TS 2 Part VI Chapter 7 Part II

Chapter 7.  Part II

October 22^nd , 2010

Khanty Mansyisk

“Hey, wake up, dormouse,” a very amused Constantin shook Guntram gently awake. “You have been sleeping for more than twelve hours.”

A still dazzled Guntram opened his eyes and sat on the bed, finding Constantin partly laying on his side of the large white bed with his head supported by his arm. Konrad was laying on his back while the man gently caressed his tummy with long circling moves, making him turn his head toward him.

“What time is it?” Guntram asked and picked his baby in his arms and cuddled him.

“Almost eleven. I let you sleep long today. It was too much excitement for you yesterday. I've been playing with Conor since eight in the morning and he's getting tired now. I thought that maybe you wanted to give him his bottle before we put him to bed till lunch time.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you, Alexander,” Guntram answered and took the already prepared bottle from the man's hands. 'How does he always know what Konrad needs?' he wondered when the baby happily started to suck the teat.

“Conor is a very nice boy,” Constantin said with a mix of sadness and longing. “I never saw my maids clean so much the upper floors just to take a peek at him. These women were already fighting to carry him in their arms,” he chuckled, watching the baby rest comfortably in his father's arms and he spoke to him very softly in Russian, slightly touching his forehead.

“What did you say?” Guntram asked.

“That he's a good baby. He should start to learn Russian. You should teach him English as that's what we speak. If you add Spanish to the list, learning to speak will be very complicate for him.”

“Do you really like him?”

“Of course, I do. I love my children very much. Leaving them behind was very hard, but I know that Maria Ingratievna will look after them and they will lead respectable lives in the future. Sofia is successfully studying Fashion Design at St. Martin's and Constantin asked to be accepted in Oxford for studying law. I swear to look after Conor and you.”

“Do you miss them much?” asked Guntram with his eyes fixed upon his child's peaceful face.

“Everyday, like you also do. But this was for the best and I'm sure their lives would be better than if they were with me. As parent you only want the best for your children and nothing else matters. I had Sofia when I was a bit younger than you are and she stole my heart with her big black eyes, just as this little one has done a few days ago. Some men prefer their first born to be a boy, but a girl is a hundred times better. They always stay with the father whereas boys send you to hell at some point and start their own families. You can always shoot down the idiot who's after your daughter, too,” he added with a grin and Guntram smiled back.

“I like him just as he is. I had no idea you missed your children so much, Alexander.”

“I also had my own selfish reasons to have Conor, angel. I did want to pamper a little one looking exactly as you do. I need to have a family that I can love and look after,” he said very seriously, looking at Guntram directly in the eye till the young man smiled shyly and looked down.

“If we have a girl looking like you, my angel, I should think about buying a bazooka after she turns twelve years old. The line of suitors could reach St. Petersburg,” he added with a malicious grin and Guntram laughed, most of his concerns about Constantin's jealousies of his child erased.

* * *

October 28^th, 2010

Zurich

Usually the Serbs always preferred to have lunch in a small restaurant slightly away from the financial area. They always used the same table and had the same waiter, becoming irritated when the slightest thing was changed. Goran always was taking the seat against the wall where he could see all the room. Milan's eyes dominated the kitchen door and Ratko the windows. Mirko had gotten the place that Guntram used to have when he was still at the university. As usual, lunch was a silent moment as each man only minded his dish.

“Goran, may I leave early today? At three o'clock? Schmidt can replace me.”

“Why is that?”

Mirko took a deep breath before he answered. “I'm meeting a real estate agent. I want to move to a larger flat. Mine is too small.”

“You only sleep there,” Ratko commented, feeling a bit curious about his cousin's change of heart.

“I'm moving with Fedérico to a larger flat. We can share the rent and have more space,” Mirko said very slowly and the three men gaped at him.

“The Argentinean?” Milan slowly articulated the word, still not recovered from the shock at hearing the news.

“The same. He's moving to Zurich to take Larsen's position. He was fired from the Service because of a mess with some drugs cargo. He tipped the DEA and they intercepted the plane in Madrid with the local police's help. About seven hundred kilos of pure cocaine from the Russians. For some reason, the Americans never told the Argentinean authorities they were going to do it,” Mirko said as a matter of fact. “I think it was his revenge against Repin's former allies in the country. He did it right after he got the job here.”

“Do you know he is...” Milan started to ask but Goran cut him off abruptly.

“Playing the music too loud?” Goran said very sternly, fulminating his friend with his dark eyes. “It was impossible to be in his car.”

“He promises not to do it any longer,” the young man defended his friend, gulping nervously. “We want to try to live together.”

“Well, finish your lunch and go, pup,” Goran said affably. “You're going to need to see many real estate agents before you find one good. All of them are real crooks.”

“Thank you, Goran,” Mirko said very quietly. He returned to his food and finished it in two gulps before he escaped from the table to the safety of the streets.

The three remaining men looked at each other in a gloomy way as the waiter served the dessert.

“We should have told the pup that the Argentinean is gay,” Ratko whined. “Maybe he doesn't know. He's a bit silly for such things.”

“Mirko can look after himself. If he doesn't like it, we bury the pieces at the usual place,” Milan shrugged as he attacked his dish.

“Are you telling me that my cousin is...??” Ratko gaped at him. “No way!”

“On the way back through the jungle, they got “lost” three or four times. Strange that Mirko never got lost with any of us nor the Argentinean too. Did he get lost with you, Goran?” Milan asked playfully.

“Never,” Goran growled.

“No way! He likes girls!” Ratko protested emphatically.

“When have you seen him with a woman that is not mandatory?” Milan asked.

“That's because he's practically a monk! We should have put him in a monastery after the war!”

“Milan, Ratko, that's enough. It's none of our business,” Goran barked. “Let them be. It could be just a phase. They have said nothing and we are not going to ask like meddling old women. Is that clear?”

Both men nodded and returned to their food once more.

“My mother is going to kill me when she finds it out,” Ratko mumbled gloomily, getting the pills against heartburn out of his breast pocket and swallowing one.

“They don't tell, we don't tell,” Goran repeated sternly. “The pup needs to settle down. He's too lonely and is still young.”

“Look who's talking,” Milan chortled. “We should get someone for you.”

“I'm fine as I am. I need no one,” Goran said very dryly.

“A nice woman, that's what you need. You like them and like children. Why don't you settle down with one? There are very nice girls around in the bank,” Ratko suggested. “There's a new girl in Human Resources who's quite a dish.”

“Where would I put a woman in my life?” Goran tiredly answered. “Do you think anyone could understand the way we live? You are very fortunate Ratko to have a good and discreet woman as Mirjana. Do you think I could take care of someone? First, I lost Pavel and now I lost Guntram. I did try my best, but everyone I care for ends up dead. Do you think I want to repeat the story with the mother of my children? I have no place in my life for a woman.”

* * *

November 2^nd, 2010

Geneva

“Some people believe that a visit from the Summus Marescalus is a bad omen,” Michel Lacroix said as he sat on the seat in front of the sombre man, occupying one of the chairs in his largest meeting room.

“It all depends on their consciences,” Goran answered shortly.

“What can I do for you, Mr. Pavicevic?”

“I need some information you failed to provide us.”

“I gave you everything I had on Repin! Could you find anything?”

“No, all was a dead end. In Latin America and here.”

“Then I don't know what I could do for you.”

“What made you decide to yield Guntram to this man? We have checked all your accounts and there's nothing that could indicate me that you may have received money. It must have been something very big.”

“He was going to kill Lintorff for me. Happy now?”

“Lying to me is a stupid idea, Mr. Lacroix. I could finish you off before your precious men would be here,” Goran said relaxing his body in the chair. “I suggest you to tell me the truth. What was it?”

“Lintorff was bad for my son.”

“Last chance,” Goran's voice was like an acrid whisper as his eyes shone in a feral way.

“A child.”

“A child?”

“Repin would allow Guntram to have an offspring, something Lintorff never allowed.”

“That could make things much easier,” Goran mumbled. “Did he explain you how he planned to obtain the baby?”

“No, probably Repin would get a woman for Guntram.”

“Did he offer the baby to you? It would have been a fair exchange; your son for a heir for your line.”

“No!” Lacroix protested outraged. “I wanted that Guntram to have what he had dreamed all his life; a real family.”

“You are more foolish than I thought if you believed for a minute that Repin would have let Guntram to have a baby. Competition? Repin hates any kind of concurrence. This is another dead end.”

“Are you going to give up?” Michel asked horrified.

“The Duke is getting tired of all this. He also needs a closure. It's been more than a year since Guntram's kidnapping. The logical thing is to assume he's already dead, sir,” Goran said dispassionately. “I am tired of disposing bodies.”

“You swore to find him!” Michel shouted.

“We all have limits, Mr. Lacroix. We are human after all. Good afternoon.” Goran said and left the room, walking in a straight line toward the street.

A sleek black Audi parked in front of him and Goran opened the passenger seat's door. At the wheel was Milan and he grinned at his friend. “Did you have fun at the devils' house?”

“A lot. We need to find a baby.”

“A baby?” The other asked shocked as he drove the car away from the law firm.

“Yes, that's what Repin had in store for Guntram.”

“Do you have any idea of how many babies are robbed and sold per year? A fair one could be easier to track but it's going to be impossible,” Milan said as he stopped in front of a red light.

“No, nothing phoney. I'd bet my head that Repin would get a real child from Guntram. Someone who looks exactly as him.”

“Sure Goran. Repin would let a woman come near Guntram and he's going to produce a baby under such circumstances,” Milan smirked.

“Artificial insemination and it must be done in a country which accepts single parents, like our Duke did.”

“Fine, but he can also hire a couple to say the baby is theirs and then keep the child, so it could be done everywhere. Besides, Repin couldn't have fooled the Americans so easily.”

“It's a better start than the perfume bottle. We have to look for those clinics which are not so clean and not in the States! Think of Greece, Russia, Argentina, Colombia or Spain! It's not a difficult technique and can be done everywhere.”

“Do you have any idea of how many clinics or couples with fertility problems are in the world? It's impossible what you're asking!” Milan whined.

“Am I the only one who uses his brain around here? Don't check on the couples! Check on the clinic owners, managers and directors who have money problems, like drugs or betting issues. Use the Komturen for that!” Goran roared, frustrated to no end as he was also realising that it could take years before he would get a single reliable clue.

“I'm still thinking Repin did it the nice and legal way and we are totally screwed up, Goran. We might have a better chance with the perfume thing,” Milan sighed.