Page 44 of Obsession

Vulin shook his head adamantly. “I had no idea. If I’dknown...” He turned back to Novak. “I’m so sorry. You can do anything you want to me, but my brother and his wife, my nieces. They’re innocent. Don’t let them die because of what I did.” He grabbed Novak’s hand. “Please. He’ll kill them.”

It took a moment for Novak’s shock to subside. When it did, he pulled his hand free and took a step away from the bed. Vulin kept his eyes on him, wordlessly pleading his case.

Teddy snapped his fingers to get Vulin’s attention. “When did you put the drive on Mr. Novak’s desk?”

“Six oh seven p.m. That’s when I was told to do it.”

“Six oh seven precisely?”

“Yes.”

“By Janic?”

“No. By the man who gave it to me.”

“Describe him for me.”

Teddy assumed Vulin would describe the man who’d broken into his suite, but the guy Vulin had talked to was not the same. Vulin’s contact was balding and had a broad face. The man from Teddy’s suite had hair almost long enough to pull into a ponytail, and his face was narrow, almost gaunt. So, definitely not Teddy’s intruder. But the description did bring to mind someone else.

Teddy pulled out his phone, brought up a picture, and showed it to Vulin.

“Yes. That’s him. That’s the man.”

Teddy turned the screen so Novak and Mori could see. The picture was the enhanced still of Rebecca’s car leaving the flower shop. The man who’d given Vulin the thumb drive was the same man who’d driven the Mercedes away.

“Stay here,” Teddy told Vulin. “Your room and the rest of the house is being watched. If you try to run, you won’t get far.”

“Where would I go?”

Teddy motioned for Novak and Mori to follow him out of the room. He didn’t say a word until they were behind the closed doors of Novak’s library.

“I assume Zoran Janic’s related to the Leon Janic you mentioned before?”

“He’s Leon’s older brother.”

“Why would your friend’s brother want to kidnap your wife?”

Novak slumped onto one of the couches, his head falling into his hands. “Because he thinks I killed Leon.”

“Why is that?”

“Leon and Zoran were nothing alike. Zoran is vicious and mean, has been from birth. He was already in a gang when I met Leon. He loved to brag about the people he beat up, about the money he’d forced others to give him. Leon was nice and funny and kind. They were almostcomplete opposites, but despite how different they were, they loved each other.

“One trait they did have in common was that neither was afraid of anything. Leon pushed me to try things I would have never done on my own. He taught me how to take risks. In a way, he’s more responsible for the man I’ve become than anyone else. But his fearlessness was also his downfall.”

Novak rubbed his temple. “One day, Leon talked me into exploring the ruins of an old factory. The place had been heavily damaged during the war. The area was off-limits for good reason, but we were young and stupid.”

He started to say something, then had to stop as his eyes filled with tears. It took another few moments before he was able to go on. “Leon stepped on a land mine that should have been removed but hadn’t. He survived the explosion but was in a coma for five days.” He looked at Teddy. “At 6:07 p.m. on the fifth day, he took his last breath.”

That solved the mystery of why the messages were arriving when they did.

“I still don’t understand why Zoran blames you.”

“He believed—still believes, I guess—that it was my idea to go to the ruins. That Leon would never have been so stupid. He almost killed me back then. Would have if others hadn’t stopped him. He vowed to make me pay. Toprotect me, my parents sent me to live with my aunt and uncle in London. Zoran hasn’t tried anything in all the years since then. I had thought he’d come to his senses or, at the very least, forgotten about me. But I guess he was only biding his time.”

He stared at the floor, then nodded to himself and looked at Teddy again. “I need to ask for another favor. Is that something I should talk to Mr. Barnett about?”

“He’d only call me, so go ahead.”

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