Han-Jae twisted and kicked the man out onto the road as blood seeped through the cop’s fingers.
With no time to waste, Han-Jae slid out of the car and stepped toward the one behind him carrying his other two men. The cop inside scrambled to open his door. Han-Jae raised the weapon and fired several shots through the windshield. They ripped holes in the glass, some catching the cop in the vest and two tearing through his neck. Han-Jae moved fast, stalking around the open door and firing one more round, this one into the side of the cop’s head.
Cars slammed on their brakes at the horrific scene taking place right in front of them.
Han-Jae opened the back door of the second car and ushered his men to the lead vehicle. He waved the gun around at some of the cars stopped on the bridge and then fired a shot into the front tires of the two holding up traffic.
People screamed. Some got out of their cars and took off running in the other direction. A woman scrambled into the backseat of her car to protect her child.
When the other two men had packed into the squad car, Han-Jae turned and jogged back to the open driver’s side door.
The cop he’d stabbed in the neck was lying completely still on the road several feet away, covered in thick crimson liquid.
Han-Jae ran over and grabbed the cuff keys off the dead man’s belt then scurried back to the car.
He tossed the keys into the back and then hopped in the front, shifted into drive, and sped away. They would need to find a safe house. Preferably somewhere out of the country.
With the blood of two cops on their hands, everyone in Germany would be looking for them.
Chapter 13
Sean stared at the cinder block wall from the narrow bench in the middle of the room. Tommy had been pacing around for the better part of the last hour. There was no way to know exactly how much time had passed since they’d arrived in the holding tank. A clock on the wall just outside the cell was just beyond their field of vision.
Not that it mattered. The North Koreans had been apprehended, which was definitely a good thing. The only question rattling around in Sean’s mind was how in the world the other two guys had disappeared.
They’d each been allowed to make a phone call. Sean used his to call Emily. She had a useful way of getting him out of trouble like this from time to time. He hoped she wouldn’t be upset. Then again, if she was, she’d get over it. She always did.
“I hope the girls are okay,” Tommy said for the fifth time in twenty minutes.
The women had been taken to a different holding area, as was protocol.
“I’m sure they’re fine. Speaking of, what was that from your girl? Did you see how she handled herself?”
Tommy nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know where that came from.”
“You don’t sound happy about it.”
He shrugged and continued gazing at the floor with his elbows on his knees and his hands folded. “It just means there’s something weird about her. For once, I’d just like to meet a normal girl. You know?”
“Something weird about her?”
“I mean she’s probably a member of a gang or a spy or something else. You remember the Japanese girl, don’t you?”
“How could I forget?”
Tommy had met a girl he believed was interested while they were on a mission in Japan. She’d turned out to be the leader of the Yakuza, an underworld crime syndicate that had spread across the country.
“Look, Schultzie,” Sean said, “you need to realize something very important about women.”
“They’re all crazy?”
Sean guffawed at the comment. “No, although some definitely are. What I mean is, there is no such thing as normal. Everyone’s got a little weirdness to them. That’s just the result of life. After all, life isn’t normal.”
“I hope you’re not saying I should have still gone after the Japanese chick.”
Sean smirked. “No, you were right to let that one go. Pretty sure she’s in a supermax security prison somewhere. But June seems like a nice person. And honestly, it doesn’t hurt to have a woman who can kick a little butt on your side. Adriana’s bailed me out lots of times.”
Tommy relented with a nod. “That’s true.”
“Yeah. I mean, maybe June’s taken some kickboxing classes or something. Women have to be able to defend themselves these days. Heck, if I had a daughter, I’d teach her everything I know.”
“I guess.”
Footsteps clicked on the floor in the hall outside the cell.
“Wyatt and Schultz,” a man’s voice said in a thick German accent. A second later, a rotund cop appeared with a ring of keys dangling off his belt. “You have a car waiting for you outside. Try not to cause any more trouble while you’re here in Germany.”
The door unlocked automatically and slid to the left.
Sean and Tommy thanked the cop and walked by, heading down the hall the way they’d been brought before. Sean kept his eyes forward as he spoke. “If the door opens automatically, I wonder what all those keys are for.”
“Just shut up, and keep walking unless you want to get thrown back in there.”
“Roger that.”
They made their way through the maze of corridors until they reached another set of bars. Once more, something buzzed inside the walls, and a moment later the barred door slid to the side.
When they were on the steps of the jail, the two Americans took a deep breath and exhaled. A black Mercedes sat on the street right beneath the steps. A man in sunglasses and black jacket and pants was standing next to the rear door with hands folded.
He reached over and opened the back door, motioning for the two to get in.
“Looks like Emily hooked us up this time,” Tommy said.
Sean smiled, albeit suspiciously. “Yeah. I’ll be sure to send her a thank-you bouquet.”
As the two friends neared the bottom step, Sean paused. “Where are the girls?” he asked the driver.
The tall man answered by pointing at a similar car at the end of the street.
“So I guess we’re going to follow them?”
The man nodded. “That’s what I was told,” he said in a heavy accent.
“Great,” Tommy said. “Where we going? Hotel?”
“Arrangements have been made for your accommodations. That’s all I know for now.”
The two Americans accepted the answer and slid into the car’s backseat. The driver closed the door behind them and hurried around to the driver’s side.
“He looks a little like Lurch, doesn’t he?” Tommy whispered before the driver got in.
“Shh. Be nice. Just be grateful we’re out of jail. We owe Emily big time.”
“You can say that again. She even hooked us up with a place to stay. Talk about going above and beyond.”
The driver got in the car and pulled out onto the street. The two passengers didn’t think much of the locks automatically engaging since so many models across so many brands had the same feature.
Both Americans watched the people and buildings go by as the drive steered the car through the streets and eventually away from downtown and across the Rhine, back toward the heart of Germany.
“We’re not staying in town?” Tommy asked.
“You are, but Cologne has some nicer places on the other side of the river. We’ll be there shortly.”
Once more, the passengers accepted the explanation.
Sean wondered why the girls couldn’t have ridden with them. It would have been a little cramped, but not bad.
Out of the main part of the city, the driver took the second exit and continued driving another ten minutes until they reached an industrial area. Hollowed-out steel mills, decrepit warehouses, and decaying factories littered the landscape. A few abandoned houses lay scattered around the perimeter. Some of the buildings looked like they’d been bombed. Given the location, that was entirely possible. Many German buildings were never repaired after World War II.