“It’s a success, Mr. Inselheim. The rocket has been disintegrated.”
Inselheim’s throat felt thick and lumpy.
“Are you sure?” he whispered.
“One hundred percent. I just got word from Brunswick. The device is already in the underground tunnel and is being driven back to the facility. She says she’ll be ready with the champagne,” said Shirvan. “Congratulations,” he added, tapping Inselheim lightly on the shoulder.
Inselheim blinked a few times. His hands began shaking, and he found himself chuckling involuntarily. His body floated into the air and random areas began tingling.
“Woo!” he screamed in a cathartic fit of excitement.
He grew dizzy and bent down to support himself against his thighs as his eyes filled with tears. He surrendered with relief and thought of his late father, and how he might react had he been around to witness the moment. After decades of planning, years of risk, failure and constant stress, Inselheim had fulfilled his promise. His father’s technological vision was a success.
“We did it,” he whispered, picturing his father’s plump red face. “We did it!” he screamed out into the open desert.
4
Frederich awoke abruptly with daylight coming through the crack between his curtain. His state from the night before seeped through immediately. He cursed himself for falling asleep for so long then jumped out of bed and marched to the living room to check on Ida.
She was still sleeping. He relaxed and leaned against the doorway. Her pale olive skin was glowing in the morning light, and her knotted light brown hair lay plastered over parts of her face. The rain had smeared eyeliner around her eyes and upper cheeks, and a red swelling had formed on her chin, presumably from a strike to the face.
He turned back toward the kitchen, then remembered his pistol was on the bedside table. He moved it into the drawer beneath then went to make coffee.
He had just prepared the Moka pot with water and roasted coffee when he heard a cough coming from the living room. He turned off the stove. Inside he found Ida slouched forward on the sofa with the blanket wrapped around her. He thought about what he should say to someone who formed their first impression of him as he killed a man. He cleared his throat.
“Hey,” he said.
She turned to him with a sullen face and studied him. He swallowed and shifted his weight from one leg to the other.
“Hey,” she replied.
“Are you ok?”
She pouted and shook her head.
“Anything I can do?”
“Can I have some water?” she asked with a hint of a latino accent.
“Sure.”
He went to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water. Ida gave him a brief look then accepted the glass and took a large gulp. He sat on the other end of the sofa and looked on. She stared into space for a long time and appeared preoccupied. Then she turned to him.
“I can’t stop thinking that if you had not come, I might not be alive now. So thank you.”
Frederich nodded. She looked away for a second then began shaking her head.
“Jesus, I can’t believe Elias is dead!” she declared with a frown.
“You knew him?”
“Yes, we’d been seeing each other for a few weeks.”
“Do you know his last name?” he asked, eager to find out the man’s identity.
“No,” she said, shaking her head.
“What happened? What exactly did I walk in on?” he asked.
She squinted and frowned while recollecting the events.
“First, I took the train to his apartment. When I got there one of the neighbours was walking out of the building, so I didn’t press the doorbell. It was so wet, and I just wanted to get inside. So I went straight up. When I got to the front door, I saw it had been left open. I was going to yell out when I came inside, but he was talking to someone on the phone called ‘Inselheim’. I knew something was wrong because he sounded different — quiet and business-like. I’d never heard him speak like that before. So serious. He liked to joke around, at least with me. The last thing he said as I walked up behind him was…” She paused and leaned her head to the side. “It was something like ‘Listen Inselheim, I’m either leaving your place with a money bag, or a body bag. The choice is yours.’ Then he turned around and saw me.”
“What did you do?”
“I froze. I didn’t know what to do. He hung up the phone and then his eyes went cold. He didn’t even try to play it off. He just stared at me. That was when I knew I was in trouble.”
Frederich remembered the look the bearded-man Elias had given him in the car. It was ominous.
“Did you try to run?”
“No.” Her eyes became glazed with tears. “He took out a gun. I was too scared to move. He took my purse and phone and put them in the kitchen. Then he tied my hands and feet together and left me in the bedroom with the door open. I begged him to let me go, but he didn’t reply. I was in there for hours, until it got dark. He didn’t say anything. I was so scared I was shivering the whole time. Then he made a phone call, and someone came.”
“Another person came?”
“Yes, he came inside the bedroom with Elias to check me out.”
“What did he look like?”
“His hair was black, with a ponytail, and he was pale. He was tall, and he had a black trench coat on.”
“Ok, what else?”
“He didn’t say anything. He only nodded, and then they went to the other room. They talked about something. I couldn’t hear. Through the door, I saw Elias give him my stuff and he left.”
Shit.
“He took your phone and purse?” asked Frederich.
“Yes, my passport was in there too,” she replied. “Then Elias came and untied me. He said we were going for a drive, and that
