As Suleiman has heard the last words, he was concerned. He called his personal bodyguard to him and whispered something. This man left the room immediately. Anwar was now calm. Everything seemed to be in good hands now.
********
Bruno was full of fear. He must as soon as possible get out here. Otherwise, his life was not worth a penny. Gerster and himself sat alone in a room and were tied with her hands on their chairs. The shackles were tight around his hands, he found out when he tried to move a little bit. It really hurt. But then his face brightened, because he realized there was a chance. They were not very tightly bound to the chair. He also notes a sharp edge at the bottom of the chair he was sitting on. He began to rub his shackles against the sharp edge. His hands ached and bled a bit, but it worked. After a few minutes of effort and pain he felt indeed that his hands were free and the shackles dropped to the ground.
I'm glad they did this so sloppy, he thought. But now it was necessary to act quickly. He looked at Gerster. He didn’t want to leave him behind. No way! They both fled of course. He knelt behind his chair and loosened his shackles as soon as possible. He whispered to him, "We have to be quiet and very fast.”
He pointed to the door. "Once we get out of the house, run very fast. In the darkness, we might have a good chance.”
Bruno was very careful and quiet. He tiptoed to the door. He opened it silently. Apparently, no one was there. His eyes tried to detect something in the darkness. He knew Gerster was directly behind him when they were out. He began to run. At this moment, a hard blow hit him unexpectedly on the back of the head. The pain flashed through his head and his whole body. Then he didn’t know any longer where he was. He lost consciousness.
He only knew his head roared in pain. It was dark. He was apparently in a long dark corridor. But where? He felt carefully along the wall. He saw a door there and light shined through. He moved slowly and carefully to the door. His hand felt the doorknob. Would he dare to open and enter the room? Yes, he decided so. He pressed the handle down, opened the door and he was suddenly in a brightly lit room. There he saw a black-clad man, who looked like a priest. Yes, that was his former pastor and teacher. Bruno looked at him with big eyes. He didn’t understand anything. Now the priest spoke to him with a strict, thundering voice. He said, “Bruno I tell you, if you're dealing with the left, it will end badly. Kneel down and pray to God that he may save you from all temptations. Be humble and obedient, you will find the right path only through the Church. That`s the path to God.”
Bruno shook his head. No, he wouldn't. But now the priest was angry. He continued with even stricter voice: “Honor father and mother, you should follow the Holy Church and obey and lead a pious and godly life, otherwise, the devil will have power over you and you will take harm to your soul.”
Bruno receded. Now the black-clad man threateningly came closer.
“If you refuse to follow rules, you shall feel the consequences. I will punish you for your own good!”
Bruno got even more afraid. He opened the door and ran away. Then he slammed the door behind him. He breathed through once again and waited, but the terrible priest did not follow him.
Bruno was again surrounded by complete darkness. At last he slowly felt relief. Then he saw a new door, where light was shining through. He opened the door carefully and with some fear as it was much darker in this room. Shadows dominated the dimly lit place. But even here he recognized a slender dark-clad man. He spoke to him with quiet almost caressing voice:
“You did a good job; you're fleeing from the priests. They always are cheating people to secure their own power and their benefits.”
Bruno now recognized the voice; it is his old friend Martin.
"He continues, “If you help me, we will liberate the world of all misery, and it shall not be your harm. You need not wait for salvation until death. You should help me and we will build a theocracy on Earth now and here. I will rule and you will be by my side. It will be a benefit for all.”
The gentle, evocative voice would have had Bruno almost under its spell, but at the same time it came back to his mind that it was Martin who betrayed him and who was the reason why he got into this dangerous situation here. He critically looked around in the semi-darkness of the room. His eyes grew wide in horror. Corpses upon corpses lay there. They were piled behind Martin. A strange smell is spread over the room. What was it? It was the stinking smell of decay, of rotten corpses! Sulfur smell, too? Martin appeared at once with a devilish face. He showed a diabolic smile; his voice sounded dangerous and seductive. Bruno ran away as fast as he could.
He heard Martin calling behind him: “You fool, you must have the great aim in your mind, and the end justifies the means. There`s no omelet without breaking eggs!”
But Bruno did not listen to him. He slammed the door behind him and was back in the dark.
He went further through the unlit corridor and reached a new door. He hesitated in front of it, but then he opened the door. Only darkness welcomed him in this room. But he could hear a faint whining. He knew the voice. It was Bian. Full of fear and carefully he groped forward in the dark. Finally, he stood in front of Bian. She was tied up and she cried softly to herself.
When she realized it was Bruno, her crying became louder and she spoke to him in tears:
“Now you're back, Bruno, but it's too late. You have had in mind only that disgusting political stuff and the result is that I´m now in this desperate situation. The Islamists have caught me and want to sell me to rich Arabs. I will have to learn being an obedient wife for them, and that bargain will help to finance their fight against the West, they say. We have no chance.”
But Bruno didn’t want to believe that.
“Don't worry, Bian. I will untie you, and we flee.”
But as he tried to free her, Anwar at once was between them. He laughed scornfully.
“You probably want your wife back, and you will submit to her and follow her. You are a weakling and no man. Allah says the woman is subject to the man! And since you're not a real man, we decided to sell her to a faithful and sincere Muslim!”
Bruno felt terrible anger and rage. He wanted to grab Anwar's throat, but his arms were failing. He had no power. Anwar punched him in the face, right and left now. Bruno got cold water in the face. His eyes were blinking. He was angry about himself being so helpless and looked around.
Where was Bian?
What happened to her?
Then, again, he felt the excruciating pain in the back of his head.
Anwar grinned at him and said:
“You were probably going to escape? But we will not let you leave. Someone made a mistake with your shackles when he tied you. But now we caught you again and there will be no chance again to flee.”
Bruno now saw that the pictures of the last moments were fantasies or dreams which took place during his short unconsciousness. He breathed through, but the reality was not much better, he thought to himself then. He saw that Gerster seemed to be still slightly dazed and his face was distorted, because Ali turned around his arm. Now both were tied up on their chairs back and this time Ali made sure that the chains would not to be solved easily again.
Bruno was totally desperate. The escape attempt was unsuccessful and the possibilities for a further seemed equal to zero. A liberation from outside couldn’t be expected and to be at the mercy of the terrorists or to hope for their humanity was surely not a bright future. Everything looked as if his life would soon be ending. Hope for a happy coincidence seemed absolutely unrealistic to him. At this moment, he was more or less resigned to look forward to the end of his life. Now he felt the need to pray. But this was a strange feeling for him. For decades, he had been convinced he was atheist and was even proud of it. And now in the last hours of his life talk to God? Pray to him, to a God, he had regarded for a long time as nothing but an invention of powerful people to manipulate poor people? In fact, he was not sure at this moment whether God actually did exi
st or not, but he spoke with a soft voice these words:
“Almighty God, if you exist, I want to put all my life into your hands, my fate, my soul, and whatever does exist of me. And please care above all for my beloved Bian.”
And now he spoke to confirm the word that hasn’t come from his lips since his childhood.
“Amen.”
Then he sighed deeply.
“Strangely,” he thought “I feel even better now and I think at least Bian will be fine!”
*******
After Andrea had gone to examine the location more closely, Bian, Sandy, and Yvonne waited in high nervousness and tension. No one wanted to speak a word, but, all were afraid this adventure could have fatal consequences for all and totally fail. At that moment Sandy's cell phone rang. Mike was calling.
“Where the hell are you? Why don`t you report anything?”
Sandy startled. Now she must decide within seconds what to tell him and what not.
“I'm just about to learn something, I can't talk right now, I`ll ring back in about an hour.” With these words she cut the phone connection.
So, she has won at least some time, she thought. But she felt terribly uncomfortable in her situation. She didn’t want to imagine how Mike would react if all this went wrong and she would have to confess that she had undertaken a rescue attempt for Bruno without prior consultation together with a few amateurs, which was unsuccessful, had a fatal outcome and even strengthened the terrorists under the bottom line.
No! She didn’t want to imagine this. Yes, if all went well, even in this case Mike would be not very enthusiastic. But he will say all is well that ends well. And of course, Mike shouldn`t need to know all details, for example that she had been overwhelmed suddenly by Andrea, and later made common cause with her, and that Andrea had even finally taken the lead. Those facts should better not to be told to Mike.
And Sandy`s feelings?
Feeling sorry for Bian?
A very special feeling for Andrea, Sandy even herself didn’t completely understand?
Such feelings shouldn`t influence the work of a professional fighter against terrorism. Difficult situation. But above everything Sandy worried about her friend Andrea at the moment.
When Bian asked her about the call, Sandy responded only evasively. She didn’t want to reveal her conflict and discuss it with others. Bian was satisfied with an unclear reply, because she felt that her friend didn’t want to talk further. And above all, Bian’s fear was what had happened to Bruno.
"I hope they have done nothing bad to him, I hope he's alive at all.”
She had tears in her eyes when she said so.
Yvonne, who otherwise was mostly shy and didn’t speak much, felt that her old friend as well as the unknown American woman were both nervous wrecks and especially Bian needed encouragement. She wrapped her arm around her and comforted her with these words, “You know. Weed does not pass, and our Bruno has always been a standing up. I'm sure he's okay and with united forces we will get him out here. We have always stood together, if there were hard times.”
She laughed and pulled also Sandy in their small circle. “We are now three Musketeers, one for all and all for one. And our fourth member of the group will be back soon. Then we know better about the situation and we`ll find a way to we get Bruno at lightning speed here.”
The naive and hearty optimism she radiated encouraged the other two. The simple minded but warm-hearted Yvonne felt exactly what Bian and Sandy needed now. For a few moments, all nervousness was gone. They looked through the darkness on the farmstead, which was so close, and where Bruno was probably imprisoned now. “We will make it.” This conviction was now stuck in them. With their eyes on the farm they didn’t notice what else is around them.
*******
Andrea was close to the farm. She liked to be a daredevil and she had no problems going ahead in dangerous situations. This time she especially wanted to take leadership, because she wanted to impress her new friend Sandy. Andrea was well aware of the fact that Sandy was intellectually superior to her, but intellectual qualities were not everything. She wanted to prove how vigorously she was able to act. But nevertheless, she wouldn’t be too foolhardy and jeopardize something through hasty actions.
Carefully she crept closer. The gate to the courtyard was unlocked. She could easily now come in totally and remain unnoticed. She snuck forward along the dark walls of the main building. Due to her dark clothing, she could move unobtrusively. She cowered near the wall and looked around, then she went on meter after meter. She noticed a window and light shining outside. It wasn’t easy to sneak near this window without being noticed, but she made it. She could even look inside now.
Through the first window she recognized some Arabic-looking men who were in a vivid discussion. She heard the voices but only snatches of conversation, and she would have understood nothing anyway, because they were speaking in an unknown language. Here, she surely had no chance to win further evidence. So she snuck on to the next window. She cautiously looked in here. A smile flit across her face. “Bingo! Bull`s eye!” She had been lucky. There was Bruno, tied to a chair and someone also tied up, she didn’t know sitting next to him.
First step done, she thought, Bruno found. Now, comes step two, prepare the liberation.
She looked around. No one to see. Is it not the best just to go in, to solve Bruno's shackles and run away? She had a gun with her. If they were chased, she could use it also to defend them. That way to the others who are waiting in the car might take five minutes briskly or if they really run fast maybe three minutes. But Bruno and the other prisoner, whom she would free of course too, would they be able for a sprint of at least a half a kilometer? And if they were chased, was a single gun enough to defend them?
How many people were here at all? She didn’t know. Yes, it seemed better to go back and place the cars in the immediate vicinity of the court so that they could escape in the car at once after she had freed the prisoners. She consequently should go back and bring a car non-illuminated and quietly very near to the farm. This way the Arabs would not be warned in advance. This plan seemed reasonable. At the moment, there were no special guards around the farm and that meant the Arabs don`t expect any attempt to liberate the prisoners. If they acted quickly, they could just trick them and be gone before they noticed what was going on. After a quarter of an hour, they be there again.
She decided to give a quick hint to the poor prisoner so Bruno and the other guy would know liberation is near.
Andrea carefully opened the front door, which was next to the window through which she saw Bruno. The door was unlocked; the hallway was empty. She entered the room in which the two prisoners were sitting tied up. She came in very quickly but completely quiet. She put her finger on her lips to give them a sign to be absolutely silent. There was immediately a joyful flicker in Bruno`s eyes, when he recognized his taxi colleague, Andrea. His situation was apparently not as hopeless as he had thought. A few minutes ago, he had been totally disheartened.
A feeling of gratitude spread through his whole body. Andrea went to him and whispered in his ear:
“No fear, Bruno. I will now untie you and your buddy too. But keep sitting here, as if you were still tied so these damned mullahs won`t notice anything if they come in. We're here with two cars in a quarter of an hour and bugger off together.”
The she took the knife she always carried with her and cut Bruno`s shackles. He remained sitting with folded hands behind the chair, as if he were still tied up. Andrea cut the shackles of Gerster, too. Then she put her hand on his shoulder and spoke to him quietly:
“Stay seated. Nobody shall know that your hands are free. We will pick you up in a quarter of an hour.”
At this moment, she heard a car starting outside in the yard. Carefully, she looked out of the window. It was an open off-road vehicle; four Arabs were sitting in it. They left the farm. Without light! “They do not want to be seen,” Andrea thought. Where migh
t they go now? She got very frightened. “Oh God I must warn my friends.” She took her cell phone and dialed Bian’s number. It seemed like ages until the signal sounded.
Please take off quickly, she thought and really right after the second beep, Bian answered. Andrea quickly whispered into the phone:
“Warning! A not illuminated Jeep with four those mullahs in it is coming. Maybe they want to catch you. Be careful!”
At that very moment, the door of room opened. Andrea quickly ended the conversation and looked around in the room. She saw at the end of the room a narrow niche; perhaps it was once used as small pantry. She squeezed herself in, hoping not to be discovered. Also, Bruno and Gerster immediately recognized the danger of the situation. They were silent and acting now as if they were still tied up.
Bian, Sandy, and Yvonne in the hand of the terrorists
Sandy had a very bad premonition after Mike's phone call. In the short term, she could push away this feeling and Yvonne`s efforts to cheer them up helped to remain optimistic. But now when Bian’s cell phone rang, she immediately knew something was not right here. She noticed the horror on Bian’s face and instinctively looked around for possible threats. There was a non-illuminated jeep that had nearly reached them. Sandy looked for her gun, but she gave it to Andrea, she remembered now. For she believed that she was probably more at risk than herself. A miscalculation!
Now it was too late. Four men jumped out of the jeep with guns in their hands. They aimed at the three women. There was no chance to fight back.
"Hands up!”
All three raised their hands.
“Come on come, follow the Jeep!” the next command was.
One of them started the jeep again and drives off. Each of the others chose one of the three women, stood behind her and directed the gun at her. Then had to follow the jeep on the way to the farm now. There was no chance to escape, any attempt would be immediately fatal.
Whoever Kills The Innocent Page 8