Hiding in Plain Sight

by Hornbuckle, J. A.

  "Fuck," Niko had drawled out the American curse word at Brand's bald announcement. Even Atin had shot Brand a hard look at his disclosure. "As for the other?"

  "I spoke with Trey and advised him of my absence," Brand recapped his last conversation with the lieutenant of the motorcycle club he'd been assigned to infiltrate.

  "But as far as you know, they have not changed their plans for the guns?" Niko asked sharply.

  "No. The pickup is still on for Sunday," Brand confirmed with a nod.

  Niko's adoptive parents, Goran and Biljana Milosevic, were one branch of the crime family, although Niko admitted that his 'mother' was kept in the dark of most of her husband's activities in Utah and Colorado. When Niko first joined them, along with an older brother Stojan (also adopted), they'd lived in Denver surrounded by other refugees from their country. Goran moved the family to Grantham when Niko was fifteen, citing business issues which ripped them from their familiar neighborhood, language and culture.

  It was on a visit to Stojan at UC/Denver that Niko discovered exactly what type of business the family was involved in as well as what Goran expected of his 'sons' in the future. As a child, Niko had lost everything at the hands of people just like the Milosevic brothers. Men who defined the word greed and made no apologies in their thirst for power. The thought of inheriting an empire supported by the selling of illegal drugs, running guns and owning women other men could rent for pleasure held not even a whiff of appeal. And to be linked to Goran's family throughout the rest of the western U.S. in order to keep power, scared him shitless.

  But he could see no way out.

  It wasn't until he met with Atin and Brand on a covert trip, after they'd all graduated high school, that the 'brothers' had determined the only way to bring the Milosevic family down was to connect them with America's fight against drugs and terrorism. Two months before Nadia and her father's murder, Brand turned nineteen and had joined the ATF. Six months later, Atin followed, but preferred to work behind a desk using his computer skills to contribute instead of going undercover as Brand had done.

  On Sunday, Brand would be part of the Hellion's team accepting delivery and providing the distribution of fifteen hundred guns supplied by Niko's adopted father. Working with the Hellions was only part of his ATF assignment. Linking the motorcycle club to the Milosevic family was the other.

  "I've met with Trey, so I don't think you have to worry about any suspicions on his part regarding Grantham," Niko advised.

  "But" Atin interjected. "What are you going to do about Reese?"

  "What do you mean?" Brand asked, confused. He thought he'd put Niko under the gun by mentioning Grantham in his telephone conversation with Trey. What did Reese have to do with anything?

  "You told him you went to Grantham for your sister, but now you're going to show up in Montana with a girl on the back of your bike," Niko explained, his mouth hitched in a one-sided grin, showing his dimple. A dimple that matched Brand's and had helped convince the relief agency of their fabricated family connection.

  "From the way you look at her, talk to her and touch her," Atin took up the explanation. "They're not going to believe she's your sister. Unless you want them to think you're more jaded than even they can imagine."

  Brand's eyes moved from the monitor to Atin and back as he thought. "I planned on stashing her at the cabin. If they come nosing around, I'll pass her off as my latest piece of ass."

  Niko laughed, the sound echoing through the speakers.

  "Good luck with that, brother," Atin mumbled, shaking his head.

  "As just another piece, they'll expect you to share her with the club," Niko said, the signs of hilarity slipping from his face. "You better come up with another plan."

  "She can stay here with me and Vana," Atin proposed. This was a good offer. Brand knew Reese would be safe and off the radar with the young couple, tucked away on the farm.

  But he wanted her with him.

  "Uh-oh," he heard Niko say. "He's jutted out his chin."

  "Shit," Atin mumbled, glancing at Brand. "Stubborn to the last."

  "I'll find a way," Brand vowed, not realizing his face had settled into lines of determination, eyes giving steely evidence to his pledge. "But Reese stays with me. If I need to, I'll bring her back. But for the moment, she remains in my care."

  Atin sighed deeply and Brand watched Niko's gaze lower in the picture on the monitor. The tension in the room was so thick, you could almost touch it.

  "I'll lay all of my cards on the table, Brandimir, as they say," he heard come through the speakers and saw Niko was now looking directly into the webcam. "By taking her with you, you'll be bringing Laza's men into the club's territory. Putting your life and hers at risk on two different fronts. Not to mention the possibility of blowing your cover, even if the threat is low. I know you've taken precautions, brother, by changing her appearance and your own. But none of these players are stupid or without skills. Deschames is determined to get his little virgin back, and Laza is more of a bulldog than my father when it comes to accomplishing a goal."

  Brand nodded knowing all that Niko said was true. He glanced at the man sitting beside him to see Atin, too, was nodding his head in agreement.

  "What should I do?" Brand finally asked.

  "My vote is to get shut of her as soon as possible," Niko announced firmly, sitting back in his chair and crossing his arms on his chest.

  Atin's eyes moved between the monitor and Brand. "Leave her here with me and Vana."

  Brand scrubbed a hand over his face. Neither solution was what he wanted.

  "I will need to think about it," he said finally, breaking the silence between the three of them. After signing off, Atin had taken Brand outside to the porch where they could be alone but where the conversation could continue.

  "Brand?" Atin's voice called the other man out of his reverie and back to the here and now. "Niko said, 'Deschames' virgin' But last night…"

  "Yeah, brother," Brand admitted, dropping his eyes to his fists resting on his knees. "I didn't get to have that particular pleasure either. She already had already lost that bit of herself before I came along."

  "But he obviously didn't know that she was no longer pure when she left," Atin stated.

  "True. I'm guessing she never shared the info with her family or, if they did know, then it wasn't shared prior to the exchange of money." Brand knew this was going to be a huge problem if she was caught. There was no way in hell Laza's men would believe he hadn't taken her maidenhead, and that Deschames wouldn't make him pay for the privilege of having had her.

  Silence again descended between the two men, both caught up in their own thoughts.

  "Marry her," Atin murmured, and Brand's eyes shot to his friend.

  "What?" Brand blurted on a loud voice.

  "If you marry her, you take away the chance for Deschames to do so, and it automatically becomes a given that she is no longer a virgin," Atin explained calmly. "It does, however, put you fully in the crosshairs as the man who 'stole' a bride from a friend of the Milosevics."

  "And it prevents her from becoming a member of HMC's shared corral of women." Brand was working the idea through, trying to see any other reason to cast the suggestion aside. The group he'd penetrated were lawless and had a moral code so loose as to blur the lines of society's ethics, but one thing was true: they would never touch the wife of a member without both the husband and wife's consent.

  He turned the idea over and over, doing his typical pro-and-con list in his mind.

  The only thing he didn't consider was Reese's response to the idea.

  *.*.*.*.*

  I woke alone in our nest on the floor, a sheet draped up over my shoulders which I knew was Bay's doing before he'd exited the bed. It was a sweet gesture, and I felt my heart fill as his thoughtfulness settled over me.

  Nadia.

  All it took for the wind to be taken from my sails was the thought of that three-syllable name.

  Rising, I
wiggled into my panties and camisole before slipping into jeans and snagging my backpack. I made my way to the bathroom and showered, getting ready to meet the day.

  I watched a blush move up my face and neck as the images of last night ran through my mind.

  Was it too soon? I hadn't even known the man a full week and I was, I admitted to the 'me' in the mirror, giving it up to a man I knew couldn't, and wouldn't, ever value me as much as he did a woman that had come before me. But he treated me so well, so much better than anyone ever had before.

  I saw my eyebrows lower and forehead crease as I dragged a comb through my hair.

  So, proceed with caution. Have fun, but don't get caught up in all the romance stuff that your heart feels, because you enjoy his fingers and his boy-toy, I told myself. Let him get you safe, say good-bye and move the fuck on.

  Completing my toilet, I went back to the room and set it to rights, which included wrangling the mattress back into place and shrugging on a t-shirt before wandering downstairs. There were wonderful smells coming from behind the swinging kitchen door.

  "Good morning, Reese," Vana greeted me with one of her smiles.

  "Good morning, Vana," I offered back and jutted my chin towards the coffee maker. She nodded and turned back to whatever she had going on the stove. After doctoring my coffee, I went to stand beside her at the massive appliance. She was sautéing another mixture of peppers and onions in what smelled to be bacon grease. Artery-clogging? You bet. But damn, the aroma was wonderful.

  "Our men on porch. They not happy," she said, her voice only a volume above the sizzle of the skillet. "Too much time spent in other room early." While she hesitated and stuttered through the English words, I got what she was saying. Atin and Bay had been in the last chamber of the three bedroom house, the one set up with computers, early this morning. And now they were discussing whatever it was they'd seen in the system, the internet, on the porch.

  And they were not happy.

  I sighed as I dipped my head toward my coffee cup. The news kind of killed the attitude I was using to protect myself with But since there was nothing else I could do, I bumped her shoulder with mine and offered a rueful grin.

  "Vana?" I started, determined to try and get information on a subject I knew nothing about. "Who's Nadia?"

  If you'd dipped her in quick-drying cement, Vana couldn't have gotten any stiffer. It took more than a few moments before her eyes drifted back to mine, her hand reaching for her throat.

  "Nadia?" she repeated. I'd seen her face before the name came out of her mouth. Stricken, scared and deep pain was what I read in her eyes.

  But I was determined. So I continued. "Yeah. Nadia. Who is she to Bay?"

  The noises coming out of her mouth couldn't be identified as human. And, when combined with her body's rocking motion, I knew I had stepped over the line.

  "Bay!" I bellowed, my feet moving as I sought help. Both men barreled through the swinging door of the kitchen, and I watched as Atin took in the situation with a glance before carefully gathering Vana in his arms, crooning softly.

  "What did you do?" Bay hissed into my ear. I glanced up at him and found his face matched his tone. The man was thoroughly pissed off.

  "I asked her a question," I replied, worrying my bottom lip with my fingers. I felt his large hand grip my upper arm as Bay pulled me out of the kitchen, through the living room and out the front door, slamming it behind us.

  "Out with it!" he yelled into my face when we were on the driveway. "What did you say to her?"

  "I asked her about Nadia. Okay?" I tried to make my voice as loud as his with my answer and saw him shift his body upright as if someone had shoved a rod up his ass. His face went pale and his eyes looked wild.

  "How do you know this name?" Bay asked, his voice a stricken whisper. "Tell me how you know of Nadia."

  I stared at him, my mind racing. Who was she, this Nadia, who got such immediate reactions from both Vana and Bayco? "It's not important," I replied finally, holding up a hand and shaking my head. "I get it. I won't ask about her ag…"

  My shoulders were grabbed roughly, and Bay's nose came to within two inches of mine when he yelled again. "How do you know of Nadia?"

  I twisted and turned trying to break his grip. "Stop it, Bay!" I felt pinpricks of fear starting at the back of my neck.

  "Answer me!" he demanded, giving me a shake. I yanked and kicked out, hitting his shin which knocked me off balance and I landed on my ass in the dirt when he abruptly released me.

  I'd had just about enough! Staying down, I pointed my chin up at him and screamed, "it was you! You said her name!"

  The look on his face was as if I'd slapped him.

  "I did not," he whispered in horror, looking at me as if I was some sort of nasty-assed bug.

  "You sure as hell did! You were screwing me and called me Nadia," I yelled back. Just mentioning that night brought back all the pain I had tried to cry out in the shower. I shifted my ass to sit up and rubbed my hands to get the grains of dirt off my palms. Tilting my head down, I blinked rapidly to prevent the tears filling my eyes from escaping.

  He'd turned away and took a couple of staggering steps towards the road. I watched from underneath my lashes as he propped a hand on a hip, rubbing his head, his t-shirt pulled tight over his back with his movement.

  There was a very uncomfortable silence between us, only the sounds of the birds and an occasional car on the road breaking the quiet.

  "What did I say, when I said her name?" he asked, his body still pointed towards the trees, away from me. He'd stopped rubbing his head and had both hands planted on his hips.

  "You said 'Come with me, Nadia'." I muttered as I stood, brushing the dirt off my backside. I took a deep breath and turned away before releasing my exhale. It was the only way I could breathe without a hitch giving away the hurt I still carried inside. I swallowed around the lump in my throat, picking at the dirt that had made its way underneath my fingernails when I'd fallen.

  "Did I hurt you, draga?" he asked from over my shoulder. I hadn't even heard him move to where I now stood. "I did not mean to grab you so hard."

  "I've had worse," I mumbled, stepping away from the heat I could feel at my back.

  I heard him sigh before he started speaking, "Nadia was…"

  "We've got trouble, brother!" Atin yelled from the porch, interrupting whatever it had been that Bay was going to say. And I saw him race to the door of the house.

  *.*.*.*.*

  Brand followed Atin up the stairs after doing a visual sweep over the front room. Vana was nowhere in sight. The shorter man led them into the computer room and pointed to a monitor.

  "They set off the motion detector and the perimeter alarm when one of them exited the car and climbed the fence. I rewound the tape and it appears they were trying to get closer in order to put their binoculars to good use," Atin explained.

  Brand saw the dark blue sedan, dusty now, parked on the shoulder of the road. The snaking asphalt was a quarter mile down Atin's dirt driveway emblazoned with 'Private Property' and 'Keep Out' signs. There were now four men in the car with all four heads pointed towards the house. One man appeared to be speaking on a cellphone.

  Shit! And he and Reese had been outside, yelling at the top of their lungs.

  "Do you think they heard or saw…?” Brand began.

  "I didn't see any reaction from them when you were outside. It's possible but I'm guessing no," Atin said slowly.

  "I don't know how they found us," Brand mumbled. "I know we weren't followed."

  Atin shrugged. "There are a number of us that took up farming when we settled. They could be going from farm to farm."

  "We've put you and Vana at risk by coming here." Brand's mind was racing trying to find a way out of the trouble he'd dropped on his brother's doorstep. "Is there a back way out?"

  "Yeah, it’s a bit bumpy but definitely doable," Atin replied, a small smile creeping across his face as he followed Brand's thoughts. "
Take the Hog and leave the Glide. It's too big and bulky to make it. Switch out the helmets, too."

  Brand was already moving down the hall to the back bedroom. He gathered their bags and made a sweep of both the room and the bathroom to ensure nothing was left behind. As he stepped his way down the stairs, he saw Atin unmoving on the bottom tread.

  Coming up from behind, Brand glanced over his brother's shoulder and saw Vana and Reese huddled together on the large sofa. Both were crying and clutching each other's hands as they whispered, their heads pressed together. He hated to interrupt but they needed to be away.

  "We are leaving, Reese," he ground out, still carrying the guilt of what she'd confided outside. He knew he was going to have to address it both in his mind and with her at some point, but he didn't have the time to do it now.

  He watched as his draga gently wiped the tears from Vana's face and kissed her forehead before rising from the sofa. "Okay, Bay," was what she said, but her face was drawn and her tone resigned.

  Brand shouldered his way past Atin to stand in front of her. She took her backpack but kept her eyes down. There were a few moments of heavy silence before he heard her ask, "we leavin' or not?"

  "Use the back door to get to the garage. There is a roll door on the far side you can push the bike through. Follow one of the corn furrows, and you'll find a dirt road about a half mile down. Go right and it will take you to the county road," Atin instructed. "I'll take care of the door after you are gone."

  Brand dropped his bag and grabbed his brother in a tight hug, thumping his back. "I am sorry for the trouble we have caused both you and Vana," he growled. "Thank you for your hospitality."

  "It was good to see you," Atin replied, his voice thick. "Be safe and stay smart."

  Brand could only nod as they disconnected. He raised a hand towards Vana before turning away to snag Reese's fingers and move to the back door in the kitchen.