“Who was that?”
She told him about what Franz Martini had told her and then she took a bite of an apple pastry.
“What does it mean?” she asked him.
“I don’t know. She could be a criminal. She could have changed her name to get away from an ex-husband. Of course we already know about these nanoprobes. Crazy shit. Things you can’t see taking over your body. What the hell’s that?”
Washing down a piece of pastry with coffee, Anna then said, “I guess it’s the future.”
“Right here and now, though.”
They finished up and left in a hurry, Anna driving with more determination now.
Jake knew this was getting much more complex than he initially thought, and that was a bitch. How in the hell did things always get screwed up like this? Well, if he had wanted safe he could have become an accountant. He shook with that thought.
23
It took Jake and Anna almost two hours to make it over the pass and back down into the St. Johann in Tirol area. Cars littered the edge of the highway like roadkill, some sticking out of the snow bank like they had been dropped from the sky.
They had stopped at a store on the outskirts of town to pick up some power bars and coffee for a thermos. While there Jake found a trail guide for the local cross country ski trails. They had viewed them online, but the folding map was a lot easier to carry than a laptop computer. Anna had skied most of the trails in her past. That was years ago, though.
She found a trailhead parking spot on the southwest side of town. The parking lot was nearly empty — only three cars — and they were all with local St. Johann license plates.
“Tourists will wait for the trails to be groomed,” Anna said, slinging her backpack over her shoulders and centering it on her back. She was wearing her skin-tight black ski outfit, with an orange and gold stripe from the ankle to under her arm, and then from her neck down to her wrists on both sides. She didn’t look too happy about the extra weight in the backpack.
“Sorry about the gear,” Jake said. “We might need everything in there, though.” His pack was even heavier, and he adjusted it on his back, snapping the waist strap.
She swung her rifle over her back like she had so many times during biathlon competitions. “The rifle is four kilos, not including all of the extra bullets.”
Jake smiled at her. “Maybe that’ll slow you down a little. Remember, I’m mostly a downhill skier. Take it easy on me, Fraulein Olympian.”
She skated off and said over her shoulder, “Just keep up.”
“Great,” Jake said, slinging Anna’s second rifle over his shoulder, and following in hot pursuit.
Although the sun was out, the temperature had dropped significantly once the snow stopped. It didn’t take long for ice to form on Jake’s eyebrows and his exposed hair, where the sweat had made it wet.
Once they got up onto the trail, Anna did slow down. Jake wasn’t sure if that was for his sake, or if the weight had become a problem for her. Regardless, he was glad she was now taking her time. Only problem was her distractingly fine ass in the tight suit ahead of him. He almost ran off the trail a few times. The snow was deep, but a few other skiers had made a trail, allowing them to simply stay in those tracks.
She stopped on the trail ahead and waited for Jake. When he caught up she said, “There. Up ahead.”
Through the trees a couple of kilometers around a bend in the mountain, a massive castle rose up from the base, surrounded by thick pines.
“Wow. That’s some place.” If it looked that big from this distance, it would be even more impressive up close.
Anna pulled out her map. “The trail rises up about a kilometer ahead. Then it switches back over that ridge and comes back around to the west and south to form the loop.”
“We’ll need to take our time now,” Jake said. “Just like normal recreational skiers.”
“Tired?” She had a grin that would not end.
“A little.”
“I like a man who tells the truth.”
“I do that when I must,” he said. “I figured the heavy breathing and the sweat would be a dead giveaway anyhow.”
She shuffled her skis to the side and slipped backward into Jake. Then she kissed him on the lips and pulled away. “Salt. Yeah, you might want to take a drink of water.”
He licked his lips and shook his head.
She headed out again at a slow, gradual slide. He followed, and she had been right, the trail rose up and became quite steep. Luckily, Anna had used the right wax on both sets of skis.
Soon they came to a flat stretch and Jake could see the castle coming up on their right. He could hear cars approaching the castle, and then they came into view as six vehicles went through the front gate. Moving forward more cautiously now, he guessed when they got even with the castle it would be some two hundred meters below them, as the raven flew. Perhaps two fifty on foot. But the snow was deep there. It would not be easy.
Stopping before she came upon the castle, Anna waited for Jake. He put up one finger to his lips as he approached.
“Sound really carries,” he whispered. He didn’t see anyone outside near the castle, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. He glanced about and saw that the trees on the entire ridge were mostly pines of various size. They would have plenty of cover. He had her wait there while he slid along the trail past the castle, looking for the best location. It didn’t take him long. There was a rock formation with short, bushy pines around it, protecting it from view from the bottom and from the trail above. He waved for her to come forward. He had stopped along a group of pines, where he could step out of the skis onto the snow under them and not alert a skier that he had departed the trail. He had her do the same thing, and then they stepped down through the trees to the precipice surrounded by trees.
Quietly, they pushed snow aside like a nest. Within an hour they were settled into place on the southwest corner of Conrad’s castle. From there they had a view of the back garden, one side of the structure, and the drive and gate out front. They could see part of the parking lot out front, but most of the cars were out of view. Now they would wait for dark.
Inside the castle, Conrad’s men wandered about the place like they owned it — grabbing beer from the refrigerator and Scotch and schnapps from the bar in the sitting room on the first floor.
Conrad, a beer in his hand, rubbed his shoulder with his free hand.
Alexandra came up behind him and started massaging his shoulders. She had slept in and stayed behind. “You take a hit?”
“You should have seen it,” Conrad said, his eyes bright. “I felt like a kid again.”
Miko approached, taking a long swig of beer. “He scored two goals today,” he said to Alexandra. “Almost a hat trick.”
“I had no idea you were so good,” she said. Although she had heard he was a fine player for the German team many years ago.
“Well, we were playing local boys.”
Miko laughed and said, “Polizei. We smashed them.”
Conrad shook his head. “You’re lucky they didn’t arrest you for assault. Two of their players had to go for stitches. I must shower.” He left Alexandra there with Miko.
The Czech, making sure Conrad had gone upstairs, shifted his gaze on Alexandra. “You like hockey?”
“Not really,” she said, wanting to get the hell out of there. The man was always eating radishes, and his breath was foul.
“No?” He stepped closer, his lips next to her ear. “But I hear you like to fuck.” He ran his hand to her shapely buttocks and squeezed down.
She took his little finger and pulled back, bringing instant pain to him, until he slowly pulled his hand away. He seemed to enjoy the pain.