Nemesis: Innocence Sold (4 page)

“Of course. I’ll wait here.”

Dirk opened the door, and Mark turned around and came over to him. “You’ve come at just the right time. Maria thinks Tim might wake up at any moment. Where’s Sven? He should listen to what Tim has to say.”

“Looking for a parking place. He’ll be here any second.”

With increasing concern, Dirk looked over Mark’s shoulder at the pale face of his son, who looked frighteningly small in the hospital bed.

“He’ll be better soon,” Mark said and leaned against the wall with one hand on Dominik’s back—his adopted son. They called him Nicki for short. Mark was the only father the boy had ever known, and their relationship was as close as if they were blood. Nicki and Sven’s son Jan were Tim’s closest friends. Like real brothers, they fought and reconciled regularly.

Seven-year-old Nicki looked up at Dirk with tears in his eyes. “It’s my fault.”

Dirk squatted down in front of Nicki and looked him in the eyes. “No, Nicki. It’s the fault of the man who attacked Tim. No one else’s.”

“But I lied, and he believed me.”

Maria came over. “You know, Nicki, it’s all right if you have a guilty conscience because the two of you fought. But you have nothing to do with what the man did to Tim. When Dirk and your father tell you that, you should believe them. Are you going to come along to see Tim? When he wakes up, he’s sure to want to see you right away.” She held out her hand, and Dirk swallowed when he saw the child’s small hand disappear into the doctor’s.

“How is Tim?”

Maria smiled. “He’s doing well. As a physician I’m more concerned about Alex. Children only have gaps in their memories after serious accidents. Don’t be surprised if Tim picks up exactly where he left off. And keep in mind that it must be confusing for him suddenly to have been beamed from the playground to the hospital.”

So far Dirk’s wife hadn’t reacted to his appearance. Strands of her blond hair hung in her face, and her eyes were shiny with suppressed tears. He gently clasped her shoulder. “You heard that, right? Everything will be all right, honey.”

“You were right this morning. It’s all my fault.”

Dirk squeezed harder. “Stop it. I don’t know what you mean, but what I said to Nicki goes for you, too.” He sensed that Sven had entered the room. “We need to find out what happened, and then I’d like to see my son laughing again.” And to take care of the people who did this to Tim. Take care of them properly.

Tim’s eyelids fluttered. He had awakened, and as Maria had predicted his gaze flitted hectically around the room. “Mama?”

“Yes, big guy. We’re all here. How are you doing?”

“Has Nicki really fired Mark’s pistol?” His mouth twisted. “I want to shoot it, too.”

Nicki needed no prompting. “No. Papa only showed it to me. That’s all. I’m sorry, Timmie. I fibbed. That was dumb.”

Alex mussed Tim’s blond hair. “As soon as we get home, Papa will show you his gun, too. He and Mark have the same kind. Now tell us what happened. Your father and our friends are eager to get the man with the van.”

“The man I fought? But he was much bigger than I am. I think he would have won. And he had been so nice and said he would let me fire a real pistol. But the other man said he should let me go because he became afraid of Papa when he heard that Papa is a policeman. Are we going home? Can I see the Sig now?” Tim seemed to notice Maria for the first time. He gave her his radiant child’s smile. “Why are you here? Is Pat here, too?”

Dirk had to clear his throat; Alex was likewise unable to speak. Finally Maria took it upon herself to answer. “You’re at my workplace, Tim. In Lübeck. In the hospital. Of course Pat’s here, too. He’s outside, making sure no one bothers us.”

“Is your baby there already?”

“No, not until the belly’s gone.”

“But I can’t see it under the white thing.”

Smiling, Maria sat down on the edge of the bed and took Tim’s hand. “Would you like to check if our baby’s moving right now?”

While Tim was enthusiastically following Maria’s suggestion, she unobtrusively checked his pulse and used her stethoscope. “That’s funny,” Tim said.

“Is Daniel around?” Maria asked with assumed casualness while she made faces at Tim and checked his reflexes in the process.

“No. California’s far. But Shara lives only five minutes away.”

Maria nodded and held up her hand. “Come on, big guy. Gimme five,” she said, and Tim slapped her hand.

Alex already looked as if she were about to drag Maria away from her son. Maria willingly gave up the spot directly next to the bed so Alex and Nicki could have it. Then she winked at Dirk. “I’d have offered to stay with you tonight, but if Shara can come over in an emergency, that’s all right, too. It’d be best if you all went home together. If anything should happen, Pat would be able to get there in less than twenty minutes, but I don’t see any danger. Bad dreams in the worst case. His usual surroundings, as much normalcy as possible, and the people who love him are the best medicine.”

CHAPTER 4

The expression on Admiral Russell’s adjutant’s face spoke volumes, but Daniel ignored the disapproving looks. The combination of camouflage pants and a white T-shirt was all right, just as the collar-length hair and unshaved chin were accepted. The Navy SEALs were administratively part of the Navy, but the strict Navy dress code didn’t apply to the teams occupied with special missions, nor were SEALs required to comply with military etiquette. He probably would at least have shaved, but his power adapter was in Ahrensburg.

“Admiral Russell will have time for you in a moment. Would you like a cup of coffee or a cold drink, sir?”

“A mineral water would be nice. Thanks.”

A man emerged from the admiral’s office, did a double take, and then grinned. “Daniel, good to see you. So you’re the reason the admiral wanted to get rid of me so quickly and signed everything in record time.”

Luc DeGrasse was one of the admiral’s team leaders whom Daniel knew and respected.

“I hope you exploited the opportunity to request a decent staff car instead of that junker you call a car.”

Daniel smiled. He knew how attached Luc was to his old Porsche, which he had restored himself.

“Is there any truth to the rumor that you’re going to be joining us? That’d be great.”

Daniel looked over at the open door of the office where the admiral was waiting for him and answered with a thumbs-down.

Luc cursed. “Well, I’ve heard you really let loose.” He raised the stack of papers in his hand. “And without all this nonsense.”

“That’s true. What’s coming up for you?”

“Afghanistan. At least six months.”

Daniel would have had a few words of regret for any other SEAL, but he knew Luc loved the country and spoke Pashto fluently. “Well, have fun, and make sure you don’t like it so much you end up staying.”

Laughing, Luc shook his head and waved farewell.

After knocking on the doorframe, Daniel entered the office of the man who had almost caused him to leave the Navy.

“Good morning. Lovely weather, in contrast to Northern Germany.” This was certainly not the kind of greeting Russell had expected. After a hint of irritation, he smiled.

“Nice you were able to arrange things so you could come by in person. Sit down.”

With intentional casualness, Daniel dropped onto the chair in front of the desk.

“I assume you’re not here to accept my offer?” the admiral asked.

“You mean because my uniform’s hanging in Germany?”

“No, because you’ve noticed your family can get along without you.” This conclusion was on target. Daniel sat up straighter in his chair. “Why are you here today? A simple ‘No, thanks’ by e-mail would have sufficed.”

“That’s true, but I wanted to take this opportunity to ask you a question.” Daniel continued to avoid any official address or indication of respect.

Russell spread his hands apart in invitation. “Go ahead.”

“It’s only been a few years since you expressed your unmistakable opinion of my abilities to my face. Why this offer now?”

This time it was a distinct smile that made Russell appear likable and showed he had a sense of humor. Until now Daniel had found him to be cold and abrasive. “You still get to the point without any detours and consider diplomacy to be a waste of time.”

“Is that a question or an observation?”

Amazingly, the admiral avoided Daniel’s gaze and took an envelope out of a drawer. “If you hadn’t come, I’d have visited you in Germany. The contents will give you the answers you’re owed. If there should continue to be questions, we can resolve them later, when we eat. I owe you a decent lunch, at least.”

With a nod, Russell ceded the office to him. Confused, Daniel waited until the adjutant had placed a bottle of water and a glass on the desk, and then he opened the envelope. A single page slid toward him. His hand shook. He immediately recognized his father’s distinctive handwriting.

Daniel,

It’s to be anticipated that I will not be able to explain to you in person what it means to a father to let his son go his own way. Many wise people claim that the most difficult part of being a parent is letting one’s child go. Here I have failed. Or not, for despite all hindrances you have not let yourself be deflected from your path. Thanks to Hector I’ve been able to follow your career from a distance and have often trembled and more often drunk a toast to you in my thoughts. The operation under combat conditions with which you saved your friend shows that you have become not only a damned good SEAL but also a brilliant physician. We should have talked to each other on the terrace over a glass of red wine long ago. I’ve missed the chance for that. I regret and curse this state of affairs. Continue to go your own way, my son. If you should one day have children of your own, you’ll understand. Until then, please forgive me for trying to keep you near me for egotistical reasons and for asking Hector to do everything he could to cause you to leave the Navy.

With love,

your father

Daniel was thankful to Russell for leaving him alone, and he chugged the bottle of water. Daniel struggled to maintain his composure and folded the sheet and stowed it in his pants pocket. So all the chicanery back then was for a reason. Then he thought of the bullet that had penetrated Tom’s chest below his bulletproof vest. In contrast to Mark, whose impenetrable expression was legendary, Daniel had never been good at hiding his feelings. Slowly he stood up. He wouldn’t be able to occupy the office forever and preferred to get the encounter over with as soon as possible.

Obviously concerned, the admiral looked at him. “Is our lunch date still on?”

Daniel nodded. His initial surprise was increasingly giving way to suppressed rage.

The admiral stopped his jeep in the parking lot of the officers’ club and said, “Can we go in, or do you want to take a swing at me first?”

Daniel raised an eyebrow and smiled. “You deserve it. Or do you see it differently?”

“Hard to say. I stand by my actions. For one thing, the result was outstanding; for another, I can live with the motive.” The admiral held out his open briefcase to Daniel and tapped a photograph with his index finger. It showed four men in filthy camouflage uniforms. One of them was Daniel’s father. “Vietnam. Four of eight survived. Your father was our doctor. You’ll no doubt have heard about his poker nights. That was where we met after we got back. Regardless of what one of us had demanded from another, the other would have done anything to fulfill the request. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t have done the same if Tom Bannings had asked you. I’m sorry, my boy. But then again, when I look at how strong you’ve emerged, I’m not. And today I didn’t want to have you as a team leader because of your father but because of your achievements and experience, but I feared you wouldn’t leave your team after you’d discovered that your family’s not absolutely dependent on your presence in California. The stories told by your father have given me a pretty good idea of what your mother and sister are like.”

Daniel listened silently. Finally, he nodded. “Let’s see whether the food in there is really as good as they say. I’d like to hear more about this side of my father. He never spoke to me about it.”

“Good, but let’s make a new start. Call me Hector. Forget the formalities. You never liked those, anyway. If you don’t like the food, you have my permission to beat up the cook.”

Russell held out his hand, and Daniel shook it.

He couldn’t change the past, and although he wasn’t happy with Russell’s lack of regret and absolute certainty that he had done the right thing, he had to admit that he would have done the same for any member of his team. The honesty of the older man, who abstained from any halfhearted apology, and his barely visible fear of rejection didn’t leave him cold.

The beef tenderloin was excellent, and the side dishes were perfect. Relaxed, with a glass of red wine in front of him, Daniel enjoyed the view of the Pacific and also the conversation with Russell. Through a number of detailed anecdotes, Russell had brought Daniel’s father back to life and made it possible for Daniel to discover an unknown side of him. Although the admiral only touched on the dangers and terrors of the jungle war in Vietnam peripherally, Daniel got an idea of the hell the men had gone through. He used a break in the conversation to end the topic, as it was obvious Russell had been struggling with the memories. “For the first time I see a point in earning more stripes,” Daniel said, looking around the private dining room.

“Does that mean you’ll think about it? As a team leader you’d be one step closer to admiralty.”

Smiling, Daniel waved it off. “There are more important things.”

“Like what, in your view?”

“Besides the cohesion of the team, our missions in particular. There’s no comparison with routine assignments in Iraq or Afghanistan. Honestly, one can get addicted to getting something done and taking the real bastards out of circulation.”

Russell appeared thoughtful while he filled their water glasses. “You’re lucky enough to be acting outside the constraints imposed by the Navy and the politicians. I’ve heard about how well the cooperation with the German police is going. Considering your successes, it’s incomprehensible that there are only three teams. It’s time to expand the concept.”

“That’s true, but logic has never been the Navy’s strong point.”

Russell raised his wine glass in silent agreement. After considering the bottle of California red wine, Daniel decided to leave it at one glass and be content with mineral water.

“I wouldn’t mind sitting here longer, but I only have a few more hours to spend with my sister before she leaves for a medical convention.”

“Have you already arranged a flight back? If not, I’ll have my office take care of it.”

Daniel accepted the offer, as it might save him from being placed on standby.

“What are you going to do with the rest of your time off? I’m sure you already know Hamburg inside and out.”

“I’ll see. Something always presents itself.”

Instead of meeting at Dirk’s place as usual, they had retreated to Mark’s study. Only the clicking of keyboards interrupted the ominous silence, which contrasted sharply with their usual jokey banter. Even when they were concentrating on preparing for a mission, mutual teasing was the rule. This time it was different. Frustrated, Mark closed his laptop and looked at Sven, who rubbed his tired eyes. “And?”

“Nothing. None of our cases would have provoked the attempted kidnapping. The only person we might have suspected is the guy Dirk arrested today—Rachow—and we can eliminate him. It just doesn’t fit for this act to be directed at Dirk. Only real insiders know his name and know of his participation. It’s almost impossible to find out his address.” Sven thought for a moment. “If this had something to do with our cases, I’d be the target, not Dirk. And in your case? The same is true, right?”

“Yes. Almost no one knows you three have worked with us. There are no indications that anyone has gotten access to Navy data, and in the final analysis it’s the same as in your case: my family or Jake’s would have been the target. Nicki was there, after all, but due to the age difference we can rule out the possibility that someone confused the two boys.”

Stephan stood up and stretched. “It’s about time you stopped looking for something you’re not going to find.”

“What do you mean?” With concern, Mark noticed how pale Stephan looked.

Supporting himself with one hand on the window frame, Stephan stood motionless and looked out at the dark garden. “You’re heading down the wrong track. Why? Because it’s easier? Or because you don’t want to see the obvious?” With a deep sigh, Stephan turned around and held his laptop so everyone could see the picture of Tim laughing and being lifted up by his father.

“Tim’s damned rascally and clever, and although
sweet
is not exactly the word we usually use, he is also extremely sweet. His charm, the laugh, and also the unusual combination of dark eyes and light hair. There are enough sick puppies out there who would pay a fortune for such a child. After all, Tim has talked about how frightened the driver was when he found out his father’s a policeman. If this had been directed against Dirk, they’d have known what they were taking on. Think of how many children disappear every year. Both boys and girls. Some cases result in headlines, others, particularly when the victims come from lower-class families, are mentioned only in snippets, if at all.”

Stephan nodded to Jake, who cleared his throat and took over. “Stephan’s right. We’re not talking about individual incidents here but about a flourishing economic sector. And people who can afford something like this don’t exactly belong to the poorest strata of our society but have enough money and in some cases even enough influence to avoid prosecution for their perverted desires. Do you want more details, or is that enough to start? Come on, people. I’d almost prefer an act of revenge myself, but I don’t believe this is one. What do you say, Sven?”

With closed eyes, Sven nodded. “You’ve just put words to what’s been going through my head for hours. But the idea is so sick I didn’t want to believe it.”

“Same here,” said Mark, thinking of the criminals they’d confronted in the past. Far too often they’d encountered criminals to whom human life meant nothing, and their families had already been in their crosshairs, but he refused to contemplate what would have happened to Tim. “I can live with terrorists or greedy criminals, but this . . . If this has occurred to us, it’ll occur to Dirk, too. I’m going to drive over to his place. I’ll send a text or call, if it makes sense for more of us to show up.”

Reluctantly, Sven nodded again, and Mark felt a huge sense of relief. The close friendship between Dirk and himself had already been the cause of tension between himself and the officer from the LKA, but this was the wrong time for petty jealousies.

Stephan’s face still looked pale. With unusually heavy movements, he pulled his cell phone from the breast pocket of his designer shirt. “I’ll get us an appointment with the department head who’s responsible. That’s at least one good thing about those horrible budget meetings. I know him well enough to arrange an informal conversation outside the constraints of protocol.” Unexpectedly, Stephan raised his head. “By the way, Mark, would it be a problem for you if Sandra Meinke started working in my department?”