by Dale Mayer
Bullard slapped Brandon on the shoulder. “Too bad she’s taken, boy. Of course, Kasha is still available.”
Brandon shook his head. “Kasha would have your head for saying that.”
“She would indeed. See? You already understand her.”
The jeep rolled to a stop as the men approached, and Brandon shut the gate behind the military vehicle. He watched as Bullard’s contact got out, waiting for Bullard to walk over. After greeting the men, Bullard led the way into the house and to the central war room area. There, introductions were made. Within minutes they led the new arrivals to the kitchen where the men were being held. Kasha stepped back, still holding her weapon on the men.
The man Bullard appeared to trust the most, Konrad, stepped forward and barked something out in a language Brandon didn’t understand to the two other military police. They pulled out their identifications and handed them over. Konrad looked at them carefully. He picked up his phone and walked to another part of the room, so he could have his phone call in private. Brandon and Levi exchanged raised eyebrows. Brandon said, “We need to clean up the garbage outside the garage doors. Ice apparently injured two.”
“I’m coming with you,” Kasha said. She handed her weapon to Levi. “Let’s bring a stretcher.”
She pulled out a large stretcher from one of the pantry cabinets. Brandon looked at it and said, “I’m still surprised there would be such a thing here. And why so many?”
“Bullard brought several with him.” Kasha laughed. “Says he never travels anywhere without at least two of them.”
Levi snorted. “He came to us several times without them.”
Bullard’s loud voice boomed through the room. “That’s because I knew Ice already had them. You never know when you will need a gurney.” He pointed at the one Kasha was setting up on its wheels and said, “Look. Right now we need two of them.” He twisted to look at the asshole on the ground. “I don’t know what to do with that one.”
Konrad snapped, “He’s coming with me.”
Brandon stopped. “Why?”
Konrad growled, “He’s on our Most Wanted list.”
“What about these two soldiers?”
He spat on the ground. “They will be court-martialed for their activities.”
The two men looked at each other nervously.
Kasha stepped up beside Brandon and asked, “And the two men we have outside?”
Konrad nodded. “They will be coming with us too.”
“You need a bigger plane,” Bullard said. “We have two more dead in a freezer area.”
Konrad sighed. “We need a lot of things. But first and foremost, we need loyal men.” He shot a disgusted look at his officers. “These two are not good examples.”
“What did they have to do with this?”
“According to our intel, these two uniforms and the two from outside are most likely friends with the men you shot attacking the village and set up this place for the gunrunning.”
“Well then, why the hell did they not know it was for sale, and why didn’t they buy it?”
“It’s been for sale for a long time. They just helped themselves and lived here regardless. They figured, if it was ever sold, they could chase away the new owners.”
Bullard walked closer to the man on the ground who cringed and tried to shift backward. Brandon listened as Bullard ripped into him in the same language Kasha had used and then turned his attention to the two military guys. Before he was done, they were all desperate to get away.
Kasha on the other hand grinned like a two-year-old. “It does my heart good to hear Bullard open up like that,” she whispered, leaning into Brandon.
“I’m just sorry I didn’t understand a word of it,” Brandon admitted. “It sounded lovely though.”
She chuckled. “It was.” She straightened, grabbed the gurney and said, “Come on. Let’s get the other men. When the military leaves, they can take everyone. Dead or alive.”
Levi called back, “We also have to load up the weapons. Konrad’s taking them back with him. With the serial numbers, they should be able to trace where they were manufactured and hopefully find the middlemen.”
Brandon nodded. With Kasha at his side, he led the way to the garage. As soon as they opened it, the two men were visible beside their military vehicle. Kasha took one look and whistled. “Ice does good work.”
Both men were down, both legs badly damaged. But they’d live. And most likely they’d talk. That would save their lives more than anything would. They loaded both men on one gurney and slowly pushed them back toward the crowd in the central war room.
When the two military men from the kitchen saw the other two military policemen, they started yelling at the top of their lungs. Brandon had been in a lot of countries in the world, and he had heard a lot of languages, but, in this last couple hours, he wished he understood this language more than any other. He looked to Kasha for a translation.
“They say they were forced to help.” She shrugged. “It’s the same old story of betrayal. Same thing everywhere, no matter what language they speak.”
The next hour was chaotic. Apparently Konrad had arrived in a bigger plane than expected, but it still wasn’t big enough for the cache of weapons plus all the prisoners and the dead bodies involved and Konrad and his three men. With a second plane on its way for Konrad and the weapons cache, the real military took the injured prisoners, the fake military guys and the dead. Under a fully armed escort, the prisoners most likely spilled their guts before they even made it to the landing spot.
Brandon didn’t know much about the medical system here, except that it was expensive and nonexistent in many places. But at least the injured were still alive. Brandon could make peace with whatever happened to them later.
All in all, Brandon would say this was a good day’s work, and it wasn’t yet 3:00 p.m.
Chapter 12
Everything else was almost anticlimactic now. Kasha watched from the background as the men were removed first, to board the plane standing by. The second plane must have arrived shortly thereafter as more military men soon began moving the weaponry. They were even taking the dog. Apparently, Brandon had been checking on it since he’d arrived, making sure it had food and water.
Another factor in his favor. She manned the coffeepot and pulled out the last of the food. Might as well have everybody eat it all up before they left. According to Bullard, they wouldn’t be staying long. She was ready to leave. He wanted to pull out in a couple hours. She doubted they’d make it by then. So she was surprised when Bullard turned to her an hour later and asked, “Are you packed and ready to go?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and said, “I was ready a long time ago.”
He gave her an understanding look. “Not exactly the quick trip to check out the place, was it?”
“No. Of course the military didn’t take all the weapons. They took the corpses, and they took all the prisoners, and they took a lot of the weapons,” she said with a stern look. “But you didn’t hand everything over. Why?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I handed most of it over. Remember when I purchased the private property and signed all the documents?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“It came as is. Meaning all contents were mine.”
She shook her head. “That logic might work in a Western world. It doesn’t wash here.”
“I figured some of it was payment for all the shit that just went down, not to mention I handed over the traitors within their own ranks, a lot of weapons that probably they’d already seized once. Now at least with the serial numbers they should be able to track down what happened here. If we’re lucky, we might have a better relationship with the villagers now.”
“That’s another thing. You let them take the four men from the village.”
He gave her a gentle smile. “Did I?”
She frowned. “Didn’t you?”
He shook his head. “Part of the negoti
ation was those four would go back to the village. Of course they owe me now,” he said with an annoying smile. “I hope they remember that.”
She rolled her eyes. “So, what you’re saying is, you now have four devoted slaves.”
He gave her a fat grin. “Yep. Life can’t be all bad if I’ve got that.”
“The villagers are poor. They need work.”
“We’ll look at that—not today, not tomorrow, but down the road. In the meantime, this place needs to be packed up, the rest of the weapons secured, and we must have men in place at all times.”
“Have we got the right men for the job?”
He pursed his lips and got a faraway look in his eyes. “I’ll send a couple to manage the place along with a few tradesmen. We might as well get more of the renovations done. Could hire some locals to help out too.”
“Can you trust them?” she asked in a dry tone.
Again that fat grin slid out. “I do learn from my mistakes. It might take me a little while, but eventually I learn. The villagers did me wrong. Hopefully we’re at square one again. But I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
“How can you secure all of this then?”
“First off, they won’t know what’s here because, as far as they’re concerned, the military took all the weapons with them. Second, we’re setting up cameras. I’m bringing in a crew right away to do that. We’ll patch that feed into our center at the estate. And third, we’ll rig this place with traps. If anybody goes after anything, it’ll set off a chain of events they’re going to regret.”
She nodded. “That’s fair. So are you ready to go now?”
“I hope so.” Bullard nodded. “And we now have a second holding. We have a village prepared to at least make some peace with us. We came out okay in terms of weapons. Which are here now, so I don’t have to transport new ones, and this is really a beautiful place.”
She nodded. “It is. But it’s not a place I want to be.”
“You’re still looking to move?” Bullard smiled at her. “Brandon is based in the US.”
“Yes, I am still thinking about it,” she said. “And not because of Brandon.”
“Keep protesting,” he teased. “Maybe someone will believe you.”
She rolled her eyes at him. She grabbed the bags and boxes they had packed and made one trip to the vehicle. There she ran into Brandon and engaged his help to load the rest into the vehicles. Bullard’s team would arrive at this holding in the morning, and several of the guys here now would be staying behind to make the transfer smoother. They needed to have an onsite meeting to go over the tunnels and a few other issues about the place. She knew Bullard would get the electronics set up as fast as he could. That would mean a team of specialists coming in.
He might do the work himself. He was fussy, and that was right up his alley. Besides, this was his place. He would want this one secure. For herself, she was just happy to leave. She’d been with Bullard for five years, and making the move back to the US was huge. But it felt like time.
When she finally got onto the airplane and buckled up, it seemed she’d been traveling since forever. Brandon sat down beside her and squeezed her hand. She stared at their entwined fingers. She wasn’t sure how they had come to this. She liked him, admired him, respected him, and that was a hell of a lot to go on. But how much of a future could they possibly have? She didn’t even know where she would land in the States. The fact that he worked for Ice meant they could still possibly see each other. It felt odd. But then her whole world felt odd right now. She smiled at him and said, “Not quite the trip you envisioned, right?”
“Definitely not. But I’m adaptable,” he said with a smile.
“How long have you worked for Levi and Ice?”
“Just a few days before I came here. Several of my friends work for them. It seemed like a natural step.”
“A lot of Bullard’s men say the same thing. When you leave the military, you have all these skills you can’t use anymore. Those jobs fill a need in many ways.”
“On both sides. Not everybody in the world has access to military assistance. Therefore, people like us fill that void as well.”
The others found a seat and dropped their luggage and gear nearby. When everybody was finally seated, the pilot moved forward to the cockpit. They were airborne ten minutes later. It was a long flight. She’d like to come back in a year or two and see what Bullard had done with the place but was happy to leave it for now.
“I guess it’s back to the US for you?” she asked.
He squeezed her fingers, leaned his head back and closed his eyes. “Yes. It will be.” He rolled his head toward her and opened his eyes. “Come with me.”
She froze like a deer caught in headlights.
“It would be a good chance for you to see how Levi and Ice’s outfit runs. Meet the rest of the guys and see if it’s something you want to be part of.”
She realized he was asking her to come for a visit. As a friend. She sagged back in her chair, confused and slightly disoriented. How was it she’d been disappointed at that realization? She hadn’t known him for long. But their circumstances had been intense. She shook her head. “I hadn’t planned on leaving right now.”
He thought about that for a moment. “Bullard was talking about sending somebody over for Ice as it is.”
“For what?”
“New testing on their security system. Looking at upgrades.”
“Well, he won’t be sending me,” she said. “I don’t know anything about security.”
“Maybe not but you showed damn fine form when we were attacked.”
She chuckled. “You mean, because I can hold a weapon, knock down bad guys and handle myself under fire?”
His grin widened. “Absolutely. Perfect wifely qualities.” He chuckled at his own words.
She stared. “That’s not normally something people would laugh about.”
“Sure it is. Lots of guys think the only thing a woman needs to do is make a sandwich.”
She frowned at him and said, “But that’s all I did make.”
He nodded his head, still chuckling. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just a joke. The thing is, what you did was adapt. Circumstances changed. They went from bad to terrible and then to good and down to horrible again. Each time you handled yourself well.”
“If you’re looking for another sandwich, I don’t have anything to give you,” she said drily.
“Not used to getting compliments, are you?”
She wanted to drop her gaze from the intensity in his. But he wasn’t having anything to do with it. She wondered if anybody else was watching them. Surely they must be. Yet there was an intimate feel to their conversation. It made her uncomfortable. As if understanding that, he rolled his head back and closed his eyes. “Wake me before we land.”
And just like that, he fell asleep. She watched him. She wished she could fall asleep at will. She settled into her chair and waited. Bullard was across the aisle, talking to Levi. He caught her gaze and motioned at her hand. She glanced down to see her fingers still entwined with Brandon’s. She frowned at them. Such an odd thing. Should she pull her hand away? She glanced back at Bullard to find him grinning with an approving look. She shook her head and tried to disengage her fingers, but Brandon—whether asleep or not—clamped down his fingers and held hers firmly.
With a wince she sighed, hating that now Levi and Stone were looking at her with the same look. She glared at them all.
They grinned back at her. She didn’t know what Bullard would say if she asked for time to spend with Brandon and Levi’s crew at the compound. It was a good idea. Maybe when she got there, she wouldn’t like it. She would miss Bullard terribly too.
Still, one didn’t stay at a job just because you liked your boss. The trouble was, she wasn’t even sure what work she wanted to do. With Bullard, she had been everything from a bodyguard to a personal assistant. That was hardly something Ice and Levi needed. Kasha had othe
r skills, but she hadn’t really thought about marketing them. As they approached Bullard’s huge home estate, she wondered why she was even looking at leaving. It was beautiful here.
Only she’d been thinking about going home for a long time. The plane started its descent. She squeezed Brandon’s fingers, and his eyes flew open.
Although his gaze was slightly unfocused, it didn’t take him long to return to sharp awareness. “Are we almost there?”
She pointed in the distance.
He leaned over so he could look out the window. “Good enough. Hope he’s got food at home.”
She chuckled. “Is that all you guys think about?”
He shot her a look that was more intimate than she expected, and he whispered, “Absolutely not.”
Her cheeks flushed red, and she turned away, gathering her thoughts. With just a few comments, this man could send her temperature flying.
She could walk through wars, take on attackers and intruders, but he only had to say a couple nice comments, and she fell to pieces. He might be good at a lot of things, but he was devastating when it came to women. She sighed. “You probably have lots of relationships, don’t you?”
He was startled, then leaned over and in a low voice said, “I’ve had several, yes, but always one at a time.”
She studied her fingers still held in Brandon’s grip. At least that was one thing. She didn’t think she could handle a man who didn’t know how to be monogamous. A lot of things in life she could tolerate, but a cheating partner was not one of them. Just then the pilot’s voice came over the loudspeaker. With their seat belts buckled, they waited to land. It was smooth, but then the pilot who worked for Bullard had had lots of practice. When they finally disembarked, several vehicles drove toward them. She hopped into the front of the first one and threw her arms around Dave.
He gave her a hug right back. “You’ve had an exciting time, I hear.”
She snorted. “Well, I don’t know who you’d have heard that from. In truth, it was an incredibly odd time with lots of action and lots of excitement. You know, the usual death, blood, gore and of course survival.”
