by KJ Dahlen
Kosta smiled back. “Indeed they have. I have a good job with the Bratva and I recently got myself a good woman and I made her my wife. Her name is Sahara but she’s known by all as Salt.” He chuckled. “She and another of Yuri’s men’s wives were friends when they were very young. Her name is Pepper so they kind of go together.”
Barron chuckled. “And your brothers? Are they working for the Bratva as well?”
“Da, they are both good.” Kosta nodded.
Yuri looked around the room and saw the men, really saw the men. Then he looked over at Barron. “So what is the story here? How did you and all these men come to settle here, in another country?”
Barron stared at the other man for a moment then he too, looked around at his men. They all shared one thing in common and that was a deep seated hatred for the name Konovic and mostly for Vitya Konovic. Looking back at Yuri and Kosta Barron told them, “Fifteen years ago we were all working and living with our families in the Siberian section of our homeland. We weren’t rich by any means but we were making a good living. Several years before that time, a man came to our piece of the world, he introduced himself as Boris Konovic and he began taking over everything. He claimed he was collecting taxes for the government. None of us believed him and when we didn’t pay what he began demanding, he had us arrested and threw us into his prisons. Prisons that had once been old gulags used to house prisoners of war. They were old and pretty much useless until Boris got to them. Our families had to pay outrageous sums of money to him after that.”
One of his men Koyla nodded as Barrion finished and he picked up the story, “Our little corner of the world became Boris’s playground after that. He and his family made our lives impossible to live. He had two sons, Ilya and Vitya. Under their father’s guidance, they took what they wanted and to hell with whoever the item belonged to. We heard through the grapevine the stories going around when Ilya was killed. We also heard the family of the man who shot him was killed within two days.
Barron nodded as he went on, “That was Boris making his intentions very clear to the rest of us. He wanted us to be afraid of him. When my family could no longer pay him his tax money, he threw me in his prison. I found my father there and he was almost dead. He’d been beaten and almost starved to death. My father only told me one thing. When they released me or I got out somehow, he wanted me to get the hell out of Russia. He told me he wanted me to live the life of a free man and if I had to leave my homeland to do that, then that’s what I would need to do. My mother had already died the year before so I had no other family left there.” He shrugged. “When I was released, Boris told me he would let my father out if I could pay him. But I knew something he didn’t. My father died the night before. But before he died, he begged me to leave and be free. I decided to do as he asked. I gathered what I could carry and I left during the night. I had spoken to a number of others and they joined me in my journey. We came here to this country and we’ve been here ever since then.”
Yuri stared at Barron. “Boris also had a daughter, Irena. She was younger than Ilya and from what I understand as different from the rest of her family as night is different to day. Then one day she was just gone. No one knew what happened to her and that was maybe twenty five years ago?” He paused then added, “So when Boris died, Vitya took charge of his father’s empire.”
Barron nodded. “Boris was too old to hold on anymore and Vitya took over maybe ten years ago now.”
“How do you know about that?” Yuri wanted to know.
Barron shrugged. “We may not live there anymore but some of us still have family and friends there. Some of my men hope to one day return to their part of the world, but they know they can’t at the moment.”
“Why didn’t any of you ever come to the Bratva before?”
Barron glared at the man. “Because Konovic’s have been paying off the Bratva and the government to look the other way for years.”
Yuri frowned at this news. He knew there was corruption in the government offices but he hadn’t known the Bratva was included in that. Although he should have known any organization could be corrupted by the promise of easy money. “Did Boris or Vitya have any connection to Ivan Solvastan?” He knew Sergi and Misha were still cleaning up that mess and both Ivan and Konovic’s were in the same area.
“Da, they knew each other and did business together.” Barron confirmed the other man’s worst fears.
“Did you see the exchange between Gene Daniels and Vitya?”
“Nyet, I saw the tape. I heard what was said,” Barron added. “We don’t know how many men he brought with him but we took two out of the picture. One was shot the other night when they chased Grace through the woods after her father was killed. She stole my bike and took off but they shot at her first. We didn’t return fire until they shot at her.
Koyla nodded. “Then earlier today, a second man came into her house and was looking to get to her. Sasha took him out but was wounded doing so.”
Yuri looked at both men as he spoke, “We ran his name through incoming flights and we found he brought four men in total with him. We don’t know who he hooked up with once he got here, so we don’t know how many men he has now but we do know he met with one man at the airport.”
“We think he found our compound yesterday,” Sasha added as he finally spoke. “We have sensors all around us to warn us if anyone comes around and those sensors alerted us so he might already know she’s here.”
“My men are searching the town for him already. They will find him.” Yuri nodded.
“Well I don’t think he’s leaving until he gets his hands on Grace and that just isn’t going to happen,” Barron assured him.
Yuri let his eyes go to the bag in front of him. He reached for it and pulled it closer to him.
Barron’s gaze dropped to the bag. “Before you open that please remember what Gene put in there, he left it for his daughter’s eyes only. He might not want the world to know what’s in that bag.”
“I can respect that.” Yuri raised a brow at him. “And if I determine there is nothing here, I will return its contents to her intact. I’m not here to take anything away from her or anymore away from you or your men. I’m here to stop the Konovic family.” Yuri glanced at Kosta then back to Barron. “I’ve already spoken to Sergi and he will shut down Konovic and his goons. They will call in the Enforcers.”
The men in the room all stared at him and some gasped.
Leonid spoke up, “I thought they were a myth?”
Kosta shook his head. “If so, then I have met mythical men.”
The quiet resounded in the room.
Then Yuri broke the silence, “We do not speak of the Nomads lightly or much at all. It is imperative that they remain unknown. However, you all may know them if they see the need to come and get information.”
Gasps were heard in the room.
“T-they won’t like...” one of the men tried to ask.
Yuri snorted. “They do not harm innocents. They will however, destroy everything in Vitya’s world, be assured of that.”
The silence reigned again, as each man wondered what it would be like to have those men in your face. Some shivered as if a ghost just touched them.
Kosta shook his head at the fear he saw in their eyes.
“Sergi and the Nomads will demand a full accounting of the last thirty years,” Yuri went on. “There won’t be anything left for Vitya to claim once he goes home again.” He shrugged. “But then he will be facing a tribunal from the High Council when he gets back so that maybe will be a shock for him. I feel he’ll be too busy fighting to stay alive to worry about what’s going on here.”
Yuri opened the bag and looked inside. He frowned at its contents and brought them out one by one. There was a letter addressed to Grace and a journal. He didn’t open the journal but found another one inside the bag. On the cover of the second journal were the words “To Whom it might concern...”
Yuri opened the seco
nd journal and he began to read aloud, “If you have found this journal then I have a chance to set the record straight about an incident that happened a very long time in my homeland of Russia. My name is Gennedi Denisov and in 1994, I shot a man named Ilya Konovic. He had just raped and killed my fifteen year old sister Geneva. Some might say I killed him in cold blood but I did not. Some might say he had the authority to do whatever he wanted to do because of his last name but I don’t believe he did.
The entire Konovic family ruled our little piece of the world with fear and intimidation. They stole taxes they never turned over to the government, they jailed our people for no more than standing their ground. They beat their prisoners and made the families pay them money to get their people out of the prison they put them in. They made us work our bodies beyond endurance and often left us with nothing.
I shot Ilya for a reason and that was rape and murder of an innocent child. No one deserves what he did to her. My sister’s life meant something to me and my family. To lose her was not something we took lightly. I tried to flee so my family would be safe but I found out two days later while boarding a ship to bring me to another country the Konovic family shot them down like rabid dogs. My mother, my father, my two brothers and my remaining sister all died because I took action against a rapist and murderer.
That is something I have to live with for the rest of my days. I came here looking for forgiveness and the prospect of a new life. But I carry the ghosts of my family with me. I also carry the gift of a new life here, a new life I will have in a few short months. My woman, Irena is carrying my child. We both escaped her family and now we might have a new beginning of our own. I know she is afraid of her family but I couldn’t leave her behind.
Whatever happens now, happens. I cannot go back where nothing but death awaits me. Konovic has many politicians on his payroll and many in the Bratva . He is using the money we have to pay in outrageous taxes to not only line his pockets but also pay for services he wouldn’t otherwise receive. I have been gathering as much evidence as I can get but the people living there are afraid of bringing his eyes to them and they would rather live poorer than stand up to the bully. If you are reading this, the evidence I have gathered has been left with a man named Igor Rumonff. Hopefully, he is still alive at this time.”
Yuri slowly placed the journal on the table and wiped his face with his hands. He looked over at Kosta then at Barron. “This journal was written twenty five years ago. How have we allowed this atrocity to go for that long?”
“Da, the Bratva have,” Barron told him. “Not only that but it’s gotten worse over the years. When I left, nine men came with me and we picked up more men before we got to the border. One of the men we found along the way forged our papers and we got out of there on those papers. We came to this country and began our lives over but we all have family or friends we left behind.” He paused then added, “Our people have been afraid to talk, afraid to tell the Bratva anything near the truth, for Konovic has promised reprisals of death if they do. Vitya has doubled his father’s threats and payments to the people he deals with.”
Yuri was disgusted as he shook his head. “Sergi has been told of the situation now and he will deal with Konovic and his bullies. He will put your entire area under martial law until this can be settled.”
“That doesn’t help us here and now.” Barron growled.
Yuri smiled. “No it doesn’t that’s why we came to get this bastard and bring him to his knees. He may think he holds all the cards but he doesn’t. He may think he’s untouchable but he’s on American soil now and we make or break the rules here, not him. He will be hunted down like a dog that he is. We will bring him in front of us in chains and he will know what it’s like to be at our mercy and right now... I don’t have any, not for men like him.”
Barron began to feel some hope in his soul at Yuri’s words. Hope he lost a long time ago when he ran away from his homeland and the house he grew up in. He’d left his father dead in a prison he was never meant to be in. Maybe when he got home again, he would find his father’s bones and give him a proper burial. One he should have gotten fifteen years ago.
Nodding at Yuri and Kosta, Barron got to his feet and took the letter and the journal that was meant for Grace then walked down the hall to the room she was in. He opened the door quietly and expected her to be on the bed. When he didn’t find her, he searched the room. He finally saw her sitting wrapped up in the corner. He walked over to her and found her asleep. He noticed her tear stained face and her eyes were closed. He laid the letter and the journal down on the floor beside her. Then he leaned close and brushed his lips against her forehead. Getting up, he walked back to the door and closed it behind him.
Chapter Eight
When she heard the door close, she opened her eyes and stared at the door. Then her eyes dropped down to the letter and the journal. When she saw her name written in her father’s handwriting, she cried a few new tears then her fingers glided over her name. “Oh Daddy what am I going to find out about you? Am I going to find out my whole life is nothing but a lie, a lie you allowed me to believe...”
She picked them up and hugged them to her chest. “Oh Daddy, I miss you so much.”
Grace’s hands shook as she broke open the letter her father had written for her. Her mind was still in turmoil of the day’s events. Her whole world was gone and had been since when she saw her father executed in front of her.
She’d had a feeling all her life that he had secrets and now, those secrets were out there. She wasn’t sure what her father had done but she did know he wouldn’t shoot a man without a damn good reason. With trembling hands, she pulled out several sheets of paper from the envelope. Smoothing them out she began to read what her father wrote.
My darling girl,
If you are reading this, I left it too late and a man named Vitya Konovic has found me. He’s like a bulldog and has never stopped looking for me for twenty some years. I have been living on borrowed time for most of my adult life and I’m afraid one day, fate will bring him to my front door. Apparently, my time is up but I wanted you to know the truth. You deserve to know that much anyway.
The truth about who I was and who your mother was and about what really happened all those years ago in a different place and time. I was born the oldest child of Marin and Ivan Denisov in a small rural area on the eastern coast of the Siberian section in Russia. My family lived near the town of Lenuk. My parents had five children, me, my brothers Igor and Arkady and my two sisters, Genneva and Lera.
They are all gone now, shot down by Vitya Konovic because of something I did. Ilya Konovic, Vitya’s brother came to our farm one day back in 1994. My sister Genneva was only fifteen and she was a beautiful budding woman. He was a spoiled bully and thought just because he wanted her she had no say to refuse his advances.
When she did refuse, he raped her. I had heard her screaming and was running toward her when I came upon them but I was too late to stop what happened. She was on the ground, naked and I could see that she had fought him with everything she had. Her clothes were torn and she had bruises all over her body. He had beaten her in the struggle then to stop her screams he had strangled her to death.
He was standing there looking down at her when I got there. I had a gun in my hand, as I didn’t know why she would be screaming. I thought maybe she was trapped by an animal or something. I certainly never expected to see what I saw. Ilya finally raised his head and looked at me. There was no remorse for what he’d done, in fact he sneered at me with her blood on his hands. He spit on her face and said to me, “She should have just given me what I wanted.”
I will never forget those vile words coming from his mouth. I have to admit I lost it in that moment. I wanted to beat the everlovin hell out of him. Then he said something else that I will never forget. He told me that what he did, he had every right to do. He said his family ruled this area and he could take whatever he wanted. Then he told me my sister hadn’t
been that good anyway.
I remember screaming at him that my sister was only fifteen years old, she wasn’t even full grown yet. He just shrugged and told me that in his world, twelve was old enough.
I hit him with my fist and he grabbed his gun and shot me. He was looking to shoot me in the chest but instead, he hit me in the shoulder. My aim was better than his was. I shot back and the bullet from my gun hit its mark. I shot him in his throat and then I watched him fall to the dirt. Blood poured from his wound and the light drained from his eyes.
I couldn’t stop staring at the bastard who killed my youngest sister. Then something strange happened. Maybe it was a trick of the shadows but suddenly the shadows surrounded Ilya’s body and when a ray of sunshine appeared out of nowhere covering the body of my sister then the shadows disappeared Ilya’s body seemed different, almost as if what made him evil was gone.
To be fanciful I imagined the shadows were demons of hell coming to collect his soul but that could only be my imagination gone wild.
I thought to protect my family I would need to disappear. My parents didn’t want me to, but I told them I would go to keep them safe. I left my home that night. I was but twenty years old. I heard two days later, my family was dead and I was a wanted man. I had nothing left to go back for.
I left my home to start a new life in a new country where no one would know what happened. It was hard as I grieved over my family.
Then I met a woman. She too was running from her family. She was only seventeen but she had found the one man she wanted to marry. His name was Nikita. She never told me his last name however. She did tell me her name was Irena but I didn’t find out what her last name was for a very long time but by then it didn’t matter.
You will find your real birth certificate in this letter and I wanted to explain what it means. All your life I kept a secret that wasn’t mine to share with you, not until now. I have loved you from the moment I saw you enter this world.
