"Walt, the guy I'm looking for has been missing for almost a week now," Jake said.
Just then Edeltrud came in with two large beers.
"First one's on me," she said. "You'll have to fend for yourselves with the rest. Jakob wants me." She scooted up the stairs.
There was a long silence.
"What's wrong, Jake?"
Jake turned slowly and studied Walt. "I need your help."
"Sure. How can I help you, Jake?"
Jake went to the window and pulled back the patterned sheers. "Do you still have your computer set up the way I showed you?" Jake asked, still looking out the window.
"Yes. But why?"
"I need you to access the Polizei database," Jake said.
Walt paused for a moment. "That would be easy," he said, "but I can't breach the trust of my department."
"It's nothing like that. I just want you to run the license plates of this guy in a Mercedes who's been following me all morning."
Walt got up from the sofa and went to the window. "Is that all? That's no problem. Is he out there?"
"Yes, he's parked about a block down the street. He planted a tracking receiver on my car last night."
"Why don't I just go ask him?" Walt asked.
"No. I want the upper hand."
Walt took the license number and went upstairs. Jake had never told the Kaisers he worked for the CIA. Maybe that was a mistake. The man following him in the Mercedes was probably one of the three who filled his rental full of holes.
After a few minutes upstairs, Walt came down with a piece of paper. "A guy named Gunter Schecht, currently living in Bonn," Walt said.
"Shit!" Jake had known Gunter Schecht quite well. He worked for German Federal Intelligence and they had crossed paths while Jake worked for the CIA.
"You know him?" Walt asked.
"Sort of," Jake said, taking a long sip of beer. "We met a few times in Bonn." Gunter had a reputation within German Intelligence as a bit of a rogue. He was a proficient agent-almost too proficient. But Jake had a hard time believing German Intelligence wanted him dead.
Jake tried to change the subject. "Walt, thanks for the help and the beer. I should probably get going. I've still got to talk with the Polizei in Koblenz about my missing person."
"Give me his name," Walt said. "I'll do a computer check and keep an eye out for the guy."
"Thanks, Walt." Jake gave him a data sheet on Charlie Johnson, including copies of fingerprints and information on Johnson's Chevy.
Jake said good-bye to Walt and promised to come back before heading back to the States. But now he had to know why Gunter Schecht was following him.
The Passat cranked over with authority. Jake had rented this car for its large size, but also for its speed. It wasn't as quick off the line as a smaller car like the GTI, but the top end was greater, and the stability at high speed far surpassed the lighter weight cars.
He drove out of the Kaiser neighborhood and entered a cross-town Autobahn. Gunter was still a few cars back. Then he turned North on Autobahn 60 toward Koblenz and picked up speed. Traffic was light-just enough to make the drive interesting. After he shifted into fifth gear, Jake looked at his speedometer-200 KPH. It had been a while, but Jake made the conversion to MPH in his head. Not many cars wandering into the fast lane this Saturday, Jake thought.
The small cars in the right lane flew by as if standing still. When a car did foolishly appear in Jake's lane, he would flash his lights far enough in advance to warn them back into the right lane. Gunter's Mercedes persisted in Jake's rear view mirror. He expected no less.
The two cars hastened toward Koblenz at well over 120 MPH. Koblenz got nearer by the minute. Jake wanted Gunter to think he was heading back toward the Gasthaus Birkwald.
In Koblenz, Jake slowed just enough to exit South onto Autobahn 48 toward Trier. He quickly picked up speed again. A large blue sign prompted for an exit two kilometers ahead. Just before the exit, Jake moved in front of a line of cars, slid onto the off-ramp and quickly decelerated. Gunter had just barely accomplished a similar maneuver and was still behind Jake coming down the ramp. Jake skidded his Passat to a quick stop, tires squealing, jumped from the driver's seat and pointed his CZ-75 at the Mercedes as it too was skidding to a halt just behind Jake's car.
Gunter must have recognized Jake. He got out of his car and put up his hands. They both smiled but said nothing.
Finally, Gunter broke the ice. "Still using that Czech garbage, Jake?" he asked.
"Yeah, and I see you still favor bumper drops," Jake said.
"I thought you quit the CIA," Gunter said. "Yet here you are back in Germany."
Jake glanced at the Mercedes. "I thought German Intelligence, and I realize that's a contradiction in terms, was partial to Beemers."
"I retired. And my pension was good to me."
Jake was still pointing his pistol at Gunter. He couldn't be sure if Gunter had a gun, but he had to assume he did.
"You've also put on some weight," Jake said.
"Why don't you put down the gun, Jake?" Gunter said. "We've known each other too long to point guns at each other."
Jake stood in silence. He knew Gunter hated to lose at anything. By discovering the transmitter, Jake had nearly emasculated him.
Gunter shook his head.
"All right, Gunter, let's cut the bullshit," Jake said. "We can either stand out here and wait for the sun to set and freeze our asses off, or you can tell me who the fuck you work for and why you were tailing me."
Neither said a word. The wind picked up, and Jake felt the chill across his exposed neck.
"Jake, you know the rules," Gunter said. "I can't tell you that." Gunter stood with his hands and arms extended as though standing before a mugger and declaring he had no money.
Jake knew he was getting nowhere. But he had accomplished what he wanted. Gunter now knew Jake was on to him.
"Here Gunter," Jake said, pulling a small transmitter from his left pocket and throwing it to Gunter. "Next time, have your dog actually take a piss."
Gunter stood next to his Mercedes, his hands cradling the transmitter. He was exposed to the rapidly cooling elements and the even cooler embarrassed realization of failure.
Jake got back into his Passat and drove away. Gunter didn't follow him this time. Jake didn't think he would.
CHAPTER 8
The drive had been as a majestic work of art with exhibits of marble on the face of the Apuan Alps near Carrara. Kurt thought the mountains looked ideal for skiing, but Toni assured him that it would be painful skiing down sheer marble cliffs.
The weather was also impressive. The crystal blue sky allowed the Mediterranean to remain nearly transparent and the rocky coast beneath unobscured.
Kurt had remained speechless for most of the drive. He had listened carefully for anything that could have been important, but more significantly, he had observed Toni carefully. She was as much a work of art as the marble cliffs above Carrara or the ocean to the West. With her hair out from under her beret, her black curly locks flowing over her shoulders, her beauty multiplied with each kilometer.
Pisa has no skyline. The Leaning Tower stands out more from a distance than from near. Galileo's observatory overwhelmed Kurt. It was a landmark that he had seen a thousand times on TV, had evaded his previous visits, and now it was passing by to his left as though just another building in just another city.
Toni didn't even seem to notice the Tower or anything else around her. She was more content with singing along with a Verdi aria on the radio of her Alfa Romeo. She knew the words, and she wasn't half bad as far as Kurt could tell.