Zero Hour Part 10

'Ask him where the f.u.c.k she is.'

Anna bent closer to his ear, still talking slowly and gently. His chest heaved beneath me.

I could make out the word 'Lilian' again, and then something like 'Christmas' or 'Christine'.

It was just starting to get interesting when there was a thunderous crash at the door.

I looked up. Another of those and it was going to part company with its frame.

19

I rolled off Slobo's supine body. 'Anna! The bathroom! Go in the bathroom!' Anything to keep her out of the line of sight of whoever was about to bomb-burst into the room.

She dived over Slobo and scrambled across to the other side of the bed.

I rolled onto the floor and jammed the web of my right hand onto the b.u.t.t of Lena's revolver in the waistband of my jeans.

Two crew-cut monsters exploded through the door, pistols drawn down, heads swivelling, trying to work out what to do next.

I sucked in my stomach, wrapped my thumb and three fingers round the grip of the revolver and pulled it out.

The boy to my left turned and brought his weapon into the aim. My eyes didn't move. My hand came up and his face blurred as my foresight became pin sharp. I squeezed the trigger as hard as I could to overcome the double action of the hammer. The round kicked off.

The other one dropped to a semi-squat as the back of his mate's head splattered against the grey wall behind him. He started firing. I had no idea what at.

Where was Anna?

I focused on my foresight once more. The hammer was back in the full-c.o.c.k position. He brought his weapon round. It completely obscured his face. It didn't matter. I pulled my trigger and he went down.

'Anna! Anna!'

She piled through the bathroom door as I got up.

Slobo was writhing on the bed. He'd taken some rounds. Our second uninvited guest must have seen the Desert Eagle within his reach and decided not to take any chances.

Anna looked at the two bodies. 'The BMW?'

'Tarasov's guys. The car was at the factory.'

Anna looked at Slobo. 'Oh, G.o.d ...'

His chest was still heaving, but not enough to keep him alive.

'Do you know where she is?'

'Yes.'

The noise from the corridor was even louder now. TVs had been cranked up to full volume so Slobo's neighbours could say they hadn't heard a thing.

'Did you get her new name?'

'No.'

'She must have one. The photos - they've got to be pa.s.sport photos.'

His eyes rolled. 'Tell him we want her new name. Tell him he's not in good shape, but I can save him if he gives us the name.'

I eased his head up to help him speak. This time, Anna didn't f.u.c.k around. Slobo was definitely on his last legs. We needed the answer fast.

'Tell him I can save him-'

'Sure, Nick, I'll tell him you're Florence Nightingale. Now shut up.' Her earlier tone had disappeared completely. She was giving Slobo the good news with both barrels.

He slurred a few words. Saliva dribbled from his mouth. His head went limp and his eyes stayed open.

'Did you get it?'

She nodded.

I let him go.

I stepped over the bodies and checked down the corridor. There was nothing that would slow us down.

I came back and looked her in the eye. 'Take a breath. Are you ready?'

She nodded.

'Good.' I gestured towards the first one I'd dropped. 'Check him for car keys.' I frisked the other guy's long leather coat and came up with the Beamer's.

We headed out into the corridor, the weapon still in my hand in case we had a drama. We ran down the stairs and out into the street. I pointed Anna to the right and I headed left, eyes peeled for a glint of blue.

She called out to me.

I turned to see her pointing at a vehicle that I couldn't see. Too many others were in the way.

I ran towards her, hitting the key fob until lights began to flash. 'You drive.' I threw her the keys. 'Lena's. Go, let's go! Go, let's go!'

20

Anna turned about four corners before we hit Const.i.tution Street again. I kept a look-out for any major drama on the street.

'I hope Irina's OK.'

Anna swerved to avoid an old guy on an unlit bike. 'You think they might have got to her first?'

The Skoda was where we'd left it.

She slowed down. Through the rain-slicked windows I could see the silhouette of a body in the driving seat. It wasn't moving.

I powered down my window. Irina raised her head and wound down hers.

Anna leant across me. 'Irina, he was a trafficker.'

She got it straight away. 'Was?'

'We need to split up now. I'll keep Lena's weapon. I'm going to dump it. Will you be OK making your own way back?'

She gave me a dazzling smile and fired up the Skoda's engine.

'n.o.body saw us or knows about us, OK?'

Irina nodded. She came out of her s.p.a.ce and stayed behind us until the next junction. Then she peeled off to the right.

I quizzed the Beamer's dash. 'Half a tank. Will that get us to the ferry?' We had to get out of this place, but I wanted to avoid the airport. s.h.i.+ps are less secure and easier to get onto than planes.

'It's two hours maybe, not far.'

'We'll give the hotel a miss.'

'I'll call them later and they'll bill me. What about the Polo?'

'We just leave it.' An oncoming vehicle's headlights splashed across her face as she concentrated on the road. The rain was heavier now. The wipers sounded like a drumbeat.

'And the pistol?'

'I'm going to keep it as long as I can - at least until Odessa.'

We hit a pothole and the Beamer's skirting sc.r.a.ped the tarmac.

'What did Mr Lover Man say about Lilian?'

'She's gone to Copenhagen. A place called Christiania. Have you heard of it?'

'No.'

'It's a commune inside the city. Slobo said she needed to get away for a while. She was p.i.s.sed off with her father.'

'Does that mean he knew who Tarasov is?'

Anna kept one hand on the wheel while she fished in her pockets for cigarettes. 'I don't think so. He just said "her father". But he cut off her Facebook, and he moved her along with a new ID. She may think she's taking a break in Hippie Land, but I think Slobo had other ideas.'

I powered down my window a quarter of the way as she lit up. Spots of rain peppered my face. 'Do we have an address?' 'He didn't know it. Or if he did, he wasn't telling me.' I sparked up my BlackBerry. 'What's her new name?'

'Nemova.'

'How did she travel?'

She took a drag of her cigarette. 'He didn't say, but I didn't ask. It wasn't exactly coffee and chat.'

My screen lit up and showed four bars. I hit the time and date app. It took a second or two to load. I tapped in Julian's number. There was a long tone and a short break as he began to receive the call. The green padlock icon would signal secure mode. It rang three times.

'Nick?'

'She's been trafficked. She's in Denmark. Some kind of commune, maybe. She's got a new name. Lilian Nemova. I'll spell: November - Echo - Mike - Oscar - Victor - Alpha. Worth checking the visa applications again?'

Julian didn't answer immediately. He was probably still writing it all down. 'I'll get somebody on it. Then I need to inform Mr Tresillian.'

A deep growl cut in. 'Already here, Julian. Now listen to me, Mr Stone. Excellent work. Go to Denmark. Find her. A contact and a safe-house will be arranged once you've discovered where she is.' There was a pause. 'A commune? A f.u.c.king commune? I didn't even know they still existed. Do these people think the world owes them a f.u.c.king living?'

Jules and I weren't sure who was meant to answer.

Tresillian filled in the gap. 'Anyone got anything useful to say?'

'I wouldn't mind dropping out myself one day.'

The jokes still weren't welcome. 'Not on my watch, Mr Stone. Next time we hear from you I trust it will be good news.'

The phone went dead. Obviously Julian didn't have anything to say. Or if he did, tough s.h.i.+t.

Before closing the BlackBerry down I s.h.i.+fted the cursor to the camera icon and clicked on 'View Pictures'. I spent a few moments willing the minute Cyrillic script to magically translate itself into plain English and leap out at me. 'I took these of the s.h.i.+pment stacked inside Tarasov's factory. You see the stencilling on the nearest case? Can you read what it says?'

She zoomed in on each photograph in turn. 'Just a series of numbers and letters - the product serial ID, maybe.' She looked up. 'Why not run them by Julian? He'll be able to blow them up on a big screen.'

She wasn't wrong. I thought of the one on the wall behind Tresillian's head. And I thought of the look on Tresillian's face when I'd asked about Lilian's dad. 'My orders were to steer well clear of Tarasov. And if the boss of bosses is listening in to Jules's incoming calls ...'

She squinted harder at the BlackBerry's tiny display. 'I can't - no, hang on ... here, in the corner ...'

'What?'

'Some kind of s.h.i.+pping label.'

'Russia?'

She zoomed in further. 'Yes and no. It's s.h.i.+pping to Moscow but it's marked "for onward transit". There's an end-user company mentioned. I don't recognize the name - but I know somebody who might.' She pulled out her iPhone. 'Is there anything else about Tarasov I should know?'

I couldn't tell her. I didn't know myself.