Page 90 of The Nameless Ones
‘Why don’t you stay awhile?’ said Jennifer, and her eyes were entirely black. ‘We can play a hurting game.’
But Zorya was already retreating across the bridge. Vienna reappeared around her, the city emerging as though waking from a dream of itself, and her chin was red with blood.
Chapter LXXII
Angel killed the call with Frend and detached the little CV-C voice changer from the cell phone. He could have used an app, but he preferred the CV-C because he knew for certain that it worked. He was of a generation that trusted the physical, and he regarded as deranged anyone who kept their most valuable personal information as data on a mobile device. Angel didn’t even like people knowing his name.
His conversation with Frend had been relayed to Louis over the speaker. They’d been forced to give the lawyer time to come back to them with the information they required, because Frend claimed not to know the location of the Vuksans’ hiding place. He had, he said, elected not to be privy to such knowledge in order to shield himself and his family. It was an arrangement that also suited the Vuksans as it placed an additional layer of separation between Frend and themselves. It was all about protection, Frend said.
‘This can end happily for the Vuksans or for you,’ Angel had told him, ‘but not for both. It’s a simple choice: Who do you care about more, your clients or your daughter?’
‘You know the answer,’ the lawyer replied. ‘Don’t harm her.’
‘Are you ordering me?’
‘No, I’m asking you, as a father. Please don’t hurt her.’
‘That’s out of my hands. She’s being held in England by our colleagues, while we’re a lot closer to you. If you go to the police, she dies. If you try to fuck us over, she dies. If the Vuksans kill us before we kill them, she dies. There are a great many outcomes that can end badly for her, but only one that ends well.’
‘I understand,’ said Frend.
‘I hope you do, because it won’t be quick for her. They’ll take their time, and they’ll record as they go, so you’ll have a permanent record of the event.’
‘I’ll do all that you ask,’ said Frend. ‘I promise.’
According to Frend, he had provided the Vuksans with a list of discreet and expensive rental properties looked after by agents who specialized in selective blindness, one of its symptoms being that they could see only the color of money. With Frend as a reference, the Vuksans would have experienced no difficulty in securing accommodations.
‘I need to make some calls,’ said Frend. ‘Some of the agents will be difficult to contact after hours. I may not be able to talk to them until morning.’
‘You have until noon tomorrow.’
‘That might not be sufficient.’
‘It will be,’ said Angel. ‘I have faith in the depth of your paternal affection.’
Louis slid a piece of paper in front of Angel. On it was written Girl/Hendricksen?
‘How many people do the Vuksans have with them?’ Angel asked Frend. ‘And be careful how you answer. If you miscount, and it costs us, it’ll add a very painful hour to the otherwise short span of your daughter’s life.’
‘One man,’ said Frend, ‘as far as I know.’
‘“As far as I know” isn’t the right answer.’
‘I’m trying to be honest.’
‘Try harder.’
‘Yes, it’s one man, just one.’
‘What’s his name?’
‘Zivco.’
‘Second name?’
‘Ilic. But there’s another, too.’
‘You said there was just one man,’ said Angel. ‘Don’t give me a reason to start doubting you before we’ve even properly begun.’