Petersburg.”
“I'm not going back! Why can you not understand it? I don't love you and I don't want to live with you! I want to stay with Konrad and help him to raise his children!”
“Ah, that's what he has offered you. Sharing his children with you. Orphans do anything to be a part of a family, but what if I could offer you the same, but with your own people? Nothing “borrowed” as Lintorff does.”
“I have no family left! Only one uncle, but I know nothing about him!”
“When you were a small child, you had a plush animal. A brown teddy bear from Steiff. Chocolate colour with a red ribbon as tie. Your father gave it to you when you turned two years old. You named it Jacques because of the children's song you loved so much. You and the bear went everywhere together. The bear had belonged to your father before and he gave it to you under the promise that you will look after it. You kept it till you turned twelve and gave it to your lawyer's daughter because she liked it very much.”
“How do you know that?”
“Your lawyer decided to save the bear from his daughter,” Constantin continued with the story without flinching, “and sent it back to a member of your biological family.”
“That's impossible! I know no one of them and the Guttenberg Sachsen hit my lawyer with the door on his face! He never could contact my uncle Roger or his family!”
“I thought you might like to have your bear back. This person gave it to me so I could return it to you,”
Constantin said, knowing that the seed had been planted. He rose from the bed and went to his cupboard, opened it and took a large box. “I'm told that it's a collector's item nowadays, this bear was made in 1915 and has been in your family for some time. It belonged to your grandmother and she gave it to her middle son, Jerôme.” He placed the box on Guntram's lap and urged him to open it. “Jacques still keeps his tie,” he said kindly.
“Who gave you this?” Guntram said without touching the box lying on top of him.
“I'm afraid that I can't tell you. This person is on the Order's black list. Lintorff would be most interested to shed his or her blood. To protect his or her physical integrity, I must keep his or her identity a secret. You can't tell what you don't know, Guntram. This person approached me, truly worried about you when he or she heard that you were in the Order's hands and would like to see you away from them. Guntram; they killed your own entire family!
Forced your father to commit suicide and took everything you had! Your family owned a small size bank in France, lands and two factories!”
Still in shock, Guntram opened the box he had to stifle a gasp when he saw the familiar form of his old teddy bear. The sound of the silk paper being moved was not enough as to cover the sound of his ragged breathing.
Automatically, he turned around the bear's tie, and there it was, his name written in a tag, exactly as his father has done it so many years ago, so he wouldn't lose it in the park or the school. With great care, he took the plush animal from the box and caressed in awe, all the memories of his time with his father rushing through his mind.
“You can take it with you, if you want.”
“Who's he? Is it my uncle?”
“I'll show you when you come with me. Here it's too dangerous.”
Guntram saw an envelope addressed to his name, with the familiar handwriting he knew from the bear's tie. 'No, it can't be! My mind is playing tricks on me!' He took it and looked at Constantin who only raised his eyebrows. With great care, he broke the red seal, with the Crenel cross over it. Inside was only a piece of paper and a small flat key. He opened the letter and there was only “Bank St. Lazarre. Geneva. 157-903-0054 GF” written.
“What is this?”
“A safe box in this bank. It does not belong to the Order or is associated with them. Masons since many generations. You told me once that you loved a Bronzino drawing that was in your bedroom and it was a copy. Well, it was not. It belonged to your grandmother and she gave it to your father and he to you. Before he left you, he replaced it with a copy and hid the original in that safe box, along with some family jewels and gold bullions. He never told your lawyer about it because he wasn't sure about the man's good intentions. It remained a secret and I believe that Nicholas Lefèbre would have contacted you to hand over the key in your 25th Anniversary. Your relative believes that you're old enough as to have it now. The safe box is under your name. You only need the key and your passport to open it. Come, take it with you. See if Lintorff lets you go as far as to Geneva to check the truth of my words. The picture must be the one you remember and it's very valuable as it's clean and catalogued.”
Please Constantin. Is it my aunt?”
“I would keep the key and the paper a secret, Guntram. The minute Lintorff finds out its existence, he will never believe that you have nothing to do with your family any longer. He will kill you for lying and launch a real hunt over them. His paranoia has no limits, angel. You were there and know perfectly well that Morozov started a war with him so he would kill me. He even used you to pit me against that crazy German. He almost destroyed all my fortune because he thought I was betraying him! And we only were business partners. Imagine what he would do to his official bed partner! Is it true that you sleep in his own bed?”
“Konrad would never hurt me! He loves me!”
“His bad temper is legendary, dear. Have you forgotten the stories Massaiev told you? The Hand of God Sword and so on?” Guntram paled as he remembered it. “I will return you to him tomorrow morning. Aliosha can take you back to San Capistrano. You must rest now a little before you leave.”
“Where are my bodyguards?” Guntram felt a strong pang of fear in his stomach.
“The Italians out and the Russian, just for old time’s sake, still in one piece. Now, tell me, what were you doing today in the Vatican?”
“Let me go now!”
“Answer the question, angel. I'm making a supreme effort to keep my temper in check after you have told me in my face that you fuck that monster!” Constantin used a very low voice. “You're in one piece yourself because I'm perfectly aware that you're irreplaceable. I know that if I touch a single hair from you or just make you nervous, you could drop dead. Once you return to me, be certain that I will not be so lenient with you as I was in the past!”
“I was in a meeting with two Cardinals. One of them, D'Annunzio commissioned a portrait of Cardinal Molinari Righi for the Cardinals Gallery in the Vatican. I worked on this during the previous two weeks and today I showed them the art concept and they approved it. It will be made in oil and should be ready before February 2006.
The sketches are in the portfolio I was carrying tonight.” Guntram spoke at full speed as Constantin aura of cold hatred was foreboding something very bad.
“Good. You see how you can nicely speak to me, angel? It's just a matter that you get used to it once more. At least we know that you can also return to your activities in the bedroom and that's very good for us.”
“The doctor said…”
“Yes, I know, with two days rests between exercises. Lintorff is an anal retentive bastard, but he's not so crazy as establish the tight schedule of fucking you every third day as it's so usual nowadays. I can also live with that.
It's better than none. Can you do it twice in a row?”
Guntram went livid and shook his head negatively. “Pity. I'm sure you will understand if I take another lover to compensate the lost time. Mikhail Petrovich will continue to look after you as in the past. He appreciates you, Guntram. Now tell me, how's your career progressing? You study with this Ostermann.”
Guntram was too afraid to answer and breathing once more raggedly while his mind only repeated 'he wants you back, he wants you back,' “Snap out of it! I had enough of your panic attacks!” Constantin yelled at him and shook him from the shoulders before he would plunge into the well-known dark abyss he had escaped from only a few moths ago.
“I met a man in Sylt, Andreas Volcker. H
e wants to include me in an exhibition next December in Berlin.
Only four pieces. One of them is already sold to the Vatican too. A Madonna made after some charcoals of a woman and her baby I saw in the countryside at your Estancia. All of them liked it and want to include it in the collection. It's a great honour.”
“It's a real achievement indeed, Guntram. I always knew you had talent. I was looking at your portfolio, while you were sleeping, and you have changed. It's much better than before. More intense, without all the restraints you used to have. Before you were obsessed to get all the details in the picture, now you only draw what you consider essential and leave the rest to the imagination. You stopped to try to prove that you could draw and now you go along with your creation. What did D'Annunzio say to you?”
“Not much, only that he liked it because the Madonna was full of Grace and that one of his secretaries said that he had felt the same he had when he saw Fra Angelico's frescoes,” Guntram repeated without hearing what Constantin had just told him. “Please, don't force me to give it to you, Constantin.”
“Of course not, but I will like to see the others in advance. You should not waste this chance you have.
Ostermann is highly respected in the artistic circles.”
“He's my manager now. Takes fifty percent of the final price. He's an excellent teacher and mentor.”
“And they say that I'm the mobster! Robertson was only taking thirty-three percent and I believed he was almost like a greedy pimp!” Constantin chortled. “At this rate, you will have to paint the Sistine Chapel again before you see some money!”
“I'm still learning. It will take years before I paint something worthy. I need more discipline according to him and he's right. How can I break something if I don't master it totally?”
“It's a way to see it. Hard but good. All right, angel, you look very tired. I'll leave you to rest. Tomorrow, after breakfast you can go.” He bent his body over Guntram's and the boy closed the eyes in fear, but Constantin only kissed him with care and tenderness on his forehead. He caressed his cheek once more and smiled when the youth opened his eyes again, shocked by the delicate touches, a sharp contrast with the violent jerks or the possessive strokes he had received. “You see, my angel? Isn't this way much better than what we endured in London with all those goons around you?”
Guntram only nodded, wishing that Constantin would go away. Without thinking it, his hand clutched the teddy bear and its soft fur made him realise something else. “Constantin…”
“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 l
ook 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.
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