Morgenthal. I didn't seem to be making enough progress on this so far. I just hoped everything would go well later in the evening with Ivanov.
Jane. It seemed everything was heading in the right direction. She was such a fantastic person. She was the best thing that had happened in my life for a very long time. Was it time to settle down? No, I didn't think so. Or perhaps it was? I closed my eyes for a few moments to picture how wonderful our life could be. Was I ready for it? I didn't know. I didn't have a ready answer to that question. I didn’t seem to have a plan for my personal life.
The jet landed in Pittsburgh. I hired a car, set the navigation system, and set off.
The whole area around Pembroke Place was posh and expensive. Old houses in a leafy neighborhood. I easily found 5131. It looked like a million dollars at least. A stylish early nineteenth century family residence.
I rang the bell. A liveried servant opened the door. The same face as during my previous visit.
"Good morning Mr. Greystone. Mr. Loki is waiting for you," he said, and ushered me into the reception room.
"Hello, Mr. Greystone," Loki greeted me. "I appreciate that you could come at such short notice."
"I hope it’ll be a fruitful visit."
"It will," he assured me. "Would you care for a glass of Pappy Van Winkle?"
"I don't normally accept drinks from somebody I don't have any reason to trust fully."
"I understand. Hans," he turned to the lackey, "will you please bring us a fresh unopened bottle?"
I looked around his dwelling.
"Nice house," I commented.
"It is, I just moved in."
Interesting, I thought.
Hans brought a tray with some bourbon and glasses.
"Take your pick, Mr. Greystone. Which glass would you prefer?" Loki asked. I pointed to the one I wanted. Hans poured out the liquor.
"Enjoy your drink," he said.
"Mr. Loki, you wouldn't mind drinking first?" I asked, to make sure there were no nasty surprises in the drink.
"Sure, no problem." He drank a hearty amount. "Mr. Greystone, you don't suspect I poisoned Pappy Van Winkle? That would be sacrilege," he said indignantly.
"Sure I don't. I trust you now," I answered.
"You trust and you check, you wanted to say?" he laughed. I smiled in affirmation.
Loki took his glass and drank. I waited a minute before drinking from my glass just to tease him, pretending I was waiting for any possible action of the poison in his drink. I doubted there was any.
"I'm not going to pretend I enjoy being entertained by you. As I said, I’m quite busy right now." I wanted to get straight to business. "I do appreciate the drink though. It's very respectable."
"It is indeed," Loki said. "It's one of my favorites."
"State your business. What do you want from me and how can you help me?"
"Good God, you're so young and impatient, you could spare a few moments to entertain me."
"I'm not a baby sitter," I said, but in fact what I thought to myself was that I was not going to play nurse in a geriatric ward.
"I'm not a baby. And I'm not senile yet either," he said looking into my eyes. He seemed to be reading my thoughts.
"True, you look old but there still seems plenty of vigor left," I admitted.
"It's all about a happy and healthy lifestyle," he smiled.
"Sure it is, you're probably well-oiled with bourbon," I joked.
"Could be, could be, no doubt a considerable degree of happiness can be attributed to Van Winkle & Co.,” he said and I registered a smile in the corners of his mouth.
"So, now tell me what you want."
"Okay, young man, I wanted you to come here to tell you two things in fact."
"Glad to hear that, a bonus you say?"
"Yes, one immediate, one deferred."
"I'm all ears," I said. It was starting to get interesting at last.
"First, future gratification. I have an interesting idea for business in the near future," he said.
"Does it pay well?"
"It pays very well."
"Is it legal?" I joked.
"Absolutely legal," he joked.
"Then I might consider it," I said.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"When will you give me a few details to whet my appetite?"
"As soon as you're able to devote your time to it."
"I presume you understand I've yet to catch Morgenthal, but that should be finalized soon, hopefully."
"Sure, I can wait, I have plenty of time. Just to give you an indication of what we are talking about – there's a hundred or so million dollars at stake.”
"Very interesting. What would be my share?"
"That would be your share."
"Sweet. And would be your share?"
"At my age, I'm not too interested in money anymore. I'll just take whatever else is left on the table," Loki said.
"Which would be how much precisely?"
"Hard to say, but I estimate another two hundred million bucks plus some change."
"The split sounds fair," I laughed.
"It is, at the end of the day, it's my plan," Loki smiled.
"That's why I said it's a fair split," I smiled, and thought he was a clever greedy bastard.
“We might need to enlist external help for that and pay them well. But as the pool of money at stake is very generous, that shouldn’t dent our share too much.”
“I’m fine with it.”
Loki thought for a moment.
"You're wealthy yourself. You're not after money, are you?” he asked.
"Not really, I'm after the thrill. Still, a few bucks is always welcome, I run a niche business that costs a lot. I have to pay my bills, like everybody else."
"So you’re interested in the plan?" Loki asked.
"I am, but we’ll have to discuss the details to tell for sure."
"Good. By the way, what else motivates you?"
"What's this, a psychotherapy session?" I tried to sound offended, but eventually added: "As I said, I don't like being idle. And I like helping people."
"You don't look like Mother Theresa," he chortled.
"I'm not, you can be sure of that. Still, if I can do something good and help out the underdog, I'm all the happier."
"Like chasing Morgenthal?"
"Yeah. The government is definitely paying me well to catch this guy, but at this stage I'd hunt him for free. I didn't even mention that he tried to kill my ex-wife. And me too. He also killed a few innocent people during the school shooting. Killing is part of my job profile, but I try to avoid killing innocent civilians, if possible. I met Lauren Wimbledon's children, lovely kids. Now the hunt for Morgenthal has got personal."
""He's not easy to catch. Don't underestimate him. I'm afraid the chase may get even more personal," Loki said unexpectedly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.
"I think Morgenthal has just paid a visit to Lauren Wimbledon," he said, landing a bombshell.
"She's under police surveillance 24/7."
"Morgenthal is cleverer than they are, and he likes donuts."
"What the fuck do you mean, donuts?"
"Just a figure of speech."
"How the fuck did you find out he's there?"
"I just know, I have my sources," Loki grinned.
"Where do they live?"
"I'm sure you have the technology and resources to find that out."
"How much time do I have?"
"Just enough."
"Shit, I'd better go now."
"Yeah, you'd better go now."
I rushed out without saying goodbye.
"Good day!" He shouted after me. "Manners. There are no manners these days. Although he's good at what he does. And so noble. Funny guy," Loki thought to himself.
After a while he called his servant.
"Hans, another glass of good old Pappy Van Winkle, please."
37.
; I SHOT OUT of the door and called Martin.
"Martin, the Wimbledons are in trouble. Can you track them down?" I shouted into the phone.
"Give me a minute," Martin responded. After a short while he replied: "We’re in luck, we've found a signal from her phone. Our guys are tracking it."
After another short while Martin confirmed they’d tracked down the Wimbledons.
"I have an address, our analysts cross-referenced it against the property registers. It's Lauren's parents' house."
"What's their address?"
He gave me the address as I was pulling away out of the driveway.
"Ask Dermot Clenaghan to check if she’s still being protected by the police. I have a bad feeling."
"Will do. I'm transferring you to our command center. Don't hang up. They'll track your cellphone and give you directions on the phone."
As my phone had some anti-tracking software, I had to fire up an app to allow tracking so that Martin and the team would see it.
"I'm on loudspeaker. I'm on Fifth Avenue now."
"Hi Michael, it's Rena here, I have your position, continue Fifth Avenue west, you need to cross the river, I'll tell you when to turn to get to the bridge. Don't hang up." Rena Ryan was one of our all-purpose analysts in the command center. After I broke up with Gudrun, I tried to link up with her, but it was really limited to sex. She looked like a top model, but not as tall, well below average. But she dressed stunningly and came from a high-brow upper middle-class family. She attended a private Catholic girls' school, and was really top notch in most respects, if not all (only a bit too short for my liking). I used her once or twice as an escort when attending parties. She impressed all guests who talked to her. But most were enchanted by her boobs and hips, not her brains. A good education probably made her realize there was something else outside of a rigid girls' school life, so as soon as she graduated she tattooed a big tiger on her back. Just to emphasize free thinking. It was mainly hidden most of the time, unless she was wearing an evening dress with gigantic v-cut ending at her butt. That was when she created a furor at parties, mixing brains with naughtiness. She got plenty of offers to work as an escort for two grand a night, but I managed to keep hold of her. She was very intelligent and one of the best on my team. I had to pay her a lot to keep her at the firm. She was a brilliant organizer, grasped complex problems immediately, and solved them. What's more, she was very popular with the rest of the team. I often assigned the more difficult tasks to her, knowing she wouldn't fail. She was invaluable behind a desk. She was also beyond compare in bed. However, our relationship didn't last for long. Work-related topics aside, we didn't have that much in common. Besides, she had a dozen rabbits at home, plus some parrots, guinea pigs, and lizards. I loved animals, but unless it was a dog or cat, and there was just one of each, their place was in the wild or in the zoo. Do you know how much time it takes to look after two dozen demanding animals? You would be surprised. Until everything was done and dusted with the animals it was already past eleven o’clock at night. I didn't mind occasional sex at midnight, but I preferred morning activity when my testosterone was at its highest. Besides, would you like having sex with a parrot watching? Or a lizard. Or a rabbit. I think once or twice the rabbits actually seemed to somehow understand what we were doing, or they were in a rut themselves, so they started fucking like mad. Have you seen rabbits fucking? They were very fast. They were faster than a Formula 1 engine in a race. I got very demoralized by that. I was very fit, but not as quick as a rabbit. So the relationship didn't last long. But still, she was one of the best members of the team.
I was heading south-west.
"How's the weather in Pittsburgh?" Rena asked on the phone.
"Jesus, Rena, I'm in a hurry to save some souls, and you're asking me about the weather. It's not much fucking different to what you have in Philadelphia now."
"Interesting, just asking, I haven't been to Pittsburgh before. Is it a nice town?"
"In some places it is. Where do I turn towards the bridge?"
"Another half mile and then left," she instructed me.
After a while.
"Martin is on the line," she said.
"Mike, I checked with Dermot, the police can’t contact the two surveillance officers. They'll keep trying and send a crew to the house just in case."
"They’d better do that."
Rena was still on the line. After a while.
"When you’ve played the hero and saved those souls today, will you come over to my place to save my soul?" Rena asked.
"Jeez, Rena, you have a one-track mind. I'm trying to focus on the task now."
"Tomorrow then?"
"I'm in a relationship now."
"I don't mind."
"I do mind. Where's this damned bridge?"
"Next left."
I crossed the river and was directed to Arlington Avenue in South Pittsburgh, where Lauren's parents lived.
I approached the house, and realized that Morgenthal must have set it on fire. It wasn't yet visible, there were no fire fighters, nobody had noticed it yet, and nobody had called the fire department, but I had seen wisps of smoke emerging from the basement. I wondered why the fire alarm hadn't gone off. Morgenthal must have deactivated it and cut off the emergency electricity supply or batteries. Clever man.
"Rena, call the fire department, an ambulance and the police," I shouted into the phone and jumped out of the car.
I cocked my gun and surveyed the surroundings. There was nobody in sight. No cars on the street in front of the house, just a family MPV on the driveway, which seemed to belong to Lauren, and another car behind it, which looked like an unmarked police vehicle. I saw silhouettes inside the car. I realized immediately what must have happened to her police protection. Morgenthal got them. I looked through the front windows of the house but saw nothing. I kicked the door open and ran into the house checking to see if Morgenthal was there. He wasn't.
I ran towards the back of the house to the kitchen. There was no visible fire yet, but there was a lot of smoke. In another few minutes the whole place would be burning like hell. Then I saw all of them sitting in the kitchen on chairs or on the floor. The kids were alive but drugged and unconscious. Lauren was conscious, but couldn't move, and she was gagged to prevent her from shouting for help, although her voice would have been weak due to the drug anyway. It seemed Morgenthal didn't want to take any chances.
She was sitting on the floor, propped up by the kitchen cupboards at her back and a chair propped against the wall on one side, so that she was more or less upright. Her eyes were filled with tears, but as she saw me, they filled with hope. The grandfather, her father, was unconscious, most likely drugged. The grandmother was sitting in a chair with a newspaper in her hand and a bullet hole in her head. And she had a donut sticking out of her mouth. That must have been the donut that Loki was talking about. How did this guy know these things? Very fucking funny, a newspaper and a donut.
First I picked up John and Karrie, one under each arm, and carried them outside the house. I put them down on the ground. A neighbor was there who had been alerted by the wisps of smoke coming out of the house. I shouted to him that they were alive but drugged and unconscious, and asked him to look after them until the ambulance arrived.
Then I hurried back to the house. The fire had been started in the basement, and was working its way up, bit by bit. Now I saw fire in the far corner of the living room and even more smoke. I grabbed a kitchen towel and soaked it under the tap to cover my nose so that I could breathe. I picked up Lauren first. Fortunately she was skinny and not difficult to carry. I took her out of the house and put her down on the lawn far away from the house. There were already four neighbors there by now and the smoke from the house was even more visible.
I rushed back into the house. A large part of the living room was now on fire and it was getting seriously hot. Needless to say, I picked up Lauren's father next, since he was still alive. He must have had a rea
sonably healthy lifestyle, as he wasn't too heavy either. Obviously heavier than Lauren, but not massively so. I had to move fast, as there was more and more smoke coming in from everywhere. I carried the grandfather on my back while pressing the kitchen towel to my face. I put him down on the lawn and told the neighbors to check that the victims didn't choke or something. I heard a siren in the distance, hopefully the fire department.
I took a few deep breaths and went back into the house. There was little time to recover the grandmother. I wasn’t sure I would make it. Not that it would help her, but the family would be able part with her in far less traumatic circumstances, which would be better for their psychological recovery after such a shock. The living room was now completely engulfed with flames, and the kitchen would follow shortly. First I removed the bloody donut from her mouth. Grandma must have been eating a lot of cakes throughout her life, as she was on the heavy side. Seventeen or eighteen stone, I bet. It would be difficult to carry her on my back. She was sitting on a chair, so I just tilted the chair backwards, grabbed the back of the chair, and dragged it with grandma sitting on top of it out of the kitchen. The heat was burning my skin, and the smoke hurting my eyes and lungs. I persevered, and managed to drag her towards the porch. I must have scuffed their high-gloss oak floors with the chair, but I assumed they wouldn't mind, and it wouldn't matter anyway. I got to the porch, lifted her by the arms, and dragged her out of the house onto the lawn. She was safe now. Not that it mattered to her.
The fire spread from the ground floor to the sleeping quarters on the upper floor. There was now plenty of smoke everywhere. It all happened in less than a few minutes. Had I been delayed even just a little bit, Lauren's family would all have burned along with the house. And Lauren would've been watching. She would've been watching her children engulfed by flames, unable to move or do anything herself. Terrible torment, that's probably what Morgenthal intended – the ultimate revenge on Lauren. Motherfucker.
The fire truck arrived first. They swiftly started making preparations to put out the fire. Less than a minute later, an ambulance crew came. I told them what happened. Paramedics examined the victims, put oxygen masks over their mouths, and gave them some injections.
The Hunt (Mike Greystone, Book 1) Page 20
