THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
PART TWELVE:
He pushed it as far as he could, kept going until he knew that he was done and couldn't take any more, all the time knowing that if he pushed too far, they would simply use the drugs on him. And that would be disastrous, because then he would have no control over the situation at all…
"Surveillance …" he choked finally, remembering the information Mac had supplied, making it sound like he was in even worse shape than he actually was. "They were on a fact-finding surveillance sortie..."
The soldiers let him go and he sank to his knees on the floor, bent over slightly, holding his ribs, sucking air into his lungs. The woman dropped to her knees in front of him, tilting his head up with a gentle finger on his chin.
"Finding facts on what?" she asked softly.
Terry looked at her, hesitating for a moment before beginning, "I don't know the exact details…"
She snorted in disgust, starting to rise to her feet and he rushed on, "It's the truth! I don't know the details because I was only an observer. There were only eight of us on the team, but I was only an observer. That's why the Sergeant and I were together. He was babysitting me, making sure that I didn't get into trouble …"
She regarded him for a long moment and he dropped his eyes, trying to make it look like he was embarrassed at the admission.
She slapped his face, yelling, "LOOK AT ME!!! LOOK! AT! ME!"
Cheek stinging, he did as he was ordered, lifting his gaze. She leaned in, her face only inches from his, screaming, "Do you take me for a fool? Do you think I am stupid?!?!?"
"Please," he pleaded, making it look like he was panicking and beginning to lose it. "It's the truth! I swear it's the truth! That's why I can't give you the details you want! That's why the Sergeant and I were together. I was only an observer. There were eight of us on the team but I was only there to watch how the Poms did it. I was told to stick with the Sergeant and keep my head down…"
"Poms?!?" she hissed.
He frowned, still acting flustered, "Umm… The Brits… The Pommies… The Poms…"
She regarded him for another long moment. Then she nodded to the soldiers standing behind him. They stepped in, lifting him to his feet as she rose to hers. She pulled the stool towards the desk, then walked round to the other side, as the soldiers settled Terry in the stool before stepping back against the wall.
"Get the Lieutenant some water," she ordered.
One of the soldiers moved to a small table behind her, pouring water into a Styrofoam cup. Sitting down, the woman lifted a pen and pulled some papers out of a folder. She waited until the soldier had given Terry the water then began, "What callsign was assigned to the strike team?"
Terry drained the cup before telling her, "Sarek."
"What was your mission?"
"Surveillance,
"Finding facts on what?"
"I don't know the exact details," he persisted. "I was an observer so I wasn't really supposed to be getting involved, but… it was something to do with arms dealing…"
That, at least, was the truth… not the whole truth, but still the truth.
"Why is Australian Lieutenant observing British SAS?"
"I'm on secondment…" That was also the truth. "A six month secondment…" That was a lie.
~*~
Terry started awake, blinking in the stuffy, blanket-covered darkness, not quite sure what had woken him. He had thought about trying to stay awake during the journey, to gauge how far they had traveled from the farm house, but had finally decided that sleep was better for him.
Now he lay still, trying to work out what was different. Finally, he realised that the engine was still running, but that the SUV had stopped. Lying in the muffled darkness, he strained to hear over the music from the SUV's radio, to work out what was going on. Ljiljana was singing along quietly to the song that was being played and seemed to be in good spirits, so Terry doubted that the stop was due to anything serious, like a road block…
The SUV started moving, only to stop again a few hundred metres further on. Over the music, Terry heard the sound of a car horn then the roar of a vehicle accelerating past. Bracic muttered, "Boy racer…" in English.
Ljiljana replied in Slavakrajinan. Terry didn't catch what she had said, but both she and Bracic chuckled softly.
The SUV moved forward again and, even beneath the blanket, Terry caught a whiff of something that smelled tantalisingly like fresh-made donuts. Terry's mouth watered painfully; his belly rumbling.
Longingly, he decided that the first thing he was going to do, when Dino finally got him out of this mess, was to buy a box of donuts… Fudge donuts. They were Henry's favourite. Maybe Henry could help him eat them… Maybe Henry and Dino could help him eat them…
Might have to buy a bigger box…
Another vehicle went past and Terry heard
the thump-thump-
They were in the city then, Terry concluded, and the stop-starting was probably because of traffic lights.
What city, though?
He could only guess at how long they had been aboard the cargo ship. He had no real idea how far they had driven to get from the coast to the farmhouse. He doubted that they were on the African continent, but they could be in any of the European Mediterranean countries, Turkey, Greece, Italy, possibly even France…
Of course, they might not have moved out of Slavakrajina at all… They could just as easily be in Prasjeka or Obligrad…
"Turn left," Ljiljana told Bracic, softly, as they slowed to stop at another set of lights.
Bracic glanced at her, doing a classic double-take, "What?"
"Turn left," Ljiljana repeated.
"Are you crazy?" Bracic demanded, careful not to raise his voice, but looking at her aghast. Turning left would take them right past the hotel where they had snatched the Lieutenant.
Ljiljana smiled, repeating, "Turn left…"
Swearing softly, Bracic accused, "You're mad! You're losing it!" he went on, tapping the side of his head. "We are stupid to take such a risk!"
"What risk?" Ljiljana countered lightly. "They think we are in the mountains, hiding in caves behind waterfalls. This is the last place they will be looking for us…"
"Well, they won't find us! Because we're not doing it!" Bracic told her.
Ljiljana reached over, resting her hand on his arm. "Bracic," she asked softly, "Indulge me? Turn left…"
Swearing again, muttering under his breath about crazy women who were going to get him thrown in jail, he flipped the indicator on. The lights turned to green and he pulled away, turning left.
Ahead of them, by only half a block, was the Hotel Odličan. It was one of the newest structures in the city, built after the civil war, a vision in glass that reflected the mountains, the sea and the sky during the day. Now, in the early hours of the morning, the glass reflected only darkness, spotted here and there with a square of bright or dimmed light from inside the hotel rooms.
"Happy now?" Bracic asked derisively.
"Happy now," Ljiljana told him, watching the hotel as it slid past them. Even at this late hour, there were people in the bar and in the foyer. Finally she turned back, telling Bracic, "Sorry… I just had to see it…"
Bracic muttered something she didn't quite catch, turning right to get back onto the main street.
~*~
Walking out of the hotel, Miroslav Vilaslavevic paused at the top of the steps to light a cigarette, watching the SUV that had just gone past as it slowed and turned right. Obligrad plates, he noted absently, putting out the match and dropping it in the trash can.
Taking a deep draw on the cigarette, he walked down the steps and headed across the street to his car.
Marja hadn't been particularly pleased when he had left the house just before midnight. It was only the fact that it had been Dino who had called that had prevented one of the stony silences she adopted whenever she started feeling that he was spending too much time at work. She usually relented by the end of the day, her point made, and he always arranged something romantic for them both, to make it up to her, as long as her Mama could take care of the children for a night or two…
It was one of the reasons he had four beautiful daughters.
He was a lucky man, to have so good a marriage. Terry Thorne, he knew, had been envious of his family life and had admitted as much on at least one occasion, after Marja's cooking had been washed down with a bottle of wine and the children had come in for their goodnight kiss, insisting on Uncle Terry kissing them goodnight too.
He had spoken of his wife only once that Miro could remember, to say that they were divorced. There had been no bitterness, no sadness in his voice; it had been a simple matter of fact.
And now she was here.
Dino was less than happy at her having come to Slavakrajina. Miro could understand why, but had reluctantly confirmed that, unless she had broken some law, there was no easy way to deport her without causing an international incident.
Dino had muttered something about one potential international incident being enough…
Miro had, however, agreed to Dino's request to return at a more decent hour of the morning to "talk some sense into the woman"…
Opening the door and sliding into the driver's seat, Miro took one, last, long draw on his cigarette before stubbing it out in the ashtray. Then he turned the engine on, sitting for a moment before, on impulse, lifting the police radio.
"Control, this is unit One Six Alpha…"
There was a short silence then a young woman's voice answered, "One Six Alpha, Control, go ahead."
"Control, run a check on vehicle license plate number Oscar Bravo - Three Five Three - Oscar Hotel…"
"Oscar Bravo - Three Five Three - Oscar Hotel," the young woman confirmed, before telling him, "Standby, One Six Alpha…"
Miro checked his mirrors then pulled out of the space, heading down the road the way the SUV had gone. He slowed at the intersection, turning right.
"One Six Alpha, Control, I have those details."
Driving one handed, radio in his other hand, Miro told her, "Go ahead, Control…"
"Oscar Bravo Three Five Three Oscar Hotel, Toyota Land Cruiser registered to the Obligrad Vehicle Hire Centre, currently on a fourteen day trade-lease to NetExcel Web Services… It was logged entering the city twenty minutes ago…"
Nothing untoward there, then… "Copied, Control, thanks…"
"Do you require a follow-up, One Six Alpha?"
Miro considered for a long moment then replied, "No… It's okay… I'm heading home now. Can you log me off duty?"
"We can do that, Sir…"
~*~
Dino stood under the shower, letting the warm jets of water soothe the tension from his shoulders and back. He had already resigned himself to the fact that he couldn't do anything about Julia Thorne's presence. Being honest, he could even understand why she was here. Feeling helpless and impotent in a situation wasn't exactly his own strong suite...
And she had promised to behave herself, assuring both him and Miro that she wouldn't get in the way. Miro had even promised to speak to his wife about giving her a guided tour and taking her shopping, which would keep her busy… And out of his hair…
He owed Miro one for that.
Besides, he had a feeling, deep in his gut, that it wouldn't be too long now before an agreement was reached, money was exchanged and Terry was finally handed over. They were in the home straight now. If he played his cards well, he reckoned that there would be three, possibly four more negotiations and then a deal would be struck.
Bukavecs and her people still held the trump card of Terry's taped confession about the botched mission, but if they hadn't released it to the press before now, Dino had a feeling that they wouldn't release it at all.
If Dino's instinct was right, Ljiljana Bukavecs' whole modus operandi was aimed at getting money for the people who had suffered during the Civil War. She wasn't interested in sensationalism. She wasn't interested in causing a ruckus. All she wanted was as much money as possible, as quickly and as smoothly as possible.
Turning off the shower, he flipped the towel off the rail, wrapping it around his waist as he stepped out of the bath.
Another thought struck him and he swore softly.
He had insisted to Julia that they leave the internal connecting doors between the rooms, open… It would give him a heads-up on anyone trying to get to her, but it also presented another, rather different, problem.
Dino usually slept commando…
Walking out of the bathroom, Dino paused for a moment, wondering what he should do. The gentleman in him told him dig around for some boxers to wear, to protect his modesty. The rebel in him told him that Julia had invited herself here and, damn it, why should he make any allowance for her.
Stepping back into the bathroom, he dried himself off. Then, wrapping a dry towel around his waist, he headed into the bedroom. Drawing back the bedclothes, he sat down on the edge of the bed, put the light out, then whipped the towel off, lifting his legs into the bed and covering himself with the blankets.
Pummeling his pillow, he smirked into the darkness and then settled down to sleep…
Until it occurred to him that, if anyone did try to snatch Julia, he was going to look bloody stupid barreling naked into her room to protect her.
Muttering under his breath about British, upper class, General's daughters, Dino reached out, switching the light back on, rummaging in his bedside drawer for some underwear.
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