“But how did they know to follow us? To chase us?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to drive.”
“They’re moving in on us.”
He knew they could keep up with him on the side streets, but the BMW would blow them away on the autobahn. Jake could see signs for the Number 1 Autobahn ahead. He knew this was a ring road around the city, so he ran a red light and then cranked the wheel hard, hitting the gas and sliding through the intersection. He jammed the gas hard once the car straightened out, slapping them back into their leather seats as they flew up the autobahn onramp.
Once they got on the autobahn, Jake looked back and saw that the two Fords had not come up the ramp yet. Did he really want to lose these guys? Or would it be better to confront them? What if they were FIS or Swiss Polizei? No, he needed to escape these people. Especially with what they had found out from Giger.
Finally, Jake saw the Fords enter the autobahn. Checking the speedometer, he saw that they were cruising at 220 kilometers per hour.
When they came upon another car, it was always in the slower lanes, so they simply whipped past them.
Eventually, Autobahn 1 turned into Autobahn 3, and they came around the south side of the city. Now Jake had a choice to make. He could turn south on Autobahn 4, or continue on 3 along the south side of Lake Zurich. He could also come around and reenter the city from the south and head back toward their hotel. Looking back, he couldn’t see the Fords anywhere because of the curve in the road. He slipped past Autobahn 4, but those behind him might guess that he had turned onto that road. Ahead, he slowed just enough to navigate the split of Autobahn 3. Instead of following the autobahn south along the lake, Jake turned left and started to slow somewhat.
“Do you see anything back there?” Jake asked.
Sirena turned and tried to see if the Fords where anywhere in view. “You lost them.”
To be sure, Jake got off the autobahn at the first exit and headed onto side streets toward downtown Zurich.
Now they were traveling at the posted speed limit, not wanting to pick up any Polizei. Jake was surprised they had not been tracked by them.
“Giger’s house was bugged,” Jake concluded.
“You think so? By who?”
“I don’t know. But I hope it was the FIS, otherwise the organization knows we have the names of two higher-level operatives.”
“Now what?” she asked.
“Now we go back to the hotel and get our money’s worth.”
“Sounds good. I get horny with danger,” she said.
That wasn’t what he was thinking, but he said, “Sounds like a plan.”
17
Anica Senka drove slowly down the quiet Zurich neighborhood. She was tired from the drive from Konstanz, Germany, even though it was not that far away. The problem was the hour—it was nearly two in the morning.
Sitting in the passenger side was Johann Gruber, her former Austrian Polizei partner. Rolf Fisher had split off from them in Germany, taking the lead in interrogating both Pierre Deval and Goran Goluža. Based on her knowledge of Serbian, Anica thought she should have been the one to interrogate that man. But by the time they left Konstanz, the man was just getting out of surgery for his leg wound. Jake’s bullet had hit a bone and shattered it, which meant Goluža needed some major work done. He would be in recovery mode for a few days.
She pulled over to the curb about a block down the street from her target location—the house of Fritz Giger.
“Have you heard back from Jake?” Johann asked.
Anica shook her head. “Not yet. But it’s late. He’s probably sleeping.”
Johann laughed. “He is old. Needs his sleep.”
“I’ll tell him you said so.”
“No. Don’t.”
“What’s the matter?”
Shaking his head, Johann said, “That man is scary.”
Jake was that, she thought. Unless he was on your side. But Johann needed to have a healthy respect for the man. “I wouldn’t mess with him. Let’s go.”
“Are you sure we should talk to the man at this hour?” Johann asked.
“We have to move forward,” she said. “What if somehow the organization found out about the raid in Konstanz?”
“I thought that’s why Jake came here.”
He had a point. “But I haven’t heard from him.”
Johann checked his watch. “We could wait until morning now. At least four hours. A reasonable hour.”
She pulled the keys and got out. Before closing the door, she leaned back in and said, “Maybe you’d like to stay back here and do your nails. But I’m going in.”
Johann mumbled something.
“What?”
“I said you seem to be turning into the female version of Jake. He’s rubbing off on you.” But Johann unbuckled and got out.
The two of them walked casually, like a young couple coming in from a night on the town, down the sidewalk toward Giger’s house.
At the man’s front door, Anica hesitated long enough to pull out her Europol credentials. Johann did the same thing.
She rang the doorbell and waited.
Nothing.
“Maybe he’s not home,” Johann said.
“Did you hear that?”
“What?”
“I heard someone moving around in there,” she said.
“He probably doesn’t want to answer the door at this hour. It’s understandable.”
She checked the door lever. It was unlocked. Now she drew her Glock and stepped through the front door. She heard a slight noise, like a door closing softly.
With her gun aimed in front of her, a small flashlight in her left hand, Anica swept through the first floor of the house. The place was trashed, especially a library area.
They used hand signals to move through the man’s house. Nothing on the first floor.
Johann took the lead up the staircase. Once they reached the top, he went to the right into what must have been a spare bedroom, while she held her position.
Then she took the lead down the hallway, poking into a bathroom and finding nothing.
They were aided by a series of night lights illuminating the hallway. The final door at the end of the hall was partially open.
Anica leaned into the door and it slowly opened on the room. Her flashlight caught something on the floor, so she moved in quickly until she could see the full scene. Laying on the floor on his back, in blue and pink Batman pajamas, was Fritz Giger. His chest had two spots of blood that seemed to be still oozing and pooling along each side of his trunk. One more blood spot sat between his eyes, and a remarkably small circle of blood seeped from behind his head.
“Scheisse,” Anica mumbled. Had Jake done this to the man? She took out her phone and shot several photos. The best angle she sent quickly to Jake.
Johann also had his phone out, but he was calling this in to the local Polizei.
“Did you hear that?” she asked, shoving her phone back in her pocket and aiming her gun toward the hallway. “Someone’s coming.”
By now Johann had the Polizei on the phone and he was giving them their location.
She saw lights coming up the staircase down the hall, so she yelled, “Polizei.”
Those down the hallway yelled back that they were with FIS, Swiss Federal Intelligence Service. The next few minutes were chaotic, as a number of men rushed in and they all aimed guns at each other.
Eventually, someone had to give way, so Johann put his gun back in its holster while he slowly pulled out his Europol credentials and handed it to the man who seemed to be in charge, an older guy who looked like he survived on a diet of beer and bratwurst. This man then showed Johann his identification, who let Anica take a look as well.
Anica was satisfied, putting her gun away. Then she took out her own ID and let the Swiss man look it over.
The Swiss man handed back Anica’s ID and studied the scene quickly. “Did you two kill this man?”
&n
bsp; “No,” Johann protested. “He was dead when we got here.”
“What were you looking for?” the Swiss man asked.
“We didn’t trash the place,” Anica said. “But we think we might have just missed the killer.”
“Why are you here?”
“May I call you Hans?” she asked.
He shrugged. “That’s my name.” Then he pulled out a vape stick and pulled in a long stream of vapor.
Anica quickly mentioned that she had made a bust in Konstanz and tracked that to Fritz Giger here in Zurich. She was simply coming here to talk with the man.
“Strange hour to talk with a suspect,” Otto said.
“I could say the same of you and your men,” she said. Suddenly, her phone buzzed and she took it out, seeing that it was Jake. He simply said to call him.
“A man is dead and you play with your phone?” Hans asked, as he squinted his eyes through the vapor cloud.
She quickly texted Jake, saying the FIS was there. Her phone rang almost immediately.
“Hello,” she said.
“The FIS,” Jake said. “A dumpy older man prone to vaping?”
“How?”
“Never mind,” Jake said. “Put him on the line.”
Anica handed her phone to the Swiss man, who looked a little confused. She could still hear Jake a little on the other end. Uncle Jake was raising his voice, she thought with a smile.
“I see,” Hans said. “I understand.”
Now the Swiss man’s eyes concentrated on Anica, but she couldn’t hear what Jake was saying.
“I will,” Hans said, nodding his head in agreement. Then he handed the phone back to Anica and said, “I’m sorry. I did not know you were friends with Jake.”
Anica smiled and got on with Jake again. “Is everything alright?”
“It is now,” Jake said. “Get out of there and come to my hotel.” He gave her the name of the place and his room number.
“Are you sure? I have Johann with me.”
“I’m not getting back to sleep now,” Jake said. “You can share a king-sized bed with Sirena. Johann can take the sofa in the other room.”
“Alright, Uncle Jake. We’ll be there soon.”
“Oh, and watch out for a couple of dark late-model Fords,” he said.
“Why?”
“Just be careful,” he said. Then he hung up.
Anica turned back to the Swiss man and said, “If I can help in any way, please let me know.”
“We’ve got this,” Hans said.
She gave Johann a head and eye roll, and her friend followed her out of the house.
18
Jake’s neck was a little sore the next morning. With Anica and Sirena taking the bed, and Johann on the sofa, Jake had eventually settled into a plush chair by a window overlooking Weinplatz. His thought that he could not get back to sleep had been false, but he continued to wake abruptly, his neck flinging up with each start. His mind could not quite let this case go. He knew he should have simply packed his little duffle bag and flown back to The Azores with Sirena and continue his fishing adventures there. Tuna would be in full swing now, and with the increase in Atlantic water temps coming, the marlin would be running strong soon.
He had left the others upstairs in the room to get more sleep, while Jake went downstairs to the square for a cappuccino and apple strudel. Jake had finished his pastry and his first coffee when he got a text with an attached file from an old colleague at the CIA. He punched in his encryption code to access the file and started to read the files on two men—Giovanni Caspari and Jakov Koprivica. The Italian was suspected of having ties with organized crime in northern Italy, which was not as established as the Malavita in Calabria and Sicily. Caspari also had ties to politicians in the Italian Region of Lombardy. But those ties were suspected to extend all the way to Rome. Yeah, Jake thought, the guy had protection. He was more than likely the conduit for the stream of contraband heading north through Switzerland. The text also had contact information on Caspari, from his home in the Lake Como area of Italy, to his business and second home in Lucerne, Switzerland. Neither of those places were cheap areas to live, so Caspari must have had money.
The information on Koprivica was spotty at best. His military career, like so many others from the Balkan states, had holes you could drive a tank through. He had started out as a lieutenant in the Yugoslav Army, which eventually turned into the Serbian Army. By the end of those conflicts, Koprivica has risen to the rank of colonel. Although he had never been found guilty of any wrongdoing, Jake guessed that just meant the man was smart enough to not get caught. Or, he was clean. A good military officer in a sea of corruption. Yet, Jake had a feeling that if the man had been clean, he had found trouble after leaving the Serbian Army and the Balkan region. Then he saw it. A disturbing fact. Koprivica had a summer home in Interlaken, Switzerland. More interesting, was the fact that his main home was in the little mountain town of Axams, Austria. A town that Jake knew quite well. Axams was just a few kilometers from Innsbruck.
Coincidences were crazy things, Jake knew. And he wasn’t sure that he believed in that concept.
Jake got up and wandered back to the hotel. By now, everyone was up and about in their room.
Sirena came to Jake and kissed him quickly on the lips. “Cappuccino?”
“And apple strudel.”
“You found strudel?” Johann said. The Austrian was wearing the same clothes from the night before.
“You need to find some new clothes,” Jake said.
“This is Europe, Jake,” Johann said. “I’m almost ripe enough for train travel.”
“I’m guessing Anica is still in the shower,” Jake said.
“She likes her long showers,” Johann said.
“How would you know that?”
Johann turned a bit red. “From at the Polizei office. She takes her time.”
Smiling, Jake said, “Hey, you are both adults.”
“It’s not like that,” Johann said, as if he wished it were otherwise.
The door to the bathroom opened and Anica came out wearing only her bra and panties. She was built like a cross between a volleyball outside hitter and a decathlete.
“Jesus, girl. Put on some clothes,” Jake said.
Johann tried not to stare, but he failed miserably.
Anica looked embarrassed and said, “I’m sorry, Uncle Jake. I didn’t know you were back.” She hurried into the back room and closed the bedroom door.
Sirena changed the subject. “Did you hear back from our friends yet?”
Pulling out his phone, Jake logged into his encrypted files and handed his phone to Sirena, who took a seat in a chair to read the long files.
Anica came out and gave Jake a hug. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“Hey, I have no problem with the human body, Anica. Especially when it’s as well-developed as yours. I just remember you as a scrawny little kid.” He hesitated and then whispered back, “What about Johann?”
She shrugged. “I think of him as just another Polizei officer. We walk around the locker room at the station like that.”
“You shouldn’t,” Jake said. “Coworker or not, you are extremely beautiful and have an amazing body.”
“I work hard,” she said.
“Obviously.”
“As you know, in Austria we often sun bathe and swim topless.”
He knew.
Sirena came over to Jake and Anica and said, “Leave the young girl alone. She’s beautiful. If I had a body like hers, I’d show it off also.”
“You are gorgeous,” Anica said. “And I’ve seen your body. You’re hot.”
Jake couldn’t disagree with Anica.
Johann finally chimed in from across the room. “Can we get something to eat? Strudel sounds good, but I think I need something more substantial.”
“There’s a full restaurant downstairs,” Jake said. “Why don’t you and Anica head down. We’ll meet you soon.”
/> Anica kissed Jake on both cheeks and smiled. “Don’t be too long.”
Once Anica and Johann left, Jake turned to Sirena and said, “What do you think?”
“Seriously? I think Anica has a smoking hot body.”
“I meant about the files on my phone.”
“Oh. I think we have a problem.”
“How so?”
“This Caspari fellow has protection,” she said. “I didn’t need a classified document to tell me that. But we need to get to him fast. Once he finds out that his people in Germany and France are being brought in, he could shut down for a while.”
“Right. Especially now that Fritz Giger is dead. But I have a feeling it was Caspari’s men who did that.”
“Why would they kill him?”
“As I mentioned last night, I’m guessing Caspari had the man’s house bugged.”
“Right. And they heard us talking with Giger, knowing he had given us the names of Caspari and Koprivica. They’re shutting down loose ends.”
“I believe this to be true,” Jake said. “But it doesn’t seem to make good business sense, since Giger ran so many trucks across Europe.”
Sirena shrugged and shook her head. “Not everything makes sense in this world.”
Yeah, Jake was infinitely aware of that fact. “Unless, Caspari plans to keep Giger’s trucks in play despite the death of the Swiss man.”
“Which brings us to another Serb,” she said. “What do you think of the info on Koprivica?”
“You know that Axams is a small town near Innsbruck,” Jake said.
“I do now. Do you think he’s the man at the top?”
“That would be my guess.”
She paced back and forth and finally said, “Do we go right to the top? Or should we start with Caspari?”
Jake had been considering his options since he first read the background on these men in the Weinplatz outside the hotel. “I hate to say it, but I think we should stick with the Italian. After all, his men were probably responsible for the death of Fritz Giger last night.”
“And those who chased us around Zurich,” Jake said.
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