Huijbers headed onto the beach, his boots crunching over the pebbles, and Pieter was racing alongside him when he caught a strange flash coming from the boat followed by a very faint sound, a bit like a zipper on a coat being pulled up. He frowned in puzzlement, and at the same time saw the surprised expression that appeared on Huijbers face, and the man’s mouth opened like he was going to whistle. A red dot appeared on his forehead, a tiny hole, and then his baseball hat was flying back through the air like a strong gust of wind had caught it. In the next instant, he was walking forward on legs that seemed all rubbery, he was cutting a strange diagonal course over the beach, his arms were at his sides and his feet were twitching away like he was auditioning to be in Riverdance.
Pieter stood transfixed as Commissaris Dirk Huijbers fell onto his knees and then toppled face-first into the pebbles.
Chapter 25
Ijsselmeer Sea
Carefully, Pieter laid Huijbers’ head back onto the ground and his hands came away all sticky and bloody. He remained kneeling there for several moments, looking at his fingers, his mind numb with shock. Then he wiped the gore onto his trouser leg and came unsteadily to his feet.
Several of the men had gathered around the Police Chief’s body, their mouths agape and their faces white, not knowing what to do.
Pieter recognized Vries amongst them and he grabbed his sleeve and drew him to one side.
“Get Dyatlov on the radio,” he instructed him in quiet tones. “Tell him what’s happened and inform him that the suspects are making a break for it across the water and that it looks like they are heading for the eastern shore. He needs to order the other strike-team to return to that side and try and cut them off. Tell him that they have Nina with them”
Even as he was saying this he knew it was a futile gesture. The boat could be making for any point on the far shoreline, there were dozens of spots where they could come ashore. All they needed to do was run the motor launch up onto the sand dunes, and they could be away in minutes. But they had to do something as in the space of just a few short moments the whole operation was turning into a shambles.
“What about you? What will you be doing?” Vries asked in his no-nonsense voice.
Pieter looked past the man’s shoulders, his eyes drawn up towards the roadway, and the helicopter parked there.
“I’m going out there after them.”
Pieter set off at a jog along the pathway that led around the small harbour, making for the concrete jetty on the far side.
Running with all his gear on, the flak-jacket and waist holster and helmet, was not easy. He felt clumsy and cumbersome. Plus the ground underfoot was icy and treacherous, and he had to skirt around numerous frozen puddles. By the time he reached the other side he was badly winded, and he had a severe stitch.
On the way over he’d noticed a pathway winding from the jetty up the flank of the dam incline. It led to the roadway running along the top. He made towards it. Thankfully there was a handrail, which he used to haul himself upwards.
At the top he paused briefly to get his breath and then slipped through the gate that led out onto the roadway and ran over towards the blue helicopter.
The pilots had kept the twin engines running at low power, enough for the rotors to keep turning slowly, and when they saw him coming over one of them gave him a thumbs-up through the cockpit window and somebody in the main passenger compartment slid open the side door.
Pieter clambered into the back. There were several armed men strapped into their seats, their faces set with grim determination. He moved by them and poked his head between the pair of pilots’ seats.
“Get us in the air fast.” He jabbed his forefinger towards the motor launch out at sea, which was now nothing but a tiny speck in the grey expanse. “Can you catch them?”
“You watch this baby move,” one of the two pilots replied, and they both reached for the controls.
Pieter found a spare seat and fastened himself in. He left the sliding door in the open position, and when the helicopter lifted off a minute later, he watched as the roadway seemed to drop away, and then slide beneath them in a grey blur, and he had to take a deep breath to fight against the sudden nauseous feeling in his stomach.
The road surface soon gave way to the white frozen shoreline alongside the dam, and then they were skimming low across the choppy waves of the Ijsselmeer.
The noise of the engines slapped his eardrums painfully, making him grimace, so someone handed him a pair of ear protectors. Pieter removed his helmet and slipped them over his head.
He heard a tinny voice come through the headset.
“Looks like they are altering course.”
Pieter leaned out through the doorway to get a better view of the motor launch up ahead, the cold wind sucking the air from his lungs. He could just make the boat out, which now seemed to be heading in a southerly direction, towards the dam. It passed out of view below the helicopter as it moved further to the right, and so he leaned forward in his seat, straining against the safety harness, to look out of the cockpit window.
He still couldn’t see because of the instrument panel, and he shouted in frustration.
“Where are they? I can’t see them!”
One of the pilots tapped the side of
