The Norse Directive (25 page)

Sean wanted to retort with something witty, but now wasn’t the time. “What’s your plan? You think no one is going to notice you and your cronies holding us captive?”

“It’s a risk we are willing to take. Now, get on the train or one wave of my hand, and the girl dies right now.”

From the feel of the long tube pressed into his back, Sean knew they had sound-suppressed weapons. Most of the passengers wouldn’t notice the low-level pops if one of the men fired their weapon inside the train. Sean had to pick his battles, and right now wasn’t the time to fight.

“Fine,” he said and started shuffling toward the door at the end.

“That’s better.”

Sean’s eyes scanned the escalator, wondering where Tommy was. He should have been here by now, but his friend was nowhere to be found. He must have been stuck in the ticket line.

The announcer came over the loud speakers again, letting the travelers know that the train would be departing within the next minute.

Sean gave one last glance up at the top of the train station. He hoped Tommy was there, but wasn’t sure what his friend could do about the current situation, even if he was. At the moment, the odds were against them.

The Frenchman ushered Sean to a seat in the back where the man in the brown coat was waiting with an empty seat and a hand inside the folds of his outerwear. It seemed like everyone had a gun. Sean wondered if the men knew he was armed, but that was something he’d keep to himself for now.

Frisking him and Adriana in broad daylight in a public place would hardly be subtle. He would have done the same thing had their situations been reversed. He figured the Frenchman and his cohorts would wait until they were alone to disarm them.

The man in the trench coat pushed him down next to the guy in brown and sat across from the two of them. Adriana and her captors were likewise positioned a few rows ahead, under watchful eyes. A ding came from overhead accompanied by a warning that the doors were closing. The mechanical doorway slid closed, and a moment later, the train began to ease out of the station.

Sean glared at the man in the trench coat across the way as the city of Copenhagen began to pass by in the window behind him. He wanted to ask questions, but he knew these types of men weren’t the kind to give answers. They were hired guns, nothing more. All they cared about was being paid and making sure they survived.

Trench coat kept one hand on the weapon in the folds of his jacket while he retrieved a cell phone from another pocket. He punched a few buttons and then put the device to his ear. A couple of seconds passed before he spoke.

“We have them,” he said in French. Sean’s French wasn’t great, but it was good enough to understand the guy was reporting to his boss. “We will be in Helsingor within an hour.” He waited for a moment, listening to whoever was on the other end, probably getting instructions. “We’ll see you there,” he said finally and put the phone back in his jacket.

Sean felt his own phone vibrating in his pants pocket, but he didn’t dare reach for it. He wondered if it was Tommy calling. He hoped his friend was okay. He figured Tommy was fine, probably stuck at the station. The gears of Sean’s mind started turning. He needed to figure a way out of this mess. He’d been in pinches before, and this scenario wasn’t dissimilar. Except that before he’d been on his own. Now he had Adriana with him, and that made things vastly more complicated. Risking his own life was one thing; risking hers was something he wasn’t willing to do.

“Relax,” the Frenchman said across the aisle, interrupting Sean’s thoughts. “It will all be over soon. Monsieur Dufort just wants the relic. Once he has it, he said you and your friend are free to go.” He made the statement with a toothy grin.

Sean knew what that meant. “Free to go.” Dufort wouldn’t have allowed his minion to mention his name unless he had the intent of killing his captives.

“You know that we don’t actually know where we’re going, right?” Sean asked. “I mean, we know there is something around the area of Kronborg Slot, but we don’t know exactly where or what it is we are looking for.”

The statement caught the other man off guard for the briefest of moments, but he quickly regained his composure. “I suppose that means you will have to figure it out. If you’re of no use to us, there’s no reason to keep you around. Is there?”

Sean realized he’d slow-pitched that one to the guy and wished he hadn’t said it. Too late now and no time for regrets. He looked up at the train’s map near the doorway. The transport began to slow down, nearing one of its many stops on the journey to Helsingor.

“Osterbro,” the conductor’s voice came through the speakers.

Sean knew he only had about forty-five minutes to come up with a plan, and he wasn’t sure that was enough time.

Copenhagen

Tommy ducked behind an enlarged map of the city at the top of the escalator. He peeked around the other side and watched as the men escorted Sean and Adriana onto the train. His heart told him to rush in and catch the men off guard, but it was four against one, and he didn’t like to play against the odds. That was more of his friend’s deal.

Still, he had to do something, but what?

The speakers announced that the train was departing shortly. Could he catch another ride to Helsingor? He shot a glance at the schedule board and saw that the next train to that destination wasn’t leaving for another forty minutes.

He couldn’t wait that long.

“The train to Helsingor will be leaving in one minute,” the speakers said loudly.

“Crap,” Tommy said to himself. The four men with Sean and Adriana disappeared into the rear train compartment. He didn’t have a choice. He had to get on that train.

Tommy lunged out from behind the kiosk and jumped onto the escalator. Fortunately, the conveyance was empty at the moment, so he was able to hurry down without being slowed.

Wary that the men who had his friends might see him, Tommy circled around the old-fashioned clock and several benches, acting as if he were waiting for another train. The timer in his head told him he only had about thirty seconds before the doors would be closing.

He kept his head low as he weaved his way between several bystanders, checking back to see if anyone in the rear compartment was looking his way. Fortunately, from what he could tell, the men were focusing all of their attention on Tommy and Adriana, their backs turned to the windows.

Fifteen seconds
, he thought. Tommy turned at the fourth bench and picked up his pace, crossing the span of the platform toward one of the middle train cars. Even though the distance was probably only twenty feet, it felt like a hundred yards, exposing him to plain view of any menacing eyes.

“The doors are now closing,” the speaker announced.

Tommy saw a green light over the doors turn red as he neared the edge of the gangway. Last chance. He leaped through the air with legs at full stretch, barely sneaking through the doors as they slid closed. His trailing foot clipped the rubber seal on one of them as he landed inside the compartment. He took a deep breath and looked around to see if anyone had noticed his dramatic entrance, but there were only a few people in the car, and they were facing the other direction.

His phone started ringing as he cautiously rounded a metal pole and slipped into a seat. He reached into his pocket and pulled it out. The caller ID told him it was Tara.

“Hello,” he answered the phone, looking out the train window at the platform going by, turning into city buildings.

“Where have you guys been?” she asked pointedly. “I’ve been trying to call you and Sean for the last ten minutes.”

“We were on bicycles,” he said bluntly.

“Bicycles? No wonder you sound out of breath.”

“Well, I had a run thrown in there at the last minute.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, well, sort of. We went through the city, trying to throw off some guys that were tailing us. Now I’m on the train to Helsingor.”

“Oh good. So you made it okay?” She sounded genuinely concerned.

Tommy pondered how much to tell her. “Not really. Sean and Adriana were caught. We decided to split up to make ourselves less visible. I guess they were spotted. I know how Adriana was caught. I’m guessing Sean was ambushed.”

There was a momentary pause from her end. “I’m so sorry. I wish I knew what to say.”

“It’s okay,” Tommy blew it off. “I’m working on it.” Really, it wasn’t okay. It was far from okay. “I’ll figure something out.” Then something occurred to him. “Hey, what were you trying to call us for?”

“Well, I don’t know if it helps now, but Alex and I found something else in the book. It’s a set of numbers and letters. We didn’t notice it early on because they were written in such small text it was hard to see. Plus we were so focused on the main text of the book that it was easy to miss the one character notations in the corners.”

Tommy raised his eyebrows. Keeping the phone to his ear, he leaned around the edge of the seat and looked back to make sure no one was listening, or approaching. He checked forward for the same thing. The woman in the wool hat two rows in front of him seemed to be paying no attention. Four rows up, a blonde-haired mother struggled to keep her two children calm.

“What do the characters mean?” he asked, satisfied no one was aware of his even being there.

“This time it was much easier to figure out since they were in order, though we don’t quite know what the letters mean. The numbers come out to two thousand, and the letters ft and sw come after.”

Tommy frowned. “Two thousand feet?”

“That’s what we thought too, but we aren’t sure what the s and w mean. Could be anything.”

Tommy’s breathing had begun to slow, and he refocused his energy on the riddle. “We need to think of it in the context of Kronborg Castle. What could it mean?”

Tara was silent for a minute and then said, “It could be a room in the castle. Maybe a room that measures two thousand square feet?”

“That could be. But which room? And it wouldn’t necessarily be easy to go through the entire castle and measure how many feet all the rooms are. That could take days, even weeks.”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s a pretty big castle too.” She sounded disappointed for even having suggested it.

“Pull up a map of the castle grounds. I’m assuming you’re at a computer.”

“Almost always,” she said, hinting at her lack of a life. He could hear the keys clicking away as her fingers flew across the keyboard.

“Osterbro,” the announcer said over the speakers, indicating the next train stop.

“What was that?” Tara asked, stopping for a second.

“Just the train conductor. We’re coming up on another stop. You got an image yet?”

“Yeah. I’ve got it. Want me to send you the pic?”

“Sure. Notice anything strange about the layout?”

He waited while Tara looked over the image on her computer screen. “Not really. It’s a fairly standard design for that era. Castle built within a classic four-star-shaped fortress wall. Looks a lot like a giant throwing star. You know, like ninjas use. There’s a moat around the interior wall of the fortress. Other than that, I can’t really tell if there’s anything that would signify those two letters.”

The train eased to a stop, and the doors behind Tommy opened. Two bearded, blond men entered the train and made their way to the two seats in front of him. A moment later the doors closed, and the train resumed its course.

“That castle is on an easterly peninsula, right?” Tommy asked just above a whisper now. Even though the men in front of him were probably no threat, he’d prefer safe than sorry.

“Yep. Sticks out right into the sea. The king that built this place sure knew how to pick a great spot.”

He thought about what she’d said regarding the wall. “You said an interior wall. That means there’s an exterior wall as well?”

“Correct. The castle was built within a four-star wall, and that was built within a much larger array of battlements. The thing covers the entire island.”

The information gave Tommy and idea. “Okay. I’ll take a look at that image and get back to you. Thanks, Tara.”

“No problem. Stay safe. And please be careful. Those guys sound dangerous.”

“Danger is part of the job, Tara,” he said and immediately regretted how cheesy it sounded. “Talk to you soon,” he added quickly and ended the call.

He slipped the phone back in his pocket and stared out the window at the city rooftops passing by. His mind was racing now. Tommy believed he knew where he would find the next clue.

Paris

Emily knew why Dufort had written down the name of her agent on that business card. He was sending her a message. He wanted her to know that he had the American agent, and that Emily’s little scheme to check out the residence didn’t bother him at all. It was also his way of telling her that he believed himself to be untouchable. The entire story about the nuclear arms deal and everything involved with it was for naught.

There was a bigger problem at play. Emily had hoped that by gaining entry to the mansion, she would be able to find a clue as to where her agent was, as well as the other women Dufort had kidnapped. If he so easily opened his doors to an authority such as herself, that could mean only one thing. Dufort had moved the girls.

She plopped down on the firm sofa placed against the wall in the hotel suite. Four other Axis agents stared at her, wondering what they needed to do next. They expected orders. Emily was their leader. She’d been the director of Axis for more than four years now. Nothing was ever easy when it came to assassinations, gathering intelligence, or counterespionage. Every single day at the job required her to be at the top of her game and see every possible angle. Now, she wasn’t sure she was seeing them all. What she did see was the reasons piling up as to why her best, Sean Wyatt, had retired nearly three years ago.

The agents in the room, two men and two women, all under the age of thirty-two, needed answers. She remembered what her predecessor would have done. He was bolder than her, a relic from a time when things were black and white. It was the West against the Communists. Lines were drawn, everyone knew the rules, and everyone knew how to bend or break them. Now, things were so much blurrier.

Emily drew in a breath and started speaking. “Ellington, you had eyes on the house for the last two weeks. Any reports of any vehicles leaving, deliveries made, or any kind of movement that was out of the ordinary?”

“Nothing I haven’t told you about, boss,” the young black man with short hair and sad brown eyes answered. His Brooklyn accent was unmistakable. He sat atop a bar stool next to the other male agent, this one with dirty-blond hair that reminded Emily too much of Sean. Normally, she wouldn’t have referred to them by their real names. They all had a number. She was Number 1. The kid from Brooklyn was Number 10. “This guy Dufort has cars coming through the driveway at all hours of the day. It’s nearly impossible to keep up with who’s coming and going, and why.”

“But you saw nothing of note? Any larger vehicles?”

The blond guy spoke up this time. “Several SUVs came by, but other than that, just a laundry service that comes by every week on the same day. Pretty sure Dufort left the house right after you did. Images indicate he took off in one of those SUVs.”

Emily perked up at the last bit of information. “Laundry service?” she asked, ignoring the part about Dufort leaving the compound.

“Yeah,” the guy from Brooklyn said. “They come by every week on Wednesday.”

“So they were there yesterday?” Emily’s pulse started pounding, but she kept her cool in spite of the growing concern in her mind.

“Yeah. The truck came by yesterday.”

Emily stood up. “That’s our truck. That’s how they get the girls in and out of the mansion.”

She turned to one of the girls, a redhead with her hair pulled back tight into a ponytail, revealing the creamy skin on her neck. “I can run the plates if Joey can pull up the image. Shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

“Do it.”

Five minutes later, four laptops were running on the dining table. “Got it,” the redhead informed the rest of the room.

“Who is it registered to, and where can we find it?” Emily stood over the rest of the agents with her hands on her hips.

“We’ll go you one better than that. I ran a simultaneous check to see if they had anything like an antitheft tracking system on there.”

“And?”

“They do. And we know exactly where to find it. I’m locking in on the coordinates now.”

Ten long seconds later, the girl spoke up again. “There you are.” The screen displayed an image from one of the many street cameras city officials had installed. They were helpful in monitoring traffic as well as potential crimes. While it made daily life seem a little more like a conspiracy novel with the government always watching, the cameras seemed to do more good than harm. The picture on the screen was of a warehouse on the outskirts of town where the river wound into the city.

“You’re sure the truck is in that building?” Emily asked.

“As sure as we can be. My guess is that whoever leased this truck didn’t bother to remove the antitheft system. A minor oversight.”

Emily stared at the screen with a determined gleam in her eyes. “And one that might just save the lives of those girls, and one of our own. Load up. We need to be on the road in five. Bring all the ammo you can. I have a feeling that warehouse isn’t as empty as it looks.”

“Ma’am,” the other female agent said, “you know the repercussions if the French authorities catch us doing something like this.” It sounded like a question, but it was more of a statement.

She was right, and Emily knew it. If something went awry and French agents showed up, there would be hell to pay. Career-ending hell. It was a risk she was willing to take.

“At Axis, we keep things small for several reasons,” she began, stepping over to a window and looking beyond the double doors and balcony, out into the city. “One is so that we can move quietly in the night. It allows us to be the shadows, in the darkness that evil people fear. But it also means that we are a family. There are only twelve of us, including myself. No one outside our agency even knows for sure who is with us.”

She spun around and peered into the eyes of each agent in the room before going on. “I would make this same decision for every single one of you. I would risk my career, my pension, everything to save your lives. Because that’s what family does.”

The four agents nodded with grim resolve written all over their faces.

“Now let’s go get our girl back.”