“Anyone who runs around wearing glasses like that should keep his mouth shut when it comes to fashion,” she said, and the group laughed.
“That just shows how clueless you are.” Henning grimaced. “The frames alone cost eight hundred euros; I won’t even tell you what the lenses cost.”
“Where’d you get them?” Pia said with a grin. “Bought Nana Mouskouri’s old pair, perhaps?”
The group exploded in laughter, and Henning, who didn’t appreciate jokes made at his expense, was insulted.
Suddenly, Pia remembered Lilly, whom she hadn’t seen in quite a while.
Many of the guests were heading inside, and some had already left, since tomorrow was a workday. At any rate, people didn’t tend to stay until midnight. It wouldn’t be polite. There was no trace of Lilly in the park, and Pia instantly got nervous again. One episode of excitement per day was quite enough.
“Maybe I should have a GPS implanted under the girl’s skin,” she told Miriam and Henning, who were helping her search. “I must have aged ten years today.”
Finally, they found Lilly in the conservatory. She and her playmate from the Opel Zoo were asleep on one of the sofas, and Lilly had chosen Chief State Attorney Frey’s thigh as a pillow. His hand was resting lightly on her head as he chatted with two other gentlemen sitting across from him in easy chairs.
“Beauty and the Beast,” Henning muttered mockingly. “How idyllic.”
“Ah, Ms. Kirchhoff, Dr. Kirchhoff.” The state attorney smiled. “I take it this little girl belongs to you. I didn’t want to wake her up, but I’m afraid I have to get going.”
“I’ll free you at once.” It was a bit embarrassing for Pia to be thought a bad mother. “I’m sorry. I hope Lilly wasn’t too much trouble.”
“No, not at all, no worries; we had a nice chat.” Frey moved over a bit and got up, then carefully picked up the sleeping child and handed her to Pia. “An enchanting little girl, so self-confident and happy.”
Lilly hung like a sack in Pia’s arms, her head resting on Pia’s shoulder.
“Can you manage, or should I carry her to the car?” asked Frey with concern.
“No, thank you. I’m fine,” said Pia with a smile.
“I have three children myself,” explained the SA. “The young man here, Maxi, is my youngest, and he and Lilly know each other from the zoo school.”
“I see,” said Pia.
People continued to surprise Pia. The state attorney, hard as nails, apparently had a butter-soft, human side to him.
She politely took her leave. On the way to the car, Lilly woke up.
“Are we going home soon?” she murmured.
“We certainly are,” said Pia. “It’s already eleven. Your grandpa is probably wondering where we are.”
“I had a nice time with you today.” Lilly yawned and threw her arms around Pia’s neck. “I like you sooooo much, Pia. You’re my German mama.”
She said it so simply, with such childlike honesty, that Pia had to swallow hard. Her initial lack of enthusiasm and annoyance had evaporated.
“I like you, too,” she whispered.
* * *
Hanna turned off the autobahn at the Krifteler Triangle and took the L3011 toward Hofheim. Sweaty and exhausted, she longed for a shower or, even better, a dip in the pool. Most of all, she needed to get a few hours’ sleep, because tomorrow night she had to host a gala at the Wiesbaden Spa, and she had to be in top form.
Naturally, she hadn’t managed to escape the wrap party after only half an hour. Jan had simply taken off, angry and hurt like a little boy, leaving her alone with the guests. Until shortly after midnight, she’d been able to grin and bear it, but then she’d used the approaching storm as an excuse to leave the party. She’d had a hard time concentrating on the conversations, so many things were spinning around in her head. Meike. The scratches on her car. These strange matters that her therapist was mixed up in. Norman, who had threatened her on the phone but never called back. But mostly she was thinking about Mr. Blue Eyes. Even during the broadcast, she had caught herself thinking of him a couple of times.
They had become very close, and not merely physically, but Hanna still didn’t know much about him; she couldn’t really figure him out. Even a couple of years ago, she might have thrown herself blindly into an affair, but after making so many bad decisions with regard to men, she had grown cautious. A song she liked began on the radio. She pressed the button on the steering wheel to turn up the volume and then sang along. The wind had picked up and lightning was flashing across the sky. In Oberursel, the storm had already swept through, turning the streets into raging rivers. In a few minutes, it would hit here, too. In the light of her headlights, something zipped across the road in front of her, and she instinctively turned the wheel to the left. A bolt of adrenaline shot through her body and she took her foot off the gas. Fortunately, no oncoming car was approaching, or it would have been a close call. A couple of hundred yards past the off-ramp to Kreishaus, she put on her blinker and turned in the direction of Langenhain. Shortly before the forest, a dark-colored car pulled out to pass her.
“Idiot!” Hanna muttered, hitting the brake in shock. What suicidal maniac would choose to pass at such a blind spot? Then she saw it. In the rear window of the car ahead of her a red signal had lit up:
POLICE—PLEASE FOLLOW
.
This was too much! They were probably driving behind her, saw her evasive maneuver, and assumed she was drunk. At the wrap party, she’d indulged in only two shandies. That probably didn’t add up to more than .005 blood alcohol.
The dark-colored car eased to the right, heading for the big forest parking lot. With a sigh, Hanna put on her blinker, turned down the music, and stopped behind the police car. She rolled the window down.
Two men got out; an officer in plainclothes shone a flashlight into her car.
“Good evening,” he said. “Vehicle check. Driver’s license and registration, please.”
Hanna reached for her handbag on the passenger seat and took out her wallet. She was glad that she had all the necessary papers with her. That meant she could be on her way sooner. She drummed her fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as the plainclothes cop went back to his cruiser. The second officer remained standing off to the side, a short distance from the front of her car.
Should she write Mr. Blue Eyes a text? Or was it better to wait until he sent one? In any case, she didn’t want to create the impression that she was chasing him.
The first heavy raindrops splashed on the windshield, and the wind came up quickly in the surrounding big trees. Why was this taking so long? It was already almost 1:00
A.M.
Finally, the officer came back.
“Please step out of the vehicle and open the trunk.”
If she refused to comply, she might have to take an alcohol test, so it was better to do exactly what they asked. They were probably bored on the night shift, and a car like hers always attracted attention and aroused envy. Since she’d been driving the Porsche Panamera, she’d been stopped by the cops more often than ever before. Hanna pressed the button that opened the trunk, then got out.
Cool raindrops struck her sticky skin. She could smell the forest, wild leeks, wet asphalt, and that metallic smell that the earth exuded in the summertime when it got wet after a long dry spell.
“Where do you have the warning triangle, the safety vest, and the first-aid kit?”
God, they really were sticklers. The rain got stronger, and Hanna shivered.
“There are the warning triangle and vest.” She pointed to the underside of the trunk lid. “And here’s the first-aid kit. Satisfied?”
Lightning flashed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Hanna saw a movement. The second officer was suddenly standing behind her; she could feel his breath on the back of her neck, and her brain instinctively registered danger.
These aren’t cops! The thought shot through her head as powerful hands grabbed her upper arms. She ducked forward and took a step back at the same time. The attacker loosened his grip, so she was able to spin around and ram her knee into his genitals. Hanna’s reaction was pure reflex. In the self-defense course she’d taken after that crazy guy had stalked her for almost two years, the instructor had emphasized “freeing yourself from various holds” and taught her how to defend herself if she was attacked. The man staggered, doubled up, and cursed. Hanna used the moment to flee, but she hadn’t reckoned with the other guy. A blow struck her on the back of the head. Dazzling points of light exploded before her eyes like fireworks, her knees gave way, and she collapsed. She could hazily make out the legs and shoes of the men, but her perspective had changed. She saw the muddy soil on which puddles were forming in the downpour, but she didn’t understand what was happening. For a moment, she felt weightless and lost her orientation. Then all of a sudden, it was dry, dark, and warm. Everything happened so fast that she didn’t even have time to feel afraid.
* * *
She loved being in the horse stable. For her it was the most beautiful place in the whole world. None of her siblings liked horses as much as she did, and they often held their noses when she came out of the stall smelling like horses. She loved acrobatic riding and was good at it, and because she was so petite and light, she was allowed to take part not only in the compulsory exercises but also in the free sections. She enjoyed the feeling of security and lightness that flowed through her each time she performed acrobatics on horseback. Other people could barely do the same tricks on solid ground.
After her lesson, she had helped Gaby, the equestrian acrobatics teacher, to take care of Asterix. She was allowed to scrape out the horse’s hooves and lead him into his box. Asterix was the dearest horse in the whole world, white, with warm brown eyes and a mane like silver. The other girls from the equestrian acrobatics class had already left, but she didn’t feel like going home. She sat down under the feed box in Asterix’s stall and gazed at the way the white horse contentedly chewed his hay.
Gaby’s voice sounded right behind her head. “Hey, you’re still here. Better get moving, or you’ll have to spend the whole night in the stall.”
She wouldn’t have minded one bit. This was where she felt safe. Here the nightmares were far away. Gaby opened the stall door and came in.
“What’s the matter? Should I give you a ride home?” The equestrian acrobatics teacher squatted down and looked at her. “It’s already almost dark outside. Your parents are going to be worried.”
She shook her head. At the thought of going home, she felt sick with fear, but she couldn’t say anything. It was a secret that she couldn’t tell anyone else; she’d promised Papa. But last night, she’d had such bad dreams and was so terrified of the wolves. Because they were going to come and eat her up if she ever told anyone about the secret. That’s what Uncle Richard had told her. She was so scared that she hadn’t dared go to the toilet and had peed in her bed. That’s why Mama was really mad this morning, and her siblings had laughed at her.
“I don’t want to go home,” she said softly.
“Why not?” Gaby gave her a searching look.
“Because … because … my papa always hurts me.”
She didn’t dare look at the young woman. She waited tensely for something terrible to happen now that she’d broken her promise. But nothing happened, and so she raised her head. Gaby was looking more serious than she’d ever seen her.
“How do you mean?” she asked. “What does he do?”
Her courage melted away, and she didn’t dare say any more, but suddenly she had an idea.
“Could I maybe go home with you?” she asked. Gaby liked her; she was proud of her best pupil, as she always said. Along with a couple of other girls, she’d already been to the equestrian acrobatics teacher’s house; they’d looked at photos of horses and drank cocoa. Gaby was grown-up and was never afraid of anything. She would protect her from the wolves.
“I’m afraid not,” said Gaby, to her disappointment. “But I can drive you home and have a talk with your mother.”
She looked at Gaby and fought back tears.
“But what about the bad wolf?” she whispered.
“What bad wolf?” Gaby straightened up. “Did you have a bad dream?”
Disappointed, she lowered her eyes and got up. Gaby tried to give her a hug, but she wriggled loose.
“Bye, Asterix,” she said to the horse, then stepped out of the stall and left the stable without saying a word. Only now did the fear come, the tears burning behind her eyelids like fire. What if the wolves did something to Gaby now because she hadn’t kept her mouth shut, because she had told her about the secret?
Friday, June 25, 2010
“Her cell phone is still off. And she’s not answering her landline, either.”
Meike looked at the group and saw clueless and worried faces. For half an hour, the new members of Herzmann Productions had been sitting around the oval table in the conference room, downing quarts of coffee and becoming more and more fuzzy-headed. Like a herd of sheep without an alpha sheep, she thought derisively.
“Have you tried texting her?” asked Irina Zydek, who had been Hanna’s assistant forever and was almost part of the furniture in the office. For some inexplicable reason she was crazy about Hanna even though she was never treated very nicely. Over the years, she had looked on with stoic composure as a long series of husbands, admirers, lovers, CEOs, producers, production assistants, editors, female volunteers, and controllers came and went. Anyone who didn’t stay on good terms with Irina didn’t have a ghost of a chance to get near the great Hanna Herzmann. Irina was loyal to the point of surrendering her own identity, and even though she might appear to be a gray mouse, inside she was a Cerberus, hard as iron and incorruptible.
“How’s she supposed to read texts if her cell is turned off?” Meike countered. “She just overslept. Or her battery’s dead.”