The Last Temptation (59 page)

‘Now?’ Carol demanded.

Marijke nodded and pulled out. ‘Now is good.’

‘Thanks,’ Carol said again, leaning back in the seat and wishing the pain in her head would subside. She’d swallowed four paracetamol before they came out, but they hadn’t made even a dent in her suffering.

Arguing with Marijke hadn’t helped. The Dutch detective had been adamant that they were staying put, Carol equally adamant that they didn’t have a moment to lose. After a couple of minutes of getting nowhere, Carol had staggered off towards the door. ‘You can’t keep me here against my will,’ she’d said. ‘It’s not your jurisdiction,’ she’d added with a sardonic edge.

‘What are you going to do? Follow him in a taxi?’ Marijke had protested, snatching up her backpack and following Carol out of the apartment.

‘I know where I can get a car.’ She looked at her watch. ‘They’re still on air for another fifteen minutes. A cab to the car, then drive to the studios. I might just be in time.’

‘You’re not thinking about driving?’ Marijke protested.

‘How else am I going to get there?’

‘You’ve got a head injury. You lost consciousness. You could pass out. You could kill yourself.’

Carol shrugged, wincing. ‘Well, there’s one way to avoid that. You drive.’ —/.

Marijke had never met anyone more stubborn. She threw

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her hands in the air. ‘OK. You win. Where’s this car?’

‘Radecki’s apartment. He left the keys for me in case I wanted to use it.’

They were lucky. A cruising taxi passed within a minute of them reaching the street and soon they were standing on the pavement outside Radecki’s building. ‘You’d better get the car,’ Carol said. ‘I look like I’ve already been in a road traffic accident. Just tell the security man you’re me and that Herr Radecki left the keys for his BMW.’

Marijke ran off, leaving Carol propped up against the wall. Left alone, with no action to distract her, there was nothing to keep the nightmare at bay. Her mind’s eye betrayed her, flashing up the defiling images she wanted permanently erased from inside her head. Radecki’s face above hers, the tearing invasion of her body, the transformation of something previously enjoyable into an excursion into brutality. The terrible sense of loss that left her feeling bleached and split open. And the tears that leaked from her eyes in spite of her best intentions.

There was nowhere to go to wrench her mind away from it. It was as if her past had been sprayed with defoliant, withering before her eyes to a shrivelled meaningless husk. And the future was something she dare not think about, since a future that didn’t contain Tony promised nothing but sempiternal guilt.

Rescue came in the unlikely form of a BMW roadster roaring up the ramp from the underground garage. Carol limped across the pavement and gingerly lowered herself into the passenger seat. ‘I don’t know the way,’ she said, feeling herself on the point of tears yet again.

Marijke smiled. ‘I do. I asked the car park man. It’s very near, he says. Just a couple of minutes away.’

Carol looked at her watch. ‘We’re going to be too late. The programme finished ten minutes ago.’

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‘Well, we better hurry.’ Marijke put her foot down and the car leapt forward.

The car park attendant had been right. The studio was only a few streets away. ‘I bet we’ve missed him,’ Carol said morosely as they parked twenty yards away from the gate.

‘I don’t think so,’ Marijke said. ‘Two of the cars we passed on the way in had a driver sitting inside. And a passenger too, I think.’

Carol closed her eyes and let herself believe. ‘The tag team. Thank you, Petra.’

They hadn’t had long to wait. And now they were part of the convoy that might, just might save Tony’s life.

They had been driving for about twenty minutes, doing exactly what they were supposed to. Every few minutes, the lead vehicle in the tail would turn off down a side street then double back and pick up the rear, leaving a fresh set of headlights in Krasic’s mirror. Petra had no idea where they were headed. The one good thing was that they clearly weren’t making for Radecki’s apartment. That had to increase the chances that they were going to wherever Tony was being held captive.

They’d headed out east along Karl Marx Alice, and now they were on the fringes of Lichtenberg. Petra was second in line, behind the SUV. Suddenly, the Mercedes swung right into a small industrial estate near the railway marshalling yards. The SUV carried straight on, and Petra switched off her lights before she made the turn. She hung well back, keeping the Merc’s tail lights in view. The brake lights burned bright for a moment, then it went dark. Petra turned off her ignition, fearing they might notice her engine, and coasted to a halt. She could see the outline of The Shark’s car in her rear-view mirror, black against the outline of a warehouse. Petra switched off the interior light and got out of the car,

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avoiding the reflex of slamming it shut. She palmed her | Walther and dropped her bag into the driver’s footwell.

Seven shadows loomed up behind her. ‘They’ve stopped 3 just ahead. About fifty yards,’ Petra said in a low voice. ‘We need to check it out. Let’s fan out and come at it front and side. If we’re sure they’ve got Tony in there, I go in first. Special Ops behind me. Shark, you stay outside, cover our backs. Is everybody cool with that?’

The Special Ops commander grinned, his teeth flashing white. ‘Sounds solid. I’ll take the front with you. You two, come up on the left. And you, go with The Shark round on ‘ the right. We’ll link up at the front if it’s all clear.’

‘We’re coming with you,’ Morgan said.

‘I don’t think so,’ Petra said firmly.

‘Look, I don’t know what the fuck Tony Hill is doing in the middle of my operation, but he’s a British citizen, and I am not taking a back seat here. I’d stake my pension that I’ve done a lot more operations like this than you have, Detective Becker.’

‘Have you got a gun?’ Petra demanded.

‘No.’

‘Then you’re a liability.’

TO stay well back.’

‘We’re wasting time here,’ the Special Ops commander muttered. ‘Let him come. If he gets shot, it’s not our responsibility.’

Petra threw her hands up in the air. ‘Fine. You come with us, but the desk jockey’ - she pointed at Candle - ‘goes with The Shark.’

Morgan nodded. ‘OK. So let’s do it.’

Someone yanked one end of the tarpaulin, spilling Tony on to the hard concrete floor. He felt his skin abrade as he skidded

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off the tarp, but he lay still, apart from his eyes blinking in the sudden light. He didn’t have the energy for more. Radecki was standing in front of him, arms folded, legs apart.

‘You lied to me,’ he said conversationally. ‘Please take that rag out of his mouth, Darko.’

Krasic leaned down and jerked Tony’s underpants from his mouth. He’d become so dehydrated that he felt pieces of skin rip off with them. His tongue felt like a giant salami lying dead in his mouth. Even if he’d had anything to say, he doubted he could manage it.

‘It was a good lie,’ Radecki continued. ‘Part of me almost believed it. I admit, I wanted to believe it. She’s a beautiful woman. Well, I should say, she used to be a beautiful woman. I don’t think her looks are going to work so well for her in the future.’

Tony tried not to show the pain Radecki’s words gave him. He kept his gaze level, his eyes unflinchingly on the other man’s face.

‘I set her a little test, you see. I knew she was hot to fuck me last night, but she held back. If you were telling the truth, I knew she’d come across if she thought that playing hard to get was going to cost her our little deal. But if you were lying, she could never fuck me, could she? Because then all her evidence would be tainted. If it ever came to court, my lawyer would destroy her.’ He unfolded his arms and thrust his hands in the pockets of his trousers. It was a strut, and Tony recognized it as such.

‘And so, I demonstrated to my own satisfaction that you were indeed lying.’ His mouth curved in a humourless smile. ‘But I fucked her anyway. I fucked her mouth, I fucked her cunt, I fucked her ass. You should be grateful that I’m going to kill you, because after what I did to her, you’d never want to go near her again.’

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There was a sort of relief in the confirmation of his imminent death, Tony thought. At least he wouldn’t have to live with the guilt. He tried to speak, but nothing came out.

‘I think our guest needs some lubrication, Darko.’

Krasic disappeared, returning with a bottle of mineral water. He crouched down and grabbed Tony by the hair, pouring the freezing water over his face and into his open mouth. Tony spluttered and gagged, but his mouth was no longer agonizingly dry.

‘You were about to say something, Dr Hill?’ Radecki said politely.

‘You’re boring me,’ Tony croaked. ‘Just finish the job.’

Radecki pouted. ‘What is it with you Brits? You’ve got no sense of fun. That bitch Carol wouldn’t even put up a fight. But then, maybe she was enjoying it?’

Tony wasn’t going to rise to such transparent bait. He said nothing.

‘You know why I’m going to kill you? It’s not because you lied to me. It’s because your people killed Katerina. She had done nothing wrong except to love me. Oh, and of course she had the misfortune to look like a convenient detective. So, I have to live with that.’ For the first time, his face showed an emotion other than triumph or contempt. ‘Just as Carol Jordan will have to live with the fact that what she is has cost you your life.’ He pulled a gun out of the waistband of his || trousers.

Tony closed his eyes and waited.

Carol reached for the door handle. ‘Hold on,’ Marijke said.

‘Why? Petra’s crew are all out of sight. We’ve come this far, I want to be there.’

‘Think about it,’ Marijke said, reaching to take Carol’s hand Bl in hers. ‘It may be this is not the place. If Petra will see you, |

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she will be angry. She will make us go away. You know this is the first time we have met? I don’t want her to think I am a fool. Anyway,’ she carried on over Carol’s objection, ‘you cannot walk so far, I think. We wait and see, and if they go in, we drive down and you can see it all for yourself?

‘I’m sorry, Marijke. I’m not thinking straight. You’re right.’

‘I know this is hard. You love him, yes?’

‘Yes. I love him.’ She’d never admitted it to another living soul. It was rather late to be starting now, but Carol felt she owed Tony that affirmation at least. ‘But I don’t think he’s ever believed it.’

‘You are lovers, yes?’

Carol shook her head. ‘It’s a complicated story. The circumstances were never right. Or so we thought.’ She sighed. ‘I wish now it had been different.’

‘Don’t despair. He’s probably still alive. Petra will get him out.’

Carol squeezed the other woman’s hand. ‘Marijke, even if he gets out of this alive, there’s not a chance in hell that we can be together. Not after what Radecki did to me tonight. Besides, it was me who brought him here, remember? If I hadn’t asked him to come, he’d be home now. Safe and well.’

There was nothing more to be said, Marijke thought. At least, not now. She had seen too many rape victims over the years to offer platitudes now.

Petra took a deep breath and set off, walking fast but stealthily towards the spot where she’d seen the lights die. The empty Mercedes was parked outside a small building with corrugated metal walls and roof. There was a big roller door in the middle of the frontage, with a small wooden door set to one side. There was no cover between them and the door, but equally there were no windows to reveal their approach.

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She put her head down and ran for it, her trainers almost silent on the asphalt. She flattened herself against the wall on one side of the door, Morgan and the Special Ops commander lined up on the other. Petra inched sideways, putting her ear to the door. Nothing. She shook her head. He winked at her and took a small hand drill from one of his many pockets. He placed it against the door and delicately turned the brace. Even standing next to him, Petra couldn’t hear a thing.

Once the hole was made, he inserted a small microphone, then handed her a single earphone. Radecki’s voice echoed loud and clear in her head as if someone had flicked a switch. ‘… oing to kill you? It’s not because you lied to me. It’s because your people killed Katerina. She had done nothing wrong except to love -‘ Petra ripped the earphone out.

‘He’s in there. Tony’s in there. Radecki’s threatening him. We need to go in now.’

He nodded. ‘Stand clear.’

Petra jumped back as he drew his semi-automatic machine pistol and blew the lock out of the door in a single burst of fire. He kicked the door open and raced inside. She was at his heels, gun drawn for the second time that night. She had no idea where Morgan was, nor did she care.

She took it all in instantaneously, brain processing the scene. Radecki swinging round to face them, gun in hand. Krasic over to one side, reaching towards his back, then looking baffled and horrified. Tony’s white body naked and bound between Radecki and them. ‘Armed police, drop your weapons!’ a voice roared. She realized with a shock that it was hers.

Radecki’s face showed panic. He let off a loose shot that came nowhere near them. Petra took aim, her world narrowing to a tight focus. But before she could squeeze the trigger, there was another burst of automatic fire. Scarlet

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sprayed out in several directions from Radecki’s legs and he crumpled to the floor, screaming, his gun clattering off out of reach.

From the corner of her eye, Petra caught sight of Krasic charging down the Special Ops commander. She swung round and, without pause for thought, squeezed out a single shot. It hit the Serb in the gut, felling him instantly.

Petra stood frozen to the spot, her ears ringing from the gunfire, her nostrils filled with the smell of cordite. Radecki was still squealing like a pig, while Krasic gurgled like a half blocked drain. She heard running feet, then The Shark’s voice. ‘Fuck, I always miss the action,’ he complained.