Page 74 of The Devil's Ransom

I wanted to throw the phone into the wall. I shouted, “He’s dead? After I told you guys he was under threat? Seriously? The guys that were shooting at me tonight were the ones who did it, and you want me to let that go?”

“Pike, we don’t make policy. We are the instrument of policy. Don’t go there. You were right, but honestly, there was nothing we could have done differently.”

“Bullshit. There was plenty we could have done differently. Just look at Afghanistan right now. Don’t give me some political crap.”

“Pike, I hear you. Now you hear me: Put the fear of God in that guy and let him go, then you pack up and come home. You stopped the ransomware and you saved Jahn and his niece. Call it a win.”

Anyone else, and I would have told him to go fuck himself, but George Wolffe had seen the beast from the inside out, and I believed in him. Something he knew. Sometimes you just had to swallow the sour milk, knowing another fresh quart was coming.

I said, “Okay, sir. I’ll execute. But this is really not the right thing here. Those bastards deserve to die.”

He said, “I know, I know. I’m sorry.”

I hung up and said, “Tell Veep to get that guy back out here.”

Knuckles said, “What are we doing?”

“Scaring the shit out of him, then letting him go. You want to play bad cop?”

He said, “Oh, yeah. I’m good at that.”

Chapter42

Branko saw a man giving him a little bit more attention than he felt he deserved, making him skittish. He left his seat in the main room of the ferry and went outside, going up to the top deck. The wind began whipping as he climbed the stairs, threatening to blow off the ballcap he was wearing. He clamped it on his head and glanced behind him, seeing nobody. He walked to the outside bar on the aft of the ship and bought a large Heineken, then continued to the very back of the boat, the sun warm against his face, seeing the blue water churned up by the propellers. He glanced behind him, but saw nobody paying him any attention, and took a long pull of the beer.

Last night had been trying, to say the least. He’d managed to flee from the men chasing him by dropping through the ancient secret entrance to Klis Fortress, but the fall had left him bruised. He’d tumbled down the hill and then had flagged a car on the lower road, claiming some calamity that the people in the car seemed to believe. The driver had taken him to the city proper and dropped him off just outside the ferry terminal. He’d had nowhere to stay, and thought about going to the operational cell like he had the day before, but didn’t dare. If they’d found him in the hills, they most assuredly knew about the house in the old town.

He’d bought a ticket on the ferry to Korcula, and then had spent the night inside the ferry station, lounging on chairs likedozens of other patrons, only snapping awake whenever someone new entered the area. At six in the morning the ferry had boarded, and he’d walked aboard mixed in with every other person doing a day job on the island. He’d been convinced that they’d followed him even here, his eyes darting left and right looking for swarthy men—but he really had no idea who “they” were. The entire event was disconcerting, not the least because he had no allies to help him. He was being hunted by predators and had no idea why.

He took another pull of his beer, keeping a wary eye on the people around him, and then felt his phone vibrate with a call. He pulled it out of his pocket, didn’t recognize the number, and thought about just shunting it to voice mail. He didn’t.

“Hello?”

“This is Nikita. Where are you?”

Branko felt relief and trepidation at the same time. He said, “I’m on a ferry to Korcula. They attacked our safehouse. I barely made it out alive.”

“The box?”

“It’s safe. I didn’t have it there. It’s safe, I promise.”

“I need more than your word. Make no mistake, I’m here to protect you, but only because of what’s in that box. If it’s gone, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Nikita, it’s well hidden, but the next attack is in play. Andrei needs to know that. Pushka put it operational with Sphinx before I was attacked, and I can’t get in touch with him. I’m on the run and there will be no way for them to turn it off without me. No payment, no relief. And it’s a big one.”

“I don’t give a shit about any ransomware. Where are you going?”

“I told you. I have an apartment in Korcula. I’m going there. I needed to get out of Split because everyone is trying to kill me. Idon’t know who they are, but they keep talking about a treasure. First in Zagreb, now here. I’ve lost control of my ransomware cell. Pushka is still there as far as I know. He won’t answer his phone, but he embedded the next attack.”

“This attack is happening now?”

“No. It’s on a timer. He talked to Sphinx—the guy who gave us the code. I never got a chance to confirm because someone was trying to kill me.”

“Honestly, I don’t care. I have my orders. I’m here for one thing: the treasure. When does your ferry dock?”

“Wait, what?Yousaid treasure now. That box is full of diamonds or something?”

Nikita said, “Shut the fuck up and answer my question. When does the ferry dock?”

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