Bound to the Past 2

Marlene meanwhile peeked out of the window. It was now bright daylight, but there was still the problem that there was at least two criminals who knew where Silvana lived – right beside herself.

»Are you sure we are safe here? I mean, if someone would show up right now, we could call the Police, but what if they wait until we are asleep?«

The girls pondered. Sibel`s home was equally unsafe, as whoever had found out about Silvana`s whereabouts could detect her as easily. Also, Pauline`s apartment was known to the criminals. Suddenly, Silvana checked her bank account via her phone.

»Hm, still some 3.000 Euro! That should be enough!«

»Enough for what? Do you want to hire a bodyguard?«, Sibel asked sceptically.

»No! But we can check in at a hotel in another town! Sibel, do you think you can tell your parents that you are going on a trip with me?«

Sibel hesitated.

»You`d have to pay, for I just have my share of what SiSiCrime brought us so far!«

»Well then! Seems you two will need a driver!«

Marlene corked the liquor and put on some coffee. Then, they worked out a stratagem, just in case that the criminals were observing the house: Marlene went to the front garden, pretending to water some flowers whilst Silvana climbed over the fence, entered her house through the veranda door and quickly packed her backpack and handbag full of things she would need for a few days. Spontaneously, she also took the fake glasses and the Fedora with her.

Sibel had meanwhile contacted her parents and so, they could leave little later. Silvana noticed that Marlene was also carrying two bags.

»We should get your aunt the nightgowns, and also tell her that you won`t be able to visit her for a few days! I don`t think that we are in danger at the hospital!«

Frowning, Silvana pointed at the other bag.

»And what`s that?«

»Call me a coward, but I think that I will also leave for a few days! That is, if you don`t mind having a woman my age on your heels!«, Marlene answered with a wryly smile.

»Your car, your rules!«, Silvana replied and sat on the passenger seat.

Sibel`s parents weren`t very traditional, and in addition, they thought that if her daughter spent her time with Silvana, she would at least not get pregnant. So, it took Marlene just some 30 minutes of waiting in the car whilst Sibel packed a sizeable suitcase and Silvana chatted with Mrs. Güloglu.

»You know we are just staying for a few days?«, Marlene asked as they tried to get the suitcase into her tiny boot.

The next stop was at the hospital. Aunt Pauline had her leg plastered, but seemed to be in good mood: her roommate was a friendly woman her age who seemed to be more conservative, but who at least shared her passion for playing chess. The only problem was that now, Silvana couldn`t ask too directly about the mystery of Linda Dellert.

»So, back then, when you did your research – how did you get all the information? I mean, you didn`t have Google!«

Pauline laughed.

»My great-grandparents had written to the British Embassy back then, and gotten a few information. Later, I also had to write letters – and there was Chalid, of course!«

»Chalid?«

Now, Pauline told her that back in 1969, she had been in Egypt for two weeks after she had passed High School. It had been at a time when she had still half-heartedly done her research about Linda, but also decided to rather find herself. At Kairo, she had tried to find someone who could tell her more about the events back then, and she had met Chalid, a pensioned old man who had been a hotel steward at the Grand Hotel in 1906.

»He even had been among those who have found the other women back then!«

Pauline chuckled.

»He told me that what the press called an ›inappropriate state of undress‹ meant that they were all stark naked!«

Silvana didn`t mention the circumstances in which they had found said article. Her heart sank: if said Chalid had been an old man in 1969, there was no chance he would still be alive. She told her aunt something about a city trip she and Sibel were planning and left.

At the car, Sibel and Marlene were quite unruly.

»There was a guy who looked just like the one at your aunt`s apartment, observing the hospital!«

Silvana looked, but there was no one to be seen, except for a family and an elderly couple.

»We should not become paranoid!«

»But, what if he recognizes the car? I mean, it`s not very unobtrusive!«

During an art project, Marlene`s last class of fourth graders had painted the car. The fantasy animals and bright flowers looked unique, but there was definitely no other car like hers. Marlene seemed to think about something. Then, with a determined look, she turned the ignition key.

»There is one thing we can do! Thomas will kill me – but after all, it was he who cheated on me with his secretary!«

Silvana frowned. She knew that Thomas was Marlene`s ex-husband, but what did he have to do with their current problems?

Marlene steered the car to the industrial estate where Thomas Gutermann worked. She seemed to look for something at the parking lot, and then, she parked beside a black Audi. Since Silvana had been living beside the Gutermanns for some years, she recognized it as the car of Thomas.

»You – you mean-«

Marlene smiled.

»I still have his spare keys! And since he still owes me two instalments of my alimentation, I think I can live with the fact that he has to downgrade a bit for the next few days!«

To the girls` astonishment, Marlene rummaged through her handbag and, having produced a key, she unlocked the Audi. Giggling, and at the same time nervously checking the area, they loaded their luggage into the boot. Marlene left her own car keys inside her small car and wrote a small note for Thomas. Then, she sank down on the comfortable leather seat.

»Ah, it may produce too much carbon dioxide, but at least, we can now travel first class! Now, where do we go?«

Silvana shook her head and giggled. Right now, what had started as a harmless true crime video had turned into a road trip!

***

»The boss is still very angry, especially about you!«

The addressed reacted by a mixture of defiance and remorse. His mimic was limited, as his eyes were still reddened from the pepper spray attack, and he blinked quite often. However, his accomplice hadn`t acted that glorious either.

It had started so well: they had frightened the girls, taken their laptop and so, it had seemed as if the video would be just an unpleasant episode. However, not only had it turned out that the girls obviously had used another laptop for uploading and so, they couldn`t delete the video; when Amir had been at the apartment of the aunt the girls had thanked in the intro, he had been attacked and only the fact that he had staggered away half blinded had prevented him from getting seen by anyone.

»Now, how much damage is there? Some people have seen it, and they consider it a mystery from the past! It`s not that the German Government will send a penal expedition!«

His accomplice shrugged.

»The boss doesn`t want any attention drawn on Linda Dellert – or what happened to her after she disappeared from Kairo!«

The two men were sitting on the bed of Silvana. They had entered the house, disguised as workers for a maintenance company, but they had found out that the girls had left. Even more, it looked as if Silvana had packed a few things and decided to leave for more than just a few hours.

Despondently, Amir looked at a  pair of black panties he had found lying on the bed.

»Now, where are they – and are they still a threat to us?«

***

»I still can`t believe you are doing this for us, Marlene!«

»What? Stealing my ex`s car, or heading for a town that I hate since I have been there once, almost 20 years ago?«

Since they had no real goal, Marlene had proposed that they could go to Berlin, though it was a trip of some three or four hours, even with the comfortable limousine.

»According to your video, Linda Dellert has been in several countries during her – adventures! And there is only one place in Germany where all these countries have embassies. I mean, I can`t speak for Afghanistan right now, but Pakistan, Oman and Egypt sure have!«

Silvana doubted that an embassy could help in a crime that had happened more than a century ago, but on the other hand, Berlin was far away from any criminals searching for them. Suddenly, her eyes sparkled.

»We could even make a new video! SiSiCrime on tour!«

Marlene hesitated, but Sibel, who liked the idea, told her that they could remain anonymous and even if they said that they were in Berlin, they did not have to reveal their hotel.

»I mean, it`s not that we are hunted by the CIA!«

At the early afternoon, they reached a hotel in the outskirts of the capital where they checked in. Though Marlene was just a neighbour and Sibel knew her only from seeing, they decided to share one room. Here, Marlene lay down on the double bed and stared at the ceiling whilst the girls prepared everything for an improvised video.

»That`s hilarious! I mean, next September, I will have to start working again, and I thought how to pass the time until then! I considered a trip to the Toscana, but now, Berlin it is!«

She agreed on operating the camera when the two girls told that SiSiCrime had found »terrifying new evidence« and was now at Berlin to stay on the tracks of Linda Dellert.

»Maybe, our trip will even lead us to Egypt, or even farther? Who knows? Stay tuned, like and subscribe!«

»To Egypt and even farther? You are overestimating my pocket money!«

Silvana smiled.

»If we attend the Egyptian embassy, we are on Egyptian territory, strictly speaking! So, strictly speaking, we are not lying!«

They were in a strange state of being overtired and in high spirits at the same time. Sibel now checked if she could find anything about the »Cairo Gazette«. The newspaper still existed, but it didn`t offer an online archive that went back more than some ten years. The Kairo Grand Hotel also still existed, but it didn`t look older than some 20 years, too.

»And this Chalid would now be some 135 years old! But there must be something! I mean, one woman gets kidnapped, and three are left behind, naked, bound and gagged! In 1906, this must have been quite a scandal!«

Though neither of them had been naked, both girls still shuddered from the memory of how they had been bound and gagged by the two intruders. Intruders that were still out there, albeit with no clue where they were now, for they had chosen a white wall as a background.

»If we go viral, we can pay you back for the hotel!«, Sibel said towards Marlene who just smiled. They decided to rest and go to the embassy the next morning. They indeed managed to doze off, but at the late afternoon, Sibel checked their YouTube account and gasped.

»There`s a personal message!«

»By whom? User 0815?«

However, the message was from someone simply called »Rosalie«. The message read:

»@ Silvana: Are you really a descendant of Linda Dellert? If so, what do you hope to find?«

The message was written in German, and Silvana frowned. Was this just some random watcher, or an attempt of the criminals to find out where they were? However, they were still not knowing what to do, and so, she took a photo of her passport and uploaded it. She sent it to »Rosalie«, together with a slightly provocative »I want some answers!«.

»If it`s the criminals, they now do not know more about me than they did already!«

Obviously, Rosalie had been online, for the answer came immediately.

»Hotel ›Princess of the Dessert‹, Cairo.«

There were two files attached. Silvana opened the first; it showed a black and white photography of two women, both clad in dresses that looked vaguely oriental. One of them was rather a girl, with what looked like light brown or dark blonde hair, but the other one-

Silvana opened the file of the scanned photo of Linda Dellert. The elder woman on the new picture seemed to be in her late 40ies, but it was most likely Linda! And the girl could be her daughter!

»Wow! If this is a fake, they did good work!«

The girl clicked on the other file. It showed a photo scan of a page from some journal. It was covered with handwritten lines, and Silvana enlarged the picture so they could read:

»…in the darkness of the barque`s hull, unable to free my limbs or to call for help, though I could clearly hear the sounds of people on the pier. But Melanie had tied and gagged me so tight I was helpless, though rescuers were so close. In the evening, she returned and took care of my needs, whilst telling me that the Police in Cairo were still searching for me, but with not as much effort as one could have expected. She told me that a long, undisturbed journey was lying ahead of us, and she then let her hands wander over my…«

Here, the journal entry ended. Sibel licked her lips.

»So, is Linda describing what happened after she got kidnapped? By some woman named Melanie?«

Silvana just shrugged, but now, Marlene bent over the laptop and studied the written lines. Then, she asked Sibel:

»When you portrayed Linda in your video, you also showed a postcard written by her. Did you scan that, too?«

Sibel nodded and opened the file. Among the material given to them by Aunt Pauline had been a postcard Linda had sent from the Alps in 1897. They had used it to illustrate their rather short portrayal, but now, Marlene enlarged the scan and after a few seconds, she whispered:

»I am no graphologist, but as a teacher, I know a thing or two about handwriting! And this postcard and the journal are most likely written by the same person!«

They stared at each other in silence. If Marlene was right, they now had a sign from Linda after her kidnapping! If the photo was real, it even proved that she had lived for years after the events!

Sibel was the first to be able to act again. She opened Chrome and typed the name of the hotel the mysterious Rosalie had sent them.

»So, there is indeed a hotel called ›Princess of the Desert‹ at Cairo! Looks a bit small, but it exists! It even has free rooms!«

Silvana let out a fluttering breath. This was getting weirder by the minute!

»Free rooms«, she croaked. Then, she massaged her temples. She just couldn`t do it! Her parents thought that she was still at home, whilst her aunt was thinking that she and Sibel were on a city trip!

»Well, Cairo`s a city, so, technically, I didn`t lie!«

»A-are you considering to – to fly?«, Sibel asked, noticing what Silvana was thinking about. Her friend shook her head.

»It`s nonsense! What if it`s just a joke? Besides, we would need a visa!«

»That`s not true!«

It was Marlene. When considering where to go for a last holiday trip before she would have to start working again, she had also thought about visiting the Pyramids, and had informed herself a bit.

»For Egypt, all you need is a valid passport!«

The girls looked at each other. They had checked in at the hotel, and there, they had used their passports. However, there was another obstacle.

»That would be two return tickets, plus the hotel, plus what else we would need there!«

»In other words, SiSiCrime needs a sponsor!«

Again, it was Marlene. Silvana stared at her.

»You already paid for the hotel, and you drove us here!«

Marlene smiled.

»And yet, I think I can still afford three tickets to Egypt! After all, I divorced a successful businessman!«

She cocked her head.

»That is, if you can still bear a woman twice your age in your company!«

Spontaneously, Sibel hugged Marlene, followed by Silvana. Then, however, she looked up and said:

»What if it gets dangerous? These pictures may be fake, but the criminals were real!«

However, Sibel washed her concerns away:

»They don`t know where we are! And the next time we publish a video, we will be on another continent!«

Silvana looked at the hotel`s website. »Princess of the Desert«. Cairo. Egypt! In other words, it would be an adventure!

***

 About 20 hours later, all three knew that in their case, having an adventure was first and foremost strenuous. They had booked a flight and Marlene had also sent an email via a new account to her ex-husband where he could get his car back, together with an excuse and the offer only to demand one of the two instalments he owed her.

Since Marlene was generous, but not especially rich, she had booked an economy class flight to Cairo, meaning that they had to sit on narrow seats for more than four hours after two hours delay at the airport in Berlin. In Egypt, the heat had struck them like a lightning, and when the taxi had dropped them off at the »Princess of the Desert«, all three more staggered than walked towards the lobby.

»I hope Rosalie will give us time to shower before she wants to see us!«, Sibel sighed. Of course, they had sent a message, telling Rosalie they would come to Cairo, but there had been no answer. The account was as blank as that of »User0815«. Though technically, anyone could call himself »Rosalie«, they spoke of the ominous person as a woman. In their fantasies, Rosalie was either Linda`s great-granddaughter, a veritable Princess of the Desert, or both. Anyway, she seemed to have further knowledge about Linda.

As the walked towards the lobby desk, none of them noticed the man in the djellaba who had been sitting in one of the chairs. Despite his traditional clothing, he now pulled out a cell phone and quickly sent a message whilst keeping an eye on the blonde and the two dark haired women.

As he checked their passports, the hotel clerk suddenly looked at Silvana.

»Miss Dellert?«

As Silvana nodded, he handed her an envelope.

»I shall give that to you!«

The hotel had no lift, and so, they walked up the stairs, followed by a bellboy carrying their luggage. Both Marlene and Sibel stormed at Silvana to open the envelope, but she told them to do so in their rooms.

Marlene had booked two rooms, one for the girls and one for herself. Now, she said:

»I need a shower, a trip to the bathroom and a change of clothes! Feel free to open the envelope, I will join you asap!«

She disappeared in number 17, and once the door had fallen shut behind the girls in number 19, Silvana opened the envelope. It contained nothing but a photo – the original of the one she already had gotten via mail. There was no additional note, and the photo only had a date written on its backside:

»October 12th 1926.«

So, Linda had been 50 or 51 when it had been taken, and if the girl was really her daughter, she was born somewhere between 1907 and 1910. Sibel chuckled.

»Maybe, she`s your grandaunt!«

Silvana fought to get her sweaty top from her body.

»The journal only spoke of some Melanie – so, we still need a father for that child! Anyway, I need a shower, too! If Marlene arrives before I am ready, just let her in!«

She rushed into the bathroom and soon, Sibel could hear the shower. The room was climatized, but the air conditioner was rather loud than effective, and Sibel sweated profusely. Quickly, she stripped down to her bra and panties and used the photo to fan herself when she heard a knock at the door.

»Wow, Marlene`s really fast! That morning, she needed hours in the bath!«

Since she expected it to be Marlene who had already seen her in her underwear, Sibel opened the door, only to see a man stand in front of her. He stepped forward, and when she opened her mouth to scream, a cloth was pressed over her mouth and nose. Sibel smelled something sweet, and with a slight delay from the shock, she started to struggle. The man tightened his grip and kept the cloth over her face, forcing her to inhale the fumes.

»Uuuhhmm! Mhhmmmph!«

He lifted the girl from the floor, and Sibel flailed. One of her sandals flew off and hit the bathroom door, but to no avail. She tried to get her mouth free, but more and more of the narcotic reached her lungs. Once again, Sibel reared up and moaned; then, her vision more and more blurred and then, everything went black in front of her eyes.

***

When Sibel regained her consciousness, she thought for a moment that a giant bird was flying above her head. The girl thought of a vulture and screamed, only to hear a muffled croak where she ahd expected a yell.

»Mhhmm? Uuuhhmmmm! Hhhrrmmmmm!«

In panic, she continued to scream and struggle, only to more and more realize her situation. Sibel was tied to the bed in what seemed to be her hotel room; the »vulture« was the ceiling fan. Her wrists and ankles were tied to the bed posts with tape, and more tape was sealing something large and soft inside her mouth. Sibel retched, since the narcotic had left a little nausea, but she managed to calm down and work on getting free more methodically.

No matter how much she squirmed, she could not reach her face with her fingers, and the tape proved to be too strong for her to rip  it. So, she looked for something to work on her bonds.

Her ring! Sibel wore a ring with a gemstone, and the frame had an edge on it. By distorting her wrist, she could reach the tape and saw through it with the ring. Progress was slow, and she had to stop repeatedly, for she had to catch breath, but finally, she could free her left wrist.

Now, freeing her other hand was easy, and Sibel first untied her feet before she worked on her gag. She ignored the fine hairs at the back of her neck and ripped away the tape, so she could get the vile tasting cloth from her mouth.

»Gaaahh!«

She noticed that it had been her own sweaty top that had been stuffed into her mouth. Sibel licked her lips; then, a wave of panic hit her.

»Silvana!«

She jumped from the bed and entered the bathroom. Except for a small pile of clothes, it was empty.

»Silvie? Where are you?«

She staggered back into the room, only to see the bigger pile of clothes on the floor. It was the contents of her own big suitcase – a suitcase that was nowhere to be seen! Sibel wanted to storm on the corridor when she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was still in her bra and panties, and even in her upset state, she realized that she was a bit underdressed to run to the lobby.

When she rummaged through her discarded clothes to find a dress, Sibel thought of Marlene. What had happened to her? Had whoever had attacked her and kidnapped Silvana also spent a visit to the neighbouring room?

Slipping into a light dress, Sibel now sneaked onto the balcony. It was close to that of Marlene, and she tried to peek inside the room. It was dark, but through the open balcony door, Sibel was sure she could hear a barely audible mew. A shiver ran down her spine.

She needed a weapon! Sibel grabbed a glass ashtray from the table on the balcony and then, she climbed over the railing, entering Marlene`s balcony. She was ready to slam the massive ashtray on the head of the first one who would step into her way, but the room was empty.

»Marlene?«

»Mmhhmmm!«

The sound came from the bathroom. Raising the ashtray, Sibel carefully pushed the door open. Her eyes fell on Marlene, and her predicament almost made her mumble an apology, before she noticed that the other`s mouth was taped.

Marlene was sitting on the toilet, her skirt draped over her thighs, her panties gathered around her ankles. As Sibel approached, she noticed that Marlene`s hands were tied behind her back, and her ankles were tied together and to the toilet.

»Uuuhhmmmm!«

»Oh my God, Marlene, what happened?«

The other mewed again, and Sibel now began to peel on the tape over Marlene`s mouth. Remembering how painful the removal had been, she tried to be careful as she unwound it. A bit reluctant, she helped Marlene to spit out a large wad that looked like a washcloth. Whilst she worked on the other`s wrist ties, Marlene gasped:

»A man – jumped in – was on the toilet!« She giggled a bit hysterically and added:

»Caught me – with my panties down!«

Once her hands were free, the two hugged and now, the dams broke and Sibel cried as she told Marlene that Silvana had disappeared. Marlene held her in her arms, unable to do more than to offer a little moral support. Then, she said:

»We must call the Police!«

With tears in her eyes, Sibel nodded. The Egyptian Police didn`t have the best reputation in the world, but what else should they do? At that moment, they heard a knock at the door. Both twitched and gasped, and Marlene whispered:

»A-are they coming b-back?«

However, it was unlikely that the criminals would bother to knock, and so, they sneaked towards the door, only to see that a note was pushed through the gap. Marlene ripped open the door, and their eyes fell on a woman in a black dress, accompanied by a tall man in jeans and T-Shirt. Both looked slightly surprised, and the woman asked:

»Mrs. Gutermann and Miss Güloglu, I presume?«

A bit abashed, the two nodded, and the woman added, looking questioningly:

»And where is Miss Dellert?«

Now, Sibel wanted to push these strange people aside, run for the staircase and yell for the hotel manager to alert the Police. However, as she jumped forward, the man swiftly grabbed her and clamped her mouth shut. Before Marlene could do much, the woman produced a gun and with her left, she covered Marlene`s mouth.

»Mph!«

The two were pushed back inside Marlene`s room and made to sit on the bed. The woman, still aiming at them, asked quietly:

»Will you promise not to scream?«

Sibel`s lips trembled, but like Marlene, she nodded, and the woman lowered her gun. Now, they could see she was about Sibel`s age, whilst the man looked to be at least in his late 20ies.

»I have to apologize, but we can`t have anyone know that we are here! Now, please tell me, where is Silvana Dellert?«

»She got kidnapped! And you should know best!«, Sibel blurted.

The woman raised her left in a soothing gesture.

»I feared that such a thing could happen, but I have as much a clue where she is as you have! Omar and I tried to be here in time, but it seems we are too late!«

Her expression softened a bit as she noticed the terrified expression on Marlene`s and Sibel`s faces, and she added:

»By the way, I am Rosalie!«

***