THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

EPILOGUE:

He identified the car as a potential problem the moment he turned the corner and saw it parked further up the street. It was too new, too bright and shiny, totally out of place in this little village in the mountains. Beside him, Jelena skipped along and chattered away happily, telling him about everything she had done at school that day, blissfully unaware of the shadow that had suddenly been cast across her future.

His fears were confirmed when the doors opened as they got closer to the car, three men getting out. Two of them were unfamiliar to him, but one of the men he recognised immediately, despite the two years that had passed since they had last seen one another. He had known that this day would probably come, he had planned what he would do when it did… and now he discarded all those plans and simply continued to walk towards his fate.

In truth, it was a relief. Despite the uncertainty of what would happen next, he felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Reaching the little cottage, he knelt down, telling Jelena to go in to her mother, that he'd follow in a few minutes. She skipped happily down the corridor as he opened the door for her. Gazing after her for a moment, he closed the door and turned to meet the man who walked across the street towards him.

"Dushan," Terry Thorne greeted.

"Lieutenant," Dushan returned.

There was a brief, awkward moment as Terry found himself at a loss about how to continue. It had all seemed so straight forward in the hotel back in Prasjeka, but now that he was here, face to face with Dushan Vojtulek, all that had happened in the two years since his kidnap and release faded away.

Maybe Dino had been right, maybe this hadn't been such a good idea after all. The American had warned him that his perception of the situation was totally flawed. Actually, Dino's reaction to his suggestion had been, "Are you out of your mind?"

Terry had talked him round though. He had even managed to talk Miroslav Vilaslavevic into giving them twenty–four hours before he acted on the information they had promised to give him. His only stipulation had been that he go with them when they went into the mountains.

"Your daughter?" Terry asked Dushan, pushing away the apprehension at being face to face with the younger man again.

Dushan smiled, shaking his head, telling him, "No…" Then, wistfully, knowing that it may now never happen, he amended, "Perhaps, maybe… I think to marry her mother…"

Terry nodded, smiling, "She's beautiful."

"Her mother also," Dushan replied, glancing back at the cottage.

His stomach was crawling. He knew why they were here. He could identify a policeman when he saw one and the big man still standing beside the car was definitely police.

All the plans he had ever devised for when this time came had been for nothing because now, when it all came down to this one moment, the only thing he found himself really wanting was for Jelena and her mother to be spared the sight of him being taken away in handcuffs. He swallowed hard, dispensing with any more niceties and going on, "I say goodbye, I go with you… but… please… cuffs wait until we are in car…"

Instantly, Terry stepped towards him, assuring him, "We've got no reason to arrest you, mate…"

That threw Dushan. He searched the Lieutenant's face, but found nothing to make him doubt the statement. Frowning, he pointed out, "You bring policeman."

Terry nodded, reassuring Dushan, "We did, mate, but only because he's my friend and," he went on, quirking an eyebrow, a wry smile tugging at his lips, "he has some strange idea that I might get myself into trouble..."

Dushan found himself relaxing and smiling in return. "Perhaps he has point," he offered. Then he asked, "How did you find me?"

"Gervaise Armande," Terry supplied.

Dushan laughed, shaking his head, countering, "Now you tell lie… Armande would tell you nothing!"

"He would," Terry assured him, "if we threatened to reveal his fraud…"

Confused, Dushan's laughter faded. "I do not understand," he told Terry.

"Slimy son of a bitch has been skimming five percent from you," the red-headed man supplied.

Terry turned slightly, introducing the man who had spoken. "Dushan, this is my partner, Dino. You've never met, but I think you spoke to him on more than one occasion…"

Dino stepped forward, simply nodding in greeting.

A vague recollection of a photograph from two years before swam into Dushan's memory. "The American…" he said softly.

Terry nodded, "Thought you might remember him… And," he went on, "my other mate there, the policeman, is Miro …"

Miro inclined his head, but said nothing, clearly not comfortable at being there.

Dushan looked at them, then said softly, "I do not understand this skimming…"

"For every ten thousand you got, Armande took five hundred for himself," Dino explained.

Terry saw the initial denial on Dushan's face turn slowly to disbelief then, as if things had suddenly fallen into place for the younger man, he saw anger spark in his eyes.

"Is there somewhere we can go to talk?" Terry asked. Standing out in the street wasn't the best place to discuss what they had to with Dushan.

The young man nodded, clearly distressed. "Inside," he said simply, turning and opening the door of the cottage, leading the way inside.

Terry exchanged looks with Dino and Miro. None of them truly expected trouble after the calm, accepting reception they had received, but all three were ready for it. Cautiously, they followed Dushan into the cottage.

His girlfriend was putting on the kettle when they walked into the kitchen. Dushan was talking to her. Obviously anxious, she forced a smile for the three men and herded her protesting daughter outside into the garden.

Dushan waited until the door closed then he turned, demanding softly, "You have proofs of this allegation?"

"It's only circumstantial evidence," Miro admitted in Slavakrajinan. "He's clever enough to have covered his tracks, but there are certain inconsistencies. We've been watching him quietly for a while now. I think we have enough to convict if we get the right Judge… We certainly had enough to persuade him to tell us where we could go to find out where you were…"

Terry watched as Dushan sank into a chair at the kitchen table, resting his head in hands. When he finally lifted his head, there were tears on his cheeks. "Now," he told them, "for first time, I am glad the Boss is not here to see…"

He trailed off, looking down at his hands, "You know she die…"

"In prison," Terry confirmed, sitting down opposite him. "I heard…"

Dushan lifted his head again, looking at him, "She die of broken heart, I think." Wiping away the tears with the back of his hand, he went on, "I do not think she see what she and Bracic have until she lose him. Always she is Commander. Always he is Second in Command, nothing more… but we see it."   He shook his head, shrugging, "They never do, but we do…"

Miro listened, finding his thoughts slipping back to two years before, when he had walked into Ljiljana Bukavecs' jail cell and broken the news that Bracic Malnar had died of his injuries earlier that morning. She had taken it quietly, simply nodding.

Throughout the police questioning that followed over the next few days she had remained calm and reserved, answering most of the question clearly and concisely, although there were some she had simply refused to answer. She had admitted to every kidnapping Miro and his team had attributed to her group, giving a full statement about every one, including Terry's. At only one point had he seen any emotion from her, when she had vehemently denied that anyone other than Malnar and herself had been involved in the hostage-taking.

When he had seen her again, later, at the trial, he had put her lack-lustre bearing down to the simple fact that she had been caught and thrown in jail. Perhaps it had been more than that.

Dushan had taken a deep breath and was getting his emotion under control. He looked from Terry, to Dino, to Miro. Then he looked back at Terry. Voice sincere, he admitted, "I regret your injury… but I do not regret taking you…"

A small smile tugged at Terry's lips and he countered, "I regret giving you a black eye, mate, but I don't regret hitting you…"

The two men considered each other across the table for a long moment. Then Dushan smiled, nodding, asking, "So, why do you come here?"

"We want to offer you a job…"

Dushan did a double-take.

Leaning against the wall, Dino made a small sound of derision, "Did pretty much the same when he told me…"

Terry shot him a look then turned his attention back to Dushan, explaining, "We've gone into business for ourselves. We've got a solid client base and we need negotiators…"

Dushan still wasn't sure that he was hearing Terry properly. "You wish," he asked, "for me to be negotiator?"

"I only want the best, mate," Terry told him, leaning forward. "That's why I'm here."

Dushan shook his head, mind racing, "This cannot happen! I hide from police… If I caught I go to prison…" Going to prison wasn't the unfavourable option it had once been, though. He was tired of running, tired of hiding, tired of constantly expecting the knock on the door. Seeing Terry here today had made him realise that.

Miro stepped forward. "Why would you be going to prison?" he asked softly in Slavakrajinan.

Dushan looked at him, warily.

"Ljiljana Bukavecs took sole responsibility for the kidnappings," Miro told him. "She denied that anyone other than Bracic Malnar and herself had been involved. Now," he went on, making a soft sound of derision, "you and I both know that she was lying."

He glanced at Terry then looked back at Dushan, going on, "My friend, here, wouldn't know who you are, and you wouldn't know him if Bukavecs hadn't been lying. But for reasons that I fail to understand, Terry won't file charges or testify, which leaves me with my hands tied behind my back…"

Terry's grasp of Slavakrajinan wasn't the best. He wasn't quite sure exactly what was being said, but he had a fair idea from hearing Ljiljana and his own names.

"So," Miro was going on, "if I were you, I'd take the branch that Terry and Dino are offering and let yourself be pulled out of the mess Ljiljana Bukavecs got you into..."

Dushan's face had clouded with anger. Terry swore silently, glancing at Miro, wondering what the hell he had said and readying himself for trouble. Behind him, Dino hadn't moved, but he too was ready to move if he needed to.

Dushan pushed himself slowly to his feet. Gaze fixed in Miro, voice dangerously quiet, he told the policeman, "Ljiljana Bukavecs had nothing to do with getting me into this mess! Watching my home burn to the ground with my Mama, Papa and little sister lying dead in front of it, that's what got me into this mess! And I will do anything I need to, to stop that little girl out there ending up dead on the ground beside her Mama!"

Miro swore softly, immediately regretting his choice of words. Kicking himself for forgetting Dushan's past he held up his hands in supplication, taking a small step backward. "I'm sorry. I was wrong… I should not have said what I did… Please… I apologise…"

In the face of the calm, obviously genuine apology, Dushan's anger faded. He swallowed then sank back onto the chair, dashing away tears.

Dino watched the scene, relaxing a little, quipping calmly, "Any chance of some coffee?"

Dushan nodded, standing up, "Coffee… Yes…" Turning, he pulled some mugs from a cupboard then reached for a tin. Glancing at Terry, he asked, "You still wish for me to be negotiator?"

"I do," Terry told him. "We do…"

Dushan spooned coffee into a pan on the stove, lifting the kettle and pouring the hot water over the top before setting the pan on the hot plate. "Where would I work?" he asked.

"Wherever we need you to go, mate," Terry told him. "All over the world… but you can set up base wherever you want… "

"And you will teach me?"

Terry nodded, "We'll give you all the training you'll need."

Dushan looked at him, a small smile tugging at his lips, "So we have much to discuss?"

Smiling, Terry agreed, "We have much to discuss…"

"Then you will stay for dinner… Sit, please," he told Dino and Miro, turning and walking to the door. "I tell Branka you stay..."

As Dushan disappeared outside and Dino and Miro sat down at the table, Terry turned to Miro, asking, "Everything okay?"

Miro nodded, "There is much about my country that has not been good. Sometimes, I forget… His family, all dead. I forget that."

He looked down at his hands then back up at Terry. "I am policeman," he told the Australian, "I uphold law, put criminals away. I think you are crazy in the head for coming here… but... perhaps it is right to give him a second chance…"

Unlike Bracic and Ljiljana, Terry considered.

He had gone through the counselling that Luthan Risk had provided when he'd got back to the UK. He'd also made good inroads into a bottle of Bowmore with Jim MacFadgeon after Dino had quit Luthan Risk and flown back to the US. And even though Dino had been on at him about Stockholm Syndrome since he'd first suggesting coming back to Slavakrajina to find Dushan Vojtulek, Terry knew that this was the right thing to do.

He'd given Peter Bowman a second chance by walking out on Luthan Risk and going back to Tecala. He'd been given a second chance, himself, by Dino who had pitched in during the Bowman mess and then been the driving force behind the newly set up Scarletti Thorne Associates - Security and Emergency Response Consultants.

It was only right that he should offer a second chance to Dushan.

The kitchen door opened and Dushan came back in with Branka. He opened his mouth to introduce them to her, but before he could speak she let loose with a long tirade of Slavakrajinan, rushing over to where the coffee was about to boil over in the pan. She picked the pan up, dumping it into the sink, turning and letting loose again as Dushan held up his hands and tried to placate her.

Hands on her hips she demanded something of him and when he hesitated, she turned, pointing to the kitchen door and telling her three visitors, "Out! Go out! I no care you his boss, out! I make coffee and bring to you!"

Dushan led the way out to the garden where Jelena was happily playing with some dolls.

"So that's the woman you're going to marry?" Dino asked as the door was closed, firmly, behind them.

Dushan nodded, giving him a wry smile, "I think of it…"

"And we're your bosses?" Terry grinned.

Dushan nodded, "I tell her you offer me job and I say yes…" His smile widened, amusement sparking in his eyes as he quipped, "And, right now, London look very good place to stay…"

THE END

BACK TO LIBRISCROWE

BACK TO INDEX