I froze at the combination of a Brooklyn accent and the code for a plainclothes NYPD officer. “I’m on the job” goes back decades. The origin is unclear, but it means “I’m a cop.” So I listened.
The Fiat sputtered away from the curb. The airport building faded from the side-view.
I glanced out the rear window to see if the FBI agents were following. It looked like we were in the clear, although I had no idea what the FBI would drive in Estonia. In New York, if they weren’t in a Crown Vic or a Taurus, they were in some weird seized vehicle, like a Land Rover or Cadillac.
I sat back in the seat. The man next to me settled down, too, giving me space like a zookeeper would with an agitated animal.
He said, “That’s better.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Barry Davis, NYPD.” He grinned as if he’d just told a joke.
I took his hand and assessed him. He was a powerfully built man, about forty-five, with a crew cut that had gone gray.
I realized my hand was on my elbow where I had tried to strike Davis. It still throbbed a little, but I wasn’t going to admit it. I controlled my breathing, then pushed my hair back into place. I was stalling as I accepted my new surroundings and companions.
I said, “The driver doesn’t speak?”
Davis smiled. “He’d rather not be identified, seeing as how we’re way out of our home base doing a favor for Lieutenant Martindale.”
“That’s a good partner.”
“The best. And he doesn’t want to know why the FBI tried to detain you. You know, plausible deniability and all that shit. We figured they were more worried about their jurisdiction. They hate the NYPD.”
I asked, “Where are you assigned?”
“Paris.”
“No shit. And you came all the way up here to help me?”
“NYPD never leaves a detective behind.” He handed me a folded newspaper. “Or unarmed.”
I opened the paper to see a black Beretta 9mm inside. I pulled the slide back a few centimeters to check if a round was in the chamber. It was loaded and ready to go.
Davis smiled and said, “In case of emergency.” Then he handed me a card with just a phone number. “Any problems you can’t handle, call that number. I’ll be in Bonn on an unrelated issue. We’re off the books. No official engagement at all. But that doesn’t mean you’re alone.”
“Thanks. Did Martindale tell you what I was up to?”
“Nope. And I don’t want to know. Remember, we’ll deny everything if you cause a bunch of shit here.”
I was impressed by Martindale’s tight lips. “I won’t do anything that reflects poorly on us.”
Davis laughed. “Me? I was never here. How can it reflect poorly on me?”
I smiled. “I meant I won’t embarrass the NYPD.”
“Still not an issue I’m worried about. Cops have got enough to worry about. All I care about is that you get home safely.”
“Thanks. That’s my main concern, too.”
We pulled up to a four-story hotel on the edge of the city.
Davis said, “You’re all set up here. Good luck.” He handed me my small carry-on bag, which I thought had been lost in the scuffles.
Then they were gone.
CHAPTER 58
CHRISTOPH VISSER AND Ollie Van Netta were happy to be back in Amsterdam. Here the pot was better, they knew plenty of girls, and Christoph was able to stop by his mother’s apartment.
His mom was always happy to see her engineer. At least, that’s what he told her he did for a living. A traveling engineer. His fake diploma from Erasmus University in Rotterdam hung on the wall of her living room, along with photos of his late father.
Christoph enjoyed playing the role of dutiful and respectable son. He liked seeing his mother happy and proud, and when he visited home, he did everything his mother expected of him. He even attended mass at Christmas and Easter.
Christoph knew this deception would work because for twenty-five years his father had worked as a collector for a loan shark. Christoph’s mother had believed her husband’s lie, that he was an accountant for a private equity firm.
The gullible tend to be the happiest.
No matter what he told his mother, Christoph wanted to take care of her. She was the only one in his whole life who cared what happened to him. She was the only one he didn’t want to disappoint.
When he killed someone when he was young, Christoph realized it didn’t bother him. That wasn’t to say he enjoyed killing; he didn’t. He did it to make money. Money he planned to use on a nice house for his mother. And a wild apartment for himself.
He had, on occasion, appreciated killing someone. Like those asses Janos and Alice. He and Ollie had made good money for that one, but it had been fun, too. It had been satisfying.
He found Ollie at his favorite coffeehouse on the edge of the tourist district in Amsterdam. He usually went to a place on Handboogstraat called Dampkring. Tonight, he was in a smaller place, down the street, that didn’t mind when Ollie dozed off in a booth, as long as he spent plenty of money and didn’t cause problems.
They both had been careful to keep their profession a secret. Since they had met Endrik Laar, who liked to be called Henry, their fortunes had seen a serious upturn. They didn’t have to seek out work. Henry paid well. And they liked their small, shared apartment in Tallinn, Estonia.
In Amsterdam, Christoph maintained his own apartment. He brought home too many women to make sharing an apartment reasonable. It also gave him a sense that he was on vacation whenever he came to his hometown.
Ollie lived with his father, who operated a bed-and-breakfast in the suburb of Haarlem. His father didn’t know and didn’t care what Ollie did for a living. That worked out great for Ollie. Aside from occasionally taking out the garbage or checking in a guest, Ollie did little to help his father.
Christoph took a moment to shake his partner out of his hash-induced daze. The thirty-eight-year-old blinked his eyes a dozen times and sat up straight, as if he’d just heard a fire alarm. He brushed his brown, greasy hair from his eyes and tucked the long strands behind his ears. He looked surprised to see Christoph.
“Hello, my brother. What brings you to Nirvana?”
Christoph said, “You need to straighten up. Henry has a job for us.”
“Where?”
“I’ll give you a hint. Our Nordica flight leaves in two hours.”
“Shit. Back to Estonia?”
Christoph said, “It shouldn’t be too bad. Henry is going to give us a bonus for going to New York to kill Janos and Alice.”
“Those assholes had it coming.” He scratched his head, then looked at Christoph and asked, “Why do you think Alice shot the Asian chick in the back?”
“I guess she was just a bitch. We’ll never know. And Henry is pissed.”
Ollie said, “He’s been quick to use us lately. He’s cutting into our party time. I wonder what he wants done now.”
Christoph said, “He said something about a cop from New York.”
CHAPTER 59
THE NEXT MORNING, I was up and moving early. Early by Tallinn, Estonia, time—it was the middle of the night in New York, and I got a text telling me to call home no matter the time. I made a quick call to let Mary Catherine know I was safe. Somehow I neglected to tell her about my excitement at the airport. Just that I was staying in a lovely city with a beautiful Old Town district on a hill not far away.