Page 26 of The Nameless Ones
Louis wasn’t so sure. These were hardened men, with military as well as criminal backgrounds. It would take a great deal of pressure to make them turn on one another.
‘You already sound like you’re trying to talk me out of what I came to do,’ he said.
‘I don’t believe I’m capable of doing that. I’m just suggesting that there may be alternatives.’
‘Not if they return to Serbia.’
Hendricksen conceded with a shrug. The Serbian justice ministry adjudicated extradition requests on a case by case basis, generally linked to political relations between Serbia and the country in question. Relations between the Netherlands and Serbia were good, the Dutch being supporters of Serbian efforts to join the European Union. But extradition proceedings could drag on for years, even with the political will to facilitate them, and that was before one took into account the possibility of corruption. The Vuksans had money, and a degree of influence. If they managed to embed themselves in Serbia, the brothers would be long dead before anyone got around to signing their extradition papers. There was little purpose in putting a corpse on trial, and cadaver synods were only for popes.
‘Still,’ said Louis, ‘the first step is to find them.’
‘Finding them will be time-consuming,’ said Hendricksen, ‘and expensive.’
‘We have money.’
‘Very expensive.’
‘Lots of money.’
‘Well, then,’ said Hendricksen, ‘perhaps it won’t be so time-consuming after all. Money, I find, hastens progress.’
Behind them, Angel woke, stretched, and stared out at the flat landscape.
‘If I was rich and lived here,’ he said, ‘I’d build a mountain and declare myself king.’
‘If you lived here, everyone else would leave,’ said Louis. ‘Anyway, you think that’s how royalty works?’
‘Pretty much,’ said Angel. ‘I’ve read books.’
‘You know, he has a point,’ said Hendricksen.
‘Don’t tell him that,’ said Louis. ‘He’ll start believing he has more of them.’
‘When I’m king,’ said Angel, ‘I’ll outlaw golf.’
‘Is that all?’ said Louis.
‘Golf, cell phone conversations taking place anywhere near me while I’m trying to read, and using “action” as a verb.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ said Louis.
‘No,’ said Angel, ‘he’ll be okay.’
‘You gonna be lonely in this kingdom of yours?’ said Louis. ‘Because I can’t see you being inundated with subjects.’
‘No,’ said Angel. ‘You’ll be there.’
‘You think so?’
‘I know it,’ said Angel, and went back to sleep.
Chapter XXV
The Vuksan convoy, now reduced to two cars, had paused at the Raststätte Donautal in Passau, just northeast of the Austrian border. There the men sat outside eating German sausage and fried potatoes, and drinking pilsner beer, all except Radovan, who kept himself apart while he made a call to the lawyer Anton Frend. The two men spoke for fifteen minutes, but although a lot of information was communicated, neither took notes. When they were done, Radovan made a second call, and this time wrote down an address. He then removed the SIM card from his phone, destroyed it, and replaced it with another.
Spiridon wiped the grease from his fingers as his brother returned to the table.
‘What does the lawyer say?’ said Spiridon.