TS 2 Part VI Chapter 21

Chapter 21

May 17^th, 2012

Zurich

John parked the Porsche in the underground parking with a heavy heart. “Are you sure about this? Maybe he's working at this hour. If one of my employees tells me that someone...”

“Please, John, don't make it harder than it is. I have hundreds of doubts but he has to see me once more. You don't know the whole story behind our breakup,” Guntram said slowly.

“Don't you want that I take the little one for a ride? What if he's nasty to you? After all, it's his workplace. Can you not go to his house? I still think you should have warned the guy in advance...”

Guntram placed his fingers over the man's lips and sadly smiled. “You're my first option,” he muttered.

“It doesn't make me feel better, Fedia. I think even after this two weeks you never gave me a chance to prove you what a great guy and perfect for you am I. Heck, we are perfect for each other.”

“I know and I'm terribly sorry for this. I have no words to apologise to you,” Guntram muttered. “I wish I could have loved you but we would never be more than friends and we have to split our ways now. My boyfriend would never understand why we are friends.”

“Hey, staying together was my idea! Don't sweat over it.”

Guntram smiled and kissed him on the lips. “You're a great guy, John. I'm really going to miss you.”

John watched how Guntram released his sleeping baby from the seat and wrapped him over a small blanket to place him over his right shoulder. “Wait! I'll go with you,” he said.

“Thank you. It's just around the corner.”

“All right.” John buttoned his trench coat up ready to face the cold morning.

Both men climbed up the concrete stairwells in complete silence and Guntram felt his heart cringe when they emerged in the bustling Bahnoffstrasse. He tried to swallow but his throat was dry and the hammering of his heart numbed his ears. He took two steps backwards to let a group of young girls, dressed as secretaries and briskly walking, pass over them.

Still holding Conor, like a lifesaver, he turned around the corner and decidedly walked down Börsenstrasse the two blocks to the familiar turn of the century building and contemplated the caryatids guarding the upper floors. As usual, two men were discreetly guarding the crystal door. “It's here,” he whispered and stood frozen in the opposite pavement.

“Here? This is a private bank.”

“Yes, Lintorff Privatbank,” Guntram answered with his eyes fixed on the two towers of bodyguards already looking at the two pedestrians standing directly in front of them.

“Private banking means you have to have an account there if you want to enter. This is not a normal bank. This is only for VIPs. Come, Fedia. You should make an appointment with the guy before you go in there. There's no way you can....” John started to tell but the words died in his lips as Guntram simply crossed the street, ignoring him. “Shit!” he cursed. 'Those gorillas are going to eat him alive,' he thought and ran after the young man.

Both men stood to attention but blocked the entrance, greeting him in German.

Guntram watched them a bit puzzled because the right words to answer them in German eluded him. “My name is Guntram de Lisle. I'm here to see the Duke or Mr. Pavicevic,” he said in English, sounding a bit mousy.

“Do you have an appointment, sir?” One of the mountains sneered, obtrusively looking from head to toes the small young man, informally dressed and carrying a bundle in his arms. 'An anarchist punk. They're everywhere nowadays'. “Without one, I can't let you in.”

John rushed to Guntram's side and heard the last part of the sentence. “Fine, we'll make one,” he said in a hurry, already feeling the “bad vibes” coming from both bodyguards. “Let's go home, Fedia.”

“You are new to this position and you don't know me. Ask the receptionist, Clara or better, call the Duke's private secretary, Mrs. Monika Dähler,” Guntram continued to speak, recovering part of his courage and ignoring John's words.

“What was your name?”

“Guntram de Lisle Guttenberg Sachsen and I'm here to see Mr. Pavicevic.”

Both men gaped at him incredulously and at each other. “We were not informed of your coming, sir and without a previous appointment...”

“Should I list the names of all Mr. Pavicevic's team members? Get one of them, if you don't believe me.”

“Mr. Pavicevic is not here. Leave your name, phone number and we will call you back.”

“Yes, that's right. Let's go home, Fedia. I'll give you one of my cards.” 'He's worst than I thought. Guntram? That's not his real name!'

“Your friend is right, sir,” one of the men snarled. 'Punk! Does he even comes here with bundle of clothes? These anarchists are crazy.'

The door opened and a young secretary came out of the building. Guntram didn't recognised her but he took advantage of the bodyguards' moment of inattention caused by her tight skirt and stilettos, to enter in the building.

Both men ran inside, followed by John, already cursing Guntram for being so impulsive. 'Is he crazy or what? This is a fucking Swiss private bank! They're going to fry him for breaking in!'

“Sir, I have to ask you to leave the premises immediately.” One of the men said through gritted teeth. “We will call the police if you refuse to do so.”

“There's no need for that. Fedia, don't be stubborn. You gonna get your boyfriend in troubles. Let's go and you can phone him later.” John intervened quickly, watching how the big men were threateningly looming over Guntram.

“Do your work and ask one of the secretaries. One at the fifth floor would be the best,” Guntram barked and for a second both men looked abashed.

“Show us an identification,” one of them said.

“I don't have one,” Guntram admitted a bit disoriented. “I can give you my account numbers and passwords.”

“Get out, punk!” The larger one shouted and pushed the large bundle in the young man's arms, mistaking it for a package.

The momentum of the blow made Guntram drop the baby to the floor and he began to cry at the top of his lungs, terrified and hurt with the fall. Both bodyguards remained frozen as a baby was the last thing they had expected to see.

Their moment of shock and inattention was all what Guntram needed to jump on top of the man who had hurt his child. The images of that night, when Korsakhov had hurt his baby rushed to his mind and it went blank with rage. He grabbed the man by the hair and bent his neck to an impossible angle at the same time he kicked him on the back of the knees to make him kneel. The giant tried to defend himself but he felt a knife piercing his neck.

“Move and your blood will spray up to the roof. It's not my first time,' Guntram hissed very calmly as his child continued to wail in the floor.

John watched in horror how the young frail man he had been with had transformed into a killer. He knew very well that look as he had been once mugged by a junkie and he had bore the same maniac glint in his eyes.

“Hey, kid,” he tried rising his hands to the air. “Let's talk things over. You don't want to do this.”

“Get Pavicevic,” Guntram growled to the man pointing at him with a semi-automatic weapon. “And remove the safety if you want to shoot me.” He was only looking at his two opponents and nothing else mattered for him. To show them that he wasn't bluffing, the knife cut the skin deep enough as to make the neck bleed. “I'm very close to the artery. It's your choice. Ratko taught me this.”

The man dropped the gun, knowing that the other teams would soon arrive and rose his hands to the air in defeat.

“Pick Konrad up, John,” Guntram asked him without leaving his prey and the American did his best to hush the frightened child, clutching him against his broad chest.

John's heart froze when he saw a thin red light crossing the room to place over Guntram's head.

“Are you getting so old Milan that you need a laser guide to know where to aim?” Guntram asked without turning his head to the heavily armed men running into the foyer. “You were never that fast. He'll be dead before you can shoot. It's me, Guntram.”

“Guntram?” Milan asked in disbelief but lowered his weapon and the others imitated him.

“Dachs?” Ratko asked, looking at the small figure that was almost choking to death the 'new idiot from the German Army'. “You're going to kill the man. Let him go,” he said softly and lowered his weapon, confidently walking to where Guntram could see him well.

“Get Goran,” Guntram ordered, after briefly glancing at the dark haired man, without relinquishing his prey. “I know all of you very well. Don't say a word to the others or call the police. The Duke's children's lives depend on this.”

“Is that really you?” Milan asked again, fighting against his shock. “It can't be!” he added but he shouted something in Serb to the young bodyguard standing next to him and he left in haste.

For some very long minutes, John felt his heart stop as he watched the four remaining men in the room; Guntram, the bodyguard and the two smaller men, keeping their distance from the boy. The dark haired newcomers had dropped their weapons and looked at Guntram with great curiosity.

Another dark haired man, dressed with a very expensive suit entered in the room and stood in front of Guntram, almost not breathing as he watched him, slowly breathing, unable to believe his eyes. “Pavel,” he could only utter and Guntram removed the knife from the man's neck and released him.

“No, it's me, Guntram, my brother,” he said very softly.

Without thinking Goran launched himself to the youth and hugged him as if he could not believe that he was standing there. The other two Serbs joined them but waited for Goran to finish squeezing Guntram.

“Hey, you're going to break his ribs,” Ratko said softly in Serb, but Goran didn't hear him, holding his little brother in his arms.

“We are getting jealous too,” Milan added and slightly tapped Goran's shoulder.

The poor German bodyguard stood up and looked at the ever silent Serbs become all mushy and sentimental with the insane punk. He looked at the tall American man, standing also in shock, with the baby in his arms, and realised that he also had no clue of what was going on.

Guntram felt almost suffocated by Goran's bear hug and slightly pushed him away. “Hear me well, brother. Repin is after Karl and Klaus. You have to isolate them before they are hurt. There's a traitor inside the house. Do it before you call the Duke,” he said with a broken voice.

“Where were you all this time?”

“I'll tell you later, but ask Mirko, Milan or Ratko to get the children out of school. No one, not even my cousin should be near them until you find the traitor. Repin had photos of them from inside the castle and told me he could poison them if I was nasty to him. Don't waste your time and trust no one but the Duke or Friederich.”

“Who's the traitor?” Goran asked.

“I don't know, but it's someone close. Please take them out of the castle and do it now.”

“Milan get Mirko and take the boys to the Battistini princess house. Don't say a single word to her,” Goran ordered and Guntram sighed as if a mountain would have been lifted from his shoulders. “I'll speak with the Duke myself.”

“Thank you,” was all he could say before he collapsed in the Serb's arms.

“Where are your pills?” Goran shouted as he fondled Guntram's coat pockets. “Please tell me you have them,” he prayed. “Get the doctor!” he shouted to Ratko as little Konrad began to cry again.

“It's just some passing dizziness,” Guntram said, fighting to regain a upright position. “I don't need pills any longer. Give me Konrad back, John.”

The American was looking everywhere with big eyes as he held the screaming again little boy. “Do you know this people, Fedia?” he asked incredulously.

“It's all right, John. This is Goran Pavicevic. Give me Konrad before he throws up on you.”

“His name is Conor, Fedia. Do you know where you are?” he asked with a sweet voice. “Look, let's go to a doctor. You're not well at all,” he said and all the Serbs circled him adopting an intimidating attitude.

“Give him to me, John. Konrad is the name I gave my son when he was born. Konrad Goran de Lisle Guttenberg Sachsen. The man I was living with forced me to adopt a false name. My real name is Guntram de Lisle, like in the book. I'm very sorry for my deception.”

“Prince, you're making no sense at all,” John muttered, but handled the baby to Guntram and the child immediately calmed down once he was back in his father's arms. Faster than a ray of light, he hid his blonde head in his shoulder and clutched to his neck as Guntram rubbed his back with long moves.

“Dachs... is he yours?” Ratko asked in total disbelief.

“Repin thinks Konrad belongs to him. He will kill the Duke's boys if he finds out I'm here. You have to protect them.”

“Little brother, you know the princes have the best security we can provide.” Goran said very softly.

“It's not enough!” Guntram shouted. “He had photos of them! From inside the castle! If you get the picture, you get the bullet! You know this very well. No one should know I'm here till you take my boys into safety. Maybe even Konrad's phone is tapped. Repin was always knowing all your moves.”

“That's impossible!” Milan muttered in horror. “We check everything and everybody several times over, Guntram.”

“Please, do this for me.”

“You have your orders, Milan,” Goran said. “Ratko, take this man to the Eden,” he ordered and John felt an iron grip on his arm. He tried to break free with a jerk but the Serb only increased the pressure.

“He's a friend,” Guntram intervened, slightly touching Ratko's arm. “Without him, I wouldn't have made here. He's not associated with any of them. He's an American businessman from San Francisco.”

Ratko magically let John's arm go and took distance from the man, glaring at him with his dark eyes. “What do I do with him?”

“Take him to the Eden. I want to speak with him later,” Goran said and when Guntram opened his mouth to protest he shut him up. “It's the standard procedure. If he's innocent, he has nothing to worry about.”

“What?” John croaked.

“It's a very good place. I was there several times,” Guntram said feeling very uncomfortable. “I'll see you later.”

“I'm an American citizen, you European shit!” he shouted to Ratko and the Serb's hairs rose like a furious cat.

“No! Stop it you two! John is staying at the Hotel D'Anglaterre. If you want to speak with him, ask for an appointment,” Guntram interfered with a stern voice before the Serbs would have simply beaten the man and dragged him to wherever it suited them. “I would be very displeased if something happens to him,” he finished with a soft voice and Ratko took two steps away from the man looking at Guntram in disbelief.

“What's going on, kid?” John asked, feeling completely lost and wondering why the two goons had obeyed him without a single question.

“John, go back to your hotel, please. I'll speak with you as soon as I can. No one will bother you. I'll explain everything to you once I have spoken with my people.”

“Nothing makes sense here. These guys look like gangsters!”

“Please, don't worry about me, John. Everything is fine. Sometimes they look spooky but they're good people. I know them since 2002.”

“Is this guy your former boyfriend?” John asked pointing at Goran's direction and Milan couldn't help to chuckle after hearing the words.

“No, he's my best friend. My baby is named after my consort and he,” Guntram replied and closed the distance to John. “I would be honoured if he accepts to be his godfather,” he added, cracking a weak smile. “I'm among friends.”

“Prince, they all look like Vito Corleone friends,” he spoke his mind very clearly and once more Guntram had to place himself between the American and the Serbs.

* * *

With great effort Guntram managed to convince John to return to his own hotel. He watched with certain sadness and longing how the man walked away and turned to face Goran again.

“I'll drive you to the castle, little brother.”

“No, no one should see me until the boys are safe. Take me to my own flat, please.”

“Milan and Mirko have your boys now,” Goran said after casting a brief glance at his mobile's screen. “The Duke would like to see you when he returns from London. Your cousin must be there too,”

“No, I don't want to go there.”

“Mr. Elsässer missed you a lot,” Goran insisted softly without understanding why Guntram refused to see his own children.

“Please Goran. Take us to the flat. Konrad is very tired and hungry,” the young man softly pleaded.

“All right, follow me,” he accepted grudgingly. “I'm calling a doctor. You look very bad.”

“Can you give something to my son?” Guntram asked fearfully because once more, with John gone, he was alone and feeling certainly defenceless.

“Something?” The Serb asked worried as the images of addicts flashed through his mind as he began to understand why Guntram was so thin, emaciated and nervously looking around, fidgeting in his own place.

“Food. I'll do whatever you want.”

Goran looked at him as he considered the words. “What would you do for me?” he asked softly.

“Anything. I'm good at it,” he whispered turning green of sickness as Goran was turning out exactly as all the others had been. “But not in front of my child.”

“Did you do this for the American?” Goran asked softly, barely controlling his boiling blood.

“Just at the beginning, but John is a good man. He helped me to get here.”

“I'm Goran, you know me.”

“Do I?” Guntram asked feeling disoriented once more. 'Am I really here or is this just another dream? It wouldn't be the first time it happens.'

“Why did he ask if you knew where you were?”

“Did he? Where is John?” 'Is he really Goran or Massaiev?'

“You sent him back to his hotel. Do you know his last name?”

“No, John lives in America,” Guntram answered breathing raggedly.

“Guntram, you're not making any sense.” Goran said softly.

“I can be good for you, really good. Just get a glass for the baby.”

“Where are you now, little brother?”

Guntram looked at the man standing in front of him and blinked confused. “I am in... Sorry, sometimes I forget things if I don't take my pills. I must have forgotten them this morning. Mikhail Petrovich takes care of it. I should ask him,” he muttered, feeling overwhelmed and dizzy. He took several steps backwards and heavily leaned against the wall, welcoming its needed support.

“All right, we drive to my home now,” Goran said very concerned and picked the child up from the floor where he had been playing, oblivious to everything.

* * *

The young man entered in the painstakingly white and well ordered living room, looking exactly as he remembered. He clutched his son toward his chest and felt a lump in his throat. Nothing had changed, except for the fact that the libraries from floor to ceiling were more crammed with books.

“Sit down, Guntram. I'll tell Nicoletta to make some tea for you. What does Konrad drink? Milk? Orange juice?”

“He still takes babies' formula,” the young man said fearfully.

Goran looked at him, unable to understand the reaction and change of attitude of someone who had put down a trained soldier to a bundle of nerves and fears. 'It's logical, he's finally collapsing. It's a miracle he didn't do it before and reached here all on his own, carrying a child on top.'

“Does he take cookies?” Goran asked nonchalantly, doing his best to distract Guntram from whatever he was thinking as the youth's eyes were glued to the silver and ivory set of boxes decorating the short table.

“Unsalted ones,” he answered mind absently.

Goran disappeared into his own kitchen, growing more and more concerned as the change in his little brother ran much deeper than the hair colour. In the car, he had been silent and looking everywhere as if he were terrified someone would follow them. He had not spoken a word and only hugged his child, refusing to let Goran take him in the arms.

'What have they done to him? He looked fine at the bank and now he's disoriented and has trouble to recognise people. What were they feeding him with?'

He bumped into his housekeeper, busy preparing his lunch and asked her to go to the supermarket to buy some baby things. The woman gaped at him in shock. “Be quiet, Nicoletta. No one should know this, but Guntram is here,” he told her and her face lighted up.

“Mr. de Lisle?” she asked, suffocating a small cry of happiness.

“Yes, but say nothing please. He's very... nervous and tired. He has a child with him and he needs some... stuff. You know, you're a woman,” Goran explained her, feeling very uncomfortable, but the old woman ran to the living room before he could brief her more.

Guntram didn't recognised the woman and jumped away from her, picking his son in his arms to protect him from the stranger.

“It's Nicoletta. Don't you remember her? She's with us,” Goran shouted, running to place himself between the shocked woman and the young man, noticing he had already adopted a defensive posture. “Show her your baby so she can get him some things.”

Still full of doubts, Guntram came closer to her, frozen and looking in horror at the thin, pale and haggard looking young man. He couldn't be the youth she remembered. “Mr. de Lisle?” she asked fearfully.

“Yes, it's me,” he answered very embarrassed. “I've changed a lot.”

“What happened to you?” she said with her eyes brimming of tears. “Where were you all this time?”

“Nicoletta, that's enough. Go to the supermarket and get something for the baby. Diapers, food, some clothes and whatever you deem necessary,” Goran interrupted her laments as Guntram had fixed his gaze on the floor breathed raggedly. The maid looked at him and only nodded before she left the room, clinching her teeth to prevent her tears from falling.

“Do you want to have lunch?” Goran asked once they were alone. “Or should I call the doctor?”

“I feel fine,” Guntram said. “I just need to get my pills.”

“What have you been taking?”

“Beta blockers and some other pills for my head,” he said very ashamed, watching how Konrad was crawling over the thick cream carpet once he left him on the floor once more.

“Do you suffer from headaches?”

“No, I need anti-psychotic drugs. I'm not well. Sometimes, I lose track of time and do things I can't remember later. Like this,” he said and rolled up his left sleeve to show the belts crossing his forearm.

“That's why you were not using your left hand at all,” Goran observed very softly and took the hand to examine the cuts. “How did this happen?”

“I did it myself. Constantin saved me from bleeding. I don't even remember myself doing it. I swear, Goran. He had showed me photos of the boys, Konrad and my cousin and... he told me he had replaced me. I did many bad things to keep my baby safe.”

“Your cousin has a sound relationship with one of the bank's lawyers. Good man; from Argentina too. Maybe you remember him, Pedro Antonio Lanusse. He fought like a lion for your case.” Goran told him, hoping to distract Guntram from the next feared question. 'What happened in Argentina?'

“I think they want to marry in Spain, but I'm not sure.” Goran continued to say amiably. “Armin's wedding was a fiasco and no one is really willing to repeat the story.”

“Armin is married?”

“To Mirjiana, my goddaughter. In Salamanca, last Spring. It rained the whole day and they had planned a barbecue as it “never rains in Spain”. Well, it did. There was so much water, than even the hotel roof had holes and the piggies were not ready on time. Think of any kind of disaster that can happen in a wedding, and there you have Armin and Mirjana's wedding. Even the goats escaped from the corral and ate the flowers the previous night.”

“Eberhard is not with...?”

“The Duke? No! Your cousin is always grating his nerves. I mean, he tells the Duke the things how they are and does not listen to his rants. They are friends but not very close. Ferdinand has a little girl with Cecilia. She's a bit older than your boy. Her name is Maria Cecilia.”

Guntram looked at Goran and felt all the security net he had built over the weeks crumble down. “Ferdinand has a baby?”

“A young lady. You just have to follow the trail of drool to find his office,” Goran told him with a smile, carefully watching Guntram's strangely shining eyes. “Do you know the name of the medications you were taking?” he added casually.

“No, I don't, but they really helped me. A psychiatrist woman prescribed them.”

“How did you escape?”

“I did not. Oblomov and some other people decided to attack Constantin. I was out with Mikhail Petrovich and Konrad, visiting the reindeer farm when Oblomov attacked us. They killed Massaiev and I...”

“What Guntram?”

“I really didn't know these men were on our side!” Guntram shouted and sat on the sofa, to bury his head in his hands. “Constantin had troubles with some local gangsters and I thought they were going to hurt Konrad. I took Massaiev's weapon and shot at two. I killed one.”

“It was self-defence. Forget it.” Goran said calmly.

“Don't you see it? I killed two people!”

“Was it not only one?”

“I don't know. I hurt the other. Maybe I killed him too. Oblomov told a man to take me to Moscow and put me in a plane to Zurich. When we reached the city, we saw on TV that Oblomov's people had been blown up at Constantin's house. The whole road to the house was full of boob-traps and I never knew it!”

“Why didn't you take a flight?”

“I only had fake papers and the man ran away when he heard that Dima Klatschko was working for Constantin. Do you know him?”

“Vaguely,” Goran lied without flinching a muscle on his face. 'Almost as good as I.'

“He took us to a safe house and told me to call Konrad. I don't know what happened to him. He just vanished.”

“Why didn't you call us?”

“I couldn't. What if something would happen to the boys? Constantin was never bluffing about hurting them and he was expecting me to run to Konrad. I took a train to St. Petersburg and from there another to Helsinki. I had fake papers and the authorities suspected but let me go because I had a child with me. I took a ferry from there and met John. I went with him because I saw Constantin's men on the harbour in Stockholm. I hid with him till we came here. I'm not proud of it, but I didn't know what else to do. Are you sure the boys are with Mirko?”

“They are with Milan at the princess' house. Mirko and Ratko will check the house servants now. Why did you stay with the American instead of coming to us?”

“Because I was afraid of doing something stupid without the pills. Once I took Konrad to the snow and almost killed him. I don't know why I did it. I just was terrified of the people in the house and ran away to the forest. Constantin...” he stopped talking.

“Did he hurt you?”

“No! Never. He was kind to me. I was a disappointment for him. I can't do anything right!” he cried.

“All right, Guntram, don't worry. We will fix this,” Goran said using a conciliatory voice. 'It's much worse than I imagined.' “When Nicoletta comes home, she can feed your baby and the doctor will check if everything is fine with him. You should take a shower and rest a bit till he can see you.”

“No!” Guntram shouted and jumped away from the couch.”You want to take the child away! I will not sleep!”

“Guntram! It's me, Goran.” he shouted back. “No one is going to take the child away from you!”

“Constantin is looking for him! This time he will not forgive me for escaping. This is a mistake. Can't you see it?”

“Guntram, calm down. This baby is my godson and I will not let anyone take him away. You will tell me all what you know about these photos Repin showed you and we will find the traitor or move the boys away. Is that clear?” Goran said fixing his eyes on the terrified youth, once more looking for a way to escape the flat.