He had just started the car when Alex saw Teren freeze, and reach toward the weapon she’d hidden in her jacket. Then the car was moving, going past the tall agent, who was facing a large blonde man.
Alex felt a coldness settle over her shoulders, and she debated going back to her friend.
On impulse she asked the driver to circle the block. He looked at her, confused.
“I thought I saw someone I knew. Please?”
He nodded, and made his turn.
When they got back to the front of the station, Teren was gone. The cold feeling descended from Alex’s shoulders to her chest.
She decided to check in at the hotel. Maybe Teren had caught another cab and would be waiting for her.
If she wasn’t, Alex would find her.
Somehow.
Teren had been waiting for Alex’s driver to get in the car. Once he did, she stepped forward to hail a cab for herself.
“Teren.”
She froze at the sound of her name being called.
One hand reached towards her gun in an automatic reflex, even as her muscles coiled. She turned slightly to see Gerd Heinrich approaching her.
“Teren. We have a car waiting for you. This way?” He waved with his arm, allowing his coat to fall open. As it did, Teren saw his weapon. The safety flap of the shoulder holster had been snapped down. It was an old way of letting agents know that they were facing a friend and not a foe.
But in this case it did nothing to reassure her.
“Gerd. How did you know I was coming?”
“I’ll tell you later. Join me, please?” He motioned again, and after a glance toward Alex’s moving cab, she fell into step beside him.
“I’m staying at the Hotel Bergerhof.”
“Yes, we know.”
They were silent the rest of the way to the car.
Alex checked in at the hotel, and had the bags carried to the room. She waited until the bellhop had explained the amenities in his broken English, then tipped him and ushered him out. The minute he was gone, she locked the door, and reached for her shoulder holster.
Like Teren, she had foregone the holster for most of their stay in Zurich, and the length of the train ride. In public, without their jackets, the bulge from the weapon was obvious. Instead, they had both tucked their weapons into a smaller holster at the small of their back. There they could be covered by a long sweater, or hidden by standing against a wall. But the shoulder holsters had been packed.
Now, Alex wanted hers. She slipped it on, and tightened the straps. Next came the weapon, which she checked, and then slid into the holster, finding some small comfort in the familiar weight. After a hesitation she reached in and turned the safety off. Then she slid her heavy jacket on, and took one last look in the mirror. Then she took a deep breath, and opened the hotel room door.
Their room was on the third floor, and Alex headed for the stairs next to the elevator. As she came down the hall, the doors to the elevator began to open and she looked up to see if it was Teren.
Instead, she saw the same blonde man she’d glimpsed at the train station.
Without waiting for the elevator to fully open, Alex did a sideways leap through the door to the stairs. She was down the first set of stairs before the door fully closed behind her. She took the next flight at a dead run, pulling her weapon at the same time. When she heard the door she’d come through open back up, she prepared herself to leap the remaining two flights.
“Alex?”
The voice calling her name was distorted by the echoes in the stairwell, and it took her half a second to realize it was Teren. She stopped, leaning against the wall.
“Teren?”
“Yeah.”
There were footsteps on the stairs. Alex was torn between believing it was Teren, and remembering the face she’d seen on the elevator.
“Hold it!” The footsteps stopped.
“Alex, it’s me.”
The voice was definitely Teren’s, and decidedly closer.
“Okay, but come down one step at a time.” She kept her weapon ready, the hammer pulled back. Alex listened to the footsteps as they came down.
Finally, she saw a figure come into view, and could tell from it’s silhouette that it really was Teren. With a sigh of relief, she uncocked her gun, and slid it into her holster, flicking the safety button on as she did so.
Teren stopped in the middle of the stairway and stared down at her friend.
“What did you think you were doing?”
Alex looked back up with an embarassed shrug. “Heading off to rescue you?”
That got a smile out of the taller agent, and she shook her head. “Come on, tiger, let’s get back up to the room.”
Alex joined her on the stairs. “Are you okay? I saw that guy at the station —”
Teren put a hand over her mouth. “Let’s go to the room first, okay? I’ll explain everything.”
“Okay.”
“And then you can tell me why you were leaping down the stairs like a rabbit?”
“Cause this rabbit thought there was a wolf after her.”
“Uh-huh.”
Alex unlocked the door to their room, and held it open for Teren to enter. She followed behind her.
The blond haired man was sitting on the couch. He smiled at her, and said something in German to Teren, who smiled.
“How did he get in here?”
The man gave a grin and held up a lock pick.
“Alex, this is Gerd Heinrich. Gerd, Alex Reis.”
Bewildered, Alex took the outstretched hand the man offered.
“Hello, Alex.” She noticed he had almost no accent. “It is nice to meet you.”
“Well, I’d like to say the same, but seeing as how I just got scared out of my wits, I can’t.” She turned to Teren. “From the way you greeted him at the train station, I would have guessed he was an enemy. But since you’ve told him my name, I suppose that’s not true?”
Teren nodded. “At the station, he surprised me. Plus, like I told you earlier, I didn’t know my status.” She motioned to Gerd. “He had a little information for me, on the situation.”
“I see.” Alex pulled her coat off and hung it up. “So, he’s a friend?”
“I am.” Gerd smiled. “And if you are as accurate with that gun as you are quick with your feet, I would say it is a damn good thing for me.”
Teren laughed, and Alex couldn’t help but smile.
“Well, I didn’t know who you were. All I knew was what I saw at the station. Teren didn’t exactly look happy to see you, and when I went back, she was gone. How was I supposed to know?”
“You weren’t. I’m sorry. We knew Teren was traveling with someone, and we knew the name Andrea Reed. But we didn’t know what she looked like.” He shrugged. “We couldn’t intercept both of you.”
Alex nodded and sat down in the chair next to the small couch. “How did you know all this?”
“We received a message from our American counterparts, saying that Teren was in Europe, and we should watch for her. We were told she was under one of her aliases, and traveling with a young woman. When we found the record of Teren’s alias Theresa Wilcox, the name Andrea Reed appeared beside it. We had been checking the hotels, and when the reservation was made, we knew of it within the hour.”
Teren nodded, then pulled her sweater off. “And I suppose you checked the airlines, then realized we weren’t on the plane, right?”
“Yes. After that it was a matter of finding out which train you might come in on.” The blonde man smiled. “You always did enjoy the trains, Teren.”
“So, are you here to help us, or just let us know we’re being watched?” Alex asked.
“Neither.” Gerd didn’t say anything else; he just watched Teren as she came over to the sofa.
“I’ve been ordered to contact the office.” Teren was frowning as she sat down.
“What does that mean? Are they going to help, or is this just more trouble?”
Teren shrugged. “I don’t know. Gerd, what do you think?”
“I don’t believe there is trouble. The order I received was to offer you the use of our,” he paused, “facilities, shall we say.”