Wrong Place, Right Time 7

Silvana’s reaction to Karl’s presence confused both Abina and Judith, and only Nabia remained calm, though she was frowning at the man, too. Marlene also shuddered: she had only met Karl once, if »met« was the right word for he and his henchwoman had assaulted her in her hotel’s bathroom and left her bound and gagged when they had kidnapped Silvana back in Egypt. At the same time, she was all too aware of her predicament, with her arms helplessly trapped in the sheath, and her breasts thrust out and totally on display.

»All right, what is going on here?«, Abina tried to restore some authority, but the commotion now also reached Martina, Lia and Emma. Sure, they couldn’t do much, straightjacketed and gagged as they were, but this was not how she had planned things.

Nabia finally took initiative: she grabbed the water hose from the bathtub and with the help of the ice cold water, she made everyone sink to the knees, spluttering and panting. She also trenched Karl, who glanced at her, but seemed to have woken up from his paralysis caused by Silvana’s entry.

»Now, what the fuck is going on here?«

Abina heard her voice break as she yelled, and the way she had put her hands on her hips looked rather truculent than superior. She knew that only Nabia who aimed at the bunch of captives with the hose was keeping things under control, whilst Judith had remained calm, but obviously didn’t know what to do either.

After a few seconds, Karl, who was the only one able to talk, stepped forward. He was angry because he had lost control over himself, and so, his attempt of a grin looked more like a grimace.

»The girl, Silvana, and I – we have met before!«

Abina had regained her former calmness, and she noticed that Karl’s cryptic answer hid more than it revealed.

»Seems that she hasn’t kept you in good memory!«

Silvana had been hit full frontal by the water, and she had landed on her backside. Now, she was still sitting on the floor, staring at Karl. She and Marlene had been confused already when they had been fetched from their cell, suddenly being addressed by their real names. However, they had only been ungagged to instil them a quick breakfast, and so, the mystery of why they were no longer mistaken for Martina and Lisa Hartenstein had remained. But then, she had seen Karl, her old nemesis. Was he behind all this?

»Maybe, you should go now, and we will discuss the situation later!«

Now, Karl also seemed to have found back to his old attitude. With a wolfish grin, and letting his eyes wander over Silvana, he replied:

»The situation hasn’t changed, and I don’t see much room for negotiations!«

Slowly, he walked towards the door and left, deliberately leaving it open, so Abina had to order Judith to close it. Then, she clenched her fists and took a few deep breaths before she addressed the captives in front of her:

»As you may have noticed, the real Martina and Lisa Hartenstein have appeared. I can only apologize for the mistakes that-«

»Uuhmm! Mmhhmm!«

This time, it was Marlene who showed an expression of wild hope, accompanied by confused looks at Martina who had withdrawn to one of the walls, watching more or less calmly what was going on. Abina raised her hand to soothe Marlene, but it took another shower from the hose to achieve that goal. Sputtering and panting, Marlene stared at Abina who now continued:

»As I said, my focus is on Martina and Lisa – the others will be taken care of very soon!«

She tried to calm down the captives by indicating that this meant their ordeal would soon be over. However, Abina doubted that Karl and Ben would just pack the girls into their car, get them back to Würzburg and say something like »Sorry for the inconvenience!«.

When Schmidt had called her, she had been abashed, and still, the thought of someone »taking care of the other ones« had sounded reasonable, and she had told herself that her business were only the Hartensteins. Now, however, she had realized that no pot of gold was waiting for Silvana, Marlene and maybe Emma.

Abina knew she was a bit hypocritical, for her treatment of Martina and Lisa would also become neither legal nor nice. However, she still had the excuse that she was doing it to get the expertise for her future job; that she was working on a scientific basis, whilst the plans of the men were just criminal acts, meant to gain profit.

She realized that she couldn’t act professional right now. She looked at the five captives, who all were gagged and either sporting straightjackets or armbinders. In addition, this room had no windows and the door was made of solid iron. They wouldn’t go very far if she left them to themselves.

»All right, just a short break, we have to figure out a few things!«

Both Judith and Nabia seemed confused, but they followed the doctor without hesitating, leaving the captives alone.

***

 When she reached their meeting point, a café near the Central Station, Marcus was already waiting outside, and Annika felt a bit like a tramp. Marcus wore chinos, a white shirt and leather shoes, and over his seat, a suit jacket was draped. Involuntarily, she looked down on herself, noticing her sneakers, jeans and the hoodie.

When he rose to greet her, she noticed that he didn’t look as if he had slept very much. However, he still seemed determined to find his girlfriend. Annika sat beside him, and after she had ordered a coffee, Marcus took out a few notes.

»Old-school paperwork! I couldn’t sleep, and so, I tried to note the little I could find out. Maybe, it’s helpful!«

Annika checked the notes, and she had to oppress a smile: the sheets looked like a miniature version of the wall boards often to be seen in crime movies, where the people involved were connected by red lines. Marcus had even cut out some photos and written down the personal descriptions.

»A lot of work«, she said, feeling both admiration and pity for this would not get them very far, she was afraid. Marcus scoffed.

»Marlene’s a primary school teacher, and Silvie wants to become one. Maybe, I should have laminated it, too!«

Annika had to admit that Marcus hadn’t wasted his time completely: he had tried to find connections between the four missing women, plus people that might be involved. The link between Marlene, Silvana and the other two looked weak, for he had had no idea where the connection was.

»I am quite sure that Lisa isn’t one of Silvie’s friends, for if they were close, she would have mentioned her. However, Marlene and Martina are about the same age, so, they maybe know each other, and for some reason, she invited them to the mansion.«

Annika was a bit amazed that Silvana and Marlene, who was almost 20 years her senior, were such close friends, but she then looked at Martina’s side of the note. Whilst there was only one line to a circle marked »Lisa«, marking her as her daughter (obviously, Marcus hadn’t found a photo of Lisa Hartenstein), there were two other persons linked to her. One was Martin Ketteler, the co-CEO of »Hartenstein & Pfister«.

»Cui bono. I mean, if there is a crime, there must be someone profiting from it. And her closest business partner is at least a bit suspicious!«

Annika nodded. She had also thought about that, and had done some research, but so far, Martin Ketteler had a clean sheet and had not even been convicted of driving too fast. She pointed on another photo showing a young blonde woman whose smile looked a bit forced.

»Who is that?«

»A Miss Emma Dietrichs, obviously Martina Hartenstein’s personal secretary. I found her profile on the company’s homepage, as the contact person for people who want to organize a meeting with Mrs. Hartenstein.«

Now, Annika pondered. The secretary, of course! If someone knew something about Martina Hartenstein’s whereabouts, it would be her right hand in business affairs!

»…you find out?«

»Hm?«

Annika twitched, and Marcus repeated his question:

»What did you find out so far?«

She knew that this would have been a good point of telling Marcus that he should calm down and let the Police do their work. However, Annika now was intrigued, and after Marcus had put so much effort in his research, she didn’t want to seem as if she had done nothing.

»I contacted my colleagues in Hesse! Obviously, the hospital has confirmed that the Hartensteins are still there. They are out of imminent danger, but they obviously want to keep them for a little bit longer – for observation!«

Of course, this sounded a bit like an intrigue, but on the other side, it was unlikely that an entire hospital would participate in it. Even if it was a private clinic, there would be several nurses and doctors, not to mention other patients and visitors.

»And yet, there is something rotten in the state of Denmark! And the closest link to whatever is going on here is here!«

Marcus pointed at the picture of Emma Dietrichs. Annika frowned.

»Today’s Easter Saturday! She will hardly be at her office now!«

With an enigmatic smile, Marcus bent forward and whispered:

»Believe it or not, but the phone book has got only one Emma Dietrichs. How about a little trip to Heuchelhof? Just you and Inspector Marcus Bauer!«

»We don’t have Inspectors at the Bavarian Police«, Annika replied, but she didn’t hesitate when Marcus stashed away the sheets and looked for the waiter. Instead, she rose.

»It’s your turn to pay for the coffee! I will get my car whilst you pay, I am gonna pick you up in five minutes!«

***

Ben had been a bit disappointed when the door of his room had opened and it hadn’t been Judith, but Karl. However, when Karl told him what had happened at the cellar, downplaying his role a bit, he was rather concerned.

»What do you mean, the girl recognized you? What have you to do with her?«

Karl glanced at him, but he told him:

»Last summer, we met in Egypt! I can’t tell you all details, but I was trying to sell her to my connections – but she escaped!«

A bit apologetically, he added:

»We were in the middle of the desert, and she was naked, bound and gagged – but she escaped! You can’t blame me half as much as I blamed myself. However, now, it seems we are getting a second chance!«

Ben still didn’t seem too delighted about this turn of events, but Karl now told him that they could make a fortune:

»I still have some of my old connections, and a girl like her will make us at least 400 Grand each – plus what we will get for her brunette friend with the big boobs!«

Now, Ben reached for his cigarettes. 400.000 was a lot of money. Maybe, it would be enough to retire, or at least have a prolonged holiday of a few years. However, this wasn’t his business. White Slavery! It sounded like something from an old pulp novel!

Before he could vocalize his thoughts, there was a knock at the door, and a moment later, Abina, Judith and Nabia entered. Karl frowned:

»Who is with the girls?«

»They are well locked up!«, Abina snapped, and then, she continued:

»So, Karl, what is it that makes Silvana react like she’s confronted with the devil himself once she sees you?«

Her voice told them that she didn’t see much difference between Karl and a devil. The Arab dodged her question:

»In a few days, she will no longer be of your business! And if you insist, Ben and I will leave earlier – together with everyone whose last name isn’t Hartenstein – though it is a pity we have to leave Lisa behind!«

Ben looked up at the idea of not being able to spend more time with Judith, but he was distracted by the expression of contempt in Abina’s eyes.

»So, who are your customers? Luxury brothels, some 80 year old Oil Sheiks?«

Now, Karl burst out laughing, though his eyes sparkled angrily.

»So, that’s where you are drawing the line? Abduction, torture, brainwashing, that’s all okay for you, but sure, I am the bad guy!«

He had approached Abina, and suddenly, Nabia raised her gun and aimed at Karl. He frowned and stopped, and Abina said, in a more calm and reasonable tone:

»You are right, I am maybe not the one to judge! However, these women – they have no idea where they are, nor who you are! You could still get them back and set them free, maybe, not now, but after a few days-«

She knew that she wasn’t convincing, and Karl now just raised an eyebrow:

»Okay – let me just call my connections, to quickly check the estimated market value of the girls! Once you pay me that sum, we will have a deal!«

He held his hand to Abina who involuntarily shied back one step. Taking Karl’s hand would seal what she had refused to accept for so long: that she had crossed the line to crime long ago. She could argue that she was looking for some scientific value in what she did, or that she wasn’t acting on her own will, but by that of Uncle Kofi – but in reality, she wasn’t better than the man opposite to her. The only difference was that he didn’t seem to have any issues with it.

»For the time being, we will do as we have agreed upon! Maybe, I will come back to your offer of leaving earlier!«

The women left, and a few moments later, they could see Judith walk around in the garden, alone. Ben grunted something and left. Karl didn’t hold him back: in the current situation, it was perhaps a good thing if one of them remained in touch with the other group.

When he peeked out of the room, he could see Nabia and Abina at the end of the corridor, talking in what seemed to be a Ghanan idiom. He waved towards them and went back into the room, watching how Ben was just offering a cigarette to Judith.

»Maybe, this will turn out quite different than planned – but in the end, the blonde will end up in my hands! Everything else is secondary!«

***

When they had been left alone, the five captives had either rushed towards the door, moaning, kicking against it, whilst Marlene had remained by Silvana’s side, trying to console the still upset girl. However, the door was solid, and with their fingers trapped, they couldn’t have opened it, even if it hadn’t been unlocked.

Martina then suddenly stepped back and looked around. She had gained her position by being a Hartenstein, but she had kept it by being able to solve difficult situations. The straightjacket was restricting her upper body, but her feet were free.

So, Martina stepped beside Lisa and made her follow her to the chair where she sat down. Then, she moaned invitingly and spread her legs.

With widened eyes, Lisa shook her head and stepped back. Martina rolled her eyes in frustration, and she thrust up her pelvis a bit. Now, the others had noticed her behaviour, and suddenly, Silvana approached her.

»Mhmm?«

She raised her foot, pointing at Martina’s crotch with her toes. Emphatically, Martina nodded, and Silvana placed her foot on the other’s pubic mound. Here, the strap between her legs was buckled, and perhaps, she could open it with her toes!

It was a difficult task. Her toes soon hurt, and it felt irritating to sense the warmth of Martina’s lap at her sole. Martina also seemed irritated by her actions, and the other three fascinatedly watching her middle.

Finally, the strap came loose, and Martina sighed with relief, only to then get up and to get to her knees, so Silvana could also work on the three belts buckled at her back. Now, Lisa sat down in the chair, and Emma worked on her crotch strap, with only Marlene having to wait for help. She decided to remain at the door and listen when their kidnappers would return.

The panting and moaning sounded as if the captives would try to get some fun out of their crotch straps, but their combined efforts paid off. Silvana was sweating now, and she felt like her toes would cramp, but she had opened two of the straps and soon, Martina would be able to wriggle out of the straightjacket. From then on, everything would be piece of cake.

»Oouuhmmm!«

The totally exhausted girl sank to the floor when the last strap loosened, and Martina immediately fought to work her arms free. One minute later, she was sitting there, panting, but she had gotten rid of the restraint. She just needed a little pause before she could assist Emma who had only managed to loosen Lisa’s crotch strap so far. Since it was essential that they would be able to use their hands if their captors returned, she let her gag in place and worked on the straps on her daughter’s back.

Less selfless than Martina, Lisa immediately worked on her gag once her arms were free. Martina had turned towards Emma, and so, she did realize too late that, once the nerf ball had come out of Lisa’s mouth, she took a deep breath and then yelled. Her scream sounded hoarse after being gagged for quite some time, but it still was loud.

»Mhhmm!«

Martina jumped towards her and clamped Lisa’s mouth shut. There was a short struggle, but when Lisa had finally calmed down, they could hear another sound getting louder fast: steps approaching from the corridor!

The door flew open, and Marlene, who still had been standing there, acted reflexively as she stretched out her leg. Nabia staggered, and Judith, who had been behind her, ran at her back. However, the impetus had also affected Marlene who lost balance and so, all three women were entangled on the floor.

Martina had seen the opportunity, and, pulling Lisa by her arm, she stormed against Abina who tried to stop them, but was pushed back by the two attacking women, and soon, they were engaged in another brawl.

BANG!

Karl had fired behind him, so a ricocheting bullet would not endanger him or Ben, and he had opened his mouth to soften the blow. Nevertheless, the shot echoed through the corridor, and all eight women froze in their motions, more or less.

Nabia had quickly worked herself free and now held Marlene in a vice grip trying to get the squirming woman into a chokehold, whilst Judith was waving her clipboard like a weapon against Emma and Silvana. On the corridor, Martina and Lisa had overpowered Abina, forcing her to the ground.

Now, the tide seemed to turn quickly. Both Emma and Silvana shied back to the wall, and Nabia managed to sling her arm around the perplexed Marlene’s neck from behind. Only Martina didn’t want to go without a fight: still gagged, she furiously groaned and tightened her grip around Abina’s throat, whilst Lisa now had slung her arms around the Black’s body.

»If you kill her, you’ll have about three seconds to celebrate it!«, Karl said calmly, aiming at Martina. The three women stared at him: Abina with a mixture of embarrassment and panic, as Martina’s biceps was pressing against her throat; Martina with flickering eyes, panting through her nose; and finally, Lisa, whose determination was on the edge towards desperation. Karl added:

»Do you want it to end that way – your brain spread all over your daughter’s body?«

Lisa gasped, and after a few moments, Martina loosened her grip. Abina got up, massaging her throat, and stepped beside Nabia who, seeing that they had restored order, pushed Marlene over to the two other captives. Karl now made the Hartensteins get back inside, directing them at gunpoint.

»Seems you don’t want to do with us,  but can also not do without us!«, Karl mocked.

»We had everything under control!«, Abina croaked, but avoided to look at the man. Sure, Nabia would have sooner or later managed to use her weapon, but before, Martina and Lisa would perhaps have killed her, or at least gotten away. Had they returned a few minutes later, then all would have freed themselves, becoming an even bigger problem. They had underestimated their captives, and she could hardly blame anyone but herself.

»Mistakes happen – but we better make sure that such mistakes won’t happen a second time! Also, may I suggest that we underline authority by punishing the guilty?«

When saying the last two words, he looked at Abina, though he was actually referring to the five girls now staring at him with fear.

***

On the way to Emma’s apartment, Annika Gruber searched for excuses for her behaviour. She had not informed her colleagues about the growing pile of evidence suggesting a crime had happened. Instead, she had allowed that a civilian got involved in the investigations, albeit one who was related to two of the missing women.

She had no idea what would happen once she would have to make her report: in the movies, Policemen who disobeyed rules and seemed to be best in their jobs when being suspended, got promoted and celebrated in the end. Annika was civil servant for life for two years, meaning she could not get fired unless she committed criminal acts, but of course, she could be degraded, or sent to some unpleasant dump at Bavaria’s ass, where she would spend her time controlling teenagers for DUI, or just counting the cows.

»I still haven’t done anything that could not be explained or repaired! And now, we are just having a talk to Martina Hartenstein’s secretary!«

However, when they had reached the house, her order to Marcus to let her do the talking had been superfluous, since no one seemed to be at home.

»Maybe, her bell’s out of order, and we will have to knock!«, Marcus suggested, pointing at the elevator. Annika grinned wryly. She knew that he actually intended that they should try to get inside the apartment if nobody was at home.

Nobody responded to them knocking at the door, and Marcus ostentatiously turned his back to Annika and the door.

»I keep watch!«

With a sigh, Annika worked on the lock, and a few seconds later, they entered the corridor that looked normal, though Annika suddenly froze and drew her gun, pointing at the first door on the left. Marcus also noticed the flickering behind the frosted glass, and he remained behind the Policewoman who now pushed open the door, but then lowered her gun, scoffing: the movement had been just the pictures on a muted TV still running.

However, it was quite strange that someone muted his TV, but then left the house without turning it off. As they looked around in the living room, they noticed a few more things that didn’t quite fit: there were two half empty glasses of wine standing on the low table, and a big vase stood in the middle of the room, beside some pieces of crumpled duct tape.

Marcus approached the vase and, noticing it had some liquid in it, looked inside. Shying back, he put the vase back and frowned.

»Urine!«

Quite sure that nobody else was at the apartment, they now inspected the other rooms. The next one seemed to be a guest room, with a couch bed and a cupboard barely fitting in. On the bed, they saw a bathrobe and a bra, and two suitcases looked as if they had been rummaged through. In what seemed to be Emma’s bedroom, there were also signs someone had at least superficially searched the room, and the bathroom had the drawer’s contents poured onto the floor.

»And again, it doesn’t look as if they have left on their free will!«

Annika remembered another detail and went back to the corridor where, lying inside a bowl, she found a key ring. One of the keys fit the entrance, whilst another one seemed to belong to a Renault. Two others looked as if they belonged to a locking system, since they were coded.

»I’d say this is Emma Dietrichs’  key ring – which she sure would have taken with her if she had left on purpose!«

She leaned against the wall. Now, they had five missing women, and no idea where one of them was. Marcus let the keys run through his fingers, and suddenly, he checked something on his phone. Annika looked at him, and he let the two coded keys dangle in front of her eyes.

»These are the keys to her workplace, for sure! And, according to what I just read, ›Hartenstein & Pfister‹ are not working on a Saturday!«

Annika let out something between a cough and a laugh.

»So, you are suggesting that I commit my third burglary within less than 24 hours! Which part of my job description you didn’t understand?«

»We have the keys, so in this case, it would only be unauthorized entry!«, Marcus replied, jingling with the keys. Annika grabbed them; then, she said:

»We are talking about the office building of a big insurance company! So, even if they don’t have a guard, there will be security cameras!«

The disappointment on Marcus’ face reminded her of the fact that this was not just a game, but this man was missing his girlfriend and another friend, too. In addition – and that was the main reason for what she said next! – Annika was now seriously curious. She gently, but firmly put her hand on Marcus’ arm and said:

»There is one possibility! I don’t like it, and if I get caught, I will spend the next four decades ruling the traffic somewhere in Upper Palatinate, but it could work! So, how many higher ranking managers and heads of department are working at ›Hartenstein & Pfister‹?«

Marcus shrugged, whilst he was trying to figure out what Annika’s idea was.

»Dunno, I didn’t count them during my research. However, if I had to guess, I’d say some two dozen, maybe more!«

 Annika nodded.

»So, given the fact that all these men and women have a secretary, and sure, some of them will do some home office work during the holidays – it would not be too suspicious if one of these secretaries would show up, to get some folders for her boss!«

An admiring smile appeared on Marcus’ face. Then, however, he frowned as he looked down at her more than casual appearance. Annika grinned and pointed over her shoulder.

»I think I’ll find everything I need to look convincing at Emma’s drawers. As I said, I don’t like it, but some sacrifices have to be made sometimes!«

»Including turning the ugly duckling into a swan!«, Marcus joked. Annika showed him her middle finger, but he could see an amused sparkle in her blue eyes. She then sent him to the living room, to wait until she had changed.

Marcus sat down at the couch, but when he looked over the backrest, he could see the big mirror at the corridor. Obviously, Annika had left the door open, and so, he could watch quite good what she was doing.

She was standing in front of a cupboard, just taking off her hoodie. Underneath, she was wearing a T-Shirt that came off next, revealing the shoulder straps of a plain white bra, and a small tattoo on her right shoulder.

»Now, I should turn around and wait for her tell me she has finished dressing up, like a good boy!«, Marcus thought by himself, but he remained motionless and watched as Annika took off her shoes, followed by her jeans. Her panties were plain white bikini briefs that clad a firm, well-rounded butt she involuntarily presented him even better when she took off her socks.

Annika was just getting dressed and not putting up a show, but Marcus had never thought that it could have been so sensual seeing someone put his clothes on. He watched with fascination as she put on a pair of Emma’s pantyhose that seemed to fit, followed by a white blouse and a tight black pencil skirt. When Annika looked for a matching jacket, Marcus carefully slid back onto his seat to wait for the Policewoman in disguise.

»Tada!«

When Annika entered, she was not only wearing a slim fit blue blazer, but also a coloured scarf around her neck. In addition, she had opened her hair, but used two of Emma’s hairpins to keep it out of her face.

»Now, that’s what I call a metamorphosis!«, he said in an exaggerated tone and let his eyes wander over her.

»Asshole!«, she replied, but with a smile, and Marcus could also notice a slight reddening of Annika’s cheeks.

She completed her outfit with one of Emma’s handbags and then selected from a collection of high heels that seemed to differ only by their colour whilst she told Marcus to look for a plastic bag and collect her clothes in it.

When he returned, she had put on a black pair of pumps with stiletto heels. After controlling her appearance in the mirror, she then clapped her hands.

»All right, let’s go!«

She spun around for the door – and staggered against Marcus who prevented her from slipping. Annika giggled, though she seemed also a bit embarrassed for having been so clumsy. She said, in an almost apologetic tone:

»I hardly wore such shoes during the last years! Well, let’s hope that this isn’t a bad omen for the whole plan!«

***