by KJ Dahlen
Jonesy nodded then looked at Kisa. “Watch over her, brother. She might be the one you’ve been looking for.”
Joey grinned. “God I hope so, because she kisses just fine.”
Jonesy frowned at him. “You are a dog you know that?” He shook his head and gripped the steering wheel. “I’m outta here.”
Joey and Kisa headed to the fence and decided to climb over it. He helped her up. Joey fully realized that they could be seen by Zipper’s cameras, but he believed that having Kisa at the gate would scare her when all those huge bikers came her way. And Bane, he could scare the devil out of hell all by himself. This would be the best way to do it, although a lot harder.
As she sat on the top waiting for him, she looked around. “This is beautiful.”
He joined her on the top of the fence. “Yeah, it is. But we better get going. We need to get to Deke, so you can tell him what you know about this.” Joey lowered her down to the ground then jumped down after her. They hadn’t taken but a few steps when they heard the sound of a vehicle coming toward them.
Joey looked up and found himself staring at two trucks. He could see the bikers and they weren’t looking very happy at the moment. Well, so much for avoiding the huge scary bikers.
Mountain stood in the back of the first truck and he held a shotgun in his hands.
Joey had never met a larger man in his whole life.
Gator stood in the back of the second truck and he didn’t look happy either.
“What the hell kind of game are you playing here, kid?” Mountain shouted. “First, you sneak off in the middle of a planning session. Then you come back with a woman we don’t know. What the hell is going on here?”
“Can you give us a ride back to the clubhouse?” Joey asked. “Kisa really needs to talk to Deke about the mission.”
Mountain swung his head over to take a better look at the woman. “Who the fuck is Kisa?”
“She’s Boris Komperov’s daughter and she can help us figure this out,” Joey explained.
Mountain swung his shotgun around and aimed it at her. “Oh, she’ll help us figure it out all right.”
Kisa slowly lifted her hands and never looked away from the man standing there with a gun in his hands. “I am not my brothers.”
Joey came to stand in front of her, effectively blocking access to her from Mountain’s gun. “I brought her here to help us, not to betray us. You are scaring her!”
Mountain snarled then swung his gun away from them. “You better hope and pray that she can help us and she’s not here to lead her brothers in or Bane will kill the pair of you.” He nodded. “Get in the fucking truck.”
Joey helped her in the truck and when they saw the face of the driver, she scooted as close to him as possible.
Iceman was driving and he didn’t look happy at all. He turned the truck around and headed back for the clubhouse. Iceman parked the truck near the back door and when it came to a stop, men poured out the back door and gathered around the trucks.
Deke just stood there. He stared at Joey and Kisa for a moment then demanded, “Where the hell have you been and who the hell is she?”
Mountain answered for him, “She’s Boris’ daughter.”
Bane pushed his way through to the front and glared at the woman in the truck. Then he looked at Deke, “If she’s Boris’ daughter you might be better off putting a bullet in her brain right here and now. She’s part of this vendetta.”
“Net, I am not part of this vendetta. This is not something my Poppi wanted and my brothers both vowed not to seek revenge. Then after we buried my Poppi, they both took a blood oath to break their word to a dying man. I wanted no part of that.”
Bane glared at her. “They spilled their own blood?”
Kisa nodded.
Bane walked over to the passenger door and opened it carefully. Reaching inside, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her from the vehicle. Kisa cried out as she tumbled to the ground. He went to grab her by the hair to pull her up to her feet.
Joey jumped in between them as he pulled his knife seemingly out of nowhere and held it to Bane’s throat. The blade looked sharp and the steel in his hand glistened in the afternoon sunlight.
His actions caught everyone by surprise.
Chapter Fourteen
Bane slowly raised his eyes and glared at Joey.
Joey hissed at him, “Stand down. She’s here to help us, not to be a fucking punching bag for you. She’s under my protection and I will protect her, even from you.”
Bane paused then stepped back but he didn’t go far.
Joey reached out and keeping eye contact with Bane, he helped Kisa to her feet. He didn’t drop either his eyes or his blade as he spoke to Deke, “I had a hunch when the messages started coming in. It was almost as if they were a warning. Like someone was reaching out to us to warn us, not as a threat per say but a warning of danger. I acted on that premise and I went looking for the person I thought sent the messages. I found Kisa with one of her brothers, just about the time she made her move to get away from them. She isn’t part of the attack that’s coming. I’m hoping she can help us stop it, that’s why I brought her back here. To help us.”
Deke nodded. “Ok, then put the knife down and let’s go inside to talk about this.”
“I want his word that he won’t hurt her first,” Joey said as he motioned his head to the silent hit man.
“Bane.” Deke growled.
Bane just glared at Joey for a moment then he nodded.
“I need the words, man.” Joey stared at him.
“I won’t hurt her if she cooperates with us.” Bane growled. “But her words better be the truth.”
Joey lowered his blade and sheathed it. Then he took Kisa’s hand and brought her around in front of him. Wrapping his arms around her shoulders, he told Deke, “This is Kisa Komperov. She’s the one who’s been sending the messages to warn us of what her brothers are planning.”
“Kisa, my name is Deke Tory and I’m president of this club. The little boy in the picture you sent us belongs to one of my men and as you know, Bane Jessin is his grandfather.”
Kisa nodded. “I do not agree with what my brothers are doing or who they are doing it with. The Vory V Zakone is nothing but a bunch of thieves and thugs. My father was stupid and tried to take something that didn’t belong to him. My father was caught and took the beating. Petroff made an example out of him and it worked. But I think my father took something that Petroff didn’t get back and that’s why after all these years, he’s still looking for my family.”
Deke narrowed his eyes and stared at her for a moment then turned and motioned for her to come inside.
Kisa and Joey followed him in then sat down at a small table.
Deke, Sam and Gator sat down with them.
The men gathered around the table but Bane, Bastian, and James sat down at the table next to them.
“Ok as far as I or anyone else is aware of Aloysha Petroff is down in the town of Bethal, Pennsylvania,” Deke started out.
Kisa shook her head. “Net, he is much closer than that. He has been for some time. He’s already as far north as Bath, New York where we were living.”
Deke looked around the room and shook his head. “How is that possible? The Family in Boston never said anything about this.”
“They probably don’t know it yet,” Kisa replied. “Petroff hides himself well but he is moving in. I think his real goal is to take over the Family’s seat and rule the entire east coast.”
Sam snorted. “The man is ambitious if he thinks he can unseat Leon’s family from power, I’ll give him that.”
“You said something about taking something that Petroff didn’t get back,” Bane stated with a cold look in his eyes.
“Poppi and I would talk late into the nights sometimes when the rest of the house was sleeping. He would tell me stories of the time his family came here from Russia when he was a boy. He told me his father and grandfather and three of his b
rothers came over on a huge boat when he was ten years old. His family all worked hard and soon had a place they could call their own. Then he would tell me as he grew up, things began to change, and some bad men tried to take what they had worked so hard to gain. When they fought back to keep what they had the bad men killed them one by one until his father was the only one left beside him. These men were the Vory V Zakone and back then, Aloysha was leading them. He was only sixteen the day Aloysha showed up and shot his father in the fields where he was planting corn. Poppi was too far away to stop it but he told us, he saw Aloysha take something from his father and put it on his finger like it was a prize.”
“What was it took?” Deke frowned.
“My Poppi’s family crest set in a ring his grandfather wore up until the day he died. Why he took it no one knows but the day my father took the money, he also took the ring back.” She shrugged. “He figured it wasn’t Aloysha’s to have anyway.”
“Where is the ring now?” Bane asked.
“I have it,” she admitted. “Poppi hid it from Grigori because he said he wasn’t ready to wear it yet, so Poppi gave it to me for safekeeping. He knew how my brother was and he didn’t want him to have it until he could be the man he should have been. The day we buried my Poppi, I think my brothers took a blood oath to find and kill the man who hurt him so long ago. Grigori never forgot or forgave Jessin for what he did to Poppi. Poppi tried to tell him he never should have taken what didn’t belong to him but that didn’t matter to my brother. He watched the man beat my father and that changed him. Changed him and not for the good.” She looked over at the man himself.
Bane stared back with no emotion on his face.
Looking away from him, she went on, “Grigori had me find this man Bane but no one had seen him for two years. I did find his grandson. I tried to hide the fact from him. But I messed up. I left that widow I open and when he stormed into my room, he pushed me out of the way and found the information there on my laptop...” She paused and lowered her head. “I never wanted him to see it. He said he would use the boy to draw out the grandfather.”
Joey reached out and took hold of her hand.
Kisa’s fingers curled around his. “He told me to send the photo out. If it got to Jessin, he would see it and move to protect the boy. Then he told us we were coming here to watch the kid. If Jessin showed up, he would know.”
“Does he know where Dusty is?” Mountain asked.
Kisa shook her head. “I didn’t tell him that. He and two of Aloysha’s men are searching the city for him. We saw them on our way back.” She licked her dry lips. “But it won’t take him long to find you.”
“Aloysha knows his men are here in Troy?” Bane snarled. “That’s not what he told me when I spoke to him before.”
Kisa turned her head to stare at the man. “Aloysha told my brother he would help him get his revenge. He picked those men himself because they are good at what they do. I met them once and I didn’t like them. They looked at my brother like they couldn’t wait to kill him. I have a feeling those two will betray Grigori and when the mission is done, they will kill him.”
“And you other brother Maksim?” Deke asked. “Where does he stand in this?”
“He stands beside Grigori. He is so young but I couldn’t seem to get through to him. Those two are as thick as thieves. I thought Maksim would honor his vow to Poppi and stand down but when we got here to Troy, he changed. He began demanding my cooperation as if he had the right to do that. Then he told me he was the go between Grigori and me. All along, he was playing me. His own sister. Before I left the house, he told me he was glad his position was finally out in the open now. He hated hiding his real feelings.” Taking a deep breath and exhaling it she continued, “I was walking away from both of them when Joey found me. I only stayed at home as long as I did because I was taking care of Poppi. He died three weeks ago and now, I can live my own life. I can’t be with them if they are willing to kill that boy. I just can’t.”
Deke looked around the room and shook his head. “Well, this opens up a whole new can of worms doesn’t it?”
“We have to warn Leon of this threat,” Iceman suggested. “We can’t leave him out in the cold on this.”
Sam snorted. “Oh yeah, that’s going to go over like a lead balloon.”
“Where exactly is Petroff living now?” Bane asked her quietly.
“Actually, he’s not far from Bath. He bought a house in Hornell about a year ago and he’s busy moving his operations up there.”
Deke stared at her for a moment then nodded at Iceman. “You better call him and let him know. This bastard doesn’t realize what he’s doing encroaching on the Family like he is.”
Kisa snorted. “Don’t you believe that for a moment. Aloysha knows. He’s hiding his movements for a reason. He’s hoping to become established before making himself known. Sneaking in the back door, as my Poppi called it.”
“Leon will not like this news at all. Damn it, he will have blood running on the streets of Boston.” Iceman got up and reached for his phone. Moving away from the tables, he made his call.
Deke looked over at Kisa, “What do you know of your brother’s plans?”
She looked over at Joey and turned back to Deke. “He has three days to get himself set up.”
“Why three days?” Deke frowned in confusion.
“My brothers are superstitious. As are many members in the neighborhood where we lived. My father never was but the people around us were, anyway the blood oath they took has to be carried out before the night of the full moon after it was taken.” She shook her head. “I think they plan to come here and just start shooting, they don’t care that the people living here might be hurt or killed, they will shoot that little boy and Bane Jessin. That’s all they care about. They don’t even care that they might die. They took the oath, knowing that they might die and for them that’s some sort of badge of honor or something stupid like that.”
“And what would happen if we found them first and we took them out before they could get set up?” Deke asked.
“Then the blood oath goes unfulfilled doesn’t it?” She looked over at Bane. “Aloysha holds those same views. I don’t think he would let it go unfulfilled.”
He stared at her for a moment then nodded slightly, “So be it.” Bane had gotten her unspoken message loud and clear.
Kisa sighed and turned to Joey. She planted her face in his chest. His arms came around her and he held her. She breathed in his scent and it gave her the courage to do what she had to do. Pushing away from his chest, she turned and looked at Deke. “I know you have to do what you have to in order to protect this place and your family. My brothers are wrong in this pursuit but I don’t think they are alone in this. I think Aloysha put them up to it for reasons of his own. My brothers are so lost in their hatred of a man they don’t even know. My father knew why Jessin hunted him down and he knew he would pay the price for what he’d done. And he did. It’s time to let this go but my brothers won’t do that. They’d rather die, but they aren’t dying for the right cause. I believe Aloysha is setting them up and there is nothing I can do to stop it.”
“What do you want us to do?” Deke asked her. “I have to protect the people who live here.”
She nodded. “I know, but when the dust settles and my brothers are gone, can we call this over? I have no part in this vendetta, I never wanted it, nor will I ever take it over. I have no quarrel with you or yours. Can you live with that?”
Deke nodded. “I can.”
Kisa nodded at him then turned to look at Bane.
Bane studied her for a long moment.
The room went utterly quiet.
Joey glared at him. He would take Kisa from here if this man did not stand down.
Bane finally gave her a silent nod.
Kisa then looked back over at Deke. “I know I’ll have to leave this state but I can do that. I can go somewhere where Aloysha won’t be able to find me.”
>
“Why do you have to leave?” Joey asked with a frown.
“Aloysha won’t allow this to die down. For reasons unknown to me like I said, he wants that ring but it doesn’t belong to him. It was given to me by Poppi and as long as I live, he will keep hunting me to get it back. That’s just the way he is.”
Chapter Fifteen
Joey asked Deke, ‘Is it okay if we leave now?”
“No, you can’t leave the compound.”
Joey scoffed. “I mean leave the table. I will take her to a room, so she can rest.”
Deke nodded. “Just remember that the compound is the only safe place to be and I do not want you going back to Redemption until this is over. Got it?”
Joey nodded. “I got it.” He stood from the table, as did Kisa.
Gator stood too, then he came over to Joey and Kisa. “There’s a free room at the end of the hall. But you need a code to get into the room. It’s 4040.”
“Thanks,” Joey said and turned Kisa to head down the hall past where Zipper’s security room was.
They finally came to the end of the hallway.
Joey stopped and tapped the number into the digital keypad.
“Wow, Deke really believes in safety, doesn’t he?” Kisa asked.
“I suppose so. I haven’t been around that long. But as I understand it from a friend of mine, some madman came here in like a tank or something, aiming to burn the place down. So after the damage, Deke made it a literal fortress.” He opened the door and motioned for her to go in.
Kisa entered and looked around. “Wow, it’s a nice room.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I-I suppose I thought a biker club would be something different from this.”
Joey laughed. “Yeah, it is so not like what they have on TV. I did not see a bar or any bike bunnies either.”
