Grk Undercover (8 page)

Now they had come back to haunt him.

They had attacked him. They had sneaked up behind him and tried to kill him. They had come
this close
to burying a knife in his heart. He had been too quick and too clever for them, of course. But they had still managed to escape.

It doesn’t matter, thought Colonel Zinfandel. I’m going to catch them now.

And when I’ve caught them, I will make them suffer.

I will show them that no one makes a fool of Colonel Zinfandel.

Max came to a standstill in the middle of the second level of the Eiffel Tower. Natascha and Tim and Grk stopped beside him. They looked around, searching for any sign of Colonel Zinfandel. He hadn’t got here yet. Nor had his bodyguards. But they would be soon.

Max looked at the others.

He knew that there wasn’t any time to ask all the questions that he wanted to ask. What are you doing here? What are
you
doing here? How did you get here? How did you find me? How did you know where to go? And why couldn’t you do as I asked and leave me alone? Those questions could wait. First, they had to escape from the broad-shouldered and heavily armed men who were chasing them.

“Up or down,” said Max. “That’s the question.”

Three large lifts bring large groups of tourists from the ground to the second level of the Eiffel Tower. Four more smaller lifts take smaller groups of tourists from the second level to the top. And when you reach the top, there is only one way to go: back down again to the bottom.

“Down,” said Tim. “If we go up, we’ll be trapped at the top.”

“Up,” said Natascha. “They’ll be expecting us to go down. They’ll be waiting for us at the bottom. If we go up, we’ll get away from them.”

Max looked around, wondering what to do, trying to decide whether to go up or down.

The decision was made for him. He could see Colonel Zinfandel’s bodyguards fighting their way through the crowd, thrusting people aside and searching for any sign of three children and a dog. He could also see the long lines of tourists waiting for the lifts going down to the ground.

“This way,” said Max. “Follow me. We’re going to go up.”

He darted forward and clambered over a low metal fence. The others hurried after him. They went down a corridor and found themselves beside the small lifts that took tourists to the top of the tower. A sign said:

A door was closing. Max lunged forward and planted himself in the way, holding the door for the others.

Inside the lift people protested, demanding to know what he thought he was doing. Max ignored them. He held the door open until Tim and Natascha and Grk had stepped inside. Then Max stepped inside himself and the door slid shut. People shuffled backward, making room
for the three children. Grk squatted at their feet, watching out for other people’s legs. He didn’t want to be trodden on again.

The lift was ready to leave. The bodyguards wouldn’t get into this one. But they would be coming in the next one. They would only be a few moments behind.

The lift shuddered upward toward the summit.

Tim stared out of the window at the view. He could see the tower’s metal struts and, beyond them, the river and the city. Hundreds of meters below, boats cruised slowly along the glistening water. Tiny cars whizzed along the roads. Tim wished he was down there now, rather than up here, locked in a small lift.

Max turned to his sister. It was his first chance to talk to her. Other people could hear him, but he was so angry that he didn’t care about their presence. He said, “What are you doing here? How did you find me? Why did you stop me? Are you crazy?”

Natascha didn’t know which one of these questions to answer, so she didn’t answer any of them. She just said, “Are you okay?”

“No,” said Max. “I’m not okay at all. I was
this close
.” He placed his fingers together, leaving a tiny gap between them. “
This close!
And you stopped me. Why did you do that?”

“I wanted to help you,” said Natascha.

“Help me?” Max shook his head. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know who he is? Don’t you know what he did to our parents?”

“Of course I do,” said Natascha.

“Then why did you stop me?”

“Because killing people is wrong.”

Max laughed bitterly. “Tell that to Colonel Zinfandel.”

“If you kill him, then you’re as bad as he is.”

“Evil deeds should be punished,” said Max. “Don’t you understand that? Don’t you understand anything?”

Max and Natascha were just about to start shouting at one another when Tim interrupted both of them. “Why don’t you finish this argument later?” he said. “Right now, we’ve got more important things to worry about. Like how to get away from those guards. And how to stay alive.”

Natascha and Max looked at Tim. They knew he was right. If they didn’t think of a way to escape, Colonel Zinfandel would kill them himself and their arguments would be completely pointless.

At that moment, the lift stopped and the door opened. They had arrived on the top of the Eiffel Tower. Max stepped out of the lift, followed by the others. They looked at their surroundings.

They were standing on the top of the tallest building in Paris. From here, they could see the whole city. A strong metal fence protected them from the empty air. Even if you were crazy enough to want to throw yourself off, you couldn’t. There was no way anyone could squeeze themselves through that fence. Not even Grk was small enough to get through the holes.

Tourists were lingering by the balcony, taking photos of the view or looking through one of the solid metal telescopes that watched over Paris.

Tim, Max and Natascha stared at the fence, the view and the long drop to the ground.

“This is hopeless,” said Natascha. “We can’t run. We can’t hide. There’s nowhere to go. What are we going to do?”

“I’ve got an idea,” said Tim.

The others turned to look at him.

Tim pointed at Natascha’s backpack. “Open your bag.”

The lift stopped on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower. The door opened. Colonel Zinfandel walked out, followed by four bodyguards.

They were wearing black suits, white shirts and black ties.

If you had seen them in the street, you might have imagined that they were ordinary businessmen, hurrying toward a meeting. But if you got into a fight with them, you would know immediately that there was nothing ordinary about these men. They were highly trained killers.

The four bodyguards appeared to be unarmed, but appearances can be deceptive. Each of them was actually carrying a Glock 19 pistol in a leather holster under his left arm.

As you probably know, the Glock 19 is the ideal weapon for bodyguards. It is small enough that it can be worn in a concealed holster, but big enough to do some serious damage to an opponent.

In a curt tone, Colonel Zinfandel delivered his orders to the four bodyguards. They divided into two groups. Two went to the left. The other two followed Colonel Zinfandel to the right. They walked briskly, looking around, searching for the assassins.

The terrace was packed with tourists, who were standing by the balcony, staring at the amazing views over Paris. Some were taking photos. Others were peering through binoculars and telescopes.

Colonel Zinfandel and his soldiers glanced quickly at each of the tourists. They knew exactly what they were looking for. Three children and a dog. They weren’t interested in anyone else. Which was why they took no notice of a fat man standing by the balcony.

He was staring at the view, so they could only see his back, but they didn’t bother coming closer to look at his face. They were searching for children and dogs, not fat men.

If Colonel Zinfandel or his soldiers had bothered to stop and taken a longer look at the fat man, they wouldn’t have been fooled so easily. They would have seen immediately that he had some strange kinks in his body. Then they would have noticed that he was wearing some extremely unusual clothes. He had a blanket draped around his shoulders, for instance. His shoes were unexpectedly small for a man with such a large body. And as for his face … Well, if the soldiers had decided to come a little closer and peer at the fat man’s face, they would have seen that he didn’t look like a man at all.

But they just gave him a quick glance, nothing more, and then moved onward, searching for children and dogs.

As soon as they had gone past, the fat man fell to pieces.

The fat man’s head dropped toward the floor. His back broke in half. His body became four bodies.

He wasn’t really a fat man. He was actually a girl, two boys and a dog wrapped in a long brown blanket.

Natascha had been sitting on Max’s shoulders. Tim and Grk had been crouching at his feet. They had taken the blanket from Natascha’s backpack and wrapped it around themselves.

Now they had to run.

Natascha reached for the blanket, but Max pulled her away.

“There isn’t time,” he hissed. “Leave it!”

Natascha dropped the blanket. She knew Max was right. They had a few seconds, nothing more. And then the four bodyguards would have walked round the entire terrace.

The bodyguards would realize they had been tricked. And they would come back to see who had tricked them.

It was better to lose a blanket than get caught by Colonel Zinfandel.

They ran toward the lifts, leaving the blanket sprawled on the ground. Max looked from side to side, checking to make sure they
weren’t being followed. He couldn’t see any sign of the bodyguards, which meant that they must still be on the other side of the terrace.

One of the lifts was ready to leave. Max darted inside and held the door. The others followed him. As soon as they were safely inside, Max released the door and it slid shut. The lift started moving immediately.

“We’re free,” said Natascha as the lift juddered downward from the third level to the second. “We’re safe!”

“Not yet,” said Tim. “They might have the tower surrounded.”

“So what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to run,” said Max. “This lift stops on the second floor. We have to get a different lift from there to the ground. As soon as the lift stops and the door opens, we start running—and we don’t stop running till we’re in the other lift. Okay?”

The others nodded.

“We should each go in a different direction,” said Max. “Then they might catch one of us, or even two, but not all three. As soon as the lift stops, I’ll go to the left. Natascha, you go to the right. And Tim, you go straight ahead. Okay?”

Tim and Natascha nodded.

“Grk can come with me,” said Tim. He turned to Natascha. “Unless you want to take him.”

Natascha shook her head. “No, you take him. That’s safer. You can run faster than me.” She knelt on the ground and tickled Grk’s ears, then leaned forward, put her mouth close to his ear and whispered something to him so quietly that no one else could hear what she said.

Grk wagged his tail. He seemed to like whatever she’d said.

“We’ve got to arrange a rendezvous,” said Max.

“A what?” said Tim.

“A meeting place,” said Max. “Any ideas?”

“Notre Dame,” said Natascha immediately.

“Perfect,” said Max. “We’ll meet inside. At the front. Opposite the altar.”

Natascha shook her head. “What about Grk? He won’t be allowed inside a church.”

“Then let’s meet outside,” said Max. “At the front entrance.”

“See you there,” said Natascha.

But Tim wasn’t so sure. He said, “What’s Notre Dame?”

“It’s a big church in the middle of Paris,” explained Natascha.

“How am I supposed to find it?” said Tim. “I’ve never been here before.”

“Ask anyone,” said Max. “Everyone in Paris knows Notre Dame. Just stop someone in the street and ask them to point you in the right direction.”

“But I can’t speak French,” said Tim. “What am I supposed to say?”

“Repeat after me,” said Natascha.
“Où est Notre Dame?”

“Où est Notre Dame?”
said Tim.

   Natascha winced at his accent. “Try again,” she said, speaking very slowly and pronouncing every syllable separately.

“Où est Notre Dame?”

“Où …,”
said Tim. But before he could say another word, the lift slowed down and stopped. There wasn’t going to be time for him to practice his pronunciation. They had reached the second floor.

Max said, “Ready?”

The others nodded.

“Ready,” said Natascha.

“Ready,” said Tim.

Grk wagged his tail. He knew they were playing a game. He wasn’t exactly sure of the rules, but he didn’t really mind. He liked games.

They tensed their muscles, preparing to run.

The door slid open. Max was the first to go. He stepped out of the lift, turned to the left and sprinted straight into the arms of a bodyguard.

The bodyguard looked at the three children and smiled.

He was a big man with broad shoulders and strong muscles. He knew his own strength and he was sure that three children didn’t have a hope of escaping from him. They would simply put their arms in the air and surrender. He opened his jacket, showing the pistol in the holster under his arm, then stepped forward and placed his right hand on Max’s shoulder.

“You’d better come with me,” said the bodyguard in a deep voice. “Colonel Zinfandel is waiting for you.”

Max didn’t answer. He just kicked the bodyguard between the legs.

“Oooooooff!” The bodyguard bent forward, his face creased in agony.

Max pushed the bodyguard aside and ran past. He didn’t look back at Tim or Natascha. He knew they could take care of themselves.

And he was right. Natascha was already running in the opposite direction. Tim stepped over the writhing bodyguard and sprinted to the end of the corridor. Grk ran alongside him.

Max had turned left, so Tim turned right. He hurried across the terrace, dodging round tourists, putting as much distance as possible between himself and the bodyguard, hoping he hadn’t been followed.