The station chief nodded and Jake left the way he’d come, slipping on his shoes before leaving through the back door. He made his way back to the hotel using a new route and methods to ensure he hadn’t been followed.
When he got to his room, he stepped in quietly, got undressed, and slid into bed. Alexandra lay quietly next to him, her breathing a steady flow of air. He didn’t expect Alexandra to wake, since he’d reluctantly slipped her a couple sleeping pills before they went to bed — enough to make her sleep a good eight hours. She needed the rest, he reasoned. Maybe he should have taken a few himself. He hadn’t been sleeping like normal, with his conscience out of whack having to defend himself daily from unknown killers. Even though he realized he was forced to kill those who came for him, he still felt guilty for having to do so. Again, his mind seemed to have a special compartment of rationalization for such things. He knew he had choices. He could simply hop a plane and fly to Montana, saddle a horse, and ride up into the high country to wet a few flies. Maybe even keep a couple and fry them in a pan on an open fire.
With these thoughts running through his mind, he didn’t need any sedative. He fell to sleep almost immediately.
29
The next morning Toni woke early, not able to sleep much, her mind on Jake and the case. She showered and watched some local news on the TV. The Berlin Polizei were still concerned about a significant increase in crime — especially murder — which wasn’t actually rare in the city, but nothing compared to city’s of comparable size in the U.S. It seemed to Toni that the Germans liked to compare themselves to the Americans when it came to crime, but didn’t like to admit problems of their own. Like high unemployment, and the pacifistic nature of the German government on foreign affairs.
When Toni picked Franz up at his room, his skin was an ashen tone, his eyes red, and his breathing labored. It took great strength not to show concern for his condition.
“Are you all right, Franz?” she asked.
“I’ll live,” he said. “At least for the day.” He coughed into a handkerchief and immediately folded that into his jacket. “Let’s go. I could use some coffee.”
God, she didn’t like the way he looked. But there was no way she could leave him out of this. Not now. He deserved to see this case through to the end.
They barely sat down in an isolated area with their coffee when Toni saw her contact come through the restaurant door. He saw her and stepped over to her table. It wasn’t the perfect place for a meeting, but she sure as hell didn’t want to be seen going into the U.S. Embassy.
“Toni.” Hank Roberts reached across and shook her hand.
She introduced Franz to Hank and they also shook before they all took seats.
Toni briefed the CIA station chief on what she knew, how Franz had been helping her, and how the Austrian Polizei officer would be talking with his counterpart in Berlin later in the day. When she was done, she sat back and observed her Agency friend, who seemed a bit reticent. They had worked together so many times, she could read the man better than her own husband.
“What’s the matter?” Toni asked Hank.
“I got a late night call from Jake,” Hank said.
“Jake is here?” She feigned shock, even though she guessed as much. After all, Jake had been one step ahead of her for the past couple of days.
Hank explained how Jake had gotten into his house and what they’d discussed.
“That sounds like Jake,” she said.
“I understand you two have a history as well,” Hank said, directing his gaze at Franz.
Franz held back a cough and said, “Yes, we’ve known each other for quite some time. Trouble seems to hang over him like a dark cloud.”
Toni laughed. “His problem is he cares too much. He can’t let things go.” Except for her, she thought with consternation.
“What do you have planned?” Hank asked.
She explained the meet later that night. How it should go down. Contingency plans. The works. What she couldn’t control, though, was how the local Polizei would respond.
“They’ve been working a multiple murder case,” Franz interjected.
“But they’ve been mostly collecting evidence at the scene,” the Agency station chief said. “As far as I know, they can’t find a link to any of them.”
“I’ll help them with that,” Franz said.
“After the fact,” Toni assured her Agency friend.
“Good.” Hank got up to leave. “It was nice to see you again, Toni. And nice to meet you, Franz.”
They shook hands all around once more, and the Berlin station chief left Toni and Franz to finish their coffee.
“He seems like a good man,” Franz said. “Can I get you some more coffee?”
She slid her empty glass to him. “Sure. Thank you, Franz.”
When Franz went away, she ran the conversation through her mind to make sure she knew how it would go down that evening. Jake was the only glitch. She wished she could talk with him before this went down.
Franz returned with the coffee and sat down across from Toni. “Everything all right?” he asked her.
“Yeah.”
“You’re thinking about Jake.”
“A little.”
Franz nodded his head. “You’re wondering why he hasn’t tried to contact you.”
“No. Jake has no idea I’m here. No clue I’m working this case.”
“Then you still have feelings for him,” Franz concluded.
“You think I’m that easy to read,” she said derisively. “I’m married.”
Franz sipped his coffee, smirked, and said, “You don’t have to convince me of that. The two of you were lovers for a long time.”
“Are you going to eat something?” she asked. “You’re starting to look like a cardboard-sign-holding homeless man.”
“I was born ugly. There’s no cure for mean.”
“Too harsh?”
Franz put minimal space between his thumb and forefinger.
“Sorry. I’ll take you to lunch after we talk with your Polizei friend.”
“Agreed.”
They got up and left.
Jake and Alexandra slept in late, her because of the sedatives and he because of the late-night reconnoiter to his old friend’s place. They ordered breakfast in their room and now she was taking a shower while Jake lay back on the bed watching the local news on the TV. The reporters talked about the men found dead throughout the city in the past few weeks, and Jake knew why those bodies had started stacking up. Some, like the two he’d shot the night before, had gotten caught up in the shadow game. The others, and this was only speculation on his part, had come to Berlin to collect on hits made in other parts of Europe. But the shooters weren’t collecting on the one million Euro bounty. Instead, they were catching bullets by other shooters. It was classic KGB assassination schemes. First, kill the assassin. Things hadn’t changed much. The SVR had the KGB play book.
Alexandra came from the bathroom naked. She turned her back to Jake and grasped her right butt cheek. “Is my ass starting to sag?”
“God no,” he said.
She slapped herself and turned to Jake. “Are you sure? I haven’t worked out in a while.”
He was rising just looking at her. How could she even ask him a question like that? He grasped himself through his pants. “See what you do to me?”
Smiling, she came to him and replaced his hand with hers. “We’ll have to take care of this. Any thoughts?”
“Well, you wanted a work out,” he explained. “Maybe you should do all the work. I’ll just lay here and take it like a man.” He flattened himself onto his back and smiled broadly.
“That’s what I get for opening my mouth,” she said.
Jake smiled. “You could do that too.”
She followed orders precisely, stripping his pants off him, taking him in her mouth for a while, and then impaling herself with him.