Barshan (Bratva Blood Brothers Book 3)

by K. J. Dahlen

  When he heard the reports, Bull swore again and ran his fingers through his hair. His hair was now longer than it had been during his service years and the red color seemed to burst into flames on his head and shoulders. He was pacing as the news report played out.

  “Did you know this guy?” Judge asked as he watched the other man struggle.

  Bull nodded. “Yeah, he was my ticket into cage fighting. I had the skills for MMA but no sponsor. Smokey took me on and didn’t ask a lot of questions about how I got my skills. I was gonna retire from the cage within the next year. He signed me to a contract for two years. I was going to look you guys up when my contract ran out.” He exhaled deeply. “I guess I’m a free agent now.”

  “Is that why you’re all beat to hell?” Wild Child asked as he noted Bull’s injures. “MMA fighting?”

  Bull shrugged. “I needed something to let the rage out before it swallowed me whole. When I woke up in that damn hospital in Germany after the ambush and remembered the two lives we lost on the fucked up mission, I kinda lost it.”

  Mustang chuckled but didn’t say anything.

  Bull glared at him and Judge turned his back for a moment.

  Wild Child looked among the members of the old team and asked, “What am I missing here?”

  Hawk snorted and informed him, “When Bull came back from lala land in the hospital and was told by the staff he was being sent home because of his injuries, let’s just say he didn’t agree with that decision. He wanted to get better and go after the bastards that put him hospital. We stopped by to tell him we were all going home and he kinda went berserk.”

  “Berserk? Is that what you call it?” Mustang snorted.

  “Now I gotta know, what did he do?” Tank asked.

  Bull closed his eyes and flushed red. “I put my bed through one of their windows and tore up the recovery room. Damn near took out one the doctors and two nurses before they got me doped up again.”

  Wild Child gazed at Judge confused. “Wasn’t he wounded?”

  Judge nodded. “Yeah, he took a couple bullets in the fight with Salim. He took one in the shoulder and another in his side.”

  “How long before the ruckus was this?” Tank wanted to know.

  Hawk turned to Bull and asked, “How long were you out? A couple of hours? They hadn’t even taken him into surgery before he went nuts.”

  “Wow,” Wild Child whispered as he stared in awe at the man in question. “Remind me not to piss you off.”

  “Yeah, none of us liked what happened to us,” Judge replied. “We lost two members of our team then we were forced to retire from the only job we were good at. We might have gotten one of the bad guys but we didn’t win the battle. It seemed like someone higher up in the food chain was tying our hands and none of us liked that feeling.”

  “Were you able to find out who that was?” Wild Child frowned.

  “Not yet,” Judge admitted. “Whoever it was hid his involvement rather well.”

  “Whoever it was,” Mustang growled. “Was definitely not on our side. What he was protecting was the drug trafficker and all the money he was making on the side.”

  “You guys think one of our own betrayed us to a drug ring?” Wild Child asked.

  “We know someone did.” Judge looked angry. “We just haven’t uncovered who or why.”

  “Damn that’s cold.” Tank shook his head.

  “When you think about it,” Judge commented. “It wasn’t only our two men that died. Salim took out seven other teams before we began tracking him. In total, twenty of our guys died in that sand before he was killed.”

  “Do we know anything about Salim’s route or where the drugs went, once they left his control?” Bull asked

  “We managed to track them to Mexico via an old steamer boat. The steamer belongs to a shell company hidden under so much paperwork we can’t find the real owner,” Mustang explained. “Nor can we discover where the drugs go once they hit the coast of Mexico. This is a well thought out route. It’s been in place a long time and is well hidden. We keep coming up with nothing and it’s very frustrating.”

  “Even with your awesome skills?” Bull was surprised. Mustang was well known for his hacker skills and there wasn’t much he couldn’t uncover when he set his mind to do something.

  Mustang nodded. “Someone out there has better skills than I do.”

  Bull ran his fingers through his hair again. “Fucking hell.” The silence of the room was disturbed when Bull’s phone chimed. Digging it out of his pocket, he frowned at the message he received. Then he swung his gaze over to Judge. “What the hell?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just got a message from someone named Conrad Bane. He wants a meeting to discuss my contract.”

  “Did you say Conrad Bane?” Mustang asked suspiciously.

  Bull nodded.

  “What the fuck do you have to do with him?” Judge barked.

  Bull shrugged. “Nothing. I’ve never heard from the man before just now. Nor do I want anything to do with him. He’s bad news anyway you fucking slice it.”

  Wild Child looked from one to the other. “Ok for those of us who don’t know what’s going on who the fuck is Conrad Bane?”

  “Conrad Bane is a local link to organized crime,” Bull told him. “He’s big underground and runs several gambling establishments. He tries to stay out of the limelight due to his connections but anybody who knows him, knows he’s connected.”

  “What does he have to do with your contract?” Judge asked.

  “I have no clue.” Bull shrugged. “My contract was for two years with Smokey. Now that Smokey is dead, the contract should be gone as well.” Bull texted him back and put his phone back in his pocket.

  “What did you tell him?” Judge wanted to know.

  “I told him my contract was with Smokey and if he was gone so was my obligation to the MMA world.” The phone chimed again and Bull’s frown deepened when he checked the message. “What the fuck?” he muttered.

  “Now what?” Judge asked.

  “Bane is claiming he owns my contract. He said Smokey put it up as collateral for a gambling debt within the last week. He’s giving me until two o’clock to meet with him or he’ll send his goons after me. ”

  “What are you going to do?” Judge frowned.

  “I’m going to call this fucker and let him know I’m not interested in a meeting.” Bull growled as he placed the call. Before the call went through, he went over to the security cameras and flipped a switch, turning his cell phone into a secure line. This place was protected already but he didn’t want any chance of getting traced back to the safe house.

  When the call went to voicemail, Bull left a message Conrad Bane could not misunderstand, “This is Bennett Seeger. You called about my contract with Smokey Langer. I fought for Smokey for the last year but now that Smokey is gone, I’m retiring from the ring. I will not fight for anyone else. Smokey couldn’t use my contract as collateral as I had a clause in it that said I could walk away anytime I wanted to. When I put that clause in the contract, he understood it for what it was. It meant that anytime I was done I could walk away. I’m sorry if he stiffed you on the deal but that’s what it was.” He paused then added, “I think it IS very bad taste to do this only hours after Smokey and Lori were killed in an explosion. I’m sure there are other fighters you can get.”

  Bull hung up the call and shoved the phone back in his pocket. Looking over at Judge, he wondered out loud, “What made him think I would fight for him?”

  Judge raised an eyebrow. “You are one hot fighter in the cage arena right now. In the short time, you’ve been in the cage, you are the one to beat and every fighter out there wants to come and see if he can knock you down a peg or two. They see you as the one to beat. Bane knows this and he wants to make money on the betting part of all of this.”

  Bull shook his head. “But I would never work for a man like him.”

  “I find it odd that Smokey
put up your contract only a few days ago and now he’s dead,” Hawk stated the obvious. “Did the man have a problem with gambling?”

  Bull shrugged. “I’ve never seen one if it was there. As an owner and sponsor, the league wouldn’t allow him to bet and if he were caught, it would cost him more than just the money. Smokey was a smart man and he knew it wasn’t worth it.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Something doesn’t fit here.”

  “Yeah and there’s the fact that he only died this morning and already, Bane is setting up a meeting with you?” Mustang shrugged. “Something isn’t cool here.”

  “I agree but again, we can’t prove anything,” Judge interjected. “I don’t imagine there’s too much left of his body to show it was murder and not a fire that killed him. This is all speculation anyway. We really don’t know what happened to him and or why.”

  Charlie grabbed the notebook and began writing something down on the paper. When she finished she got off the bed wincing as she stood on her feet.

  Bull noticed her grimace of pain and rushed over to her. Assisting her back to the bed he told her, “You aren’t strong enough to move around too much. You need to rest and get your strength back.”

  Charlie nodded then shoved the notebook in his hand.

  Bull frowned and glanced at the paper. His frown deepened when he stared at the words she’d written. He looked up at her and growled, “Are you sure?”

  Charlie nodded. Then her hand went to her throat and she closed her eyes as fresh pain washed over her. That simple movement had brought her more pain. She laid back down on the mattress and Bull covered her up with the blanket. He put his hand on her forehead and told her to rest.

  Then he went back to where the others were standing and handed Judge the note Charlie had written. It said the River Ratz knew Conrad Bane. I overheard them speak of the man in question. I’d seen them together as well at the Ratz compound.

  Judge read and reread the note then passed it along to the others. “If this is true that could be one connection. There might just be others.” Looking over at the bed, he couldn’t help but speculate, “She might be the one to bring all the other connections together for us. She might be the missing key we need to finally connect the dots and build our case.”

  “I don’t want her to get involved in this mission,” Bull stated flatly. “I’m not putting her at risk for any reason. She’s been through enough.”

  “And we can’t let her go.” Judge insisted. “She seems to know what we need to know. We have to find out more about her, what her story is, how she knows these bastards so well.”

  “If we come at her with everything we’ve got, we’re going to scare the shit out of her. She’ll shut down and then we won’t find any answers,” Bull insisted. “That’s not what she needs right now. What she needs is our protection. We have to keep her safe.”

  Judge snorted. “I think we can be gentlemen about this but what we can’t do is allow her to leave here. We can’t protect her if she’s out there on the streets.”

  “What are we going to do about food and stuff?” Hawk asked. “If we’re going to stay here, we’re going to need supplies for seven people for a number of days.”

  “I’ve got supplies,” Bull told them. “This place is fully stocked.”

  “Great.” Tank smiled rubbing his hands together. “It’s time for breakfast and I’m starving.”

  Judge shook his head. “You’re always starving. You must have a tape worm or something.”

  “Na, I’m just a growing boy yet.” He grinned.

  “Then you can be chief cook. Make enough for everyone,” Judge ordered.

  Bull slapped him on the back. “Come on, I’ll show you where everything is.” He proceeded to lead the way to the second floor. When they got there, Bull pushed back a sliding panel and revealed a huge kitchen area with wall to wall pantries. He looked over at the other man and said, “Everything you need is here. The stove is vented outside so don’t burn anything or the smoke will be visible. The windows are tinted so you can see out but no one can see in and the exits are wired by alarms, so don’t open the doors. I have cameras in all the rooms so don’t be gross.”

  “Got ya.” Tank smiled as he made his way into the kitchen area. Rubbing his hands together, he began opening the pantries and took stock of what was available for cooking.

  Bull made his way back up to the third floor. He checked on Charlie first, then went over to the control panels and checked the outside via the camera system he had set up. Everything looked quiet.

  * * * *

  Charlie stared at the two men for a long time.

  Mustang moved over and asked about the security system and while Bull explained what he had, Judge was watching him carefully.

  “What’s weighing so heavily with you?” Hawk asked him.

  “I want him back with us on the team,” Judge told him.

  “I think he’s ready to come back, if that’s what’s got you so worried.”

  Judge shook his head. He turned to stare at the woman on the bed. “That’s not all that has me concerned. I think she’s part of his reason for staying here.”

  Hawk snorted. “I don’t think Bull would let a woman interfere with his real mission.” Rubbing his hand along his jaw he said, “Besides, didn’t he tell us earlier he just found her in the back of his truck last night?”

  Judge snorted. “That doesn’t mean shit, not to Bull, not to any of us. You know better than that. Any jack one of us would help someone in trouble. That’s just the sort of men we are. He looks at her and sees someone who needs help.”

  “And he’s already made up his mind to protect her.” Hawk groaned.

  “Let’s not forget something here.” Judge shook his head. “Bull hasn’t been part of this mission from the beginning. He went his own way four years ago when we failed to bring down the drug ring Salim had. We got the man but we didn’t stop the ring. It just went underground.”

  “And now the fucking thing is back but now it has more protection than ever before and we don’t know where it is, so we can’t stop it,” Hawk grumbled. “It’s a vicious cycle.”

  Judge nodded. Then he looked over at the bed again and found Charlie looking back at him with solemn eyes. “It may be a vicious cycle but we may just have found a way to stop it for good.”

  Charlie heard their words and her heart pounded in her chest but her eyes made no outward sign of listening to them. She knew what they wanted and had to wonder what they would do to get the information they needed.

  Turning away from the two men, she looked for the one they called Bull. He was near a bank of security screens. Then she frowned. One of the men was missing. Then there was a shout from a floor below. Everyone began walking toward the stairs.

  Bull came toward her. “Tank fixed a meal. Do you think you can eat something?”

  Charlie’s hand wrapped around her throat. It was swollen and very sore but she didn’t know if she could swallow food or not. She shrugged and tried to look away.

  Bull cupped her chin and pulled her eyes back to him. “Come on, I think we can find something you can swallow. You have to be hungry.”

  Charlie nodded slowly. She was hungry she just didn’t know how well she could eat anything.

  “If nothing else, there’s some protein drink down there. We can make you a shake. You should be able to swallow that,” Bull informed her.

  Charlie wrapped her arm around his waist and let him led her down the steps.

  When they got there, the others were sitting around the table eating their breakfast. Tank had fried potatoes, bacon and a mess of scrambled eggs and toast.

  Bull sat her down at the table and grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs and a fork. Setting the plate in front of her, he urged her to try and eat. “See how that goes. If you can’t swallow it, I can fix you a protein shake.”

  Charlie took a small forkful of the eggs and put it in her mouth. The eggs were fluffy and light but as she sw
allowed them, the texture did hurt her throat. She pushed the plate aside and pushed her hand into her belly. She was hungry enough to eat but the food hurt going down.

  Bull laid his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t fret it. Let’s try a shake first.” Then he walked over to one of the pantries and reached inside. Mixing the powder in a glass of water, he brought the shake over to her and set it in front of her. “Try this.”

  Charlie grabbed the glass and taking small sips of the liquid she managed to get it down. After a couple of sips, she looked at Bull and nodded. Then she motioned him to eat with the others.

  Charlie watched as the men ate their meal and talked among themselves. She frowned a bit as she realized something. These men were friends, they shared something rare with each other. Something she’d never seen before. No wait… she had seen it before. It was the same thing she shared with Maggie and Jesse before everything went to shit five years ago.

  Tears stung her eyes as she remembered her life. It had been one cluster fuck after another. The only good thing that happened was when she was eleven and Maggie and Jesse came into her life. For a few years, she’d had friends. Maggie had been a few years younger than her but that didn’t matter to Charlie. Foster care was a hard life but having a friend helped both of them. For the next five years, they were as happy as they could be then Maggie was in the wrong place at the wrong time and everything went to hell in a hurry. Now all she had left in her heart was vengeance and she would have it one way or another. She had a mission to complete and she would find a way to get it done. For Maggie, for Jesse and mostly for Braden.

  Gazing around at the men, she hadn’t realized that tears were falling down her cheeks as she remembered her past. Swiping them away, red stained her cheeks and she couldn’t meet their inquiring eyes. She looked away and continued to drink her shake slowly. When she was done, her belly didn’t feel so empty anymore. Pushing her glass away, she waited for Bull to finish his meal.

  “So Charlie, can you tell us about you?” Judge asked softly. He pushed a notebook over to her and waited for her to answer his query.