Nemesis: Innocence Sold (13 page)

Claus blocked her path and seized her shoulders. “Don’t give up, Sandra. If he gives you another evaluation like that, you’ll fight it, and I’ll support you.”

She didn’t resist the unaccustomed touch. “You know about that?”

“Everyone here does. He’s bragged about clipping the little girl’s wings. I realized too late that you were stuck here, and any application to transfer had been thoroughly sabotaged. You shouldn’t take it personally; he’s just old-school. The uniformed force is everything to him; you plainclothes criminal investigators are a different world he’ll never accept or understand. And honestly—you were damned brazen. However, I don’t like what I’ve seen in the last few months. Some of that went too far.”

Not just some of it, but she’d leave it at that. Sandra smiled and ignored the curious looks of her colleagues, who had forgotten their own work and were trying to hear as much of the conversation as possible. Sandra raised her voice. “Don’t worry. I’m not throwing in the towel, I’m moving to the LKA. But thanks for your help.”

She nodded in the direction of her colleagues and wondered where Daniel had gone. Apparently he had been serious about becoming invisible.

She took a cotton bag out of her desk and looked at the pile of forms that had been dumped on her despite the fact that processing them had never been part of her job. No personal items decorated her desk, and she had only kept the opened bag of chocolates there for Matthias. Her colleagues were welcome to them.

She quickly walked to the staff rooms and opened her locker, stuffed her spare clothes in the bag, and fished for the handkerchief lying on the upper shelf. That was all that connected her to this place after nearly a year—a less than meager yield. She closed the door and went to the gun locker on the opposite wall. There were twenty boxes secured with combination locks in which service pistols were kept. She didn’t get a chance to enter her combination. Her former superior, very red in the face, entered the room and stopped much too close to her. “What do you mean, you’re leaving? Just sit down at your desk and do your job.”

His gaunt form towered over her by at least half a head; nevertheless, she withstood his angry outburst. “My job? The pile of crap you’ve laid there was never supposed to be part of my job. Take care of it yourself.”

“Transfers take time, little girl, and I’m going to use this time. So get your butt into the office. Hurry up.”

Sandra backed up a step. She couldn’t stand feeling his breath on her face. “There’s a variant that’s effective immediately, now leave me alone. If you have questions, address them to human resources or Tannhäuser.”

“There are no overnight transfers.”

“Sometimes there are,” Sandra said and held her new identification.

“LKA? Ridiculous. You won’t get away with this,” he said and put his hands to the right and left of her so she was trapped between the metal wall and his body.

“Are you crazy? Leave me alone.”

“Scared now, little girl? No one treats me this way. I thought you understood that. This is my station. I decide who leaves and when, and you’re going to stay until you’ve learned your place.”

“I’m warning you for the last time. Leave me alone, and get away immediately,” she said in the calm but firm tone she used when arresting suspects.

“Not until you promise to be good and sit down at your desk.”

“Stop trying to intimidate me.”

His mocking grin was the last straw. She kneed him in the groin. He cried out in pain and nearly fell on her, but she had counted on that. She moved to the side and watched without sympathy as he slid down the wall to the floor. At least she could still get to her box. She entered the last number and reached for the magazine and the Walther.

“Be good, and stay where you are. I’m sure you don’t want a second round.” Daniel was in the room. Shocked, Sandra spun around. She should have kneed him with full force.

Her former superior was already struggling to his feet and looked at her with hatred. “You’ll regret that.”

“May I present Captain Kahl. Not a bad policeman, but a complete failure as a human being. And here: my new partner from the LKA. That’s all you need to know.” She inserted the magazine and chambered a round. “Address any further complaints to Superintendent Reimers, my boss. But keep in mind that this time I have a witness.”

“Kahl?” Daniel repeated with a look at the missing head of hair that made Sandra snicker.

After the corners of his mouth had twitched, Daniel looked sharply at Kahl. “I heard your threat. If you even look at Sandra Meinke crooked, you’ll have trouble with me. She can obviously handle you on her own, but I’ll do it anyway, just for fun. Is that clear?”

While Sandra had trouble hiding her astonishment at Daniel’s sudden coldness and serious demeanor, Kahl gave a simple nod.

“Come on. We have other things to do.”

Sandra followed him.

They had hardly gotten outside when she could no longer hold herself back. “Where were you? Why didn’t I see you? That’s not possible.”

“Yes, it is. I was right behind you near the wanted posters in the entrance area. After that it was child’s play to get access to the back rooms with this ID. You were only concentrating on what was happening in front of you or what you were going to do in the moment. We proceed differently: first check the entire environment, keep it in sight, and then concentrate on the job. You’ve noticed the difference.”

He was right, but she didn’t like his explanation, and she increased the length of her strides to get to Dirk’s Audi.

“Stop, Sandra.”

She stopped and noted that he was no longer calling her Sandy. “What?” she asked in an unfriendly tone.

“Why do you ask questions if you can’t live with the answers? That wasn’t a reproach—it was an explanation. It’s important to Stephan that we teach his people something every time there’s an opportunity. Either you listen to me and learn something in the process or our cooperation ends here and now.”

“You’re not serious.”

“I am. In that case you’ll drive back to police headquarters and help Lars and Kat. I don’t want a sulking partner, certainly not when things get serious.”

Sandra wanted to contradict him and deny the accusation, but then her honesty won out. She was silent but couldn’t get herself to acquiesce to his demand.

Daniel pressed his lips together before taking a deep breath. “You should’ve already realized that we’re not a regular team. Undercover operations and preliminary investigations before military means are used are characteristic of our day-to-day routines. And you’ve also noticed that in the final analysis hierarchy and ranks do not count—only abilities. My boss has no problem asking Sven for help if we get stuck. Sven’s analytical skills are amazing—he recognizes structures and connections while we’re still stumbling around blindly, and Dirk can smell it from miles away if there’s crooked activity. Do you understand what I’m stressing here?”
So what’s my strength? Why do you even need me?
she wanted to ask, but she no longer trusted her voice. Daniel seemed to have somehow understood her; his gaze became gentler. “You need to find out for yourself what your abilities are but also accept their boundaries. If I tell you what you can do, it will not have the same value as you believing in yourself. Take your time, and don’t be too hard on yourself.”

Daniel’s words reached her, and it occurred to her that without his help she would never have escaped the previous day. It was time to give in, especially because he had already been surprisingly patient. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Do you need an official apology, too, boss?”

He didn’t care for her insubordinate tone. His gaze held no humor; instead, it seemed to bore through her. “Just prove to me that you’ve understood what this is about.”

“I meant that seriously.”

“Fine.” He moved to turn away, but she grabbed him.

“Let’s make something else clear, Lieutenant: as soon as things get private, you can forget about that authoritarian tone.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Thank you for cutting me down to size. I just have to get used to the fact that not every day is a struggle. Well, it’s a struggle, but not against my partner or colleagues or boss, and I don’t have a problem with learning new things or admitting it when someone else is right.”

“That’s good to know,” Daniel said with the same grin that had fascinated her when she had looked at Stephan’s photo.

CHAPTER 13

Although he tried, Daniel couldn’t manage a serious expression. His policewoman was unbelievable. Floored her former boss, was brash and defiant, but then also surprisingly reasonable and honest; and then that kiss, which he would have liked to prolong—but not in front of Dirk and Sven, whose expressions already spoke volumes. While Dirk was wise or considerate enough not to say anything, this wasn’t true of his partner.

“Can we leave now? Or are you two going to keep at it . . .” Sven raised an eyebrow.

With a nasty grin, Dirk picked up where his partner had left off and started whistling a skewed version of the title theme from
Love Story
.

“Et tu, Brute?” Daniel said, feigning offense as he executed a death-defying climb into the rear seat. “I should have taken one of the Daimlers this morning,” he said to himself, earning a mocking look from Dirk.

“Don’t exaggerate. After all, I moved the child seat to the trunk just so you two could sit there, and even Fox survived sitting back there.”

After taking a quick look in the rearview mirror, Dirk entered the flowing traffic, but Daniel noticed he was watching the traffic behind them considerably more than normal. Before he could ask about it, Sven held out his cell phone to Sandra. “Do me a favor and call Matthias. It’s driving me crazy. He’s not going to believe everything’s all right until he hears from you, and he calls every five minutes.”

Daniel followed the call with amusement. After having reassured Matthias, she enjoyed letting her former colleague get himself worked up, and he sensed why.

“I’m staying with my boyfriend for now. That’s easier for us, anyway.”

Daniel answered Sandra’s apologetic look with a slight tilt of his head.

“Why don’t you know him, and why have I never mentioned him?” Sandra said. “Well, what was it you said recently: Once in a while you hear something from Rawlins? I’d say that was more than a slight deviation from the whole truth—I bet you’ve met Mark a number of times at Dirk’s or Sven’s or Stephan’s place. There are certain things a person doesn’t speak openly about.” Sandra had to bite her lip to remain serious. “Did you just choke on something?” she asked with concern before she started snorting with laughter.

Daniel’s sympathy for the bearded policeman, whom he liked and valued, won out. He took the phone from Sandra. “Matthias? Doc here. Until now, I didn’t know Sandra had such a mean streak. She’s living with me for the time being, and we’re working together. Does that put you at ease?”

There was silence for a moment, then a sound like that of a package being torn open. “That’s a surprise,” Matthias finally said, chewing, and Daniel sensed the conflict Matthias found himself in.

“Don’t worry. I’m serious about it.”

“You had better be, my boy” came the answer, as though fired from a pistol, before he continued more calmly. “I mean . . .”

“That’s all right. I understand what you mean, but you should really know me better than that.”

“You mean you’re not one of those sunburned Navy soldiers with a girl in every port?”

“No. Hamburg’s enough for me. Now put away your cookies, and eat some decent food for a change.”

Daniel could still hear something that sounded like an unfriendly farewell, and then he saw Sandra’s distrustful look.

“What was that all about?”

“Nothing. He seemed to think all this is nothing but a nice distraction for me, but I was able to straighten him out about that.”

Once again Daniel noticed Dirk’s skeptical look in the mirror, but although he had probably caught the meaning of the ambiguous words, he said nothing. When it counted, they manifested an iron solidarity, including—or rather particularly—against their women.

Dirk slowed down in front of a green light, made a risky maneuver to change lanes, and turned toward the city center.

Sven clung to the grab handle. “Shit. I wish I hadn’t sent you to that driver training course,” he said.

Puzzled, Sandra leaned forward. “Why’d you do that? We need to go in the other direction to get to Lübeck. It’d be much faster if you got on the A1 in Bergedorf.” Then she answered the question herself. “Or is someone following us?”

Sven nodded. “Two cars, more like. Dirk?”

“Burgundy Opel, at least two occupants, and dark green 5 Series BMW with tinted windows. It seems as if we were supposed to notice the Opel while the BMW stayed on us. Backup?”

After a brief silence, Sven shook his head. “Other than endless paperwork, nothing would come of that. There are enough of us. We’ll grab one of them and make him talk.”

“As you like, partner. Autobahn parking lot or industrial area, Daniel?” asked Dirk.

“Autobahn. That will save us time.”

Dirk grinned at Daniel in the mirror. “My thoughts exactly. There’s one a few miles beyond the east junction. A lot of nice trees for cover—that should work.”

“The main thing is that nobody gets in our way,” said Daniel. “By the way, what’d you get from the three guys Tom and I put to sleep yesterday?”

“Not much, unfortunately. Supposedly, the three of them were out walking when they were attacked by a group of teens. They spoke of at least six. Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to prove that they had committed a criminal act, despite the fact that all three have impressive police records. Generally aggravated assault and such things. One is going to prison due to illegal weapon possession and violation of probation. Neither our colleagues nor the custodial judge liked the switchblade.”

“So the great unknown hired them,” Sandra said.

Sven nodded. “And employed a middleman or two. If I consider the number of guys that are after you—someone is damned serious and has plenty of money and contacts.”

Daniel tilted his head to the side and tried unsuccessfully to see their pursuers in the side mirror. “I’m wondering whether they’re interested in deterrence or information.”

Sandra rolled her eyes. “All right, we’re taking on up to eight men, backup’s only for wimps. I’ve got all that, but what do you mean now?”

“Whether they want to put you out of commission or just find out who you’re working with,” Dirk said. “My guess is you know more than you realize, or there’s something on your computer that would help us. As far as I’m concerned, nothing else would justify the expense and effort involved in following us now.”

Sven nodded in agreement while he leaned back and adjusted the side mirror so he could keep an eye on the traffic behind them. Dirk raised an eyebrow. “You’re aware that I can’t see anything but asphalt now?”

The partners exchanged grim grins; for them everything had been said. For Sandra, on the other hand, a number of questions lingered; she chewed on her lower lip and played with the buckle of her seat belt.

Daniel sought a more comfortable position for his legs; finally he leaned back with his eyes half-closed. He had to admit that there were less comfortable vehicles than Dirk’s A6.

“Wouldn’t it be safer for you if we weren’t seen together anymore?” Sandra asked.

Even Dirk’s head twisted around in surprise before he concentrated again on the traffic.

With a nod, Daniel indicated that he would leave it up to Sven.

“You must be crazy. If someone takes on one of us, he’s going to have to take on all of us. And if you were worried about us, I’d have to interpret that as doubt regarding our abilities, and that would mean trouble. But for you.”

Daniel sensed Sandra’s questioning look and smiled. “You heard him—now relax. After all, you’re the only one of us dragging around two cannons. And? Which one do you like better?”

“Your Sig fits my hand better, but I’ve practiced more with the Walther.”

While they drove the remaining miles, a heated discussion took place between Dirk and Daniel, who both preferred the Sig, and Sven, a staunch fan of the Walther. It wasn’t until they had reached the east junction, where the A1 and the A24 met, that Dirk changed the subject. “Another three minutes.”

Daniel surveyed the parking lot, where only a few vehicles were parked, near the toilets. The adjacent forested area was ideal for their purposes. Dirk stopped the Audi as far as possible from the other cars and directly in front of the trees, which led to thicker undergrowth after a few yards.

“Doc?” asked Dirk with the Sig in his hand. After checking it carefully, he put it back into the holster.

Daniel looked over the terrain one more time; then his plan was ready. “You draw their attention. Like someone who doesn’t feel like using the toilets over there. If we’re lucky, two of them will stick with you. Sandra stretches her legs, walking in the opposite direction. I cover you; Sven secures the rear.” Inconspicuously, he watched Sandra, but he found in her expression only concentration—no anxiety, no fear.

Dirk didn’t let the rearview mirror out of his sight. “The Opel stopped a good fifty yards behind us; the BMW’s over by the toilets. I hope they don’t just sit there and wait for us to drive on—in that case we’ll have a problem.”

“We’ll worry about that if we need to. Go now,” said Daniel.

Dirk rolled his eyes and followed the order; Daniel had provoked this on purpose—he knew too well that Dirk was allergic to commands of any kind.

Daniel followed Sandra directly and then took cover behind some trees. Cursing, he noted that Dirk’s fear had been partially realized. Although three men had gotten out of the Opel, they seemed primarily interested in Dirk and Sven and ignored Sandra. Two of them followed Dirk; one, leaning on his vehicle, kept his eye on Sven, who for his part had assumed the same position and didn’t let the Opel or the BMW out of his sight. With a low whistle, Daniel drew Sandra’s attention and grinned when she obviously had to look carefully before discovering him. Casually, she sauntered closer, not looking in his direction. “And?” she whispered.

He noted her professional behavior with approval. It wouldn’t occur to any observer that they were not traveling without companions. “Go back to the car. If they take on Sven, he may have problems.”

She nodded inconspicuously and returned to the Audi. In apparent boredom, she leaned against the driver’s side door; thus she and Sven had a view of the men and had the Audi for cover. Once again he praised her to himself; she had significantly better skills than a simple policewoman and damned good instincts. He didn’t understand why poor self-confidence showed through again and again. She had no reason for that, and it would be a pleasure for him to convince her of it. But this was the wrong time for thinking about such things; right now he needed to find out where Dirk was.

He worked his way through the undergrowth and discovered the two perplexed men wandering among the trees.

The older one, whose clearly visible wrinkles betrayed that he was already over forty and was considerably calmer and behaved with greater self-control than the other, finally stopped. “He couldn’t have vanished into thin air.”

“Are you sure you know him?” The younger man might have been in his midtwenties and appeared to be in good shape; he looked like a weight lifter who did no cardio, because his forehead was already beaded with sweat. His light-blond hair contrasted sharply with his brown skin, which was probably the result of lying out in the sun.

“Fairly—the resemblance is striking, in any case.” Irritated, the older man flicked a small twig out of his hair. “Well, it makes no sense to creep around here any longer. I’d like to find out whether my suspicion is justified but not like this—we’ll find out another way. Let’s go back to the car.”

In contrast to Daniel, the men hadn’t noticed that Dirk had approached them from the rear. “Not so fast.”

Shocked, the two men spun around. The hand of the younger man went to his belt. Dirk kicked the man in his solar plexus. The man’s breath left him with a hissing sound, and he fell to the ground. Instead of drawing his gun as expected, Dirk, unimpressed, turned to the second man, who had watched it all, frozen. “Shall we talk or continue like this? You pick.”

“How long has it been? Four years? I thought I’d been mistaken. When did you exchange your laptop for this?” The man spread his hands in a helpless gesture.

“Some things have changed since our last encounter, Michael. But please leave the questions to me. Since when has following police officers been part of your job description? Being charged with obstruction of justice will cost you your license, and it’s damned difficult for me to believe you’re working for someone who earns his money by abusing children. I hope your sons are well,” Dirk added with biting sarcasm.

After a moment of shock, Michael furrowed his brow. “You always get straight to the point, don’t you? Thank you for asking: my sons are well, and my daughter, too, by the way—she’ll be two next month.” The man Dirk had knocked to the ground struggled up again. As he stared at Dirk in rage, the wrinkles in Michael’s forehead became deeper. “Don’t even get upset, Marius. It was completely idiotic of you to reach for your gun without knowing who you were dealing with, much less being threatened yourself. Wait for me by the car?”

“Do you seriously think I’m going to leave you alone with this guy? Abuse of children? He’s crazy. Weinreich would never get involved with something like that,” the younger man said.

At the mention of the name, Michael sighed. “First off, it’d be better for you to hold your tongue, and second, the plural would be correct. There are two of them; that shouldn’t have escaped you, either. I want to talk to him, but alone. Now leave before it occurs to Dirk to revoke your gun permit—I wouldn’t blame him.”

Daniel waited until the man had left in obvious anger; then he abandoned his cover. “Private detective?” he asked.

“American?” Michael answered before he turned back to Dirk. “Who are you working for, Dirk? Hardly for the regular police.”

“Pretty regular,” Dirk said and handed over his LKA identification.

A quick glance was enough for Michael. “That’s a surprise—or perhaps not. You weren’t exactly a dried-out accountant back then, either, but I would never have thought you would use your kung fu against me or my men.”