The Lions Of Lucerne

61

The drive back from Munich was grueling. Twenty minutes after Herman dropped Scot at the airport parking lot to retrieve his car and he was on the autobahn, a deep fatigue had set in. The psychological stress from the past several days and the physical damage to his body both came calling at once. The two cans of Red Bull he had with him and coffees at every other truck stop along his route kept him going until he got back to Interlaken and could finally drop onto his bed and slide into a deep sleep.

It felt as though only five minutes had passed before he drifted into a dream about Jackie. He could hear her concern for him in her voice, but for some reason he could not see her face. She was worried. Should she call a doctor? Was he all right? There was blood, she said. Not as much as before, but a little. Are you sure? she asked. I didn’t know what to do. Yes, I do care about him.

Her voice grew louder, but Scot still could not see her. A light shone and it, too, grew brighter. As he got closer to Jackie’s voice, the light grew in intensity. He found his eyelids opening of their own free will, even though all he wanted to do was sleep. Soon, he was able to see through the light and make out shapes. Jackie’s voice was still with him, but where was she? He blinked his eyes through the mist, trying to focus. There was a figure at the end of his bed. The voice continued, but the figure wasn’t speaking. The voice was coming from somewhere else. Harvath shut his eyes tightly, trying to clear his vision. When he opened them, he was terrified by what he saw.

It was her! The woman from the Ice Palace. She was sitting at the foot of his bed. Was this a dream? Some sort of hallucination? Out of sheer instinct, he reacted.

He rolled to his right and reached for the nine-millimeter Beretta that Herman had given him before saying good-bye last night. His hand fumbled clumsily along the nightstand. It was gone. But how? He had placed it right there before he went-

“Looking for this?” said the woman, holding up the pistol. “Or maybe, this?” she said as she raised the replica Glock. Now Harvath knew he wasn’t dreaming. “Please tell me you didn’t carry a toy to the Jungfraujoch yesterday. It will only make me think less of you,” said the woman.

Scot was trapped. There was no way he could spring from where he was and get to her before she got a shot off. The situation seemed hopeless.

From out of the corner of his left eye he saw a hand approach his face, and automatically he reached out and grabbed it by the wrist. He twisted it hard.

“Scot! Stop it. You’re hurting me. It’s me, Jackie. It’s okay. Calm down.”

“Jackie?” he said, confused. “I don’t understand. Are you okay? She didn’t try to hurt you, did she? If she did, I’ll-”

“No, Scot, of course she didn’t try to hurt me. I’m okay.”

“I was so careful. I thought I made sure no one was following me. I must have led them here. Jackie, I’m sorry. I never intended to get you this involved.”

“Scot, relax. This is Claudia Mueller. She’s a friend of ours.”

“What do you mean, she’s a friend?” asked Scot warily.

“Rolf and I know her from Bern.”

“What’s she doing here?”

“I’ve been worried about you,” Jackie said as she tried again, this time without meeting resistance, to apply a cold compress to Scot’s forehead. “I knew you didn’t want me to call a doctor, but I didn’t know what to do. You have been asleep for so long.”

“Jackie, you’re not answering my question.”

“Remember when I said I thought I knew someone who could help you?”

“Yes, and I told you I didn’t need any help.”

“But she can help you. She helped me and Rolf, and it was the same kind of help you need now.”

“What are you talking about? She’s a killer.”

“Scot, listen to me. During the last election there were some threats against Rolf. Claudia works with the Federal Attorney’s Office. She was part of the investigation into the threats and helped arrange security for us. We spent a lot of time together. You can trust her.”

Scot stared at Claudia. “Jackie, I want you to trust me. There is absolutely no way this woman is on our side.”

“Scot, you’re delirious. You haven’t moved since last night when I came in to pick up your tray.”

“Jack, I’m okay,” Harvath said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position with two pillows propped behind his back. “I was gone all night. I got back early this morning and was exhausted. I guess I was so out of it I didn’t hear you come into the room.”

“And wherever you were,” began Claudia, “I assume that’s where you got this,” referring to Herman’s gun.

“Hold it just a second,” said Scot as Jackie offered him a glass of juice. “I’m going to be the one asking questions here, okay? Being held at gunpoint by the same person twice in less than twenty-four hours allows me that privilege. So, first, who the hell are you?”

“You have already been told that. I’m Claudia Mueller of the Federal Attorney’s Office.”

“And you just happened to be up at the Ice Palace yesterday at the same time I was, and just happened to stick a gun in my back, and just happened to have two men with you who tried to kill me?”

“I had nothing to do with the men who were shooting at us in the Ice Palace.”

“‘Us’? What do you mean?”

“You do understand English, don’t you?”

“Enough to get by,” he replied smugly.

“I mean,” said Claudia, who ignored Scot’s sarcasm, “they were shooting at us. You and me. I have no idea who they were.”

“And you probably have no idea about who was then shooting at me in Wengen only an hour later?”

“I know one thing: it wasn’t the men from the Ice Palace.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because those two were still at the Jungfraujoch an hour later.”

“How do you know?” Scot asked as he continued to look her over. She was gorgeous, but he couldn’t shake his first impression of her. Funny how a gun jammed in your back could do that.

“I know because I was there too. I was trying to find you while avoiding them. It wasn’t easy. I don’t know how you managed to slip away. You must be quite clever.”

“I have my days, but yesterday sure wasn’t one of them. Someone else managed to find me, and they turned Wengen into a shooting gallery. I was lucky to get away with only this.” Harvath pointed to his left arm and noticed that a small amount of blood had seeped through the bandage. He started to unravel it, but Jackie quickly sat down next to him and took over.

“Do you have any idea who it was that tried to shoot at you in Wengen?”

“They weren’t trying to shoot at me; they actually were shooting at me; and besides, I said I would ask the questions here. What were you doing at the Ice Palace in the first place, and why did you pull a gun on me?”

“You know what, guys? I have got a ton of stuff to get done,” said Jackie. “I think I am going to leave you two alone.” Catching the look in Scot’s eye, she added, “Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly safe with Claudia. She’s extremely tough. She climbs mountains in her spare time for fun. Did you know that?” Beckoning to Claudia, she said, “Why don’t you finish changing this dressing for me. There’s only been a little bleeding, but the stitches are all still intact. It looks like he’ll mend. Another toughie. You two’ll get along fine.”

Getting up, Jackie patted the place on the bed where she’d been sitting next to Scot. Claudia stood up and set the guns from her lap onto the chair and made her way to the bed. She took a roll of clean gauze from Jackie and began wrapping Scot’s arm. Jackie closed the door behind her.

“As I said, I work for the Federal Attorney’s Office in Bern, which is called the Bundesanwaltschaft. I was following a suspect in an ongoing investigation who had been using a post office box in Interlaken-”

“Wait a second, are you or are you not ‘Aunt Jane’?”

“I am not.”

“Then what the hell were you doing at the Ice Palace?”

“I think I can make the situation somewhat clearer if you’ll allow me.”

“Be my guest.”

“Once a week, my suspect travels to the post office to check for mail. He is a creature of habit, typical Swiss, very methodical and always comes on the same day at normally the same time, so I have a certain window in which I know I can check the box to see if he has received anything that might help me in tying him to my case.”

“Tying him to your case? Is he a suspect or not?”

“I haven’t been able to gather enough evidence yet, but I know he is somehow involved. I have what you Americans refer to, I believe, as a hunch.”

“Yes, hunch is the correct word. But that’s legal in Switzerland? Reading someone’s mail? Please, not so tight on the bandage.”

“I know what I am doing, Agent Harvath.”

“How do you know who I am?”

“Which question should I answer first?” she said, giving Scot a little slack in his dressing before taping the gauze in place.

“Lady’s choice.”

“Pardon me?”

“It means you choose, lady.”

“I see. Like my suspect, I am also somewhat methodical and of course am Swiss, so I’ll take your questions in order. As far as the legality of investigating the suspect’s mail, it depends upon the severity of the charge and the investigator. And as for knowing who you are, Jackie told me everything.”

“Everything?”

“She cares about you a great deal and is very worried about you. Don’t be upset with her. She did the right thing in calling me. I was just as shocked to see you lying in that bed as you were to see me. I thought you had brought those two men to the Ice Palace to kill me.”

“You? Why would I do that?”

“Why does anyone commit murder? I’m sure the motivations are no different in Switzerland than they are in America. All I know is that after I picked up what I think I can correctly assume was your letter from the post box, I noticed I was being followed. I engaged in an evasive tactic-”

“Crossing to the bakery.”

“Yes, and then I secluded myself in a doorway and waited. As it turns out, I was more patient than you were.”

“In the Ice Palace, you called me by the name I had used in the post office and by my real name. How did you figure those out? Wait…the Sampras one is the easiest. You went back to the post office and asked if anyone had seen someone matching my description?”

“You are quite charming, Agent Harvath. The woman at the poste restante window remembered you perfectly. She also had your alias written down on a piece of paper to check for your envelope, which still hasn’t come, by the way.”

“I’ll have to tell her not to hold her breath.”

“I already did. She was quite disappointed she wouldn’t be seeing you again. Now, as far as getting your real name, that was a little more difficult. I had seen you on the street, but was able to get a better look at your face from the post office surveillance tape. The female clerk told me you were American, so I went back to my office and started doing some searches on the computer, starting with our watch list.

“Two names had recently been added-a German and an American. The description of the American sounded like it could fit you. I E-mailed a request to the authoring agency and not long after received a picture of you. The hair is quite different, of course, but that only made it more obvious.”

“Authoring agency? What do you mean by you E-mailed them a request?”

“They are the people who put your name on our watch list. Sometimes it’s an Interpol request; sometimes it’s a local or federal Swiss agency; sometimes it’s another country…There is often a wide array of agencies who add to a watch list for a wide variety of reasons.”

“I know about watch lists, thank you very much. What I want to know is who put me on yours? It was an American agency of course.”

“Yes. It was your State Department. The man who called me mentioned-”

“Called you? Who called you?”

“After I requested the picture, I received a phone call. A man identified himself as being from a particular division of the State Department and said that he was responding to my E-mail request for your photo. He asked me a lot of questions and was frankly not very polite.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Basically, I told him nothing. I said we had a lot of ongoing investigations involving tourist crimes, and I wondered if you might somehow be involved. I wanted your picture so I could compare it against some recent witness descriptions we had received in several resort areas.”

“And you didn’t tell them you had seen me, or thought you had seen me?”

“No. I told them exactly what I just told you. Of course he reminded me several times about informing them immediately if I even thought I had seen you, and not to try and intercept you.”

“But you had seen me. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I didn’t say anything because if the U.S. State Department wanted you that bad and you were somehow associated with the case I was investigating, then I wanted you as well. I have been waiting for a break in this case. I’m certainly not going to sit back and turn it over to the Americans. No offense.”

“None taken, but I think you did turn it over.”

“What do you mean?”

“Was the German added to your watch list at the same time?”

“It was listed in the same update, which meant they had both been added in the same time period, yes.”

“Do you remember the name of the German?”

“I think it was something like Brunner, but I don’t remember exactly. At the time it wasn’t important. I’m normally pretty good with names, but I was so focused on you and what your involvement was and is-”

“Could it have been Brauner?”

“It could have been. Yes, it was. Hans. Hans Brauner. I knew I would remember it.”

Harvath put his head in his hands and massaged his temples. “Can you be absolutely certain you were not followed here today?”

“Followed, why?”

“Just answer me, please,” said Scot.

“After I finally evaded the two men from the Jungfraujoch, I was extremely cautious, even paranoid. I am positive no one followed me here. Why?”

“I think I finally know how the shooters in Wengen picked up my trail.”

“Picked up your trail? Who are they?”

“They’re an American hit team that tried twice to kill me in Washington several days ago.”

“How did they track you here? Have you been using your real name to travel?”

“What am I, new? Please, Ms. Mueller, I don’t know how the Swiss do things, but trust me, we Americans are a lot more thorough than that.”

“So are we Swiss, Agent Harvath, but the only way someone who doesn’t want to be found gets found is if they make some sort of mistake.”

“Or if someone tips off the people looking for you, which is what I’m afraid you did quite unknowingly.”

“Me?”

“Yes, when you sent that E-mail asking for my picture, it started a whole chain of events. When I left the U.S., I was traveling as Hans Brauner, so the people who were after me had enough pull to get both my real name and my false one put on your watch list in case I turned up. Just asking for the picture was enough to make someone suspect that you knew more than you were telling. My guess is that as soon as they had figured out I was Brauner and had come to Switzerland, they sent a hit team over here. They got both the names on the watch list, and then it was just a waiting game.

“When you sent your E-mail, it got people thinking, and they decided to tail you. Either they didn’t see me follow you from the post office, or they hadn’t begun to tail you until you went to the Jungfraujoch the next day.”

“But what about your letter? After I resealed it, I put it back in the post office box. Maybe I am not being followed at all. Maybe your letter drew the shooters. That was your intent, wasn’t it? Someone was supposed to read that letter and be sufficiently interested to show up, right? Why were you setting up a meeting at the Ice Palace in the first place, and what do you know about ‘Aunt Jane’?”

“At this point, not enough. I do know, though, that our paths have crossed for a reason, and I intend to figure out why. We need to talk more-you and me-but not here.”

“Then where?”

“Someplace else. Anywhere else. Having you here has made me realize how much danger I’ve already put Jackie in. She’s too much of a good friend. We need to find someplace safe where we can sort this all out.”

“I think I have just the place.”