Into the Lion's Den (66 page)

“Yes dear, what is it?”

“Take the bear with you. I can't have it Zurich,” Guntram asked still afraid of the Russian, but knowing that he would not be able to lie to Konrad and tell that someone from his family was still alive and very close to this father. Perhaps his own uncle Roger.

“It's yours, angel. Of course I can take care of it till you come home, but wouldn't you like to have it back?”

“I can't tell Konrad from where it comes,” the boy whispered, feeling his head turn around once more.

“Tell him the truth Guntram; it's your teddy bear and you had it in St. Petersburg. I only returned Jacques to you. Perhaps the poor bear will suffer some major surgery while looking for listening devices, but once Lintorff realises it's clean, he will let you have it. You're also entitled to have a past. You're not his doll, created for his pleasure. Take the bear and the key. Hide it well and see if you can go to Geneva without his bodyguards. Once you enter in the bank, it should be safe enough and you could have enough privacy as to look its contents.”

“I don't know.”

“It's your Jacques and it's your decision if you want it back or not. No one can say that he's not a real German; from the Kaiser times even!” Constantin tempted Guntram, knowing that if he accepted to lie to Lintorff, he was much closer to break his resistance. 'Lacroix is very clever; this was a good idea indeed.'

“It could work out,” Guntram whispered, his eyes glued to the bear with abnormally long limbs. “I regretted many times to have passed it on to Laura. She was four and liked it so much, but her father told me she had lost it in the park.” With great care, he put the bear back in the box and covered it with the silk paper. “Thank you Constantin for bringing it to me.”

“Not at all, Guntram. Excuse me by the way I forced you to come here, but it was the only way Lintorff does not think you're a traitor. Meeting you in a coffee could end with a bullet in your head, angel. My men will shake Aliosha a little, and that should be sufficient to convince him of your innocence in all this. He sees traitors everywhere.”

“What should I tell him?”

“The truth: I brought you here and fell asleep for several hours because of the sedative we gave you to prevent any damage to your heart. That I asked you to return to me and that I will pay him in December. Also you can mention that what he did to my wife was of a dubious taste and that it was my privilege to punish her for ruining my life.”

“All right, let me go now, please.”

“No, tomorrow morning, it's very late, almost 3 a.m. and his hounds are like crazy looking for you. I would prefer that hounds master, Pavicevic is here and contains them if they explode at you when they find the Italians. Just a simple precaution. In fact, I would prefer that he picks you up directly. Sleep now.” Constantin ordered in a soft voice and turned off the light before leaving the bedroom.

Still terrified and concerned about Alexei's fate, Guntram slid under the covers. He was perfectly aware that his chances against Constantin or any of his men were near to zero. 'What has he done to Ricardo and Pietro?

They are nice men! They were only protecting me! I hope he has not killed or hurt them! Ricardo has two children!

How did it happen? How did he know where I was? I could never escape him, not even with Konrad's help!'

His hand touched the box in the darkness and he removed the bear from it, remembering well its long shape and still soft hair. He took the animal to his face and buried his face in the material to suffocate the urge to cry in desperation and terror. The strong scent of apples engulfed his senses and triggered a memory of his father kneeling down to pick him up and hold him against his chest. Alarmed, he sat again in the bed, still surrounded by the darkness, he smelled it again. He was certain that the perfume was fresh as there was no way it could have remained in the bear for so long. It had faded several months after his father had died. He switched on the light on the bedside table and carefully examined the bear. It was very clean, he remembered he had not washed it nor let anyone touch it. Perhaps Chano's wife had washed it, but that was almost ten years ago and the plush looked fresh, like out of the dry cleaner. It was his bear, there was no doubt, there on the right leg some hair was missing as he had cut it when he was five years old and the tie was the original one with his father's handwriting in permanent ink. He remembered well as he had copied hundred of models from him when he was learning to write from the age of five onwards. The paper's with the bank's address was also written very similarly as both “n” and “a” had the same inclination and shape The initial “G”

was his father's no doubt.

'Must be my Uncle Roger. I should be very careful. Konrad hates his guts.'

“Come Guntram, you have to get up, it's late, child.” Massaiev shook the boy awake. “You must shower and dress before breakfast. Pavicevic will come for you at twelve and it's already eleven.”

“Am I really going home, Mikhail?”

“Yes, of course. I told you you're valuable. If boss takes you away now, Lintorff will consider it a provocation and retaliate. We don't need more trouble at the moment. Come, hurry up, child. I'll pack your bear again.”

“Do you know who gave it to Mr. Repin?”

“No, I don't, Guntram. I ordered those croissants you liked so much when we were here.”

“Why are you so nice to me?”

“Guntram, I always regarded you like a son. I was with you all the time when you were so sick and I'm glad that you look healthy again. We miss you at home and we'll be very glad to have you back in December. Mr.

Repin spent many hours here with you while you were resting. He kissed you good-bye before he left, but you didn't realise. He needs you back, child. Since you are gone, he only works just to get what Lintorff wants and recover you.

Everything will be different now.”

Guntram had to make a great effort to hide his grimace at hearing that Repin had kissed him and tried to stand up but everything turned violently around. Massaiev immediately caught him by his arms before he would fall and sat him again in the bed. “What did you give me?”

“Just a mild sedative so you wouldn't be nervous. Nothing hard. Your doctor dosed it. It will be away in a few hours more, but we can forget the shower if you're so weak still. Wash your face and hands and get dressed with fresh clothes. I brought some of your things from St. Petersburg. They're in the closet.”

Fighting against the pounding headache, Guntram managed to finish all the tasks and rejoined Massaiev in the suite's living room. The Russian took him to the adjoining dining room where his breakfast was served and he drank a cup of tea mechanically. Without saying a word, Mikhail placed a croissant in front of him and Guntram said:

“the doctor forbade me to eat fats or processed foods, Mikhail.”

“Eat something else then. You had nothing since yesterday and that's bad for you.”

Guntram preferred to nimble the pastry before facing a confrontation with Massaiev and remained silent.

Some distant footsteps alerted him that someone had arrived and he almost rose from his chair to be violently jerked down by the Russian. “Sit down! Don't move till I tell you!”

The hotel's butler opened the door and Goran was standing there with Milan Mihailovic at his side.

“What an honour; the
Summus Marescalus
and one of his Executioners are visiting us, Guntram. Not everyday you see them,” Massaiev taunted the Serbs.

“Remove your hands from my little brother and run before I kill you,” Goran growled.

“Business first, gentlemen. Do you have it?”

Milan only got a pendrive out from his pocket and threw it over the table. “Your people should learn manners, Pavicevic,” Massaiev huffed. “One second, we need to check everything is fine. Piotr Alexandrevich!” A small man entered the room and took the device to vanish again into the living room. “Guntram, finish your breakfast.

You still have time.”

Feeling the oppressive ambiance over his skin and the faces from the three men, could only announce a storm as even the smallest thing could have set the room in flames, Guntram finished his dish and his tea without uttering a word or looking at the two Serbs. Some ten minutes later, the longest in Guntram's life, the small man returned and spoke briefly in Russian with Massaiev.

“Everything seems to be in order, gentlemen. You can take Guntram now. He's still weary from the drugs, but otherwise fine. Don't forget your teddy bear, child.” The Russian moved the big with carton box from the other side of the table toward Guntram and he took it, more afraid than before. He tried to stand up but once more, he had to grip the table to avoid falling. 'It feels like the worst hangover ever.' “Good-bye, Guntram. We'll see each other very soon.”

Milan helped Guntram to walk while he stubbornly clutched the box, not letting it go. Guntram had to close the eyes when the sunlight hurt his eyes and he felt like throwing up. Milan almost pushed him inside the black Maybach standing there.

Goran joined him in the car while Milan went away. Inside was Albert von Lintorff looking very seriously. “What did they give you?” Goran barked harsher than he had intended.

“Jacques is mine! I will not give it to you! You will not butcher it like you did that woman!” Guntram cried and cowered against the car's door doing his best to separate himself from the passenger's seat.

“Which drugs??” he roared, furious as he realised that Guntram was certainly high.

“What do you have in that box?” Albert shouted and tried to remove it from Guntram's hands, but the youth was too nervous to think clearly and gave the man a punch in the face the minute he touched the box. The strong slap he got in response, enraged him more and jumped against Albert who easily trapped the small boy in a grip in a second. Guntram squirmed hard against him while Albert increased his hold over the neck. As suddenly as the attack had started the boy collapsed against the man's chest and went unconscious.

“What the hell was that?” Albert shouted while the car was driving through the streets. “Get that stupid box, Goran!”

“I would bet all my money they gave him Rohypnol. It has a paradoxical effect. He could almost not stand in that room.”

“Shit! We take him to Santo Gesú now! Konrad is going to kill us all!”

Guntram woke up in an unknown room with an IV attached to his left arm and Goran and Albert sitting around a table in the hotel looking room. He groaned at the light, hurting his eyes and the Serb rushed to his bedside.

“How are you feeling little brother?”

“What happened? Where am I?”

“You're in Rome, in the hospital. The doctors will release you in the later afternoon. You had enough of an unknown benzodiazepine type substance in your blood as to organize your own rave, Guntram.” Albert said from his chair.

“I don't remember taking it.”

“What's the last thing you did yesterday?”

“I went to the Vatican and showed my paints to the Cardinal. They liked my things.”

“And later?”

“We had pizza with Alexei. Where's he? Oh God! I remember now, Repin came to the restaurant and Massaiev made me take my pills with a strange tasting water. He forced me to drink half the bottle! Is Alexei all right?

Constantin said that the Italians were out and he only hurt!”

“He's in the hospital. Don't worry, he'll get two or three weeks holidays,” Goran said. “What did Repin want from you?”

“Massaiev took me to this place and I fell asleep. Repin woke me up during the night to talk. He said he wanted me back in St. Petersburg and that he would pay Konrad in December. I don't want to return! But if he can get to me in front of the Vatican, he can get me anywhere!”

“No, he won't,” Goran said.

“He told me you killed people, Goran! Women and children and that you and Alexei killed his wife and seven more men!”

“I did not! He kills his own wife and blames it on me? Coward!”

“He says you dismembered her before killing her and spread the limbs all over Russia!” Guntram said horrified at the memory and Albert chuckled humourlessly.

“Whatever they gave you was certainly a hallucinogenic drug. Goran cutting people into pieces and distributing the meat like a butcher? Please!”

“He said you buried a whole Bosnian village alive,” Guntram stammered and both men laughed.

“Guntram, do you have any idea of how much work that is? Of the required logistics to make the hole, throw the people in, more or less five hundred, and cover it? All in one day? Something like this is on CNN in less than two hours!” Goran chuckled, “The war was bloody and horrible, but I was mostly into smuggling weapons!

That's how I met Michael Dähler. He caught me and made me spend a full night in a NATO prison. These Russians have a very feverish imagination!”

“I don't know if that's true! I'm only telling you what he told me. He wants me back! He knows even how many times per week I make love with Konrad!” He yelled hysterical and both men fell into a deathly silence.

“How does he know it? Did you tell?”

“Never!”

“What's that doll you carried along?” Albert asked.

“Doll? I have no dolls!”

“Teddy bear!”

“That's Jacques, he's mine. It's a present from my father. I had it in St. Petersburg and Constantin brought it for me. He also had some of my old clothes. I don't know why! He made me speak about my career and then he said I was too tired and ordered me to sleep. I woke up again at eleven.”

“Nothing else, Guntram?” Albert asked, sensing that the boy was not totally forthcoming with them.

“He kissed me, twice. He said I should be nice or he would kill Alexei,” Guntram confessed. “I swear I told him I loved Konrad!”

“Albert, with all the drugs Guntram had in his system, he could have only spoken a few words, I'm surprised he remembers so much,” Goran interfered.

“I only know, Goran, that he was in a hotel room with his former lover and is in perfect health conditions while his bodyguard is in a hospital bed and two of my men are missing,” Albert rebuked the man, rising from his chair and coming to the bed. “Why were you in that place?”