'Maybe, ' Quinn said, voice neutral. He read a little more to himself. 'Duke wants to do a drive-by with me this afternoon. '
'When?'
'In an hour. '
'Can I go back inside now?' she asked. 'I'm freezing my ass off out here. '
'Yeah. When you get to the suite, download the pictures, and e-mail them to me. I'd like to take a look at them before I meet Duke. '
'You don't want to come over to see them? Maybe bring me a king-size cup of coffee?'
Quinn smiled to himself. The cold Berlin winter seemed to be thawing Orlando out. 'Just e-mail them. Nate'll bring you a cup. '
'I hate you, ' she said.
'So you've told me before. '
Chapter 18
Duke arrived in front of the Dorint Hotel ten minutes late in a Mercedes C320 sedan. 'Quinn, so good to see you, ' Duke said as Quinn climbed in.
'You haven't changed at all, ' Quinn said, smiling. That was the truth, too. Duke had not lost a pound since the last time Quinn had worked with him.
Duke just laughed, then put the car into gear and pulled away from the curb. 'Any troubles?' he asked.
'No, ' Quinn said.
'Did you have to travel far?'
'How can you live in this kind of weather?' Quinn asked, ignoring the question. Once again Duke's laughter filled the car. Tuesday's meeting was apparently going to take
place in an old, unused waterworks building in the Neukolln district of Berlin. The building was on a cobbled street only a block long named Schandauer Strasse. The water plant was on the east side, in the middle of the block. Duke parked his Mercedes at the end of the street, then handed Quinn a pair
of compact binoculars so he could take a better look at the structure. 'Are there any guards?' Quinn asked before looking through the binoculars.
Duke smiled. 'One in front and one in back, ' he said. His accent seemed thicker than it had been two years before, sounding Czech or something similar. They were speaking in English. Quinn suspected it was actually Duke's native tongue. 'The one in front, he is usually sitting in car on street near gate. '
Quinn raised the binoculars to his eyes and took a look. Sure enough, there was a man sitting in a beat-up Volvo near the entrance to the water plant. It looked like he was reading a newspaper.
'No one inside?' Quinn asked. 'Not as far as I have been able to determine, ' Duke replied, then shrugged. 'But who knows?'
The property was surrounded by a six-foot-high wrought-iron fence. Duke told him the driveway gate was latched in the middle and swung inward rather than out. The building itself was four stories high, excluding an attic, and was taller than it was wide. The facade was a mix of dark red bricks and concrete. Spaced approximately every three feet were tall, narrow sets of windows that ran vertically up the side of the building. The windows were framed in blue-painted metal.
Duke told him when he got close enough he'd be able to see gouges in the exterior where bullets and shrapnel had struck the building in the last days before Berlin fell at the end of the Second World War.
'Don't let bricks fool you, ' Duke said. 'Underneath, concrete reinforced walls. Half a meter thick. '
'What's the layout?' Quinn asked. He'd studied the blueprints, but he was hoping Duke could give him a few more details.
Duke pointed across the street to the southwest corner of the building. 'There, ' he said. 'The entrance is just around that side. Inside, the front two thirds is open space that stops just below attic. Four stories high, approximately twenty meters long by twenty meters wide. '
'That's a lot of room. '
'Used to hold machinery, but it's all gone now, ' Duke told him. 'In back there is stairway along south side. On each floor are two rooms. A small room, six meters by eight meters. And a large room, ten meters by twenty. '
'Are they all in use?'
'I do not think so. Maybe just ones on first and second floors. ' Duke paused. 'Excuse me, I forget you are American. Second and third floors. '
In Europe, the ground floor was the ground floor and the first floor was one flight up. But Quinn had already made the adjustment. 'Is that it?' Quinn asked.
'Attic, ' Duke said. 'A large space. Goes over entire building. But my guess is it is empty, not being used. I would not advise going up there. I was inside building one time many years ago. But even then the floor of attic was quite unstable. If you fall through, it is long way down. '
'And the basement?' Quinn asked.
Duke shook his head. 'I never went down there, ' he said.
The blueprints had shown only a large open area in the basement. Nothing more. 'When can I get inside?'
'Tonight would be best, if you are ready. The closer we get to time of meet, the more difficult, I think. Yes?'
'Good, ' Quinn said. 'That's what I was thinking. How do I get in?'
Duke smiled, then reached into his pocket, a process that took a lot of effort. When he pulled his hand back out, he was holding a shiny silver key.
'For front door, ' Duke said. 'Lucky Berlin is my home now. I know everyone. ' Duke chuckled. 'Is your team in place?'
'Yes. '
'May I ask who they are?'
'I'll take that key now, ' Quinn said.
Duke handed the key to Quinn. 'How will you get around the guards without causing concern?' 'You don't need to worry about that. ' Quinn raised the binoculars to his eyes again and
took another look at the building. When he was through, he handed them back to Duke.
'You have seen enough?' Duke asked.
Quinn looked at the building a moment longer, then nodded. 'For now. '
Quinn had Duke drop him off in Charlottenburg on the pretense that he had a few things to pick up before visiting the water plant that evening.
Instead, he made his way to the U-bahn station and caught the U7 east. He got off at Berliner Strasse, checking as he did to see if anyone had decided to join him. No one had.
He switched to the U9, taking it north to Kurfürstendamm, where he got off in the same manner. Still there was no one suspicious. He went up to street level and inserted himself into the crowds on Ku'damm for nearly a half hour. He pretended to window-shop, all the while keeping an eye on his back trail. Finally, when he was confident he was alone, he caught a taxi back to the Mitte. He had the driver drop him off two blocks from the Four Seasons, then made the rest of the way to Orlando's suite on foot.
He let himself in with the key he'd kept. As he entered, Nate jumped up from the couch where he'd apparently been watching the TV. Immediately his apprentice grabbed the remote and turned the volume down. Orlando, on the other hand, was hunched over her computer, her attention firmly on the screen.
'How did it go?' she asked without looking up.
Quinn gave them a quick rundown.
'Still no direct connection to the disruption of the Office, though, ' he said. 'Did he have anything else?' Quinn shook his head. 'Not really. He said while
the Office was never mentioned by name, he felt certain it was what all the noise was about. He said he "had a feeling. '"
'No mention of Borko?' Nate asked.
'Nothing. I didn't ask either. Borko scares a lot of people, and I was afraid Duke might suddenly disappear on us. Like it or not, we need him right now. ' There was a bottle of water on the coffee table near Nate. Quinn pointed at it. 'You drinking that?'
Nate picked it up and tossed it to him.
'So what do you think?' she asked.
Quinn shrugged. 'It's probably better than an even chance this is a dead end. But we don't have much else to go on. ' He opened the bottle and took a sip. 'Learn anything?'
She hit a couple keys on the keyboard. 'Yes. But it's not what I was expecting. '
Quinn waited.
'Word is, the reason Borko was out of touch for the past month and a half was that he was recovering.'
'From what?'
'A bullet in the shoulder and another in his hip. He was doing a job fo
r the Syrians. Apparently it didn't go well. '
'Who shot him?' Quinn asked.
'I don't know. But I do know it took place in Rome. Zeus was on cleanup. He said he barely had time to get Borko out of there before the local cops showed up. '
'You talked to Zeus?' 'Uh-huh. But that's all he'd give me, ' she said. 'He claimed he didn't know who Borko was meeting. '
'It was an exchange?' Quinn wandered over to the window and peered outside. Dark clouds were gathering over the city. Snow was forecast for later that evening. 'You sure it wasn't just an ordinary hit?'
'You mean with Borko as the target?'
'Him or his contact. ' 'Zeus said it was a straight exchange. He doesn't
know why it went bad. ' 'And Borko was working for the Syrians?' 'According to Zeus. ' Quinn looked back at Orlando. 'Do you believe
him?' She hesitated, then shook her head. 'What do you think happened?' he asked. 'Nothing.' 'Nothing?' 'I did a little more checking, ' Orlando said. 'There
are no police reports in Rome even hinting that something like what Zeus described went down that night. If the cops almost caught them, there should have been something. '
'You don't think the operation in Rome ever
happened.' 'No, ' she said. 'I don't. ' Quinn glanced back out the window. 'Interesting.
So Zeus is lying. ' Orlando nodded. 'But why?' Quinn asked. 'To create a smokescreen?' she offered. 'Provide
a way for Borko to get out of the spotlight so he
could concentrate on the bigger picture?' 'Like taking out the Office, ' Quinn said. Orlando frowned, then shook her head. 'It's weak. ' Quinn sighed in agreement. 'It would be a hell
of a lot easier if someone just claimed responsibility.' 'That'd take all the fun out of it, though, ' Orlando said.
Quinn took another drink of water, then set the bottle on the side table next to the couch. 'All right. Borko's still a suspect, but we'll remain open to other possibilities. '
'Right, ' Orlando said.
'But if it is Borko, there's something else that's missing.' 'You mean motive?' Nate asked. 'No, ' Quinn said. 'The only motive he needs is
money. It's more a question of who's paying the bills. Borko's strictly a hired gun. '
Orlando hesitated. 'I might know the answer to that.'
'Tell me, ' Quinn said.
'I've found a couple references of Borko being involved with Dahl. ' 'Dahl?' Quinn said. 'That name sounds familiar. ' 'Yeah, ' she said. 'That's what I was thinking, so
I did a little digging. Apparently he's been around since the late eighties. A fringe player. Haven't been able to talk to anyone who's worked with him, but I'm still checking. I get the impression he's now fronting a lot of Borko's work. '
'Another winner.' Quinn closed his eyes in thought. 'What a mess.'
'I could be wrong.'
Quinn let out a humorless laugh. 'Okay. We concentrate on Duke's lead first. Maybe it's Borko. Maybe it's somebody else. Maybe it's this Dahl guy. Hopefully, no matter what, it'll clear things up. If not, and Borko's not involved in this meeting, we'll go after him directly.'
Orlando nodded.
'Nate. You're with me tonight,' Quinn said.
'Okay,' Nate said.
Quinn looked at Orlando. 'You'll keep tabs on us by radio from here. I can let you know if I find anything useful.'
'Lucky me,' she said.
Chapter 19
It was a quarter after ten. Schandauer Strasse was quiet and dark. The only illumination came from a few security lamps attached to apartment buildings farther down the block. There were no streetlights.
Cars lined either side of the road, leaving no place to park, but Quinn and Nate didn't need one. A taxi had dropped them off several blocks away, near the city administrative building on Karl Marx Strasse. They were dressed warmly, in dark clothes. On Quinn's back was a black backpack. Heavy, but manageable.
'You want me to go over it again?' Quinn asked as they walked down the cobblestone sidewalk toward Schandauer Strasse.
Nate shook his head. 'I keep out of sight, watch the street, let you know if there's anything unusual. Right?'
'Not just unusual,' Quinn said. 'Anything. Got it?'
'I got it.'
A couple of hours earlier it had begun to snow. Lightly at first, but it had increased steadily until it was falling at a rate of nearly an inch an hour.
Quinn guessed by morning there probably would be over a foot on the ground.
At the corner of Schandauer Strasse, they paused to study the water plant. Like most of the rest of the buildings on the street, it was dark.
'There,' Quinn said, speaking in a low voice. 'The Ford parked near the gate.'
The Volvo that had been there that afternoon was gone. In its place was a Ford sedan. Quinn could just make out the shape of a person sitting in the driver's seat.
'I see him,' Nate said.
'Are you in yet?' Orlando's voice sounded in Quinn's ear. 'We're at the end of the street,' Quinn said. 'Tell me what you see,' Orlando said. Quinn scanned the street. 'Schandauer Strasse.
It's cobbled. Just wide enough for cars to park on both sides of the street and still have two-way traffic. Quiet. The water plant is half a block away. To the right, there's a three-story building. Looks like it's used for offices. To the left a smaller building. Brick. There's a Ford sedan with a guard in it parked where the other car had been this afternoon.'
'What about the water plant?'
'Just like I described it to you this afternoon. Only dark now.' 'Anything else?' 'Other than it's cold and wet and snowing and I should still be on Maui?'
'Yeah.'
'Nothing,' Quinn said.
* * *
204
Quinn and Nate made their way carefully along the row of parked cars until they came to the back of the Ford. They waited a moment to be sure they hadn't been noticed, then Quinn reached up and attached a small ball of a putty-like substance to the bottom corner of the rear passenger-side window. When activated by heat, it would work its way around the rubber weather strip lining the window and enter the interior of the car as an odorless gas. Within moments, whoever was inside would be knocked out for up to two hours.
Quinn waited a moment to be sure the putty was staying in place, then retrieved a small plastic packet from his coat. He carefully opened it and removed a thin, mesh fabric pad. He placed this directly over the compound on the window, careful to cover the putty completely, then took several steps back.
They watched as the ball began to reduce in size, the pad not only heating it but also directing the gas to go into the car instead of out onto the street. When it was done, Quinn looked at his watch and waited a full three minutes before nodding to Nate.
'He's out,' Nate said, after he'd peeked into the front of the car. 'That stuff's cool.'
'Are you ready?' Quinn asked, all business.
Nate nodded.
Quinn put a hand on Nate's back. 'Remember –'
'To tell you everything,' Nate finished.
'Good man.' Quinn made a final scan of the street. All was quiet. 'Okay, into position.' Nate nodded, then moved across the street to a spot they had determined prior to arriving. Quinn
checked the guard one last time. The man's head was tilted back against the seat, his mouth half open. Quinn glanced down at the sentry's chest to make sure the man was breathing. He was.
After giving Nate a quick wave, Quinn moved over to the fence. He quickly scanned the street and the water plant for signs of another sentry. There was no one.
After taking a deep breath, Quinn pulled himself over the fence and dropped down on the other side. He found himself on a short driveway that ran in front of the building and around to the south end, where the door was.
In the left-hand pocket of his jacket was the key Duke had given him and a small but powerful flashlight. Quinn removed the key but left the flashlight. For the moment there was enough residual light to see what he was doi
ng. As he neared the door the silence that had enveloped the street was replaced by a muffled, low-level hum. It took him a second before he realized it was coming from inside the building.
He slipped the key into the lock and turned it. The lock was a little sticky, but it appeared to be old, so that wasn't surprising. After he heard the latch click, he slowly pulled the door open. There was no light coming from inside. He took a deep breath, then stepped into the building and closed the door behind him.
He was instantly enveloped by total darkness. He remained motionless for several moments, listening. Other than the loud hum, there was no other noise. He shoved the key back in his pocket, pulled out the flashlight, and turned it on. A quick sweep of the beam revealed he was alone.
'Nate, how's the street?' Quinn asked.
'Freezing,' Nate said, then added, 'all quiet.'
'You should be used to the cold by now,' Orlando said.
'I seem to remember you not being too happy when you had to stand in front of the Dorint,' Nate said.
'I was just faking it,' she said. 'Thought it might make you feel better.' 'Enough,' Quinn said. 'In case anyone's interested, I'm in.'
He aimed the light at the front of the building and began to make a more thorough investigation of his new surroundings. It didn't take long to discover why it was so dark inside. Wooden baffles had been erected over the inside of the windows and were secured firmly to the walls. As an added precaution, thick cloth strips had been affixed to where each baffle met the wall, guaranteeing no light from outside could seep in.
To the side of the door was a steel reinforced panel. The panel was mounted on tracks and could easily slide in front of the entrance, effectively sealing off the room.
He uttered aloud, 'What the hell do they need that for?'
'What're you talking about?' Orlando asked.
He described the baffled windows and the security door to her. 'Everything looks recently installed.' He noticed there was a distinct odor in the room, too. Not offensive. In fact, quite the opposite. Clean,
almost antiseptic. But not like a hospital. The antiseptic smell of a hospital was tinged with medicine and death. This smell was the clean of a room thoroughly disinfected, scrubbed from top to bottom and then wiped down with an abundance of ammonia.
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