by J G Jerome
“Yes, Master.” Trina pulls out her duffle and pulls out two of her ‘Brownie Bags.’ Soon she’s dressed in olive rip-stop tactical pants that look better on her than any uniform has a right to. She pulls on a black tank, and covers that in a lightweight burnt umber cowl-neck sweater. She finishes off with warm socks, tac-boots, a scarf, and her ubiquitous biker jacket.
Jessica pulls her assassin jumpsuit back on. It’s looking kind of worn. We’ll have to get her some new clothes, too. I think she’s been borrowing from L’liana. Jessica pulls a lightweight jacket out of her small duffle. She tries it on. It’s cut like a 70s vintage US Army field jacket, but it’s the same charcoal as her jumpsuit. She winks at me when she notices I’m watching her.
I pack the bags back into the rack as they hand them to me. Then we take a seat.
Miranda hands out sandwiches, coffee, and water. We devour our meal quickly as she does her pre-landing checks. She appears very competent. She blushes prettily when she notices my regard. I smile in return.
We have a smooth landing, and we all grab our various bags and deplane. It does feel rather cool. We make our way into the Executive Terminal, which is actually run by JetAir, a General Dynamics company that has the contract to provide general aviation services. Inside we find the immigration and customs, or Zollamt, desk. We all get through without a problem and meet our driver at the curb. We load up the bags and all pile in. It’s a tight fit, but our trip to the hotel is relatively short.
We trundle our luggage into the reception at the Hotel Asahi. As the name implies, this particular hotel caters to Japanese clientele. Düsseldorf has the third largest Japanese population in Europe. The Asahi is also one of the few hotels in Düsseldorf that offers multiple-bed suites. It must be true because Christoff told us. He has us booked in the Penthouse suite. It has one king bed, and two ‘large twin’ beds, and a sofabed. We check in.
The clerk at the counter takes my information and credit card for an imprint. In return I get six magnetic keys, an envelope with two sets of car keys, and directions to where the cars are parked.
Trina takes the keys and directions. “I’m going to inspect the vehicles. I sent the Littles back to Springfield while we were on the boat. I wish we had Acorn and Persimmon here. Maybe I’ll bring them through to guard. Regardless, Jessie and I will be waiting for you in the parking lot..”
I say, “Sounds good, beautiful. Why don’t you take Leenie with you? I think she’d like to see the tech you use.”
“Great idea, Jack.” She kisses me. “Hey Leenie, why don’t you join Jessie and I?”
Eileen gives me a kiss before saying, “Sure, Trina.”
Jessica brushes her lips across mine and hooks Eileen’s arm. They both saunter off in-step with a little extra ‘loco’ in their motion. They look back over their linked arms to wink at me.
Eileen actually giggles as I laugh and I grab Jessica’s bag, which I find lying at my feet. L’liana and I head up to the twelfth floor.
The suite is basically a large apartment. There is a decent-sized kitchen, dining room, sun-room with a treadmill and ‘living room’ furniture, balcony with hot-tub, the master bedroom - with the king, and a second bedroom - with the ‘large twins’, and a single bathroom. It’s definitely designed for comfort and a long stay for a group of four-to-six people. It’s not designed to have five people in a bed, but we’ll figure out the logistics shortly.
The whole ‘large twin bed’ concept is new to me. When I see them, I understand they are what most Germans would call a ‘Doppelbett.’ It’s essentially two mattresses that are slightly wider and longer than a standard American twin mattress, tucked into a frame to create a bed that is slightly larger than a standard King. The downside is the frame separating the two mattresses. I can tell you, having lain in that crevice during bedroom acrobatics in my soldiering days, it’s not a great place to rest.
I put the bags in the armoire, or Schrank, as the Germans call it. L’liana comes out of the bathroom, I tag in to walk Little Jack. Then I put our electronics in the safe. I pull Eventide from my portfolio and clip her into my front right pocket and ensure the rest of my weapons are readily available in the portfolio. L’liana’s doing the same with her clutch. Then we head to the parking lot.
I look around for my family as we step out of the lift and walk out the front doors, but I don’t see them. I step out into the parking lot and look around, and suddenly Eileen is standing in front of me. “Jessie said she’s doing some kind of mind fog thing, so people won’t notice Trina twirling things in the air. We’re over here, Jack.”
Eileen leads us to a pair of dark Ford Kuga SUVs. The Kuga is basically the European version of the Ford Escape. “Trina is still processing the second one,” she says as she points to the dark blue model on the other side. I consciously sense two beings moving around it, which allows my brain to register my ladies moving around the SUV. Trina is still spinning the Elf-tech above her head.
Eileen says, “Jeez, I could have used that tech in my past life.”
“Right?” I say as I pull Eileen to me and wrap my coat around her.
She burrows in. “Thanks, Jack. I am getting chilly. I want to stop and get a coat if we find anything open. There’s a Marc O'Polo store enroute. That should work.”
“Sounds good, Darlin’. In the meantime, stay close. I’m happy to hold you,” I tell her. Then I kiss her forehead.
She murmurs, “I can’t believe I got you back.”
“I can’t believe I got YOU back,” I respond. “I didn’t think you would ever trust me again. I thought you hated me while I was stuck loving you.”
She chuckles. “If I had known you’d have six wives and...how many concubines?”
I grimace, “Seventeen if you don’t count Selene and Trinity. Trinity is in a relationship with Louis now, so we have to subtract her. Selene - I’m not sure where she stands. We’ve made love a couple times, but I get the feeling she’s got a thing with Cholley.”
Eileen says, “Selene is the quiet one of the two olive-skinned, dark-haired cheerleaders? The one with the melons for boobs?”
“Yes. That’s her. Her sire did her even fewer favors than he did for Sera. She was an emotional wreck when I met her,” I explain.
Eileen looks up at me, “She’s all about you, Jack. I can see it in her eyes. Four years ago, I would have killed her for looking at you like that.”
I cock an eyebrow at her. “And now?”
She points a finger between my eyes. “I may have to adapt, but I will not be a concubine! Fiancé and wife number seven will be just fine, Mr. Green Lord Fiancé.” Then she grins.
I chuckle, “Yes ma’am.” Trina and Jessica head our way. I tuck my head close to hers and murmur, “Sometimes I feel I’ve gotten way above my raisin’.”
“Nope,” Eileen says. “I know enough about how you grew up to know that your ‘raisin’’ set you up to do great things without limits. You keep running forward, Jack. I’ve got your six.”
She kisses me lightly as the other ladies all pile into a group hug.
I review the plan. “Trina, Jessie, and Lili in one car. You are the overwatch. Trina drives. Eileen and myself are in the other. Eileen drives. We’re going to stop on the way at Marc O'Polo, so Eileen can get a coat and maybe a change of clothes. Jessie, let’s get you a couple outfits, too. We need to be at the restaurant at 8pm, so we will have to hurry. Questions?”
Everyone breaks off for their cars. Trina gives a key fob to Eileen, and we get in the navy blue SUV. Eileen takes the lead and has us parking to the side of Marc O'Polo in about five minutes. L’liana and I stay with the vehicles and the ladies run in quickly. Eileen’s German is decent, so I’m not concerned about communication problems. Trina speaks relatively well, too.
As the trio heads in for a quick shopping expedition, L’liana opens the passenger door and places an elf-tech device on the ground between the two vehicles and pulls up a monitoring app on a tablet. Apparently the
Elves like Samsung better than Apple. I’ll stick with my iPads, thank you very much. I run over to the ATM at the corner of the building to pick up some Euros. Then I hustle back to my vehicle. Upon my return, L’liana and I both watch our surroundings and talk to each other quietly as we scan 360 degrees.
The ladies return a little less than thirty minutes later. Each has a shopping bag, and Eileen has a quilted coat that covers to about mid-thigh. L’liana recovers her device, and we’re off down Ulmenstraße. We turn left on Jülicherstraße and stay on it until it crosses the Brehmstraße shortly after it becomes Grunerstraße. We park as near the Grunerstraße U-bahn, or subway, station as we can. Eileen and I head into Restaurant SABO.
I inform the Maitre D’ that we’re here to meet Herr Çakmak. We hang our coats on the Garderobe, or coat rack, as he beckons a waiter who escorts us to the table. As we head across the room, L’liana informs me mentally, *Jessie made it through the door with you. She says she’s tucked into a corner in overwatch.*
*Okay. Thanks for keeping me in the loop, Beloved.* I feel her happiness for my gratitude in return.
We walk to meet my old friend, Aslan Çakmak. Aslan is one of the best connected people in the Muslim quarter of Düsseldorf. He’s a very successful businessman that owns several Kebap stands and restaurants, a couple of dry cleaners, a trucking firm, a grocery wholesaler, and a nebulous but profitable ‘import-export’ firm - apparently it’s legal. As the Derendorf district is primarily Turkish, Aslan is well respected and well connected. He knows the movements of people in the quarter, especially non-Turks. If I had shown up without calling ahead, I would have bumped into him or gotten a call within ten minutes of entering Derendorf. He’s the person most likely to know where Abu bin Hassan is if he’s still in town.
Aslan stands and says “Selamün aleyküm.” I translate the Turkish in my head, ‘peace be unto you.’ Then I respond appropriately, “Aleyküm selam,” or ‘And unto you peace.’ At that point Aslan switches to German, knowing how difficult Turkish is for me.
He laughs, “Your pronunciation is still horrible, Jack.”
“Ja, I know it. I need to go to Istanbul for a few weeks to polish my language skills. Aslan, do you remember Eileen Brock?”
Aslan looks at her, “I thought it would be Eileen Jerome by now. Willkommen back in Düsseldorf, Eileen.”
She grimaces, “We had a falling out over four years ago.” Then she smiles, “We just recently reconciled, so I will be Eileen Jerome before too long.” She turns to me. “Won’t I, Jack?” she asks as she arches an eyebrow at me.
“Yes, ma’am!” I reply vehemently. We share a laugh over that.
A pretty young lady comes to the table with a bowl of water. We take turns washing our hands in the bowl and drying them on the towel hanging from her arm. Personally, I think she looks more Persian than Turkish, but I’m definitely no expert. She’s pretty, slim, and curvy. She has prominent cheekbones, a strong chin, and golden eyes. For a moment, I thought her eyes spun. I blinked and looked again, but she looks back at me with eyes that are remarkable only for the pretty golden brown color of them. They’re similar to Solange’s. She smiles faintly as she steps back from the table. A male server follows her immediately with tea service and mineral water. Aslan speaks to the server in Turkish. The server bows and backs away.
Aslan says, “I have taken care of the ordering.”
I smile as I tell him, “I believe I invited you, Aslan. Do we agree? I believe it’s my obligation to pay.”
Aslan, “Oh that wouldn’t be appropriate as I ran the bill up.”
“Old friend, I popped this on you in with very little notice and disrupted your plans. I would be honored if you would allow me to treat you. It’s been too long since I have seen you, and it’s unfortunately not just a social call,” I tell him.
“I wondered,” he says. “We’ve had a bit of excitement over the last week, and suddenly my friend ‘Jack the Hunter’ is in town. Okay, let’s eat on your dime, and then discuss business.”
12 - Dinner with a friend
The servers brings a cold appetizer sampler platter called ‘Soğuk Meze Tabağı’ and a warm appetizer sampler platter called ‘Sıcak Meze Tabağı.’ We demolished those while Aslan talks about his daughter, Malia, going to university and his son, Burak, getting hired by Volkswagen in their purchasing department. His wife, Aliya, is still managing Aslan’s accounts. Aslan himself had a heart attack about a year ago, which resulted in him getting three stents. He claims he’s doing okay for now.
The young lady clears the dishes and returns with dinner plates and clean flatware. Two male servers carry out three platters. There is a dish of pan-fried vegetables with yoghurt garlic sauce called ‘Sebze Tava,’ ‘Soslu Kuzu Dolma’ - a rack of lamb fileted and filled with pistachios, pine nuts and currants sitting on a bed of potatoes and vegetables and covered with demi-glace sauce, and finally ‘Izgara Derleme’ - a mixed grilled platter with king prawns, tuna steak, lamb chop and chicken breast with zucchini fritters and rice.
We dig in and demolish all three dishes while I tell Aslan about my IT businesses, Data Bridge and Insurance Ecosystems. Aslan finally wheedles the story of our break-up out of us. I let Eileen tell it. I set my utensils down and caress her thigh as she relates the story. As she finishes, I hug her and kiss her cheek. Then I finish eating and push the plate back.
The young lady clears the dishes. We all sip water as we visit and the server cleans the tablecloth with a waiter’s crumber. Then another male server brings out three pieces of walnut baklava. The first waiter lays out coffee service. The young lady places a tray holding a burner with the cezve on top. The coffee is already boiling and has a nice froth on it. She serves the coffee into the small cups and replaces the cezve on the fire before backing away from the table.
I try the coffee. It’s got enough caffeine and sugar to keep me going all night. The baklava is mild by comparison - perfect. We all quietly savor the wonderful flavors. Once the coffee has started to boil again, the young lady pours again.
Finally, I’ve had enough. I sit back in my chair with a sigh. Aslan has small grin on his face.
I tell him, “Well, Aslan. I commend your choice of restaurants. I wonder if I could talk them into moving to Arizona.”
Aslan shrugs, “I can ask. I know the owner and the chef.”
“You’re the owner?” Eileen asks.
“Sadly, no,” Aslan says with a gentle shake of his head. “I’ve offered to buy it twice. Kerem still refuses. Unfortunately, he’s a very competent business man. The only money I can make off him is selling him groceries.”
The young lady comes and fills our glasses with mineral water before removing the coffee service. When she steps back, Aslan breaks the silence. “So, old friends. Why have you come to my city?”
I point to Eileen as I watch the young lady back away and walk off. Eileen lays it out, “Abu bin Hassan approached us - the US government. I can see you recognize Mr. Hassan’s name. He told us he discovered that he had been duped into killing innocents. He is bitter about losing his whole family in his vendetta against Jack when Jack was just trying to defend innocents. He wants to come in out of the cold and give us the mastermind - someone called the Dread Lord. He is only willing to talk to Jack. I told him that Jack is no longer with the government. He said it didn’t matter because he can only tell the Dread Lord’s archrival, the Green Lord. Mr. Hassan is convinced that Jack is this Green Lord.”
Aslan looks at me. “So, Jack. Are you this Green Lord?”
I cock an eyebrow at him as Eileen says, “We tried to bring him in against his will. He disappeared into the Muslim quarter of Paris. We got a sniff on him, then he just disappeared. We picked up a rumor that he came up here.”
Aslan is just watching me. Eileen continues, “I was given the mission to get Jack, bring him here, and debrief Mr. Hassan. Unfortunately, a group in the government decided that maybe the Dread Lord might help their careers, so they s
ent an assassin to kill Jack. We caught the assassin, who claimed he actually wounded Mr. Hassan here in Düsseldorf. We’re here to find Mr. Hassan, heal him, and learn what he knows.”
Aslan says, “He disappeared. Someone took Hassan in after he was shot and has been very careful. I’ve been asked by an Arab to find him. His people took my daughter to ensure I do what they ask.” He pauses, “Jack, I don’t know if you are the Green Lord. I don’t need a Green Lord. I need the Hunter. I need my friend ‘Jack the Hunter’ to find my daughter and get her safely home.”
I let my eyes glow with the green fire. “Aslan, my friend. You have both.” Aslan gasps. I ask, “Do you know where they are holding Malia?”
He shakes his head as he slumps forward, “No, Jack. They called me to a suite in the Maratim hotel to see that Malia was okay. They said I had two weeks to find Abu bin Hassan. After that, I would receive a body part every day until I did. It has been seven days.”
“Is the young lady part of your new Arabic friends?” I ask.
He looks up surprised. “No, Jack. Zandra’s family are from eastern Turkey. She’s a friend of the family. I helped her get a job here.”
“Give me just a minute, Aslan. Let me contact a reinforcement. What room was it?” I ask him.
He says, “814.” I pull out my phone, turn on the ‘Hide my ass’ app, and then WhatsApp Yuri Kolenko. He says he’s free to talk, so I initiate a call.
“Hey Yuri, I need to contract with you.”
“Is very abrupt, Jack,” he teases.
I respond, “This is how I would behave if I were searching for your abducted child.”
Suddenly, Yuri is all business, “Sure, Jack. What you need?”
“I need to find out who rented suite 814 in the Maritim hotel in Düsseldorf seven days ago. I need a current location,” I tell him.
He says, “I am at home. Give me thirty minutes to see what I find.”
“Sounds good, Yuri. I’ll be standing by,” I tell him before I sign off.
