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

Johnny gripped the edge of the table, in his usual manner, trying to control his excitement.  He felt terribly conceited as the wheel span. He would at last be a winner - the odds were on his side for once. He readied himself not to explode in his moment of victory; he didn’t want to draw attention to himself.

The ball landed on zero. Johnny couldn’t believe it, but managed to stifle his disappointment. He knew his numbers wouldn't come up every time. He placed the next lot of chips on the same numbers and this time the ball impudently landed on thirty six. Johnny looked about at the cheering officers enjoying their blind luck. He was furious, but knew he couldn't very well cry foul because his cheat hadn't worked.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp yank at his back that nearly took down his trousers.

Chapter 33

Ilic finished briefing Mehmed Mehmedbasic in the room which the veteran had taken at the Hotel Sarajevo. Mehmedbasic had just arrived from Stolac in Herzegovinia, where he worked as a carpenter, although Ilic had assumed that he would have been used to a more refined occupation, as the son of a ruined Muslim noble.

'I trust that you didn't have any difficulty on your journey?' Ilic asked respectfully. He was conscious that unlike the majority of his fellow Muslims, Mehmedbasic opposed Austrian rule, passionately believing in the establishment of a Yugoslav State. This made him extremely valuable to the Movement, as he could travel freely without raising suspicion.

'I told the police that I needed to see a dentist, and they gave me a travel pass,' Mehmedbasic answered.

Ilic studied him. Mehmedbasic had come to the fore at the beginning of the year, when he’d attended a meeting with some of the Young Bosnian Movement’s leadership, in Toulouse. It was decided at the Toulouse gathering that Mehmedbasic would assassinate General Potiorek and he was dispatched to Bosnia armed with a dagger and a bottle of poison.

'So it wasn't as eventful as your previous journey?' Ilic asked, trying to gauge Mehmedbasic’s mood. He had become anxious on the journey back from Toulouse when several gendarmes had boarded his train at the Austrian border, so he’d disposed of his weaponry, only to discover that the police were after a petty criminal.

Mehmedbasic smiled dryly in response to Ilic's question, revealing little of what he was thinking. Ilic wondered for a moment if Mehmedbasic might be losing his resolve. If so, he sympathised, as he still had misgivings about the assassination; however, he'd determined to do what was required of him, not least because Gavrilo was so resolute, but also because he'd received word from Belgrade.

Ilic's mother had called him to the parlour that afternoon, where a man with large feet had been waiting for him. 'I have come from Apis,' the man said.

'Apis?' Ilic asked, taken aback by the sudden appearance of his visitor.

'Don't be coy, Danilo. I've had a very difficult journey and I don't have the time or the patience for play-acting.’

Ilic knew enough of the man’s reputation to sit down and be quiet. The visitor looked up at the ceiling as the floor above creaked - Jovo was walking around. A restless soul, he was always moving around up there, Ilic reflected.

'Jovo, our lodger,' Ilic explained, in response to the man's questioning look.

'Can he be trusted?'

'He likes his drink a little too much and he's a show-off, but he is a patriot.'

'Have you noticed anyone suspicious loitering?'

'There are always suspicious people. We live under occupation, but I'm careful,' Ilic replied.

'Our Russian cousins are careful. That doesn't prevent half of them from working for the police. I have reason to believe that an Englishman has been sent to stop your attempt tomorrow.'

'An Englishman? Why would the English concern themselves with this?'

The man dismissed the question as unimportant. 'Has anyone tried to hinder your plans?'

Ilic fought to remain calm; he presumed that Apis had heard he'd been trying to stop the assassination. 'I had received instructions that the attempt was to be abandoned,' Ilic blurted out in mitigation.

'So you haven't made the necessary arrangements?'

'Things are in place, but…' - there was really no right or wrong answer to the man's question. He had been officially told to cancel the assassination by the last envoy from Belgrade, but the specific instructions had all been so cryptic.

'Whatever orders you've received, I countermand them. The assassination is to go ahead.' Ilic had little choice but to dispel whatever doubts he felt and send word for the second cell to meet him. He knew they would have to act tomorrow, regardless of personal feelings. Nonetheless, he didn't plan to physically take part in the assassination; his role would be purely to advise and support his comrades.

'Are you ready to follow in the footsteps of our Russian brethren?' he asked, turning to face Mehmedbasic. The man with the large feet had put Ilic in mind of the great Russian revolutionaries.

'I am,' Mehmedbasic answered sternly, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself more than anything.

'When you stand on Appel Quay tomorrow, with the tyrant’s car coming towards you, remember Yegor Sazonov, who threw a bomb into the carriage of von Plehve, the Russian Minister of the Interior. Or Ivan Kalyayev, who dropped a bomb onto the lap of the Tsar's uncle as he travelled to the theatre and the comrades who bombed Tsar Alexander II's carriage.'

Mehmedbasic seemed reassured that he would be following the path of a true revolutionary. Ilic didn't mention that many of the assassins had been arrested and hanged. He wondered if they'd faced their fate in the same way as the revolutionaries in 'The Seven Who Were Hanged' - they had pitted everything against the horror of inevitable death.

*

Breitner watched as the guests began to leave the Hotel Bosnia.