“Where are they taking her, Gerd?”
“To a small private hospital, just outside the city. It’s where we take all our injured agents.”
Rather than simply calling the police, or a regular ambulance, Gerd had called his own people. They had brought an ambulance for Teren, and a small van to remove the bodies. Two men had also taken charge of guarding the tomb. The Bundeskriminalamt would be called as soon as the scene was clean.
“I can stay at the hospital with her?”
“Either that, or you can stay at the safe house next door. It’s up to you.”
Alex nodded. “Alright.” She took a deep breath, and tried to focus on the task at hand. Turning to the German beside her, she frowned. “The leader of a church in Munich was killed, Gerd, and we have the proof that he was engaged in neo-Nazi activities. What happens now?”
Gerd folded his arms and looked at the ground. “Well, I don’t know that it will necessarily be released to the general public. It would take a great deal of convincing for them to believe this.”
“You mean there will be a cover up.”
“Yes.” He looked up at her. “Do you have a problem with this?”
Shrugging, Alex replied, “Not really. I didn’t really think we’d win this round. I just wish I could have a crack at his files. Teren and I are still missing several pieces to our puzzle, and I think they might be hiding somewhere in Eisenbein’s records.”
The German stroked his cheek, and raised one blonde eyebrow. “I don’t see why we can’t allow that. I will see what I can do.” She acknowledged his response with a nod, but Gerd didn’t think she really heard him. Her eyes had drifted to the place where the ambulance had disappeared into the darkness.
“She’ll be alright, Alex.”
Alex nodded. “Right.” She closed her eyes briefly, saying a silent prayer.
“Shall we go get your car?” Gerd asked.
“Sure.”
Several minutes later they were on a major thoroughfare, heading further from the city limits. Alex just watched as the scenery flew by.
“Gerd, why were you at the cemetery?”
He hesitated, then shrugged slightly. “When you and Teren left, I spent a little time trying to confirm what you told me. I really didn’t want to believe it, but I’ve always trusted Teren’s instincts, and her information. So, I checked, and several things didn’t make sense.”
“So, you went to see Odbert?”
“Yes.” Gerd shook his head. “I still cannot believe he is a Nazi.” After a pause, he continued. “Franz Eisenbein was at the house with Jurgen. I confronted him, and Eisenbein admitted that he respected parts of Hitler’s doctrine. We left at the same time, and I was angry.”
“Teren said you looked furious.”
He glanced at her in shock. “How did -?”
“We were in the car, hidden just down the street. Teren was watching the front of the house with binoculars.” She waited a second, then said, “We thought you’d gone there to betray us.”
The thick muscles on Gerd’s arms flexed as he thought about that. It disturbed him, but he couldn’t blame Teren. “I suppose it did look rather bad.”
“Rather.”
He nodded. “After I left Jurgen’s house, I drove around for a few hours, and found myself outside of the church. Eisenbein’s car was there, along with several others. I supposed they were in a meeting or something. I sat and watched the front of the building for several minutes, and just as I was about to leave, several men came from the building and jumped in the car. Franz was among them. They pulled out of the parking lot so fast they almost ran someone over. I decided to follow. They went first to Jurgen’s, where they all went inside with their weapons drawn.” Gerd glanced at his passenger. “I suppose you and Teren had been there?”
“Yes. By the way, you might want to send your guys to do a cleanup there as well. There were three bodies, and one disabled guard when we left.”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure what we’d find if we went there now. Eisenbein left a man at the house, and the rest of them got back into the car and tore out of the driveway. I followed, and was just creeping into the cemetery when I heard the gunfire.”
“I nearly shot you.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
They were silent for several minutes.
“I suppose I’d better send the team to Jurgen’s.” Gerd picked up his phone, and dialed. “May I ask if one of the bodies was Jurgen?” His voice had grown softer.
“Yes, he was.” She reached over and put a hand on his arm. “Teren didn’t kill him, Gerd. He killed himself.” She felt the shock register, as he tensed. Alex sighed and leaned back. “Finish your phone call, and I’ll tell you what happened.”
She looked back out the window as Gerd spoke quietly.
Before going to the hospital Alex had Gerd help her to move her and Teren’s belongings into a room in the safe house. The only thing she took with her was her briefcase.
Gerd led her to a side entrance, and used a key code to enter. Inside, there was a man, obviously standing guard.
“Thorsten, this is Alex, Teren’s new partner. Alex, Thorsten.” Alex raised her eyebrows at that introduction, but shook the guard’s hand. He was an imposing figure, tall and muscular, with Nordic features.
“Have you had any word?” Gerd asked.
Thorsten shook his head. “The only thing I know is that they were taking her for a CT scan.” His voice was much more heavily accented than Gerd’s, but Alex had no trouble understanding. “She woke briefly, several times. Twice, she cried out your name, Alex.” His smile faded, and his voice lowered, “and once, she called out for Perry.”
Gerd looked at the floor. “I had forgotten.”
“Forgotten what?” Alex asked, bewildered.
“This is where they brought her, after Perry was killed. She was feverish, and suffering from heavy blood loss, and infection. The surgeons had to remove one of her kidneys, and for several days she slipped in and out of a coma. I was out of the country at the time, but I have heard the stories. She was constantly screaming for Perry.”
Alex felt her throat close up. Blinking rapidly, she forced the tears in her eyes to stay put, rather than roll down her cheeks. She thinks she’s back there. Oh, gods …
I need to find her. Now. “Where is she, Thorsten?”
“They should be bringing her back in just a moment or two. Her room is —”
“I didn’t ask where her room is, I asked where she is.” Without raising the volume of her voice, Alex still put enough power behind it to make Thorsten’s eyes go wide. He took a step back, and looked at Gerd, who gave a little half smile, and a nod.
Thorsten pointed. “Down at the end of this hall, turn left. Take the second hall to the right. I believe she’s in the second scan room.
With a nod, Alex headed down the hall. Gerd scrambled to keep up with her.
There was soft buzzing in Teren’s ears, that kept getting louder. Slowly, she became aware of pain in her head. It was agonizing enough to make her want to just drift back into the dark, but there was some reason that she couldn’t. As the buzzing grew louder, it also got clearer, until she could pick out other sounds. What started as noise turned into words, but it was the voice saying the words, that made Teren try to listen, despite the pain.
“Teren? Come on, pal, you need to wake up now. It’s okay, wake up.”
Alex?
Her head was pounding, but she concentrated on Alex’s voice, following it. She had no idea what had happened, or why she was in so much pain, but Alex wanted her to do something, and that was enough.
Although her eyelids were heavy, Teren forced them to open. Reddish hair filled her sight, and she frowned. Alex has blonde hair. She thought at first it wasn’t Alex, but there was no mistaking the green eyes peering worriedly into hers. She smiled.
“Al-ex…” Teren couldn’t fight the pounding in her head anymore. The last thing she saw, before falling asleep, was Alex’s smile, and she took it with her into the dark.