The woman leaned to the right, trying to see if anyone was still in the room, or worse, under the pile. Sure enough, a low moan came from under the mess.
“Oh.” The desk worker barged forward, banging her hip against one of the work tables as she rushed down the aisle toward where she thought the voice had come.
Once she was behind the stacks of boxes, Adriana leaned her head to the right and pulled on the professor’s shoulder. They nearly ran the fifteen feet to the door, stepping silently on the balls of their feet to be as silent as possible. She didn’t even take a breath until they’d rounded the corner and were back out in the main hall.
They slowed to a brisk walk, heading for the entrance. “Look natural,” Adriana hissed, followed by a smile.
Koenig flashed a nervous grin, like a person who never knows how to smile for a photo.
She glanced over at him and saw the look on his face. “I said natural. You look like you’re about to crap yourself.”
“Well.”
“Ugh.”
Adriana shook her head and led him to the front door. They were lucky. Only the desk worker had heard the noise, but it would be only minutes until she alerted security and other employees as to what had happened.
Outside in the fresh air, she took in a few deep breaths, glad to finally get out of the old building. “You have your keys?” she asked as they moved across the asphalt.
“Yes,” he nodded. “But shouldn’t we take your car?”
“Give them to me.”
“Why don’t we take your car? And by the way, where are you taking me?”
She stopped and stared at him. He stumbled to a halt, nearly running into her. “I just saved your life. But if you stick around here, I can’t promise that will happen again. I’m going to find the missing Rubens, Professor Koenig. You can come with me or not. The choice is yours. But I’m taking your car.”
“Fine. I’ll come with you.”
“That’s a good choice.” She gave a nod and started across the parking lot in big strides.
“But can’t we take your car? Don’t you have a car here?”
“Your car is a BMW 650i. I have a rental. I know you probably don’t want it damaged, but the fact is,” she stopped suddenly again, pivoted around, and shot daggers from her eyes into his, “your car’s faster.”
He nodded submissively.
When they reached the red luxury sedan, she put out her hand. Reluctantly, he handed her the keys. “Maybe I should…”
She shook her head. “Keys. Now.”
“Okay.” He fumbled them into her palm, and she unlocked the doors.
She slid into the driver’s seat and made a quick adjustment to its position. He got in on the other side as she revved the engine to life.
“If… if you don’t mind me asking again, where are we going?” He stammered the words out like an unconfident child asking for a candy bar at the grocery checkout.
She shifted the vehicle into gear and whipped it out of the parking space. Another shift into gear, and she stepped on the gas, steering out onto the road. Once the aged brick building was in the rearview mirror, she glanced over at the frightened Koenig, who stared at her with a blank expression.
Her answer was direct. “We’re going to Baden-Baden.”
5
Allyson could hear the muffled sound of a woman’s voice talking to her in German. She caught a few words but didn’t know enough to string together an entire sentence. From the woman’s tone, she was probably saying something about staying calm and help was on the way. Next came the sound of cardboard scraping together. Papers falling on the floor added an additional, familiar noise.
For several minutes, Allyson was consumed by darkness; only a few faint rays of pale light, speckled by dust particles, streaked through the crevasses in her temporary tomb.
She was filled with fury. The other woman had got the drop on her. I should have known. But how? How did she find us here? Only one answer popped into her mind. She must have gone to the university to find Koenig and then followed us here. It’s the only explanation.
A man’s voice interrupted her thoughts from the other side of a pile of boxes. She didn’t know what he was saying either. Her luck, it seemed, wasn’t entirely bad. When the shelves fell over, she was knocked to the ground by a fairly heavy box, but the storage tower’s top had stopped abruptly when it struck the top of the file cabinet against the wall, creating a sort of lean-to for her. The good news was she’d get out of there with a few bumps and bruises. The bad news was that she was trapped by a pile of boxes and paper that would take who knew how long to clear.
Something shuffled to her left, and she noticed the box next to her start to wiggle. “I’m in here,” she said in her best damsel-in-distress voice. “Someone! Please help!”
“Americaner,” the masculine voice said to someone else. He then redirected his attention back to Allyson. “We will have you out shortly. Just stay calm.”
The box continued to wiggle until it suddenly came free and a burly man with a shaved head pulled it out. He wore navy blue coveralls. Allyson assumed he was some kind of maintenance worker. He put out his hand, and she took it, gripping it tightly.
One good pull, and she was back among the living, standing next to one of the biggest messes she’d ever seen. It was a bookkeeper’s nightmare.
“Thank you so much,” she said, making sure her gun was tucked safely away from view. Amid the chaotic collapse, she’d managed to hold onto her weapon, something she’d learned long ago. Hold on to your gun at all costs. The suppressor was still attached, and shoving it down the back of her pants was beyond awkward. She concealed the movement by wincing as if her back hurt, rubbing it with her hand.
Now that she could see the American visitor was safe, the desk worker’s expression changed to a harsher appearance. “What is the meaning of this? What happened? And where is the professor?”
Allyson had to think fast. “He went to the water closet.”
The woman seemed to accept the explanation but still waited for an answer to the other question.
“I don’t know what happened,” Allyson said innocently. “I thought I heard someone come in, but I didn’t see them.”
The desk worker frowned. “Where is the other girl?”
“What other girl?” The maintenance guy was genuinely confused.
“She had a hat on with red hair. She was just here.”
The blank expression on his face said everything she needed to hear. “Fine. I’m going to call the police.”
“That,” Allyson said, pulling the gun out from its hiding place, “won’t be necessary.”
Two quick pulls of the trigger put a round in each of the Germans’ chests. The victims dropped to the floor, disbelief mingling with horror on their faces. Allyson stepped over the bodies and fired another shot into each skull, just to make certain they wouldn’t survive. Maybe killing them was over the top, but it was better than having loose ends.
Allyson peeked out of the doorway in both directions. A custodian was mopping the floor at the other end of the building. With earbuds in each ear, he’d not heard a thing. Not even the massive crash when the shelves fell. Allyson’s hands worked quickly to detach the suppressor. She shoved the pistol back into her pants and the black tube into a free pocket in her rain jacket. Next, she used the jacket to cover her hand and pull the records room door shut. A rudimentary check made sure it was locked. Satisfied with the job, she headed for the door.
She pulled the hood up over her head upon exiting the building and looked in both directions. They were long gone. It was a foolish hope to think the other thief and the professor would still be around, so she didn’t spend more than three seconds checking the area.