Page 84 of The Devil's Ransom

He said, “Is that it?”

Drago nodded. Shakor looked back up the hill, to the houses higher that had car access. He said, “Why would having road access matter? Why no cars?”

“He wanted early warning before someone showed up to crash us. That’s all. It’s the reason he had the place in Split. No way for a car to roll right up.”

Shakor opened the door and got out, seeing the slope with the staircase spilling down the hill. He thought a moment, then said, “Because you could control anyone coming on foot?”

Shakor saw Drago’s reaction and knew. “You have early warning for people coming, don’t you? The people in that house can see us coming down?”

“No, no. It’s not that. Branko just didn’t like cars.”

Shakor bashed his head into the door frame and said, “I should kill you right now, but I’m not. Call them. Tell them you’re coming with friends of Branko.”

Drago looked left and right, then said, “I... I can’t call them. I don’t even know who’s there. We should just walk down and knock on the door.”

Shakor pulled out his pistol and slammed it into Drago’s cheek, ripping the skin, then grabbed his skull by the hair and bashed his head into the car door again. He said, “I’m sick of you trying to trick me. Call them.”

Drago cowered, a hand to his cheek. He felt the blood, and nodded, saying, “Okay, okay, okay. I’ll try.”

He dialed the phone, said something in a language that Shakor didn’t understand, and then hung up, saying, “We’re good.”

“What did you say?”

“What you wanted me to!”

Shakor didn’t believe him for a minute, but it was too late now. He should have specified the language before the call. But then again, the people in the house would have been on high alert if Drago had spoken in English instead of his native language.

A problem set he didn’t predict and now couldn’t stop.

He poked Drago’s back and said, “Let’s go. You first. I honestly don’t care if any one of them run from me, but if they alert Branko, I’ll hunt all of you down.”

His hands up, Drago said, “Nobody’s heard from Branko in two days. He’s probably not here.”

Shakor pushed him down the stairs and said, “That won’t work out well for you.”

They went past another building on the hill, the stairs snaking through the foliage, and then the upper deck of the house appeared below them, the stairs continuing to the coastline.

Shakor said, “Go ahead and knock. Let them know we’re here.”

Drago swallowed and went to the door, knowing what was going to happen. He rang the bell, and the door opened wide, the man behind it saying, “Come on in!” With a huge smile on his face.

Shakor pushed Drago to the side and smacked the man in the temple with his weapon, knocking him to the floor. His men entered, running through the place looking for Branko. An unknown man tried to flee down a stairwell and was shot in theback, his body falling forward like a doll, smashing into the stairs and rolling to the bottom. In short order, they found that Branko was not there.

Shakor found Drago cowering in a corner and said, “Where’s Branko?”

“I don’t know! I told you that. He lost his phone and has a new one. I don’t have his number anymore. He’ll come here. I promise he’ll come here.”

“You’d better hope so. Your life depends on it. Who is this fuck?”

Drago looked at his friend held by the man called Ghulam and said, “His name is Bogdan. He’s just the caretaker. He’s the guy who does the contract for our places. I scout them and he pays for them, coordinating for Wi-Fi and other things. We let him live here. He knows nothing.”

Shakor pointed at the body down the stairs and said, “Who’s he?”

“He’s a coder. Or was a coder. He built stuff for Pushka to use. When he designed the code, he was done. Pushka and Branko did the work after that.”

Shakor said, “Okay, then who can contact Branko?”

Drago shrank against a wall and said, “None of us. He contacts us, not the other way around. He pays our way, and we do what he says. We can’t contact him.”

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