The Birthday Girl Read Free Page B

voice faltered. 'If this doesn't happen, I'll be killed. This video is proof that I'm alive and well. You'll be contacted within the next few days so that arrangements can be made.'
    The screen flickered as if the camera had been switched off and then Tony reappeared, looking directly into the camera. It felt to Katherine as if he was staring right at her and she shivered. 'Katherine, I love you,' he said. 'Please don't worry, this will work out all right, I promise.' His hand went up to his bruised and unshaven face and he smiled thinly. 'Don't let this upset you. I cut myself shaving,' he said. He smiled, and for a moment it seemed almost genuine. 'They're treating me okay, and if Maury does as they ask they say I'll be released unharmed. I think they mean it, so just hang in there. I'll be back before you know it.'
    A whispered command made him turn to his right and Katherine got a closer look at his battered face. 'Oh my God,' she whispered. 'What have they done to you?'
    'Just one more minute,' Tony pleaded, then he turned back to the camera. 'Don't even think about coming over here, Katherine. It's not safe. They'll probably release me in Split and I'll fly to Europe, Rome maybe. I always promised you a trip to Rome, remember? I love you, Katherine, and ...'
    The screen went blank in mid-sentence. Katherine turned to Anderson. 'Have they been in touch yet?'
    Anderson shook his head. 'No, like I said, the video's only just arrived. I'll stay here night and day until they call.'
    'He's in a terrible state, Maury.'
    'I think it looks worse than it is. They haven't let him wash or shave.'
    'Maury, he's been beaten.'
    Anderson went behind his desk and sat down. 'I don't know what to do, Katherine.'
    Katherine realised she'd finished her cigarette. She stubbed the butt in a crystal ashtray and lit another. 'Do we have the equipment?'
    Anderson nodded. 'Sure. We were planning to sell them to the Serbs. They're all ready to go, complete with SerboCroat instruction manuals.'
    Katherine blew a tight plume of smoke up to the ceiling. 'So we do as they say.'
    'You realise that with the cash we're talking about a million dollars, give or take?' Anderson said.
    Katherine's eyes hardened. 'And you realise that we're talking about my husband,' she said coldly. 'Give or take.'
    Anderson held her glance for several seconds, then he nodded. 'I'll make the arrangements,' he said quietly.
    'Do that, Maury,' Katherine said. 'Do whatever it takes.'
    Over the weeks of his captivity, Mersiha opened up slowly to Freeman like a flower sensing the morning sun. It started with her wishing him good morning when she came to empty his bucket, and then she began to ask him if there was anything 14 STEPHEN LEATHER he wanted. He asked for a razor and soap and when she finally brought it to him she sat on her heels and watched openmouthed as he shaved.
    Her English was surprisingly good. Mersiha explained that her mother had been a teacher of languages - English, French and Hungarian - and that before the war she'd spent most evenings at the kitchen table studying. Freeman asked her what had happened to her parents but she'd answered with just one word: dead. She resisted any further probing and Freeman realised that if he pushed too hard he risked damaging their fragile relationship.
    Despite her new willingness to talk to him, the girl left Freeman in no doubt that he was still her prisoner. She never got within range of the chain which kept him bound to the boiler, and the Kalashnikov never left her hands. And while she smiled and sometimes even laughed with him, he was always aware of a hardness in her eyes which belied her years. Freeman wondered what she would do if her brother's demands were not met, whether she would still be prepared to kill him. He decided that she would, without hesitation.
    The black limousine pulled up almost silently and the back door opened. Maury Anderson could see nothing through the darkened windows but he could smell Sal