the extra men circling to provide a distraction, so let’s go already!”
Shots were fired and a few were returned but mostly, it was a distraction to allow the people in the house to get outside to their vehicles.
“Let’s get the hell out of here. We’re only going to get one chance,” Barron ordered. As soon as the shooting started, he o
pened the door and dashed for his bike. There were three boxes from the safe and the men dumped them into the nearest car which happened to River’s car. Leaving the doors open, they moved over to their own vehicles and started their engines.
Vlad went directly to his vehicle, as did his bodyguard.
Leonid threw the car keys to the bodyguard and told him to drive. Then he grabbed River by the wrist and dragged her out to her vehicle. Pushing her inside, he snapped his fingers for the dog to join them then he turned to her and demanded the keys.
River was in shock at his movements and pointed out that they were still in the ignition.
Leonid reached over, fastened her seat belt, and pulled it down tightly. He took a hold of her jaw and turned her head toward his, “If I tell you to duck you better fucking duck. Those are real bullets they’re firing and I don’t want to see you splattered all over the inside of this car. We can sort of all the damn details later, right now we have to get the fuck out of here. Understood?”
River just stared at him.
“Do you understand?” he growled.
Finally, she nodded slightly.
“Then duck down and let’s get out of here.”
River did as he said and ducked down in her seat.
The car spun around and headed down the driveway.
Covering her ears, she closed her eyes and prayed. Prayed that a bullet wouldn’t find her, prayed that this big bad Russian knew what the hell he was doing— prayed the she would still be alive when this was over. She just prayed.
She kept being jostled around the car as far as the seatbelt would allow as they made their getaway. When they turned on the main highway, Leonid gunned the engine and they started gaining miles between the farm and them. He made a right hand turn not too far up the road and took a backroad that twisted and turned as he made his way in the back country. When he did this, only a few bikers followed him, the rest of them followed the other vehicle carrying his uncle.
River sat up slowly and gazed around. She knew they were still in the area of the farmhouse but she hadn’t traveled the backroads before, so she was completely lost but she had a feeling Leonid knew exactly where he was.
Neither of them spoke for about twenty minutes into the drive, then River broke the silence, “Where are you taking me?”
“Back to our compound near Red Wing.” He stared at the road in front of him.
River turned to stare out the window and refused to say anything else to him.
Leonid was hoping to get her to talk to him but as the car ate up the miles, he knew it wasn’t going to happen. Then he remembered the last few minutes of the conversation they had before their escape from the farmhouse. “What did you mean when you asked my uncle about his silence killing your grandfather?”
She still didn’t look at him and refused to talk to him.
“I asked you a question.” He growled.
“I heard you.”
“Then answer it.” He snarled.
“Your uncle knows more than he’s saying about the events at the farmhouse.” She shrugged.
“What makes you say that?” Leonid wanted to know.
She shrugged again.
“What do you think you know about my uncle that I do not?” He glared at her silence.
“I know the man is a very good liar,” she finally replied. “And I think he had my grandfather murdered to hide his secrets.”
Leonid pulled the car to the side of the road and shut down the engine. Turning in his seat, he faced her with a harsh face. “What the fucking hell are you talking about?”
The bikers following him pulled up behind him and walked over to the SUV.
Leonid rolled down the window, so they could hear what she had to say as well. “Now talk. Tell us what the hell you know.”
“When I went to the lawyer’s office a few days ago, he told me I had a grandfather and that he had died recently. Actually, he did say Alexi had been murdered. My grandfather left me everything that he had left. The farm, his savings, and the secret he’s been carrying all these years. There was a map of the farm too, it shows secret rooms and tunnels and storage areas you can’t see any other way. He also left me a letter and a roll of film his wife took before she was murdered back in Russia. He doesn’t know what’s on the film but he has his suspicions. He also left me a more up to date roll of film. The only problem is I need a dark room to develop both and at the moment, I don’t have access to one that could do the job.”
“Did your grandfather say anything about Vlad?” Barron wanted to know.
River looked at him and nodded slowly. “As a matter of fact he did.” She bit at her lip.
“Well tell us what.” Leonid stared at her.
“How do I know you all aren’t in this with him?” She looked afraid.” I just walked into this. I don’t know who you are. I don’t know anything that seems to be true.”
Leonid let out a sigh.
River looked over at him. “He’s your family. No matter what else he is, he’s family.”
Leonid shook his head slowly. “You don’t understand something here. When we came to this country, there were nine of us. All running from the law and prison for something we didn’t do. We all came here to start over. But back then, the Bratva we knew hunted us down like animals. So did the KGB. My uncle was KGB and he did nothing to stop the atrocities his company was doing to their own people.”
She took a deep breath. “I hope I am doing the right thing here. I don’t want to die.” She paused and looked into his eyes. Then after a moment, she looked over to Barron and did the same. Seeming to make up her mind, she started to speak, “The attorney told me that in the letter, my grandfather said he had evidence that a man who claimed to be his friend was a liar and a killer. I didn’t know who Vlad was until he told me his name today. It was the same name as the attorney mentioned. I refused to say anymore because if that is the name of the man in his letter, he was right there in the farmhouse staring at me.” She shivered. “The attorney didn’t really go into details but he said Alexi left evidence behind that he hoped I would find before Vlad had a chance to destroy it all.”
Chapter Seven
The three men all glanced back at the boxes they had placed in River’s car only because it was semi-protected from the shooters. Maybe the information Alexi discovered was somewhere in those boxes?
Barron looked back at River and asked, “Do you have the letter, the map, and the film with you right now?”
“Why do you want to know?” she asked with a frown, as she still didn’t look like she trusted any of them.
Barron looked at Leonid and then back at her. “If there is something else going on here, I think we need to know what it might be. Vlad has been coming here off and on for a number of years. He stops by the compound a lot and if he’s a traitor to us or to Russia, we need to know.”
River looked like she relaxed a bit more but she remained quiet.
This wasn’t going to be easy to do. Persuade her to share everything when she was still afraid. Leonid paused then looked at Barron. At the other man’s nod, Leonid turned his head to her. “Back in the days when Russia had it superpower status, my uncle set up his own people to spy on other countries. He was here and stayed at your grandfather’s farm to do his business here. I don’t know if Alexi knew what he was doing back then but from what you are saying, I don’t imagine he had a choice.”
River folded her hands together and seemed to close up, even after he tried to convince her.
He let his words sink in and then told her, “Maybe my uncle did have his friend killed but if he did there was a reason for it. Your film and letter might show us that reason. With your map, we can find what was never supposed to be found, the secret tunnels and rooms the KGB met in. If my uncle is guilty of treason against Russia, he needs to be found out.”
Barron looked around and said, “Grace’s cabin isn’t far from here.” Looking down at Leonid, he said, “Do you re
member how to get there?”
Leonid nodded. “I do.” It was the same place where they found Grace after she stole Barron’s bike, so she could get away from the men who trying to kill her. Like Leonid or any of them could ever forget that day.
“Take her there and go over the paperwork,” Barron instructed. “See what you can find. Take Sasha with you. I’ll go back and try to hold your uncle off. Call me later and let me know what you find.”
“Your uncle still has the key to the farmhouse,” River pointed out. “He can still get in there and destroy whatever evidence is left there.”
“Da, he could.” Barron shrugged. “But if your grandfather knew what he was doing, he would have hidden it away from the usual places. Somewhere you could find it but not necessarily anyone else. I can keep him at the compound but we need to know who he’s working with... if anyone. Though he has to be. Who was shooting at us back at the farm?”
“Da, we will go to the cabin and try and figure out what’s going on,” Leonid agreed. He swung his gaze over at Barron, “Watch your back old friend. My uncle has been known to strike first and ask questions never.”
Barron looked unsurprised by the warning. “Sasha will be there to watch your backs. Find what there is to find quickly if you can.” he walked back to his bike and swung his leg over the engine. Firing it up, he turned his cycle around and soon was gone.
Leonid started the car up and made a wide turn then went back the way he came. When they hit the main road, they turned left instead of right and went back toward the farm.
When they passed it, River couldn’t help by stare at the place. Her heart was heavy as she thought about the man who once lived there. She wished she would have gotten the chance to know him, even for a short time. But that was not to be. And she of all people, knew not to dwell on what could have been or should have been. All she had was what it was.
They stopped at a small grocery store and picked up a few things in case their hunting trip ended up lasting longer then they thought it would. They got back on the road and soon were turning into the driveway to this cabin Barron had spoken about.