He slowly slipped his hand out of the iced towel and saw it was bent almost at a forty-five degree the wrong way. Gritting his teeth, and with one smooth motion, he snapped the finger back into place. He tried to slow his breathing and then wiped sweat from his brow. He’d remember that pain and use it. That bastard Adams would pay for this.
Kopari dug through a drawer and found a spoon. He placed that under his pinkie, the handle in his palm, and then started taping, leaving room for swelling. It wouldn’t be the same for a few weeks, but on reflection, it might actually turn out straighter than it had been. A silver lining.
Picking up his cell phone, he reluctantly punched in a number and waited. A moment later a groggy voice said, “Ja?”
“Adams was just here, Hochmeister,” Kopari said, glancing at his hand.
“And?”
“And he broke my finger.” He didn’t want to mention his nipple ring. Herr Conrad wouldn’t like that.
“Did you tell him?”
“Yes, sir. Just like you said.”
“You didn’t have to wait for him to break your finger.”
The Concierge shrugged his shoulders. “I needed to make it look good.”
Hermann Conrad laughed and said, “You always were good at taking penalties. You were too good for hockey. Should have played football. There would have been yellow cards all around.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
There was a moment of silence, but Kopari could hear a woman’s voice in the background on the other end plying Herr Conrad back to bed.
“I’ll see you soon in St. Johann in Tirol,” Conrad said. “Remember that. In Tirol. Not Pongau. They’re some sixty kilometers apart.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Call when you get close and we’ll give you directions.”
“Sir?”
“What?”
“Are you sure you want Adams to show up there?”
There was a grunt on the other end and Kopari imagined Herr Conrad shaking his head.
“You’ll bring Emil and the others…so you can all have a chance at him.”
With that Conrad hung up. Kopari did the same and then found some old prescription pain medicine in a cupboard. Washed down a few capsules with a fresh beer. Looking at his makeshift splint, he guessed he’d need to find something in the morning a little more appropriate for work at the Hilton.
14
It was early morning in Magdeburg, Germany. Not that Dr. Wilhelm Altenstein could tell, though, deep inside his university laboratory in the cellar of the science building. He had worked all night with one graduate assistant, Heinz Poetzsch, a brilliant young man from Bernburg, who had actually led Altenstein in the right direction around midnight. Heinz had posed a question — the first step in any important discovery.
Altenstein rubbed his tired eyes. If he stopped thinking for a moment, which was entirely impossible, he would have felt the hunger and the sleep deprivation that made his hands shake as he picked up a cup of coffee. But the coffee and the recent discovery were the only things keeping him going.
“Herr Professor?” Heinz said, his hands deep into the pockets of his white lab coat. His dark brown hair stuck up in all directions, and his tiny round spectacles sat crooked on his thin nose.
“Ja, Heinz.” Altenstein sipped his coffee. He was afraid to look at himself in the mirror each time he went to the bathroom to get rid of coffee. Afraid to see what the night, the weeks before, had done to his body.
“We should go for breakfast,” the assistant said.
The grad student was right again. There was nothing more for them to do at this time. They had run computer schemes following the discovery; processed them through the link they had to the supercomputer in Berlin where the entire human genome was stored. They had also done the tests over and over again. The results were always the same. The nano probes attacked the gene for hair color every time. If they could do that…he shook his head and wanted to destroy his work.
“You go, Heinz,” Altenstein said. “I must think.”
“Sir, this will mean the Nobel Prize for you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“It’s true, Herr Doctor. With this discovery we will easily be able to find cures for some of the most invasive diseases on Earth.” He straightened his eye glasses, but his dark brows rose with his wrinkled forehead.
“Please. Go get something to eat, Heinz.” Altenstein waved his hands at his assistant until the young man left the lab.
His young assistant was too naive. As with all great discoveries, there was both rewards and concerns. In this case, Altenstein’s concerns far outweighed any thought of rewards. What would his benefactor Hermann Conrad do with this discovery? Altenstein was kicking himself for the late-night call he had made. What? He looked at his watch. Six hours ago? Conrad had first been disturbed with his interruption, but once Altenstein had told him about his discovery, the man had been ecstatic — like a school boy after having sex with his first girl.
And now Altenstein was required to go to Austria to present his findings to a group of Conrad’s associates. He was used to that. Had always had to nearly beg for his next funding source. But this was strange, he had to admit. Why Austria? Oh well. The man had money and that’s what Altenstein needed to continue his work. Besides, he had not been to Austria in a long time. He could use a little wining and dining. Conrad had said a woman from his Magdeburg office would bring him tickets to Salzburg and then St. Johann in Tirol, along with a couple hundred Euros for spending. He smiled and took another sip of his coffee. Yeah, he could use a little vacation. He deserved it.
Morning light streamed into the bedroom window of Alexandra’s third-floor apartment on Vienna’s Kartner Ring, a view of the State Opera House across the street. To the north sat the luxury Bristol Hotel, and Hermann Conrad guessed Alexandra would watch the rich and famous from around the world come and go, wishing she was one of them.
The window was open a crack and street sounds seeped in along with the chill of early day.
Conrad had just gone to the bathroom and he sat naked now on the edge of the bed gazing upon the beautiful woman on the other side of the bed, the covers pulled up tight to her chin and the curve of her luscious body still evident through the down-filled comforter. He knew what was underneath.
He thought about the late-night call from Dr. Altenstein and he could barely hold his enthusiasm back. But he had to. He would let the good doctor explain it all. The erection didn’t surprise Conrad, but he did wonder if it was from the discovery or from Alexandra. Well, damn it, the discovery could wait. Rolling onto his side, he slid under the covers with her.
She smiled and said, “So, Herr Conrad. What does Prussia have for Ukraine?” She reached between his legs and took hold of his erection. “Hmm. I think the sword needs a scabbard.” Rolling to her stomach and lifting her hips in the air, she said, “Mount up good knight.”
“So that’s the game we play this morning?” He slapped her buttocks as he entered her slowly and then picked up speed.
Ten minutes later, the two of them embracing, there was a knock at the door.
“Shit!” Conrad said. “Who could that be? Your boyfriend?”
“You’re my boyfriend,” she said, somewhat concerned but playful.
Slipping on a pair of warm-ups, Conrad went to the door and peered through the peep hole. Then he shook his head and opened the door six inches.