The air was cold and fresh, and the leaves were showing their autumn colours. Most importantly, the trees had barely begun shedding, which meant they would provide Frederich with plenty of coverage and with it, darkness in which to hide. The recent deluge would have softened the ground, making treading in the dark quieter. The summer crowds had long thinned out. Enough so, Frederich hoped, to avoid any innocent bystanders being struck by a stray bullet.
He followed the bare path until 12:00 am, when the bracelet made a tiny beep. He estimated it would take Vivar fifteen minutes to reach the middle of the park, where the chance of them meeting would increase considerably. A third of the way in, Vivar would need to cross the road at Hofjägerallee. Tiergarten had a spider web of pathways, so Frederich would need to draw Vivar into his sector of the park.
He moved west for a while, then turned left and continued until he reached a tiny creek which began at the southeast end and ran up to the north side of the park. He stood still. The anklet let out a harsh squeal which surprised him with its intensity. His pulse rate stepped up, and a burst of urgency shot through him. Now Vivar would be on the move. Frederich forced himself to remain calm using slow, stomach breaths. He then stumbled forward again and relaxed his body, but kept careful watch of his surroundings.
There was chatter in the distance, and he saw the outline of two people holding hands and looking around in confusion. Not far from them were three others perched on a bench, appearing equally concerned. They were talking amongst each other, puzzling over the source of the high-pitched sound. As Frederich walked by, taking another swig of his bottle, they paid him no attention.
He pushed forward, following the path along the river in a northwestern direction. At one point he came across a gang of five teenagers occupying a bench. Their loud chatter and laughter gradually stopped. They went silent, suspiciously watching on as Frederich slowly laboured past them while taking another swig of his bottle. One of them giggled, and they whispered something he could not make out. He continued forward another hundred metres to another dimly lit opening with a pond in the middle. The surrounding area looked abandoned.
His stomach tensed up. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed the outline of a tall, skinny figure in the trees to his left. Vivar. The figure remained in place for some seconds, then disappeared into the forest, apparently satisfied that the drunken man fumbling his way through Tiergarten posed no threat.
Frederich continued down the winding path while maintaining a careful eye. There was no further sign of Vivar. He listened for any voices or movement in the vicinity but was met with only the sound of traffic in the distance. Ahead of him was a pitch black area of grass leading into the trees. It was time to reel Vivar in. He discarded the bag and bottle and took out his pistol. He stood still until the ankle bracelet sounded and then immediately sprinted forward, away from the overhead lights and into the darkness where he slowed to a crawl. He crouched down and paced slowly with knees bent while taking deep, calming breaths. He aimed his pistol with both hands into the black.
He held his breath and listened hard. Almost a minute passed without a sound as he slowly slithered across the grass. He inched forward to the edge of the forest. The outlines of the trees were vaguely visible in the almost pitch black darkness. He felt the ground for some seconds without looking down and located a large twig. He picked it up and tossed it across to his left into the forest then travelled right. Seconds passed in silence before he heard a faint footstep. He studied the woods carefully, hoping to spot an outline at which to fire. He focused too hard and forgot to take a step. The ankle bracelet began squealing. Shit. He leapt forward in panic, and a bullet smashed into the tree above him. Another two cracks of a suppressed pistol sounded, and two more rounds flew past. His immediate impulse was to fire back blindly, but instead, he moved behind a thick tree for shelter and began slowly circling it with tiny steps. His heart was now beating loud enough that he could hear it and him trying to control his breathing against the torrent of adrenaline was sending shockwaves through his body. He sensed the urgency of the situation. Suppressed or not, the bullet cracks would be heard throughout the park. He had to end it before it spiralled toward a shootout.
He took out his pocket torch. With his pistol in one hand, he held the torch in the other and extended his arm back. He maintained his thumb on the button, inhaled deeply and then swiftly pressed down while tossing the torch forward like a grenade. It deflected off one tree, then another, then fell to the ground, illuminating the area and revealing Vivar standing in the far distance holding his pistol with both hands. His head had momentarily turned toward where the torch had landed. Move! Frederich came out from behind the tree, took aim and fired two bullets in quick succession at Vivar’s chest, sending him falling to the ground. He ran forward and picked up the torch and shone it down. Vivar had landed face first and was not moving. Frederich checked for a pulse. Vivar was still alive. Five bullets had already been fired, figured Frederich. One more to finish the job. He pointed the
