The Russian Deception

CHAPTER 32

Early the next day Nick and the others were parked two blocks away from Schmidt's walled property in a Mercedes GL SUV they'd rented in Vienna. The car had enough space for all of them to sit in total luxury and five hundred and fifty horses under the hood to make Selena smile. Nick hoped they wouldn't need all that power. If they did it would mean they were in trouble.

Nick studied the compound through his binoculars. It hadn't changed since the last time he'd looked.

"Still looks like a bad idea for us," Ronnie said.

"Yeah." Nick handed the binoculars to him. "I read through the file Stephanie sent. Schmidt has a regular routine. He usually leaves here about now. His shipping business is managed out of a building he owns in the new part of the city but he doesn't always go there. There's another office in the old warehouse district. He runs the syndicate out of there."

"I wonder how he manages to get away with it?" Ronnie said.

"Money buys a lot of privacy. Besides, he's Hamburg aristocracy. His family has been here since the fifteenth century. They've built ships for hundreds of years. His father was one of Hitler's early supporters, a dyed in the wool Nazi. Speer provided him with plenty of slave labor to construct ships for the Third Reich."

"A war criminal."

"Yes. But after the war all he got was a slap on the wrist. The allies needed him to rebuild the industry."

"That kind of thing happened a lot," Selena said.

"Once the shooting stopped, everyone went back to business as usual. The old man is dead. Helmut took over years ago."

Lamont shook his head. "Doesn't seem right, letting hard-core Nazis go free."

"No, it doesn't. All those people should have been locked up."

"Or worse."

"The gate's opening," Ronnie said.

The elaborate iron gate that blocked entrance to the property was sliding open. A silver Mercedes AMG GT came through the opening, a sleek creation of the German carmaker's art.

"Nice car," Lamont said. "It looks fast."

"That's an understatement," Selena said. "That car has a turbocharged V-8 that'll do zero to sixty in a little over three and a half seconds."

"How do you know things like that?"

"I thought about buying one a while back. You know I like Mercedes."

"That has to be Schmidt," Nick said.

Selena was driving. Much as he hated to admit it, Nick knew her driving skills in a crunch situation were better than his. Besides, she spoke the language. It would come in handy if they had to deal with the police. She started the engine and waited until the silver car was a few blocks away before pulling out to follow.

They left Schmidt's exclusive suburb and in a short time entered the city. The Mercedes headed for the old part of town.

"He's going to his warehouse," Nick said.

They entered the Speicherstadt, the old warehouse district. Rows of red brick buildings lined canals feeding into the river. They might as well have stepped back into the nineteenth century, when steam was king and most of the world was ruled by a few royal families.

Ahead, Schmidt's car turned off into a narrow street between buildings. At the end of the street was a high metal fence with a gate and a warehouse beyond. As they drove past they saw the gate closing behind Schmidt's car. There was a guard shack by the fence and a large man standing outside. He was armed.

Nick said, "We're not getting in that way."

"There has to be another entrance," Ronnie said.

"The other side of the building faces on the canal."

"All these buildings seem to be connected," Selena said. "Maybe there's a way to move between them."

"If there is, I don't see how we're going to find it."

She pulled the car to the side and let it idle. Nick waved his hand at the row of warehouses lining the street.

"We can't just walk in and ask someone how to get into the next building."

"There have to be plans, architectural drawings," Selena said. "They'll be on file somewhere, probably at the town hall or whatever passes for it. Stephanie could access them. If there's a passage between these buildings, the plans would show it."

Ronnie spoke up. "Yeah, maybe, but what good does it do us? Even if we get in I don't think Schmidt is going to sit down and have a nice talk with us."

"Let's go back to the hotel," Nick said. "We need to think about this. At least we know where he lives and where he works."

"That sounds like a plan," Ronnie said.

"I guess it's better than no plan at all," Nick said.

There was no traffic on the street. Selena pulled out, backed up and turned around. She started down the street. They were passing Schmidt's warehouse when the building disintegrated in a deafening roar. The blast lifted the heavy car into the air, flipped it onto the side and slammed it into a brick wall. The airbags deployed and pinned them in their seats. Bricks and chunks of concrete rained down on the car.

The airbags deflated. Thick, black smoke folded out over the street and engulfed them. Selena hung sideways in her seat, unconscious. Nick coughed and choked.

"Jesus," Lamont said.

Nick struggled with his seatbelt. Lamont swore as he tried to get free. Ronnie took out a pocket knife and cut his belt, then reached over and freed Lamont.

"Ronnie, help me with Selena," Nick said.

Ronnie climbed from the car and wrenched open the driver's side door. Nick freed Selena's belt and boosted her up while Ronnie lifted her out. He laid her down on the street. A large, red lump swelled on her forehead. Nick climbed out of the car, followed by Lamont.

Selena opened her eyes. "What…"

"Take it easy. You took a hit on your head."

She sat up, braced herself. "Dizzy. What happened?"

"Schmidt's building. There was an explosion."

He looked back at the warehouse.

"Guess we're not going to get a chance to talk with Herr Schmidt."

The building was in ruins. The front and back walls were gone. The interior was open to the sky, collapsed in on itself. A broken gas main sent a column of flame fifty feet into the air with a sound like a giant blowtorch. Flames licked over the remains of the building. A thick column of noxious smoke coiled into the air.

Selena stood up and steadied herself by holding Nick's arm.

"Gas explosion?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Nick said. "Someone would've smelled gas long before enough accumulated to make an explosion like that. It's not like this is the middle of the night with nobody around."

"Someone wanted Schmidt dead," Ronnie said.

"Looks that way. Someone with serious explosives who knew how to use them."

The sound of sirens echoed in the distance. People were coming out of buildings along the street and staring at the destruction. The street was littered with bricks, shattered timbers, bits of paper, smoldering piles of debris.

The lump on Selena's head had grown larger. An ugly purple bruise was spreading around it.

"Helluva knock you took," Lamont said.

Selena reached up and felt the bump and winced. "It's a good thing I have a hard head." She looked at the wreckage of their car. "I think we're going to need another Mercedes."

Nick pulled out his phone. "I'd better call Harker."