Nemesis: Innocence Sold

by Ross, Stefanie

  His head lowered, Daniel ignored the question. Every second helped him recover from the blows and kicks.

  Paulsen grabbed his shoulders. “What is it now?”

  Daniel inconspicuously shifted his weight to his right leg and spun around. His strength was sufficient to free him from the grip and cause Paulsen to stagger. He wanted to follow up with a kick to the groin, but at the last moment Paulsen turned away; however, he took hold of his thigh, his face twisted in pain. “Is that answer enough?”

  Limping, Paulsen backed away from him. Daniel cursed. That was too soon. Against a weapon he would have no chance. With a step backward, he brought himself closer to the edge of the sea; he appeared to stumble and fell to the ground. Paulsen couldn’t resist the temptation. Instead of threatening him with his pistol, Paulsen drew back to strike him with the weapon. Daniel screamed when the muzzle cracked against his shoulder. In the fetal position, he tried to protect himself from the blows and kicks raining down on him and to get himself closer to the shore at the same time. Finally, only inches separated him from the water. His world swayed when Paulsen connected hard with his temple. Gray veils before his eyes darkened his vision, but he hadn’t yet lost sight of his goal. His foot shot up when Paulsen bent over him. This time he didn’t miss his mark. With a hand pressed to his groin, Paulsen collapsed. Daniel exploited the time and, with effort, stood up. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two men running toward them. He didn’t have much time left; another blow or kick could mean the end for him and for Sandra, as well.

  Paulsen had recovered from the impact astonishingly quickly. His pistol still pointed unsurely at Daniel, he got to his feet.

  Daniel effortlessly succeeded in faking panic. “No,” he hoarsely exclaimed. His gaze flickered from the sea back to his enemy. “Not with me, you perverted swine.” He jumped.

  CHAPTER 34

  His assessment had been correct: the water was just over three feet deep and deepened at a steep angle. More than enough room for a SEAL to maneuver. Despite his bound hands, Daniel managed to move quickly away from shore. Now what mattered was whether he would be able to dive long enough. He hadn’t had much of an opportunity to enrich his blood with the much-needed oxygen. He ignored the pounding in his skull and the stabbing pain in his chest; he wasn’t sure whether the latter was caused by actual injuries or because he had left Sandra. He had wisely refrained from looking in her direction. He had to believe that she knew he would never leave her behind.

  The sea together with the gathering darkness should give him enough cover for the men to believe he had drowned. He jerked when a bright line suddenly appeared in front of him. At first he thought he had been mistaken; then he heard distinct low sounds that told him Paulsen and his men were firing a hailstorm of bullets into the sea. Something struck him in the side. He opened his mouth in pain and lost valuable oxygen. His teeth clenched, he doubled his efforts and increased his speed. His lungs burned from their demand for oxygen, and everything in him screamed to rise to the surface. Nevertheless, he forced himself to keep swimming underwater with powerful kicks. It wasn’t until he felt his knees almost touching the ground that he pushed above the surface and gasped for air. It took quite some time before he could check his position; then he heaved a sigh of relief. He had reached the belt of reeds, which would offer him sufficient cover. He could only vaguely see that there were still men standing on the shore and looking in the wrong direction. The neighboring property to the left of Paulsen would have been an obvious destination, but the mansion was utterly dark, and nobody was probably there. Thanks to the satellite photograph, he knew Paulsen’s property was separated from a freely accessible beach area by a dense belt of bushes. No one would assume he was there—he hoped. He had reached the first milestone; the question now was what options he had, being unarmed and injured. But that would have to wait.

  In the shallow water, he began to bring his bound hands in front of his body. The cold water and his soaked clothing had caused his muscles and joints to become stiff despite the exertion. It was only on the third try that he managed to get his hands over his hips. He was thankful for the training program he had been through. Shivering, he opened Sandra’s pocketknife, a task that required great effort. At least the little thing was sharp enough to cut through the zip ties. Cautiously, he pushed aside some reeds and waded toward the shore. No sound, no movement. Relieved, he took a short break. He had feared that Paulsen would send his men to search the shore, but he saw no one.

  His jacket could be written off. Completely soaked, it offered no protection against the cool evening temperatures. Daniel hid it in the belt of reeds, where it wouldn’t be discovered until daybreak at the earliest. A sticky warmth at his side reminded Daniel of the hail of bullets. He gasped when he felt the entry wound. The injury was slight, but an excessive loss of blood was the last thing he needed. A piece of his T-shirt would have to do as a makeshift bandage. He pressed the fabric against the wound as he thought about how to acquire dry clothing and weapons. He smiled as he became conscious of the unlikeliness of finding these items in this remote part of Paulsen’s lot. Working his way toward the street wasn’t an option, either. They would definitely see him there, and if he actually encountered someone, it would probably be too late for Sandra by the time he had convinced that person he was one of the good guys and needed help. That left only the dirt track that led back to where he had come from. Perhaps he would find what he needed in Paulsen’s main building, and Paulsen would certainly not be looking for him there. He hadn’t gone ten yards when he abruptly stopped. Voices. He sprinted toward the spreading boughs of a willow, the only camouflage available to him other than the belt of reeds. The bushes beside him were too dense, and it would cause an unbelievable amount of noise if he tried to hide in there.

  When he crouched down, pain shot through his side and took his breath away. Perhaps the gunshot wound was more than a harmless scratch, but there was nothing he could do now. At least two men were approaching. Great. Then one of Mark’s standard sayings occurred to him: Turn an apparent disadvantage into an advantage. The men had what he urgently needed. He just had to put them out of action, as they wouldn’t voluntarily part with their clothing or weapons.

  The numbing effect of the cold water and the shock faded away; the pounding in his body became intolerable. He bit his hand hard to avoid crying out. Nevertheless, the men appeared to have noticed him. They had stopped. Daniel was relieved and let out the breath he had been holding in when he heard the sound of a lighter.

  “Such nonsense. The guy drowned. Period,” one of the men said.

  “That’s what I think, too. And if he was really alive, he’d go to the boardwalk or the boathouse on the other side. Anyway, we’d have seen him by now. This is a complete waste of time.”

  “You know . . .” A deep breath, then the man continued. “I get why he jumped. Drowning’s better than what Paulsen was planning to do with him.”

  First there was silence, then the lighter again. “I don’t know. But I’m going to drive home after this, and I’m done. Paulsen can take care of this crap on his own. Children? No way. There are limits.”

  “You have two kids, right?”

  “A boy and a girl. Four and five.”

  “My daughter just turned three.”

  “And?”

  “The same as you. I disliked the thing with those two from the start. I mean, you don’t believe they’re the only ones who know what’s going on. Tomorrow this place is going to blow up, and I want to be far away from here.”

  “So do I. Should we still walk to the end of the path?”

  “Sure. Dutiful to the end.”

  After some raw laughter, the two men moved on.

  Daniel waited for them to pass. Anyone on his team would have identified the tangle of branches as a potential source of danger; this wasn’t true of the men on the dirt track. Apparently unconcerned, they approached. When the larger man was close to the willow, Daniel d
ived forward. A willow branch hit Daniel in the face like a whip; ignoring the pain, he hit the man in the throat and knocked him out. Daniel whirled around to face the smaller man, who had frozen with his pistol pointed at Daniel. The man backed up, wide-eyed, and let out a frightened yell. A direct attack would have amounted to suicide, given the distance and the gun. Resignation threatened to overcome Daniel. If he had only been a second faster, he would have taken out the second man, too.

  Disbelief replaced the shock on the man’s face. “That’s . . . Don’t move, or . . . How is that possible?”

  Daniel raised his hands to chest height. “Take your buddy and split. My people are already on their way to arrest Paulsen. If you disappear now, you’ll get out of this. I don’t know who you are, and it doesn’t interest me.”

  The smaller man looked around uncertainly; then he straightened up. “That’s too risky. You cops would never let someone go. If your people were coming, I’d have heard something already.” He looked at his buddy, who wasn’t moving. “Did you kill him?”

  “No. He’ll wake up with a headache soon. And? How do you want things to go? Surely you don’t think I’m going to go back without a fight.”

  “No, I’m not that naive. But you’re going to be good and wait here until I’m back with reinforcements. Get down on the ground, facedown. No false moves!”

  It sounded like he was going to knock Daniel unconscious. Given the desperate situation, if the man tried, one of them would end up dead. “Don’t do it,” Daniel pleaded in a raw voice.

  The man’s eyelids twitched; then he shook his head. “I’m sorry, but that’s just how it is. Get down now, or you’re going to have a bullet in your knee.”

  Dive to the side, cross the distance, disarm the man, and bring him down. The full program. Daniel had to be faster than he had ever been in training, at a time when his knees were about to give out under him and his vision was blurred. He breathed evenly and forced himself to calm down.

  “You’re going to have to put a bullet in my head,” Daniel said, tensing every muscle. Before he could attack, he heard a deep growling next to him. Before he had identified the sound, a dark shape detached itself from the bushes and flew toward the man.

  The man emitted a shrill scream, then fell backward to the ground. The pistol landed next to him on the path. Blinking, Daniel tried to understand what had happened. He had to get to the weapon, but after the first step his legs gave out. Then he saw that a German shepherd was holding the man in check. Not just some dog—Kaspar. Then Daniel realized he was being held, and he tensed.

  “Take it slow, Daniel. Let me take a look at you first, partner. Then we’ll continue.”

  Tom’s calm voice caused something in him to break. All strength left him, and he would have finally collapsed if Tom hadn’t increased his hold and let him sink gently to the ground. “Just a second. I’ll make sure those two don’t cause us any more trouble.” He didn’t hear the rest of Tom’s words; deep blackness surrounded him.

  A stabbing pain brought Daniel back to consciousness. He jerked upright and sank back with a groan.

  “Take it easy, man. Have you gone insane? Your ribs look terrible, and you’ve lost a lot of blood.”

  “Tell me something I don’t know,” Daniel said. “Did you bring my equipment? How are you still alive? How long was I out?”

  “Which answer do you want first?” Tom asked while he applied a bandage to Daniel’s side with adhesive strips. “The pain should lessen soon. I just gave you one of your miracle shots. With that I’ve answered your first question: I have your stuff with me. The bastards hit me with a couple nasty rounds, but only in the vest. Well, ‘only’ doesn’t quite do it justice; it was pretty rough.”

  Daniel’s gaze passed over Tom’s chest, and Tom dismissed his concern. “Later. I don’t think anything’s broken. And even if it is, it’s not going to run away. I had just gotten back on my feet but was pretty wobbly when Martin showed up. Fortunately, I was right in assuming they had come here—otherwise things would have looked damned bad. And you were out for less than two minutes. What’s the situation?”

  “In a second. Who else is here?”

  “You mean other than my four-legged friend? Martin’s over on the street briefing the team. Sven and Stephan are on their way and are working on disguising it as a police mission. But it will still take the boys a few minutes to get here. Ten, maybe fifteen, I’d guess; I’m not certain.”

  “We don’t have that much time. If Paulsen notices that two of his men are missing, he’s going to draw the correct conclusions and get rid of all the evidence, including Sandra. She . . . I . . . Damn it, I had to leave her behind. There was no other way. I . . .” He closed his eyes and fought the fear. Despite his hurting ribs, Daniel took a deep breath; then he had himself back under control. “How did you find me?”

  “I didn’t. It was Kaspar; he brought me directly here. And to be honest he’s more effective in open country than my actual partner.”

  The dog had come closer, panting, and now licked Daniel’s hand. “But I don’t drool,” Daniel joked. He slowly sat up and nodded when the pain became tolerable. “It’s working again. Thanks for doing my job. Let’s get going.”

  Tom opened his backpack. “You know it’d be better for you to leave this to me and the team?” After looking at Daniel’s stubborn expression, Tom sighed. “That’s what I thought. You’re in luck. I guessed you were going to opt for a dive.” He handed him dry boots, black combat pants, and a sweatshirt.

  “Are you a psychic now?” Daniel asked while he changed and strapped on his equipment in record time. When he had stowed his Sig in the thigh holster and two extra magazines in the bulletproof vest, he felt considerably better.

  Only then did he notice that Tom hadn’t reacted to his one-liner. His expression was inscrutable when he slowly shook his head. “I had a bad feeling the entire day. And the business with the sea made sense. You had to get away from there. Tell me later how you managed that.”

  “I had no choice.” A sharp pain shot through Daniel’s body when he stowed Sandra’s pocketknife in his thigh pocket.

  Tom laid a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I feared you wouldn’t wait. But it’s insane to storm the house with two people.”

  “Don’t forget the dog.”

  “Remember that for Mark. He’ll be enthused about us doing this on our own.”

  Daniel looked at the two men who lay bound on the ground. The smaller man was watching them; the other was still unconscious. The twilight was gradually being replaced by darkness. In principle, Tom was right, but waiting was out of the question. He checked the Velcro closures on his vest and tried to conceal the fact that every movement was difficult despite the anesthetic. “We’re going to get Sandra out of there now. I don’t give a flying fuck what Mark thinks.”

  “We should have a talk about that at the next meeting, Lieutenant.” Mark’s deep voice came from right beside them.

  Shocked, Daniel spun around and stumbled. Tom helped him regain his balance. After the initial relief at Mark’s unexpected appearance, Daniel felt extremely ill. It was clear that his team leader would never let him participate in the mission in his current condition. In other circumstances he would have made the same decision himself, but he was going to go through with this even if it cost him his job and his friendship with Mark.

  After a quiet whistle from Mark, muffled sounds came from the thicket a few yards away, and Dirk appeared. “Great. Half my hair’s hanging in that jungle,” he said and threw a black backpack on the ground. “Machine pistols for you two, rifles for Mark and me, night-vision devices, and headsets.” When Daniel didn’t move, Dirk threw him a headset. “My understanding was that you didn’t want to wait for the team. What is it now? By the way, you look like hell. Now be glad we were close and I played pack donkey while Mark silently snuck through the undergrowth.”

  Dirk’s words yanked Daniel out of his torpor. He augmented his equipmen
t in record time while he explained the situation. “If Paulsen thinks he’s already under fire, he’ll want to use Sandra as a hostage but won’t kill her right away.”

  “What’s your plan?” With this question Mark transferred command to Daniel.

  Amazed by this unforeseen development and the sign of confidence, Daniel swallowed hard. “I’ll take the outbuilding with Tom and grab Paulsen. It looks dark in the main building; I don’t think anyone’s there. If you keep them moving outside until the team’s here, we should have a good chance.”

  “Agreed. As soon as Jake and the others have arrived, Dirk and I will join you. Martin can create a diversion from the gate. What about him?” Mark indicated Kaspar.

  “He’ll find his way back to Martin on his own,” Tom said and smiled when Kaspar nudged him and then dived into the undergrowth.

  With their headsets on and weapons extended, they ran along the narrow path until the two buildings lay before them. Mark held them back with a raised hand and scanned the lawn in front of the mansion through his night-vision device. “One at eleven o’clock. I’ll handle it.” Without waiting, Mark ran off, appearing to merge with the shadow of a tree.

  Grateful for the short break, Daniel wiped his forehead. He could practically feel Tom’s concerned look and was thankful no one had tried to exclude him from the mission. Dirk came closer and leaned forward so far that his mouth was only inches from Daniel’s ear. “Around noon today, Jake cracked the Russian server. Paulsen’s created a kind of club. Hefty monthly membership fees and then an extra fee on delivery. Mark and I have watertight proof of the cash flow. Paulsen is the payee, and his clientele are identified. Sven was in the process of coordinating with the public prosecutor’s office when Tom called.”