Evil Deeds (Bob Danforth 1) (61 page)
Read Evil Deeds (Bob Danforth 1) Online
Authors: Joseph Badal
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, #Thrillers, #Spy Stories & Tales of Intrigue, #Espionage
Michael hitched a ride back to his tent. His father and Jack Cole were there waiting for him, along with Miriana’s mother, Vanja.
“We need to have a talk, Mike,” Bob said. “I’ve got a story to tell you.”
Michael sat down on his cot. He looked from his father, to Jack, to Vanja and said, “What’s up?”
Jack turned to Vanja. “Why don’t you go ahead?” he suggested.
The woman cleared her throat. She tried to speak, but only a squeaking sound came out. She cleared her throat again and began. “About twenty-eight years ago your father” – she looked at Bob – “was stationed in Greece with the U.S. Army. I was very young woman at the time . . . and Stefan’s mistress. He was married to his first wife then and had one son, a teenager named Gregorie. The Bulgarian Communists employed Stefan to . . ..” Vanja swallowed and looked down at the dirt floor.
Michael saw tears well in her eyes.
“Stefan and I worked for Communists,” she resumed. “We kidnapped Greek babies, took them north, and sold them to Bulgarians. One day, our team make mistake and kidnap American baby.” She paused again, raised her head, and looked directly into Michael’s eyes. “That baby was you.”
“What?” Michael gasped. His hands tightened, his knuckles white. “I was kidnapped?” He shook his head and, almost to himself, said, “My parents never told me about it.”
Bob leaned forward and placed a hand on Michael’s knee. “It’s true, Mike. Let her explain.”
Vanja squirmed on the cot. She said, “We carried you north to orphanage in Bulgaria. Your father and another man came to rescue you. They were in orphanage looking for you, when Stefan and Gregorie arrived to deliver another baby. There was shooting. Gregorie was killed. Stefan has always blamed your father for his first son’s death.”
Vanja stopped and looked at Bob. He took his cue and said, “A little over a month ago, I master-minded a CIA kidnap plot against a senior Serb General. We recruited Miriana to help us execute the kidnapping. She was acting as the Serb General’s fortune-teller. Of course, we had no idea Miriana was related to Stefan Radko. Everything went off pretty much as planned. We got the General. And we also brought Miriana out. Based on what you told Major Krumka about comments the Serb Captain made to you, your kidnapping here must have been planned as an act of revenge. The order must have come from the very top. From the Serb President himself. Part of the plot was to kidnap Miriana in the U.S. They would’ve killed her if she hadn’t escaped. You know about that. What you don’t know is they also tried to kill your mother and me in Bethesda.”
Michael mouthed the word “What!” but he made no sound.
“Mike, when they failed to kill us, they came after you.”
“And Stefan was part of your kidnapping this time, too,” Vanja said. “I don’t know how Serbs made contact with him. And . . ..” Vanja lowered her head again and began crying. “And he got Attila killed. Stefan is so full of rage against your father that when he found out about you and Miriana he could not control himself. He could not stand idea that you – son of man who killed Gregorie – would take Miriana away from him.”
Michael shook his head. Why hadn’t his parents told him about his being kidnapped? But he understood almost instantly. Why give a kid nightmares about kidnapping, Communists, and Gypsies? And when he got older, they might have figured it just wasn’t necessary to rehash old nightmares. He looked at Vanja again. “What about Miriana?” he asked.
Vanja put her hand on the cross hanging around her neck. “I swear to God, she knows nothing of this.”
Michael suddenly felt disoriented, as though he’d been sucker-punched. He was suddenly exhausted.
Jack stood and patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll come by later tonight to say goodbye. I know you’re flying out early tomorrow morning.” He took Vanja’s arm and helped her to her feet.
As they left the tent, Vanja stopped and turned back to him. “I am sorry, Michael. I hope you will not hold any of this against Miriana. ”
Michael could only stare at her.
Bob stood and looked down at his son. “If I’d been home, instead of at work, Radko could never have taken you away the first time. And none of this would have happened. I’m sorry, Mike.” Bob turned and began to walk away.
“Dad,” Michael said, causing Bob to stop and turn around. “Did you really sneak into Bulgaria to rescue me?”
Bob nodded and said, “Along with a very brave man named George Makris, who died in the effort.”
“And you risked your life for me again yesterday when you flew into Serbia.”
Bob just stared at Michael.
“You’ve sure given me some great stories to tell when I’m out with my friends. You think you could tell me the whole thing when we get back home?”
Bob laughed and said, “No more secrets, son.”
As Jack Cole drove Vanja away from the 82nd Airborne’s camp, she stared straight ahead through the Jeep’s windshield.
“My son died somewhere on this road,” she said.
Jack didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to say.
“What will happen to Stefan?” she asked.
“He’s a criminal, Vanja. He helped kidnap an American officer. Maybe, because of his age, he won’t go to prison. But there’s no way he’ll ever be allowed to go to the United States. He’ll probably be deported back to Serbia. There’s nothing I can do to help him.”
“If he goes back to Serbia, the Serbs will kill him.”
Jack shrugged.
General Plodic crossed the wide expanse of carpet and came to attention in front of the President’s desk. He felt sweat break out on his back and roll down his spine. He silently cursed himself for his stupidity. He should have run when he had the chance. Now it was too late. He didn’t have to hear the President say a single word. He knew what was about to occur. I’m sorry, Tatiana, my dear wife, he thought. I should have listened to you months ago. We should have fled to France.
“You useless pile of manure!” the President screamed, pulling Plodic away from his reflections. “Your men accomplished nothing.
They
were our best soldiers?”
Plodic flushed. Resentment swamped his fear for the briefest of moments. Five of his finest men dead, all because of this asshole politician’s need to avenge the death of a psychotic General. But then the fear returned. He tried to control it. He didn’t want to give the President the satisfaction.
“You shall be an example to all Serbs, my dear General Plodic. No one disappoints me. You hear me?”
Plodic pushed out his chest. He’d been a soldier his entire adult life. In spite of his fear, he wouldn’t let this shithead speak to him like this. He would put the leader in his place. But when he opened his mouth to say the words that had formed in his mind, nothing came out.
The President rose from his chair and pressed a buzzer on his telephone console. Two burly uniformed guards stormed into the room and positioned themselves on either side of Plodic. The President turned his back. “Take him away,” he said. “I never want to see him again.”
Jack Cole sat in the little eight-by-eight room and stared through the one-way window at Radko. The old man sat stiffly in a chair and listened to a second man in the room read from an official-looking document.
“Stefan Gregorovich Radko, you have been accused and convicted of complicity in the kidnapping of an American officer assigned to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s peacekeeping mission in the Balkans. By the authority vested in NATO’s War Crimes Tribunal, you have been sentenced to deportation. You will be transported to the Yugoslav border where you will be turned over to Serb officials.”
Jack noticed Radko slump slightly upon hearing his sentence. But the man immediately recovered and resumed his ramrod straight posture. The second man left the room and Jack rose, exited the observation room, and joined Radko. The Gypsy looked up at him when he entered the room, but said nothing, and showed no emotion.
“Tough guy, huh?” Jack said, sitting down. “You’re going to need to be when the Serbs get their hands on you.” Jack let that thought sink in, then said, “But don’t worry about your wife and daughter. I’ll see they are well cared for. And I’m sure Miriana will have many beautiful children. She and Michael Danforth make a handsome couple, don’t you agree?”
Radko’s skin turned almost gray and his eyes seemed to go colorless.
Jack stood and left the room. He didn’t think it would serve any purpose to tell Radko there was no NATO War Crimes Tribunal, nor had he been convicted in a duly constituted court. The Gypsy’s trip back to Serbia had been arranged with an old Iron Curtain agent Jack had dealt with years before.