“I know the layout already. I lived there.”
“Things change. She might not be in the same house that you were. Just be careful.”
“I’ll try.” Natalia hoped she’d have the patience to heed his advice.
“He is a coward, you know. The biggest coward I ever met. I don’t think I mentioned that before.”
“Who Zigic?! I don’t think so. Maybe he changed since you knew him.”
“No, it’s true. He acts like a tough guy, abusing the weak and the powerless, but put him in danger and you’ll see the real Goran Zigic. You’ll see the Goran Zigic who cowers in fear like a child. Worse than a child.”
“I find that hard to imagine.”
“You haven’t seen him under fire, with tears streaming down his face, snot running from his nose. You haven’t seen him pissing in his pants.”
Natalia tried to picture it. “I haven’t seen that, no, but I think I’d like to.”
“Just realize, his cowardice makes him unpredictable, and that makes him even more dangerous.”
“If you’re worried that I might underestimate him, don’t. I know exactly what he’s capable of.” Natalia leaned back against the headrest, thinking of Zigic lying in a foxhole, pissing in his pants. The image gave her a small measure of strength. In the back of her mind, she’d always thought of him as invincible. She didn’t see him that way anymore. The man she was going up against had a weakness. If at all possible, she would find a way to exploit it.
By dawn they were back on a paved highway, driving through Romania on the way toward Bucharest. “You should get some rest,” Multinovic said. “Go in the back if you’d like, I have a blanket there. You can make some space and lie down.”
“Yes, I am very tired.” Natalia disappeared into the back of the truck but returned a moment later with the blanket, curling up beneath it on the passenger seat and closing her eyes. She kept them closed for several minutes, but she couldn’t keep the disturbing images from flashing through her mind. Zigic carving her open with his knife. Dusan writhing on the ground. Rita disappearing over the horizon in a black SUV. Her father’s blood-soaked body. Natalia’s eyes sprang open. She pulled the blanket up and over her shoulders, trying to think back to better times. She saw her father as a young man, chasing his daughters around the village square, always letting them stay one step ahead. It was a rare playful moment for him, but one that stayed with Natalia. She would carry it with her always, deep inside her heart. “Do you mind if we listen to some music?” she asked.
“You can try the radio.”
Natalia pressed the power switch and then scanned through the dial, passing some news reports in Romanian that she couldn’t understand and a heavy metal rock station before finally stopping on the sad strains of a solo violin. “Is this all right?”
“Fine.”
Resting on a console between them was a pack of cigarettes. Perhaps they might calm her nerves. She lifted the pack and then pressed in the knob on the truck’s lighter. “Would you like one?” she asked.
“Sure.”
When the knob popped out she lit two cigarettes with the glowing coil and handed one across. “Why do you sell weapons to terrorists?” It was a question that had bothered her for months but she’d been afraid to ask.
“How do you know they’re terrorists?”
“Aren’t they?”
“One could argue that the PKK are simply fighting for their liberation. You could say they are patriots.”
“The PKK?”
“Kurdish separatists.”
“I see. And what of your other customers?”
Multinovic took a long draw on his cigarette, his silence demonstrating his displeasure. “War is a dirty business. I’m the first to admit it, but sometimes people deserve the chance to fight back. You’re the perfect example of that, are you not?”
“But what about Ukraine? You told me yourself that you sell to both sides there. How can you do that? How can you profit while these slaughter one another?”
“None of this seemed to bother you before.” He was obviously perturbed.
“I just want to understand.”
“Remember, I didn’t choose this life. It was forced upon me by circumstance.”
“Everyone has choices in life. I’m sure there are plenty of other things you could do.”
Multinovic looked at her sidelong.
“Forget it,” she said. “Forget I even mentioned it.”
They drove in silence for a while before he spoke again. “You’re right, everyone has choices,” he admitted. “Mine haven’t always been the best.”
“So why don’t you make a change? It’s not too late.”
“I am trying.”
“What do you mean trying?”
“I haven’t had a new shipment in months. Maybe you noticed, the crates in my place slowly disappearing. A going-out-of-business sale you might say.”
It struck Natalia that without the business he would no longer have any reason to stay in Drosti. No reason at all. That realization left her unexpectedly wistful. “What will you do next?”
“I hadn’t worked that out exactly. I owe a visit to my mother. Beyond that… time will tell.”
“When will you go?”
“Soon.”
“Were you going to tell me?”
Multinovic took his time in answering. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to. I thought you’d be the one leaving first.”
“Why would you think that?”
“Because, there’s no future for you in Drosti. You deserve so much more.”
“I could say the same about you.”
“At least I’ve come to accept it. I’ll be honest, you’re the one who made it obvious how pathetic my life had become.”
“Ha!” Natalia laughed. “Somebody had to.” From the dim light of the dash, she could just make out a smile cross his lips. She took a last puff on her cigarette and then cracked her window to flick it out. She closed her eyes again, this time concentrating on the sounds of the music. Natalia would miss Multinovic when he left, if she made it back alive herself. She felt as though they were partners, so comfortable with one another that she could tell him anything and ask anything in return. He made her feel safe, and never so much as when he’d held her in his arms. What they’d shared would always be with her and that would have to be enough. At this point, however, her future didn’t matter. Neither did her past. All that mattered was bringing Rita home.
After some minutes, a heaviness began to overtake Natalia. When she opened her eyes again, it was unclear how much time had passed. The early light of dawn lit up the eastern sky as they drove through a quiet rural town not unlike her own. “How long was I asleep?”
“A few hours. We’ll stop here for a short break. We need to eat.”
“I can drive.”
“After we eat.” Multinovic pulled up to a small, non-descript restaurant and parked the truck around the back. They entered through the rear and Multinovic chose a table by the door. Two older men with bushy gray moustaches eyed them from another table in the center of the room. Multinovic pretended not to notice, but Natalia knew he saw everything. He never missed a detail, but he also did his best not to draw undue attention to himself. In a town so small, this was impossible, Natalia knew from experience.
A round woman in her late 50’s ambled to their table with menus in her hand. “It’s been some time.” She placed the menus on the table.
“Two eggs, sausage, bread,” Multinovic said briskly, “and a coffee.”
“The same for me, please,” said Natalia.
“You’d like your bread toasted?” the woman asked.
“Yes, please,” said Natalia.
The waitress picked up her menus and walked into the kitchen.
“You told me not to follow patterns. Always vary your routine, you said.”
“Do as I say, not as I do. This place is as far as I can drive without a break and besides, there ar
en’t a lot of options around here.” The waitress reappeared with two cups of coffee on a tray. She placed them on the table with a bowl of sugar and a small container of milk.
Natalia looked around the restaurant at the faded, peeling paint and the grime worn into the tables and chairs. After a short wait, the waitress brought out two plates of sausage and eggs along with a basket of toast, some butter and jam. Multinovic wasted no time digging into his food. Natalia cut a slice of sausage and blew on it twice before easing it into her mouth. It was only when she’d tasted it that she realized how hungry she really was. It was her first real meal in a day and a half.
By nightfall they were back on another ancient dirt track, with Multinovic behind the wheel again in his night-vision goggles. He flipped them up long enough to check their position on his GPS. “Welcome to Bulgaria,” he said.
“How much farther do we have to go?”
“We meet the boat at midnight. Three hours more and I’ll be rid of you,” he tried to make light of it.
“You know you’ll miss me.” She didn’t admit that her stomach was tied in knots. Three more hours. After that, the decisions would be all hers. The smallest miscalculation could be catastrophic, but she couldn’t dwell on that. She had to believe in herself to succeed. Natalia just wished she could let Rita know that help was on the way…
As midnight approached, Natalia felt like that small child she’d been so long ago, on the way to school and about to be dropped off into the unknown for the very first time. Multinovic was her friend, her mentor, her protector. She was loathe to leave him behind. When he finally pulled over they were on a small rise overlooking the sea. “This is it.” He checked his watch. “We’re a few minutes late.”
“Is that a problem?”
“I hope not.” He hopped out of the truck and walked around to the back. Natalia met him as he opened the rear door. She unzipped her bag and took out her full-length grey overcoat, putting it on to repel a damp, cold breeze coming off the water. Feeling around inside the bag she found her dark Russian hat and put that on as well, pulling the flaps down over her ears.
“What if the boat is gone?” she asked.
Multinovic picked up the bag and closed the door. “Follow me. We’ll find out.” He led her down a dirt path in the moonlight, through a grass field and then a small clump of trees before they emerged in a small cove. On the far side, shaded from the moonlight by a low cliff, Natalia thought she could make out a shape on the sand, though it could easily have been a large rock. They moved across the beach and Multinovic gave a low whistle in two bursts. He was greeted by three bursts in return. As they drew closer, Natalia saw that the shape was a black inflatable boat resting at the water’s edge. Standing beside the craft was a stocky man in dark all-weather gear with a pair of night-vision binoculars in one hand.
“Gregor!” The man greeted Multinovic with a bear hug. “I was beginning to think your luck had run out.”
“Never,” Multinovic answered. “Natalia, meet Luca.”
“So this is your cargo?” Luca sized up Natalia. In return, she tried to get a read on the man, but in the dark it was nearly impossible. She could tell that he had dark curly hair and a trim beard. His demeanor seemed lighter than she’d expected for a man of his profession. He had an energy about him suggesting that he enjoyed his line of work, as though it were all a grand adventure.
“I’ve got a few other things for Vadim. Come, give me a hand,” Multinovic said to Luca. “Natalia, you stay here with the boat.”
She waited alone on the beach while the two men went to the truck. All was quiet but for the sound of a few small waves washing up and down the sand. Natalia pulled her coat around herself tightly in an attempt to stay warm. Riding in this open boat, she realized, was not going to be easy. After a few minutes, the men returned with a crate and loaded it aboard. Natalia placed her duffel bag on top. When everything was lashed down, the three of them pushed the boat backwards into the sea. Luca hopped on board first and lowered dual props into the water. “Come on!” he called to her and then fired up the engines. Natalia climbed aboard as the props caught and the boat backed away from the beach. Luca spun the craft around and then dropped both gears to forward, gunning the throttle. Natalia held on tightly, watching Multinovic’s figure as he hurried along the shore. Before he disappeared into the brush she saw him stop and look up, raising a hand to wave farewell. She wondered if she would ever see him again.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Natalia held tightly to a line along the gunwale as they bounced across a churning sea, saltwater spraying over the bow into her face and soaking her coat and pants and hat. She ducked her head low into the wind. Beneath her, stretching the length of the boat, were tightly-packed burlap bags. Whatever was inside them, Natalia knew that if they were caught by the authorities she wouldn’t see daylight for a very long time. Her life was in the hands of this man she’d never before met and who she could barely even see in the darkness. All Natalia could do was hold on and hope for the best. “How long will the crossing take?” she shouted over the roar of the engines.
“Three hours!” Luca shouted back. “If we have no problems!” He reached under the steering console and pulled out a plastic tarp, tossing it to her. The wind tried to tear the tarp from her hands as Natalia unfolded it, but she managed to wrap it around her body, providing some extra protection. She scanned the horizon. It was only darkness but for the lights of one ship churning northwards in the distance. “Oil tanker!” Luca yelled. “Not a problem! It is only the small boats we worry about, but even then they’ll never catch us! We’re too fast for them!” Natalia could just make out his grin; a row of white teeth gleaming in the moonlight. She wrapped the tarp more snugly around herself and curled up on the heaving bundles beneath.
By the time he eased back on the throttle several hours later, Natalia was completely numb below the waist, her legs cramped and tingling, her entire body shivering from the cold and wet. As the craft slowed, she saw the dark outline of a rocky coast just ahead. Luca pulled out a small light and flashed it three times. A return signal came back from the shore and he held his night-vision binoculars to his face.
“This entry is a little tricky. I suggest you hold on.” Luca gunned the throttles, sending the boat straight toward a low rock shelf. At the last possible moment he raised the props from the water and Natalia bounced into the air as the boat went up and over, coming to rest in a shallow, protected pool. Three men emerged from the shadows, wading toward them through thigh-deep water. Luca shut off his engines and jumped out to meet them. He grasped the hand of one man briefly before all four went to work unloading the cargo and carrying it ashore.
Natalia unlashed her own bag and took it by the handles. She lowered herself over the edge of the inflatable into the frigid water, hoisted the heavy duffel on one shoulder and trudged toward dry land. When she’d climbed onto the rocky shore, she dropped her bag at her feet and watched the men work, carrying in the crate and then one bag after another until they were finished.
“End of the line!” Luca said to Natalia as they set the last bag down beside her.
“But, where am I?” she asked.
“They will take you from here.” Luca nodded toward the others before wading through the water and hopping back into his boat. The three men helped push the craft backwards over the outcropping and into the sea. When he was clear of the rocks, Luca started up his engines again and just as quickly as they’d arrived, he was off.
The others paid Natalia little attention, though she couldn’t help but feel uneasy, here in the dark on a deserted shoreline with three nefarious strangers. She reached into her bag and retrieved her pistol, tucking it into her waist. Two of the men continued hauling the bags up a small hill while the third pulled out a cigarette and lighter. Natalia saw his rough, unshaven face in the yellow flicker of flame. He pocketed the lighter and turned toward her in the darkness, the red tip of his cigarette glowing as he inhaled.
“Sigara?” He held out the pack.
“No,” she replied. “Thank you.” She followed him up the hill and over to the other side, where the two others were loading the cargo into an old van. There were no other signs of life in any direction. She hoped this was Turkey at least, though she could not even be sure of that.
When the last of the contraband was loaded, Natalia put her duffel inside the van and then climbed in after, taking a seat on the floor. The men sat three across a bench seat in front. No words were spoken as they drove off, bouncing across yet another rough dirt road. Before long they hit a paved highway and when the ride smoothed out, Natalia took off her hat and slid out of her wet jacket and shirt, placing the pistol beside her. She unzipped the duffel and felt inside with one hand until she found a mostly dry shirt and a sweater. She pulled these on and then retrieved a dry pair of pants, socks and underwear. When she glanced up, Natalia saw one of the men in front, head turned as he watched her in near darkness. “Do you mind?” she asked in English. He didn’t answer, or look away. Another of the men reached back and pulled a curtain across between them, giving her some privacy. Natalia took off her shoes and wet pants. With her dry clothes on, she tucked her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her knees, so exhausted that sleep called to her, but Natalia could not take that chance. She was far too vulnerable. Instead, she rocked back and forth, trying to stay awake until they reached their destination, wherever that might be.
It was early morning when the van stopped moving. Still awake but completely exhausted, Natalia didn’t react until the curtain separating her from the front seat was suddenly yanked open. The van’s driver, a man with dark hair and a scraggly beard, climbed into the back and reached around her to open a side door. “Out,” he said. The two other men still sat in the front seat, staring back at her vacantly. In the light of day, she saw them clearly for the first time. One was just a kid, rail thin and not more than fifteen years old. The one who’d watched her the night before. The man beside him could have been his grandfather, with a wrinkled face and grey hair.
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