James Patterson - Blindside

Natalie led me through an alley and then over a few blocks, where we caught a bus. We transferred after a few minutes. The second bus seemed to stop every two blocks.

Natalie said, “I could walk faster than this.”

“Go ahead. I’ll meet you at St. Laszlo’s.” I was done with whining. As long as we were moving and on the bus, we were relatively safe. I would gladly ride it all night long.

About forty minutes later, I recognized the neighborhood and soon saw the lighted cupolas of the Orthodox church. I hoped we weren’t too late to catch Father Marty at the office.

When I raced into the building, Natalie followed me through the door. Almost immediately, we ran into Father Marty.

He smiled and clapped his hands. “You found her. Good for you.” He looked at Natalie and said, “I prayed for you, my dear.”

She mumbled her thanks, and I gave him a quick rundown of what had happened. I left out some of the bloodier details, but he now knew the facts. I ended by asking if he had heard about the shoot-out near Tartu Maantee.

Father Marty said, “No, I haven’t heard anything about a shoot-out in Tallinn.”

“The FBI agent who was chasing me was injured trying to save us.”

“Oh, dear. And you don’t know how Mr. Fiore is doing?”

“No, Father, I don’t. As soon as I make sure Natalie’s safe, I want to check on him. He saved my”—I paused for a moment, then came up with—“life.”

“Mr. Fiore was quite angry at me after I helped you escape. I told him I followed my heart.”

“And what’d he say to that?”

“He had another suggestion on showing my love for myself.” The priest smiled.

I hid my own smile as I imagined the exchange. I said, “I’m sorry, Father.”

“No. One needs a diverse experience. It’s sometimes nice to hear new phrases. And in his defense, he did appear to be a dedicated law enforcement officer.”

“He absolutely is. And I hope he’s safe.”

Father Marty said, “I can have a car here in an hour. A man I know can drive you down to Riga, in Latvia. I think that’s the safest course of action. It will be easy to arrange a flight back to the US from Riga.”

Natalie said, “Can I send a quick email to my mom? I left my phone back at Henry’s building.”

“Of course, my dear. Use my office. There are some drinks in the little refrigerator if you need them.”

I plopped down in an overstuffed chair. Suddenly the events of the last few hours hit me in a wave. I dozed off before I even realized how comfortable I was.

CHAPTER 81

CHRISTOPH WAS BEHINDthe wheel of the Volkswagen Passat. He hated this car. It didn’t fit his image. Ollie had tried his best to talk his partner out of driving. With blood still leaking out of Christoph’s nose and his face turning a dark purple, Ollie had thought it would be best if he drove. The debate had lasted almost a minute, until Ollie had relented.

Now, as Christoph’s vision blurred, he wasn’t about to say anything to his partner. He blinked harder to get a better view of the streets of Tallinn. A woman, walking hand in hand with a little girl on the edge of the street, had to spring out of the way as Christoph swerved. Ollie turned quickly to see the woman on the curb, holding the girl and cursing them.

Christoph thought the vision issues might have more to do with his feelings than a physical injury. He was furious. And his fury was focused on two people. All he could think about was sticking his knife into Bennett’s throat. He imagined the blade when it first broke skin and he smiled. He wanted to do it just like he had done it to his cousin all those years ago. He never would admit to anyone how satisfying it had been. She had been laughing and threatening to expose him, and he had put an end to it with a simple, single thrust of his pocketknife.

He pictured Bennett in the same situation, grasping his neck as blood pumped out of severed arteries and veins. This time Christoph wouldn’t panic. Instead, he’d enjoy it.

Natalie was another story. He was thinking he wanted to watch her die slowly. Maybe by strangling her. He could picture that pretty face staring up at him as he choked the last breath out of her. Her brains wouldn’t count for shit when that happened. Natalie had brought this on herself. To Christoph, she was just another of Henry’s many girlfriends. Until she’d hit him in the face. Now she was a target. Henry hadn’t given him explicit permission to kill Natalie. But as far as Christoph was concerned, it was implied.

Henry was hard to figure. He never confided in anyone. But there was no doubt he was a business genius. The operation ran flawlessly, and they raked in a lot of cash. To Henry’s credit, he generally wasn’t shy about spreading the money around.

On the downside, he could lose his temper and order one of his hired thugs to kill anyone at any time. The perfect example was Janos and Alice in New York. They had apparently questioned his authority. Now everyone knew he was the king. Even if the king was a little crazy.

Christoph had known Henry since the beginning. The computer geek never would admit it, but he had changed. Some people speculated it happened when he got into weight lifting and using steroids. But Christoph had seen his dark, murderous side even before that.

The first killing Henry had ordered them to commit was a programmer who’d stolen some of Henry’s ideas and applied them to businesses in his native Canada. They had flown first class to Toronto, rented a car, and driven for what seemed like days, just to shoot the young man in the head at his parents’ house.

Now it was absolutely personal for Christoph. He didn’t care if Henry even paid them for these killings. They were going to happen.

Ollie said, “What happens once we catch them?”

Christoph tried not to show his anger in his voice. “We’ve already spent too much time and blood on this. Once we find the cop and the girl, I know exactly what I want to do. We take them to our favorite dumping ground in Kopli Liinid. With all the new construction there, no one will notice a couple of bodies stuck in the foundation of one of the new houses.”

Ollie was quiet. Finally he said, “Maybe we let this one go. We can find other jobs.”

Christoph flared. “No way. Not these two.”

“Perhaps we should talk to Henry first.”

“He’s busy. He’s got other problems.”

Ollie said, “I’m worried about the fat guy who escaped. He has details about us.”

“You worry about things too far ahead of time. We need to live for today. And today we’re going to kill Bennett and Natalie.”

“That’s the kind of shit Janos used to say. Look where it got him and Alice. I like looking into the future. I enjoy life too much to waste it. The fat guy could give the police everything. Maybe we’d be better off to end this and head back to Amsterdam right now.”

Before Christoph could rebut his partner’s logic, Ollie’s phone rang. It was Henry. Ollie put it on speaker.

Henry’s agitated voice was scratchy on the tiny phone speaker. He said, “Looks like Natalie accessed her email on a Wi-Fi network.”

Ollie asked, “Do you know where the network is physically located?”

“St. Laszlo’s Church.”

Christoph said, “Damn. We followed him there yesterday. He must be friends with the priest. We’ll call you when we’re done.” He ended the phone call before Henry could say anything else, just in case their fearless leader had second thoughts about his girlfriend.

CHAPTER 82

I CAME AWAKEsuddenly when a hand gently shook me. Father Marty and Natalie were standing over me, smiling. The giant chair still felt like a wide, soft pillow, and the remnants of a dream stuck in my head. I was marrying Mary Catherine. My grandfather was officiating, and Brian was with us. Pretty nice dream, but now it was back to a rougher reality.