Bullets continued to slam into the Sprinter. Hugo quietly thanked their lucky stars that Novus’ vehicle reinforcements worked. Two centimeters of extra armor underneath turned the van into a massive shield. It wouldn’t hold up much longer, though.
Hugo met Freya’s gaze. “Any ideas?” he asked hopefully.
“Perhaps,” she replied, a twinkle in her eye despite everything. “Hold on a minute.”
Freya crawled behind the seat again. When she returned a few moments later, she held up her hand. A dark object sat cradled in it—a hand grenade.
“You’re an angel, Freya,” Hugo chuckled.
Freya tossed the grenade, and Hugo caught it with one hand. Pulling himself back out into the open, he peered again through the hole in the body. A third man in black had approached the others, and now they were standing in a semicircle, their weapons aimed his way. Mikko’s shot Hugo a grin and a thumbs-up.
Let’s do this, Hugo thought, and he snatched the pin from the hand grenade. After a count of two, he lobbed it in a soft arc toward the middle of the semicircle. The men shouted something in a language Hugo didn’t know, and then came a thunderous boom. All the air was forced out of Hugo’s lungs, and he was thrown to the ground, stars shimmering along the edge of his vision.
7
She took a deep breath. Madeleine sat down, finally exhaling when she heard the voice on the phone.
“Magnus here.”
“Magnus, hi. It’s Madeleine.”
“Madeleine! So glad you called. As a matter of fact, I was just about to call you. How’s your team doing?”
Madeleine cleared her throat. She hadn’t expected to be answering questions quite this immediately.
“Oh, they’re doing well. It’s moving forward.”
“Do you have any clues yet?”
“We have a track we’re following, but it’s still early in the investigation.”
“I understand, of course. But you’re going to do everything you can to find those bastards, right?”
“I promise, Magnus. But listen, there are some questions I need answers to before we can continue with our investigation.”
There were a few seconds of hesitation. When he spoke again, Magnus’ tone had fallen a whole octave.
“Madeleine, you owe me a favor. You know that.”
Madeleine bit her lip. “I fully agree, Magnus. But this is about a burglary a couple of hours ago at the home of one of Scandinavia’s most powerful businessmen. It’s going to generate a huge amount of publicity when it reaches the press.”
Magnus didn’t reply, so Madeleine continued, “And that means the Danish police will pour all their resources into solving this.”
Magnus chuckled. “You think so? I don’t. I’m in the apartment now, and I can tell you, they don’t have their best investigator on it. I met the woman who’s overseeing the investigation, and she doesn’t exactly leave a great impression, that’s for sure.”
Madeleine squinted. “You said you’re in the apartment now?”
“Yes.”
“The police let you into the apartment?”
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t they?”
Madeleine shook her head. “Because they have to secure the crime scene—check for fingerprints, things like that. You know, standard procedure.”
Magnus snorted and said, “It’s my apartment. I’ll come and go as I please.”
Madeleine was dumbfounded. She couldn’t believe the police would let Magnus into the apartment already. He had to have pressured them somehow. She took a deep breath.
“Okay, fine. It’s not my problem. But I still need to ask you some questions before we continue.”
A few seconds passed. “Okay. Shoot.”
“Why are you not letting the police handle the investigation themselves? Why involve us?”
“You know why,” Magnus replied coolly. “I don’t trust the police. I have much more confidence in you to handle the problem discreetly.”
“Which leads to my next question. Why is it so important that it’s discreet?”
“You said it yourself. I’m a celebrity, and everything I do is under extremely close supervision.”
“True,” Madeleine said, trailing off. She took a deep, sharp breath. “But what did they take, Magnus?”
“Unfortunately, I cannot answer that. The only thing I can say is that it’s of the utmost importance that I get it back.”
“I understand that it’s important, Magnus, but I need to know that it’s not illegal. If the police are already working on their own investigation, that means they’re also going to want to know what it is.”
“Well, what they want isn’t my problem.”
“What do you mean, not your problem?”
A severity had crept into Magnus’ voice. “I mean not my problem. The police won’t find out, anyway.”
Madeleine was silent for a moment, then cleared her throat and said, “How should I interpret that?”
“However you wish. That’s not what’s important right now. It’s not what’s in the box that matters. The only thing that matters is that I get it back.”
“Magnus. You need to give me more than that to go on.”
“Enough! You owe me! Have you forgotten that?”
Madeleine clenched her jaw. “No. I haven’t.”
“Good,” Magnus said, readjusting his tone. “For a moment there, it seemed like you had.”
“Okay. Fine. I’ll do what you’re asking me to do, and I won’t bring it up again. We will continue to work on recovering your property.”
“Wonderful. Call me when you know something more.”
When the call had ended, Madeleine remained silent for a long time. When he wanted to be, Magnus could be extraordinarily charming and accommodating. She’d met him several times, and each time he had radiated tremendous confidence. But she’d always suspected that a shadow of something else lay beneath the surface. Something brutal and ruthless. Now, she’d experienced it for the first time. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling. Madeleine was used to dealing with different types of people, but Magnus—well, he was of a different caliber.
Adem entered the room, sipping a cup of coffee and holding a paper bag. He approached Madeleine, shook out a croissant, and handed it to her.
“Here. A little energy.”
Madeleine took it gratefully. “Thanks.”
Adem pulled out the chair across from her and sat down. “Looks like that was a tough conversation,” he said.
Madeleine leaned back in her chair and took a bite of the croissant.
“You could say that,” she agreed. “The man’s a handful.”
“What did he say about the thing that was stolen?”
“Not much.”
“So we still don’t know what it is, then?”
“Nope.”
Adem sat quietly. He hadn’t often seen Madeleine like this. “There’s nothing you can do to push him?” he asked.
Madeleine banged her fist on the table. “If there was, I would have done it, right?”
Adem swallowed. “Of course,” he said meekly. “Sorry.”
Madeleine blew out a puff of air and said, “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just that Magnus has me in the palm of his hand. I have no choice but to help him.”
Adem leaned forward. “What do you mean?” he asked.
Madeleine bit her lip. She had to say something else; otherwise, Adem would surely tell someone that she’d been behaving strangely.
“You can’t tell this to anyone, okay?”
Adem nodded quickly. “Absolutely. You can trust me.”
She drew a breath. “Magnus helped me once a few years ago. I got into trouble during one of our assignments, and he helped solve the crisis.”
“How?”
“A Novus employee was assigned to identify a mole in the organization, but the mission was wrecked after he set a trap for the mole. To make a long story short, an innocent person lost his life. If th
e operation had come out to the press, Novus—and I, as the person in charge—would’ve been hauled before the courts. But Magnus held a position on the board, and he used his influence to silence the matter. He saved Novus.”
Adem grimaced. “An innocent person died?”
“Yes,” Madeleine answered, her gaze wandering to the windows. “A software developer. Our agent thought he was a mole and arranged a trap. The trap failed, but the developer was so shaken by the whole affair that he fell into a deep depression and took his own life eight days later.”
“Oh my God.”
“Yeah. It wasn’t my proudest moment.” Long seconds passed. Then Madeleine continued, “But it means I’m indebted to Magnus. And he’s calling in that favor now.”
Adem swallowed hard. “No way out?”
Madeleine shook her head. “No way out.”
***
Darkness. Pure, black darkness surrounded him. Voices echoed far away. Hugo struggled to open his eyes.
One voice was quite close.
“Hugo! Wake up!”
Hugo pushed his eyelids open and found himself staring into Freya’s face. It was smudged with dirt, and a streak of blood ran down her cheek. But her teeth sparkled like a Hollywood movie star when she saw Hugo open his eyes.
“Hey, there you are.”
Hugo struggled to sit up. “What happened?” he asked groggily.
“You saved us. Remember?”
Hugo thought for a moment. “Right, I think so. I threw a grenade at them, didn’t I? It exploded.” He tensed and tried to get to his feet, but Freya put her hand on Hugo’s shoulder and gently pushed him back down.
“Quiet, now. Rest a little. You may have a concussion, so you’d better rest.”
Pain resounded through Hugo’s body, but he pushed the feeling away. “It’s okay,” he said. “Wouldn’t be my first concussion. I’ll be fine.”
Steps were heard nearby, and Mikko came walking around the corner. His footfalls crunched the broken glass on the asphalt.
“Hey, boss! How ya feeling?”
Hugo got to his feet, stumbled, and grabbed the twisted hunk of metal that had been a van just a few minutes earlier.
“A bit of a headache. Nothing serious.”
Mikko’s eyes shone, and his face cracked into a giant smile. Laughter rumbled from deep within him. “You’re hard as nails, my friend. Not many people can black out after a grenade explosion and be ready to fight after just a few minutes.”
Hugo chuckled. “Yeah, well . . . how are you? How’s Sussie?”
Sussie’s voice arose from behind the seats. “I’m okay! I have to see if we can take some of the computers with us.”
Hugo glanced at Freya and asked, “With us?”
Freya smiled and pointed outside. “We have new transportation.”
Hugo tried his balance and slowly climbed out of the wreck. The red Renault van was standing with the doors open and the engine idling. Mikko palmed Hugo’s shoulder.
“We were lucky. I checked it—there’s a dead body in there, but otherwise, it’s good to go.”
Hugo nodded. That was a silver lining. “Okay,” he said to the group, “bring as much of your stuff as you can. Mikko, help me lift the dead guy. We’ll put him here with the others, and the police will take care of it.”
As if on cue, sirens howled in the distance.
Hugo raised an eyebrow. “Okay, come on.”
He and Mikko carefully lifted out the dead man and laid him down with the other three lying on the road. They checked the weapons they found, found two that worked, and took them. Sussie and Freya ran up to where they stood, each carrying a bag.
Hugo met Freya’s gaze. “Was that all?” he asked.
“Yeah. A computer, some equipment, and two guns. Four, with the ones you found.” She nodded at the two extra weapons in Mikko’s hand.
“Okay, people,” Hugo said. “The guys in the black van have already gained a huge lead. We need to get going.”
The sirens were getting closer.
“Let’s do it,” said Sussie. They all climbed into the van. Freya jumped into the driver’s seat, and Hugo ran around to the other side. Sussie and Mikko climbed into the middle row. Once the doors were closed, Freya put the van in gear and pushed softly on the accelerator.
“That was intense,” she said in a low tone, as if to herself. Hugo studied her. Despite everything that had happened, her face appeared calm. She was dirty and bloody, but she possessed a sense of tranquility that impressed him. Not many people could endure what they just had and react the way she was.
He turned around. “All right, Sussie?”
Sussie was pale, but she pursed her lips and nodded.
The woman is trying hard, Hugo thought.
“I’m okay,” Sussie told him. “I just need a few minutes. It’ll all work out.”
Hugo nodded. “Yeah, it will. Tell me if there’s anything I can do. What about you, Mikko?”
The Finn leaned his bulk forward, shoved Hugo’s shoulder playfully, and chuckled, “I’m all right, bro.”
Hugo smiled. They’d all been through a lot—shit, they’d almost lost their lives—but because the four of them were united, they had survived. Collaboration was the key to success. That really was the only thing that worked in times of crisis: Cooperation.
“Try to get us out of here as quickly as possible,” Hugo said to Freya. “The police will be here soon.”
The sirens were coming from in front of her, and she could see blue, flashing lights twinkling two blocks away. Freya sped up and made a U-turn, then drove back the same way they’d come from. After a few minutes, they approached the only entrance to Nordhavn. Freya braked.
“Right, left, or straight ahead?”
Hugo frowned. It was doubtful that those guys would drive into Copenhagen again. Nor would they go straight ahead—that would only take them to eastern Copenhagen. Hugo’s best guess was that they’d headed north. He didn’t know precisely where, but Magnus von Silverstråle’s press conference was in Oslo. It wasn’t unreasonable to assume the bad guys would try to get to Oslo before the presser started. It was just a guess, but it was the best they had to go on at the moment.
“Go right,” Hugo finally responded.
“Roger.”
When the light turned green, Freya glided around the corner and headed north.
***
The heat of the room embraced her like a lover. Sara Blitz stretched out in the luxurious sauna, and her muscles relaxed as they bathed in the warmth and humidity. It was still morning, and today was going to be a big day. She needed to be refreshed—nothing could go wrong today. Nothing. Sara grabbed a nearby bucket, filled it with water, and poured the water on the sauna’s hot stones. Steam hissed and sizzled as she wiped beads of sweat from her cheeks.
She’d come a long way; she chuckled just thinking about it. Her parents had been poor bohemians living in the Berlin slums, and Sara’s upbringing had been marked mainly by poverty. From the days when they’d barely had the money for food to the times she’d had to go to school in threadbare clothes, the other children had bullied her ruthlessly.
It had left its mark on her. Sara’s early life had instilled in her one thing above all else: an enormous drive to get rich. She’d made it through school despite all the obstacles in her way, and then she’d entered university. It had gone well at first—she was clearly an above-average student. But at one point, she’d taken a chance to steal the answers to a challenging upcoming exam, and she’d been caught. She was thrown out.
Sara couldn’t return home after that and face the disappointment of her parents, so she’d taken a job as a waitress to make ends meet. It had been a rough six months before happiness smiled upon her; that’s when she’d met Marco.
In the sauna, she stretched out even longer. Just then, a shadow moved outside the sauna door. Her slender muscles moved like a cat’s as she sat up straight. She smiled to herself. Slowly and softly, Sar
a lifted herself off the wooden bench; the moment her feet touched the floor, the door slid open.
“Finished?”
Marco stood outside with a glass of cold mineral water.
She smiled. “Yes! Thanks.”
Marco held the door open and handed her the glass as she passed. There was a plush sofa in the room, and she walked over and reclined on it.
“That’s better,” Sara sighed.
Marco sat down on a chair diagonal from her. His large body spilled over the edges, and his fleshy calves fluttered.
“I have to go soon,” he said.
Sara ruffled her eyebrows. “Go?”
“Yeah.”
“Marco, it’s the weekend. Everything’s closed.”
“Yeah, I know. But I need to.”
The calves rumbled on.
“Are you nervous?”
They stopped.
“What? No, I . . .”
“You’re behaving very strangely, Marco. Tell me what’s going on.”
Marco wiped his forehead with his hand. “It happened so suddenly,” he told her. “Magnus just called.”
Sara held up her hand. “Magnus . . . von Silverstråle?”
“Yeah.”
She leaned forward with feigned interest. “Go on.”
“He wants me to come to his press conference this evening in Oslo. It’s huge—he’s going to make it all public, everything about this secret deal he’s been planning for a long time.”
“But why does he want you to be there?”
A round droplet of sweat traveled down Marco’s cheek and fell to the floor. “You know why,” he said. “I helped him with the financing. It’s a huge deal. I made sure that most of the money he needed was financed. I even helped acquire all that cryptocurrency for him. You know that.”
She narrowed her eyes. “That’s what you were talking about a couple of weeks ago, wasn’t it?”
Marco nodded. “Yeah.”
Sara sipped the water. “But why are you so nervous?”
“I don’t know,” Marco shrugged, “but I didn’t think he’d be presenting the deal today. I mean, he’s been working on this for months; why right now? And why do I need to join him? Nobody has their financiers at a press conference.”
The Hugo Xavier Series: Book 1-3 Page 31