Page 101 of The Devil's Ransom

I said, “Yep. I originally thought Branko knew something about this Bactrian Treasure that the Afghans could use to find it, which is why they were chasing him. Now I think he actuallyhadthe treasure and did something with it. He hid it and put that tag on it.”

Veep ran the Find My app, went to items, and saw one labeled “Demon Seed.” He said, “Look at the name. Clearly, Branko didn’t want much to do with that thing.”

“Where is it?”

Veep worked the app a little bit, then said, “Believe it or not, it’sin the middle of a national park. Someplace called Plitvice Lakes. It’s back to the north.”

“How far?”

“About five hours away.”

I said, “Pack it up, we have to go. They might be on the way to the treasure right now, and when they find it, they’re going to kill Branko. Leave the bodies where they lay. Veep, you’ve got lead. Take us to that tag.”

Knuckles said, “What are we doing?”

“I’m sick of chasing those guys. They have Branko, but they want something else, and I want to own that something. Like they’re fond of saying, I’m going to make the mountain come to Muhammed.”

Jennifer glanced out the window of the door, saw we were clear, and opened it, saying, “That’s not the quote. You butchered it.”

We raced back up the stairs with me saying, “Maybe I’ve invented a new quote. Ever think of that?”

Chapter58

Driving the car full of Afghans, Branko saw headlights through the rain and recognized the turnout he was going to use. He pulled over to the side of the road, cutting the lights, the windshield wipers still beating time inside the car.

Shakor said, “What are you doing? Why did we stop?”

“There’s a car in my parking location. I don’t know who it is, but they can’t see us. Going in behind them is asking for questions. We’re basically breaking into the park.”

“Who are they? Police?”

Branko turned around and said, “How in the hell would I know? All I see are headlights.”

Shakor slapped him in the mouth, and Branko regretted letting the words escape his lips. He already had a black eye from the goon named Ghulam. The guy was a sadist who wanted nothing more than to torture any infidel he came across.

After he’d evaded Shakor in the Cave Bar, Branko had slipped the net once again, this time going to the Dubrovnik old town, to a bar he knew had Wi-Fi and an escape route. He’d had the taxi drop him off at the eastern gate and then had sprinted up the various stairs until he was sitting next to the cliff. His plan was to wait about eight hours, until the bar closed, giving the Afghans plenty of time to search, and then leave the area. He hadn’t thought there was one chance in amillion they’d find him at the bar, but just in case, this was a perfect location.

The shock of seeing Shakor coming toward him was absolute, something he couldn’t at first reconcile in his brain. When he did, he immediately went into fight-or-flight mode, focusing on the flight part. He couldn’t fathom how they’d found him, and as he ran down the stairs, he saw Bogdan going the other way, up the stairs to the entrance. From that, he assumed it had just been a wild guess, with the Afghans torturing Bogdan to tell them where he liked to visit in the city.

They might have found him, but they wouldn’t capture him.

He’d leapt off the top wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and Teva sandals, hitting the water and surfacing, completely confident that he’d escaped. So much so he’d taken the time to tell Shakor to fuck off with his finger, and then had stroked as fast as he could to the landing around the point. He’d reached it, climbed out of the water, blending in with the rest of the people in the water and on the rocks, then jogged inside, chuckling to himself at his own genius for escape. This had been what? The third time? The fourth?

He’d gone through the bar area and entered the old town through the city walls, thinking about his next moves. He could call Andrei, but wasn’t sure how to tell him that his entire team had been killed. Andrei might not take kindly to that.

He’d decided to flee back to Serbia, using the credit card Andrei had given him until it was cut off. Which meant he’d need to purchase tickets within the next few hours. Along with clothes and a new phone. He’d been running through the next steps, walking fast down a narrow alley that was more like a tunnel, when something had slammed into his head with the force of a pickax.

He’d hit the ground, rolled over, and saw Ghulam standing above him.

How?How did they keep finding him?

He’d been forced out of the old town at the end of a barrel and had met Shakor on the street. Shakor had simply smiled, saying, “Waiting on a car. Good of you to join us.”

Branko had said nothing, glancing back at Ghulam, who he was sure wanted to kill him just for being an infidel. A vehicle had arrived and he’d been told to take the wheel. He did so, with Ghulam in the passenger seat and Shakor directly behind him. Shakor had said, “Take us to the treasure, right now.”

He’d said, “Okay, okay, okay. But if I do, you’ll let me go? I don’t care about that treasure. I’m sorry I ever brought it here.”

Shakor had leaned forward and whispered in his ear, saying, “If you don’t, your death will be very, very painful. That’s what you should be thinking about.”

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