'What do we know about the phone?' Malloy asked him as he pocketed the address.

  'That's where it gets good, T. K. The phone receives one call a day, usually at the same time, always from a pay phone that's also inside the city but always a different phone. The cell phone never leaves the apartment building.'

  'You think Chernoff and Farrell are holed up and someone is running her errands until they get new passports?'

  'Looks that way to me.'

  'What do you have on the phone account?' 'Activated locally while Farrell was still in Barcelona. It's registered to an H. Langer, funded by a Zürich bank. Jane has put someone on the alias and the bank in case we don't get her tonight.'

  'Have you checked the place out?'

  'I just did a drive-by. You've got a semi-detached six storey apartment building with what looks likes two apartments per floor. The place has an entrance on the south side of the building. Only other way in or out is through one of the windows or over a balcony.'

  'Can we find which apartment she's in?'

  'Not with the software that tracks a cell phone location. I'm only accurate to about thirty metres and I'm no good for vertical placements. The phone could be on the first or sixth floor, and I wouldn't see the difference, but I'll swing by the house and pick up a thermal imager. That way we're not going in blind.'

  'I'm going to need you to run a perimeter team, so we don't get people coming in behind us. Is that going to be a problem?'

  'I can do whatever you need,' Dale answered.

  'The FBI agents have volunteered to help keep an eye on things - so there shouldn't be any surprises. How much time are you going to need to get a good look at things?'

  'Why don't we meet there in thirty minutes?' Dale responded.

  'That's good. I'll give you a call when we're rolling.'

  Malloy dialled the desk at the Royal Meridien as Dale circled his Land Rover back the way he had come. He asked for Jim Randal's room. When Randal picked up, he said, 'You need to move now.'

  David Carlisle was asleep when his cell phone rang. 'Yes?' he said, struggling to come awake and sitting up in his bed.

  'Somebody just kidnapped Hugo Ohlendorf.'

  Carlisle looked up at the ceiling and swore. 'When?'

  'Just before midnight.'

  'Malloy?'

  'Police are still putting the thing together. I don't have any details - except that Ohlendorf is gone and nobody has a clue where he went. The other thing is Malloy just called Randal. I have no idea what he said, but Randal called Sutter and said they had to move.'

  Carlisle smiled. 'So they're coming?'

  'I'll call you when I know for sure.'

  Malloy signalled to Kate and Ethan to follow him to the bedroom. Closing the door he told them, 'We might have found Chernoff and Jack Farrell.' Malloy brought out the slip of paper and Ethan used his GPS navigator to find the address.

  'The Altstadt,' Ethan said, showing the electronic map to Kate and Malloy. All three of them took a moment to look at the street layout. Depending on traffic, which was still fairly heavy at the moment but would begin to thin out, it was actually less than ten minutes from their location.

  'So what do we do with Hugo?' Kate asked.

  'We've got fifteen-to-twenty minutes. Let's find out how many people she's got working for her on this.'

  'That's not a lot of time,' Ethan answered.

  'We don't want to break him. We just want the basics. Now listen, if I need to get his attention, Ethan, I want you to slap the back of his head or thump his forehead with the heel of your hand. Don't hurt him. Just get him to focus on his situation. Let him understand you would love to do more, but that I'm holding you back. Malloy pointed at Kate. You're the X-factor. When you don't like something, start pacing. Be impatient. You want your chance at the guy - because you know how to get the information.'

  Kate nodded.

  'Let him see you. Then go behind him. Dressed like this, with the ski mask in place, he's not even going to be sure if you're a woman, so don't say anything if you don't have to. Let him worry about it. Let him wonder what your role is in this thing.

  When I tell you to do something don't hesitate. Make it look like what I am asking is exactly what you wanted to do in the first place.'

  In the front room Malloy sat down in a hardback chair like the one in which Hugo Ohlendorf sat. His knees were almost touching Ohlendorf's, and he used a cold towel to wipe Ohlendorf's face.

  'What do you want?' Ohlendorf asked him in German. He was well tanned. His dark hair was thinning at the top and had some flakes of grey at the temple. A few years past fifty he looked to be in good shape. In any other circumstance Malloy was reasonably sure he would be charming and quite sophisticated. In his pyjamas and slippers, his eyes dilated, his hair tousled, he looked like a man who needed to be institutionalised.

  'Do you want some coffee?' Malloy asked him in High German. He used a Berlin dialect with a bit of a Russian intonation behind it. He wanted Ohlendorf to imagine the worst.

  'I want to know what's going on!'

  'Keep your voice down,' Malloy told him calmly, though he really didn't care about the noise.

  Ohlendorf swore at him loudly and Malloy gave Ethan a look. Ethan moved in and slapped the back of his skull. He then cocked his fist, waiting to see if Ohlendorf needed less subtle persuasion. Malloy waved him off. Ohlendorf stared at Ethan's masked figure defiantly but he said nothing more. Ohlendorf's response was instructive. He was not a man to take orders and he was not easily frightened. With a professional life spent in the criminal courts and conspiring with the likes of Xeno and Helena Chernoff, he no doubt considered himself capable of dealing with felons, and of course the first rule of that particular jungle was to show no fear.

  'Do you want some coffee?' Malloy asked him again.

  Ohlendorf thought about it a moment and then said, 'Yes.'

  Malloy nodded at Ethan, who went to get him a cup. Whilst he waited, Ohlendorf looked round the room. A single lamp lit the room keeping most of the room in shadows, but it was easy enough to see the place was nobody's idea of home. It was too sparsely decorated. There was a couch and chair in one corner of the room with a coffee table between them. In another area was a desk with a computer. Next to it was a bookshelf with novels, books, and magazines in different languages.

  'I want you to understand,' Malloy told him, 'we aren't here to hurt you, but we need information and we'll do whatever is necessary to get it.'

  Ohlendorf's eyes brightened in curiosity but he resisted asking the nature of the information, resisted as well the impulse to claim he knew nothing. For the moment his experience as a trial lawyer gave him some confidence. Ethan came back with a cup of coffee and held it for Ohlendorf as he took a sip. 'More?' Malloy asked. Ohlendorf nodded and took another sip. Ethan stepped away and put the cup down. Ohlendorf looked at Kate, his curiosity registering for the first time.

  'We want to know about Helena Chernoff,' Malloy said.

  For just an instant Ohlendorf's eyes came into sharp focus. 'What are you talking about?' he asked.

  'Don't be stupid,' Malloy told him. 'Nobody wants to see you in pain. Chernoff is our target, not you.'

  'Who sent you?'

  'An old friend of one of Chernoff's victims.' Malloy's allusion to the Russian mafia had its desired effect. Hugo Ohlendorf's voice changed register and his speech grew more rapid. 'I don't know this person! I don't know what you're talking about!'

  'Give him some more coffee.' Malloy said.

  Ohlendorf watched Ethan's approach as if he expected to be scalded. When Ethan offered the cup to him, Ohlendorf asked, 'What is in it? Why are you making me drink this?'

  Malloy signalled Ethan to set the cup aside.

  'We need to get past this attitude, Herr Ohlendorf. I've been given only so much time. After that. . .' he looked purposefully at Kate, '. . .we try a different method. Now tell me what you know about Helena Chernoff.'

  'I only know you have got the wrong man!'

  'Tell me about Jack Farrell.'

  'The American?' The mention of Farrell seemed to confuse him.

  'Meet me halfway,' Malloy said. 'I know you know who Jack Farrell is. All I want to know is how he got Helena Chernoff to work for him. No problem in doing that, is there?'

  'How would I know anything about this man?'

  'Look. . . nobody wants to read about the torture and murder of a prominent Hamburg attorney. It makes life difficult for everyone.'

  'I don't know Farrell or this other person. What was the name?' When Malloy did not answer his question, he added earnestly, 'I tell you, you have me mistaken with someone else.'

  Kate, who had been leaning against the wall closest to the kitchen with her arms crossed over her chest, suddenly began pacing. Ohlendorf's eyes cut to her. She frightened him with her hood and petulant silence.

  'This isn't working,' Ethan said. His German was good enough not to sound like an American. 'He's lying to us!'

  Malloy held his right hand up, as if to ask for patience. 'Give him another chance,' he said. Kate crossed her arms over her chest again.

  'I don't know what you want from me!' Ohlendorf protested. 'I tell you, you have the wrong man!'

  'Tell me how often you met with Xeno.'

  A look of surprise crossed Ohlendorf's face. For the space of several seconds he said nothing. It was as if the mention of the man caused him to recalibrate things. Finally, calmly, he said, 'I don't know anyone named Xeno.'

  'I asked you how often you met with him.'

  Ohlendorf glanced at Kate. He was trying to decide her role in this. Was she running it or was Malloy?

  'We know about the meetings in the Stadtpark,' Malloy told him.

  This shook him and the blood drained from his face. 'I don't know what you're talking about!'

  'We know you have been an associate of Jack Farrell's for a number of years.'

  'I don't know Farrell!'

  'You sit on a board of directors with the man!'

  'No. I don't know him.'

  'Tell me about Helena Chernoff.'

  'I don't know her!'

  Malloy stood up, seemingly in resignation, and looked at Kate. 'You were right,' he said. 'Go ahead. Cut his nose off.' He said this calmly, a man who has done his best. 'Wait!'

  Malloy held his hand up as if to stop Kate. 'How does it work? How do I contact Chernoff if I want to employ her for a job?'

  Ohlendorf didn't answer him at once. He was using the time to calculate.

  'She won't know you told us. Believe me. If you help us, she will be erased from the face of the earth. And you'll be a free man again.'

  This Ohlendorf did not believe.

  Kate crossed behind Ohlendorf drawing her combat knife so that he could hear the blade leaving its scabbard and see the flash of light on the steel for just an instant. When she had slipped out of his line of sight, Malloy held his hand up, as if stopping her. 'Give him one more chance. He wants to tell us this.' Ohlendorf tried to look at Kate but his bindings held him. His breathing was fast now, his confidence gone. 'How do I contact her?' Malloy asked.

  Kate brought the diamond edged blade of the knife under his nose and pressed blade to flesh. Blood appeared at once, trickling now over the blade and across Ohlendorf's chin.

  'She contacts me!'

  'You're lying. You arrange jobs for her!'

  Ohlendorf lifted his chin to escape the knife. 'No! She tells me to set up a meeting and I take care of it.' He tried to look back to see how Kate was handling his information.

  'How does she contact you?'

  'The Hamburg Zeitung - in the personal ads. If she wants to make contact there is a number I should call. The number changes, but you can always find it under Men Seeking Women. She runs three identical ads and always uses the same key words: full-figured, vigorous, and discreet. The last two digits of the number are reversed to avoid unwanted calls.'

  Malloy stood up. He checked his watch. He was running out of time. 'So you call this number and then what happens?' he asked.

  'She tells me what she needs.'

  'Cut his nose off!'

  'I'm telling you the truth!'

  Malloy lifted his hand, asking Kate to wait. Ohlendorf's breathing was fast and shallow. His eyes were bulging, his head thrashing back and forth. Kate's knife was poised before his face. Her body braced the back of Ohlendorf's head so he could not pull away from her. 'Last chance,' Malloy told him. 'If you want your daughter to see you after we're done hacking away your nose, just lie to me one more time.'

  'I'm not lying!'

  'Did Jack Farrell ask you to contact Chernoff?'

  'No! I don't know what he's doing!'

  'So you do know him.'

  'I have met him several times. I would not say I know him.'

  'When was the last time Chernoff needed your services?'

  'End of last year. I don't know. . . late December, I think it was.'

  'Tell me about it.'

  'I need a drink of water.'

  He was blinking, stalling, thinking.

  'Do you know a decent plastic surgeon?'

  Ohlendorf's eyes dropped and cut. Malloy signalled Kate to step back and slapped the back of Ohlendorf's head as he walked behind him. He took Kate's knife and locked the man's head against his torso, bracing the knife under his nose. 'I'll do it myself if I don't get something!'

  'She was arranging a multiple assassination. She needed talent! I contacted certain people with the protocols.'

  'Multiple? Who were the intended victims?'

  'I wasn't told. I arrange for the kind of people she wants on a given job. I'm not involved in the rest of it!'

  Malloy let his head go and walked around to face him. 'I don't believe you.'

  'I cannot help that. It is the truth!'

  'Do you know the Langer alias?'

  The lawyer was surprised at this and took his time answering. 'She wires money to me through that alias sometimes.'

  'You don't pay her, she pays you?'

  'I make arrangements for her. She pays me for that!'

  'What bank does she use?'

  'Sardis and Thurgau. In Zürich.'

  'What was Xeno's relationship to Chernoff?'

  'He worked for me. He supplied her with people when she wanted them, managed some of her safe houses, provided equipment, weapons. . . phones.'

  'Were they lovers?'

  Ohlendorf laughed. 'She runs in better circles than that!'

  'Does she run in your circles, Hugo?'

  When he did not answer, Malloy pressed the point of the knife close to Ohlendorf's crotch. 'Sometimes! Once in a while!'

  Malloy slapped his face lightly to keep him focused. 'How many people did Chernoff need in December?'

  'I don't know. It depends on the job. . .' 'How many for the December job, Hugo!'

  'Eight. Nine! Eight in the city. Plus the. . . the one.'

  'The one?'

  'One specialist, the rest. . . street level talent.'

  Malloy walked behind him, handing Kate her knife back. 'You arrange passports for her?'

  This surprised him. 'No. That's. . . I don't do that.'

  'Who does?'

  'I don't know.'

  Malloy came around to face him. 'You're lying!'

  'She has contacts in Spain. I don't touch identity cards or passports! I run. . . I contact people who get her what she needs.'

  'What were you paid for the December assassinations?'

  'I haven't been paid.'

  'Why not?'

  'The contract is open. Look, I have given you what you wanted to know. You said if I told you what I know about Chernoff you were going to let me go.'

  'You haven't given me what you know. You're keeping things from me, Hugo! You're lying more than you're telling the truth!'

  'No! I've told you everything!'

  Malloy left the room to search through the bags and dug out Kate's dart gun and an extra dart. When he came back into the room Ohlendorf's eyes brightened in fear. 'What are you doing?' he asked. 'I told you - no, wait, please! Wait!'

  His body recoiled when the dart hit. He tried to speak, trembled, and then his eyelids fluttered. A few seconds later his head slumped.

  'Put some kind of a hood on him,' Malloy said, 'and get the gear out to the Toyota. I'll be on the street at the front of the bar when you're ready.'

  'What have you got, T. K.?' Josh Sutter asked when Malloy walked into the bar.

  'Possible location for Jack Farrell.'

  'You're kidding me!'

  'I'm quite serious, actually. Come on, let's move.'

  They found Randal double parked outside the bar. A prostitute was standing at his door trying to make a deal. Malloy gave her fifty Euros and told her to get lost. Fifty was the right price. She disappeared into the crowd.

  'I thought you only liked the cheerleaders,' Malloy said. He was standing by the driver's side window.

  Randal smiled and let one shoulder kick up. 'What can I say? I'm sitting here one minute, next thing I know I'm getting the midnight special.'

  'We think Chernoff is keeping Jack Farrell at an apartment house not far from here.' The Toyota came out of the alley and turned into their street, pulling up beside Malloy. 'We're staging in ten minutes. Try to keep up!'

  Malloy settled into the backseat of the Toyota and hit the speed dial as Kate accelerated. Dale Perry picked up on the second ring. 'Yeah.'

  'We're rolling.'

  'Three blocks due north of the target,' Dale said, 'there's a BP station that's closed for the night.'

  Malloy gave Ethan the location and then checked the back window to make sure Sutter and Randal were still with them. The streets were cluttered with pedestrians and cars, but that thinned out as they left the fringes of the sex district.

  'What do you think about Ohlendorf?' Kate asked.

  'I think right now he is still picking and choosing what he wants to tell us.'

 

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