She closed the door and locked it. Rushed through the small, two-bedroom apartment looking for other people, found nobody else there, and headed back toward Sikora. He was trying to get to his feet now, his stance insecure.
Trying a roundhouse swing at Toni’s head, she simply dodged the fist, swung the man around, and punched him in the kidney. He hit the ground on his knees out of breath again. She kicked the man in the back with her boot, knocking him onto the low-pile carpet, his face smashing against the rough surface. Planting her knee on the man’s back, she reached underneath the guy’s buttocks and grabbed his balls, bringing a sound she had heard before. A grunt? No. More like a sudden release of air. Shock. That was it. Shock that someone like her would grab him there in less than a seductive manner.
Having read the man’s profile, she knew he spoke German. That’s what she would use. “Now,” Toni said. “You can tell me the truth without all kinds of sexual tension on your part. As you can tell, there’s nothing sexual about the hold I have on you.” She squeezed down on his balls harder and his body tensed, his muscles on his back becoming quite rigid.
“What do you want?” he said softly in German, gulping after the last word.
“Straight answers,” she said. “Give me that and I’ll let you live, balls intact.”
His head tried to nod.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Now, you were a Brother of the Teutonic Order?”
He nodded.
She wondered if he took a vow of celibacy. “What do you know of the Order priest’s death here in Bratislava?”
“Nothing,” he said.
“What about the parish priest’s murder this morning?”
“Nothing.”
She squeezed down on his balls, bringing a response of pain. Her cell phone rang. Shit. She had forgotten to turn it off before leaving the car. She pulled the phone from her jacket pocket and saw the number of the caller. All right.
“This better be good,” she said in English, knowing it was Kurt Lamar on the other end.
“You busy?” Kurt asked.
“You might say that,” she said, glancing down at the man. “I’ve got Sikora by the balls.”
“Literally? Again?”
“First time for him,” she said. “What you need?”
There was a pause on the other end. “I’m with Jake,” he said.
“Put him on.”
A few seconds passed.
Sikora shifted under her. “What about me?”
“Shut the fuck up!”
“Hey, is that any way to talk to an old friend?” Jake said.
“Not you,” she said, her voice changing to a calm drawl. “What the hell are you up to now?”
“Your boy here was following me,” Jake said. “Had to jack him up.”
“You know what the hell I mean. That whole Vienna thing.”
Jake paused and then said, “Are you busy there?”
“I’m in Bratislava,” she said. “You know this place. You were here this morning trying to embarrass some poor local cops.”
“Training is a terrible expense,” Jake said. “They could have used a little more of it I’m afraid.”
“The Teutonic Order,” Toni said, watching Sikora’s eyes shift back toward her. “I have a Brother of the Teutonic Order here who, I’m sure, knows something about the death of two priests in Bratislava. I think he wants to tell me all about it.”
Jake laughed. “I’ll bet. Can we get together tonight? Talk over this crazy case.”
“Sure. Have Kurt show you to my place tonight at eight.”
“Great. Carry on.” He was about to click off, but then said, “Leave him a little dignity.”
“That’s up to him,” she said, and then flicked her phone shut and shoving it back into her jacket.
She jabbed her knee deeper into Sikora’s back. “Coffee break over, dumbass.”
Jake Adams handed the phone back to Kurt Lamar. They were now sitting in Kurt’s Audi, since the rain had picked up again. Jake looked back at his car behind them. Albrecht looked like he was getting concerned. Luckily the traffic on this road was light; only a few cars zipped past them as they talked on the side of the road.
“You got a date tonight?” Kurt asked Jake.
“I don’t think so. She wants you to show me where she lives. Eight tonight.”
“Sounds like a date to me,” Kurt said smiling.
Jake shook his head. “We haven’t been together for quite some time. She went off on Agency business, and I just figured it would end like that. Haven’t seen each other in more than a year.”
“She’s just as hot as you remember her,” Kurt said.
His eyes on his old friend, Jake said, “You and her get together?”
Kurt raised his hands toward Jake. “No. No. She’s a hell of a hottie, but you two have history. Besides, she’s my boss.”
“She worked for me at one time,” Jake said, “and we hooked up.”
“Still. Can we change the subject? What you plan on doing with the Grand Master?”
That was the rub. If Kurt and the Agency could find him, would those trying to kill the man be far behind? Jake doubted the bad guys had satellite GPS tracking, but they did seem to be one step ahead of him.
“We need to stash him for a while,” Jake said. “I’ve had some time to talk with Albrecht, and he seems to think his Order is under attack.”
“You don’t think he’s involved with any of the murders?”
Jake looked back at Albrecht in his car and then to Kurt. “You know more than you’re telling me.”
Kurt shifted in his seat but said nothing.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Jake said. “The Agency wouldn’t be involved with simple murders if it didn’t fit into a bigger picture. What am I up against?”
More hesitation. Finally, Kurt said, “We think there are cells all over Europe. Killing folks. We’ve seen a pattern of sorts.”
“A terrorist group?”
Kurt shook his head. “Not exactly. They’re targeting foreigners or those inclined to support the newly arrived. Turkish kabob shops, Moroccan restaurants, tea houses and smoke joints. Mostly small drive-bys. Sending a message. Then two weeks ago they assassinated a Hungarian politician. A man who wanted to allow more foreigners into his country.”
“And you think these are all connected?” Jake said.
“Yes. They call themselves Der Neue Orden.”
“The New Order.”
“Yeah.”
“So Albrecht might be right,” Jake said. “His Teutonic Order might be under attack in some way.” Knowing he needed a modicum of direction, based on sound intelligence, maybe Jake finally had something to go on. He had seen for himself that the Order, or at least the grand master of the Order, was under attack.
They agreed that Jake should stow Albrecht alone. Then only one person would know his location.
After passing the two cars alongside the road, the woman had slowed her Audi on the other side of a rise and waited. She had no idea what these two were up to, having followed the Audi with the American she had identified the night before outside the Donau Bar.
She drove back over the hill slowly just in time to see the Audi turn around toward Vienna and the other car, the VW Gulf, heading in her direction. She had to make a quick choice. The Audi or the Gulf? Stick with the Audi, she thought. She already knew about the man in the Gulf. She accelerated after the Audi ahead of her.
6