Albright wanted to keep the locals out of it as much as he could, but he appreciated the fact that they wouldn’t be hindered.
Sarah was concerned, to say the least. The conductor had tried to mask his feelings, but Sarah had noticed the brief, unmistakeable flicker of suspicion in his eyes as he took the travel cards. She had spoken to the conductor in fluent German, but had the man heard them talking before he entered the cabin? And what would he have thought if he had?
And then Ben had started to talk in front of him — ‘Mommy, what — ’ but Sarah had cut him off with a burst of stern German, to the effect that children shouldn’t speak unless spoken to. It was purely for the benefit of the conductor, of course, as Ben had no idea what his mother was saying — but the look in her eyes got the message across effectively enough, and Ben was instantly quiet.
It was her own fault, Sarah knew. Mark had warned her about the importance of always staying in character, but she obviously hadn’t performed well enough. Speaking in English, even within the privacy of a cabin, was just plain careless. But what to do now?
Their tickets had been due to take them all the way across the border to the Austrian city of Innsbruck. The route would now possibly be compromised — and just the fact that there was the possibility meant that the route was compromised.
There was noting else for it, Sarah decided. They would have to get off at the next station and find another way into Austria.
41
Cole didn’t know how much time he had. They were driving slowly due to the conditions, but he had no idea how far away the hospital was, and he therefore had no idea how long it would take to get there.
For the last few minutes he had been working on the leather straps that secured his wrists. He had been trained to escape from such bonds back in DEVGRU, but the situation was made harder by the fact that he couldn’t make any obvious movements that would be seen by either the ambulance crew or the police officer.
From the conversation of the paramedics, Cole had ascertained that he was not seriously injured. Indeed, they had objected to the police officer about the way their patient was strapped down, although the man remained unmoved by such protestations.
He seemed to have some mild bruising and several minor cuts that they had already stitched up, but they were also concerned over his head injuries, suspecting that he might well have a concussion. This didn’t worry Cole unduly however — he’d had plenty in the past, and it had never stopped him before.
After ten agonizing minutes, he’d done it — the wrist straps had been loosened sufficiently that he would be able to pull his hands free when the time was right. His legs, upper arms, torso and head were all still strapped tight, but he had his hands — and that would just have to do.
42
Andy Truro and Jimmy Vinh pulled into the hospital car park just after midnight. It had been lucky that they had been available — they had recently finished a job and were relaxing at a private resort in the French countryside just outside Paris. They wouldn’t ordinarily have done a job so close to where they were, but the money offered by Hansard for what seem like a fairly easy bit of work made the decision for them.
They were unusual in that they worked as partners, which was generally unheard of for such contract workers. Their history together went all the way back to early childhood, however, and they had been together from the orphanage nursery through to the killing fields of Iraq and Afghanistan. When Hansard had approached them about going ‘off the radar’, they had agreed on one condition — that they would be able to continue working together.
At first, Hansard had rejected the idea; but as he cogitated further, he recognized that some missions could benefit from a good working partnership, and so he had taken them on, on a trial basis.
They had since proved to be a formidable addition to Hansard’s team, both ruthless and inventive. They were also committed to each other to the exclusion of all else, which resulted in behaviour to others that bordered on the sociopathic. This was the reason that Hansard generally gave them the lower-end jobs, as he simply could not trust them completely. But it was also the reason Hansard was sending them to kill Cole; there would be no second guessing, no emotion, and no mistakes. They would simply do their job, and then disappear.
43
Sarah was beginning to relax slightly. She’d given the driver a couple of false destinations, which necessitated some sharp changes of direction and would have revealed the presence of a tail, if there had been one.
Her constant scanning of the surrounding traffic eased her concerns, as she could see clearly that there was nobody following them. More importantly, her gut instinct told him that they weren’t being watched.
She had probably overreacted anyway, she reflected — the ticket collector had almost certainly forgotten the whole thing, if he had even realized that something was amiss in the first place.
She comforted himself with the fact that they hadn’t really lost too much time — Rosenheim was only a short way away, and had a direct connection to Innsbruck. They would still be able to get to Austria by evening, and would be safe not long afterwards, just as soon as they made their rendezvous.
44
Albright’s helicopter touched down in the parking lot with just three minutes to go. Hartmann had called him to say the family had exited the train at Bad Tölz and then travelled by taxi to Rosenheim Train Station. Jumping out of the doorway, Albright ducked low as he sprinted away from the chopper, the rotors still spinning wildly, whipping up dirt and rubble from the rough concrete.
The last report had delighted him — Hartmann had indicated that all three targets had also now boarded, on Cabin E. Four members of his own team were now aboard the train, seemingly unnoticed, and had occupied the adjoining cabins. They now had the bat, and Hartmann was stood down.
Strictly speaking, Albright had no need to go to the station at all — he could have simply moved to Innsbruck and picked up the tail there. But somehow it just didn’t seem right — Sarah had escaped too many times already, and Albright was reluctant to leave it entirely in the hands of others.
Without a second thought, he increased his pace, legs starting to pump wildly, along with his heart. He knew he just had to follow the group, but his adrenaline started to kick in when he thought about Sarah. Something told him that the future held more than just a simple tail; confrontation was inevitable.
45
Cole opened his eyes slowly, blinking at the harsh overhead lights as if he was waking for the first time. A look of confusion spread across his face as he pretended to take it all in.
‘What … What’s going on?’ he asked weakly in French. ‘Where am I?’
As the paramedics tried to console and reassure him, Cole saw the policeman rise from his seat and approach, his head coming down towards Cole.
‘The police?’ said Cole. ‘Why? What …’
‘We know that the car was stolen,’ the man said. ‘You’re in big trouble, sir.’
The ambulance team began to remonstrate with him for badgering their patient, but Cole whispered faintly, ‘No, no, it’s okay.’ He gestured with his head for the officer to come closer. ‘Come here,’ he continued, his voice getting weaker, ‘I need to tell you something … about the car.’