The Hunt

23

‘This time, just who is the “we”?’ Raff queried. ‘Who exactly is going to be backing us? Where’s our top cover?’

‘Myself. Daniel Brooks,’ Miles confirmed. ‘Plus a few other highly placed and trusted individuals. The usual suspects.’

Over the decades, the Secret Hunters had cultivated a network of powerful backers, encompassing the elite military and intelligence agencies of the major Allied governments.

‘But I’ll level with you,’ Miles continued. ‘Brooks is worried. If Kammler’s DNA sample was doctored, then he’s got problems in his own agency. Until he proves Kammler’s back in business, he can’t do much about it. Hence his need to keep this low-profile.’ He ran his gaze around the room. ‘Hence the desire to use you.’

‘I am curious about one thing,’ Narov volunteered. ‘How much is the final payment the Moldovans are waiting for? To green-light the shipment?’

‘Tens of millions of dollars.’

‘The kind of money Kammler’s trying to grab via Hitler’s literary estate.’

‘Indeed. Using the revenues from Mein Kampf to wreak some kind of nuclear carnage in memory of the Reich. Well, it would appeal to Kammler’s ego, not to mention his sense of the dramatic. But we won’t know for sure until—’

‘He is smarter than that,’ Narov cut in. ‘If he aims to spread terror, it won’t be only revenge he is after. He will do so to light a fire, one that will scorch the world, from the ashes of which he will build anew. Bringing back the Reich, that was always his aim. A Fourth Reich. With him as Führer. I don’t believe it will have changed.’

‘Quite,’ Miles agreed. ‘But as I was saying, we won’t know for sure until we get eyes on, and that’s down to you guys.’

Jaeger, Raff and Narov glanced at each other. Either they agreed to Miles’s proposition, or potentially they’d have the blood of millions on their hands. But beyond that, this was deeply personal.

Narov had her own reasons to hate Kammler, reasons rooted deep in her family’s dark past. As for Raff, he’d seen good friends die horribly at Kammler’s hands. And for Jaeger, this was the man who’d murdered his best friend, and very nearly succeeded in doing the same to his wife and child.

They broke for a brew. Jaeger found a quiet place where he could make a private call via his computer. He needed to let Ruth know that he wasn’t about to make it home any time soon. He steeled himself for what was coming: he didn’t figure this was going to be easy.

Predictably, her mobile went to voicemail. He decided to call home. Maybe she was there. A woman’s voice answered. For the briefest of moments he was hopeful, but it wasn’t her.

‘Who’s this?’ he demanded. What was a stranger doing answering the home phone?

‘It’s Jennie, Will.’

Jaeger felt a sinking feeling. Jennie was Raff’s long-term partner, and one of Ruth’s closest friends. She’d proved a constant support. But why was she there now, at their home?

‘Is everything okay? Where’s Ruth?’

‘No easy way to say this, Will: she’s disappeared from the clinic. I’ve been trying to call you for hours. It kept going to voicemail.’

No surprise she couldn’t reach him: the Falkenhagen Bunker had zero mobile coverage. Jaeger’s mind started to race. Ruth had been acting increasingly erratically. But pulling a disappearing act? What on earth was going on?

‘Will? Are you there?’

Jennie’s voice dragged Jaeger’s mind back to the present. He forced himself to speak. ‘I am. Tell me – how long has she been gone?’

‘It happened yesterday. The clinic people tried calling. They couldn’t raise you, so they got hold of me. I’ve been trying to reach you ever since.’ A pause. ‘Plus there’s this. They say she left in the company of a suspicious- looking individual.’

‘Suspicious like how?’ Jaeger queried. ‘Any description?’

‘Not much. Big shaven-headed guy. Man of few words. “Scary looking” was how they described him. But the clinic’s not a prison, so they couldn’t exactly stop her.’

Jaeger felt punch-drunk. What the hell was going on? There was more than a hint of Steve Jones in the description of the individual who had taken Ruth away. Maybe she’d been kidnapped by Kammler’s people. But Jones couldn’t be in two places at once – the tunnels under St Georgen and the London clinic.

Jaeger thrust out a hand to the wall to steady himself. He had a terrible feeling that history was repeating itself.

‘Any idea where she went?’ he asked desperately. ‘Any clues as to where she might be? Anything? It’s important, Jen. Vitally so.’

‘No. Nothing. Just what the clinic people said. Plus the fact that she’s gone.’

Jaeger thanked her and killed the call.

Another thought struck him, one so dreadful in its implications that it was almost as if he couldn’t breathe. Fighting to keep his hands from shaking, he punched speed dial for his sons’ mobile; Luke and Simon shared the same phone.

It rang out and went to voicemail. It was lesson time, so the phone would be off.

With a mounting sense of panic, he called school reception.

‘Luke and Simon Jaeger, Year 8,’ he blurted out. ‘They’re both still at school? No one’s come to pick them up in the last twenty-four hours?’

‘Just a moment… Mr Jaeger, is it?’

‘Yes, it is. And it’s urgent.’

‘Just one moment while I check.’

Music began to play. Jaeger had been placed on hold. The tune was supposed to be comforting. Calming. Well, no parent had ever called as stressed out and messed up as he was right now, of that he was certain. Come on. Come on.

If felt like an age before the receptionist was back on the line. ‘Their mother came to see them yesterday evening. She took them for a bite to eat by the sea.’

Jaeger felt his blood run cold. The school lay on the Somerset coastline, and Jaeger was in the habit of taking the boys for fish and chips by the harbour. But Ruth’s visits had been few and far between, for obvious reasons.

‘Apparently she came to say goodbye, before she went off on an overseas trip. The boys were back before lights out. They’re both here. If you’re worried, I can get them to call you once class is finished.’

Jaeger forced himself to speak. ‘Please, I’d really appreciate it. As soon as they’re able to.’

‘Of course. They’ll call around three forty-five.’

‘One more thing: did my… wife leave any indication as to where she might be going?’

‘Not that I’m aware of. But the boys may know more.’

Jaeger thanked the woman and sank back against the cold concrete of the wall. How had life come to this – to a point where he was worried that his own wife might snatch their sons and return them to their tormentor? She’d been acting so unpredictably recently, and if she’d fallen under the influence of Kammler’s people anything was possible, that’s if it was them who’d taken her.

Jaeger’s mind was spinning. He didn’t know what to think anymore. But of one thing he was certain: it was Kammler who had done this to them. Directly or indirectly, it was his fault. In his dark, fucked-up, vengeful fashion, Kammler was behind it all.

It was time to end it, once and for all.