After the Silence: Inspector Rykel Book 1 (Amsterdam Quartet) (32 page)

Friday, 6 January
15.56

Up the gangplank.

The man struggled, strong as he was, with Tanya’s weight, his foot slipping in the snow, compacted from whoever he’d brought up here before.

It must’ve been Jaap
, she realized.

Her hands were bound, as were her feet.

The man’s phone rang; he paused, pulled it out and answered, listening for a minute.

‘Okay, you get rid of them. Get rid of all three. And I’ll finish dealing with this bitch.’

He’s going to kill them
, her mind screamed
. Do something, do it now!

She lunged on to her side, curled herself round one of the vertical poles which dotted the gangplank, and pulled her feet back trying to off-balance the man, just as he was pocketing his phone. He tried to compensate, shooting his foot out behind him to stop the sudden pull, but it slipped and he loosened his grip slightly, his arms automatically trying to correct his balance. He let out a yelp which would almost have been comical in another situation.

Tanya took the opportunity, flailed both her legs free and slammed her right leg into the man’s chest. Pain seared
through her thigh as she felt the stitches tear open. He toppled over backwards, hitting the surface hard, sliding down head first on his back. His phone fell out of his pocket and over the side.

It was seconds before she heard the splash.

She rolled back into the centre of the gangplank, hauled herself up, and looked down to see the man, sliding fast, smack his head into one of the same poles that had given Tanya her chance. She lunged down the ramp, needing to get to him before the man had a chance to get up, pull a weapon.

But as she got closer she sensed he wasn’t moving.

When she reached him, she could see that in hitting the pole, the rest of his body had splayed round to the right, the neck at an unnatural angle. She crouched down to check his pulse. It was there, but it faded even as she pressed her fingers into the man’s throat. She looked at his face, a snowflake landed on one of his open eyes.

The eyelid didn’t blink.

She watched as the flake melted.

Snapping out of it she frisked the body for weapons. Her hands found two tucked into the man’s jeans, one of which was her own. She took both, jamming the second into her coat pocket. She found a penknife on a key ring, her fingers so cold it took her several attempts just to get the blade open.

It took even longer to free herself, the blade small and blunt, cutting through the rope one fibre at a time.

Once loose she shook as much watery slush out of her jacket as she could; the snow had collected as she’d been dragged and had melted against the flesh of her back making her shiver.

Or is that fear?
she thought.
Fear of what they’ve done to Adrijana. And Jaap.

She followed the trail up on to the deck where it turned left, heading for the stern. The snow helped keep her footsteps quiet, and as she approached the open deck she slowed down.

Peering round the corner she could make out a figure, about ten metres away.

It was Jaap. Her heart thudded.

He was kneeling, facing away from her. She scanned for other figures. She couldn’t see any. She crossed the space, the metal deck slippery under the snow.

Jaap flinched.

‘There’s someone else here, and they’re going to kill them. We need to go,’ she said to him as she undid the gag wrapped tightly round his mouth but before he could say anything she felt intense pain in her leg.

It was only when she looked down at the slick of blood oozing out of her thigh, melting the snow like lava, that she became aware of the noise of the gunshot.

Jaap heard the shot.

He saw the spurt of blood, and twisted round just as De Waart stepped out from a doorway on the first floor of the control tower, his gun trained at Jaap.

Tanya moaned next to him, both hands clutching her leg, trying to stop the bleeding. He hoped the bullet hadn’t hit an artery, but the volume of blood said otherwise. Then she was quiet. Jaap could tell she’d passed out.

De Waart walked slowly to the left, down the steps to the deck, moving the gun closer until Jaap could see the
dark bore hole, and behind it the face with impassive eyes.

‘I’d like to confess,’ De Waart said, voice calm, an eerie smile on his lips. ‘I’m going to kill you, just like I killed Andreas. And your sister. But I’d like you to know I hadn’t meant to kill her, I thought she was you.’

‘You think you can cover up their deaths? You think that no one’s going to ask questions?’

De Waart smiled, and relaxed his gun arm downwards.

‘I thought about that. But I’ve already written a report showing that it was Grimberg who killed Andreas and your sister. These abuse cases, very sad, but … volatile.’

‘And no one’s going to wonder about my death?’

‘Oh, that’s easy. I’ll tell them I killed you,’ said De Waart smiling again. ‘I’ll say that you were attacking your girlfriend here, must have been the grief which tipped you over the edge. Such a shame I wasn’t able to stop you killing her. If only I’d arrived a few seconds earlier. Tragic really. But then with your history …’

Jaap’s heart was slamming hard against his chest, he thought it would break through his ribs. De Waart was probably right, and presented with an easy solution no one would look any deeper.

His mind raced so fast it felt slow. He wanted to say something, but one look at De Waart’s eyes told him that it was pointless. Nothing he could say would make a difference.

Nothing could change what he was. So Jaap just held his gaze.

Everything became clear, as if he’d been back in Kyoto, sitting, emptying his mind.

He wanted to live. For himself, for Tanya.

But he knew he was going to die. He thought of the
woman he’d killed, the guilt he’d been living with over the years.

He closed his eyes.

I’m going to die
, he thought,
I need to forgive myself.

‘What the fuck,’ asked De Waart as he stepped forward and raised the gun again, ‘are you smiling about?’

The shot had rung out less than a minute before Kees reached the corner.

He’d made his way up the gangplank, but had turned right towards the front of the ship, skirting round the deck on the far side. It was a detour which had added several minutes, and he hoped the shot didn’t mean he’d made the wrong decision, got there too late.

Kees crouched at the corner and listened, the thick snow not only making it hard to see but softening sound as well. Which had been good for his approach, but was less useful now. He wanted to look round but needed to establish what was going on first.

There was a man’s voice up ahead, but he couldn’t tell what he was saying. Then a second; it sounded like Jaap.

Kees looked at his knuckles holding the gun out in front of him. They were white. And it wasn’t because of the cold.

Fuck it
, he thought.

He slowly rolled his head round the corner, the metal of the ship’s wall freezing against his cheek. Snowflakes blurred his view, but he was pretty sure there were three figures down on the deck. Tanya was lying, one of her legs bloody, and Jaap was kneeling next to her with his hands behind his back, looking at a figure standing just in front of him.

Kees couldn’t make out who it was. He might be able to get a better view if he retraced and came round from the other side.

That’s going to take me too long
, he thought.

Then he saw the figure step right up to Jaap and raise the gun, pointing it in his face.

Before he knew he was even doing it, Kees found he’d sighted the man. The trigger’s resistance was at the last point before it gave, like a foot on the clutch.

His finger twitched.

He felt the recoil.

The figure’s head blossomed red.

Friday, 6 January
16.38

Tanya lay in the back of an ambulance.

She looked down as the hi-vis paramedic gently lifted the blood-soaked fabric of her trouser-leg and started cutting through it.

Beyond him, outside the back doors, uniforms floated through the snow. Blue lights flashed.

She’d passed out just after the shot had hit her leg. When she’d come round Jaap was bending over her, and Kees was also there. They’d said something, about who’d shot her, but she hadn’t really heard, all she could think about was Adrijana and the two other girls.

She’d tried to get up, tried to explain to them what was going on, but she couldn’t speak, and they’d not let her move. She remembered lashing out in frustration, hitting Jaap. Then she must have blacked out again.

‘Where are they?’ she asked, and found her voice was working now.

The paramedic was intent on his job, bare arms as hairy as a chimp’s, latex gloves already covered in blood.

Her blood.

‘Looks like you’ve got another injury on this leg?’ he
said as he split the trouser-leg open down the front and saw the stitches.

‘The girls, did they find them?’ she asked again and tried to sit up.

‘Careful,’ said the paramedic. ‘You don’t want to be moving right now.’

He probed around, trying to find the entry wound amongst the gore. Grabbing a wipe from a box attached to the wall behind him he started to clear away some of the blood. Tanya flinched, her whole leg jerking back with the pain when he found the spot.

She watched the top of his head as he bent closer, shifting continuously to get a better look. His hair was cut military short, but she could still see the whorl of his crown.

‘Cute,’ he said. ‘Though it looks like one of the two heads is now missing.’

Tanya raised her head and glanced down. The bullet had obliterated part of her tattoo.

‘Wait there,’ he said to her with no trace of irony, as he clambered out of the ambulance.

Tanya tried to shift her leg, but it made the pain worse. She had no idea how long she’d been out. But she was sure it was too late. She could hear the paramedic having a conversation with someone; he seemed to be saying she needed to get to the hospital quickly.

Everything in the back of the ambulance began to distort, and she leant her head back on to the stretcher.

Footsteps crunch-squeaked through the snow outside.

She opened her eyes – she hadn’t even realized they were closed – and lifted her head.

At the open doors stood Adrijana.

They stared at each other for a few moments, before Adrijana climbed into the back of the ambulance and walked alongside the stretcher.

She laid her head on Tanya’s shoulder, her little arm curved round her neck.

Jaap had watched as the red-haired girl got into the ambulance, just as Kees stepped over to him, still clutching his gun.

‘Maybe now you could tell me what the fuck just happened?’

Jaap looked at Kees; he seemed shaken, a look to his eyes he recognized all too well. It was the same look he’d seen for years in the mirror. He suddenly felt the day crush down on him, the snowflakes turned to lead.

He wanted to tell Kees, but not yet. He needed to get it clear in his own head first.

‘Seriously, they’re going to be asking a lot of questions,’ said Kees. ‘I heard Smit’s on his way over with an internal investigation team. And the first thing they’re going to want to know is why I shot a senior Inspector.’

Jaap’s legs were feeling unsteady, but Kees had just saved his life, and he figured he owed him a full explanation.

‘Okay, but do you want to put that away first?’ Jaap motioned to the gun.

Kees brought his hand up and looked at it like he’d never seen it before. Then he stuffed it in his jacket holster.

‘You heard Andreas and I were working on that case with the Black Tulips?’ asked Jaap.

Kees nodded.

‘Well, we knew what was going on, but we hit a brick wall. But you know what Andreas was like, he wouldn’t let it go, and the night he was killed he texted me to say he had a way in. Friedman.’

If only I’d gone with him
, he thought for the millionth time. Jaap’s hands were in his pockets, he could feel them trembling. His toes gripped the soles of his shoes in an effort to stay steady.

‘But whatever it was alarmed someone in the gang.’

‘De Waart?’ said Kees, not looking at Jaap.

‘Yeah. Andreas called the station looking for me. When he couldn’t get hold of me I reckon he talked to De Waart. Andreas must have told him about Friedman. They didn’t get on at all, but they were both cops so I guess Andreas didn’t suspect anything. De Waart panicked, and arranged to have him killed.’

‘But if De Waart knew Andreas had connected Friedman to his case he could have got you pulled off it, made it part of his own investigation into Andreas’ death,’ said Kees, still not looking at Jaap.

‘Yeah, but it was risky, he’d have to explain why he knew, that he’d talked to Andreas. It probably wouldn’t have mattered, but I think it was such a shock he didn’t really think it through, he just wanted to neutralize the threat as soon as possible.’

Jaap paused, watched the blue lights freeze the snowflakes in the air for micro-seconds at a time.

‘It was him who broke into my houseboat that night. He’d have known Andreas was trying to contact me, that’s why he kept trying to press me, see what I knew, see if –’

A voice called out Jaap’s name from behind him, and he turned to see a uniform running through the snow, feet slipping, clutching a phone.

‘You’re needed at the hospital,’ the uniform said, out of breath. ‘Saskia Hansen’s gone into labour.’

Friday, 6 January
17.02

That’s a month early
, thought Jaap.

Then another thought jack-knifed him.

It can’t be …

Jaap saw the paramedic start to close the ambulance doors, the little girl being taken out by a female uniform.

He had to get to the hospital, for Saskia. He glanced over to the ambulance. Tanya was laid out on a stretcher.

‘Hey,’ he called out, starting towards the ambulance. ‘I want to ride with her.’

The paramedic shook his head.

‘It’s better if you don’t. You can follow, it’ll be more comfortable.’

‘I’m going with her,’ said Jaap as he climbed in, past the paramedic. He could smell blood and disinfectant.

The paramedic shrugged his shoulders.

‘Okay, fine. But don’t touch anything.’

The paramedic reached out to slide the door shut when a hand from outside appeared and pulled it back open. Kees stood with snow swirling around him.

‘I’m coming too.’

‘No, seriously. How are we all supposed to fit in here?’ said the paramedic.

‘Easy,’ said Kees. ‘You’re getting out and riding up front.’

‘I’ve got a patient to look after, and you’re delaying her treatment so –’

‘It’s fine,’ said Tanya.

They all turned to look at her.

‘Really, I’ll be okay. If Kees wants to come that’s fine. It’s not far, is it?’

The paramedic looked at all three, shrugged, and got out.

‘Let’s stop pissing around then and get going,’ he said as he walked round to the front of the ambulance.

Kees got in, slid the doors shut, and then banged twice on the metal wall.

The ambulance started, the wheels spinning for a few seconds before they caught, lurching forward.

‘Not going to wait for Smit then?’

‘He can come get me himself,’ said Kees. ‘And anyway, I still need to know what really happened. We three probably need to get our stories straight. It’s going to be fucking chaos out there, and I’m the one who’s most at risk.’

Jaap could see Kees was on edge; he hoped he could control it. He hoped he wasn’t high right now.

‘Okay,’ said Jaap. ‘You heard about my sister?’

Kees nodded. Tanya shook her head.

‘De Waart was waiting for me, at my houseboat,’ said Jaap, feeling like he was listening to someone, not doing the talking himself. ‘Karin turned up, and he killed her. He said back there it was by mistake, but I’m not so sure.’

Neither Kees nor Tanya said anything, then Tanya reached her hand out to Jaap’s. He realized he was about to cry again.

‘And all that stuff about you killing Andreas, I heard the
gun that shot him was found at your place, with your prints?’ asked Kees.

‘So you think I did it?’ Jaap said, anger throttling his voice.

‘Hey, easy. I’m just asking about what I heard.’

Jaap felt his hand being squeezed by Tanya; he could see Kees was looking at their hands.

‘I met with him that second day, and he left his gun on the table. I stupidly picked it up and gave it to him when he tried to leave without it.’

Kees breathed out slowly, releasing pressure.

‘You know what? I’m glad I wasted the fucker.’

Tanya’s hand was still on Jaap’s, but it felt odd now.

He’d thought it was going to be simple, thought that he and Tanya might … But if he was right about the timing of Saskia’s pregnancy things were going to get complicated …

‘So I checked his pockets back there,’ he said addressing Kees, trying to distract himself from the thoughts slamming round in his head. ‘He had two phones, and one of them was the last on the list, he was the one controlling Friedman and the others. He got himself put on the case, and arranged for a fake journalist to smear Andreas’ name. There are people higher up for sure, but I think we’ll find he was the head here in Amsterdam.’

The ambulance slid round a corner; Tanya winced as the trolley she was on slammed against the side, her grip tightened on his hand. A box of syringes fell off a shelf behind Jaap.

‘So how long was he doing this for?’ she asked, once Jaap and Kees had secured the trolley.

‘I don’t know, must have been for quite a while for him to react like that, he obviously had a lot to lose.’

‘Is there going to be enough to get the rest of the gang, the people who actually smuggle the girls in?’ asked Tanya.

‘Now they know which shipping company to look at it should be easier.’

Jaap looked out the back window. It didn’t tell him anything.

Are we getting there yet?

‘I thought I told you not to come?’ said Jaap turning to Kees.

‘Yeah, well, there’s a story attached to that. You know the woman who ran from Friedman’s house that first day?’

‘The one that apparently looks like your girlfriend?’

Kees winced.

‘Ex-girlfriend, more like. How did you hear?’

‘You hear all sorts of gossip when you’re in prison.’

‘I guess so. Anyway, she was the one who knocked me out at the loft. I figured that she was involved somehow, maybe worked for them. So I tracked her down after you left, but it turns out she wasn’t involved, or at least not in the way I thought.’ He reached up and rubbed the back of his head. ‘She was a private detective, hired by someone, and she’d come across the stuff that those two produced.’

‘It was Grimberg who hired her,’ said Jaap.

‘I guessed that, though she said it had been anonymous. Anyway, she’d got to the stage that she knew Friedman and Zwartberg were involved in something heavy. She found the loft, picked the lock and knocked me out thinking I was one of them.’

‘Why didn’t she come to the police?’

‘She was going to, but she recognized someone when she turned up at the station.’

‘De Waart.’

‘Must have been. She’d seen him meet with Zwartberg a couple of times. So she got scared, basically.’

The ambulance came to a halt, Tanya’s trolley juddered.

‘Looks like we’re here.’