“Okay, let’s go.”
They grabbed their gear and hopped out of the helicopter. On the runway, a black van sat waiting for them. A woman with short hair and reflective sunglasses stood at the driver’s door, her arms crossed.
“You guys needed a ride?”
Raynard pulled back his teeth in a shark-like smile. “Sure do.”
The woman pointed to the back door and told him, “Jump in.”
Raynard went to the side door, pulled it open, and climbed into the van. Jules, Slavo, and Dragan followed. Jules slammed the door shut, and Raynard pounded the ceiling twice.
“Ready.”
A Plexiglas sliding door separated the driver from the passengers. The short-haired woman pushed the door aside and told them, “We’re going through a security check first. It’s just over there. When we’re done, you’ll be the ones who decide our destination.”
Raynard’s eyes flicked to the bundle on the floor between his feet. “Great,” he said. “We’re ready.”
The woman started the car and drove to the security check. A few older guards stood there, not particularly interested in anything or anyone in the van. There weren’t many problems with things people brought out of the airport; the issue was more with items that were brought in. When they were through, the woman pulled the clear door aside again.
“Okay, people. Where to now?”
Raynard licked his lips. “Grand Hôtel,” he said.
The woman hesitated. “To the Grand? Are you sure?”
“Absolutely sure.”
The woman shrugged and replied, “Okay, your choice.”
They followed the E6 south and approached Oslo. At this time of day, the traffic was still relatively light. There were some big transport trucks, but nothing that caused significant backups. It would take a little less than an hour to get to Oslo.
The heavy bundle on the floor between his legs caught his attention again. Raynard was curious about what the contents were, but now that they’d come this far, he wouldn’t slip up. They were so close now.
As the van got closer to Oslo, the traffic became denser.
The woman pulled open the Plexiglas door and asked, “To the front?”
Raynard jumped, nervous. “What?”
“Do you want me to drive you to the main entrance?”
Raynard nodded. “Oh, yes, that’ll be fine.”
His phone vibrated in his pocket. “Yes?” he answered.
“Where are you?”
“Close. Twenty minutes.”
“Excellent. When you enter the reception area, ask for Sara Blitz. They’ll give you a key, and you can come up to the room. Understand?”
Raynard sighed. “Yes, I understand. Be there soon.” He clicked off the call. He hated working with amateurs.
***
They judged each other like two tigers circling before the fight. The shaking became more intense as they flew through the cloud cover and headed straight north. Hugo glanced out the side window and saw the Swedish coast gliding past. He made a quick calculation in his head. It would take them at least half an hour to get to Oslo from their current position. He lowered the microphone on his helmet.
“This is going to be close.”
Magnus glared at him. “There would have been plenty of time if we hadn’t been forced to take a detour to pick you up,” he grumbled.
Hugo looked calmly back at Magnus. The tall man sat motionlessly, but Hugo perceived a certain hostility. There was something with Magnus that wasn’t quite right, but Hugo couldn’t put his finger on what. His gaze slid over to the woman sitting next to Magnus. She was breathtakingly beautiful, he had to admit. He gave her a brief nod.
“My name is Hugo Xavier,” he said and waved his hand in Freya’s direction. “This is my coworker, Freya.”
The woman smiled. “I’m Veronica. Nice to meet you, even if it is like this,” she said.
Hugo chuckled and replied, “We simply have to make the best of it.”
Magnus cleared his throat abruptly. “If we’re done with the introductions, then maybe we can focus on the problem in front of us?”
Hugo sat up straighter. “Of course. We can start by you giving us a little more information. What those thieves stole from you would be a great start.”
Magnus snorted. “I don’t think you should count on that,” he said. “I’ve been told that Novus’ people are professionals in things like this, so I don’t know how it would help if I told you more about what they took.”
Hugo leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “To begin with,” he replied, “it would give us a clearer picture of the type of opponents we’re facing. When we took the assignment, it was based on the understanding that it was a common burglary carried out by your everyday burglars. Brutal and violent, admittedly, but still burglars.”
“Yes, and?”
Hugo frowned. “Well, what we’ve seen of them doesn’t indicate that they’re just any burglars. These are well-trained mercenaries who have a solid backup in the forms of both money and men. Don’t be mistaken, Magnus—these guys operate in a completely different league than ordinary thieves do.”
Veronica’s face turned white, and she turned to Magnus. “You didn’t tell me that, Magnus!”
Magnus von Silverstråle scrunched up his face. “Veronica, this isn’t the right time or place for this.”
But Veronica didn’t give up. “Magnus, that was the only requirement I had when we started seeing each other. No lies.”
Magnus clenched his jaw. “Not now!”
Veronica jerked and pulled away from him. Magnus turned to Hugo.
“Listen. Okay, maybe it was a mistake for me not to tell you what it is, but now it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything. Nothing has changed. What was stolen is invaluable to me. But only to me; to anyone else, it would be useless.”
Freya leaned forward and chuckled. Her dark eyes flashed. “Magnus, you can drop that talk now. We all know that’s not true. Whatever was stolen, someone thinks it’s worth just as much as you do, if not more. These guys lost their entire team, but in less than an hour, they had even more men and weapons. You can only do that if you’re extremely well-financed. And that means that some big-shot has invested a lot of money in getting hold of whatever was in your safe.”
Magnus twisted his hands around in his lap.
“I . . . I can’t tell. I just cannot do that.”
Hugo studied him. He was close to the edge, Hugo could tell. And after all, Magnus had come and picked up both him and Freya from the ship. He held up his hand.
“Okay, we’ll wait on that, then. But it would have helped if you had told me it had great value. As it is, we went into this mission under one impression, and it turned out to be something else entirely.”
Magnus nodded. “You’re right, sorry.”
Hugo looked at Freya. Her face was dirty and oily, and a streak of blood ran from her temple down to her chin. Her eyes, however, were like thunder. Freya was a formidable fighter. She and Hugo had completed several missions together, and he was more impressed by her fighting spirit every time. It was like it grew stronger the more pressure she was under. He’d fought with many men and women over the years, but he wouldn’t want anyone other than Freya by his side.
“It doesn’t matter now,” she said. “The only thing we can do is get back your property and complete the mission.”
Hugo rubbed his scruffy face. He knew she was right, but something inside him still wanted to teach Magnus a lesson. But this was neither the right time nor the right place. He nodded.
“All right, we’re pushing on.” He turned to Magnus and said, “We’ll finish this and get your things back.”
Magnus breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Hugo held up his hand. “Where is the press conference happening?”
“At the Grand Hôtel.”
Hugo turned to Freya. “Try to con
tact Sussie and Mikko. Tell them to run a check on the Grand Hôtel and everything that surrounds it. And see if they can get any information about what kind of transport is being used there.”
Veronica leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “How could you know what kind of transportation they have?”
Freya shrugged and replied, “We don’t. But we can search for helicopters landing at airports around Oslo—there can’t be that many. Then, we can search for the vehicles that picked up the people who came in on those helicopters.”
“How in the world do you do that?”
Hugo grinned at her. “By hacking traffic and surveillance cameras at the airport,” he said matter-of-factly.
Veronica stared at him, fascinated. “I see,” she said.
Freya picked up her phone and called Sussie. Hugo turned his gaze out the side window, and a wave of uncertainty rolled through him. The question was how they would catch up with the thieves. Those men were an hour ahead of them.
Hugo turned to Magnus and said, “We’re going to have to improvise. That’s the only solution.”
Magnus looked at him, wide-eyed. “What do you mean?”
Hugo turned to the pilot and told her, “Sorry, but there are new plans.”
Magnus leaned forward. “No, wait a minute.”
But Hugo ignored him. “I’m Hugo Xavier. My partner and I are on assignment from a security company, and I need your help.”
The pilot turned back and studied the man behind her.
“Nice to meet you,” she said. “My name is Mary. What did you have in mind?”
Hugo quickly told Mary his plan; both Magnus and Veronica became paler and paler as they came to understand what he was proposing.
Freya bit her lip. “Hugo, are you sure about this?”
Hugo gave a single nod. “Yeah. It’s the only way.”
***
Power—that was the only thing that mattered. Jasper Roscoe reached for the bottle of whiskey and poured himself another. Pulling in a long sip, he glanced out the limousine’s side window as it turned in toward the Grand Hôtel. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. These last few days had been intense, and it was starting to wear on him. But it wasn’t far off now. Jasper set the glass in the holder next to the seat as the driver braked and turned smoothly in front of the Grand Hôtel.
The two bodyguards in the car with him got out first and scanned the immediate area around the sleek vehicle. The exquisite hotel towered up in front of Jasper as he stepped out.
“Okay,” he said. “I’m ready.”
The two black-clad bodyguards nodded, and one of them walked up to the entrance while the other followed Jasper a few meters behind. They entered the lobby, and Jasper took in the surroundings. It was magnificent, like a palace. A glossy, polished marble floor. A golden statue of a boy on a toy horse. A spectacular, rich mahogany staircase to the right. In the recessed ceiling above hung a massive crystal chandelier. Jasper rubbed his chin. If nothing else, Magnus had certainly had a sense of drama when he’d chosen a location for his presser.
A tall, fair-haired woman with exquisite features appeared. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she wore a dark suit.
“Welcome to the Grand Hôtel! How can I help you, sir?”
Jasper smiled broadly and gave a little bow slightly.
“Thank you, my dear. I’m Jasper Roscoe.”
The woman’s perfect smile sparkled. “Say no more, Mr. Roscoe. You are expected.”
A sliver of excitement sparked in Jasper’s midsection as the woman responded to his name. “Excellent,” he replied.
The woman held out her hand. “My name is Ilse, and I’ll be your host while you’re here with us.”
He took her hand and shook it. It was lusciously soft and warm.
“Thank you, that’s very kind.”
Voices approached, and a company of seven men and women entered the lobby. They spoke to each other in muted voices and hurried on when they saw a sign farther away. Jasper nodded in their direction.
“A lot of people here today?” he asked Ilse.
She nodded and replied, “Yes, there’s going to be a press conference in a little over an hour. The speaker’s a very well-known businessman, and there are a lot of people invited. You’ve chosen an interesting day to visit us, Mr. Roscoe.”
Jasper chuckled. “Yes, well, it happens sometimes. But it doesn’t bother me. I have some meetings planned myself, and since I’m only in Oslo this afternoon, I needed a place to receive my guests.” He smiled. “I’m flying on tonight.”
Ilse’s eyes twinkled like stars. “I understand. Don’t worry one bit. You’ll have all the privacy you need, Mr. Roscoe.”
Jasper took a step closer.
“Please, call me Jasper. And your proposal sounds like a great idea.”
Ilse’s face didn’t change. Her smile stayed as natural as if she hadn’t heard the hint in his tone.
“I guess you would like to see your room?” she asked.
Jasper bit his lip. It was the damn whiskey that made him behave this way. He took a deep breath. It would have to wait. He nodded and said, “Absolutely, show the way.”
Ilse smiled, spun around, and started through the lobby. Jasper followed her to the elevators, and they made their way to the fifth floor. When they reached a door numbered 517, she pulled a card out of her pocket.
“According to your instructions,” Ilse said. “The Flagg suite.”
She passed the card over the reader, and the lock clicked. She pushed open the door and went inside.
“One of our most excellent suites.”
Jasper stepped into the room. The walls were a beautiful powder blue. Elegant furniture and a crystal chandelier adorned the hall that led further into the suite. Distinctive round windows faced the grayish sky. In the next room was a spiral staircase. He pointed at it. “Is there more than one floor?”
Ilse smiled. “That leads up to the roof, where you can enjoy the magnificent view,” she said. Then she pursed her lips and added, “Unfortunately, we don’t have great weather today, but the view’s still outstanding.”
Jasper nodded.
“It’s excellent. This will be a pleasant place to spend my afternoon. Could you please send up some refreshments?”
“Of course, Mr. Roscoe—I mean Jasper. Will champagne and caviar be good?”
Jasper chuckled. “It will be fantastic, dear.”
Jasper went further into the apartment, and the two bodyguards inspected the rest of the suite. They came back and nodded briefly to Jasper. He turned to Ilse.
“Thank you for your extremely kind treatment.”
Ilse smiled, and her teeth sparkled. “Of course, Jasper. If there’s anything else, just call the reception desk, and I’ll come up.”
He took her hands and thanked her one more time. Then Ilse left the suite, and Jasper headed into the living room. He lowered himself onto one of the soft sofas and put his feet up on the glass table. He needed to think. It was of utmost importance that no one at the hotel suspect why Jasper Roscoe had chosen to spend a working afternoon at the same hotel where a press conference organized by one of the most powerful men in Scandinavia would be held.
One of the bodyguards entered the room.
“Is everything okay?”
Jasper nodded. “Yes, I just need to think. How much time until the press conference starts?”
The bodyguard checked his wristwatch and reported, “Twenty-five minutes.”
“All right, let me know when Sara gets here. Have the front desk send her to my room.”
“Okay.”
Jasper took a deep breath. Let the game begin.
16
Quiet, now. Keep calm. Sara Blitz took a deep breath and held it as the taxi turned in front of the Grand Hôtel. The magnificent facade was beautiful, but Sara took no notice of it. The pulse pounded in her ears. She was so close. Just a little farther, and she’d get everything she ever dreamed of. And, of
course, she’d leave Marco when she got the crypto wallet that Raynard had stolen. The equivalent of one billion dollars was on the cryptocurrency ledger.
She trembled at the thought of how much money that was—and what luck she had. That Jasper Roscoe had contacted her was the best thing that had ever happened to her. But maybe that was the way it was. It was the universe’s way of rewarding her fighting spirit. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d been obsessed with money, and soon she’d be financially independent for the rest of her life.
Thoughts of houses on the Riviera, of stocks, gold, and diamonds slipped through her mind, but she shook her head. Not yet. She didn’t have the crypto ledger yet. But soon.
The taxi braked and came to a stop, and Sara stepped out. Two guards standing at the hotel entrance approached her.
“Welcome to the Grand Hôtel,” one said with a short nod. “What’s your business at the hotel today?”
She met the muscular man’s gaze. “I have a meeting with a business colleague. Is there a problem?”
The other guard shook his head. “No, no problem. It’s just that there’s a press conference today at the hotel, so there’s more security than usual. Who are you meeting?”
Sara tightened her jaws and raised her voice slightly. “I don’t have to tell you that out here on the street.”
The guard flinched. After a few seconds of hesitation, he gestured with his hand toward the entrance.
“Of course. Please come inside.”
Sara Blitz slipped past the guards and entered the lobby. A dozen men and women stood in small groups, chatting. A couple looked up as she walked in, but they didn’t pay much attention and quickly returned to their conversation. Sara smiled to herself.
If only you knew.
She approached the reception desk, and a young man flashed her a movie star smile.
“Welcome to the Grand Hôtel, ma’am. How may I help you?”
Sara placed her hands on the marble counter and leaned forward. “I’m meeting someone here at the hotel. A Jasper Roscoe.”
An imperceptible twitch flickered on the man’s face. He met her gaze and said, “Of course, of course. Excuse me for just a second.”
The Hugo Xavier Series: Book 1-3 Page 42