Nick didn't have time to contemplate the symbolism. Blue Cap and Suspenders came in. Steel flashed in their hands. "Go for the high ground," he said. "There's room to move up there. Try not to use your gun." They ran up the stairs.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The two Serbian killers split and came up the stairs on each side of the apse. Selena and Nick waited for them near the windows. Blue Cap had a long, shiny switch blade. He tossed it from hand to hand and smiled. Nick watched them come. He turned to Selena. "I hate knives." "So do I." "To hell with the noise." He pulled his pistol out. Selena did the same. The two Serbs froze. They hadn't expected that. "Drop the knives." Nick's voice was harsh. "Do it." The one wearing suspenders looked at Blue Cap. Blue Cap was the leader. He nodded. The knives clattered on the stones. "You will not shoot," Blue Cap said. "If shoot, police come, you die in jail quick. I guarantee this." "Your English is pretty good for something I'd usually scrape off my shoe. Tell us who sent you." "No one send. We are seeing sights. We see rich American tourist, think you have money. Just business. You should let us go now." "Who told you we were American? We're Canadian, asshole. You were waiting for us in the cafe. Who told you we'd be there?" "Okay, you Canadian. Having coffee in cafe." He shrugged. "No one sends us." He grinned. "Get down on your knees." Blue Cap didn't like that. "You make mistake." "Down. Now." The two men got down on their knees. "Put your hands behind your back." Nick took a roll of electrician's tape from his pocket and gave it to Selena. "Cuff 'em, Dano." "What?" "You never watched Hawaii Five-O? Doesn't matter. Wrap this around their wrists and hands. Bind them tight. We'll take a little walk to the police station. I know who you are, Jovanovich. The cops might be interested in Srebrenica." Blue Cap was fast. As Selena stepped forward, he fell forward onto his hands in sudden movement and swept his legs across and knocked Selena down. He grabbed for her gun. She rolled toward him and slammed her elbow into the side of his head and followed with a hammered fist into his solar plexus. He gasped and stopped fighting. His partner tried to get up. Nick brought the Sig down hard on top of his head, then hit him again to make sure. The man sprawled unconscious on the floor. Selena got to her feet. They taped the men's hands behind them. Jovanovich groaned. Blood trickled from his ear. "What do we do with them?" she asked. "We talk to our friend here. Then we turn them in. Interpol's going to love it. Give me your gun." She handed it to him. He took the pistols and went over to a tall, wide vase filled with flowers next to the wall and dropped the guns in. "I've done enough sightseeing for one day."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Back in the hotel, Nick had Harker on the satellite phone. "Jovanovich talked. He doesn't know who hired him, but he's worked for the same person before." "Yes?" "Jovanovich makes his living killing people. His first job for whoever is after us was a little over three years ago. He knifed a clerk from the Tesla Museum in Belgrade and made it look like a sex deal gone wrong. The clerk had some papers his client wanted, designs by Nikola Tesla. Since then, Jovanovich has killed a half dozen people for the same guy. He says the man is his best customer." "He sounds like a real piece of work." "He's proud of what he does. Considers himself a professional." "His client is probably Foxworth. I wonder why he wanted designs by Tesla? Or how the clerk came by them?" "Director, we need to get out of here. The police are suspicious. They let us come back to the hotel but they took our passports." "Use the Irish ones." "I thought you might say that. Selena is changing her look right now." As he said it, she came out of the bathroom. She wore a wig made from shoulder length red hair. The glasses and school teacher look were gone.