Chapter 7
Kasha stood inside the open garage as they barreled forward, coming to a screeching halt. She stared at the occupants for a moment and then her face lit up. “Levi and Ice. Man, the bodies drop every time you show up.”
Ice hopped out, but she was still battle ready, fully armed and spinning around, looking for more enemies. Kasha watched as Ice swept her way back outside to see if any of the men who had been shot were on the move. Levi smiled at Kasha and raced out behind Ice. Two other men were in the back of the vehicle.
She nodded and said, “Rhodes, is that you?”
“Hey, Kasha.” Rhodes pointed to the guy beside him as they got out and said, “This is Flynn.”
She smiled at the second man who returned a lazy grin—the kind deadly to all women—before he and Rhodes disappeared behind Levi and Ice, all checking the outside perimeter of the fortress.
That was it. She was once again alone in the garage. She made her way to the open door and took a quick look outside. Four dead men were on the right, and she had no idea how many were around the corner. She couldn’t leave with the garage open, with her friends still outside, with the cabinets full of weapons. Nor could she leave Bullard without a front line of defense. She waited.
Finally Ice returned, laughing and talking to Levi at her side. She walked over and gave Kasha a hug. “Not exactly the nicest greeting in the world. Please tell me Bullard’s okay.”
Kasha smiled. “Bullard is Bullard. Our cook pulled a gun on him. Unfortunately for her, Bullard decided he’d had enough of being attacked.”
“Did he kill her?” Levi’s tone was casual, but his gaze was not. It was extremely intent and world-weary.
“No, he shot her in the hand.”
“That’s what I would have expected,” Ice said casually. She walked toward the door. “This is a hell of a place you’ve got here.”
“You mean a hell of a place Bullard’s got here.” Kasha looked back at the open doors. “I don’t really want to leave the garage door open.” She pointed to the cabinets. “Every one of these is full of weapons.”
Levi and Ice opened the padlocks up and started to whistle. “Wow. Look at that firepower.”
“I know. That’s what we mean. Arms dealing. Maybe an arms depot is more like it.”
The garage filled as everybody but Harrison came in. She glanced around and asked Brandon, “Where’s Harrison?”
“He’s standing guard on the rooftop in case anybody else comes out of the woodwork.”
She nodded. “That’s smart.” With everybody laughing and greeting each other, she closed the big garage doors under Ice’s watchful eyes. Kasha then led the way to Bullard who was now sitting and looking more alert than she had seen him since his return.
Tahlia, on the other hand, was tied to a chair, looking like she could faint from the pain.
Ice walked over to Tahlia and looked at the hand. She didn’t say a word to the woman. She turned to Bullard and said, “Have you got someone coming to collect her?”
Bullard nodded. “What passes for law enforcement in the area is on its way.”
Ice nodded. “She’ll need a medic.”
“Hey, I patched her up. You want to help her, go right ahead. But she needs surgery, and her hand is still likely to be useless.”
Ice didn’t say anything. She turned her back on the woman and walked over to Bullard. He grinned and opened his arms as she stepped in for a hug. Kasha watched in quiet amazement. Bullard had had several relationships since she’d known him, but nothing compared to what he had had with Ice.
Kasha then glanced at Levi and saw he was unconcerned. He was watching all the computer equipment as the security cameras showed various scenes from around the holding.
“You’ve got great bones in this place here,” he said. “But then, trust you, Bullard, to pick one so far away.”
“I thought I’d found a prize. Not sure what I’ve got now.”
“We’ll help you to stabilize this.” Levi shook hands with Bullard and smiled. “By the way, left our return flight open-ended with your pilot.”
Bullard nodded.
“Still, it’s not like you to get blindsided like you did.”
“I’m more pissed at myself than anything. I hadn’t seen any other weapons here. We hadn’t had time to do a full inventory. I hired Tahlia from the village to do some cooking for us. But of course, she couldn’t resist the urge to turn against me.”
Kasha turned to Tahlia. “Why did you do that?” she asked in English this time.
With pain in her voice, Tahlia said, “My sons, … my sons, … don’t kill them …”
Kasha stared at her in sadness. “I’m sorry. Somebody came from the village and shot down the attacking men like dogs. They could have lived. But somebody from their team put a bullet in every one of their heads.”
Tahlia’s heart was reflected in her expression and was clearly breaking. She started to cry.
Kasha squatted down in front of her and said, “I don’t know for sure that your sons were out there.”
Tahlia started to shake. “I told them to leave it alone. I told them to not run with that gang.”
“What gang and what were they doing?”
“They thought they could be fighters, like so many other young men. They could go around the world and do things,” she sobbed. “But what they saw as a difference, it wasn’t a good one. All they saw was the money and that these men walked tall and carried weapons. They wanted that. But they were just boys. Once they were part of them, I had to do what they said or else they’d punish my sons.” Then she broke into uncontrollable sobs.
Levi stepped forward. “I’ll take someone to check on all the dead out there before somebody collects them.”
Kasha turned back to Tahlia and asked, “What are their names and how old are they?”
Tahlia had a hard time stopping the sobs, but she managed most of the information. “They’re twenty-two and twenty-six. Mohammed is the older one, and Aziz is my baby.”
Levi nodded, looked to Ice and said, “You want to come?”
Ice nodded. “Let’s see what we’ve got.” To Kasha, she said, “We’ll take photos.”
As the two disappeared, Kasha hoped at least one of the woman’s sons was alive.
Bullard sighed. “What else was I supposed to do when she pulled a gun on me? Especially after poisoning me in the first place.”
“At least you didn’t kill her,” Stone said. “But, if her sons are dead, she will wish you had killed her too.”
There wasn’t a whole lot anyone could say to that. The facts of life were, people died. And, in war, they died all the time. No parent should ever have to bury their own child. But it happened way too often.
All too soon Levi and Ice returned. Without speaking a word, Levi showed Tahlia the photos of the seventeen dead men on the property.
Tahlia’s wails confirmed she had lost both her boys.
Kasha was torn, but she left the woman to mourn alone.
With the arrival of Levi and Ice, the entire dynamic of the holding shifted. Kasha watched in amazement as Bullard stepped into line too. He might have groused, but he didn’t argue. When Ice hugged him again, he beamed like a little boy. Kasha smiled, loving to see that side of him. She loved to see the relationships between him and his friends.
Aside from Tahlia’s weeping, relative peace reigned until shortly after 11:00 p.m.—when the military arrived, two hours later than expected. They were still making plans, drinking coffee and stuffing themselves at 2:00 a.m. The military had collected all the dead men, shipping Tahlia out first after taking her statement. Then they took statements from Bullard, Kasha and Levi’s team. By the time most of the military left shortly after three, Kasha was exhausted to the bone. She wanted to lie down and sleep, but it didn’t look like the rest of this group was even ready to slow down. Not with a few military guys still hanging around. She’d never seen anything like it. Except maybe Bullard’s own men when they were geared up for missions. But this was a different Bullard than she’d seen before. Still groggy from the drugs, he was frustrated at some residual memory loss and his inability to grasp details.
“It will come back. Give it a chance. You know what those drugs are like,” Ice scolded.
“Humph.” He shot her a look. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to act like a two-year-old either,” she said in exasperation.
Silence filled the room. Nobody else would have dared speak to Bullard like that. But Ice had a way. Bullard stared at her for a long moment, and then he chuckled. His chuckles soon turned to huge guffaws rolling throughout the room. Everybody else relaxed and grinned.
Ice shook her head. “See? Exactly what I mean.” She turned back to the two remaining sergeants. They were still taking statements and had yet to take all the photos they needed.
Kasha sighed and went to make a pot of coffee.
Ice, Bullard and Levi were preparing a plan for approaching the village. With so many dead, it was hard to say what the mood would be like there. If these dead men had been terrorizing the village, then its citizens could be relieved. But, if they’d all lived there, been a part of that community, there would be many devastated families at the deaths of these men. The thing was, nobody knew which way it would go.
Including the military, talking of a reconnaissance mission through the town to test the waters. Not only did they need to know what the mood of the villagers was, they needed to know if more men were gathering for another attack. There were sixteen dead men, seventeen if you included the one on the hillside. But most of them hadn’t been killed by Bullard’s men. Whoever was the final shooter at the tarmac, up at the top by the airstrip, was long gone.
Levi and Ice had gone up to look. On the way they had taken out two new attackers and thought they saw one more. But there had been no sign of him when they returned. Their focus had been getting back to the holding.
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.”
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.”