The Tulip Eaters

by Antoinette van Heugten

  After an eternity, he watched as the gate onshore swung closed and, after much creaking and groaning, felt the rumble of the engines as they started up. Finally, the ferry pulled away.

  I made it—I’m safe! As soon as he thought it, he knew that the police could still stop him when the ferry landed in Lauwersoog. His body trembled so that he collapsed onto one of the hard iron benches. The vicious pain in his shoulder had returned. Still, tears of relief filled his eyes. As the gray light rose and the miles between the ferry and the island grew, he calmed down enough to think of his next move. He would go back to Amsterdam on the first train and tomorrow he would stake out the flat of Nora’s friend. If Nora were still alive, she had to come back.

  He had an overwhelming urge to hold his wife and take Rose onto his lap—to be the threesome they had become.

  But the awful question remained. Had the bastard scared her off? If not, what had he done to her?

  54

  Nora opened her eyes, the bright lights hurting them. Then she saw that the young clerk was at her side. Next to him stood a thin, disheveled man who appeared to have been roused from a deep sleep.

  The clerk, looking terrified, helped her sit up. “Are you all right?”

  Then she remembered and struggled to her feet. “The man who attacked me! Did you catch him?”

  The thin man shook his head. She saw the concern in his eyes. “I’m the manager, Mevrouw de Jong. All we know is that another guest heard something, went to your door and someone pushed past him and ran out of the building.” He helped her to her feet. “We’ve called the police and a doctor. They should be here any minute.”

  “No! No! You have to send someone out to look for him! He has my daughter and he tried to kill me!” She yanked her jeans on under her nightgown, ran out into the hallway, down the stairs and pulled open the side door. Nothing! She stumbled outside, but fog enveloped her. She couldn’t see two feet in front of her.

  She raced back to the lobby, where the manager was talking excitedly on the phone. “You’ve got to do something!”

  The young clerk took her by the arm and led her, weeping, to a stuffed armchair in the great room. “Please try to calm down, Mevrouw,” he said softly. “We’ll find him. The manager is calling in our staff members and they will search the grounds.”

  Nora sobbed, her entire body shaking. Her thoughts were rampant, disconnected. “There was blood—on the carpet! From my room down the hall. Was it his? Or did he shoot someone?”

  “We don’t know, but it does not appear that any of our other guests were harmed. They have been told no one is allowed to leave until they have been interviewed by the police. Their rooms will also be searched.”

  He strode over to the bar, scooped some ice into a cloth and hurried back to her. She held it against her temple and then put it down. Tenderly, she touched her bruised throat, unable to banish the thought of that bastard’s hands choking her. Her head pounded so badly she couldn’t think.

  The manager appeared, a large snifter in his hand. “Cognac,” he said gently. “Drink it.”

  Nora took the glass. She saw him watch her shaking hands. He was right. She had to calm herself. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be able to think clearly and she’d never find Rose. Numbly, she grasped the glass. Even with two hands, she could barely hold it. She sipped the stuff and sputtered as the fiery liquid seared her raw throat.

  “Better?”

  Nora tried to speak, but winced. She coughed and handed him back the glass.

  “Would you like another one?”

  “I’ll be all right,” she croaked. Rose was alive! Unless it wasn’t true. The clerk came back and put a rough blanket around her. “Our staff is searching, but the fog is terrible.”

  Two officers then arrived and fired questions at her. Nora’s words tripped over one another as she tried to explain what had happened, the background of her mother’s murder and Rose’s kidnapping.

  A thin, pimply-faced young officer wrote everything down. When he finished, he clapped his notepad shut and said that their small force would scour the island. Unfortunately, the ferry had just left. Nora groaned and let her head fall into her hands.

  Had he gotten away? Just like that? “If he took the ferry, can’t the police catch him on the other side?”

  “We’re still trying to contact the station in Lauwersoog.” He gave her a sheepish look. “No one is answering this early. It’s winter.”

  She felt furious. Christ, where was she? The Third World? “What about the blood?”

  “We have to have a sample analyzed and we can’t do that here. Has to be sent to a lab on the mainland.”

  “How long will that take?”

  “No idea. We’ve never had anything like this before.”

  “Well, what are you doing?”

  “We’re checking every hotel and resident, including the passengers who arrived on the ferry yesterday. Even though there are few tourists this time of year, it will take some time. We only have—”

  “I know, a small police force.” She heard her irritation. “Is there any way to ascertain how many passengers there were?”

  “It’s not a sophisticated system. Since no cars are permitted here—only bicycles—the ferry operator just eyeballs the number of passengers and decides if he has too many. He’s been doing this for forty years.”

  “Is there someone I can call for you?” asked the elderly manager.

  Nico! She almost ran to the reception desk, startling the young clerk. “Please,” she said. “The telephone—I have to make a call.”

  The young man placed the telephone on the counter. “Alstublieft.”

  Nora dialed. It rang three times before she heard the voice she loved. “Met Nico Meijer.”

  “Nico—oh, Nico!” She burst into tears.

  “Nora, what is it? Where are you?”

  “In Schiermonnikoog!”

  “I thought you were in Houston! That Rose had been found.”

  “What? Who told you that?”

  “I got a message—never mind. What’s happened? Are you all right?”

  After many attempts and broken sentences, she told him the story. “Nico, he said that Rose is alive!”

  “God, Nora, I hope he’s telling the truth.”

  “He has to be!” she cried. “Why else would he do this?”

  “Did you get a good look at him?”

  “No, damn it. The lights were off, and then he cracked me on the head with his pistol and I passed out.”

  “Oh, God, are you all right? Have you seen a doctor?”

  “They’ve sent for one, but I’m fine.”

  “I’m coming right away. I can’t get a train until the morning, but I’ll be there by early afternoon.”

  Nora shook her head, as if he could see her, then said, “No, there’s nothing you can do here. It would be better if you contact the Dutch police and the U.S. Embassy and alert them. They know all about the case. I made sure of that before I left the States.” She paused. “And you should call Lieutenant Richards. He’s the officer in charge in Houston. I’ve got his number upstairs somewhere. I’ll get it.”

  “No, stay where you are until the doctor comes.”

  “Okay. Just call Marijke. She’ll have it.”

  Nico told her about the message he had received. “Someone thinks you know more than you do. They must have been following you to do something like this to get me out of the picture.”

  “But how did they even know I was in Holland?” she cried. “What do they want? The bastard said he worked for someone who had Rose. Who could it be? And what possible motivation could he have to keep her?”

  “I don’t know, but whoever it is, he appears willing to kill you.”

  “God, I must be g
etting close to something or this never would have happened. And there’s no doubt now that this is connected to my mother’s murder. Nico, I’m coming back to Amsterdam. The answer has to be there.”

  “Nora—no! I will not let you travel alone when some madman is trying to kill you. It’s out of the question.”

  She felt a surge of love for him. “Nico, please. I’m positive he caught the first ferry and escaped. He’d be stupid to try to get near me now. But I need you to make those calls. If the police find anything here, I’ll call you right away.”

  “What happened with Saartje?”

  Nora’s head throbbed. “She’s not in her right mind. It was very sad. I didn’t learn anything.”

  “You don’t think you should talk to her again?”

  “The Mother Superior won’t let me. I upset her too much.”

  “Well, I’m still not convinced I shouldn’t catch the next train.” She heard a rustling of papers. “I’m looking up the numbers right now. I’ll stay and make the calls if you promise me one thing.”

  “What?”

  “That you’ll come home right away. That you’ll have a police officer accompany you to the ferry. I know the Amsterdam Chief of Police—we were classmates. I’m going to call him the minute we hang up and make sure that someone is with you the entire way to Amsterdam. Until then, you are not to move from that hotel.”

  The warmth in his voice did more for her than twenty cognacs. “I promise.”

  “Nora,” he said hoarsely. “I can’t lose you now that I’ve found you again.”

  She felt tears well up. “I’ll be careful,” she whispered. “I don’t want to be lost.”

  55

  “Met Dirk.”

  “Well, were you successful?”

  “Not sure.”

  Amarisa heard the slur in his voice. “Are you drunk? What in hell is going on?”

  “Yeah, I’ve had a few. Close escape.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well, last night I went up to her room, but that nephew of yours was there, just about to knock on her door. He came at me and I had to shoot him.”

  Ariel, that little son of a bitch. “Did you kill him?”

  “Nah, just clipped his shoulder. He ran off.”

  “Did he get caught?”

  “How the fuck do I know? Think I’d stick around after it all went south? All I know is he bled all over the carpet.”

  Amarisa snorted. “So if they analyze his blood and match it to him, they’ll think he’s the bad guy. Maybe he’ll prove useful, after all.”

  She could almost hear Dirk shrug. “I guess so.”

  God, he was stupid. “What about the woman?”

  “Roughed her up, but maybe not enough to scare her off.”

  “What about the syringe?”

  “Got interrupted.” Amarisa thought she heard a bottle clanking against a glass. “Some other asshole banged on the door when she screamed. Had to beat it and dump the needle.”

  “Moron. You damn well should have stuck her or shot her when you had the chance.”

  “I’ve had to lay low today. The cops were questioning everyone. Said I was a bird-watcher and they bought it.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “No idea. Probably headed back to Amsterdam.”

  “Brilliant.” She thought a moment. “Find out what train she’ll be on.”

  “How do I do that with all these cops crawling around?”

  “Hang out by the ferry. The minute you find out when she leaves, call me.”

  “Okay, but I’m not sticking my neck out.”

  “You will if you know what’s best for you. And then get back here fast.”

  “Why?”

  “What do you mean ‘why’? To finish the job, you fool.”

  “Amarisa, this is turning out to be more work than we talked about.”

  “If you think now you’re getting any more money out of me, forget it. You better damn well finish what you started.”

  “You’re not listening. The cops are on it now.”

  Amarisa felt consumed with anger. “You do what I say. Or you’ll find your ass in worse trouble than you ever imagined.”

  “Try it. I’ll just disappear.”

  “Then I’ll have to alert the police to your prior indiscretions.”

  He paused, then spoke. “All right, all right. I’ll come back, but we have more talking to do.”

  “Oh, we’ll talk, all right. Just get here. And don’t fuck around.”

  She hung up and went into the nursery. Rose was sleeping. Amarisa ran a hand down her soft pink cheek. Oh, she’d take care of Ariel all right. Now she had another card to play to keep him under her thumb. Actually, Ariel had done exactly what she had hoped in the event Dirk screwed up. Now he would be the suspect.

  She stared out the window. Now what? She had to be damned careful with her next move. And if that woman wasn’t going to be scared off, then she was going to die.

  56

  Ariel stumbled through his front door, almost collapsing into Leah’s arms.

  “Ariel, what is it!”

  All he could do was groan and clutch his shoulder. She helped him to the couch, ripped off a piece of his bloody shirt and gasped. “You’ve been shot!”

  “Leah, please, I’m all right.”

  “All right? Who did this to you?”

  He felt as if he might pass out. Leah propped the sofa cushions under his head. At that moment he was so, so grateful that Leah had done a rotation in the E.R. during her nursing training. She ran for her first-aid kit, rushed back and tore off more of his shirt. “Oh, Ariel!”

  “Is the bullet still in there?”

  She examined the wound with probing fingers. “No, it must have gone straight through. I can’t tell if it hit the bone or not, but you’ve lost a lot of blood. Ariel, we have to go to the hospital!”

  “No! No, we can’t!” He explained what had happened, how he had gone to Nora’s door to warn her, how some bastard had shot him when they struggled.

  “But who was he?”

  “I don’t know. It was dark, he was dressed in black. He shot me before I could get a look. Then I just ran as fast as I could.”

  “I still don’t understand.”

  “Amarisa.”

  Leah’s eyes widened. “Her ‘professional’?”

  “Who else?”

  “That bitch. Ariel, he could have killed you!” Leah kept on with her deft cleaning of the wound. Ariel tried not to cry out. “Is that what she wants? Is she so crazy that she’ll kill to keep Rose? And what did this thug do to Nora?”

  “I don’t know,” he sobbed. “But this is all my fault. I started it the moment I took that baby into my arms. Now her mother may never see her again. I know Amarisa. She’s probably left Holland by now—remember, she said she would!”

  “Let’s forget that for now. I’m still worried about that bullet. I’m going to take you to Sint Lucas Andreas.”

  “No! Leah, you can take care of me here.” He was feeling so woozy. “Right now we need to talk this out.”

  Leah sobbed. “Oh, God, Ariel, did any of your blood fall onto the floor?”

  “I don’t know, but I think it had to. I didn’t exactly stop to find out.”

  “But what if they analyze a sample and match it to you—or your fingerprints?

  “I’ve never committed a crime—that anyone knows of. Besides, there won’t be a match.”

  “But what about the screening test for your job?”

  “Oh, shit!” Everyone in Immigration was fingerprinted and blood typed as a matter of course. To make sure they didn’t hire criminals—like him.

  Leah
strode to the phone and picked up the receiver. “I’m calling Amarisa. This has to stop.”

  Ariel struggled to stand. “No, Leah, put that down! If you call Amarisa, you’ll just warn her and she’ll run off with Rose. If you call the police, I’ll definitely go to jail. We’ll never see one another again!”

  Leah stared at the receiver and slowly put it down. “So what now? We can’t just sit and do nothing!”

  Ariel collapsed back onto the cushions. “I have no fucking idea. But I am going to find a way to tell Nora everything. As soon as this shoulder will let me.” He felt as if his world had flattened into nothing. “I don’t care what happens to me anymore. It’s gone too far.”

  57

  After Nora checked out, she had the cab take her to the convent. Sister Magdalena had called and left a message. She had asked Mevrouw de Jong to come by at her convenience. There was something she wanted to give her. Nora thought about her conversation that morning with the chief of police. He hadn’t found anything even after claiming to have interviewed almost everyone on the island.

  When Nora pulled the long rope, the old nun opened almost immediately. She saw the question in Nora’s eyes. She handed her a weathered cardboard shoebox, tied up with a dark burgundy ribbon. “This contains Sister Josephina’s only worldly possessions. I thought you should have it.”

  Nora’s heart quickened as she took it. “Thank you,” she said. The nun wished her a safe journey and Nora walked back to the taxi.

  At the ferry station, the same pimply faced police officer met her. They exchanged pleasantries and he told her that a train guard would accompany her back to Amsterdam. Once she took a seat, she wondered if the ferry would make it to the other side. It was rusty and its engines seemed to groan as they left the dock. She was still so exhausted that she closed her eyes and listened as it churned its way to Lauwersoog.