Preston Child - Mystery of the Amber Room

“So we have someone threatening us via text messages now?” Purdue said, leaning casually against the doorway.

“Purdue!” Nina cried and lunged forward to throw her arms around him with delight. “I'm so glad you're awake. What happened?”

“You really should get rid of your phone, Detlef. The people who killed your wife might be the ones who contacted you,” he told the widower. Nina felt a little neglected by his seriousness. She promptly withdrew. ‘Suit yourself.’

“Who are those people , by the way?” Detlef sneered. Purdue was not his friend. He did not like being dictated to by someone he suspected of murdering his wife. He still did not have a real answer to the question who killed his wife, so as far as he was concerned, they were only getting along for Nina and Sam's sake — for now.

“Where is Sam?” Nina asked, breaking up the looming cock fight.

“In the shower,” Purdue said indifferently. Nina didn't like his attitude, but she was used to being in the middle of testosterone-driven pissing contests, even though that didn't mean she liked it. “Must be his longest shower ever,” she scoffed, pushing past Purdue to get into the corridor. She went into the kitchen to make coffee to defuse the brooding atmosphere. “Are you clean yet, Sam?” she teased as she passed the bathroom where she heard the water clattering on the tiles. “Going to cost the old man all his hot water.” Nina intended to decipher the latest codes while savoring the coffee she had been craving for over an hour.

“Jesus Christ!” she screamed suddenly. She stumbled back against the wall and covered her mouth at the sight. Her knees buckled as she collapsed slowly. Her eyes were frozen, just staring at the old Russian who sat in his favorite chair. Before him on the table sat his full tumbler of vodka waiting while next to it rested his blood stained hand, still gripping the shard of a broken mirror he had slit his own throat with.

Purdue and Detlef came rushing out, ready to fight. They faced the horrific scene and stood stunned until Sam joined them from the bathroom.

As the shock set in, Nina started to shake profusely, sobbing at the heinous incident that must have taken place while she had been in Detlef's room. Sam, only wearing a towel, approached the old man curiously. He scrutinized the position of Kiril’s hand and the direction of the gash across his upper throat. The circumstances were consistent with suicide; he had to accept that. He looked at the other two men. There was no suspicion in his gaze, but there was a dark warning there that provoked Nina to distract him.

“Sam, once you are dressed, would you help me clean him up?” she asked, sniffing as she got to her feet.

“Aye.”

After they had taken care of Kiril’s body and wrapped it in sheets on his bed, the atmosphere in the house was thick with tension and grief. Nina sat at the table, still sporadically shedding tears over the death of the sweet old Russian. In front of her, she had Purdue's machine and her laptop, deciphering Detlef’s number sequences slowly and without enthusiasm. Her coffee was cold, and even her pack of smokes was untouched.

Purdue joined her und gently pulled her in a sympathetic embrace. “I'm so sorry, love. I know you adored the old man.” Nina said nothing. Purdue affectionately pressed his cheek against hers, and all she could think of was how quickly his temperature had returned to normal. Under the shelter of her hair, he whispered, “Be wary of that German, please, love. He seems to be a damn good actor, but he is German. Catch my drift?”

Nina gasped. Her eyes found Purdue's as he frown silently demanded an explanation. He sighed and looked around to make sure they were alone.

“He is adamant to keep his cell phone. You know nothing about him, other than his involvement with the Berlin assassinations investigation. For all we know he could be the kingpin. He could have been the one who killed his wife when he realized that she was playing for the opposing side,” he stated his case softly.

“Did you see him killing her? At the embassy? Are you even listening to yourself?” she asked in a tone full of resentment. “He helped save you, Purdue. If it weren't for him, Sam and I would never have known you were missing. If it weren't for Detlef, we would never have known where to find the Black Sun's Kazakh shit hole to rescue you.”

Purdue smiled. His expression conveyed his victory. “Exactly my point, my dearest. This is a trap. Don’t just follow his every direction. How do you know he was not leading you and Sam to me? Maybe you were supposed to find me; supposed to get me out. All part of the grand plan?”

Nina did not want to believe it. Here she was preaching for Detlef not to be blind to danger out of nostalgia, but she was doing precisely the same thing! There was no doubt that Purdue had a valid point, but she could not process the possible betrayal just yet.

“The Black Sun is predominantly German,” Purdue continued to whisper while checking the hallway. “They have people everywhere. And who do they want to wipe off the planet most of all? Me, you and Sam. What better way to get us all together to chase an elusive treasure than to insert a double agent, a Black Sun operative, to play the victim? A victim with all the answers is more like… a villain.”

“Have you managed to decode the information, Nina?” Detlef asked as he came in from outside, dusting off his shirt.

Purdue gave her an intense look as he stroked her hair one last time before going into the kitchen to get a drink. Nina had to keep her cool and play along until she could somehow figure out if Detlef was playing for the wrong team. “Almost done,” she told him, hiding any doubt she was harboring. “I just hope we get enough information to find anything useful. What if this message is not about the location of the Amber Room?”

“Don't worry. If that is the case, we will attack the Order head-on. To hell with the Amber Room,” he said. He made a point of staying away from Purdue, at least avoiding being alone with him. The two did not get along anymore. Sam was distant and spent most of the time alone in his room, leaving Nina feeling utterly alone.

“We will have to leave soon,” Nina suggested loudly for everyone to hear. “I am going to decipher this broadcast and then we have to be on our way before somebody finds us. We will call the local authorities regarding Kiril's body as soon as we are far enough from here.”

“I agree,” Purdue tossed in his vote from the door where he was watching the sun die. “The sooner we get to the Amber Room the better.”

“Provided we get the right information,” Nina added as she wrote down the next line.

“Where is Sam?” Purdue asked.

“He went to his room after we cleaned up Kiril’s mess,” Detlef answered.

Purdue wanted to talk to Sam about his suspicions. As long as Nina could keep Detlef occupied, he could warn Sam as well. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Purdue knocked louder to wake Sam in case he was sleeping. “Master Cleave! This is no time to snooze. We have to pack up soon!”

“Got it,” Nina exclaimed. Detlef came to join her at the table, eager to know what Milla had to say.

“What does she say?” he asked, falling into the chair next to Nina.

“This looks like coordinates, maybe? See?” she suggested, shifting the paper to him. While he looked at it, Nina wondered what he would if he noticed that she had written down a fake message just to see if he already knew every move. She had fabricated the message, waiting for him to doubt her work. Then she would know if he was steering the group with his number sequences.