Chapter 45
Idrove Henrik to the corner of Commerce and Terminal in Jack’s Porsche. Henrik liked the car.
We made a pass around the block, but I didn’t see anyone.
The streets were desolate this time of night in the warehouse district.
The stars flickered above, and the moon glowed.
The buzz of a mercury vapor light overhead provided the soundtrack.
Moths swarmed around the light that cast long shadows, making for dark alleyways. Lots of places for bad people to hide.
We parked at the curb not far from the corner. I hopped out, hustled around, and helped Henrik climb out of the low-slung car.
I kept my head on a swivel as I escorted him to the street corner.
He’d brought the cane for a change. This was not an area you wanted to be after dark.
I think he liked the idea that he might be able to whack someone with it, if need be.
Self-defense. But if it came down to that, it meant we were in trouble.
Several blocks away from the practice studio, the echo of a snare drum bouncing off brick walls drifted about.
With a wireless earbud and encrypted comms, I had contact with Jack. He had positioned himself on a neighboring rooftop with a sniper rifle, providing overwatch.
Henrik and I stood on the corner as instructed.
I did a quick radio check. “Eagle Eye, do you copy?"
"Copy, Bravo One. I am in position and have eyes on the arena."
My phone buzzed with a call from Klaus.
I answered. "We're here. Where are you? Where's Giselle?"
"A van is going to pull up to the corner. You and Henrik are going to get inside. From there, you will be brought to the location."
"No deal. I need to see Giselle, alive and well."
"And I need to know that you are alone. Besides, you are not in a position to negotiate."
"How do you expect me to do that without any guarantees you’ll let any of us go?"
"What choice do you really have, Deputy Wild?" Klaus said before ending the call.
Jack’s voice crackled in my ear. "You’ve got a vehicle approaching from the north. A van."
"I see it."
The headlights beamed bright, bouncing as it barreled toward us down the empty industrial road. Lined with warehouses and loading docks, this wasn’t a heavily trafficked area at night.
The black van pulled alongside, and a masked goon slid open the cargo door.
"Don't get in that van," JD said.
“I have a plan,” I muttered.
From my pocket, I pulled out a fragmentation grenade, pulled the pin, and gripped the spoon tight.
The thug’s eyes widened.
"If everything goes smoothly, this will never go off," I said.
The thug exchanged a look with the driver, uncertain how to proceed.
“Are we going to do this?” I asked.
The driver shrugged. The door thug hopped out of the van. “I gotta pat you down for weapons.”
I chuckled. “You’re not getting my pistol, and you sure don’t want me to let go of this grenade.”
His accent was American. He hesitated a moment and shared another glance with the driver. He didn’t know what to do either. The doorman finally said. "Get in.”
I helped Henrik into the van, then followed.
"That's a bad idea," Jack said.
We took a seat on the dirty floor in the cargo area, and the thug slid the door shut. The driver dropped the car into gear and pulled away. The door thug kept his pistol aimed at us. He hadn't thought this scenario through.
"Put away the gun," I said. "We might hit a bump, and you might pull the trigger." He had poor trigger discipline. His finger was wrapped around the damn thing. "If you shoot me, it's not going to end well for anybody in this van.”
I don't think he was the brightest bulb in the box, but after a moment, he lifted his finger from the trigger, then lowered the weapon.
"How much is Klaus paying you?” I was sure he hired these thugs locally. I doubted they were time travelers from the past. “Where are you from?”
“None of your business.”
"I've lost sight of you," Jack said, his voice breaking up.
With a flesh-colored wireless earbud in my ear, the goons hadn't noticed yet. With any luck, they wouldn't. Hopefully, I will be able to update Jack on our location at the first opportunity.
We drove a few blocks, and the driver made a few erratic turns, then doubled around, making sure we weren’t followed.
We finally pulled into the lot of an old red-brick warehouse with graffiti all over the loading dock.
The lot was surrounded by a chain-link fence.
The warehouse may have been old, but the fence was new and shiny.
Topped with razor wire, it was designed to keep undesirables out.
And there were plenty of those wandering the streets around here.
The old building had been renovated. The windows had all been replaced, and new doors and locks kept the warehouse secure.
The driver pulled up to the loading dock, and the goon in back pulled open the cargo door. It rumbled, the sound echoing off neighboring buildings.
I climbed out and helped Henrik. Once he was on his feet, the doorman climbed out of the vehicle, pulled the cargo door shut, and jogged across the lot to the fence. He pulled it closed and padlocked it.
The driver had hopped out of the vehicle and kept a watch on us with his pistol at the ready. He nodded toward the steps, and I helped Henrik climb them. There was no handrail, nothing to steady himself but the cane JD had given him. I held onto his arm while clasping the fragmentation grenade.
With the excitement and adrenaline, Henrik was a little winded by the time we made it to the top of the loading dock.
"Keep moving," the driver said, his pistol at my back.
He was taller and skinnier than the goon who had been with us in the cargo area. By the lack of wrinkles around their eyes, I put them in their mid-20s to early 30s. Both had brown eyes and American accents.
The driver marched us into the warehouse.
The interior looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.
Gadgets and gizmos, transformers and wires.
There were cryogenic tanks, rectifiers and capacitors, generators, displays, and gauges.
It was a mix of new and old technology. Perhaps secrets from a bygone era mixed with the latest cutting-edge silicon.
Klaus had clearly spent some time and effort building this warehouse out under the radar.
The focal piece of the room was a central mount with towers on either side, coiled with superconductors, wires, and heat sinks.
The room felt dangerous and alive. The hum of high-powered equipment filled the space.
Klaus stood near the towers, holding onto Giselle with a pistol to her head. She was still bound at the wrists, and duct tape covered her full lips. Her eyes were drenched with panic and tears, her mascara smudged, her hair ratty.
"We have a slight situation," the driver said, shouting across the cavernous room to him.
"I see that," Klaus replied.
I smiled and brandished the grenade. "This is just to keep everybody honest. I give you what you want, you give me what I want, and we all walk away happy.”
"Some of us are not walking away from this."
"That's too bad.”
"Some of us are going on a journey.”
I’d believe it when I saw it.
"As you can see, Giselle is unharmed,” Klaus said. “Let’s see the crystal.”
I hesitated for a moment and shared a look with Henrik.
He nodded.
I pulled the glowing blue stone from my pocket and displayed it.
Klaus’s eyes filled with awe and wonder. It was hard not to be impressed by it. I had never seen anything quite like it, except maybe the jewel we found on La Perdida. But this was different. I figured it contained some bioluminescent element.
The other goon had entered the warehouse by this point in time. The two of them stood behind me, their weapons drawn and ready.
"Let Giselle go," I said.
"Set the Vrilkristall on the table and slide it down to me," Klaus demanded.
After a moment’s hesitation, I set it atop a large metal lab table and did as he asked. It spun slightly as it slid down the smooth surface. Like a high-stakes game of shuffleboard, it came to rest within his reach.
As promised, he let Giselle go.
She ran toward us and would have embraced Henrik had her wrists not been bound.
He worked at untying her.
The two goons stood by, guarding us with their weapons ready. We weren’t out of this yet.