‘Coffee?’ he said, disentangling himself at last. ‘Here.’ He reached down into his bag and brought out a flask. ‘I topped this up at a café.’
He poured it into a plastic beaker and Lauren took it eagerly, first warming her frozen hands on it, then easing it to her numb lips. She felt the wetness of the steam as it condensed on her cold face. She blew on the coffee a few times and cracked a smile.
‘It’s a wonder my breath doesn’t freeze it over,’ she said. ‘Feel like I’ll never get warm.’
‘You will get warm,’ Wolf said. ‘We need to get you into a hot bath to thaw you out.’ He reached behind and hooked a blanket towards him, pulling it over her shoulders and tucking it around her throat. ‘I have this trick I do, when I am cold – I think warm thoughts,’ he said. ‘I close my eyes and imagine a blazing sun. Or a fire burning in a warm room.’
Lauren shivered. ‘I tried that. But I don’t think I’ve quite got the knack.’
‘Tibetan monks and holy men,’ he went on,. ‘they wrap themselves in a wet sheet and sit in the snow. They can raise their body temperature by the power of thought.’
‘Good for them.’ Lauren leaned towards his warmth again. ‘Your arms’ll do for me,’ she said. ‘Hold me again, Wolf. Just for comfort, as a friend. I feel so lost.’
‘What a baby you are,’ he said gently. ‘Anyone would think you had been in danger.’ He pulled her towards him, snuggling her into his jumper. Stroking her and patting her, he soothed away some of her stress.
‘How did you know where I was? I mean, that I was in that van?’
‘I found your bag this morning.’ He nodded his head backwards. ‘It’s in the back.’
‘It was still on the road?’
‘It had got pushed into a pile of snow. But everything seemed intact. We Germans are an honest lot, you know.’
Lauren smiled up at him.
‘I rang your brother – Paul,’ Wolf went on. ‘On your mobile. I was going to tell him what happened but he said you’d already spoken to him. He told me where you were and I drove down here.’ He took the offered cup out of her hand and took a sip of coffee himself.
‘This old van has never moved so fast. But it till took me three hours. If I had been on the bike–’ He shrugged. ‘I went to the petrol station. The woman at the kiosk was just going off duty but she recognised you from the description I gave. She said you had gone to the motel with some man.’
He drew back and gave her a puzzled look. ‘When I got there, I spoke to some strange little woman, a cleaner,’ he went on. ‘She said she saw two men carry you from your room in a blanket and throw you into a van. She looked terrified. Said it happened only a few seconds before I got there. I must have passed their van on my way into the car park.’
He paused, resting the coffee on the dashboard shelf. After a moment he kissed the top of her head. ‘I followed them and knocked them off the road.’ He grunted. ‘Huh, played them at their own game.’
‘Thank God you did.’
‘When you ran off,’ he said. ‘I didn’t know what to do. Couldn’t find you. Couldn’t see you. Couldn’t hear you. Then some guy came after me. With a gun. So I ran back to my van and got away. Their van was wrecked so they couldn’t follow me. The driver was face down across the steering wheel. Looked like he was out cold.’ He rubbed his face into her hair. ‘I was scared Lauren. I ran away.’
‘Well it wouldn’t have done either of us any good if you’d got shot. Anyway, you came back.’
‘Yes, I came back. Their wreck was being towed away, so I waited round the bend till they’d gone. I found your trail. I followed it – though it got hard to see after a while. You were covering your tracks, ja?’
Lauren nodded.
‘I have been driving up and down this road for hours. Stopping. Going into the forest to see if I could spot you. I was frantic. Out of my mind. I tried phoning the police but I’ve made so many calls to them now, told them so many different stories, I don’t think they believe a word I say any longer.’
Wolf kissed her head again, then her temple and her cheek. Without hesitating, Lauren lifted her face towards his and looked into his soft dark eyes. He was a strange guy, a little stiff sometimes. A little uptight. But he could be sweet too. Sweet and sexy.
He gazed down at her, a slight wariness in his eyes that softened as he seemed to make a decision. He bent towards her and kissed her forehead, then reached for her lips. His lips were warm and dry and Lauren responded, returning the kiss gently, the way it was given. She felt that old familiar tingle deep inside but pulled back before the longing overwhelmed her. If she allowed herself to want him, she would never be able to stop. They rubbed noses and she smiled.
‘We’re cold enough to be Inuit,’ she said,. ‘but don’t they rub noses so as to smell each other? Not a good idea to get a whiff of me right now.’
Wolf hugged her, wrapping her tightly in his leather jacket, rocking her against him. ‘You smell nice. No, really,’ he went on when she pulled away in disbelief. ‘You smell of pine and juniper. And engine oil from my jacket.’ He grasped the collar and pulled her close again, breathing warmth into her, bringing her back to life.
‘The guy I went to the motel with,’ Lauren said, her voice muffled against his shoulder,. ‘he was a policeman.’ She sat back and gave Wolf a quick run down of what had happened at the chalet, of how the goons thought she was Katti.
Wolf tensed when she got to the bit about Brains and Muscle and the little party they proposed. ‘Sheisse!’ he said, and she saw his fists clench.
She told him about her escape and Gunther and what he’d said about women being trafficked.
‘Told me some hair-raising stories,’ she said. ‘I mean, I know it goes on but it always seemed so distant, not relevant to me somehow. Gunther put me straight on that. It’s relevant to all of us. We had separate rooms,’ she finished, flicking a glance at him.
Wolf hit the steering wheel with the heels of both hands. ‘I should have been there for you, Lauren. I should have stopped them grabbing you in the first place. What is the matter with me? I should have –’
‘It was all so fast, Wolf. You were round the other side of the van helping Clara. Nothing you could have done, even if you had seen them. Anyway, I’m safe now.’ Lauren sighed. Safe and getting warmer. Thank God her adventures were finally over. Now if only Katti would turn up.
‘Any news on Katz?’ she said.
‘Only that her father got some calls from the kidnappers. I spoke to my mother a while ago. She says there’ve been two ransom demands – for two different things.’ He shook his head. ‘Maybe she’s got confused.’
‘Or maybe one of demands was for me.’ Lauren said. ‘I mean, maybe the people who really kidnapped Katti made the first demand. And the goons who picked me up made the second, thinking I was her.’
He scowled. ‘But if they already had her...?’
‘Miscommunication amongst the gang members? I don’t know. Doesn’t make much sense to me either.’ Lauren rested her head against him again. ‘But obviously the idiots who picked me up were making a mistake. Maybe they had a description of Katti, saw me with you and Clara, and jumped to the wrong conclusion. I was wearing Katti’s wrap, remember?’
She fingered the collar of his leather jacket, settling the weight of it more comfortably on her shoulders. ‘Seem to be wearing everybody else’s clothes but my own these days.’ She sat up straight as another thought hit her.
‘They must have seen me get on your bike at the airport. That’s why they ran into us. It was me they were after, not you. They were trying to make you pull up so they could grab me. Your tactics on the bike threw them so they gave up and followed us the next day waiting for a better opportunity.’
Wolf nodded slowly. ‘They must have been following me hoping I’d lead them to Katti. So they must have known she wasn’t at home. But why would people-traffickers kidnap her?’
‘Gunther... the police guy
, last night... he thought it was just opportunistic. Nothing to do with the trafficking operation.’ Lauren rubbed her nose. The tip was finally starting to thaw. ‘The whole thing is a mystery. Should we try to speak to that cleaner at the motel, do you think? See if she saw anything else?’
‘I thought she might phone the police,’ Wolf said,. ‘but I haven’t seen any sign of them. She could confirm my story since they seem to find it so difficult to believe what I say.’
‘I doubt if she’d speak to the police. I got the impression she was an illegal immigrant. We could speak to her though. She’s looking for her daughter... and I have a horrible feeling there might be a trafficking connection there as well.’
‘Do you really think we should return to the motel?’ Wolf drummed the steering wheel. ‘They could be watching it, the kidnappers.’
‘If I had any sense I wouldn’t go near the place. But as far as those thugs know, I have no reason to go back there. So if they don’t expect me to go there, maybe they won’t be watching.’
‘And what about this Gunther person?’ Wolf said. ‘Where was he when you needed him?’
Lauren looked away. She hadn’t told Wolf what Gunther had said about not blowing his cover. If he wasn’t prepared to save her from rape, he wasn’t likely to save her from abduction either. She was stupid for even imagining for a moment he was the one ramming the van.
‘We can ask if he’s been seen,’ she said. ‘Though since he’s under cover, he’s probably made himself scarce.’ She couldn’t help being angry at Gunther. She could have been killed but that apparently didn’t matter.
‘I left the rings behind as well,’ she went on. ‘Mine and Katti’s. It feels important that I get them back.’
‘The rings?’
‘That Katz and I exchanged... oh, years ago, when we were still in our teens.’ Lauren blinked to discourage the tears that threatened. ‘Where can she be, Wolf?’
‘Maybe her father has paid up by now and she is safe at home,’ said Wolf, rubbing the tear from her cheek with his thumb. ‘We must hope for that.’
‘Shouldn’t we give your mother another call to find out?’
‘Inside pocket,’ he said. ‘My mobile. Can I trouble you to get it out, or should I just reach right in and fumble around?’
Lauren grinned despite her turmoil and extracted the phone from his jacket. ‘If we do go to the motel, I can find my fleece and then I can let you have your coat back.’
Forty-three
Ingrid shook the water off her hands and flipped her phone open. ‘What is it?’ The wheezing sigh on the other end would have told her it was Clara even if the caller display had not. ‘I’m a little busy right now, Clara. Has something happened?’
‘Hartmann got another note. Like the first one but more horrible. And Wolfi has found Lauren but not Katti. I cannot bear it Ingrid. My heart.’
‘Slow down, Clara. I don’t understand what you’re saying. You’ve heard from Wolfgang again? Why hasn’t he called me?’
‘He is with Lauren. The kidnappers have mistaken her for Katti but she escaped.’
‘Mistaken her? What sort of fools are they?’
‘This note –’
‘Where is Wolfgang?’
‘He will go to my holiday place, in Schondorf. It’s not so far from where he found Lauren. But Ingrid, this note about Katti–’
‘What does it say?’
‘I’m telling you! It has some hair in it. Katti’s hair.’ Clara’s sobs echoed down the telephone. ‘They say it will be her ear next, or her toes.’
‘Are you positive it is her hair?’
‘Of course I am. A little curl. I would know it anywhere. And that bastard Hartmann still does not pay.’
‘What are the arrangements for paying? What does this new note say?’
‘I don’t know. I think to take the money in a bag somewhere, but –’
‘Where to? And when?’
‘I don’t know! Hartmann will not tell me. Maybe they did not tell him yet. Oh why doesn’t Wolfi come home?’
‘Good question. Why doesn’t he come home? I have not seen him for over a week. And his mobile is turned off.’ Ingrid frowned. It was really too bad.
‘Lauren is too tired, he says. She must sleep. They wished to go to the police, but I told him they must not do that.’
‘Quite right. It would be better to keep the police out of it for the moment. Katti is obviously in danger. If this kidnapper finds out you have informed the authorities, there’s no telling what he will do.’ Ingrid paused. ‘So, Wolfgang is going to Schondorf for tonight, you say? With this Lauren? Where exactly will they be?’
‘You are jealous?’ A note of slyness crept into Clara’s voice.
‘Jealousy is pointless,’ Ingrid said flatly. ‘I merely wish to know where they are.’
‘He used to love Lauren.’
‘So I believe. Several years ago.’
‘What happened between them was so silly. Fighting over something so –’
‘I am not remotely interested in Wolfgang’s former girlfriends, Clara. And shouldn’t you be thinking of Katti right now, instead of this Lauren?’
‘I am thinking of her. How can you say –’
‘You need to put more pressure on Herr Hartmann,’ Ingrid went on. ‘He should comply with the requests…whatever they are. If he doesn’t, he may receive something much worse than a lock of hair. Kidnappers can become desperate, you know. We need to get Katti back safely. That has to be our priority. It is very worrying.’
Clara wailed and Ingrid held the phone away from her ear. ‘What is the address of your holiday home, Clara?’
‘Why do you wish to know? You wish to go there? No. Lauren needs to rest. Wolfi also. I cannot tell you. I will not.’
‘Clara –’
But the call was disconnected. Tossing her phone into her bag, Ingrid finished drying her hands and tidied her hair. Silly woman. She couldn’t get on with her, no matter how she tried. But she would get the information out of Wolfgang anyway. If he would only turn his phone on.
Forty-four
Wolf put the van in gear and pulled onto the road. Lauren leaned her head against the headrest as they purred through the darkening snowy landscape. Katti was not home yet and Clara still wanted the police kept out of things. Whether or not that was the wisest option was impossible to know, but for the moment they would go along with it. Nothing must put Katti any more at risk than she already was.
Lauren’s eyelids drooped but she did her best to stay awake. She had a hot bath to look forward to and a deep, refreshing sleep in a soft bed. Clara’s holiday chalet was not too far away. Schondorf was just a bit further north, Wolf said. Sixty kilometres maybe. They would rest there and try to figure out what was going on.
Before that, though, there was the motel to contend with.
‘We’ll speak to that cleaner, if she’s around. See if she saw anything else,’ Wolf said. ‘And we’ll get your rings if we can, if it looks safe to do so. But we must be careful. If anything looks suspicious, we keep going.’
~
As they pulled into the motel car park, Lauren sat up. Firstly, she wanted to make a discreet enquiry about Gunther. Someone at Reception must know what time he’d left. A thought occurred to her: if he’d reported her found last night, as he said he would, why hadn’t the police been in touch with Wolf to say so?
‘Did you give the police your mobile number, Wolf? When you reported me missing?’
‘Er, ja,’ he said, his attention on backing into a parking space. ‘Why?’
‘And they haven’t contacted you to say I was okay – that Gunther reported me found?’
‘Not so far.’
Lauren felt a twinge in the pit of her stomach. She was beginning to think Gunther had been stringing her a line. Sucker for a pretty face, as usual, Keane. Sucker for a bit of flattery.
‘But then I haven’t had my phone on all the time,’ Wolf added. ‘My batte
ry’s getting low.’
‘I see.’ Okay, maybe Gunther had reported her found. Could they maybe enlist his discreet assistance? He knew who these people were. Surely he could help track down Katti.
She got out of the van. She had no way of contacting Gunther anyway and he hadn’t made any offer of help last night, so that was a non-starter. Anyway, if the police had rung Wolf, he’d have noticed the missed calls. No, there was definitely something wrong somewhere.
She went into the reception area alone while Wolf fiddled with the off-side door of the crumpled van. It was jammed and he was trying to free it.
The receptionist, a weasel-faced woman with a helmet of sprayed on hair, listened to her story blankly with one eye on a TV screen. Some late afternoon German soap was playing – a mixture of schmaltz and slapstick. She twisted her face when Lauren asked about Gunther, tapping the keys of the computer with too much force.
‘Steiner?’ she said. ‘No. No one of that name has been here.’
‘I was in Room twenty-one. He was next door. What name did he – ?’
‘A Herr Schneider stayed last night, and paid for two rooms – twenty-one and twenty-two, one night only.’
‘What time did he check out?’
‘Sometime this morning. I don’t recall the exact time.’ She lifted her shoulders as if to say, What more do you want?
‘I left some jewellery in the bathroom,’ said Lauren,. ‘a couple of rings, my watch, earrings. Have they been handed in?’
The woman rummaged through a drawer.
‘There’s nothing here.’ Her attention wandered back to the television.
‘Is there anyone in the room now?’
The receptionist sighed and checked the computer again. ‘Not yet, no.’
‘Can I borrow the key for a minute, then? Just to see if my stuff’s still there.’
‘No...’ The receptionist raked her eyes over the key hooks. ‘The key’s not there, anyway,’ she said. ‘Twenty-one appears not to have been returned. You’ll have to pay for a replacement.’
Lauren turned away. ‘Invoice Herr... Schneider. Or whatever his name is,’ she said. ‘If the address he gave exists.’ She stalked out. Maybe the room door was unlocked. Might as well try it and see. Damn Gunther, or whatever he called himself.
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