The Renegade Spy

by Mark O'Neill

  The downside to the elaborate disguise was that his former Legion contact would most likely not recognise him. So he had to keep on the lookout. He scanned the area, which, despite the late hour, still had a fair smattering of traffic and people on foot. Cities never truly sleep, reflected the Scorpion.

  His ideal aim was to find somewhere on Meyer’s public appearances schedule which would be relatively easy to infiltrate and then get away from afterwards. But obviously he ran the risk of the chancellor cancelling the appearance at the last minute. So he could only pray and hope that the event went ahead. It also had to be an event where it wouldn’t be so glaringly obvious that this would be the one he would choose.

  He was very uneasy about the telephone conversation with his former Legion comrade the previous evening. The fact he asked for a significant amount of money was disturbing enough, but there was something in the man’s tone of voice which did not encourage enthusiasm. Then the Scorpion realised - his former Legion comrade did not seem particularly pleased to hear from the Scorpion. Considering Scorpion had saved the man’s life on the battlefield many years ago, he expected some gratitude from the selfish son-of-a-bitch. Two million Euros? It was utterly insulting. He should have left him to die out there.

  That was why he had spontaneously decided to ask for the schedule for the next three months. He had no intention of waiting that long to do the job, but he had to muddy the waters a bit. If his friend was either captured, or decided to surrender, he wanted to make things as difficult as possible for them to pinpoint an exact time period where they could expect him.

  As Scorpion looked around intently, he could see what looked like his friend coming from the direction of Friedrichstrasse. The man was dressed in a dark suit, conservative dark blue tie, and a Fedora hat. The Scorpion was in some doubt as to whether this really was who he was waiting for. But as the man got closer, the Scorpion knew it was him.

  Before finally breaking his cover and approaching him, the Scorpion quickly scanned the area for signs of surveillance. But nothing glaringly obvious stood out. Those who were still out walking were speaking on their phones, whispering into the ear of their partners, or if they were alone, staring down at the pavement.

  As the Scorpion watched his contact stop and nervously stand where they arranged they would many years previously, he decided he would just have to chance it and hope for the best.

  "Corporal" he said softly from the darkness of the nearby trees. "Over here".

  The corporal stiffened at the sound of Scorpion’s voice. His face went white and the Scorpion could see a bead of sweat running down the corporal’s face.

  "You look different Sir" he said, licking dry lips, "I didn’t recognise you there".

  "That’s the whole point of a disguise isn’t it? Not much use if you can see right through it".

  "Quite"

  The conversation died for a moment, until Scorpion decided to step up the pace.

  "The list. Do you have it?"

  "Yes, but..."

  "But?". The Scorpion did not like that word.

  "I’m not an idiot Sir. I know what you have been doing since you left the Legion. You’ve succeeded in lying low and not getting caught. But word travels fast around the grapevine, especially among former comrades who made the same career choice as you. The fact you want the Chancellor’s personal schedule makes it obvious she is your next target. This version of the schedule is highly restricted. That means when the chancellor dies at an unannounced event, the few people with access to the schedule are going to be the prime targets".

  The corporal slumped against the tree trunk. His little speech seemed to have taken all of his energy out of him.

  "Let me ask you something" said the Scorpion calmly in his quiet but unnerving voice, "why did you join the Federal Police, and then the Chancellery?"

  The corporal shrugged. "When you leave the Legion, there are not many jobs with people in our skillsets. They teach you to fight and kill. Where are you going to use those skills in civilian life? When we got out, you decided to go one way. I on the other hand met someone and got married. I wanted to go straight. So I joined the police".

  "And over the years, I have sent you discreet payments on the understanding that when I needed something from you, I would get it. You would be my insurance policy”.

  "Yes, but not this!" said the corporal, his eyes wild with panic. "Inside gossip, personnel changes, that sort of thing. But information that can help you assassinate the chancellor? No! We did not agree that! I respect you sir, but I will not go to prison for you."

  "You respect me but you still demand two million Euros! Have you already forgotten how I saved your life?" hissed Scorpion into the corporal’s ear and pushing his hand down uncomfortably on the shoulder, "and I do not pay almost 50,000 Euros for gossip!".

  He spat the last word out as if it was repellant to him. "The list - now!"

  The Scorpion could feel the corporal shaking as he slowly withdrew a long manilla envelope from the inside of his jacket. As he did so, he knew that his former comrade could not be relied upon. It wouldn’t take much for him to get so scared that he turned himself in and betrayed the Scorpion to the authorities.

  Therefore only one thing could be done. A shame really. Such a waste.

  With shaking hands, the corporal handed over the envelope. "The money" he croaked.

  "Ah yes, your ill-gotten gains" said Scorpion maliciously. But instead of the leather bag, Scorpion had a flick-knife in his hand. The last thing the corporal saw was the momentary flash of the gleaming blade sliding into his back. He gasped as the metal wreaked havoc tearing through muscle.

  The Scorpion wrapped an arm around his victim’s torso holding him upright, while he hissed in his ear. "Just think corporal, we could have had a very profitable future relationship. A pity you couldn’t hold your nerve!"

  Uttering the last word, the Scorpion made one final thrust, pushing the knife into the body, right up to the hilt. The corporal gurgled and breathed his last breath. The fedora hat toppled off his head, as his arm flopped wildly about.

  Scorpion knew he had to move fast. No time for decorum. He dropped the body in the shadows of the trees, picked up the money bag, and started sprinting off down the road.

  Chapter Eight

  After having his shoulder wound tended to, Decker had thrown Schäfer into a cell, intending to leave him there till the morning.

  Unterwald, true to his word, had ensured the seamless transfer of Schäfer into Decker’s custody. Schäfer had traumatic facial injuries, including a broken nose, a concussion and a fractured eye socket. Not to mention the shoulder. When the paramedics tried to give Schäfer painkillers, Decker immediately confiscated them. She wanted him in a lot of pain. People in pain talked faster.

  It was close to two in the morning, when Decker was seriously considering going home for some sleep, when her phone rang. She briefly considered not answering it, but she quickly changed her mind, when she saw it was Schmitz.

  “Get yourself over to Unter Den Linden immediately” said Schmitz. “A body has been found, and you are most definitely going to want to see this”.

  Decker hung up and called for the agent in charge of the safe house.

  "Bring Schäfer into the interrogation room and shackle him to the desk. Then turn up the heat until it’s a sauna in there" she said. “No water, no pain killers. I’ll be back as soon as I can”.

  Decker arrived at a heavily cordoned-off area of Unter den Linden. The flashing lights of the emergency services illuminated the buildings and trees of the street, and making visible the police personnel who were checking the immediate area for trace evidence. Television news journalists had set up camp outside the cordon and were getting ready to go live on-air with their reports.

  As Decker approached the cordon, she flashed her government badge at the officer on duty, and he nodded her through. Schmitz was waiting for her. He half-raised a hand in greeting and nodded towards a
tree where a white sheet lay over what was obviously a body.

  "Who died?" said Decker.

  "I think we may have found our Chancellery mole" said Schmitz. "From the looks of things, he was at the wrong end of a violent disagreement with a very sharp blade".

  Decker trotted on ahead of Schmitz and carefully lifted up a corner of the white sheet. Lifeless eyes looked back at her, the face and head lying in congealed blood. A coppery smell hit Decker’s nostrils, making her temporarily nauseous.

  "His name is - or was - Martin Krause" said Schmitz, standing behind her. "As to whether that’s his real name remains to be seen. We are running checks now on how he managed to get into the Federal Police without his background being detected".

  "So he was a Chancellery bodyguard then?"

  "Yes, and what makes it worse is that I’ve checked the staff schedules for the past week, and it turns out he had been standing right next to the Chancellor fully armed. Including when she met the American Secretary of State. To think he could have turned, fired, and killed them both is making me feel sick".

  "Looks like someone has helped us clear up a problem then. The downside of course is that the dead can’t talk. Whatever he knew about the Scorpion died with him".

  "I wouldn’t be so quick to say that Captain" said Schmitz. He bent down and unbuttoned Krause’s blood-soaked shirt. He pointed to something attached to Krause’s body.

  A recording device.

  "He bugged himself?"

  "Seems like he didn’t trust the Scorpion" said Schmitz.

  “Gee, I wonder why”.

  "I’ve listened to it. You need to hear it for yourself".

  "The fact you want the Chancellor’s personal schedule makes it obvious she is your next target. This version of the schedule is highly restricted. That means when the chancellor dies at an unannounced event, the few people with access to the schedule are going to be the prime targets".

  "Turn the damn thing off" growled Unterwald.

  Schmitz pressed the button on the recorder and the voice stopped. For a moment, Unterwald looked out of the window, as if transported to another world. Schmitz and Decker looked at one another, with Schmitz looking as if he was going to have to take personal responsibility for the screw-up. Standing next to the door, like he wanted the option for a quick getaway was Klaus Wagner.

  “The other person on that tape” said Unterwald to Wagner, “is that the man who shot your asset and had a nice little chat to you on the phone?”

  “Yes”. Wagner’s mood was sombre.

  "How did Krause get past your background checks?" said Unterwald to Schmitz.

  Schmitz steeled himself for the inevitable assault. "Don’t even think about trying to pin this on me sir. I can assure you that everyone in the chancellery had their backgrounds re-checked when I came in, Krause included. The background checks went right back to when they were at school and every single day after that was accounted for. The fact he came back clean means he had a perfect fake identity, complete with matching documents and iron-clad backstory. You don’t get that from some two-bit fake identity dealer in the street."

  "Meaning?"

  "I think what Schmitz is diplomatically trying to tell you sir" said Decker quietly, "is that this is the sort of identity you would get from a police witness protection program".

  Unterwald stared at her. "The police gave it to him?"

  "Or someone high enough in the government".

  Unterwald moved and stood in front in Decker.

  “From now on, everything you and Schmitz say better be more than backed up by evidence. If you start accusing senior government officials without proof, you and I are going to have a serious problem”.

  “Hans, back off and let them do their damn jobs” said Wagner, “they have my full confidence. That means they should have yours too”.

  Unterwald continued to stare at Decker for a moment, then looked at Schmitz. He then walked back to his desk, picked up the phone and dialled an extension.

  "Madam Chancellor, I need you to cancel your next appointment….well, I’m very sorry but the South African foreign minister is going to have to wait. I need to see you right now….yes Ma’am….thank you. I’m on my way with a visitor to see you".

  He hung up. "Schmitz, find out where Krause got his fake identity from. Decker, you’re with me".

  As Unterwald and Decker left the room, Decker caught Wagner’s eye. It was a look of warning. Decker gave Wagner a reassuring look and he nodded back.

  Decker had never met the chancellor, and truth be told, she had never had an urgent desire to meet her. Apart from her natural distaste for bureaucrats, politics was never her thing and she had never voted in her entire life. She gave herself a variety of reasons for it. Too busy. Too uninterested in the process. Too cynical. But truth be told, she realised her antipathy lay in the fact that, at the end of the day, politicians were pretty much all the same, regardless of whatever party they came from. Self-serving, hypocritical, and in some cases, corrupt.

  But to her surprise, she found she liked Claudia Meyer the moment she met her.

  "Madam Chancellor" said Unterwald, as they entered Meyer’s office.

  Meyer was behind her large desk reading from a file.

  “I hope this is worth offending the South African Foreign Minister” she said without looking up from her reading, “he seemed quite perturbed when I phoned him to postpone the meeting”.

  “You know I wouldn’t do this without a good enough reason” said Unterwald, with his hands clasped behind his back. He looked like a tightly wound spring.

  “So, let’s have it” said Meyer, “who is our visitor today?”

  "This is Captain Sophie Decker. She is an intelligence agent, looking into that certain ‘Scorpion’ problem you discussed with Deputy Director Wagner the other day".

  “Why do I get the distinct impression you are not here to give me good news?".

  "Well we have very bad news, Ma’am, but also some good news to take the edge off the bad stuff" said Decker, "which would you like first?"

  A hesitant look appeared on Meyer’s face. "Give me the good news".

  "The good news is that we have found the mole in the chancellery".

  A surprised look appeared on Meyer’s face. "That is good news, Captain".

  "And he’s dead".

  "Even better" said Meyer, "I would have preferred him alive, but a trial would have been too public and too messy. This way we can sweep it under the rug".

  But then the smile died. "OK, what’s the bad news?".

  "He left us a goodbye recording you will want to hear".

  "Shit!" shouted the chancellor after hearing the recording, "this psychopath has my schedule?"

  "For the next three months" said Unterwald quietly.

  "Oh..wonderful" said Meyer, icily, "and you know full well how many public appearances are on that schedule for the next bloody three months".

  "Look at the upside Ma’am" said Decker, "we now have the full list of possibilities where he can get to you. Now we know he is going for you at a scheduled appearance. If he is not going to do anything reckless like firing a bazooka at the chancellery or shooting at your car, we can protect you better".

  "Oh that makes me feel so much better" she said sarcastically, "Now I can only expect a bullet when I step outside. I should never have agreed to Wagner’s suggestion to make myself a moving human target". Meyer sat heavily on an oversized couch in the corner of her office.

  "It’s either that Ma’am, or spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder” said Decker. “People like the Scorpion will never give up. Their ego is at stake. They won’t admit defeat".

  "So this Krause has been in the Chancellery for years, being paid by this Scorpion idiot for information? Perhaps I should be considering Lieutenant Schmitz’s position".

  "He’s one of ours" said Decker calmly. This brought a murderous glare from Unterwald. Decker knew instinctively she had just thro
wn Unterwald and Wagner under the bus. But right now, she didn’t care. Meyer was entitled to full disclosure now.

  "Excuse me?" said Meyer.

  "Lieutenant Schmitz is from my department. Herr Unterwald and Deputy Director Wagner were so concerned with your safety that your previous security chief was replaced by Schmitz, and he has been watching your back. It was done with your best interests at heart at all times. You were not informed because nobody wanted you to worry about anything".

  Meyer looked at Unterwald with a look that suggested a major chancellery staff shakeup was now on the cards.

  “And is this true Hans? Did you have my best interests at heart?”.

  “Of course” he said stiffly.

  “Or did you just decide not to listen to that silly hysterical woman, and do whatever the big boys wanted to do instead?”.

  “Madam Chancellor. With all due respect, that is absurd and I won’t dignify it with a response”.

  “I had this man Krause standing next to me all of last week, including when the American Secretary of State was here” said Meyer. “Do you understand the huge diplomatic fallout if I now phone Washington and tell them my bodyguard was a terrorist?”

  “Don’t tell them” said Decker. “This is our dirty laundry. Why should the Americans hear about it? None of their business”.

  “Don’t tell them?” laughed Meyer. “This is Berlin. Nothing stays a secret in Berlin. Unless you are a deep-cover terrorist working inside the Chancellery, in which case you are a secret forever apparently”.

  “Madam….” started Unterwald.

  "Tell me, how has Krause been able to operate under the radar undetected until now?".

  A silence. Then Decker made a decision. To hell with it.

  "We believe Krause is not his real name, and that someone inside the police or government has issued him with a fake ironclad identity and backstory to escape detection".