The Assassins by Alan Bardos

Author:Alan Bardos [Bardos, Alan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2021-02-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

Johnny paced around his room, frustrated after the meeting with Gavrilo and the others. He'd spent the rest of Friday and now the best part of Saturday waiting for Ilic to summon him. He wasn't sure what else he could do. It was the eve of the Archduke's visit to Sarajevo and he'd been banished from any further discussions with the group. Gavrilo was still insisting that the two cells be kept separate. Johnny got the distinct impression they didn't trust him and he couldn't say he blamed them.

Ilic was certainly playing his cards close to his chest and Johnny had started to feel pretty edgy. He only had a few hours left before he was due to meet Breitner at the Governor's residence. A loud knock at the street door had raised Johnny's hopes for an instant; he’d thought that Breitner might have turned up with a posse of gendarmes to arrest the conspirators.

The sound of Mrs Ilic's voice calling for her son had soon dashed that idea. It was just a visitor for Danilo and whoever it was had made a heck of a noise banging around with great clod-hopping feet. Johnny watched from his window as the visitor left and then he glanced impatiently around the room for the thousandth time. He picked up the book of Serbian poetry that Breitner had given him and began to thumb through it.

'It's good to see you using your time wisely, Jovo.' Johnny looked up with a start - Ilic had come in unannounced.

'Do you need me for something, Danilo?' Johnny asked hopefully.

Ilic looked at the book of poetry and nodded. 'Yes, come with me.'

Johnny followed Ilic into his room. Ilic looked decidedly ashen as he pulled the Gladstone bag from under Gavrilo's bed. He took out two bombs and tied them around his waist with a piece of cord.

'What's going on?' Johnny asked.

'I've arranged to meet the second cell,' Ilic answered, putting two guns into the pockets of his jacket and padding them out with newspaper. Johnny assumed that he needed the paper to show the other cell the Archduke's route through Sarajevo.

They left the boarding house just after two and strolled through the busy streets of the old town. The rain had started to ease up and Johnny felt a tremendous sense of relief as he enjoyed the first sunshine he'd seen in days. Things were finally starting to happen.

They came out of the old town and passed City Hall. Ilic looked around wearily before steering them towards Bembasa, a quiet district on the edge of the city where the Miljacka river meandered into Sarajevo.

'Are you okay, Danilo?' Johnny asked.

'It is possible the police might have heard about our plans, Jovo.'

'How do you know that?' Johnny asked, trying to keep his voice steady. He was pretty sure that Ilic was just nervous and didn't suspect him of being an interloper who was counting down the minutes before he could betray him - not that Johnny felt much guilt about that.

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