Page 53 of The Nameless Ones

‘I don’t think I’ll ever sleep under this roof again,’ she said. ‘I hope you realize why.’

‘I do,’ said Frend, and recognized the irony of using these two words upon the dissolution of a marriage. Now that she was leaving him at last, he desired only for her to stay. He was not so unhappy with Mina as to prefer a life without her, and he knew that Radka would ultimately forsake him. ‘I don’t wish I was a better man, but I do wish I had been a better husband.’

‘You cannot be one without the other. We should both have come to terms with that a long time ago.’ She sipped her gin. ‘Does she make you happy?’

‘Who?’

‘The woman you fuck when you’re not with me.’

He thought about the question.

‘Sometimes, but there is always guilt.’

‘Even for you? I’m surprised.’

‘Even for me.’ He felt empty and weary. ‘If I survive this, I believe I will conclude the relationship. All things considered, I’d rather embrace solitude.’

‘That might be best for everyone.’ She stood. ‘I suppose I’d better start packing.’

‘Where will you go?’

‘I was thinking of London. I could see Pia.’

He shook his head – ‘I wouldn’t’ – and the look he gave her made the reason clear.

‘Jesus,’ she said.

‘There is only a small chance.’

She stared at him for a moment before throwing the contents of her glass in his face.

‘Listen to yourself!’ she said. ‘A “small chance”. This is your child you’re talking about!’

He used a clean dish towel to wipe away the gin.

‘I know that, which is why we have to stay away from her.’

Mina placed the empty glass on the table and leaned toward him.

‘If anything happens to her,’ she said, ‘I’ll kill you myself.’

Mina had an old friend, a widow, who lived in Kufstein in the Tyrol. It was a pretty town, and her friend would welcome the company. Frend provided Mina with €20,000 in cash from the safe and advised her to avoid using her credit card or making withdrawals from ATMs.

‘How long?’ she asked, as she waited for a taxi to arrive.

‘A week, I should think, or just a little longer.’

In truth, he did not know. Perhaps it would never end, or not as long as the Vuksans remained alive.

‘What about you?’

‘I cannot leave the city,’ said Frend. ‘I have obligations. I’ll move to the apartment above the office.’

The first two floors of the building were rented to a security firm, which had also paid to have a vault installed in the basement. In addition, the firm had assumed the lion’s share of the cost of double security doors at the front and back entrances, and at least one of its staff was on monitoring duty 24/7. The firm did not specialize in personal protection, but Frend was sure that it might be in a position to recommend someone should he choose to engage a short-term bodyguard. He would advise Fräulein Pichler to take a trip to visit her sister in Helsinki, with all expenses covered. She would require no explanation, and would know better than to ask for one.

Frend thought that if Kiš and Stajic decided to come after him in Vienna, it would be as a last resort. Vienna was not Belgrade, no matter how many Serbs might be employed in the city. By escaping from Serbia intact, Frend had bought himself some time. Now, he hoped, Kiš would restrain Stajic while they waited for the Vuksans to make their next move. If Kiš could not, Frend had a card he might yet play.

The taxi appeared. Frend placed his wife’s bags in the trunk.

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