“You saved my ass tonight,” Jake said to her, whispering in her ear.
“The man in the room? That was Kopari, right? The concierge from Budapest.”
He nodded. “He would have killed me. I owe you a big one.”
She kissed him long on his lips and then pulled back slightly and said, “You can give me that later.”
Even with all that had happened, Jake found a slight smile within him. Some parts of Europe had not changed, and he was grateful for that.
“Let’s go get your car,” he said to her.
Jake slung the two rifles over his shoulders and grabbed a pair of skis and poles. Anna took her skis and they started to walk away, but a strained voice stopped them from behind. “Jake. Please, a moment.” It was Gustav Albrecht.
“I’ll catch up,” Jake said to Anna, and she started walking toward the front gate.
Jake turned to Albrecht. “What.”
“Thank you. You saved me. You saved the Order. How can I ever repay you?”
“Well, I expect one hell of a bonus in my bank account.”
“Done.”
Jake turned and wandered after Anna. He was stopped again. This time by a woman’s voice.
Alexandra caught up with him and walked at his side. “Thank you for your help,” she said. “Conrad and his men would have killed me if he knew I had betrayed him.”
“How long had you been onto Conrad?” Jake asked her.
“We heard about his funding for the nanotechnology work through a contact at Magdeburg University. I was sent to the university first months ago and turned Altenstein’s graduate assistant to let us know of any strange directions to their research.”
“That’s how Altenstein recognized you?”
“Yes. I played the grad student’s girlfriend a few times and he must have seen us together on campus. But eventually we needed to latch onto Conrad, so we set up a chance meeting in Vienna a few months back. He was more than eager to take advantage of the situation.”
Jake stopped and turned to Alexandra. “I see your appeal.”
She shook his hand. “It was nice working with you, Jake. If you ever need anything in Germany, please give me a call.”
He shook her hand and said, “I will. Trust me. And I am sorry about your Uncle Gunter.”
“Thank you.”
She walked away and Jake tried his best to understand how she could have given that fabulous body to Conrad under any circumstances — not to mention doing it for her work.
He caught up with Anna and they got a ride from one of the uniformed polizei back to her car.
27
They had spent the past six days hanging out at Anna’s chalet outside of Zell am See. She had gotten leave until after the first of the year, by direct order of the Federal President of Austria. They had done some downhill skiing at Kaprun and more cross country skiing near the chalet. Jake had not wanted to do much of anything; just hang out and relax and enjoy each other’s company. And they had done that.
Now, evening set in and they sat before a roaring fire on the sofa, Jake with his arm around her, and Anna with her head on his shoulder.
“What now?” Jake asked her.
She turned her eyes up to him. “What do you mean?”
“Do I just go back to Innsbruck and you go back to Vienna? Pretend we’re not good together?”
“I was hoping you could move your business to Vienna.”
He could do that. After all, he worked out of his apartment overlooking the Inn River. Worked mostly with a hand shake and a money transfer to his bank in Luxemburg. That he could do anywhere.
“Could you handle seeing me that much?”
She kissed him and they lingered like that for a long time. Finally, she said, “What do you think?”
“I hate big cities, though.”
“As you know, I live outside near the forest.”
“Is that an offer?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Super,” he said, just like she would.
She laughed. “Now. About Christmas.”
Over the past couple of days she had tried to convince him to come to her parent’s house for Christmas, but he wasn’t sure he was ready for that yet.
“I told you I have to leave tomorrow for Kurt’s funeral in Wisconsin. I have to be there.”
She nodded her understanding.
“But what about New Years Eve?” he said. “I could be back in time for that. Meet your parents then.”
“Great.” A broad smile.
They kissed again and then she lay her head back on Jake’s shoulder. They fell asleep like that.
The funeral for Kurt Lamar was with full military honor guards. Jake and Toni were both there, along with retired Admiral James Murphy, the man who had recruited Kurt into the spy game years before. It was a fine tribute to a man who had served his country with great distinction.
Jake had flown directly from Wisconsin to Chicago, and then on to Frankfurt, Germany. Then he had taken a local flight to Berlin and rented a car.
Now, just a few days before the new year, evening settling across Sachsen-Anhalt, Jake parked the rental car on a farmer’s road along a field, twenty kilometers southwest of Magdeburg. A strip of forest cut the field in two, and on each side, high on the hill above, giant white blades twirled around in the breeze in a vast wind farm. Their turbines produced enough power to light the nearby city of Bernburg.
He started out toward the house on the hill, an old farm house that looked in need of a new stucco and paint job.
Cold seeped into Jake’s exposed skin on his neck and his face. He wore black from the jump boots to his leather gloves.
Stepping closer to the house, Jake wondered how he should play this. He had gotten one of his CZ-75s and two clips, which he kept in safe deposit boxes in both Berlin and Munich. This one dated back to his days working in Germany for the old CIA.
He pulled the pistol out from his leather coat now and slid a round into the chamber. The house was a hundred meters away. Sitting alongside the back under a car port was the man’s Mercedes. The car had confirmed the man’s location to Jake, but it had not been his only way to find him. A little research had done that. He owned the wind farm, and had bought the old farmhouse a few years back.
There was one light visible through the slats of the Rolladens as Jake came up to the edge of the house. Only one way in Jake’s mind to do this. The direct approach.
When Jake kicked in the door, he found Hermann Conrad lounging on a leather sofa, a glass of brandy in his hand. On an end table next to the sofa sat a 9mm Glock. Conrad’s eyes were wide when he saw Jake.
Moving from left to right and back again, his gun aiming about the room for anything that could harm him, Jake finally trained the pistol on Conrad.
“Easy or hard,” Jake said. “That’s up to you.”
“What are you talking about? I own Sachsen-Anhalt.”
“Maybe. But you don’t own me. Pick up the gun.”
“Why?”
“Because I never shoot an unarmed man.”
Conrad’s eyes shifted toward the Glock on the table and then back to Jake. He must have been calculating how long it would take to pick up the gun, aim it at Jake, and fire. The numbers were not working for the guy, Jake could tell.
“I said…pick up the fucking gun.” Jake shot a hole in the wall behind Conrad’s head.
With one jerky motion that seemed slower than it was, Conrad went for the gun. Just as the man raised the gun from the table, Jake stepped to his right and shot three times. Two to the chest and one to the forehead. Conrad sunk into the sofa, the gun in his hand, laying on the table.
It took Jake only two minutes to find the small aluminum case. He figured Conrad would have the remaining nanoprobes close to him, not trusting anyone else with his precious discovery. Looking inside the case, Jake found the five secure tubes wedged delicately into thick foam rubber. He smiled and closed the case.