TS 3 Chapter 6

Chapter 6

August 12^th, 2015 

Cavalli Islands. New Zealand

“There's something I want to show you,” Constantin shook Guntram awake. 

Still groggy, Guntram opened his eyes and watched the barely containing his laughter man. “We might have busted the trading ghost.” 

“What?” 

“Come with me,” Constantin pulled Guntram from the bed and the young man followed him, crossing the corridor to the library Constantin used as his office. “Just watch,” he pointed at the iMac large screen. “We have it in HD, too.” 

Guntram rubbed his eyes and heard a chuckle before Constantin pressed the play of a video of his children's corridor. Right under the Abstract blue painting, he saw Kurt's door open slightly, wait for a few seconds before his head emerged and peered both sides. On tip toes, the boy crossed the corridor and entered in his brother's room and quickly left it, carrying in his arms Kostya's beloved plush frog. 

“I'm killing him,” Guntram mumbled as he watched his son carefully closing his brother's door. “On top, he’s suppressing evidence.” 

“It's not over,” chuckled Constantin as he fast forwarded the film some twenty minutes. 

Guntram never expected to see his youngest child's sleepy face to come out of his room and walk like a duck to his brother's room, disappear inside it and emerge carrying, half-dragging the very expensive Nao robot Kurt loved above everything. Just as his brother had done, he closed the door behind him but left his own one open in his haste to return to bed. 

TS 3 Chapter 5

Chapter 5

August 9^th, 2015 

Zurich 

'Who the hell cares about a lesbian in prison? She did a bit of trafficking and she's down. As if a soap and beauty potions business and a whiny boyfriend are going to change a thing.' 

Alexei grabbed the beer bottle on the coffee table and grimaced at sight of the label. 'Not a fancy thing again. Can't he buy normal beer? From the supermarket? What the hell is this thing?' He took a long sip and grimaced again with deep disgust for a brief second before his facial expressions went back to normal when he saw Jean Jacques enter the room and sit next to him. 

“I can't wait to see if she really did that awful Pennsatucky.” 

'Who the hell is that tart?´Alexei was well knowledgable on the consequences of asking as Jean Jacques considered to be a sin any display of ignorance about his favorite TV series. “We'll find it out soon,” he said instead and left the bottle on the table. 

“Where's your glass?” 

“It's a beer,” Alexei nearly moaned. 

“Double the crime. How many times have I told you that glasses have a reason to be. Let it breath before you swallow it. It's a Weissbier! You're shaking everything inside it!” 

“You know I like Budweisser,” Alexei protested mildly.

“I'm sure you'll find an open fuel station to get one at this hour,” Jean Jacques ostensibly picked up the remote control and switched the TV on. 

“Fine,” Alexei growled, rose from the sofa, walked to the kitchen and took one of the large glasses, returned to the sofa and began to pour the dark amber liquid inside it, just as Michael and Ferdinand had taught him to do. 

The TV’s flickering images meant nothing to Alexei and he could almost not follow the plot. After the fourth “you lesbianing!” yelled by a girl with serious dental care problems, Alexei shut down his mind to the noise ambiance and focused on the real matters at hand as he distractedly petted Jean Jacques' head. 

'The duke is nuts. The prison turned him nuts. There's no other rational explanation for all this shit. Letting Guntram go? With all what he has on us? That's suicidal!' 

'It's all Goran's fault. He should have stayed away from that lawyer. If he was conspiring with di Mattei, I would have fixed things with my own team. If they bark, they don't bite. Don't they know that already?

'Where could he be? He isn't in any Arabic country, that's for sure. But where? I have to get him back before the duke finally explodes and Goran screws things up again.' 

'But how? This time he really disappeared.'

'That lawyer left him several millions if Gorgazali told me the truth. That guy a real piece of shit; a filthy alley-cat always falling on its paws. “All was a misunderstanding” he tells Goran and he buys it! Di Mattei showed more class and shot dead a few idiots before he capitulated!'

'If Guntram has millions, then he could be anywhere!' Once more, Alexei’s recurring headache said hello to his brain and Alexei grimaced but quickly forced a smile before Jean Jacques would suspect that he hated the TV show.  

'Yet Guntram has the money but not the know-how. He needs someone for that and the Argentinian has had no contact with him in the past weeks. Who else does he know who can pull a stunt like that?' Alexei gulped down one of the focaccia toasts and heard Jean Jacques huffing at his lack of manners. Alexei ate the next toast with small bites. 

'Repin but that's crazy.' 

'Guntram is crazy considering the things he does. If he was furious because of that man's accident, he should have talked to me or Goran. No, Goran no. Maybe Ferdinand or Michael.' 

'And he has something Repin wants; Kurt.'

'No, that's too crazy, even for Guntram's standards.' 

'Yet he's been the best Hochmeister we had in years. Better than the duke.' 

'Could it be? It's unthinkable but Guntram always makes these wild twists in the middle of any river he's crossing. He turned everything upside down in less than a week and we're getting richer and more powerful everyday.' 

‘It must be Repin.’

'How do I find that piece of shit?'