“That was one of my father’s jailers for a time at the prison. I cannot recall his name at the moment,” she answered. She started crying again.
“Jack, you want to leave your dance partner there for a minute and look at this?”
Collins slapped the man on the side of the face.
“Will you excuse me? I’ll only be a minute.”
The man rolled to his right, clutching his gushing nose. He didn’t bother to answer.
“What have you got?”
“Does this guy look familiar to you?” Everett asked. He turned to make sure Zinsser’s killer wasn’t moving.
Collins saw the picture of the three men and tilted his head.
“He does, but I’ll be damned if I can place him.” Jack turned to the woman and sat on the armrest of the chair. He kept his gun out of view to keep from frightening her any more than she already was.
“Do you know when this photo was taken?”
“I… I… don’t know. At least I’m not positive of the date. I would think it was around 1947, a year or so after my father was convicted of crimes against humanity.” She wiped at her wet eyes. “He really wasn’t a criminal, not like the rest of those pigs. He… he was just a clerk, nothing more.”
“Yes, ma’am, we know, but the man beside-”
That was as far as Jack got. A shout sounded and several men stormed into the room with guns drawn. Jack raised his hands and let the gun slip from his grasp as he recognized the uniforms of the local German police. The five of them were followed by two men in suits. Everett muttered “shit” as the police turned him around and frisked him. Jack endured his own search stoically. Another two officers pulled the killer to his feet.
“Colonel Collins, you are under arrest for entering Germany with false papers, and you are also under arrest for murder in the Republic of Ecuador.” The smaller of the two well-dressed men took Jack’s wrists and handcuffed him.
“I take it you’re Interpol?” he asked as he was turned around.
“We have been informed of your considerable prowess at escaping from custody, and your military accomplishments are valued reading at our offices, Colonel. So please, don’t try any of your tricks. You may find out that you’re not faster than a speeding bullet.”
“Damn, Jack, you mean you really can’t outrun bullets?” Everett smirked as he was led out of the apartment, just behind Zinsser’s killer.
“No, and I can’t jump buildings in a single bound either, smartass.”
“Then I’m afraid we’re going to jail, buddy,” Everett called back.
Just as Jack was led to the door, the old woman stood and kissed him on the cheek.
“Danke,” she said, as she was pulled away by two uniformed officers. She looked at Collins with tears running down her cheeks.
“For what it’s worth, ma’am, we know your father wasn’t anything like those he spent time in jail with.”
Jack was pulled away and the woman looked lost as she watched the scene before her, grateful that her own murder had been interrupted by the two Americans who had arrived out of nowhere.
The man was dressed in the uniform of the Deutsches Heer-the fatigues of the German army. He stood at the large window across the way from the apartment building and gazed through binoculars. The woman beside him stepped anxiously from one foot to the other, waiting nervously for the result of the setup. Laurel Rawlins watched the reaction of the bearded Mechanic as he scanned the apartment building across the way. He moved the field glasses to the right and then the left, making sure his people were in place.
“You will see, Ms. Rawlins, why our plan calls for the first domino to be placed in exactly the right position for our plan to succeed. You will learn here today why things must be in a special order to achieve the results you seek.”
“If you ask me, we should have killed those men as soon as their aircraft landed at the airport. This elaborate setup is a waste of time.”
“No one is asking you,” the Mechanic said. He seemed satisfied with the placement of the men and the explosives. “However, Mr. McCabe has asked me to school you on the finer points of the domino theory he has devised.” He turned and looked directly at Laurel with his black, penetrating eyes. “The men that we allowed to enter the building would come across one of two results inside the apartment-one, our man there had succeeded in his duty and killed the two occupants, which he had plenty of time to do since we arranged his entry into the apartment at a time we knew the two Americans we were following would enter. Mission one completed. Mr. Zinsser is dead, one hole to Columbus is plugged.”
“Which should have happened years ago,” Laurel said in exasperation.
“That is not my concern. We were only recently brought into this haphazard operation. You can blame your father for that little oversight, not me. And not Mr. McCabe.” The Mechanic turned and scanned the front doors to the apartment building. As he saw the angry crowd start to shove forward toward the police barricade, he smiled. “Number two, we tip Interpol and the local police about our two American friends who just happened to be wanted for murder in Ecuador, thus they arrive and catch them in a very compromising position with one, two, or three dead men inside.”
“Again, a waste of time,” Laurel countered, trying to anger the Mechanic even further. “These men obviously have high government connections and will undoubtedly be released to their embassy-thus, as I said, a waste of time.”
“Your learning curve may not be progressing as fast as Mr. McCabe seemed to think it would, miss.” He smiled as he saw the front doors open across the street. The police and plainclothes Interpol agents walked out with the two Americans in tow. They were followed by the handcuffed killer and several other police officers. He nodded.
Down below in the area leading to the apartment building, the men he had paid handsomely started their small deceit. The neo-Nazi skinheads started crowding around the police, the agents, and the two handcuffed Americans. The police started shoving and the crowd below grew wilder as protesters from the street were attracted by the action. The Mechanic lowered his field glasses and looked at the three devices lining the window seal in front of him.
“The second domino to fall, miss.” He picked up the first remote detonator. “The police are about to be attacked by your father’s words from six thousand miles away. The demonstration below is about to turn ugly.” He turned and looked at Laurel. “Now do you see? It’s all going to be bundled into one nice package-no witnesses and our Mr. McCabe is eliminating a serious threat to your father’s plans by having this Colonel Collins and his friend blown to Allah. And all the while the blame will be placed on the civil unrest in the streets.”
“And this will make Germany pull its backing for the space launches by the ESA?” she asked, shaking her head.
“Exactly.”
“Too much. This could have been done a lot simpler.”
“But it wasn’t. Would you like to do the honors?” he asked, offering her the remote device.
Laurel smiled and all doubt about the plan seemed to vanish as the opportunity to kill presented itself.
“What am I detonating?” she asked, swallowing and starting to sweat as she caressed the detonator. The Mechanic watched her and his black brow rose. He knew beyond a doubt that this woman was trouble, and her insanity, not to mention her father’s, could very well lead to disaster.
“You are starting a series of detonations. The police will have trouble getting to their vehicles because of the delay that we have paid for. Once in the street, you will press that trigger and five claymore mines will explode in the path of the police, our assassin, and the Americans.”
“And several hundred civilians,” she said, her eyes alight.
“A necessary sacrifice if we are to deter the German government from supporting the space launch. We have people in France, Japan, and Italy doing the same things as we speak. Your father’s words of revolt have spread, as per his plan. The incident with the JPL employee, though unplanned, was a surprise result of your father’s inflammatory words.”
