Rodon's Eye

By Vince Nakovics

Jennifer and her daughter Fanni moved to Dubrovnik after her husband died in a car accident and her career in kayak racing was brought to a halt. The past five years proved it had been a good decision. Then three murders committed in two countries bring the Dubrovnik Regional Police, the Albanian Major Crimes Unit, and Interpol Albania together to solve the previously thought accidental deaths. None of them suspected they were setting in motion a terrorist plan of such magnitude the City of Dubrovnik, Croatia could have expected nor prepared for. It becomes a race to save hundreds, perhaps thousands, as well as the falsely accused.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vince Nakovics
• Release date: Sep 29, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393083993

Vince Nakovics

   Vince Nakovics retired from the US Navy. His career was anything but conventional with a variety of positions from technician to manager; from prison guard to investigator he covered a lot of ground. He jokes about working his technical career backwards as he started out on the most technically advanced equipment in 1975 and worked his way back in time to 1942 on board the USS Missouri. It didn’t end there he found himself reverse engineering the construction of Revolutionary War cannon carriages for Colonial National Historical Park in Yorktown, VA. His work on the carriages resulted in his becoming a blacksmith in 1999. He became the newsletter editor for his local blacksmithing associations for seven years, publishing over 65 monthly issues, including two articles for the national magazine Anvil’s Ring and interviewing over 100 American and international blacksmiths.    He has published three non-fiction books; American Blacksmiths 2010, 1781 Siege of Yorktown Cannon Carriages 2013 and Horses Need Not Apply 2016.  Also in 2016 he published The Blacksmith Murders and has concentrated on writing novels since.  He resides predominately in Albania with frequent visits to the rest of Europe looking for interesting tidbits of culture, folklore and mystery to incorporate in his works. His books are widely available through the many D2D partners, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. 

Book preview

One

They should have made you the chairwoman for this race. This race is the one that made the organization. It made Amanda’s job easy these past five years. And, it was your idea, your work that made it happen. It wasn’t your fault we, you couldn’t be there, Mom.

You’ve watched and listened to me for the past five years, and still don’t get I only care about the Women’s International Kayak Racing Organization (WIKRO) being the best organization possible. When I had the accident it took me out of competition and I haven’t attended a Slalom race since. Most of the competitors don’t even know who I am anymore. Amanda took over the organization and has put on a lot of great events and she is the face of the WIKRO now.

She is an opportunistic bitch; she’s never helped you, not once in the last five years

Fanni, you shouldn’t think of her like that. It only reinforces hostile emotions and they are not productive.

She, she, Fanni twists the towel in her hands and storms from the kitchen and out the back door. 

Jennifer can’t catch her so there is no point in running after her. She knows she will run off her fit and return in an hour. If only she could reconcile her feelings about Amanda.

Five years is a lifetime in racing. She knew she would never compete again the morning she woke in the hospital with her leg and arm in traction, and the horrific pain. After they explained she had been in a coma for two weeks she asked about her husband. Their expressions, and the uncomfortable pause made her not push for an answer, she didn’t want one.

The Doctor’s eyes shifted to the floor, and then said, Your husband, Andy, died at the scene of the crash. The Doctor met her eyes briefly and turned away. It is a reflex now; it prevents him from absorbing his patient’s pain as his own.

To the Doctor’s relief the counselor didn’t hesitate to add, Andy’s father felt it was best to bury him since the duration of your situation wasn’t known. Your daughter, Fanni, was in quite a state. It seems to have helped her move forward. She went on saying Andy’s father was taking care of Fanni at her house until other arrangements became necessary. Fanni was doing remarkably well, etc.

Jennifer couldn’t help herself, she was glad Fanni was okay. The news of Andy hadn’t set in. She held up her hand for them to be quiet. It was surreal, she was awake, but felt as if she was looking down at the four of them: nurse, doctor, counselor and herself. Jennifer snapped out of when the nurse coughed and squeezed her hand. This nurse and several others, unlike the doctor or counselor who are only messengers of this news, would be the ones who deal with the aftermath. They expressed their regret and left. The nurse remained, holding her hand, saying nothing, until she was called away.

Jennifer laid there; eyes focused nowhere but pointed at the ceiling. In her mind she watched snippets of their life together. Andy was a man for the ocean and was lucky to make it his life’s work. They were good together, she had her kayak racing and he had the ocean’s mysteries to explore. He could have been a racing competitor. His ability to propel a kayak exceeded many of the best competitors, but competition was Jennifer’s realm.

His latest work in the oceans was taking him back to the Mediterranean and it was how she and Fanni wound up moving to Croatia. A new start, not the new start the three of them would have had, but it was away from everything. Everything reminded them of Andy and Jennifer felt it was holding them back.  She would not let Andy’s death define her existence and be a dead weight on Fanni’s potential. They would both be crippled for life if she did.

Andy was gone and for both of their sakes they needed a place to recover. Fanni needed it as much as Jennifer needed to be with Fanni. She made the decision to move and rebuild her tour business. Despite the obstacles of recovering and moving overseas, her name as a professional was still bankable.

Five years goes fast, and she feels helpless in her ability to convince Fanni to go to college sooner than later. Fanni has been accepted by the three universities she put in for and is eligible for several scholarships ensuring her tuition and living expenses for the full four years. Those opportunities will not be there if she waits. They have talked about it, but she isn’t sure if Fanni is letting these opportunities slip away because of her interest in her on-again, off-again relationship with David Maric.

She met him during their first six months in Dubrovnik and they have been friends ever since. He is a nice enough boy, but he isn’t the one, Fanni has told her, but she is closer to him than any of her girlfriends. She hopes she doesn’t become engulfed in any of his passions, some of them will, may prove to hold David back or worse. He hasn’t learned to temper what comes out of his mouth. Fanni will be nineteen in five months; there is little else she can do. Jennifer finishes and gets ready to open the store downstairs.

Fanni isn’t a sprinter; she has the stamina to go long distances at near top speed. She is not muscularly defined, but as strong as someone twice her size. As one would expect she loves the water and kayaking given she grew up in and near water. Her feet flop against the pavement instead of her usual smooth, noiseless landing and lift when her thoughts become distracted. Father would disapprove of her fits, but she only has them when they discuss Amanda, Megan or Jared that she loses control anymore. They betrayed her mother when she needed help the most, she would have helped them. Her mother refuses to even say she is angry and takes on the role of speaking to her like a child, telling her it was a difficult time for everyone, like she didn’t live through it with her.

Staring out over the ocean, cloaked in the memory of the first time she touched a dolphin in the wild off Laguna Beach, California. It was a beautiful day; the three of them were there when out of nowhere a lone dolphin popped up between them. Her father laughed when she told him she was worried the dolphin was lost because it was all by itself. He calmed her explaining they are curious creatures; she heard us and came to see what they were up to. The dolphin popped up shaking its head spraying them with water confirming her suspicion her father could talk to the fishes, at seven she believed many things. He asked the dolphin a few more questions, it shook its head to agree or disagree with him, and they all laughed. They slid off their kayaks and waited. The dolphin nudged her with its nose then floated next to her, waiting for her to take hold of its dorsal fin. It took off so fast and powerfully Fanni got scared and let go. In that second the dolphin pulled her a good twenty feet away. The dolphin circled, waiting for Mom and Dad to arrive. They pulled her onto her kayak and the dolphin lept out of the water sounding a continuous trill, cutting into the water and was gone. The power and speed of the dolphin amazed Fanni. She promised herself one day she would be able to keep up, at seven anything is possible.

The anger leaving her body she finger combs her hair in the Adriatic Breeze. She misses the Pacific beaches where she grew up, but the sea is different here, it smells lighter, fresher than off the coast of California. It is a long walk home, but the warmth on her skin, the heat evaporating the sweat make her feel good. She will have to apologize, yet again to her mother. She will make it up to her someday.

Josh pulls up, six kayaks strapped to the top of his jeep, asking if she would like a lift. He’s known her most of her whole life, and is familiar with her moods. Fanni has always had a silly kind of crush on him, but it is just that, a silly thing. He listens to her, doesn’t interject himself unless she invites him. She accepts his offer and he talks non-stop about the group he took out that morning. They had so many laughs today during roll over training. The tourists all left with great videos of the outing. It takes practice to pull off a roll over, but worth the time to learn if you spend time off any coast or river. There is always the one guy who knows he shouldn’t even try to do it. You need upper body strength, but more importantly flexibility too. Today was no exception; this guy flips over, shoots out of the capsized kayak, flips it right-side up and pulls himself lickety-split back on top. It was the first time he ever did it. He looked like a pro. He laughed saying he always wanted to try it, but needed to know someone would be there to help him if he got into trouble.

Josh leaves the morning groups at the lunch site, whether he has an afternoon group or not. It is a 20 minute ride to Jennifer’s shop from the beach he uses for his 1/2 day trips. The logo on his truck; ‘Kayaking Tours, What else!’ has the shop number and website sized so you can read it from across the road. He and Jennifer have an arrangement, she lets him use her store as his business front and he rents one of the garages out back where he stores his kayaks, and works on his experimental models and scuba gear. He and her husband used to design kayaks for fun, now it is his business. They were all surprised when he left his job as a research oceanographer and set up a kayaking business in Dubrovnik the year before the accident.

His being there was a one of the deciding factors for picking Dubrovnik to relocate to. They needed to get away and Jennifer knew Dubrovnik well from racing and scouting trips when she started WIKRO. It was nice to have one person she knew and trusted already there.

The driver holds a sign with her name on it. Amanda points at her bags before he even has a chance to ask, You are Ms. Amanda Bryce?

She hesitates, reminding herself to bite her tongue while thinking, Who else would I be idiot. Forcing a smile she answers, Yes, you found me. My bags.

He grabs her bags and motions her to follow him to the car. What a surprise a silver Mercedes, every time Amanda comes for this race she cannot believe the number of Mercedes. Her dislike for this event hasn’t ebbed; it is small and doesn’t provide the exposure of the other races in the area. Outside of a few local tourist groups and Jennifer’s business that is all there is. She has tried to get the larger Kayaking organizations and magazines to better cover their races, but for some reason the local Mayor and powers that be in Croatia are resistant. Because of their resistance the majority of the magazines and TV crews pack up and leave after the Men’s competition is over. She thought it was because she didn’t offer enough money. Two years ago she made an offer, but they became hostile when she implied they chased the media away, of course they accepted her increased offer and it is now the regular payment. The sponsors don’t like her, but they loved Jennifer. The event is co-sponsored by several companies outside of Dubrovnik. Those companies control the votes to decide who the opening official for the race will be. Every year they have picked between the same three local politicians, but this year they chose Jennifer of all people. She hasn’t competed, or even been to a Slalom race since her accident five years ago. Driving the narrow winding road she is mesmerized by the tile roofs and reminds her of reef she saw off the coast of Japan years ago. Amanda thinks of Andy, always liked Andy; she thought Jennifer held him back from becoming the American Jacques Cousteau.

Amanda pretended to like Jennifer more than she did; she wasn’t someone she would associate with. Amanda was part of the popular group in school and Jennifer wasn’t, those relationships extended into adulthood, but one must do what one must do. Like most of the people in her life she served a purpose, hers was to show her the ropes of running WIKRO with the bonus of providing time to flirt with Andy. Jennifer was her only real competition and she took every advantage she could get back then. It was always neck to neck between them. Everyone gushed with sorrow when she had her accident, poor Jenn; she lost her husband and career, blah, blah, blah. She bit her tongue, she was glad when she had the accident and would never compete again. It made her the clear leader of the female kayaking world. Not to mention she would take over WIKRO. Jennifer was such a stickler they would never get the cash prizes anywhere near what the men were getting. Five years under her tutelage and they were getting sixty percent. She increased their purse by forty percent. Jennifer never would have gotten so much. She always expected to feel something, a tinge of guilt, shame because of her feelings, but they never came. She missed flirting with Andy, she was sure she could have had him if Jennifer had died instead.

WIKRo’s four day event is preceded by the men’s international kayaking competition on the Kupa River. It is three days of qualification runs and the final race day for placement. The top seven receive a cash prize, trophy, and bragging rights. She was moved to a cabin close to the camping grounds last year and found several furry critters occupied it and enjoyed snuggling up to her at night.  They kept telling her it was most unusual for Pine Martens to come close to humans. Martens are vicious little killers of chickens, rats, mice etc. They can inflict a serious bite with their sharp teeth, but normally run and hide from humans. No one had ever heard of one, let alone a few, snuggle up to someone at night. It didn’t take long before everyone began calling her Marten. They thought they were so cute; she endures it because she needs the locals to keep sponsorships coming in. She used to love camping with all the competitors, but now she just wants to get away from them after she does her dog and pony show. She couldn’t explain why, she still loved to compete, but she is fast approaching the apex of her career, the younger paddlers were training better and are smarter than when she started out. Now she desired to be alone, just her slicing through the water in her kayak. 

Megan McDonough told Amanda she should take a leave of absence for a few months because she has worked non-stop for six years to grow WIKRO and competed three times a year. Amanda suspects it is an attempt to open an opportunity for her to take over as Executive Director or worse bring back Jennifer. She questions everyone’s motives, casting an eye of distrust on everything. How do they expect my organization to grow if they act like they are still wearing cutoff jeans and dirty tee-shirts? Those days are over. Kayaks are made of carbon fiber now. They weigh less than a woman’s handbag on Friday night. Those fabrics that make the wet-suits look so good cost a fortune and they have to look good in them to keep the sponsors happy.

She hates the fact she had to go on a diet for this event. She could swear Kayak Outfitters sent her mislabeled suits. Every suit fit so tight, exposing every ripple of flab. Cameras pick make every flaw worse, she had to look fabulous. She figured out a way to promote Kayak Outfitters using a WIKRO wrap-around scarf. By making sure WIKRO is readable around her waist she is promoting not hiding. Amanda would pull it off looking fabulous and sophisticated. She will make sure Megan’s scarf disappears just before the photo shoot. Megan let herself go when she retired from competition last year; she must have gained seven pounds, all of it on her hips and stomach. It makes her smile knowing the cameras will emphasize every extra ounce. She has to figure out a way to remove her from the board of WIKRO and convince her to sell her shares of Kayak Outfitters to her. She may sell them if she threatens to expose her secret, but it may not be enough of a threat and then what?

Megan McDonough arrives at the airport expecting to find Amanda on the same flight, but discovers she is flying by herself. Flying is a necessity to run WIKRO, but detests it. Amanda knows she hates flying alone. These past few months Amanda has been particularly difficult. When she heard the Kupa River sponsors asked Jennifer to open the event, without so much as a how do you do to her she was livid. Megan laughed to herself remembering the look on her face when she read the message they sent out. She would have to revisit all those old memories of being beaten by Jennifer. There is always an interview of the opener; it sets the tone for all the other interviews. It serves her right; they should have done more to help Jennifer after the accident. When Jennifer asked for help Amanda turned the board members against loaning her the money to re-start her tour business after the accident. Megan was ashamed now, but she followed the leader, it was a blind vote and only one person voted in favor of the loan. She always let Jennifer think it was her. No one knows who voted in favor. It made Amanda suspicious of everyone, but now she is worse.

Jennifer surprised everyone; she not only survived, but became the largest kayak tour service in Europe and ranks 10th internationally. Amanda cringes whenever she reads of her success. She couldn’t understand how she became so big running an international organization out of a store front in Dubrovnik, Croatia of all places. Megan loved watching her jealousy and resentment overcome her usual cold, distanced exterior, but was too much of a coward to let her see her smiling at her misery. 

Bounding into the store Fanni says hello to Eno, the store’s full-time manager. He seems okay, but has a kind of blank stare when she speaks to him. It makes her wonder what he thinks and sometimes he stares so long it creeps her out. Fanni and her mother live upstairs. They have a stairway in the back of the store leading to their apartment which she uses whenever the store is open. Jennifer doesn’t like her to use those stairs while the store is open. Fanni doesn’t see why she should have to walk around to the back of the building to come and go. It is their store and apartment. She skips across the apartment and hugs her mother.  It is her way of apologizing, she helps finish cleaning the apartment.

Fanni can’t wait for her Mom to run the opening kayak course. She hasn’t even looked at racing since her father died. She hopes it will light a spark in her, but if not it will be good regardless. 

The traditional opening run is an abbreviated course, as other sports venues that have celebrities open for them. What’s important is her being on the course. She spent a year getting her leg and arm to the point she could even use them, let alone paddle. Her leg still causes her pain if she sits too long in a chair or kayak. Saturday is the big day. They leave tomorrow for the Kupa River site and will begin checking competitors in, assigning numbers, positions, etc. It is always exciting, but this time...

Two

Jared Edwards is as usual the first one to arrive and begin work at the racing site setting up, adjusting and optimizing the cameras for the Women’s International Kayaking Racing Organization at the Kupa river event. He doesn’t have the luxury of showing up late. They share media equipment with The International Kayak Racing Association who is running an event before WIKRO at the same site. There is a short turnaround between the two racing events where he has to sign for all the equipment and set it up to his liking. Part of the arrangement is Jared ensures the return of all the equipment whether he used it or not. In this location it is easy, there are only three companies supplying this kind of equipment in Dubrovnik.

It saves him two days work and because of the short turnaround most of the media will remain. If it was a full day break many would leave and they would get half the coverage they do. The IKRA pays for the equipment to be dropped off and WIKRO pays for the teardown and return, which costs less. IKRA could require splitting it 50/50, but they have been writing off the difference as a donation until WIKRO obtains more and bigger sponsors. Jared tours the site making notes of what he will change. His reputation is on the line for all media recording once the event starts. Amanda refers to him as the tech guy, he is a production manager not just a tech guy. Jared forced Amanda to hire two assistants for each event just over two years ago.  He hires one local hire at the various sites and the other is a technician he knows who was looking for this kind of