“McGinty, do you have any recorded footage of the men leaving with Claire and Prof. Barry three days ago?” Purdue asked.
McGinty looked at Duncan, reluctant to answer. Duncan urged him on, nodding to assure his colleague that Mr. Purdue could be trusted. “This man pays your salary, so to speak,” Duncan told his colleague. “If he needs help, like, we are going to give it to him. You know full well the police have no freakin’ idea where to start.”
“Ayah!” McGinty agreed. “That is for certain. Mr. Purdue, the police pulled all that data off the security recordings, sir. The servers have no files form any time before yesterday anymore.
Purdue grinned like a kingpin criminal, wringing his hands together. It provoked a curious smile from Duncan who had always admired the well-known explorer and inventor’s penchant for rule breaking to serve justice. “What you thinking, boss?” he smiled with his massive forearms folded over his chest.
“Can you get me into the control room server station?” Purdue asked. “There will be backed up files, data equivalent to the exact footage the police annexed.
“Of course, I can, Mr. Purdue!” McGinty boasted. “I can get you in anywhere. Just out of interest, what if you don’t recognize the men?”
“That does not matter, McGinty,” Purdue reassured him. “I just need to see which code they used to gain access to the administration wing. If they are not employees, they must have used the access code of whomever helped them.”
“Geezuss, the man really is a genius, eh? Eh, Duncan?” McGinty marveled, slapping his colleague’s upper arm with the back of his hand.
“Aye, we know that,” Duncan laughed. “I’ll watch the perimeter while you get the boss into the computer room.”
“Alright, Mr. Purdue,” McGinty gestured forward, “this way.”
With the help of the two private security experts Purdue found himself sitting in front of the server where the security data was stored, on and offline. Briskly he expanded his tablet into its A4 size and placed it on the desk next to him. Dislodging a small catch tucked in the side of the device, he extracted a built in USB-type connector on a cable already connected to the internal storage chip of the tablet. Narrowing his eyes to determine the opposing port of the particular drive, Purdue slipped the connector in and activated his retrieval program on the tablet.
Soon the load bar appeared in translucent blue on the transparent screen, and Purdue proceeded to punch in the time stamps, from the morning of that Friday to the last shift change last night. As he waited for the data transfer to complete Purdue realized for the first time how fatigued he was. All the excitement of decrypting the mystery of the Nazi officer’s writings to the adrenaline fueled worry for the welfare of his old friend Helen Barry, had him neglecting any thought of sleep.
In fact, he only now came to realize just how exhausted he was. In essence, he had not slept a wink since he woke up to ready the group for the trip to Markvartovice! Even he was amazed at the lack of sleep he had managed to suppress thus far in order to keep things steady.
“Some tea, boss?” Duncan asked in the hum of the machines, holding up two mugs.
“Aye, thank you, Duncan,” Purdue smiled, feeling considerably less lonely. “You are a godsend!”
Chapter 31
Don had peppered his ankle with ointment and bound it properly. For a while, he understandably limped a bit, but by mid-morning he could walk quite well again. He let Nina drive the van across the border to Poland for more reasons than one. Border guards had a softer spot for charming, beautiful women and of course, his foot would never hold out on the pedals for the duration of the trip to Krakow once in the country.
Costa offered to drive, but Nina was having fun driving the vehicle that was clearly supped-up contrary to its dilapidated hand-me-down exterior. The clouds only dropped a drizzle which was welcome, since she was unfamiliar with the roads and would have hated to drive in back roads outside Krakow in hard rain. Don played some old Johnny Cash and a mix tape of 80’s hits, both cassettes he discovered in the glove compartment.
“Guys, have you noticed that Volvo before?” Nina asked.
Looking behind them as they headed from the border, both Costa and Don noticed the old brown Volvo.
“Nope, haven’t seen it before,” Costa shrugged. “But we will keep checking, especially when we turn onto other roads.”
Purdue’s party of explorers was taking a route that ran south of Katowice to make a beeline for Krakow on a less conspicuous road. Perhaps it was an error to be too unremarkable, but they could not afford too much attention on main roads with a vehicle that looked like a moving wreck, deceptive or not.
Just before Tychy, they pulled over to fill up the tank. It was the perfect opportunity to see if the Volvo followed, and it did.
“See that?” Nina asked Costa. He nodded, watching the old brown car stop at another garage.
“Just get a good look at them when they get out, Zorba,” Don warned. “I have to take a piss quick, okay?”
“Right,” Costa replied, ready to memorize the occupants of the suspicious car. Nina had run into the convenience store nearby to buy them all some road chow while Costa minded the van.
From across the wide road, the Volvo’s occupants stepped out, three men in their 30s looking crime-movie scaly. Costa leaned against the van, his arms folded over his chest. He made no secret that he was watching them when they looked in his direction, using his intimidation as a warning to them that they have been discovered. If it turned out that they were not really thugs or had anything to do with the Black Sun, Costa figured his distinct warning to them would be inconsequential and harmless.
The men took note of him but did not act on it. They seemed to get fuel too and went into the small shop for cigarettes and Coca Cola.
“Any bazookas or automatic weapons?” Don jested as he interrupted Costa’s intent leer at the men across the busy street.
Costa laughed and shook his head, but Don discerned a mean streak in that chuckle as if Costa was hoping for a confrontation.
“I got you lads some sandwiches and milk,” Nina reported when she joined them. “Hope that is okay. There was not much choice, else.”
“Sandwiches are perfect, Dr. Gould,” Costa flirted with a wink. He took his foil-wrapped lunch from her, lightly grazing her hand with his as he did so. Nina’s legs stung with the thrill of his touch and she caught herself looking into his dark mesmerizing eyes a moment too long.
“And this is yours, Don,” she said quickly, giving Don his food.
“Ah! Milk! A very good idea. It is very filling, unlike that sugary soda shite people drink,” Don approved. “So what do you think? Could they be a threat?”
Costa shook his head. “I don’t think so. But if they are they will certainly be sorry.”
Don slapped a heavy hand on the Greek professor’s shoulder and laughed with a mouth full of toasted bread, “I am beginning to like you more and more, lady!”
Nina smiled. “Everything is a dick measuring contest with you men, isn’t it? Can’t you just treat a perceived threat gracefully and talk to your opponents?”
“No,” both men answered in unison, reinforcing their male bonding with a roaring laugh. She had to smile. Perhaps it was good to be in the company of two rambunctious lads like Don and Costa. After all, those types of brawlers were the most effective protectors.
“Okay, jokes aside. We have a questionable character to meet in less than 50 minutes,” Don said. “How long till we get to Krakow from here?”
“About an hour,” Nina affirmed, checking her handheld GPS provided by Purdue so that their position and route would not be registered on any international systems. The billionaire had his own satellite feed for the very purpose of remaining undetected.