Foreign Agent

CHAPTER 15

Anna Strobl wasn’t a great cop, but she wasn’t a bad one either. Like anything else in life, police work had everything to do with timing, and instinct.

On her way home, she had decided to get fuel. Up ahead, she had noticed a car slow down in front of her house. It didn’t stop, but whoever was driving had taken a good, long look at her property before driving off. It was enough to raise her antennae.

After passing her home, the car had returned to a normal speed and turned the corner. She watched and let it drive away.

Even if she had been driving an official Bundespolizei vehicle with lights and sirens, rather than her personal vehicle, she still would have needed more in order to justify a stop.

Returning from the filling station, she was still bothered by the car’s actions. She decided to take a roundabout way home and look for it. She found it parked in front of a church, two blocks from her house. The driver was nowhere to be seen. Something was going on.

One of the neighbors was traveling and had asked Anna to keep an eye on their house. She parked in their driveway and made her way through the backyards until she got to her own. There was no sign of anything wrong, but her gut told her otherwise.

When she found her back door unlocked, she drew her weapon, slipped off her boots, and crept inside.

She had heard the entire conversation. What bothered her even more than the intruder’s knowing her name was that Jörg wasn’t even a good liar.

“Drop your weapon,” she told the man holding her husband at gunpoint.

“You first,” Harvath replied.

Anna leaned her shoulder forward so he could see the patch. “Bundespolizei,” she said. “More officers are on the way. Drop your weapon. Now.”

“No thanks. I’ll wait until they get here.”

“I am not asking you. I am ordering you. Do it now.”

Harvath looked at the man in the wheelchair. “My superiors know everything, Jörg. They know why I’m here and what you’ve done. If the Bundespolizei become involved, it’s over for you.”

“What is it you know, exactly?” Anna asked.

“Ask your husband.”

She looked at Jörg, and for several moments he refused to meet her eyes. Finally, he said, “Everything I did was for you.”

“What did you do?”

“I wanted to make sure you were taken care of.”

“What did you do?” she repeated.

“It’s nothing. Only a small thing.”

“Tell me, Jörg. Now.”

He was beaten, ashamed. He cast his eyes down toward the floor. “I manipulated some of the crew rosters.”

“Why?”

“For money. So that you could have the things that you need when I am gone.”

Anna didn’t understand. “You took money from crew members?” she replied. “For what? To arrange the trips they wanted? More vacation time?”

“If that’s all this was,” said Harvath, “I wouldn’t be here.”

“Tell me why this man is here, Jörg.”

“I told you. I accepted money to manipulate the rosters.”

Anna looked from her husband to Harvath. She still didn’t understand. Harvath laid it out for her. “He took money to help an assassin travel undetected by international law enforcement.”

“I had no idea that—” he sputtered.

“How much?” she interrupted.

“Anna, you have to believe me that I—”

“How much?”

“Two hundred thousand euros.”

“My God,” she responded. “Two hundred thousand Euros and you had no idea, what? That it was wrong? That criminals would be involved?”

“I am dying!” he yelled. “I did this for you.”

“Do not blame me. You did this for yourself, because you feel guilty. I don’t need money.”

Jörg Strobl laughed. “And your new car? The expensive van that accommodates my wheelchair? Where do you think those came from?”

“You told me you were doing IT work on the side.”

“And now you know the truth.”

Anna fished the car key fob from her pocket and threw it at her husband. He couldn’t get his hands up fast enough to catch it. The fob hit him in the chest and landed in his lap.

There was an uncomfortable silence as the Strobls stared at each other.

Harvath didn’t have time to stand around while they worked out their issues. “How were you approached?” he asked. “Who pays you? How do you get contacted?”

Strobl looked at his wife, who holstered her weapon. “I think you should answer him,” she stated. Then, turning to Harvath she said, “There are no Bundespolizei officers coming.”

Harvath hadn’t thought so. He had been taught how to pick out microexpressions, the little tics people subconsciously give off when they weren’t telling the truth. She was a very good liar. Her tic was almost imperceptible.

“If I talk,” Jörg said to Harvath, “they’ll kill me. If I don’t talk, you’ll kill me. I don’t see any upside in any of this.”

“If you talk, I’ll protect you. You and Anna.”

That was a wrinkle Jörg hadn’t expected. He thought about that for a moment. “How do I know I can trust you?”

“You don’t.”

Jörg shook his head. “I don’t even know who you are.”

“Which is how I am able to protect you,” Harvath replied. “Now, either you start talking, or I am leaving and taking any hope you and your wife ever have of safety with me. Your choice.”

Looking up at Anna, Strobl asked, “Will you please pour us some wine?”