Page 9 of The Nameless Ones

‘You should give it another try,’ said Angel. ‘She was a singular young woman. Listen to this: “I am not trying to justify myself for stealing. I do not consider it a thing that needs to be justified, any more than walking or eating or going to bed.”’

‘You ever consider telling that to a judge?’ said Louis.

‘It never crossed my mind.’

‘If it ever does, I recommend that you bite your tongue.’

Angel looked at him from over the top of his spectacles.

‘You seem distracted,’ he said.

‘I’ve got a feeling, like something scratching at my brain.’

Angel let the book close, but used a finger to mark his page. He knew better than to utter some platitude in reply. When Louis was disturbed like this – and such instances were rare – clouds were gathering. It was not a psychic ability, or any form of sixth sense. It was simply a function of Louis’s instinct for self-preservation, and linked to his predatory capacities. It was an atavistic response that had, in recent years, extended itself to encompass all those under his protection.

‘Are we in trouble?’ said Angel.

‘No,’ said Louis. He thought for a moment. ‘But someone is.’

Chapter VII

De Jaager was seated in another hardbacked chair, this time in the larger of the upper bedrooms. His hands were restrained behind his back. The room contained two iron-frame beds. Anouk was tied to one, Liesl to the other. Both women were gagged and both were naked. Two men that De Jaager had not seen before now, and whom he did not recognize, were standing beside the beds. Each had a knife in his hand. There were marks on the throats of the women, probably where the blades had been held to keep them quiet.

Radovan Vuksan had declined to remain in the room, returning instead to the kitchen. Music was coming from below. Radovan had turned the radio up loud and De Jaager could hear a late Schumann song, one of the lieder for children, rising through the floor. Perhaps Radovan had even chosen it deliberately, playing it through the Bluetooth system via his phone, as though an idyll of childhood might permit him to evade the reality of what was happening above his head.

Now Spiridon spoke in Serbian and one of the men by the beds began to remove his clothing, because skin was easier to clean than fabric. The other, younger, hesitated before arguing with Spiridon, who scowled in response but appeared to assent, however grudgingly. The younger man remained clothed and stepped back. Ilic displayed no similar reluctance and was already stripping.

Spiridon stood over De Jaager. In his right hand he held a sharp pair of meat scissors.

‘You’re going to watch this,’ Spiridon told De Jaager. ‘You’re going to watch every minute, because you caused it to happen. If you turn away, or close your eyes, I’ll cut off your eyelids.’

De Jaager looked into the faces of each woman and tried to communicate feelings that would have been beyond the power of speech even had he tried to use words. Both were terrified, but Anouk displayed defiance alongside fear. She had not asked him to avenge her husband’s death at the hands of Andrej Buha, but when informed by De Jaager of what he planned to do, she had held him tightly and blessed his name.

‘There may be repercussions,’ he had told her. ‘For all of us.’

‘I understand,’ she had replied. ‘But if it were in my power, I would kill them all, just to be certain.’

I should have listened to her, De Jaager thought. We should not have stopped at Buha.

The men moved onto the beds. Against their gags, the women began to scream.

Chapter VIII

Angel woke in the night to discover Louis seated by the window. He had an ancient flip phone in his right hand, one of many he kept as throwaways, and was opening and closing it repeatedly. It was this noise that had roused Angel.

‘What time is it?’ he said.

‘After midnight.’

‘Who were you going to call?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Louis. ‘Everyone?’

Angel got out of bed and stood beside his partner. He ran a hand through Louis’s graying hair.

‘Whatever it is, we’ll find out soon enough.’

‘Yes, I suppose we will.’

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