by Tom Wood
‘What do you mean by that? How can I help you?’
‘You’ve been here before, haven’t you?’
‘How do you know?’
Victor said, ‘You escaped.’
‘For all the good it did me. When I finally made it back home they were waiting for me. I should have seen it coming. They had all my papers. They knew where I would go. It was so stupid of me to make that mistake.’
‘I had my pick of the women you arrived with,’ Victor said. ‘But the others were new. They hadn’t been here before, like you had.’
‘Why do you care if I was here before?’
‘Because I want you to tell me everything you saw the first time.’
She stepped towards him, finally daring to believe that he was being truthful and searching in that truth for how it might help her in return. ‘Why do you want to know what I’ve seen?’
Victor said, ‘The older man in the suit I was speaking to, do you know who he is?’
She nodded. ‘He’s in charge. His name is Rados.’
Victor said, ‘That’s right. I’m here to kill him.’
THIRTY-FIVE
It was a risk telling her, of course. But he considered it a calculated one. She was a prisoner – a slave – kidnapped, mistreated and raped. She hated her captors and was terrified of them, with good reason. He wouldn’t have long with her and he needed to gain her trust now. He had to sell her his idea fast and make sure she bought it. He couldn’t leave her unless she was on his side. He couldn’t risk her revealing anything to Rados or his men, which she might as a bargaining tool to procure better treatment. It wouldn’t make a difference, but she might be desperate enough to try. So he had to make an instant impression.
She stared at him for a long time: analysing his eyes; searching his expression; evaluating each and every word for subtext and hidden messages and for the possibility of deceit or trickery. He said nothing further, allowing her to process the information.
In the end, she could find nothing, so her response was a simple, ‘Why?’
‘There is no why,’ he replied, ‘not really. In most cases who lives and who dies comes down to nothing more than convenience. This is no different.’
‘And how will you be convenienced by that bastard’s death?’
‘It conveniences me only because it will convenience others a lot more.’
She understood, he saw, but she tried to hide it. She did not yet see him as anything more than an enemy, whatever he said. She needed convincing.
‘The other women,’ he began, ‘who were transported with you. Tell me about them.’
‘Why?’
He waited.
She said, ‘What’s to tell? They’re young. They’re going to fall apart. They’re not going to make it.’
‘They won’t survive?’
She shuffled and shrugged. ‘I don’t mean they’re going to die – I can’t know that – but this will break them. They’ll never be the same again, even if they’re one day set free or manage to escape like I did.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘They’re too young. Their lives have been too easy. They haven’t known any hardship. They don’t know how cruel the world is. They won’t be able to handle it.’
Victor nodded. She seemed to know what she was talking about, despite his evaluation that she had come from an affluent background. ‘And you’ve known that cruelty outside of this?’
She didn’t answer. Wouldn’t.
He gave it a moment before he said, ‘You said those other women are too young.’
‘Yes.’
‘Younger than you?’
‘Yes.’
‘Prettier?’
She hesitated, then said, ‘Yes, a lot prettier. Why does that matter?’
‘It matters only because I could have chosen one of them instead of you,’ Victor explained. ‘Any of them. Maybe even two of them. But I didn’t. I chose you.’
She sneered. ‘I don’t give a shit about your sense of charity.’
‘I didn’t do it out of charity. Trust me when I say that I’m not of a charitable nature. I picked you so you can help me. In return for your help, I’ll help you. I said before that it was simple, and it is.’
She was still suspicious, still confused. ‘How can I help you? I’m no one. I’m nothing.’
‘I’ve told you that too,’ Victor said. ‘I intend to kill Rados. But I know very little about his operations. I’m new here. I don’t have the time or the opportunity to learn everything I need to know. You’re on the inside too. You might find out something I can use to give me a shortcut.’
She didn’t respond.
‘I want you to find out everything about Rados you can. If he comes here, I want to know what time he arrived and how long he stayed. I want to know if he has other businesses and where they are. I need to know where he’s going to be so I can be there first. But be careful. Don’t do anything to expose yourself.’
She was staring, frown lines cracking the powder on her skin. ‘You really are going to kill him, aren’t you?’
‘That’s the only reason I’m here.’
‘And if I help you,’ she said, guarded and testing, ‘what will you do for me in return? You said you would help me. How can you help me?’
Victor said, ‘If you help me, I’ll get you out of here.’
‘How?’
‘I don’t yet know, and if I did I wouldn’t tell you. Not yet. Not until you’ve helped me first. Once I know more about Rados’ operation, I’ll figure out the best way to set you free.’
‘You’re only one man. What can you do alone?’
‘That’s a good question. You’ll have to take my word for it that I can do what I say I can do.’
‘What are you?’
‘A man with a job to do.’
‘You’re a killer.’
He nodded.
‘If I agree,’ she said, still unsure and guarded, ‘how can I trust you? That’s why I’m here. I trusted someone else. I fell for his good looks and friendly smile, his flattery and charm. It was all an act, but any attention is better than being utterly alone, isn’t it?’ Victor said nothing. ‘Deep down I knew all along that he was telling me exactly what I wanted to hear, but I was desperate. I’d been without hope so long, I needed to believe I was being offered a way out, a chance of a better life. And look where it got me. How will I even be able to find out anything that could help you?’
He said, ‘Don’t worry about that. Just keep your eyes and ears open. There may be some small detail that doesn’t seem important to you, but could make all the difference to me.’
‘Even if you’re telling the truth about your intentions, that just means you’re a piece of shit like Rados. How can I trust anything you say?’
‘You can’t,’ Victor said. ‘And I can’t trust you either. But that’s why we can help each other. We both have every incentive to help the other and a lot to lose for betrayal. Do you remember what happened the night you were brought to Belgrade?’
She hesitated as if she were about to say something, then nodded instead.
‘That’s good,’ Victor said. ‘You’re telling me nothing about that night and you’ve told me nothing before I asked. But I know a lot about that night. I know you spat in Zoca’s face. I know you were put in a shipping container with another woman while the rest were put into other containers. I know that you heard gunfire. I know when you were brought here the next day one of the youngest women had a broken nose and one who had come with you to Belgrade did not come here at all.’
‘She was killed. She tried to escape.’
‘I was the one who opened the shipping container. I told them to run.’
‘Why did you do that?’
‘I was improvising,’ he explained. ‘I was there to disrupt Rados’ business to bring him out into the open. I didn’t know how to reach him otherwise.’
‘Well,’ she said in a low tone, ‘it worked.’<
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Victor nodded. ‘Yes, Rados had Zoca beaten to a pulp and his men killed in punishment for their failure. He then hired me to replace his losses.’
‘Exactly as you had planned.’
He ignored the spite in her voice. ‘No, this was never the plan. I didn’t intend on ever coming this close to Rados. He wasn’t supposed to know I even existed. But now I’m here, I have to stay close to him, or I’ll never get another opportunity. Like I said: I’m improvising.’
Her eyes were half closed in disgust. ‘So it was your fault she died. You got her killed.’
‘Yes.’ Victor kept his feet pressed to the floor. ‘It was my fault.’
‘You’ve already got one woman killed. How do I know you won’t get me killed too?’
‘I can’t make any guarantees,’ he said, and she stiffened at his honesty. ‘But if you help me I promise I will do all I can to help you in return. I don’t make promises lightly. I’m still in single digits.’
It was the truth and he saw she believed him. But she was silent because now she had to make up her mind whether to risk helping him. He could feel her indecision trembling the air between them.
She said, ‘You haven’t asked my name.’
She was stalling but Victor let her. It had to be her choice. He couldn’t pressure her into being his ally with any hope the arrangement would work.
He said, ‘I have no right to ask something so personal about you. You can tell me if and when you’re ready to.’
‘Not yet.’
He nodded. ‘Think of my offer as this: either take your chances here with Zoca and Rados, or take your chances with me.’
Again, he saw the effect of his words. She diverted her eyes. ‘If I stay here I’m dead anyway.’
She had a survivor’s mentality. He could exploit that, but he also respected it. ‘Help me and you’ll be able to go home.’
‘I told you: they know where I’m from. They’ll take me back if I return there. I’m not planning to make that mistake again.’
‘I’m going to kill Rados. His organisation will fall apart without his leadership. There will be infighting amongst his senior people. Breakaway factions will form. It will be messy and it will be bloody. They won’t have the resources or inclination to worry about one lost asset.’
‘Assuming you’re right, I don’t want to go home even if I could. I don’t have one, not any more. Only a memory of a place that I used to know.’
‘Then you can go wherever you like,’ he said. ‘It’s a small planet, but it’s a big world.’
She was shaking her head before he had finished. She didn’t understand how such a thing was possible.
He said, ‘I know people. Clever people. Influential people. I can get you a whole new identity if you want. I have many of them myself. You can set up a new life, anywhere you can think of. Pick a country you’ve always wanted to see. You can live there. You can become a citizen. Start afresh, with this part of you left far behind. You’re still young. Your whole life is out there waiting for you to take it. Make a new home. And I can make sure you’re safe. I’ll make sure that no one ever hurts you again.’
She stared for a moment and he was as unsure of her as she had been of him, but then her bottom lip trembled and her unreadable expression faltered. Her eyes moistened and tears spilled down her cheeks.
She nodded her agreement, and wept.
He had no idea what to do, so he just stood and watched her cry.
THIRTY-SIX
Victor met Rados at his fight club. The fights were well underway by the time Victor threaded his way through the crowd. Former combatants recovered in one corner, bloody and bruised and acting like best friends. Others were gearing themselves up to fight later. Everyone else was watching two of Rados’ guys in the empty swimming pool. They were throwing punches. No one tried to kick or grapple.
‘They agreed beforehand,’ Rados explained. ‘Boxing only. A gentleman’s agreement between men who are not gentle.’
‘There is no honour in combat.’
‘Perhaps,’ Rados said. ‘But there can be once the fighting is over.’
Victor said, ‘You wanted to see me.’
‘No, I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to have to deal with men such as yourself. No offence.’
‘None taken.’
‘But I must. I need, if you will. The handover for that shipment I mentioned has been confirmed.’
‘When for?’
‘I’ll tell you details just before we go,’ Rados said. ‘But tomorrow.’
Victor had wanted more warning to plan and prepare in order to exploit the situation. Less than twenty-four hours was not enough time.
He nodded. He wanted to ask where it was occurring, but he saw Rados wasn’t going to tell him and it would only encourage mistrust if he persisted in asking questions when he shouldn’t need to know the answers. Success depended not on winning Rados’ trust – that was never going to happen – but assuaging his natural mistrust to such an extent that the Serbian would let his guard slip, if only for a moment.
A moment was all Victor needed.
Proving himself by overseeing tomorrow’s handover was a necessary step. If Rados anticipated a problem then so did Victor. Rados’ instincts seemed sharp, proven in battle and honed from years in organised crime. He was taking Victor along for a reason, and that wasn’t because he expected Victor to be a passive observer.
The two fighters in the swimming pool were exhausted but still throwing punches. Some were blocked. Most missed. Others found their mark, hurtful and damaging, but neither man had the ability or stamina to capitalise on such successes.
Rados, watching intently, said, ‘Do you know what you do if you don’t have the strength or the skill or the intelligence to succeed? You grind it out. You keep at it. You make up for your weaknesses with effort. Nothing more than rain and time are needed to bring down the mightiest castle.’
‘Perseverance conquers all.’
Rados said, ‘Do you like to take risks?’
Victor thought of Abigail at the Covent Garden Hotel. ‘Sometimes.’
‘A gambler?’
‘On occasions. Blackjack or poker.’
‘No roulette? No slots?’
He shook his head.
‘So you don’t like blind chance. You prefer to stack the odds in your favour.’
‘Doesn’t everyone?’
‘Not everyone knows how to. I think they’re called stupid people.’
‘If you’re stupid, how do you know you are?’
Rados smiled. ‘I like your evasiveness. I like that you make me work for what I want.’
‘Which is?’
The smile widened. ‘Ah, I’m afraid you’ll need to work for that too. I want you by my side tomorrow,’ Rados went on. ‘I want you there because the Slovakian buyers cannot be trusted. They’re brothers. Even for criminals they are a distinctly unsavoury pair. Individually, you would not want to spend any degree of time with them. Together, you would cross the street to avoid sharing the same air. They are, quite literally, the worst of the worst.’
‘What are their names?’
‘Their names are unimportant. You should know that better than most.’
Victor nodded. ‘Have you dealt with them before?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘Then why are you now concerned about their trustworthiness?’
‘Because we think in the short term. Tell a man to choose whether you’re going to cut off his finger now or cut off his hand tomorrow and he’ll choose the latter every time. Why?’
‘Survival. Instinct. We have no choice but to think in the short term because tomorrow is uncertain.’
‘Are you familiar with the hierarchy of needs? It is something I utterly believe in. We are not designed for the modern world. We are designed for the wild. We take pills for depression because if our brains are not occupied by working out how to get food, how to find water, how to avoid da
nger, then what is there to think about? Inconsequence. Take a man out of this thing we call civilisation and throw him on to a deserted island and see if he still worries about his advancing waistline and how he’ll spend his time in retirement.’
‘I’m not sure what you’re saying,’ Victor said.
‘I’m saying this will be my third deal with the Slovaks,’ Rados explained. ‘The first two deals were amicable, but if their purpose had been to gain my trust so that they could betray it for greater profit, they would act now. Only a rank amateur would attempt to rip me off on the first deal.’
‘And your guard is still up for the second deal.’
Rados nodded. ‘Naturally, but it is more a case of what the other side believes. They are criminals so they are lazy, if not stupid. Instead of trying to understand how I operate, in their laziness they believe I am no different to them. And by the third deal they would trust the person they were dealing with, and hence become complacent in their defences.’
‘Instead, you’re bringing me in as an extra layer of defence.’
‘Almost. You’re new. You weren’t present at the previous two deals. This will unnerve them. They will wonder who you are and why you are there, and this will throw them off their game. Not only that, you will be a useful second pair of eyes. Like me, you see things before they happen. You set up the Beast perfectly and did what no one else had done, all without breaking a sweat. I recognise the significance of that, even if you brought your loyalty into question by acting against my wishes. However, I shall forgive that transgression if you prove yourself during the deal. While I handle the Slovaks, you can watch their men. If this deal is bogus then you will know it.’
‘Your own men can’t do this?’
Rados considered his answer. ‘My men are loyal and fearless, they would willingly lay down their lives for me, and I in turn trust them with my life – just as the Emperor of Constantinople trusted his Varangians to guard him night and day. But he did not entrust them with military strategy. I too know the limitations of my Varangians.’
