Anna nodded. “It sounds like you won’t let those responsible for his death get away with it.”
Ben took a breath and he gripped the steering wheel tightly until his knuckles stood out white.
They were silent for the rest of the drive. Anna glanced out the window, trying to get some sort of orientation as to where Ben was taking her, but couldn’t make out anything. When he drove into a wooded area, she began to worry, but said nothing. Finally, Ben stopped and turned off the engine.
Anna watched Ben, who continued to look ahead. Then he looked in the rearview mirror, waited, and got out. Anna followed him, but looked around in irritation.
“You don’t really want to go into the woods now, do you? It’s totally dark.”
Ben nodded. “If anyone followed us, they’ll be in trouble there.”
Anna became cynical. “So will we. You can’t see your hand in front of your face.”
“I know my way around here. Mo and I spent a lot of time here in our youth.”
“Yes. With flashlights, or during the day.”
Ben smiled. “I showed him how to lose pursuers here. This is more useful than always facing a fight.”
Anna shook her head and followed Ben. “What about those guys just now?”
“There was no way to lose them then.”
Ben waited until Anna was close to him. “Always walk right behind me. Then nothing will happen to you.”
“Great. That makes me feel a lot better.”
Ben was virtually creeping like a cat into the completely dark forest, while Anna felt like a big elephant as she kept stepping on branches and barely avoiding tripping.
“Who the hell are you? I mean, you don’t learn something like that while camping, do you? What special unit did you used to belong to? No… you’re too young for that. Aren’t you? And when did you do your banking apprenticeship then?”
“Boy Scouts!” Ben suggested.
Anna expelled an annoyed breath. “Yeah, sure. That’s the kind of thing you learn all about in the Boy Scouts!”
“We’d better be quiet. Just because we don’t see our pursuers doesn’t mean we’re not being followed.”
Anna shook her head. “And you really advise people on money investments? With your positive attitude, I find that hard to believe. And if we don’t find a place to hide soon, our pursuers won’t have to worry about me anymore, because I’m sure to break my neck.”
“We’re here,” Ben stated, and Anna looked around in irritation.
“Now what makes this place better than all the others we’ve passed?”
Ben smiled. “Scouts’ secret!”
With that, he squatted down and pulled out the list. Anna turned on the light on her cell phone and set it to the dimmest setting to stay behind Ben and shine from there. She herself could hardly make out anything, but Ben seemed to have less trouble.
He looked at the piece of paper and the completely random looking sequences of letters and numbers.
“Do you have a pen?” he finally asked.
She rummaged in her backpack and handed him a black pen. Again Ben seemed to think, then began to write, lining up letter after letter, adding numbers, until finally he had translated the entire list.
Anna looked more closely. “What’s this? Names?”
Ben nodded. “Not real names, but code names.”
“Isegrim, Adebar, Reineke, Braun, Hylax,” Anna read aloud. “These are names of animals in the fable.”
Ben nodded. “And the one behind that seems to be account numbers. And then numbers... each a date, I would say. And then initials.”
Anna nodded. “Yeah, looks like it. But what does that mean?”
Ben was silent for a moment. “I don’t know. They just seem to be short notes.”
Anna’s eyes narrowed. “And what does it say down there?”
Anna pointed to a line Ben hadn’t translated.
“That appears to be the path for getting to the data on the computer.”
Anna nodded. “Was that all Mo gave you?”
“No. He still gave me his cell phone. I guess there’s more evidence there.”
Anna looked at Ben. “And where is this cell phone?”
“Hidden. With a note so it will be given to someone I trust.”
“Police? I thought you said you didn’t trust the police.”
Ben’s expression grew more serious. “No. Worse.”
Anna nodded. Suddenly she startled. “What is it?”
Ben came up and looked around. That’s when he felt a twinge in his throat and his whole perception became blurred from one moment to the next.
The last thing he saw was Anna’s face leaning over him and then looking to the side.
“Shit!” she hissed.
Then everything was black.
8
The cell phone rang. When it did, it was never good news. If it did so on a night when Frank Wolters was not on duty, something had gone very badly wrong.
Without turning on the light, he answered the call. “Yes?”
Whoever had called him had not done so by mistake, and certainly no one had dialed the wrong number.
“Strobel here.”
Wolters knew Strobel. She was one of the data analysts and one of the few he trusted. She had been grateful to him for standing up for her, even though she seemed so nervous that she seemed unfit for the job. Because of his support, she was allowed to stay and prove herself. Now she was one of the top analysts whose opinion often decided danger ratings.
Strobel was a night person. Wolters was not surprised that she was still working at this hour. That she called him, however, was disconcerting enough.
“I apologize for disturbing you so late at this hour,” she said, but Wolters brushed that right aside.
“Strobel, please, you will never have to apologize to me for doing your job. What’s it all about? I hope some assholes didn’t set fire to another asylum home.”
“No. It’s about Mohamed Aslan. He was murdered.”
If Wolters had not been fully awake until just now, all fatigue disappeared instantly, something he had felt more and more often since he had passed fifty.
“How?”
“According to the police, it was a robbery. His body has both stab and gunshot wounds.”
“Crap!”
“Any leads on a possible perpetrator?”
“The report just came in. When I saw the name, I decided to let you know right away.”
Strobel had proven to be as loyal as Wolters suspected. He gave her time to sift through the other information.
“There are further reports of dead, Russians found near the scene of the crime. In addition, reports of strange occurrences are piling up. Gunshots. Chases. Fights and more deaths. At 38 Sonnenallee.”
Wolters closed his eyes. So it had happened.
He took a breath and stood up. He would not get any more sleep that night, because he had to leave very quickly.
“Send everything to my cell phone. I’ll get a picture on the spot.”
“All right. Shall I inform the incident commander there?”
Wolters snorted. “You mean the one we’re already monitoring because of his connection to the right-wing scene? No. I’ll possibly inform him on the spot.”
“All right. Do you need a strike team?”
Wolters was silent for a moment. “Yes. But if it’s as I suspect, we need something else entirely.”
“Like what?”
“Body bags. Lots and lots of body bags.”
9
Everyone knew how Gunther had really died. Fenrir may have killed him, but it was Finn who had led him into the trap. That it was actually Gunther who had waylaid Finn to feast on Finn being mauled by the black beast didn’t matter.
Finn had told no one what had happened, nor would anyone have cared. Everyone had thought it for sure, but it didn’t matter.
Finn had stayed underwater for a long time, just drifting until h
e truly couldn’t manage to hold his breath. When he finally dared, he only saw from a distance how Fenrir was still feasting on Gunther’s corpse, probably because he was enraged that his usual prey had escaped him.
When Finn returned, there was no cheering. Too many promising youngsters had not returned. And he, of all people, from whom little or nothing was expected, had survived. No one would voice their disapproval of that, but Finn could see it in their eyes.
Later he learned that Erik and Matt had been there and really saw what had happened between him and Gunther. And what had happened afterwards. None of them mourned Gunther a tear, but even they knew that the real way would have been for Gunther to become a warrior and not him, Finn, the outsider.
Odin saw this differently. He put his huge paw on Finn’s shoulder from one hand and looked at him with those dark eyes that made one thing clear to Finn and, really, to anyone: Fenrir was not the most dangerous creature in the community, for Odin did not command the black beast without reason. “Well done, Finn. I am very proud of you.”
These words, audible to all, were more than anyone could have expected. And yet, Finn’s fear went through him. He had always managed to stay out of the eyes of the elders and not stand out so much. He did what he was told, but didn’t stand out.
But then the fight with Gunther had come, in which he had been chosen as the loser. But he won and destroyed the former exemplary youth forever by smashing his knee and hand with a simple stone. He could also have split his skull, but something held Finn back then. If Gunther had been in his place, he would not have hesitated a second, Finn was sure. But he was not Gunther. And he wasn’t one of the others either. He just wanted to survive until... Yes, until when exactly?
After he had finally defeated Gunther, it was no more necessary to lay him low or hold back. Now he had the full attention of the ancients, and especially Odin.
One day the leader of their community came to him and gave him a little puppy. In contrast to the other offspring of the wolf-like fighting dogs, this one was downright puny and looked sickly.
“Here. This is for you,” Odin had said as he handed Finn the puppy. “Actually, he would have served only as food, but I saw something in his eyes that I saw in yours. A fire that no one seemed to notice. I think you could underestimate the little guy, just like you were underestimated. That’s why you’ll do well together. I want you to prove that I’m right. Take care of him, raise him, and make him as good a comrade as you are.”
To be given a mission by Odin meant to fulfill it. There was no failure. His word was more important than any other. But of all the assignments, it was this one that Finn was very happy to accept.
He looked at the puppy and the puppy looked at him. When the little dog licked his hand, he knew they would be friends forever.
Why he named him Ben, Finn could not say even years later. He never talked about it, and yet everyone seemed to know that he had not given his dog an expected name, such an inappropriate one. But Odin seemed to tolerate it and so nobody said anything.
Ben grew into a handsome wolfhound who lived up to everything that was expected of the dogs of the community. His body under his shimmering bluish fur was muscular, his build strong, and he was almost the tallest of all the dogs, apart from Fenrir, of course. In the hunts, there was no team that harmonized as perfectly as Finn and Ben. Therefore, no one was allowed to interfere in the upbringing, which some people found fault with. But since that fateful day Finn was under Odin’s protection and so was Ben.
Ben was Finn’s best friend. And his only true one. Fate had connected them in a way Finn could not find the words for. But without him, Finn would not have known where he was now.
As Finn stood in front of Odin with Ben beside him, the entire community were around them. All eyes rested on them and Finn sensed something was about to happen. Something bad. It couldn’t be any other way.
Odin sat on his big wooden chair, decorated with all kinds of symbols, runes and carvings, which is why everyone just called it the throne. Next to him sat Fenrir, attentively as ever, watching Ben, while Odin’s eyes rested on Finn’s alone. Finn dared not resist that gaze.
“To lead is to show strength. Determination,” Odin explained, and Finn wasn’t sure if the words applied to everyone, as they always did, or not to him alone.
“What’s the most important thing?” asked Odin, and Finn wasn’t the only one who immediately shouted out loud: “No retreating! No giving up! No mercy!”
Odin showed no emotion. “And this is achieved through action. Directly. No thinking about it. Knowledge. The community depends on each individual living by it, not just the leaders. Obeying leads to strength. Action leads to strength. No retreating! No surrender! No mercy! Everyone must obey, or we will perish in the world out there!”
Finn continued to hold Odin’s gaze and Odin smiled.
“You have exceeded all of our expectations, Finn. You have become an exemplary member of our community and have become the focus of everyone’s attention, especially mine. You have also exceeded my expectations as far as your companion is concerned. When I gave him to you and told you to take care of him, he was small, puny, and nothing indicated that he would one day become the animal we now see before us. In many tests, you have proven how strong your bond is. Impressive. Most impressive. Exemplified by him, you have proven that we can still expect great things from you.”
Odin paused, and Finn felt a chill run down his spine. When the leader of the community spoke, his voice was perfectly calm and his gaze emotionless as before.
“Take your knife and cut his body open. Look into his eyes as he dies.”
No one dared to say anything. There was no murmur. Finn knew that some were surely smiling inside, but no one would show it.
All eyes rested on Finn and saw that he had not drawn his knife directly. Instead, he stood there and didn’t move, continuing to look into Odin’s eyes. He didn’t let on, but everyone could see in his eyes what was going on inside him. Finn had not carried out his order. He had not drawn his knife and thrust it into the body of his dog. That was treason.
As emotionless as before, Odin spoke only one word. “Sic.”
Immediately Fenrir leaped forward and stopped directly at Finn. Already he saw the black terror leaping toward his throat. But before the hellhound could reach Finn, he was yanked aside in a leap.
Without hesitation, Ben threw himself at Fenrir and both went down in a wild tangle. Ben had managed to grab Fenrir by the neck so that the huge animal could not snap at him. On the contrary, for the first time a conspecific had him by the throat and wrestled him to the ground and onto his back. A humiliation.
Blood oozed from the wound Ben had inflicted on him, but the pain only made Fenrir fiercer. As tight as Ben had grabbed him, it wasn’t tight enough.
With all his might, Fenrir tore free and Ben could no longer hold him. Immediately he followed up, but now Fenrir was prepared. Ben had brought him to the brink of defeat and now he would make him pay. Fenrir had no more eyes for Finn. If his master had given him an order to let go of Ben and pounce on Finn, he would have done it without hesitation, but the order failed to materialize.
The two dogs, whose ancestry went back to the first great wolves that once hunted together with the first humans, circled each other. Incessantly they bared their teeth, leaving no doubt that only one would leave this place alive.
And then they collided and Finn’s heart stopped. Again and again the mouths snapped at each other. They inflicted wounds on each other that spurted blood. Ben seemed truly equal to Fenrir. But Fenrir was not the most feared of all for nothing. And just when Finn dared to hope that Ben might have a chance... Fenrir grabbed Ben by the neck and hurled him to the ground with one mighty movement. In the next moment his teeth buried themselves in Ben’s abdomen and tore it open brutally.
Ben yelped. Finn had never heard such a heart-rending sound and it truly made him tremble. Ben literally slumped down and now
all the terror that a sentient being was capable of was mixed into his wailing sound.
Fenrir crept around Ben, circled him and gloated over the suffering of the one who had dared to grab him by the throat and throw him on his back. Under the watchful eyes of his master and everyone, he feasted on the terror and suffering he had caused.
He stood in front of Ben as if he wanted him to see that he would now make him suffer even more. But as he was about to lunge at Ben for the final death blow, he was rammed again, this time by Finn. Finn stabbed Fenrir with the knife as they rolled across the floor. Finn’s knife slipped and in the very next moment Fenrir’s head wheeled around and grabbed Finn’s arm. A sharp pain chased up Finn’s shoulder and he dropped the knife, but managed to free his arm.
Fenrir hesitated only a moment and went right back into the attack, leaping at Finn. But Finn was prepared, didn’t care about his wound and jumped towards Fenrir. Before he could grab again, Finn grabbed him and flung him to the ground like a wrestler. Fenrir tried to get back to his feet immediately, but Finn grabbed him, wrapped his arms around Fenrir’s body and held him tightly against him.
Fenrir growled and snapped, but could not wrestle Finn away. Finn squeezed even tighter, increasing Fenrir’s rage into frenzy. Finn did not let up. Instead, he only gripped Fenrir’s body tighter. Fenrir’s growls turned into yelps.
More and more desperate became the terrible beast, now presenting a picture of misery. Nevertheless, Fenrir did not give up and moved more and more violently. And when it already looked like Fenrir could break away and his yelp turned into a growl again, Finn let himself fall backwards and lifted Fenrir above him.
When Fenrir’s back hit the hard ground, everyone could hear the cracking sound. In the next moment, the yelp and whine was even more pathetic than Ben’s.
Powerless, Finn stood up and staggered to his knife. With trembling hands he clasped the handle and stood over Fenrir, whose front legs were desperately trying to lift the body, but the rear part no longer obeyed him. Without paying any further attention to Fenrir, Finn staggered over to Ben and sank to the ground beside his friend. Tenderly he stroked Ben’s head. Ben whimpered, but still licked Finn’s hand.
Ultimate Rage - Ragnarok (Thriller) Page 9