Page 45 of The Nameless Ones
‘Why were they killed?’
‘Because they crossed a Serbian crime lord, or De Jaager did, and the others paid for it alongside him. A while back, a Serbian enforcer named Andrej Buha, sometimes known as Timmerman, was assassinated in Amsterdam. He enjoyed crucifying men and women, so he was no great loss. The deaths of these four people were revenge for the killing of Buha.’
‘What has this got to do with me?’ said Lackner.
But something in her tone told Angel that she already suspected the truth.
‘The man who ordered and supervised their torture and murder is Spiridon Vuksan. He’s one of your father’s clients.’
‘I don’t have anything to do with my father,’ said Lackner. ‘I have even divested myself of his name.’
‘I’m aware of that, just as I know that he sends you flowers on your birthday and a case of champagne at Christmas.’
‘You’re very well informed.’
‘I also know that you give away the flowers and champagne.’
Lackner gestured at the envelope and its photographs. ‘Wouldn’t you, under the circumstances?’
‘I don’t like champagne,’ said Angel, ‘and flowers make me sneeze. The point is that your father still cares about you.’
For the first time, Lackner looked worried.
‘Are you threatening me?’
‘No, not at all. We would like to use you, though – with your consent, obviously.’
‘Oh, obviously,’ she said, with enough sarcasm to turn honey sour. ‘I wouldn’t be used any other way. But I still don’t understand what you want from me. And who is “we”, by the way?’
‘My friends and me.’
Lackner glanced around the bar.
‘Are they nearby?’
‘No, they’re on the Continent.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Hunting down the men who did this, or trying to. We believe there are five of them, including Spiridon’s brother, Radovan. They’re in hiding. They thought they could kill these people before retreating to Serbia, where they’d be safe from retribution, legal or otherwise. They were wrong, but the situation remains fluid. We’d like to find them before the balance tilts in their favor.’
‘You specified retribution both legal or otherwise,’ said Lackner.
‘Yes,’ said Angel. ‘We would be the “otherwise”.’
‘Does otherwise include murder?’
‘I thought lawyers never asked a question to which they didn’t already know the answer.’
‘Perhaps I do know it.’
‘Then why ask?’
‘It would have been remiss not to,’ said Lackner. ‘And you want me to collude in this?’
‘Spiridon Vuksan has been slaughtering innocents since the last century, aided by his brother. He was at Vukovar, at Srebrenica, and a whole lot of other places I can’t spell or even find on a map, but I know what happened in them, and I know the part Spiridon and his men played in it. The law has largely failed their victims so far because it has its limits. We, on the other hand, do not.’
‘Jesus.’ There was neither bemusement nor skepticism on Lackner’s face now. She was a picture of misery. ‘And my father knows where these people are?’