The Assassins by Alan Bardos (read novel full .TXT) 📕

The industrialist and the chief administrator were standing behind him. 'I asked you a question, boy,' the industrialist said. For the first time in his life, Johnny was caught without a flippant reply. She'd well and truly scuppered him.

'This "gentleman" was insinuating that I'd performed in some sleazy hovel. Like… like a common trollop! He even had the impertinence to suggest that we were acquainted.' She turned her head away from them and winked, so that only Johnny could see it.

The chief administrator had a face like death. 'Get out! How dare you insult the daughter of one of our leading benefactors?'

The industrialist blew cigar smoke in Johnny's face. Johnny looked around in disbelief; he couldn't understand how this had happened. The whole office was looking at him, but it was Gavrilo's cold eyes that stood out.

Johnny turned on his heels and fled. He'd often fantasized about being dismissed from his job, but he'd always hoped it would be for something big, like having relations with the boss's wife, not by being made to look a total fool by the love of his life.

He wandered along the embankment, taking stock, and realised that he could probably have played that slightly better. If she had been the dancer from the cafe, she would hardly want him spreading it around a place where her father was a respected figure. Even so, he thought getting him sacked was uncalled for.

He should have kept his powder dry, no doubt about it, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Johnny stopped and looked down at the bloody red mud of the Miljacka River. Too late for recriminations now, he reflected. Of all the mistakes he'd made with women recently, this one was relatively minor.

It had been worth getting sacked, just to talk to her. Johnny walked on towards the old town - he still had the more immediate problem of disabling the weapons. He considered just throwing them into the river and blaming Ilic, but the river was only a few inches deep and Ilic was too much in Gavrilo's pocket for anyone to believe he would do it.

Johnny was almost home, and realised that if he was going to do something, now was as good a time as any. Gavrilo would be at work all day and Ilic would probably be at 'The Bell', the newspaper he edited. He made up his mind to act as he got to his street: the Archduke's visit was only a few days away.

Mrs Ilic was pottering about in the kitchen when he got to the boarding house. Johnny shouted hello to her and went up to Gavrilo and Ilic's room. The door was shut, but not locked.

He went in and tried to walk silently across creaking floorboards and then pulled out the Gladstone bag from under Gavrilo's fold-down bed. He carefully opened the catch and took out one of the small Browning pistols. The plate on the side stated that it had been made under patent by Fabrique Nationale, in Belgium. Johnny had never held an automatic before; it was very different from the service revolvers he'd trained with, in the reserves.

He examined the beige cardboard boxes that held the twenty-two calibre bullets and could just make out, "Browning Colt USA" smudged on the front, under a picture of a Browning automatic. It felt strange to be reading English again, in this environment.

'25' was printed boldly next to the picture of the pistol and he wondered if these were all the bullets they had. Johnny considered just taking the bullets but Gavrilo and Ilic would be sure to notice they were missing before he completed his assignment.

He put the gun down and ruffled his shirt; his sweat was making it prickly. Johnny picked up one of the oblong bombs, wishing it was a hip flask full of brandy. It felt rough and uneven. Russian revolutionaries had used bombs to great effect, throwing them at leading personages as they drove down the street, the most notable being at Alexander II, the current Tsar's grandfather. Johnny wasn't about to let that happen here but he didn't have a clue how to stop it.

He unscrewed the cap on the top of the bomb - it made a click and he almost dropped the thing in fright. There was a small loop under the cap that Johnny thought must be the priming mechanism. When the loop was struck it would push down, lighting the fuse that set the whole thing off. He thought that if he could knobble the loop, then it wouldn't light the fuse. He was only guessing, as not having undergone ordnance training, he really had no bloody idea.

He looked around for something to use, but a hacksaw wasn't something Young Bosnians would keep in their bedrooms. Johnny remembered the curved knife he'd brought in Doboj. He still carried it around, just in case things turned nasty.

He started slicing away at the loop and eventually managed to make two small dents, which didn’t look too obvious, on either side of it. He hoped that anyone striking the loop would just snap it off without igniting the fuse.

He then placed the bomb back in the bag and took out another one. He had started to unscrew the lid when a knock on the street door made him jump. The bomb slipped, he fumbled it and it hit the floor with a loud clang. For a moment, Johnny thought he was dead.

'Jovo,Jovo - what are you doing up there?' Mrs Ilic shouted up at him.

'Nothing, nothing at all Mrs Ilic,' he managed to squeak.

'Didn't you hear the front door? There is a girl here to see you.'

Confused, Johnny shoved the bag back under the bed and fled downstairs. He had no idea what Mrs Ilic was talking about - he didn't know any girls. Then