"You have my attention," Nick said. "Consider us invited. You still haven't told me why we're here."
Josef took out a knife and began cleaning his nails.
"Mitreski calls us terrorists but we are patriots. You are here to present our message to the world. We want everyone to know the truth."
"Whose truth? Yours? Why would I believe a bunch of thugs who grab me and my friends and put a sack on my head?"
Josef gestured with the knife. "Would you have come otherwise? The hoods were necessary to keep you from knowing where we are."
Nick couldn't feel his hands behind his back. The plastic ties had cut off the circulation.
"If you want me to listen to you, you'll have to stop treating us like prisoners. Cut the ties on our hands. Consider it a goodwill gesture."
Josef gave him a careful look. "Give me your word you will not cause trouble. My men are nervous and some of them don't like Americans. There could be an accident. You understand?"
"Do it, Nick," Selena said. "It's the only way we're going to get the story."
"You should listen to her," Josef said.
"All right. I give you my word. No trouble. Now cut these damn ties before my hands fall off."
Josef said something and one of his men came forward and cut the plastic ties around Nick's wrists. Nick brought his hands around front. The skin was dead white and he could feel nothing at all. His fingers were useless.
"My friends, too."
"Be careful," Josef said. "A false move would be a very bad thing for you to do."
"I heard you the first time," Nick said.
Josef motioned and the same man who had cut Nick's ties went behind Selena and cut hers. Then he went to Lamont and Ronnie. When he was done, he stepped back and leveled his AK at them.
"I'm listening," Nick said.
"We support the 11 October movement," Josef said. "That alone should convince you that we are not the ones who tried to kill Todorovski."
"If you didn't do it, who did?"
"The Russians."
Nick was surprised. He hadn't expected that. "Why do you think it was them?"
"That pig Mitreski gets his instructions from Moscow. You saw how many people came to the square to hear Todorovski speak. Macedonia is on the verge of a color revolution that will sweep Mitreski from office and put Todorovski in his place. Mitreski knows it and so does everybody else. I know Todorovski. He is a true patriot and he fears the Russian bear. He will be a strong ally for the West. The Russians are worried about him."
"That doesn't prove they tried to kill him," Nick said.
"We know it was them because we have someone within Mitreski's circle. During the last week Mitreski has been in daily contact with Moscow. The Kremlin is unhappy about Todorovski. Mitreski has asked for new military supplies. He has been discussing the coming revolution and requested assistance. Moscow regards Todorovski as the voice of the resistance."
"What kind of assistance does Mitreski want besides weapons?"
"Volunteers. Fighters to uphold his regime. The excuse is the stability of the Macedonian state and internal threats to our Slavic heritage. "
Russia had long considered itself the protector of Slavic culture and Orthodox Christianity in the Balkans. Moscow's obsession with the area had been evident during the Yugoslavian wars when the Serbs acted as surrogates for Russian ambition. But this wasn't the 90s. Things were different now. The planes were faster, the missiles more deadly, the rhetoric more rigid. Everything had become much more dangerous. With Orlov established in the Kremlin, Russian paranoia was higher than ever.
"Like in the Ukraine," Nick said.
"Yes."
"Shit. That would complicate things."
"You begin to see," Josef said.
Feeling was coming back to Nick's hands. He waited for the pain he knew would come. A little longer tied like that and he might've lost a finger or two.
"When we left Skopje, Mitreski was sending troops toward the Albanian border," Nick said.
"He thinks war with Albania will divert the people's attention. He's wrong. We will fight to defend our homeland if we have to but it will not change anything. Mitreski must go. There is still time before war begins, but not much. You must tell the West that Mitreski is conspiring with Moscow to provoke war with Albania and use it as an excuse to retain power against the popular will."
Nick's hands began to burn as the blood came back with a vengeance. They felt like they were on fire.
"If the Russians want Todorovski out of the way they'll try again," he said.
"It will be difficult. He's been warned now and has surrounded himself with protection."
"What you have told me cannot be verified."
"I can only tell you that it is the truth," Josef said.
"It will be disputed."
Josef shrugged. "I can't help that. Do you believe me?"
Nick looked at him and saw a man who believed what he was saying. Something about him seemed authentic. He had freed up their hands, something the terrorists Nick had known would never do. Cutting them free spoke to Josef's nature. For Josef at least, the story was true.
"Oddly enough, I do," Nick said. "What you said makes a lot of sense, as much sense as any other explanation."
"You will tell the story?"
"I'll do my best," Nick said.
As soon as I can get hold of Harker.
"Then we're done here. My men will take you back to your car. You must wear the hoods one more time."
"We need our phones and belongings back."
Josef said something and one of the men brought their belongings to them. He gave another order and once again the suffocating hood was slipped over Nick's head.
Someone began arguing with Josef. He wasn't speaking English. Nick couldn't understand what was being said but Selena would know. He thought it might be Viktor speaking. Josef's reply was flat and hard. There were more harsh words. The door opened and then slammed behind someone leaving.
Nick heard Josef's voice. "If you see me again it will be after the revolution has been accomplished," he said in English. "Goodbye, American."
Someone took Nick's arm and led him outside. After the warmth of the room the outside was cold and raw. He was put in the back seat of a car. After the hard chair it felt luxurious. He felt Selena settle next to him. Lamont and Ronnie were in a second car.
The car started and they began to move. She took his hand and leaned close and whispered. He could just make out the words.
"Someone didn't want to let us go. That's what Josef was arguing about. I think there's trouble."
Nick squeezed her hand.
They drove for a little while and then turned onto a rough dirt road, following tracks in the snow. The car came to a stop. Nick resisted the urge to pull off the hood. The car door was yanked open.
"Get out." The voice was Viktor's. It wasn't friendly.
"Ditch the hood," Nick said.
He pulled the sack off his head and threw it on the floor of the car. Selena's followed. They had stopped in the middle of a snow covered clearing in the woods. The second car was right behind them. Lamont and Ronnie were getting out. They had taken off their hoods as well. One of Josef's men was pointing his rifle at them. A second man was looking at them as if he didn't quite understand what was happening.
Nick opened his door and got out. Viktor stood off to the side. He had an AK pointed at them. He was too far away to disarm without getting shot.
"What's the problem, Viktor?" Nick asked.
Lamont and Ronnie came up and stood next to Nick and Selena.
"Maybe you should have paid him what he asked," Lamont said.
"You are the problem," Viktor said.
Nick's ear was beginning to itch and burn. He reached up to scratch it.
"Let me guess. You're Mitreski's spy. Everything Josef is planning is already going to fail."