The Hammam Eden was the best place for him to get the transaction done in person. Whoever Dario sent with the money would have to undress, which would make concealing a weapon impossible. Not that he expected the emissary to recognize him, but it was better to be safe than dead. Of course they might catch him on the way out, but he’d done a very good job preparing his disguises, even if he said so himself. He would look one way coming and going from the place, and an entirely different way for the drop itself, to minimize the chances they would recognize him as he left.
He entered the toilet in the locker room and took a gray wig and mustache from his bag. He put them on and removed the fake glasses, pleased with the result. Moments later, wrapped in a towel, he entered the steam room and sat among the dozen or so men already there.
The conditions were ideal. This was the busiest time of day for the bath—which he’d learned during a phone call that morning—so it was easy to blend in. And the thick mist made it difficult to see anyone clearly.
Once seated, he removed the towel like all the other men and waited, trying to appear relaxed. He was nervous, but the prospect of getting the money kept him focused. Not long after he’d arrived, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and a big man got up to leave. Andor waited another couple of minutes, then moved to where the man had been sitting. When he reached beneath the bench, he found the small duffel.
He glanced around casually. No one was paying him any attention, and the steam was thick as fog. He leaned over, unzipped the duffel, and rummaged through it for a closer look. It was full of hundred-Euro bills, with no sign of a tracking device. Satisfied, he closed it again and leaned back against the wall. He remained there another twenty minutes.
In the locker room, he entered the toilet stall again and placed the small duffel in his own bigger one and removed the wig and mustache. Back to his new blond self, he dressed and left through the back emergency exit, which he’d spotted the night before while scoping out the exterior.
He was home free. Dario had lived up to his word. Maybe they could do business together again, after all. Now all he had to do was return to the boat to pick up his belongings. He’d dispose of his troublesome prisoner out at sea, en route to his new life.
* * *
Jack’s nerves were so on edge she jumped when a man exited through the back of the hammam. She’d been waiting behind a trash bin in the alley for forty-five minutes, and no one had used this door except a couple of employees stepping out for a smoke. “A blond guy with glasses just came out through the door.”
“It doesn’t sound like Rózsa, but why leave through the back?” Chase said into her ear.
“Exactly. His duffel looks damn heavy, if you ask me.”
“Stay on him.”
“I intend to.”
“Let me know where you’re headed.”
Jack watched the blond stranger get farther down the alley. She was just about to step out from behind the bin to follow him when a second man came through the rear exit. He wasn’t carrying a gym bag, and he strode purposefully after the first man. “Fuck. We have company. Dario’s guy. Black hair in a ponytail?”
“That’s him. But it doesn’t make sense. He came out thirty minutes ago, and he’s still parked on the bench out front. Green polo and blue jeans?”
“Yup.”
“A double,” they said at the same time.
“Dario’s trying to pull a fast one on us,” Chase said. “When did he arrange all this?”
“The goon’s behind Rózsa and in front of me.” Jack came out of hiding and started after them as quietly as possible, her Glock in her hand.
“Do what you have to.”
“You know I will.”
Ponytail was closing in fast on Rózsa, who was too intent on making a getaway and probably so confident he’d succeeded to bother looking back. It would be easy for the goon to off him in this quiet back alley, and if it were Jack in his place, she’d take him out right now.
When Ponytail reached for his chest, Jack broke into a run as silently as she could. He had the gun out and was taking aim at Rózsa when she jumped him from behind, hitting him on the back of his head with the butt of her Glock. The big man dropped like a brick wall and Jack had to use all her might to catch him so he didn’t make noise. Rózsa was still in view; all he had to do was turn around and he’d see both of them.
Jack kept one eye on the fleeing figure as she let Ponytail fall quietly onto the cobblestone pavement. She didn’t have time for this shit. She had to keep up with Rózsa, and he was nearing the main thoroughfare where he could lose himself in the crowd, or maybe get into a waiting car.
She stuck Ponytail’s gun into her coat pocket and was about to leave when the guy came to and pulled a small automatic from the back of his jeans. Jack didn’t hesitate. She raised her Glock with its silencer and shot him in the head, then ran after Rózsa.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
hat’s going on? Where is he headed?” Chase was restless. She’d heard a struggle in her earpiece and then Jack’s fast breathing. She wanted to run in the direction Rózsa was headed, but Jack’s lack of feedback made that impossible.
“I had to take down Ponytail,” Jack finally whispered. “Rózsa is headed toward the cabs at the intersection of La Canebière and Rue Papiere.”
Chase ran to the rental van, parked a few feet away from the bathhouse entrance, and punched the address into the GPS. “On my way.”
Less than two minutes later, Jack was next to her in the van and they were tailing Rózsa’s cab.
“Looks like we have company,” Jack said.
Chase looked in the rearview mirror. She’d seen it, too—a small Clio with two men inside was keeping pace with them, always careful to stay a few cars back. “I noticed.”
“Dario told his men to follow us if Rózsa got away,” Jack surmised.
“I think they were ordered to follow us anyway. Only I’m not sure whether Dario or his sister put the request in.”
“Same thing as far as I’m concerned. I’d love to get my hands on that crazy bitch.”
“I know what you mean.”
“When did he talk to her last?” Jack asked.
“He hasn’t since the call we recorded, as far as I know. But it’s possible he contacted her that last morning in Beijing. He probably had his cell when he met with Zhang, and by that time, he knew about the wire. The only person he spoke to after I got him in custody was his own guy—Dario made him get rid of Jules’s body and told him he was going to take care of Rózsa himself and that the plans had been altered.”
“Could be that the guy Dario talked to informed his sister and got new orders.”
“But she had no way of knowing where Rózsa’s meeting place was.”
“She’d know if the Ponytails informed her after Dario called,” Jack replied.
“I think we overestimated Dario. His sister’s controlling this operation.”
Chase pulled out her cell. “If she had somebody waiting at the airport to find out why Dario made the change in plans, they may have been following us ever since we got here. Which means they may know about the hotel.”
She called the reception desk. “I’d like to book a room for two for…right now. My friend will check in, in a few minutes.” She gave her own name and credit card number and then called Jack’s room, relieved when Heather answered. “I need you to go to reception right now and pick up the keys for room 305. Then uncuff Dario and take him and your things to that room and stay there. You can leave our bags behind.”
“What’s going on?” Heather asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” she said, gripping the phone tighter as she imagined Dario’s sister sending goons to the hotel after her brother. “Just do it, and do it now.”
“No problem,” Heather replied calmly.
They followed the cab for another twenty minutes until it finally stopped at the quiet harbor of Montredon, a village south of Marseille. Róz
sa got out and hurried toward the marina.
“Reno was right,” Jack said. “He’s been hiding on a boat the whole time.”
Chase looked out over the crowded moorings. “At least two hundred boats are out here. If Dario’s men attack now—”
“I’ll check every single one until I find her,” Jack said.
“Not if he’s anchored somewhere out at sea, or at another harbor altogether.”
“Fuck. They’re getting out.”
Two rows behind where they were parked, Chase saw two men get out of the small Clio that had been following them. She and Jack pulled their Glocks out. “Who do you think they’ll go after first, us or Rózsa?” she asked, although she already knew the answer.
“We’re closest, but he’s about to get away with the money and his blackmailing ass.”
“Him it is, then.”
“Yup.” Jack grabbed her small rucksack. “And I’m not letting that bastard out of my sight, either.”
They got out of the rental and stayed close to the other parked cars, dodging and avoiding Dario’s men, but keeping an eye on them. The goons seemed too preoccupied with Rózsa to notice them.
“I think our hides are a bonus, not a must.”
“Rózsa’s on the dock. They’re going to move in on him.” She took off in that direction, staying back, while Jack followed Rózsa onto the pier.
The small marina was bustling with people and activity, and Rózsa seemed completely oblivious to the fact that four people were after him. He got into a small blue speedboat with an open cockpit.
Jack hung back, several slips away. She looked like she was inspecting the various watercraft anchored all around her.
At the same time, one of the goons Chase was following disappeared into the boat rental office, while the other waited outside.
“What are you doing?” Chase asked her through the mic.
“I doubt there’ll be a shoot-out here,” Jack said, “and we can’t just walk into the rental office with the other two to get a boat.”
“You can see them from there?” It was impossible from Jack’s position.
“That’s what I would do. Am I wrong?”
“No.” She had to admire Jack’s perceptiveness.
“Didn’t think so. Be ready to jump on.”
“Are you going to hijack one?”
“Of course not. I’m going to borrow it without asking.”
Chase passed the boat rental and headed closer to the dock. She could feel the one goon standing lookout staring at her while they both kept an eye on Rózsa. Moments later, the other guy came out and they hurried toward a red speedboat just as Rózsa’s blue one started moving.
“I hope you’re almost done hotwiring,” she told Jack as she closed in on the pier herself. “Rózsa and the goons are on the move.”
“Walk faster. We’re good to go.” Jack waited behind the wheel of a small yacht, already idling, and when she jumped on they took off after the others. They cruised behind Rózsa and the other boat for fifteen minutes, headed out to sea. Like them, the goons were keeping their distance from Rózsa. On this sunny day, the Mediterranean was dotted with pleasure craft, mostly sailboats.
“Where the hell is he going?” Jack asked.
She grabbed a pair of binoculars off the console and looked toward the horizon. “I think I see something. A small, beat-up cruiser that’s not moving.”
Jack grabbed the binoculars to look for herself. “Cass,” she said. “Let’s take the goons out now.”
“Still too many boats around. Be patient, you’re close.”
“Damn it.” Jack gripped the wheel with both hands. “If he’s hurt her, I’ll kill him on sight.”
“Rózsa’s almost to it,” she said, following his progress with the binoculars. The red boat pursuing him picked up speed, but before she could tell Jack to gas it, too, Jack hit the throttle and she had to hold on for balance. “He just changed boats,” she said as Rózsa climbed aboard the cruiser.
They were gaining rapidly on the boat carrying Dario’s goons. “Slow down, they saw us,” she said when the two men turned their attention to their yacht and pulled out handguns. “Get down, Jack, they’re going to—”
She pulled Jack down with her when the bullets started to fly around them. She stuck her head up during a brief lull and saw Rózsa peek out of the cruiser’s cockpit, then duck back down again.
Dario’s men were getting dangerously close to Rózsa’s boat. She and Jack had only a minute or so to stop them before they went aboard and killed both Rózsa and Cass.
Jack pulled a grenade from her rucksack and handed it to her. “You know where this is for. I’ll cover you.” She revved the engine to full throttle and sped toward the men. The goons started shooting again and they shot back, Jack with one hand on her gun and the other on the wheel. They stayed low and were only a few yards from the boat when Jack yelled, “In five.”
She removed the pin and held it.
“In two,” Jack yelled, and slowed down.
She released the spoon, which gave them five seconds to detonation, and stood up while Jack kept firing. They were no more than four feet away when she threw the grenade into the other boat.
Jack hit the gas to get as far away as possible and they braced themselves for the impact. Seconds later, the air seemed to reverberate from the massive explosion, nearly knocking them off their feet, and bits of fiberglass and other debris rained down all around them. When she looked back, all she could see were floating plastic cushions and lawn chairs, and a swath of fire on the oily surface from spent gasoline.
Rózsa’s cruiser was close enough for the waves to toss it around like a ball. Jack turned their boat around and headed for him. As they pulled alongside, he started shooting at them from a broken window of the enclosed cockpit.
Jack and Chase crouched down and waited. “How many bullets do you think the crazy scientist has?” Chase asked.
“Enough to put one in Cass.”
“Not if he thinks we’re here for the money,” she said. “He’ll use or kill Cass if he thinks she’s important to us. Otherwise, she may still be his only meal ticket.” She hollered over at the other boat as another bullet whizzed over their head. “Stop!”
“Who are you?” Rózsa yelled back.
“We just want the money.”
“Are you with Dario?”
“Yes,” Chase hollered.
“Who was on the other boat?”
“I don’t know, but they looked like feds. They’ve been following us since the bathhouse.”
“Why did you kill them?”
“Dario asked us to. If you get caught, he’s screwed.”
“I made a deal with that idiot,” Rózsa shouted angrily. “Money in advance, for services not yet rendered.”
“Look, man…” she shouted, then whispered to Jack, “Go now,” before turning her attention back to Rózsa. “I don’t know what your deal with Dario is. I’m just doing my job.”
Jack crawled to the side of the boat away from Rózsa and slipped over and into the water.
“He wants me dead,” Rózsa yelled. “He can go to hell.”
“Just give me the money and we can get out of here.” She tried to keep him occupied. “The police will be here soon after that explosion. I don’t want to be around when that happens. Do you?”
“I made a deal with—” Rózsa stopped talking and, a few seconds later, Jack’s voice rang out.
“I’ve got him!”
She looked up. Jack had Rózsa in a headlock from behind, his gun in her hand.
Chase jumped on the other boat and took him from Jack.
“Take the money,” Rózsa pleaded. “It’s in the cabin.”
“Fuck you and your money. I’m going inside.” Jack opened the hatch and disappeared below.
“Who are you?” Rózsa appeared confused.
“The people you stole from,” Chase replied.
“But the money—”
“What?” Rózsa stared at her, obviously shocked.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
ack passed through the galley and opened the door to the tiny sleeping compartment. A petite figure wrapped in blankets lay on the floor. “Cass?” she whispered. “Cass? Baby, is that you?”
When the figure didn’t stir, Jack’s heart almost stopped. She knelt and slowly pushed back the blanket a bit. She saw her angel’s blond hair, immediately recognizable. But still, she didn’t move. Jack was close to losing her sanity. “Cass?” she said again, her voice shaking. She pulled the blanket down farther. Cassady’s back was to her, and Jack gingerly touched her neck.
The skin beneath her fingertips felt cold. “Oh…fuck,” Jack croaked as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Fuck. God, please, no.” She touched Cass again and gently pulled her by the shoulder until she was lying on her back. Cass’s eyes were shut, bruised and hollow, her lips were cracked, and her forehead had a long gash across it. Although she was dressed in an oversized sweatshirt, Jack could tell she was severely underweight. Jack touched her face and it, too, felt cold.
“God, baby, what did he do to you?” She fell back against the wall in anguish and pulled her hair. “I’m so sorry, Cass, I should have been there. I should have never let you go. I—”
“Jack, is she…?” Chase asked through her earpiece.
She couldn’t bring herself to answer and admit the truth.
“I’m so sorry, Jack,” Chase said when she didn’t respond.
She rested her head on her knees and sobbed until she couldn’t breathe.
“Jack?” The familiar voice was so faint she barely heard it.
Holding her breath, Jack scrambled to kneel beside her lover.
“Baby?” Cass opened her eyes.
“I’m here, baby.” Jack caressed her hair. “I’m here, now.” Her tears of grief became tears of relief, and she let them fall freely. “Landis, call for a fucking ambulance. Now!”
Demons are Forever Page 33