She looked around. Nothing!
There was an open garage door.
Maybe they went into it? Probably they did. Sandy decided to enter the garage and have a look. But hardly had she gotten in when the door shut.
She stood in the dark, and now a flashlight shone in her face.
*******
While Bian, Andrea, and Yvonne were on the way to Immerath, they discussed again all aspects which could be important in connection with the disappearance of Bruno.
Bruno had contact with Islamists, that was weird, but he did. This contact probably came through an old friend of Bruno, they were sure. Also, one of Bruno’s customers was an engineer who often had to do with Belgian nuclear power plants. That sounded like a dangerous combination. And there was an American woman named Sandy, who hid a bug in Bruno's jacket. Bruno and Bian at least found the microphone. But of course the question was not finally answered, who actually did this.
Now Yvonne gave new information: “Yes, this peculiar American was also with me. First, I thought that would be the Customs and they would investigate for undeclared work. Only the slightly American accent did not fit with that. She asked a lot of questions about taxi drivers, and she asked in particular about Bruno. I'm, of course, not stupid and gave her as good as no information. However, I blabbed that you both live together, Bian and Bruno.”
“Now I`m beginning to understand the background," Bian said. “So that`s the reason why she suddenly showed up with me.” The three considered the possibility that not Islamists, but perhaps some foreign agents might have kidnapped Bruno, and that Sandy could be part of them. It did not appear probable. But they know nothing and relied on guesswork.
“It looks like Americans are interested in Bruno because of his contacts with the Islamists," Andrea said. At the same time, she looked in the rear-view mirror and noticed a silver-grey car following them. For several kilometers the car always keeps equidistant.
“There`s a suspicious car,” she said now to the other two.
“There`s someone following us!”
“Maybe this is even someone of the Islamists or the Americans we have just discussed. But I think it`s a woman driving the car. Don`t think they`re Islamists. Well, we shall see immediately. I will bring them to get out of the car and then I'll outsmart that bitch.”
The others wanted to be cautious. But Andrea acted; she wanted to know what was going on. She opened a drawer in the center console of the car and took out a stable large flashlight and a stun gun.
Andrea was always courageous, someone who was not easily intimidated. She said a woman who drives a cab at night should not be an anxious mouse and should be tough enough if it came to fisticuffs.
Even as a young girl, as someone wanted to intimidate her by saying, “Beware, I have no problems beating up girls,” she answered only, "And I have no problems beating up boys!”
Andrea drove slowly around some corners, to confuse the follower. The car remained just as far behind them, that they didn’t lose track. Now Andrea noticed an open garage door next to one of the abandoned houses. She stopped abruptly and told the other two to get out and to go into the garage to hide there. Slightly confused, they quickly followed Andrea`s order. Now Andrea had the massive flashlight in one hand and the stun gun in the other. After less than a second, the three were no longer visible for their follower. Andrea murmured still: “I´ll get the bitch.”
*******
“Fuck.”
This was the first Sandy thought after a short daze.
Suddenly, she was blinded. A short shock went through the body and then followed a blow with a blunt object on her head. Now she laid on the ground and this strong German taxi driver knelt on her. Something like this should have never have happened her. She was tricked by amateurs! But she was just too careless.
"So, now you tell us who you are, whom you work for, why you followed us, and what do you want from Bruno.”
Sandy was silent.
Her gaze turned away from Andrea. Then she saw the other two women. She looked at Bian.
Damn, the whole thing was embarrassing. She looked around; no one else was there. Sandy remembered Yvonne, the radio operator with whom she had spoken. She saw the door of the garage was open.
“As long as this horse is kneeling on me, I have of course no chance to escape. But the other two don’t look as if they could be dangerous for me in a fight. If I can move, I surely will know how to help, and I´ll be able to leave here,” Sandy thought.
Now, Bian knelt beside her, looked deeply in her eyes and said, “You know I worry about Bruno. Tell me what you know, I need to find him so badly!”
Sandy was still silent. But she was mentally very touched. There was a woman afraid about her partner. A person who was totally harmless, Sandy felt. She was now sure Bian didn’t know anything and was only full of fear for Bruno. Sandy herself wanted to combat terrorism, but now she was captured by tree rather harmless women who had nothing to do with terrorists. What did really happen in the last hours seemed to be unknown to all of them. Sandy was now sure about it; she felt a deep affection for Bian.
“Come on and speak,” Andrea ordered in a harsh tone.
“Who do you work for, what do you know about Bruno? You can't come out of the situation without telling us what you know! If you don`t speak, I`ll open your mouth,” Andrea said.
Bian put a soothing hand on Andrea’s shoulder, who still knelt on Sandy. Bian looked at Sandy and implored:
“Please tell me what you do know so that we can find Bruno.”
Sandy closed her eyes for a moment. What should she do? Suddenly she heard the words of her Daddy, who spoke to her sometimes when she was not sure what to do. She felt as if she heard his voice now, though he had been dead for some years.
“If it`s hard to choose the right way, listen to your feelings. Your feelings are the language of your soul. The soul knows what the mind cannot comprehend.”
Sandy now looked at Bian, then at Andrea and Yvonne, and again she looked in Bian`s eyes. At last she began to speak. "I work for the U.S. Government and I`m active in the fight against terrorism. But I won`t tell any details about my job.
“We don`t know where Bruno is at the moment, as you don`t apparently either. But there are indications that Islamist terrorists are planning a big thing, and probably Bruno is somehow involved. Although I am personally convinced that Bruno himself is not a bad person, we need to find him so that a catastrophe can be avoided. We all finally want the same thing. Let`s go our way together. Tell me what you know, and I'm ready to find Bruno together with you.”
Sandy knew she had left the line of duty, but in spite of this, she felt better now.
"I don't know if we can trust her,” Andrea said.
Yvonne was holding back her opinion. Bian considered for some time then she said, “Recently I could have nearly killed you, Sandy, so angry I was about you. But I believe you and it`s reasonable to work together. Let`s trust each other.”
Bian was in charge on this issue among the three. It was all about the life of her partner. Andrea got up and Sandy regained her freedom of movement. For a second a thought shot through her mind: “Now take advantage of the situation and quickly disappear. Otherwise, it will soon be quite embarrassing to tell my boss how it went right here.” But she wasn’t doing that. She slowly stood up and stretched out her hand to Bian. Both women shook hands, the beginning of a new friendship.
“Tell me everything you know, please. I promise to do my very best to help you.”
"Actually, we know almost nothing. Bruno has disappeared without a trace. He had a fare, an engineer named Gerster to Belgium, to a nuclear power plant. But since this morning he has been missing. We have come here only by chance. Bruno has sometimes spoken of the ghost town of Immerath and it would an ideal place to hide. He can certainly no longer be in the area of Grevenbroich. We have checked it thoroughly. I`ve a feeling from the guts, he might be here somewhere, against hi
s will…”
“It is not much what we know. But all the same. Let's just start!” Sandy thought.
*******
Now all four discussed how to proceed best. Go by the car through the streets? That would be faster, but made it easy to overlook something. This ghost town was small enough it was possible to walk. So, they decided to form two groups of two and begin to have a look at every house. They would stay in contact by cell. Andrea and Yvonne took over one half of the village, Bian and Sandy the other.
In quick steps, both marched through the streets of the small abandoned town. They paid careful attention for signs that someone was recently here or one of the houses seemed to be inhabited. But everything looked deserted and extinct. Doors locked, shutters down, windows partially nailed, and the lawn in the front gardens has not been cut for long time. Abandonment and sadness were all about this place.
At the beginning, Bian and Sandy didn’t speak a word to each other. The personal disappointment was still between them.
At last Sandy broke the awkward silence. She talked of her daddy, whom she has loved and admired. He died so tragically in the rubble of the World Trade Center, murdered by terrorists. Therefore, she has dedicated her life to defend the USA, her country, the best and most free country in the world, and she will fight with all her power against terrorism.
She regretted having to lie to Bian, but it was probably necessary in the sense of the higher target, to defend the United States and to wipe out terrorism. But now, Sandy was glad they both could pull one strand now, searching for Bruno and hopefully finding him soon. They would make it. Thank God. She was very hopeful.
Bian interjected, “September 11 was, of course, a nasty mess. Those terrorists were criminal, of course. I don`t want to offend you, but according to my opinion, the world is not as easy, as you apparently think.
“Do you really mean it is good for the United States to be present everywhere around the world and you get popular by this? Look, I was born in Viet Nam. There were first the French, then the Japanese, then the French and finally the Americans. The people felt all them as foreign rulers and they have exempted themselves finally in a long civil war, which was very cruel. My family had been on the wrong side, and so we were forced to flee after all out of the country, to survive. Don't you think many people in the Arab States see the USA similar as in the 1970s most Vietnamese people did? They consider the US as a foreign power that only exploits them and supports Israel that is their enemy.”
Sandy was now really outraged: “Why do you say so? This is primitive Islamist and anti-American propaganda. We have nearly no military now in the Middle East and our economic presence and collaboration helps the people and gives them the chance to gain prosperity. On top of that, we promote democracy and human rights everywhere in the world. Tell me, where would you prefer to live? In a theocracy of Islamists with Sharia, oppression of women, and medieval orientation, or in a country that`s following US patterns including democracy and human rights?”
“Of course I don't want to live in an Islamic theocracy,” Bian replied.
“But you really think that the United States exports democracy and human rights to Arab countries? It`s a matter of a fact that they work together with any reactionary regime, supported by a small cliques suppressing the mass of the people and exploiting them. Main thing is, the oil interests of the United States are preserved. And it is also true that a small minority of Israelis with the backing of the United States is consuming the largest share of resources, while the Palestinian masses have to live with much less water, for example.
“Don't you think that this way is promoting terrorism too? And a person called a terrorist by one side is called a freedom fighter by the other side. And don`t you know that many innocent people are killed as so called collateral damage in you fight against terrorism? Whoever kills innocent people kills his own soul. And you should always have in mind that mothers in the Middle East or in Asia cry for their children just as mothers in the US do.”
"But people in Europe should be quiet, we are defending their freedom and their standard of living too,” Sandy remarked outraged now.
“You may be right so far. But that cannot compensate hundreds of millions who are living under oppression and in poverty in the countries of the Middle East. And as long as this condition is ongoing, the Islamic terrorism will have no problem finding supporters.”
The debate was heated, but not without respect for the position of the other. At the same time the two were looking around and searching for all abnormalities that may indicating someone had been recently here. But no hint at all. But suddenly Bian’s cell phone rang.
Andrea called. “Hi, I don't know if that has a special meaning. But here is a house that looks totally deserted. All windows are nailed. But we noticed behind the house fresh tire tracks that lead to a gate, which is closed. Looks as if someone drove through here recently.”
“Sounds very interesting, where are you?”
“Erlenstrasse, is the name of the street.”
“OK. Do nothing at the moment, we will come immediately.”
Gerster and Bruno in the hands of terrorists
Anwar yelled at Bruno.
"Shut up! You, stay out of this! You`re a wimp! You`re a traitor!”
He kept an open cutthroat razor in his hand and waved it towards Gerster right in front of his face. Gerster was tied to a chair.
“If you don't talk now, I'm going to hurt you. Maybe even cut off an ear for the beginning, but I think much more will happen soon.”
Gerster looked at him pale and big eyed. Saleh observed this from behind the scenes without saying a word and Bruno felt numb.
No!
Torture was something Bruno would never consent to. He was shocked, and his former friend Martin, who now called himself Saleh, was still in the background, but clearly endorsed this brutal procedure. Bruno shook his head.
Decades ago he theoretically advocated revolutionary violence too, but now he felt clearly the difference between the theoretical endorsement of violence and a close to skin experience. Now, as he felt the fear of the prisoner, he could never approve. But it was obviously not possible for him to stop anything.
They wanted to know the password of Gerster`s laptop. At first, he refused to say anything but now he felt so much pressure and fear. He gave up resistance. At last Gerster sighed and told them the password.
Saleh sat immediately in front of the laptop searching through all files. Anwar stood behind him and looked over his shoulder. Bruno stood helpless beside the bound Gerster and tried to avoid any eye contact with him, while Gester looked at Bruno contemptuously. He knew only because his trust had been abused, those terrorists were able to lure him into the ambush and to overpower him.
Bruno knew that his comrades wanted Gerster`s laptop. And the idea to steal a laptop didn`t seem to be very bad to Bruno. But he hadn`t thought of the password and even if he had thought of this problem, he would never had agreed that torture or only the threat of torture were a way to solve this problem.
What was so important with this laptop? Why did his friends want to know its content whatever it takes?
Saleh was busy dealing with the files on Gerster’s computer for an hour. Then he smiled with satisfaction.
“We have everything we need. You can immediately call and tell that we have all data. But only use the prepaid phone that we have bought anonymously yesterday, all other cells must be off!”
Anwar took a cell phone from his jacket pocket. He switched it on and typed a long number. When the connection was established, he said only a few words in Arabic and immediately closed the call.
Anwar nodded. "Now we will meet in a few hours Suleiman and then we can strike. With Allah`s help we will succeed.”
Then he pointed at Bruno and Gerster.
“What do we do with them?”
“Suleiman will decide. Until he arrives, we will wait. It will not be for long time.”
Anwar was totally confused.
“What are you doing? We have turned off all cells. It was a strict order! The enemy must not be able to locate us. And now this?"
“Oh, this is a newly purchased prepaid phone too. No one will be able to locate us. That was just necessary information. You do not need to know everything. Order from the leadership! But I want time to go outside and walk around the house, so I am sure that no one is watching us.”
Anwar's question seemed to be answered, but not all suspicion had been extinguished.
*******
When Bian and Sandy arrived at the suspected place, Andrea put a finger on her lips and implied they should be very quiet. She pointed at man-sized wall and whispered to Bian, “Look over it.”
Bian and Sandy stretched themselves and carefully looked over the wall. There was Bruno's old friend Martin in the backyard. He had a cell in hand, apparently making a phone call.
They’d seen enough. All four withdrew now a few meters from the wall, put their heads together and discussed.
"If this one is here, then Bruno is probably not too far,” Sandy said.
"If they did not already something to him,” Bian remarked, full of fear.
“But the main question is, what can we do now? We don't even know who and how many people are in there.”
Sandy thought for a moment about calling boss Mike and requesting reinforcement. But no, that could be very embarrassing! For at first, she would need to explain in this case why she had collaborated with such amateurs here and how she had come in this situation. Everything would look like as if she was overcharged with this job. No, she would not call him.
Whoever Kills The Innocent Page 4
