The Hunted

10

The drive through Slovakia to the airport proved mercifully uneventful. Slovakia, the former half of Czechoslovakia before the "velvet divorce" rendered it asunder, had at one time been its industrial breadbasket, a cauldron of sprawling factories that spewed out guns and bombs and other nasty devices for the Soviet army. That business had suddenly dried up: the country now resembled a ghost town; having survived sixty years of communism, it wasn't clear it would survive capitalism. The huge factories no longer belched smoke out of towering chimneys. Little traffic was on the roads.

They stopped at a roadside eatery and killed a few hours, engulfing coffee and battling to stay awake. Alex insisted on it. But even had Elena or Eugene considered it a terrible idea, they were not about to object. One look and they could see Alex was on his last legs. He slumped in the chair, could hardly lift his head, and rubbed his dislocated shoulder and kneaded his sore leg constantly. They could barely imagine how horribly his fried chest ached and throbbed.

The beating and torture had sapped his incredible energy. He spoke little, only when absolutely necessary. The words came out slurred in short sentences, almost a labored whisper.

Elena was worried about him. He should be in a hospital, for godsakes. Every bone in his body should be X-rayed, his wounds cleansed and rebandaged, his chest embalmed in a burn packet. Then he should be pumped full of miracle drugs until the grimness in his eyes melted, until laughing fairies were dancing inside his head. But a powerful sense of guilt was driving him, she knew. He blamed himself for this whole mess; for being rich enough that serious people would want to steal it; for not insisting that a hundred security men shadow him everywhere; especially, he was ravaged with regret for dragging her and Eugene into this.

And now he was shouldering full responsibility for getting them out of it.

The first round of coffee and pastries arrived. They dug in and ran through the situation. Alex summoned energy from some hidden reserve and summarized their situation. The easy passage across the border could be a sign that his fears were overblown, Alex told them; or it was just a fickle stroke of luck. So play it safe. Assume people were still out there, hunting, so they should drag it out awhile. With each passing hour, the searchers would become more tired. Tired meant sloppy. Better yet, it might mislead them into believing their prey had traveled much farther than they had. They would be forced to extend and widen their dragnet, increasing the chance of slipping through. When the time was right they would jump back into the car, drive straight to the airport, and have a quick look-see. If the airport was covered, this plan would go on the scrapheap, and they would devise another way to escape.

Elena wasn't sure Alex had enough left in him for this plan. A whole new one seemed out of the question.

So they sat and sipped coffee, the three of them, tense and keyed up. After the first cup, Alex excused himself and limped away from the table. By their fourth cup, Alex had returned. He collapsed into his seat and insisted they unwind and dwell on topics other than their troubles.

Eugene tried his best with lively tales about his slew of marriages, how they all belly-flopped into messy divorces. The stories were deliciously vulgar and quite funny. He had nicknames for each ex, wedded to a hysterical talent for mimicry. Number Two-Dallaszilla-apparently had an aggravating Texas twang, chewed loudly with her mouth open, and couldn't mutter a word without violently flapping her arms-a stuttering windmill stuck on overdrive. Eugene shucked his New York accent and produced an impersonation that was almost frightening.

This was the same ex who hired a PI to track her husband, then showed up at Eugene's suite at the Plaza, catching him red-handed with his newest mistress. The door burst open and Dallaszilla screamed and bellowed and howled with the unadulterated fury only a native Texan lady can manufacture. Her arms whipped around so hard, the mistress thought she was witnessing an epileptic fit and promptly dialed 911 for an ambulance. Eugene never spoke to the mistress again. He was furious with her. Forgiveness would never come. In court, he adhered to his lawyer's standard legal dictum-he denied, denied, denied-until three paramedics showed up to corroborate the affair. The judge happened to be a she, herself an aggrieved veteran of two nasty divorces with husbands who had philandered and then lied their way out of what she considered fair settlements.

His lawyer swore afterward that that gaffe cost him an additional five million dollars.

Elena found the stories hilarious. She laughed until it ached. For one brief, shining moment she almost forgot people were out there chasing, trying to murder them. Alex managed an occasional stiff smile, but had either heard the tales before or was preoccupied, or exhausted.

They were back on the road at two o'clock. An hour later, after twice getting lost, they turned off a highway and entered the airport complex. Elena pumped the brakes and said, "You two get down. I'll cruise the terminal. See how it looks."

Alex reminded Elena, for the fourth time, "Be sure to check the cars in the lot," then both men tried their best to melt into the seats.

Crawling at fifteen kilometers per hour, Elena made a slow pass, quietly tapping the brakes and searching with quick shifts of her head. The airport turned out to be the aeronautic equivalent of a one-horse town, small, sleepy, with only one main building, and definitely shut down for the night. Few lights were on. A solitary janitor in loose gray coveralls was shoving a mop around the floor. That was it. She saw nobody else inside the terminal or loitering suspiciously in front of it.

Another twenty yards and a quick glance to her left. The parking lot contained only a few cars; all appeared dark and thankfully empty. Then, in one of them-yes! — in an otherwise dark car she could swear she saw the flicker of two burning cigarettes.

She slowed almost to a stop. She stared hard at the car, then came to her senses, sped up, and retreated back the way they came, toward the capital. Alex and Eugene straightened up. "It's closed," she informed them, obviously surprised, obviously disappointed. "But in one of the cars in the parking lot, somebody was inside, smoking. I saw at least two cigarettes."

"You think it's them?" Eugene asked, bending forward with the help of Alex's seatback.

Elena replied. "I think they're just lovers too cheap to buy a hotel room. What do you think?"

"Yeah, I think it's them, too," Eugene answered.

Alex asked her, "What kind of car?"

"You know I'm not good with that kind of thing."

"All right, what color? This is important, honey."

"White."

"Not tan?"

"No, white. I'm positive."

"Big car, small car, medium, what?"

"A sedan. Fairly large. Four doors. I thought I saw an ornament of some sort on the end of a long hood. But it was dark, and by then I was scared, so I'm not sure. The car looked expensive, too, but how would I know? Are we through playing thirty questions?"

"Almost. Could it have been a Jaguar?"

"No, it was definitely a car."

Obviously they were through.

They drove for about five minutes in silence. A light rain began falling, and the wipers flopped wildly back and forth, never close to touching the windshield.

Apropos of nothing, Alex observed, "If you're interested, the doors to the terminal open at seven. A flight for New York leaves at eight every morning."

Eugene asked, "You knew the airport would be closed?"

"I thought it would, yes."

"And you knew about the New York flight?"

"Would it make a difference if I'd told you?"

"I don't guess it would, nope."

"But New York?" Elena asked.

"Yes, well, for one thing, the only open visas that match in both our passports are for America. Second, it's the one destination in the world where we'll be safe from these people. It's only temporary, anyway, until I get this cleared up."

Eugene remarked, "I'd offer you my place, but Maria will be there, and it's going to be a war zone."

Alex wasn't really in a listening mode and added, "We're not going together, anyway. It's time to split up."

"What's that mean?" Eugene asked, afraid he knew exactly what it meant.

"They're hunting three people, Eugene. They believe we're amateurs and they believe we're afraid and insecure."

Believe? Well, they were certainly amateurs. And if insecure meant scared out of their wits, the bad people had it right on both counts.

Alex continued, "The point is, frightened amateurs stay in packs. They'll be looking for three of us, together, so it's time for us to divorce Eugene."

"You couldn't have picked a different word?" Eugene complained. Elena laughed, and Eugene joined her. Both were becoming giddy with exhaustion and the unrelenting tension.

Alex turned around and faced him, his face rigid with concern. "Eugene, you're a target because you're with us. They blew the chance to get your money. Nothing can bring it back, and they know that. Whoever they are, they're professionals. They don't care about you anymore."

"Hey, I'm having a ball being shot at, chased, and hunted by Mafiya goons," Eugene felt like saying. "This is the best idea I've heard all night, so fine, dump me off right here." But his conscience bothered him. Instead he said, "Look, what the hell, I'm in this up to my neck already. You're my friends and I'd like to make sure you're safe. Are you sure this is a good idea, Alex?"

"I'm not sure about anything at the moment."

"Except this, right?"

"Yes, and I won't change my mind. The very least I owe you is to get you out of this alive."

An unspoken thought lingered in that statement. Alex obviously wasn't optimistic about his own chances. Eugene looked at Alex and thought about arguing. It would be useless, though; Alex's mind was clearly made up. "What do I do?"

"Drop Elena and me off at the nearest big hotel in Bratislava. Find another hotel, check in for the day, catch up on sleep, find a nice restaurant with pretty waitresses, have a long leisurely meal, then drive back to Budapest and catch the first flight home. By that time, I assure you, the people hunting us will believe you're long gone." It was obvious he had thought this through.

"What about you?"

"We'll catch taxis from the hotel. Don't worry, I think I know what I'm doing."

Twenty minutes later, Alex and Elena stood beneath the overhang of a run-down hotel in downtown Bratislava. The streets were empty, the doorman was inside, napping. They watched Eugene putter off in the junkheap, spitting and spewing smoke out the noisy tailpipe.

Alex turned to Elena and said, "Now we can discuss our plan."

"We couldn't discuss it in Eugene's presence?"

"He's better off not knowing. If the people chasing us get their hands on him, it's his best defense. Ours, too."

For the next few minutes, they stood under the awning and Alex told Elena what he hoped would happen.