Read Online The Eyewitness by Stephen Leather - Free Book Online Page B

wanted to stay in the city.”
    “No. She didn't know anyone. She had friends in Pristina, but not in Sarajevo.”
    “Can I borrow this?” Solomon asked, holding up the letter.
    “Just for a while?”
    “No!” Emir snatched it out of Solomon's hand. A small piece tore off in Solomon's fingers.
    “Now look what you've done!” Emir hissed.
    “I'm sorry,” said Solomon quickly. He gave the scrap to the boy.
    “It's okay, there's no writing on it, and you can stick it together again.”
    Emir ignored him. He put the torn piece in the middle of the letter, folded it and slid it back into the envelope.
    “The letter might help me find Nicole,” said Solomon.
    “She doesn't want to be found,” said Emir.
    “That's what she says, but that's not what she means. Sometimes people try to push away those they love when they really want to be helped.”
    “I can't help her.”
    “No, but maybe I can,” said Solomon, holding out his hand.
    Emir stuffed the envelope into his jacket.
    “It's important that we find out who killed Nicole's family,” said Solomon.
    “Important to whom?”
    “Don't you want to know?”
    “It won't bring them back, will it? Besides, we know who did it. Like Nana said, the bastard Serbs.”
    “But which Serbs? We need to catch the men responsible and put them on trial.”
    “You don't get it, do you?” Emir sneered.
    “It's all Serbs. They want us dead. For every one you catch and put in prison, there's a thousand who would do just the same. It's just like it was after the Second World War. You put a few hundred Nazis on trial, but all of Germany knew what was going on in the camps. They knew that the Jews were being rounded up and taken away and they were glad. It was the same in Bosnia and Kosovo. Putting Milosevic on trial was great publicity, but if the people hadn't backed him, he wouldn't have been able to do what he did. If you think that putting a few Serbs on trial is going to make a difference, you're a fool.” He stood up.
    “I shouldn't have come.”
    “Then why did you?” asked Solomon. He stayed where he was, crouched against the wall, and looked up at the boy.
    Emir didn't answer. He tossed away the butt of his cigarette.
    “Because you want me to find her,” said Solomon.
    Emir snorted softly.
    “You think so?”
    “You want me to find her so that you know she's all right,” said Solomon.
    “Because that letter isn't enough, is it? No matter how many times you take it out and read it, it's not the same as knowing where she is and what she's doing. I'll find her, Emir, I promise.”
    The boy opened his mouth to speak, then changed his mind and ran out, rattling the corrugated iron sheet aside and bolting through the gap like a frightened rat.
    Solomon finished his cigarette, then returned to his car, thinking about what Emir had said. Maybe he had been right. Maybe putting a few Serbs in the dock wouldn't make a difference, not to the grand scheme of things. But as Solomon climbed behind the wheel, he swore to himself that he would find Nicole, and the men who'd killed her family. He'd find them and make sure they paid for their crime. If nothing else, he'd get justice for the men and women who'd died in the back of the truck .. . and for the little girl with the teddy bear.
    When Solomon got back to his office he found Chuck Miller sitting in his chair, his feet up on Solomon's desk.
    “So how was the lovely Ms Tourell?” Miller asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
    Solomon cursed under his breath.
    “She called, yeah?” he said.
    “Damn right she called,” said Miller, swinging his feet off the desk.
    “Half an hour after you hightailed it out of here. Said she could reschedule for Friday but it'd mean turning her diary upside down. What the hell are you going? Playing fast and loose with one of the interpreters? Quick bang in a cheap hotel room?”
    “Don't be ridiculous!” snapped Solomon.
    “Ridiculous?” said Miller.
    “I'm not the one