Brandon's Bliss

by Dale Mayer

  Kasha had been running data for hours since the military had first shown up. She had notes and a scratch pad beside her as she continuously searched the names from the bank accounts associated with the gunrunners. Bullard had some of his IT men back at the main holding helping out too. Kasha wasn’t sure she trusted the military. Not that these guys from the local village were any better so far. It was a crap shoot out here. And, although she understood some of the language, these two sergeants mostly spoke a dialect she didn’t understand. That made her much more uneasy. Now she knew how the others had felt about Tahlia.

  Kasha had had a more empathetic attitude. But only slightly.

  “Kasha and I should drive to the village alone. We will be viewed as less threatening,” Ice said. “We can get a feel for the land. Talk to some of the locals.”

  “What’s your cover?” Brandon asked. “After all the shootings, the villagers will be extremely wary.”

  “No store there, right?”

  Everybody shook their heads.

  “Doesn’t appear to be. That doesn’t mean they don’t have supplies we can buy,” Kasha piped up. “That’s quite common in this area.”

  Ice nodded. “I can’t say I’m surprised, but we do need a cover.”

  “You can come in from the other end of town,” Brandon suggested. “Ask for instructions to come up here.”

  Ice looked at him and frowned. “As if we’re visitors?”

  “Say you are applying for work and had been called in for an interview.”

  She nodded thoughtfully. “Although I’m not sure exactly what kind of job position I might be coming for.” Bullard snickered. “Whatever position you want, you know you can have.”

  She reached over, patted him on the knee and said, “Not happening.”

  “He hasn’t married you yet,” Bullard said with a smirk. “There’s always a place for you here.”

  There was a hard bang as Levi’s chair came down on four legs. He gave Bullard a sideways look.

  “What you mean is, I haven’t said yes yet.” Ice laughed.

  Bullard broke out chuckling. “If looks could kill, Levi would have pinned me to the floor already, out for the count.”

  “Nah, he knows where my heart lies.” She hopped to her feet, turned to look at the others and said, “Kasha’s coming with me. We’ll go all the way around, approach from the village as if looking for instructions on how to get here to Bullard’s holding. We’ll talk to the women. See if anybody is sympathetic. We’ll also get a head count for the villagers if we can. I’m wondering if somebody else should come.”

  “It’s not a case of should come,” Levi said in a hard voice. “Somebody is definitely going with you.”

  She slanted him a look and said, “I wasn’t looking for protection.”

  He stood, shoved his hands into his back pockets and said, “I wasn’t offering.”

  It was a tone of voice that normally nobody would have crossed. But Ice just laughed. Her laughter was so young and happy that Kasha had to wonder.

  Ice nodded. “In that case, Levi, you’re looking for work too.”

  “As if.”

  “So what’s your cover then?” Ice challenged.

  “You picked me up in Djougou as a driver,” he said, his voice still hard, brooking no argument. From anyone. “You were trying to get to Bullard’s place.”

  She raised an eyebrow and nodded. “That’s not bad.” She asked the group at large, “Why would Kasha and I be coming in together?”

  Kasha piped up, “Because Bullard arranged for us to arrive on the same day.”

  “Why?” Ice asked.

  “Because he only arrived a few days ago. He didn’t want anybody any earlier.”

  Levi nodded. “We can make that work.” He turned to Ice and said, “Get changed.”

  She glanced down at her camouflage pants and matching shirt and nodded. “I guess I have to look a little less military, don’t I?”

  “Speaking of which,” Sergeant Reuben said, “I don’t think you should go alone.”

  She turned to look at him. “That’s what our conversation was just about. I won’t be going alone.”

  “I should come with you.”

  She shook her head. “That’ll defeat the purpose.” She motioned at him and his outfit. “You’re obviously military. That’ll send everybody into silent mode. We wouldn’t get anyone to talk to us.”

  “I can come in another vehicle,” he announced. “A lot of blood has been shed already.”

  “Absolutely. And you can do what you need to do for your line of inquiry. But let me go in first so I can talk to the locals without that threat of military power behind me.”

  He considered that and said, “I’ll come in half an hour behind you.”

  She gave him a hard look and said, “Fine.” She studied her watch. “It’s barely 3:45. The sun won’t be up until six or so. I say we take a three-hour nap.” She turned to Kasha. “We leave at seven.”

  Kasha turned to Bullard. Technically he was her boss. He smiled and nodded. “Ice will look after you.”

  “I hardly need to be looked after,” she said in exasperation. “But it’s still your call.”

  “I am temporarily unable to take command. And, in my absence, it will always be Ice and Levi who handle everything.”

  She raised her eyebrows at that. “Now that’s a hell of a friendship.”

  He nodded. “One borne of a lot of years of bloodshed. I trust them both with my life. You can too.”

  *

  Brandon didn’t like the idea of being left behind. “I’d like to come too.”

  Ice turned to look at him. “What would your cover be?” she joked.

  “Well, if Levi is driving, then I’m along for protection and will be the lookout, right?”

  Levi nodded. “You can come.”

  The others started to holler.

  “I don’t want to leave Bullard’s holding defenseless,” Ice said. “So you guys decide while Kasha and I get in a nap.”

  *

  At sunrise, Ice crossed into a small room, grabbing one of the bags on her way. Kasha looked at her own outfit, decided she was good to go, but she wasn’t going without weapons. At a cabinet she pulled out her pistol, checked for rounds, grabbed a clip, popped it in her pocket and tucked the handgun into her waistband, pulling her dark T-shirt over it. A few minutes later, now changed into jeans and a white T-shirt, Ice joined her, pulling out a gun from the cabinet too.

  “Bullard, nice of you to buy something so fully stocked,” Ice said in admiration. “I have to admit that I’m jealous as hell.”

  “You know the military will confiscate ninety percent of it, don’t you?”

  She laughed. “Ninety percent of what they can find.”

  Brandon joined them. He gave them a quick once-over, nodded and said, “Let’s go.”

  They piled into the one truck that hadn’t been to the village yet. Levi took position as the official driver, with Levi and Kasha seated up front, Ice sitting between them. Brandon jumped into the bed and sat up against the window between them.

  “There have to be other vehicles abandoned somewhere,” Kasha said. “These men didn’t walk that whole way.”

  “How far is it to the village?” Ice asked.

  “Three to four miles,” Kasha said. “They could have walked, but I doubt they did. Almost everyone here is lazy as hell.” Then she laughed. “That’s not true. I certainly would have preferred driving instead of walking.”

  “Those from the village are likely scouting for the vehicles and the men,” Ice added.

  Kasha nodded. “We could be walking into a trap too. Did you consider that?”

  “Absolutely, that’s why we have another vehicle coming behind us about ten minutes later,” Ice said. She glanced at Brandon sitting behind them in the truck bed, the window open between them. “Besides, Brandon’s here. He’s hell on wheels with a rifle, a hand gun, a knife and in hand-to-hand combat.�
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  Brandon flashed his white teeth at Kasha. “You’ll be fine.”

  Kasha sniffed and raised her nose in the air. “I didn’t say I wasn’t fine. I just wondered if anyone seriously wasn’t expecting the village to be aware of what happened here?”

  “Well,” Ice said, “let’s just hope nobody ran home and told everybody a blond Amazon woman is here.”

  “But that doesn’t mean somebody isn’t on the hills with a spyglass keeping track.”

  “Absolutely. I would expect them to. If they are any kind of mercenaries, they should not only have backup, but they should have backup to that backup.”

  “Part of the reason for that is they’ll betray each other,” Brandon said.

  Ice smiled. “True enough.”

  With Levi driving and Brandon sitting in the open truck bed, riding shotgun, they drove toward the airstrip. “There’s a road behind the airstrip,” Kasha said. “You can come around and make it an eight-mile trip instead of a four.”

  Levi didn’t say a word. He just followed instructions. Brandon didn’t let his gaze stop moving. The last thing they wanted was to be picked off by a sharpshooter. That was one of the hardest things to avoid. With his eyes peeled for enemies, everyone remained quiet until they approached the village. Buildings lining the roadway had clear plastic coverings on several windows on either side, and even more had no coverings at all. That made Brandon a little nervous, and he wished he was in the front, but he did what he could from where he was. As they drove slowly into the village, there was no sign of anyone. That weird creepy feeling crawled up his neck again.

  He might not see anyone, but they were being watched. He was sure of it. He poked his head forward into the cab. When Kasha turned to look at him, he asked, “Can you see anything?”

  “No, but I can feel it. Every instinct I have is telling us to get the hell out of here.”

  Levi’s voice was calm and collected as he said, “I hear you. But we need information first.” He pulled up to a large building and parked. He stood beside the truck, leaning insolently against the side. Brandon hopped out. He left his weapon leaning against the side of the truck beside Levi as the women exited and walked a little way away. As if having nothing to do with them. Brandon glanced at them, but the two were talking with their heads together. He didn’t know if it was for show or if the two women did have something to say.

  Up ahead were two older women sitting on the edge of a doorstep. Ice spoke quickly, using lots of hands. But the women just looked at her blankly. As Brandon watched, Kasha stepped forward and translated.

  The women looked from one to the other and started talking. They pointed toward the other end of the village.

  Ice smiled and nodded as she crouched down in front of the two women.

  “Do you ever wonder what she says at times like these?” Brandon asked.

  “The thing about Ice is, she always knows what to say in any given situation. I’d as soon lift a rifle and ask somebody to speak. In her case she gets gentle and can talk to women and men. She understands people.”

  Kasha spun suddenly as if hearing something. A younger woman came out of a small home. She was crying and holding her baby in her hands.

  Brandon feared this wouldn’t end well. He didn’t know who she was, but, with as many dead men as they had found so far, some backlash was expected.

  With Kasha interpreting, Ice spoke to the young woman.

  She was almost beside herself with grief. They talked for a long time. But Levi never showed any impatience. He leaned against the truck and waited. Brandon walked around to the passenger side and waited there for five minutes and then walked around back again. No other sounds came from the village. As Brandon approached Levi, Levi’s low voice said, “Two at nine o’clock.”

  “Saw them.”

  Casually Brandon leaned against the truck, shuffling so he could stare directly at the two men approaching.

  They carried machine guns above their shoulders—very familiar-looking weapons.

  Brandon had left his leaning against the truck, but it was only a hand’s grip away. Levi turned and studied the two men and then deliberately turned his back on them. Brandon watched the anger ripple across their faces, and a spate of some language streamed at them. Levi ignored them, but his body was tense, waiting for the action.

  When Kasha saw the men approaching Brandon and Levi, she raced toward them, calling out in their language. They turned to look at her. She reached them, speaking rapidly as she motioned toward Levi and Brandon, and more explanations ensued. Finally it seemed like everybody calmed down. Only Brandon remained tense inside and out. He didn’t quite understand what was going on. But the machine guns were now slung on the men’s backs. That he understood very well.

  Kasha walked over to him and said, “They said they have had many strangers here recently. Men with war on their minds. No one here is safe. The villagers don’t like strangers, and we need to leave.”

  “We’re happy to leave. Did you ask for directions to Bullard’s place?”

  “Yes. Got them. But he said it wasn’t Bullard’s place. Before you say anything, I explained Bullard bought it and had the papers to prove it. I also said Bullard had no intention of disrupting their way of life. He had hoped to hire some people from the village.”

  Brandon asked in low tones, “Do you think there’s anything else to learn?”

  She turned back toward Ice who even now was talking to somebody yet again. Kasha flashed him a smile and said, “I’ve got to go.” She ran toward Ice.

  Having stepped away, the two local males leaned against one of the closest buildings, watching.

  They glared at Brandon. He glared right back. He wasn’t sure how to diffuse the situation. Finally Ice and Kasha returned casually to the truck and climbed inside. Brandon jumped into the back. He made a point of keeping his rifle with him. They drove slowly through the village. Now that everyone had spoken to several men and women, other people started to show up on their doorsteps, watching as Levi carefully maneuvered them along the unpaved dirt road through the village.

  Brandon knew dozens more were watching from behind walls. He didn’t blame them. This truck was full of strangers, and the townspeople’s world had probably shifted from bad to worse in the last few weeks. Particularly last night. It wasn’t his fault those villagers wouldn’t be coming home, but Brandon felt he was partly responsible.

  They needed to know who it was who had betrayed them all. But Brandon doubted anybody would believe him. The fact the villagers had somebody in their midst who had turned around and killed their own men, well, unfortunately Brandon had seen way too much of that in the world.

  As soon as they were through town, Kasha turned to look at Brandon. “You okay back there?”

  “I’m okay. What about you?”

  She nodded. “That was tough. That woman was looking for the father of her child. He went out with one of the groups last night, and he hasn’t come home.”

  “Chances are he won’t be coming home—ever. And of course nobody mentioned guns or gun deals, correct?”

  She gave a hard laugh. “No, I’m not sure the women even know. The men certainly weren’t talking.”

  “They never do,” Ice added. “They never do.”

  Chapter 8

  Kasha was still shivering inside even though Levi drove them home. It was not so much the shock or the fear of the last twenty minutes, but just hearing and seeing the results of all that shooting earlier—the personal losses—well, it was devastating. They hadn’t killed all those villagers, but how could they prove that to those left behind? She didn’t know. Then this was weapons dealing. What the hell did anybody expect?

  Things like this just went bad from the beginning.

  It made her long for a normal life back home, whatever that meant. It seemed so long ago that she had lived that life. Since working for Bullard, her life had been an ever-changing landscape, and, in the last few months, she’d
wanted something different. Only she had no clue what that was. What else would she do? Maybe she could go back to school, but she had no idea what she wanted to study. She had money, after all; she’d had little to spend it on over the years here, and Bullard was very generous. The truth was, if she wanted to get a degree, she could. But it had to be meaningful. It had to be worth the years of effort, and it had to give her something she wanted at the end. The trouble was, she didn’t know what she wanted. Yet she had this void inside.

  She admired Ice. That woman was incredible, but was that what Kasha wanted for herself? It was tough. So much death. Seeing that woman with her baby, … that had to be devastating for a mother. To know what had happened made it that much worse.

  She tried to figure out a way forward. “I guess the military will take this over and find out what happened to the men,” she said out loud.

  “Not necessarily,” Ice said. “I’m not sure they weren’t part of that group.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “The soldiers never once asked where the weaponry was that the gunrunners had sold,” Ice said. “Did anybody else notice that? It’s as if they already knew. The only way they could have known is if they’ve been there.”

  For the rest of the way home Kasha contemplated the ramifications of their trip. “Do you think they know we’re onto them?”

  “That’s why Flynn and Rhodes haven’t shown themselves. They are following the soldiers.” Ice gave her a grim smile. “We need to know what they are up to. My guess is, no good.”

  “How does a country run with that level of corruption?”

  “A lot of countries have the same issues. They steal thousands to millions of dollars from companies, government coffers and anywhere else they can rob. Nobody is the wiser because no watchdog is keeping track of it. There’s nobody to look over their shoulder, or, if there is, often they’re just paid to look the other way.”

  “I guess honor is a thing of the past.”

  “I don’t think it is,” Ice said. “I just think there’s less of it. A lot more assholes are running the world. They were always there, but it’s more about a balance. Finding who and what works, not just in a relationship but also for a government.”