Craig Russell - A fear of dark water

He tried to get up but more hands gently restrained him.

‘It’s Anna, Chef. You’re going to be okay. You’re in an ambulance. We’re taking you to the hospital.’

Fabel’s vision cleared and he saw Anna and a female paramedic leaning over him. Full consciousness returned like an electric shock.

‘Did you get them?’ He tried to sit upright but again was restrained. Pain throbbed nauseatingly in his head. ‘They pushed me into the water. They tried to kill me.’ He saw there was someone else in the ambulance. A figure sitting on the bench seat next to Anna; hair wet-black and plastered to his brow, a blanket wrapped around hunched shoulders.

‘This is Herr Flemming, Jan,’ said Anna. ‘It was Herr Flemming who pulled you out of the water. He saw your car go in and he jumped in to save you.’

Fabel remembered the hand over his nose and mouth, the arm looped around him, pulling him upwards.

‘You saved my life?’

Flemming shrugged underneath the blanket. ‘Right place, right time.’

‘It was more than that. You risked your life to come in for me.’

‘Jan…’ Fabel thought he sensed something tentative in Anna’s tone. ‘Herr Flemming works for Seamark International.’

‘But I thought…’

‘You were right, Herr Fabel,’ said Flemming. ‘We were following you. But we’re on the same side, so to speak. But rest now. They’re taking me to the hospital, too. We can talk later.’

‘Was it you who phoned me last night? Are you Klabautermann?’

Flemming laughed. ‘Maybe I was the Klabautermann today, but no, I didn’t phone you.’

Fabel lay back on the gurney. The oxygen eased his breathing. He closed his eyes and tried to fight back the nausea that washed over him in great, welling waves. The ambulance started to move, jolting over some obstacle as it got under way. Fabel tore off the oxygen mask and twisted sideways, vomiting over the edge of the gurney. The paramedic held him while he finished retching, before asking him if he felt better and easing him back into a lying position. As he lay there, feeling the pressure of the paramedic’s fingertips on his wrist as she checked his pulse, Fabel felt a dull surprise as his eyelids closed. He was going to sleep.

Susanne arrived at the hospital in St Georg about half an hour after Fabel had been admitted. She looked shaken and Fabel found himself worrying more about her than himself as she sat at his bedside. She stayed there while he was reexamined on the hour. The frown on her face refused to dissipate, no matter how often he reassured her that he was all right, or the doctors told her that there was nothing to be concerned about.

‘I didn’t take in much water,’ he said. ‘That guy Flemming made sure of that. He got me out really quickly, Susanne. I’m fine, honest.’ He placed his hand on her cheek and smiled. She placed her hand over his.

‘They tried to kill you, Jan,’ she said incredulously. ‘These maniacs actually believe they can get away with trying to kill a senior Hamburg police officer.’

‘Truth is, as far as I can see, they are getting away with it. We have nothing to tie the vehicle that rammed into me with the Pharos Project or the Guardians of Gaia. Or anyone else for that matter. They could claim it was a random road-rage attack. I don’t know. But we’ll get them, don’t worry Susanne. We will get them.’

Anna Wolff came in. She clearly saw Susanne clasping Fabel’s hand and looked awkward for a moment.

‘It’s all right, Anna,’ said Susanne. Fabel thought he detected a little frost in her smile. She stood up, leaned over and kissed him proprietarily on the forehead. ‘I’ll go and get a coffee. I’ll be back in a minute.’

‘Sorry, Chef,’ said Anna. ‘I didn’t mean to…’

‘It’s fine, Anna. What’s up?’

‘Flemming has been given the all-clear to go, but he’s hanging around because he thought you’d want to talk to him. If you’re up to it, that is.’

‘Damned right I want to talk to him. Did he tell you why he was following me?’

‘You’re better getting all the details from him, but I gather that Seamark International works for a company called Demeril Importing. It’s a Turkish carpet and textile importer, down in the Speicherstadt. Seamark work for a lot of companies like that, providing security for imported and exported goods, even with men on ships safeguarding the cargo. They even have their own investigative branch, apparently. Mainly because the cargo and shipping they look after passes through so many jurisdictions and shades of legislation.’

‘What the hell has that got to do with anything?’

‘The owner of Demeril is a Herr Mustafa Kebir. His brother is a well-known Turkish archaeologist and environmental campaigner, Burhan Kebir, who happens to be very concerned about the whereabouts of his daughter…’

‘Meliha?’

‘Meliha Kebir — our Meliha Yazar — is an environmental campaigner and “underground” investigative journalist. The reason we could find no record of her is that she doesn’t write as either Meliha Kebir or Meliha Yazar. All her work appears on the internet on activist and environmental sites under the tag Mermaid. She’s already done several exposes on various companies who have shafted the environment. In two cases the internet shit-storm she’s created has spilled over into the mainstream media to such an extent that charges have been brought against the companies she’s named.’

Fabel eased himself up in the bed. His head still hurt like hell and he winced at the effort. ‘Exactly the kind of person the Pharos Project wouldn’t want anywhere near.’

‘I’ve been in touch with the mental health sanatorium in Bavaria where Fottinger was placed by his parents. I managed to get a federal warrant for their records on him and guess what?’

‘They’ve had some kind of computer glitch and the records have been mysteriously erased?’

Anna looked disappointed that she had not had a chance to drop her bombshell. ‘Lucky guess?’

‘Educated one. Anything else?’

‘Yes — Nicola Bruggemann is here to see you.’

‘How are you getting on with her?’

‘Fine. She’s a good cop, like you said.’

‘That it?’

Anna shrugged. ‘Oh no, there was one more thing. Fabian Menke called to cancel. He said he’d arranged to meet you but something had come up and could you reschedule for same time, same place tomorrow?’

Fabel frowned. ‘That’s who I was going to meet when I got shunted into the river.’

‘Will you be up to seeing him tomorrow?’

‘All I’ve had is a needle in my ass for tetanus. I’m fine. A little shaken, that’s all.’

‘They want to keep you in overnight, just for observation.’

‘They can observe me remotely. Will you get my clothes for me while I talk to Nicola? Susanne brought in a fresh change of clothes for me. And you better get them here before Susanne comes back. She’ll want me to stay in.’

‘How’s it going, Jan?’ Bruggemann asked in her low contralto as she sat down on the edge of the bed. ‘Do you have a moment for a chat? I mean, you don’t have anything planned, do you? A swim or…’

‘Very funny, Nicola. Have you been taking sarcasm lessons from Anna Wolff?’

‘There are a few things young Anna could teach me, Jan. That’s not one of them.’

Anna came back in and handed Fabel his clothes. ‘You’d better be quick,’ she said. ‘I think they’ve told the chief nurse and she’s steaming this way. I’ll leave you to it.’

As Anna left, Fabel made a face at Bruggemann who turned her back to him as he stood up and dressed. He found his head still hurt and he was a little unsteady on his feet.