24
‘Shit!’
Lucia jumped as if she had been subjected to an electric shock.
She killed the oil lamp, ran to the window at the back of the cabin, pulled it open and pushed the shutters outward.
Kea had only just managed to rise from her seat.
‘Don’t stand there like a dummy!’ Lucia hissed. ‘You’ve got a choice. If you had nothing to do with Adrian’s kidnapping, come with me. Otherwise, stay in this damned place and get arrested by the Feds.’
Kea’s thoughts tumbled in her brain.
The picture of Mario handcuffed, lying somewhere on the forest floor, frightened her. Even more scary was the thought of having to prove her innocence during endless questions by the American federal authorities.
She had brought that damned comforter into the country, that would definitely be held against her. And why should the FBI think the friend of a kidnapper innocent?
No, she had to remain free. With that decision made, Kea was even prepared to risk escaping in the company of mad Lucia.
Although the lamp in the cabin had only shed a dim light, Kea found the ink black darkness an extreme contrast.
Lucia took her hand.
‘Come on! Run!’
Kea hurried forward into the woods, guided by the killer girl. To her, Lucia seemed like a bat, finding its way with absolute certainty even in the pitch black darkness. They rounded the cabin at some distance and headed towards the path.
A man’s voice sounded loud: ‘Stop! FBI!’
Lucia did not hesitate for a moment. She raised the pistol she had snatched from one of the dead Irishmen at the gas station and fired in the direction of the voice.
Kea had assumed that her companion would head for the SUV. But she was wrong. Despite the poor light, she realized they were running past the big car.
Of course, the FBI would have blocked the path!
The thought came without searching for another answer. She stumbled after Lucia until Mario’s sister suddenly stopped.
Despite the poor light, she saw the outline of another car that was parked a short distance behind the Lincoln Navigator on the drive to the cabin.
Lucia uttered a soft sound of triumph.
‘Come on! Get in!’ She ordered.
She rounded the front of the car while Lucia opened the door on the driver’s side.
‘The fools didn’t even take the keys, Kea. They must have been too damned sure to nab us.’
Lucia switched on the interior light to acquaint herself with the dials.
‘Ford Crown Victoria, standard FBI issue, and of several other police units. Including full communications gear. We shall have to chance it for now, but ditch it as soon as possible, before it can be located. Right now we just have to get away.’
She started the engine and reversed, since the path was too narrow for a U-turn.
‘What about Mario? Shouldn’t we try to help him get away?’
Kea had barely uttered the question when Lucia whistled softly.
‘You hardly killed one of the guys back at Alvarez’s place and now you’re acting the hard gangster. It’s not a bad idea, but impossible. We’d either be arrested or dead.’
Kea had no answer to that, so Lucia simply continued: ‘You may think me a hard nut if I desert my brother? But that’s not true. Mario and I have discussed more than once what we should do in such a situation. If I should get killed or land behind bars, it would be terrible for Adrian. Do you want that? Do you want to see a baby suffer at the hands of those pigs?’
‘Of course not.’ Kea mumbled and lowered her eyes. She was ashamed to have thought about nothing but her own and Mario’s safety.
But she realized that Lucia was right. There were few people in this world who were able to help the poor, helpless child.
Lucia rambled on, although Kea was not sure whether she talked to herself or to her.
‘I’m asking myself where the other Feds are. They got Mario and I shot at one of them. I haven’t seen another car. That can mean only one thing: For now, we have only two FBI idiots to deal with.’
‘Do you think the two of them were the only ones who followed us? And how did the FBI manage to find us in the first place?’
‘I assume the stolen SUV has a GPS tracker. We should have thought about it, but neither Mario nor I did. There it goes. Nobody is perfect, nor is any crime.’
She laughed humorlessly.
‘You don’t seem to take it hard that your brother must have been arrested.’
Kea had hardly spoken the words when she regretted them.
Lucia glanced angrily at her. ‘And now you’re a hobby psycho? You’ve got some stupid ideas. Better get them out of your head if you want to keep all your pretty teeth. For your information, I love Mario more than anyone else in the whole world, even myself. But he will help himself. Maybe they’ll send him back to the looney bin, so that the creeps can have another go at cracking him. Even that is better than the cells in some prison. And it offers a better chance to get away. No, don’t worry too much about Mario – Keep thinking of Adrian instead.’
‘Sorry, Lucia, I didn’t mean …’
‘And stop being sorry. That’s just a sign of weakness, do you understand? Have you forgotten, I was going to make you talk by any means? And now you’re asking me to pardon you? Me, the witch!’
For a moment all that could be heard in the car was the sound of the engine.
Then Kea said: ‘I no longer think you’re a witch, or a bitch. You’re worried about the fate of a small child and you’re worried about Mario. That speaks loud enough.’
‘Okay, okay! I’ll polish my halo later,’ Lucia said with a crooked grin. ‘In the next dump of village I’ll find another old banger, one without GPS, so we don’t make the same mistake again. And then we drive back to the Big Apple and pay Gordon a visit.’
‘Who is that?’
‘The only guy except Mario I truly trust. He’ll help us to get Adrian back.’
25
Borges overcame her second of panic almost immediately. After Mario’s sudden attack, she fought to free herself and struck his head with the butt of her pistol.
Her former lover groaned. While not totally stunned, he was still too shaky to offer any resistance as she fastened the cuffs around his wrists.
But while thus engaged, the two bitches in the cabin were getting away. She heard suspicious noises from that direction and assumed there was a window at the back of the building from which they were climbing.
Borges rose to her feet. She stared down at Mario lying on his stomach.
‘You don’t move an inch from here, understood?’
‘Not my intention at all. I had almost forgotten how passionate you can be.’
‘Don’t be funny. – If you try any of your dirty tricks, you’ll see my other side.’
Borges rounded the cabin, the weapon ready to shoot in her hand.
Suddenly she heard a voice: ‘FBI. Stop at once!’
So Jablonski had stopped the two women! But before she could savor the thought, two shots rang out.
Thanks to her night sight, she could see the area before her, but there were no warm bodies, no movement. That meant the shots must have come from somewhere in the forest. She bit her lip and ran as quickly in the direction of the reports.
Borges was sure it had been Lucia Lezzi who had fired. Chuck would never shoot at two women, one of whom might be a possible hostage. He would …
‘Oh, damned!’
Borges saw his massive body on the forest floor. But he was alive, for he uttered a moan of pain.
She rushed to him, knelt down and opened his jacket, her eyes filling with tears.
‘Don’t move Chuck! I’m with you. Can you hear me? Pull through, don’t leave me alone…’
‘I’m alright, you won’t get rid of me so easily,’ he mumbled. ‘One shot went wide, the vest stopped the other, I think.’
Thank God, she
thought. Jablonski had worn his bulletproof vest. The bullet was lodged in the material.
‘Attempted murder of a federal officer,’ growled Borges. ‘That bitch will pay for it, I promise you.’
They heard a car engine start at some distance.
‘Don’t worry about me, just make sure they don’t escape,’ Jablonski murmured. ‘I’ll get up when the pain eases a bit.’
She stroked his cheek tenderly, something she had never done before. As long as he did not take it as a sign of weakness. But then she straightened up and ran towards the forest path.
It was not surprising that Lucia had left the SUV behind. She must have realized that the way back to the road was barred by the FBI vehicle. Borges suppressed a profanity,
The fury had stolen her service vehicle. Borges' superiors would be hopping mad!
She could hear the noise of a distant engine and saw lights that disappeared through the trees. Lucia reversed at a crazy speed.
Borges pulled herself together.
She wanted to shoot, empty the whole magazine in the direction of the Ford Crown Victoria. But it was unlikely she would hit anything bar a tree. And there was the danger she could hit Kea Kuhn, wounding or even killing her. Right now, no one could ascertain what her position was. Was she Lucia’s prisoner or accomplice? Borges shuddered at the thought of the diplomatic reverberations should the German subject be killed, whether she was involved in the kidnapping or not.
She had heard that criminals in Germany were treated with silk gloves. Maybe it was true. Whatever, she lowered her weapon with a soft curse.
Besides, there was still the SUV that offered the means to follow their stolen vehicle. Still, the whole thing was a mess that would bring her no glory. First of all she had to see to Chuck and bundle Mario into the Lincoln Navigator.
She hurried back to Jablonski, who had tried unsuccessfully to get to his feet in the meantime.
‘Come on, I’ll help you … slowly now.’
Borges grabbed him under the arm and straightened him up. It was far from easy, since he was a head taller and more than twenty pounds heavier than her.
He chuckled
‘What’s so funny?’
‘Nothing, just your hair tickling my nose.’
‘Then enjoy the moment, for it will not happen again in a hurry,’ she answered. And secretly she was relieved that he seemed to feel better. He could have been dead, save for the bullet-proof vest.
Then she told him that their service vehicle had gone.
‘Oh, damn it. We won’t live it down for weeks in the field office.’ Jablonski cursed.‘ I won’t be able to show my face again.’
‘The only thing in our favor is that I could arrest Mario Lezzi. I’ll fetch him, and we’ll use the SUV to get away from this wretched place.’
‘Sounds like a good plan. – You don’t have to support me any longer, pleasant though it is. Luckily I wasn’t shot in the leg.’
‘Okay, I’ll fetch him, and we meet at the car.’
She turned and hurried to the place where she had left Mario lying among the pine needles.
He had disappeared without a trace!
Borges fought for air.
FUCK!
Somehow the devil must have managed to get to his feet and stagger away. Was it possible he could have somehow freed himself from the cuffs?
She looked around and saw nothing of them or her prisoner.
‘Mario!’ She shouted. ‘Stop, you psycho! I’ll have a surprise for you once I have found you, that I guarantee.’
She ran around, searching for him, not knowing in which direction he might have turned. She found a few pine branches that had been broken. She tried to follow them, knowing that the criminal had no light source to find his way through the forest. That had been his undoing, as she discovered only a short time later.
Mario Lezzi lay groaning at the foot of a pine. He must have run at full speed against its trunk.
At least that was indicated by the wound on his forehead that still seeped a little blood.
She yanked him to his feet.
‘A pity. I was going to give you a good hiding, but I see, you managed that all by yourself.’
‘Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have tried to get away in my place. Did my sister escape, at least?’
‘No comment.’
‘I’ll take that as a yes then.’
‘Kiss my …!’
‘With the greatest of pleasure. I have never had much hope that we would return to the days of intimacy. You give me new hope, sweetheart.’
She reached for his throat.
‘If you mention only one word of what happened between us to my service partner, I swear I will forget myself.’
‘My lips are sealed, Lenita. How could I ever hurt your delicate feelings?’
Borges refrained from an answer. She knew him too well. And there had been reasons why she had given way to her feelings long ago. Despite knowing he was a criminal. Still her heart beat faster in his presence.
She prodded him with her pistol towards the lights and sounds of the Lincoln Navigator, which Jablonski had reached before them.
‘As far as motors go, we have made a good bargain,’ Borges FBI partner reported. ‘All that is missing is a communications system.’
‘Which will be in place once our mobiles are working again. Then we can put out a general alarm. Your sister won’t get far.’
The last sentence was directed at Mario. He grinned unconcerned.
‘How much do you bet on that?’
Borges opened the left hand rear door.
‘Don’t bump your head when you get in!’
26
Gordon was a light sleeper.
In contrast to many hackers, he possessed a healthy life style, watched his nutrition and indulged in bodily exercises other than cerebral ones. When arising from a night’s sleep, he usually felt rested and without tensions.
Nightmares were unknown to him.
But that night a sixth sense woke him from his slumbers.
Gordon reached for the Glock on the bedside table beside his Futon. When he touched the cold steel of the pistol between his fingers, he felt immensely reassured.
Now he recognized the sound that had woken him. It came from the servo motor that engaged an automatic trigger system. Any time now, the first salvo would ring out ...
Instead his Smartphone rang.
He answered it.
‘Yes?’
‘It’s me.’ He recognized Lucia’s voice. ‘Would you mind switching off your fancy security system? I have no wish to arrive like a Swiss cheese.’
‘Okay. No problem.’
He dressed quickly in jeans and a sweatshirt. He was relieved to know that Lucia was still alive and kicking, a fact which Gordon had not taken for granted. He deactivated his defense system and opened the door.
Lucia was not alone. He was not surprised. With a girl like her, one had to be prepared to be awoken at three in the morning. Why then wonder if she brought someone along with her?
Lucia nodded at him and then at her blonde companion.
‘Hi, Gordon. This is Kea.’
He lifted his eyebrows.
‘The dead German’s playmate?’
Kea gave a start. Lucia threw him a glance full of reproach.
‘What? Those were your own words, Lucia. I only repeated.’
‘It would be better if you brewed us a coffee. We could do with one,’ Lucia suggested.
‘You do look as if you have had a hard night.’
Without waiting for an answer he headed for the kitchen tract and switched on a kettle.
‘You can say that again, First, a couple of Old Barns’ gun-happy brutes tried to kill us, but Kea managed to knife one, and we got away. Unfortunately with the FBI on our backs. They nabbed Mario.
Gordon grinned.
‘They’ll have little joy with your brother. He’ll keep his mouth shut, act the psycho and will get the
ir nerves in a tangle.’
Gordon had realized that the situation between Lucia and Kea had totally changed. While at her last visit she had been determined to beat the truth out of the German girl, now there seemed to be a certain degree of collaboration. As Gordon waited for the water to boil, he turned back to Lucia.
‘Can I talk in Kea’s presence?’
‘If it’s about Adrian – sure. Kea has no idea where he is being held and I believe her.’
‘I think I have found out something about him,’ Gordon reported.
That attracted Lucia’s full attention immediately. She cast an encouraging look at him.
He continued: ‘I managed to beat the other bidders at the auction.’
‘Yes!’ Lucia called and brought her fist down hard on the table.
Kea appeared to be in the know. In any case, she asked no questions about the auction. Did she work for the kidnappers or had she been put in the picture by Lucia?
Gordon decided the answers to these questions were none of his business. He could depend on Lucia’s instinct for people. But if the kidnappers should learn that he had no intention of paying the demanded money for the baby to them, things could possibly become uncomfortable for Gordon himself.
He glanced at Kea as if seeking the truth, something that Lucia became suddenly aware of.
‘She is clean, Gordon. Kea had the chance to run and disappear. She’s now determined to help me to rescue Adrian?’
‘Why?’ The questioned was directed at Kea. ‘You don’t know the child. Or do you?’
Lucia showed signs of anger but Kea simply return his look.
‘No,’ she replied. ‘But I feel guilty because my friend was involved in the kidnapping, and I was too stupid to see that.’
‘And that’s the only reason?’ Gordon asked.
‘What is this?’ Lucia growled. ‘The holy inquisition?’
Kea raised a calming hand. ‘Leave it. His question is justified. – I want to help in any way I can because I don’t know what else to do. I can’t return to Germany and here I know no one except Lucia and Mario.’
Gordon nodded slowly.
‘Okay then. I have promised the demanded price in Bitcoins already. You have to fly to Antwerp within the next three days. There you will be told where to collect Adrian.’
Killer Girls Page 11