by Karen Guyler
24
Eva kept her Glock pointed at the tailgate of the SUV as it opened. Most of the surrounding streets were quiet, but Agnetha hadn’t screamed or kicked hell out of the boot when she’d parked. So, what did she have planned?
Eva gripped her gun tighter, took a step closer to the car. Agnetha glared up at the barrel trained on her.
“Out, don’t try anything.” Eva ordered.
Agnetha looked around as she climbed out. “You take me in and I’ll tell them all about Ralph and how you shot him.” She’d recognised they were two roads away from the police station.
“Go for it,” Eva surprised her, taking her arm with her left hand, pressing the Glock against her side with her right.
“I mean it.” Agnetha warned.
“So do I. It’s your word against mine and my partner’s and we’re the ones with the Interpol badges.”
“I’m someone around here, you’re no one.” Agnetha’s hiss was loud in the quiet night.
They’d reached the street corner in their awkward walk.
“Let’s test that out, shall we?” Eva frog marched her across the road. “You tell the police I shot Ralph and I can call the bar manager in to testify you were flirting with him and play them my recording of you giving him your address to meet later. Plus, you have gunshot residue on your hands.”
“That trick with the wipe, my lawyer will have that thrown out in two minutes.”
Eva steered her over the next road. “How about the lynxes?”
“It’s not illegal to keep them as pets.”
“Probably illegal to keep them to clean up your husband’s kills though.” Eva kept her tone even, though she still shuddered at how she and Luke could have ended up in the pile of human bones in the lynxes’ pen. “Who will we find under the snow, in their stomachs? DNA analysis is so sensitive these days we’ll get something.”
Agnetha’s reaction, the tightening of her body, pressing together of her lips, told Eva she wasn’t wrong.
“I’m taking you in on a drunk driving charge. You’ll be out quickly enough from that, unless you lie about Ralph. Then I’ll tell them to shoot the cats.”
“They’re Carl’s, do what you want with them.”
The entrance to the police station ahead of them was warm and welcoming, lots of interior lights on, surprising given the time, contrasting with the coldness of the night.
“Then there’s all the weaponry.”
“Again, all Carl’s.” Agnetha snapped.
“Does he leave it to you in his will? His side business?” Eva asked.
“I don’t know what his will says.” Agnetha was an accomplished liar, apart from when something was extremely important to her, apparently.
“If I’m asked one question about Ralph, I’ll be taking the police out to your house with sniffer dogs and a forensic team personally.” If any of Eva’s threats would work, she could hope it was that one, judging by Agnetha’s expression. Maybe. “I suggest you own the drunk driving charge silently.” Her grip on Agnetha’s arm tightened as they crossed the threshold of the police station. “But like I said earlier, there’s always a choice.”
25
Eva steered Luke out of the lift towards his hotel room. His legs appeared to have forgotten how to walk in the same direction.
“Should have hung onto the wheelchair.” She pulled him away from the wall. “What did they give you?”
“All the good stuff.” He laughed, “Not painful at all, this dislocation thing.”
“That’s because of the good stuff.”
She got him into his room. “You can do the bathroom stuff unaided, right? I’m sure that’s not in my job description.” Luke pulled a face. “If that’s an eyebrow arch, it’s not working.”
“I got it.”
“Good, I’ll see you in the morning, later in the morning. Sleep well. Phone’s right beside you, if you need anything call me, I’m just next door.”
After sending an update to S, Eva sat at the dressing table in her room studying the bullets that, if Rubin had his way, would have been in her and Luke.
Definitely nothing ordinary about them or the system that fired them. Presumably a rifle fired the bullets, the drone tracked the RFID-tagged victims, relaying the tags’ signal to the bullets that then hit whoever or whatever the tags were attached to. It really was a smart weapon.
Beneath the harsh glare of all the bathroom lights, Eva checked her face in the mirror. There, just visible, half a fingerprint’s width of slight shimmer above where she thought Rubin had touched her. She wiped it off with a tissue, inspecting what it picked up. It was hard to say, some kind of powder? He’d got RFID tags so small he’d put them into a powder? But how did they not muddle the signal as she’d tried to do with Luke’s chin on her cheek? The man was clever, she’d give him that.
She folded the tissue in on itself and wrapped it up in the shower cap she found in the basket of bathroom treats. Re-boxed it and put it in her overnight bag. Another puzzle for Sadie.
Eva examined her snowsuit next, working out from where the bullet had ripped through it. If it was a powder he’d used, he could have impregnated the suit with it. She inspected the seams. There, something stiff in the zip seam. That was probably it, close enough to the ragged hole the bullet had left. She’d leave it for Sadie because how Rubin had the tags secured might teach her something. Folding the suit in on itself again, Eva put it back in the large dry bag she’d taken from Rubin’s SUV.
So, Rubin, what was in Denmark? Why did you use this weapon there? Who were the victims to you? Before opening the file on the Copenhagen shootings, Eva ordered a pot of coffee and another pizza. It was going to be a long night.
Her room phone shrilled into her dreamless sleep. Morning already? Or did Luke need something?
“Hello?” she croaked.
“Eva, it’s Nora, call in on your laptop.”
Eva dragged herself off the bed and turned the camera off before she connected.
“You’re in luck,” Nora didn’t waste any time with niceties, “we’ve got an extraction team for the armaments. Rubin’s in Denmark so you’ve got a time window.”
“The Norwegian authorities okay with that?”
“We’re flying under the radar. Norway’s an ally, we can’t be seen to be sneaking in and stealing this cache out from under their noses.”
“But we can do it behind-the-scenes.”
“Not one nation is as friendly and altruistic as they make out on the world stage. That’s what the diplomatic bag is for.”
“It needs to be a big bag.”
“Our hierarchy is prepared to take the risk of getting back what we can. I’ve sent you a file so you know who to expect. We’re prioritising rinsing Agnetha Rubin’s case so she won’t get out of holding.”
“And Ralph?”
“The team will take care of it. How’s Luke?”
“Doing okay last night, I’m about to check.”
“You’re being picked up in an hour.” Nora’s voice became much less business briefing. “How’s it going?”
Eva let out something she hoped could pass as a laugh. “It’s been eventful.”
After her breakfast, she took a tray to Luke’s room, opening the door with the spare key card a fraction.
“Luke, it’s Eva, I’m coming in, are you decent?”
“Always.” He laughed, sounding very uninjured.
“How’re you doing?” Not bad, judging by how relaxed he appeared to be, sitting up in bed. He’d got his shirt half off, tangled around his sling. “Breakfast is served. Wasn’t sure what you liked, so it’s pretty much one of everything. Hope you’re hungry.” She put the tray down. “You want some help?”
“Sure.”
Eva sat beside him and unvelcro-ed the sling, holding his arm where the hospital had positioned it while she gently worked his shirt off.
“It’s okay,” he reassured her worried glances at him each time she moved his sh
irt, “painkillers are working, they’re some good shit.”
“You might get cold now, don’t move, I’ll just. . .” Luke’s go bag was a bag for all seasons. “You brought summer things?”
“Never know where we’re gonna end up. Good to be prepared.”
“You’re a packing ninja.”
“Been doing this a long time. That smells good.” He sniffed the air.
“Freshly baked muffins.” Eva laid a jumper over his bare shoulder, tucking it down his back.
She put the sling back on him.
“Nah, don’t need that.”
“I was there with you at the hospital so I know you heard the doctor, two weeks.”
“On average.” Luke reminded her. “I’m a fast healer.”
“Overnight? Today you don’t need to be, you can stay here and watch TV.”
“Where you going?”
“To collect the goodies from the Rubin’s.”
“I need to come with you.”
“Okay, up you get then. Which way is up, Luke?”
“I have to watch you. How can I report back if I haven’t seen what you’ve done?”
Eva’s phone dinged. “It’s not like I’m going in on my own, the extraction team can watch me.”
“Seriously, I’m failing my remit.”
“I won’t tell anyone.” Another wrong thing to say, going by the look on his face.
“At least take my knife.”
“Okay, and I’ll give you a full report, promise. You stay here and ride the lovely drugs.”
It wasn’t as if anything she did today could salvage what had already gone wrong.
The SUV that collected Eva was so well kitted out for the weather, it could have comfortably driven to the Arctic.
“Aren’t you underdressed?” The driver, a broad man with a shaggy beard, looked at Eva’s two jumpers.
“The target took our good gear.”
“We’ll have to see about getting that back. In the meantime so you blend in, that’s your outdoor gear.” He nodded at the black grip bag in the footwell in front of her. She was grateful for the white camouflage jacket, hat and gloves, exactly what the others were wearing.
A twin SUV peeled away from the side of the street as they passed it and followed them.
The driver caught her glance behind. “They’re with us, Bennett, Jacob and Vance, in that one. You get so many of us because of the hot goodies. I’m Fisher, guy behind me,” he gestured at the back seat, “that’s Taz, Oscar next to him.”
The guys greeted her.
“Eva. How are you doing?”
“Easy flight in, decent kit, can’t complain. There’s a phone for you in the glove box, yours could have been compromised when it was out of your possession. It’s protocol. How’s Luke?”
“Trying to come.”
He laughed, his face creasing into well-worn lines. Rugged looking, he clearly spent a lot of time outdoors. “He must hate this.”
“He’s not happy about it.”
“Got the coordinates. You have everything you need?”
“You’ve seen my report?”
Fisher nodded. “We’ve been debriefed.”
The route back to the Rubins’ cabin was much better with someone else driving. And the weather co-operated, no new snowfall but the overnight flurries had banked in the open garage door. The team assembled around the lead SUV, and Fisher introduced her to the other men. Looking at them, she was glad they were on her side.
“Threats on the ground, identified from Eva’s report,” he summarised, “potential security check from the alarm company, local police if hostile told them about the corpse inside. Homeowner won’t be back while we’re here, other one’s in custody.”
“His pet lynxes,” Eva added, “they might come back because here is their food source. They could be unpredictable. The outbuildings are behind the house, each one biometrically accessed. The one closest to the house on the left as you look towards the tree-line at the bottom has nothing of value in it.”
Fisher pulled on a black armband. “Let’s get started. In, out, you know how this goes.”
They crunched their way through the pristine snow past the house.
“Show me where you found the weapons.” Fisher said.
Eva led them to the building that Luke had fallen into. Taz attached electrodes to the access control, and in a few seconds, the lock clicked open. He moved on to the next building’s panel.
Oscar scoped it out. Came out, shaking his head. “Empty.”
Eva and Fisher went inside. The broken metal roofing had been moved out, the roof now covered in a blue tarpaulin that Eva was sure wouldn’t stand up to one half decent snowfall.
“They’re under there.” She pulled back the pile of tarpaulins.
“Okay, what toys have we got?” Fisher lifted the trapdoor and shone his torch beam into the space.
“Watch out for booby traps. It’s all hi-tech stuff, you see?”
“Not so much. Looks like someone’s had a clear out.”
“What?”
The booby-trap wires that had been there last night weren’t there now. She walked down the steps into the storage space. It was virtually empty, just a handful of weapons left on hooks on the walls, a few boxes of ammunition. Nothing to excite law enforcement, maybe more rifles than necessary, but every one could be explained away by living as they sometimes did with polar bears.
Nothing else.
Which made it their word against Rubin’s about what they’d found.
26
“Rubin said about having to move the weapons, after Luke fell through the roof.” Eva stared at the empty space around her and Fisher. “Maybe he was worried about them getting wet?”
She followed Fisher outside, where Taz had got more than half the doors open on their side. She ran through the events of last night. The gap of time between Rubin thinking he’d killed them and them tracking back there, had that been enough?
The guy in the big bobble hat, Bennett, she remembered, had moved beyond the lynx pen and paced backwards and forwards near the tree-line at the bottom of the hill, on lynx patrol.
Eva went into the outbuilding nearest the house, there had to be more weaponry here. Similar in size to the one in which she and Luke had been held captive, they wouldn’t have been able to pace in there. Tarpaulins, snowshoes, sleds, a whole pile of them took up the floor space by the walls and, in the middle, stood unrecognisable shapes hidden beneath canvas covers.
She pulled the one off the tallest, broadest shape. The weapon on a stand might have its roots in machine-gun technology, but she couldn’t recognise it. Beneath the next, another weapon, smaller but more identifiable. Under the next was the Scorpion that Sean Finch had held on them. Every weapon appeared different but somehow the more streamlined and less busy they were, the more deadly they looked.
Shouts from outside, but the trapdoor caught her attention. Remembering what Luke had said about booby traps, she thumbed the torch on her phone which picked up the dull shine of a thin wire, stretched from the opening end of the trapdoor to a small silver box at skirting board level in the wall.
There must be something worth taking down there.
Another shout, there seemed to be several other voices outside now. Was Rubin back? Eva crossed to the doorway, staying behind the wall, dropping to a low squat to look out of the door. She was quite happy being on his ‘I’ve dealt with you list’, she didn’t want to make another appearance on the ‘I have to deal with you’ one.
To the side of the house leading to the driveway, half a dozen men had gathered. Dressed like ninjas of Indian or Pakistani descent, they were a vision in black. Stark against the white of the landscape, they looked more dangerous than her team.
“Where is Mr Rubin?” one of them demanded in a strong accent.
Fisher approached them, cautious, gun drawn, but held behind his back. “Who wants to see him? Do you have an appointment?”
“Do I have an appointment?” The man gave a quick laugh. “You know who I am?”
Fisher appraised him. “Can’t say that I do, hence my question, who wants to see him?”
The men behind the leader stiffened, Eva peeled up to standing, using the doorframe as her cover. The roiling in her stomach was all at odds with what she was seeing. What would Luke tell her to do? This was her mission, she had to decide. She unclipped her holster, but her hand hovered over her Glock. How would she not be a liability out there?
The leader unzipped his jacket. His wingmen were adjusting themselves in a reach behind them, a hand passing under their coats. Getting ready for something.
She caught movement at the rear of the property, Bennett in a crouch on his way up the slope. Jacob and Vance were closer, peering out of open doorways on the opposite side to Eva.
“Gently does it,” Fisher warned the leader, bringing his weapon out from behind his back, pointing it at the ground.
“What is this?” The leader demanded, gesturing at the open doors of the buildings.
“Stock-take.” Fisher replied.
“I come to take delivery of my shipment.” The leader said.
Taz and Oscar were closing in as his wingmen, weapons drawn. The new arrival’s back-up trained theirs on Fisher and his. If gun size was anything to go by, they had the upper hand.
“What are you doing? This is against the rules. We don’t use the merchandise on each other. You know this. Mr Rubin is most insistent.”
The tension outside zinged around Eva’s body.
“Tell your men to back down and we will too.” Fisher reassured the guy, who rapped a command in a language beyond her understanding.
She could have Fisher’s back from within the outbuilding, the sight of one of these weapons should be enough to send the newcomers on their way.
The biggest, most impressive-looking gun was on a wheeled platform, it wouldn’t fare well in the snow out there, but Eva could get it to the doorway. They didn’t need to know she couldn’t shoot it. She pulled and pushed, manoeuvring it across the wooden floor. Jammed it up against one of the others so the stand it was on pitched alarmingly. She grabbed at it to stop it from crashing to the floor.