A souvenir shop next to the hotel gave her an idea. She had no weapons with her. Everything she needed was in Berlin. But there were other ways to take a prisoner. She walked by a rotating stand containing dozens of Swiss flags with little pointed tips on the poles. A quick pass and return resulted in one of the flags being wrapped up in her palm with the point sticking out just beyond her fingertips. Her movements were so quick that the shop manager never realized what happened.
She slowed her speed again and looked inside. Adriana was walking away from the concierge toward the elevators at the rear of the lobby. It was now or never.
Allyson pushed the door open and stalked across the marble floor, walking as fast as she could without breaking out into a full run. She kept her sunglasses on and her hat low, barely peeking out from under the bill to stay locked in on her prey.
Adriana reached the elevator and pressed the button to go up. The doors to the left opened a second later, and she stepped inside. As she pressed one of the buttons, Allyson kept her head down and put up her hand. “Hold the elevator please!” She tried not to shout too loudly but still with enough volume to get Adriana’s attention, a risky move in and of itself.
Without being able to see the hurried woman’s face, Adriana stuck her finger out and hit the button to hold the doors. Allyson slid inside and put her back against the wall, breathing heavily.
“Thank you,” she said, leaning her head against the wooden rear wall.
“You’re welcome,” Adriana said, staring forward as the doors closed.
“Which floor are you going to?”
Allyson had already glanced at the illuminated button with the number four on it. She pulled out her phone and pretended to send a text message to someone. “Oh, I’m sorry. Fourth. Thank you.”
Adriana didn’t move and nodded.
When the doors opened, Adriana started for the opening when she suddenly felt a sharp point in her back, sticking right into the skin over a kidney.
“Get off the elevator. Slowly.”
Allyson pressed her free hand onto Adriana’s shoulder, easing her through the doors. Her head turned right out of sheer instinct, making sure no one was around. At this time of day, either most of the temporary hotel residents were checked out or doing what typical visitors did in Zurich. Still, there was the chance of running into one of the cleaning ladies. That would be trouble.
“What were you doing at the bank?” Allyson asked. She ran her hand down Adriana’s arm to her hand where her fingers were wrapped around the room’s card key. Allyson yanked it away and looked at the room number.
It was 434.
“Making a deposit.”
The smart-aleck answer received a deeper jab with the flag stick. Adriana winced but kept moving.
They reached the hallway where the elevator alcove branched in two directions. Allyson noted that Adriana’s room was to the left and gently shoved her captive that way. The corridor was clear in both directions; however, that could change at any moment.
“I don’t think so,” Allyson said. “I think it’s more likely you went there to find something. What were you looking for?”
“Money.”
The point of the flag stick sank deeper, not breaking the skin but causing enough discomfort that Adriana’s eyes squeezed at the pain.
“No, I don’t think so, Adriana. You’re not looking for money. You’re looking for the missing Rubens. Where is it?”
Adriana shuffled forward, waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Her rucksack hung loosely on her shoulder, a myriad of options within. In her present state, none of it was accessible.
“I don’t know where the painting is. If I knew, I’d have it right now.”
The door numbers counted down as they continued toward 434.
“Who was the other man with you? I know the professor already.”
“Yes, I know. How did all those boxes and files feel when they landed on top of you?”
Allyson pushed the point harder.
Adriana’s body shuddered. It was right over the kidney now, still not puncturing the skin, but that would only require a little more effort.
“Who is he?”
“If you,” Adriana swallowed against the stabbing in her back, “if you don’t know who he is, how did you find us?”
Allyson shook her head. “I have my methods. Tell me his name.”
“He’s gone. If you want to know so bad, go back to Innsbruck, and ask him yourself.”
The two reached room 434. Allyson shoved Adriana face-first against the wall, keeping the flag stick jammed into her back. She waved the magnetic card over the door lock, and a second later the light blinked green. “Open it,” Allyson ordered.
Adriana reached over and grabbed the latch with her left hand. She pulled down on it, and the door opened an inch. Suddenly, her hand pushed forward with a jolt. As she did, she spun around, using momentum to twist away from the point in her back. She jerked Allyson ahead of her. Adriana’s right elbow swung around in the same fluid motion and struck Allyson at the base of her neck, just above the shoulder blades.
Allyson felt the thud and fell forward into the room with Adriana in tow. Gravity did the rest and dragged the two women to the floor in a tangled heap of writhing arms and legs.
Adriana grabbed Allyson’s wrist and kicked with her knee, but the blow was blocked by Allyson’s shin. A sudden pain shot through their legs, and Adriana’s grip loosened.
Allyson pushed away and rolled over against the closet as the door to the room closed automatically. She pushed herself up and jumped forward, trying to plant her shoulder in Adriana’s midsection. Adriana recovered, spinning to a stance just in time to step away from the tackle. Allyson went sprawling like a bull that had just missed the red cloth, landing on the bed for a brief second. She bounced up and pivoted around, brandishing her cheap weapon.
Adriana readied herself in a fighting stance, her left arm extended and prepared for the next assault. “You stabbed me with a toy flag?” Her face scrunched in disgust.
Allyson shrugged. “Gotta make do with what you can. Unfortunately, you left me without any of my usual tools when you disappeared from Berlin.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Adriana caught a glimpse of her rucksack. There was a pistol inside and a few other things that would be handy right about now, but the bag being a few feet away posed a problem.
“Got some kind of weapons in there?” Allyson asked.
“Maybe.”
They eyed each other like two lions about to fight over the last scraps from a kill. Adriana kept her balance, her back leg bent slightly at the knee, ready to strike. Allyson was bent forward, awaiting the next attack.
“You don’t like to fight with hands?”
“You’re the one holding a souvenir flag as some kind of prison house shank.” In the eye of the storm, Adriana had an epiphany. Maybe it wasn’t so much an epiphany as it was a long-shot idea. It might be worth a try, she thought. “What are you getting out of all this?”
Allyson’s eyebrows lowered for a second. Her face contorted. She was clearly confused by the question. “What do you mean? I’m getting paid. What are you getting out of it?”
“How much?”
“That’s none of your business.” She faked a lunge forward, and Adriana retreated a half step.
“How much?”
Allyson’s eyes flashed like a wild beast about to move in for the kill. “More than you’ll ever make from a job.”
Adriana didn’t have time for games. “I don’t need money.”
The comment caught Allyson off guard. “What? You think I’m stupid? Everyone needs money. And if you already have it, a little more never hurt, right?”