CHAPTER 70
It had been a long time since Duncan had relied on his ability to speak fluent German. Long ago he could do so with an almost perfect accent, but today he had to be sure. Instead of taking the rental car, Duncan took the train, striking up conversations with as many of the locals as possible. By the time he reached the air base, he felt confident that he could pull this off.
"I was here yesterday." He told the MP's at the gate, who remembered him. "I think I have some information your superiors might be interested in knowing. We left when there was trouble, but not before we saw something important."
Duncan was setting himself up to be walked right into the middle of the investigation. Of course there were risks, but that couldn't be helped.
He was shuffled from office to office repeating his story until he landed in the office of the chief investigator. "I saw a car." He repeated, describing the car in detail that Shafer had escaped in, but being careful to give the wrong partial tag information. He didn't want Methos' investigation to be crossed by the MP's.
The investigator looked at MacLeod through narrowed eyes. "Why should I believe you? You didn't bother to stay around and assist the authorities yesterday, why now?"
"My friend was nervous. Seeing the explosion and all of the sirens brought back some bad memories for her. I thought it was best to leave the area and let you do your job. It wasn't until last night I remembered the car and the man driving it." MacLeod told him convincingly.
"Wait here."
The man left the room and Duncan wasted no time shuffling through the open folder on his desk. Making a mental note of the information he needed, he was seated in his chair before the inspector returned.
"I'll need to get a few more details." The man insisted, and MacLeod accommodated. He answered questions for over an hour.
Once back at the hotel Duncan passed the make, model and license information to Methos, who was trying to narrow down the first one.
"Here it is." Methos replied about ten minutes later, looking up to see Rayna limping from the bedroom. She couldn't lie in bed any longer.
"Here what is?" she asked, coming to sit beside him on the sofa and accepting the cup of coffee Ellen poured for her.
"Shafer was overconfident. That car was leased in his name, and by cross referencing this one with the partial plate you remember .. Looking for a common denominator ." Methos made a few more keystrokes. "Voila!"
He turned the screen so MacLeod could see. "We've got him." Duncan stated.
"Well . yes and no." Methos replied. "Yes we have an address, but after spending a week following the last lead from address to address, I think we need to bring in a little help."
He typed through several screens, added data and submitted passwords without skipping a beat.
"Uhm . after the way you came up with the clothes and medicine yesterday . and now this . Adam are you sure I shouldn't be worried about who my sister married?" Rayna was half joking, half serious as she saw the screens for what looked like a German law enforcement agency flip by one by one as he helped himself to information.
"Adam has many talents that come in handy from time to time." MacLeod told her, noting the flicker of pain that crossed his friend's brow at the mention of Beth.
"Ok . now we wait." Adam replied.
"Wait for what?" Ellen and Duncan asked together.
"We wait for the authorities to do our job for us." He smiled and leaned back on the sofa, propping his feet on the table beside the laptop. He explained that he had tagged the car in the system. He'd impersonated a German police investigator by using his passwords and put out an APB on the car.
"But what if they just find the car? What if they don't wait for him to get in it or he sees them?"
"Thought of that. There are specific instructions to notify me, the investigator, when the car is located, but not to approach the vehicle unless it is occupied. The instructions tell the police that the subject is wanted in connection with global terrorism and needed to be apprehended at all costs. I also added Shafer's description."
"So now we wait?" Duncan asked.
"Now one of us has to wait with the laptop to watch for alerts, but I'm not going to sit here all night and do nothing. I'm going to scout out the neighborhood around that address and see if we can find out anything." Methos gathered his coat.
"I'm going with you. Ellen, you and Rayna stay here and call me if anything turns up." Duncan ordered. He wrote down the new cell number for the phone he'd gotten after realizing Shafer had sabotaged the first.
It had been a long time since Duncan had relied on his ability to speak fluent German. Long ago he could do so with an almost perfect accent, but today he had to be sure. Instead of taking the rental car, Duncan took the train, striking up conversations with as many of the locals as possible. By the time he reached the air base, he felt confident that he could pull this off.
"I was here yesterday." He told the MP's at the gate, who remembered him. "I think I have some information your superiors might be interested in knowing. We left when there was trouble, but not before we saw something important."
Duncan was setting himself up to be walked right into the middle of the investigation. Of course there were risks, but that couldn't be helped.
He was shuffled from office to office repeating his story until he landed in the office of the chief investigator. "I saw a car." He repeated, describing the car in detail that Shafer had escaped in, but being careful to give the wrong partial tag information. He didn't want Methos' investigation to be crossed by the MP's.
The investigator looked at MacLeod through narrowed eyes. "Why should I believe you? You didn't bother to stay around and assist the authorities yesterday, why now?"
"My friend was nervous. Seeing the explosion and all of the sirens brought back some bad memories for her. I thought it was best to leave the area and let you do your job. It wasn't until last night I remembered the car and the man driving it." MacLeod told him convincingly.
"Wait here."
The man left the room and Duncan wasted no time shuffling through the open folder on his desk. Making a mental note of the information he needed, he was seated in his chair before the inspector returned.
"I'll need to get a few more details." The man insisted, and MacLeod accommodated. He answered questions for over an hour.
Once back at the hotel Duncan passed the make, model and license information to Methos, who was trying to narrow down the first one.
"Here it is." Methos replied about ten minutes later, looking up to see Rayna limping from the bedroom. She couldn't lie in bed any longer.
"Here what is?" she asked, coming to sit beside him on the sofa and accepting the cup of coffee Ellen poured for her.
"Shafer was overconfident. That car was leased in his name, and by cross referencing this one with the partial plate you remember .. Looking for a common denominator ." Methos made a few more keystrokes. "Voila!"
He turned the screen so MacLeod could see. "We've got him." Duncan stated.
"Well . yes and no." Methos replied. "Yes we have an address, but after spending a week following the last lead from address to address, I think we need to bring in a little help."
He typed through several screens, added data and submitted passwords without skipping a beat.
"Uhm . after the way you came up with the clothes and medicine yesterday . and now this . Adam are you sure I shouldn't be worried about who my sister married?" Rayna was half joking, half serious as she saw the screens for what looked like a German law enforcement agency flip by one by one as he helped himself to information.
"Adam has many talents that come in handy from time to time." MacLeod told her, noting the flicker of pain that crossed his friend's brow at the mention of Beth.
"Ok . now we wait." Adam replied.
"Wait for what?" Ellen and Duncan asked together.
"We wait for the authorities to do our job for us." He smiled and leaned back on the sofa, propping his feet on the table beside the laptop. He explained that he had tagged the car in the system. He'd impersonated a German police investigator by using his passwords and put out an APB on the car.
"But what if they just find the car? What if they don't wait for him to get in it or he sees them?"
"Thought of that. There are specific instructions to notify me, the investigator, when the car is located, but not to approach the vehicle unless it is occupied. The instructions tell the police that the subject is wanted in connection with global terrorism and needed to be apprehended at all costs. I also added Shafer's description."
"So now we wait?" Duncan asked.
"Now one of us has to wait with the laptop to watch for alerts, but I'm not going to sit here all night and do nothing. I'm going to scout out the neighborhood around that address and see if we can find out anything." Methos gathered his coat.
"I'm going with you. Ellen, you and Rayna stay here and call me if anything turns up." Duncan ordered. He wrote down the new cell number for the phone he'd gotten after realizing Shafer had sabotaged the first.