The Nameless Ones by John Connolly

Chapter XLVI

Frend stood in the bedroom he had shared with his wife for so long. He tried to remember the last time he and Mina had made love here – made love anywhere – and failed. They could, of course, have elected to occupy separate bedrooms, but the issue had never arisen. Perhaps, even in their reduced state, they still had not wished to be alone in the dark.

Although Mina had packed hurriedly, there was no mess in the bedroom, and only his own possessions now remained conspicuous. It was very like her to be able to excise so efficiently any obvious evidence of her existence. When eventually the divorce was finalized, and their severance complete, it would be as though she had never played a part in his history. They might meet at Pia’s wedding, he supposed, assuming Pia ever found time to marry, and he was invited to the ceremony. Otherwise, Frend believed that he and Mina might never be found in each other’s presence again until one of them died and the other stood dry-eyed in the church as some version of a life was recalled for the benefit of the congregation.

His cell phone rang. For a moment he hoped it might be Mina calling, but the number was withheld. He answered it anyway to distract him from his thoughts.

‘Lawyer Frend,’ said the voice in his ear. ‘This is Matija Kiš.’

Frend moved to the window, keeping to one side of it, and used a finger to lift the drape, half expecting to see Kiš or Simo Stajić standing by the gate, but the street was empty.

‘Yes?’ said Frend.

‘You left Belgrade very suddenly.’

‘I was concerned for my well-being.’

‘I don’t blame you. In fact, I admire your courage for being willing to come to Belgrade in the first place. Few lawyers would choose to jeopardize their lives for their clients. In that sense, I concede, you are a credit to your profession. May I be honest with you?’

‘I would welcome it,’ said Frend.

‘With regard to your clients, my colleague and I have encountered a difference of opinion on how to proceed. In part, it comes down to our contrasting natures. Simo is impulsive, and prone to seeking terminal solutions. He acts first and thinks after. Sometimes, I fear he does not think at all. Do you understand?’

Kiš’s problem, Frend reflected, was that he had been born a decade too late. There was a time when someone so obviously mired in criminality would still have been electable in Serbia – in fact, in any number of territories that were once part of the Soviet bloc – but such was no longer the case and now he had to work through others. Nevertheless, he had a politician’s tongue and was careful to avoid saying anything over the phone that might impact negatively upon him in a court of law.

‘I have experienced no difficulty in following you so far,’ said Frend.

‘I, on the other hand, am of a more cautious disposition. So, too, are many of my acquaintances.’ Kiš’s political allies, no doubt, eager to contain an outbreak of implicitly state-sanctioned murders. ‘It is our belief that your clients cannot return home. They are a contaminant, carriers of profound instability. Their word cannot be considered their bond, and even pecuniary evidence of their goodwill might not be sufficient to make up the shortfall in trust.’

‘Then why was that option proffered?’

‘To see if you – or they – would bite,’ said Kiš. ‘The end result would have been the same. I think you know what I mean.’

‘Except that you and your friends would have been significantly wealthier.’

‘Not compared with the wealth that accession to the European Union will bring. In our opinion, the benefits of removing your clients from contention would not have compensated for the hazards involved. We need no more ruined restaurants in Belgrade.’

‘But your dinner companion does not hold a similar view.’

‘No,’ said Kiš. ‘He wants the money and his fun. He struggles with the concept of delayed gratification.’

‘Does he realize that his time is coming to an end? If, as you say, EU accession promises affluence and opportunity, blatant thuggery will be an inevitable casualty. Even the Russians have to maintain the pretense of legality.’

Ever wary, Kiš said, ‘That confrontation with Simo must be saved for another day.’

‘I look forward to reading details of the outcome. I hope the photographs are in color, and that he suffers no more than he deserves to.’

‘I’ll pass that on to the individual in question, if you like.’

‘Do as you wish,’ said Frend. ‘He has no great love for me anyway.’ He tried to sound offhand, but the tremor in his voice betrayed him. He had only narrowly avoided an inquisition at the hands of Kiš’s ally. ‘So where does that leave us?’

‘Your clients have a week to get out of Europe. If they do not, their prospects will diminish rapidly.’

Which was an interesting way to describe a death sentence, thought Frend.

‘I’ll have to discuss it with them,’ he said. ‘Their hearts were set on a base closer to home.’

‘I would have thought they’d be happy to leave. As discussed over dinner, we are not alone in finding them an aggravation.’

‘I can only repeat that I will talk to them.’

‘I have faith in your persuasiveness, Herr Frend, particularly since your destiny is so intimately tied up with theirs. I look forward to hearing from you.’

Kiš hung up, and Frend put down the phone. It was moist from the sweat of his palm. One week: it might be enough, if Spiridon could be talked around, but his agreement would resolve only one of their difficulties. There remained the fallout from the botched handover of the Syrians, but that issue might yet be settled with blood money. Frend was sure that the Vuksans had access to funds unknown to him, because Radovan was too clever not to have squirreled money away. A payment in cash would surely assuage the anger of the Islamists.

But if Kiš was right about friends of De Jaager seeking revenge for his death, then the killing of Aleksej Marković in Paris took on an even more troubling aspect. Whoever was responsible for Marković’s assassination would not stop there, which meant that the Vuksans and all those around them remained in danger. This was a problem that could not be solved by departing Europe, or paying compensation to anonymous men in tieless shirts. It would require more direct action.

Frend looked again at the photograph of Hendricksen. It was time, he thought, to establish who exactly was hunting the Vuksans.