Ludwig could tell that Natalya's day was going almost as miserably as his.
The taxi had dropped him off at the skytrain station without any troubles, and he had caught the first train possible in the right direction. Grabbing his hoodie on the way out of the apartment had been the right choice, as Ludwig was able to hide away from peering eyes and melt into the crowd during the trip. Once he got to another station, he hopped off and went to the nearby parkade, where he found Natalya staring at a message on her phone and cursing at it like a madwoman.
CODE BLUE
Once they were in her car and on the road, Natalya explained how the message was meant to imply that the police were at the cafe, and that they could not return there until told otherwise. They drove around for short spurts, and stopped at a nearby park for a while, waiting to hear an update from the others before heading to the safehouse. Just as they were about to give up waiting and go into hiding, Madeline sent her safeword, prompting a phone call where she told the pair what happened.
The cafe had been compromised, and the others had been arrested.
After much refusal and reluctance on Natalya's end, Madeline convinced them to join her at the shipyard's warehouse complex along the river, where Ivan, Antonio and Toris had their base hidden. They would meet Toris at the entrance to the shipyard, and he would guide them the rest of the way in. Once there, the six of them could regroup and decide what should be done next.
As they took the exit off the freeway before the bridge, Ludwig could see the shipyard approaching, and it only took them a few more moments to reach the entrance. Toris was waiting for them outside the main gate, and Natalya was muttering to herself under her breath as she slowed down and pulled the car up beside him. Once the car was stopped, Toris went around the front of the vehicle to Natalya's driver side door, prompting her to roll down the window.
"Park the car and get out please," Toris requested, "I will drive you the rest of the way in."
"Why the fuck can't I drive in myself?" Natalya demanded.
"Ivan and Antonio still don't trust either of you with the location of our base," Toris explained, "The only way you get to see the base is if you're driven in while blindfolded."
"Motherfuckers," Natalya cursed as she shifted the gear into park and undid her seatbelt. Toris opened the driver door and held it open as she climbed out, before climbing into the seat himself. As Natalya climbed in through the other door to the back seat, Toris opened his coat jacket and pulled out two burlap bags.
"Please put these on," Toris instructed as he handed on to each of them, "I will tell you when you can remove them."
Ludwig accepted the bag and silently put it over his head, noting that Natalya was muttering enough swear words for the both of them. He kept his eyes open, noting that a small amount of light was getting through the fabric without giving anything away. He heard Toris buckle his seatbelt, before shifting the car's gear to make it move again. The road became bumpy when they reached the gravel paths, and while Ludwig did feel a couple turns, he had no idea how deep they were reaching into the shipyard. After what felt like only a couple minutes, the light coming through the bag darkened, before he felt the vehicle stop in its place and turn off.
"Okay, you can remove them now," Toris approved, and Ludwig could hear a seatbelt being unbuckled.
Ludwig reached up, removed the bag, and observed their surroundings. The car had been parked between two black trucks, and had a cement wall in front of them. Natalya was muttering to herself, while Toris was opening his door and climbing out. Ludwig quickly followed suit, undoing his own seatbelt and exiting the vehicle from his own side. He watched as Natalya waited for Toris to get out of the way, before opening her own door and joining them outside the vehicle.
Toris let them forward across the small parkade, towards the one door along the opposite wall. Ludwig glanced to the right, spotting the waterfront around the corner to the entrance of the covered area. He then glanced behind him at the parked vehicles, and spotted Madeline's old brown beater at the far end.
Toris reached the door and opened it, going in and holding it open for the others. Ludwig followed Natalya in, where Toris let them turn left towards the stairs. The dark red paint captured Ludwig's attention as they climbed the stairs, making it so that he jumped in his spot when Natalya suddenly recoiled at the top steps.
"What the fuck?" Natalya shrieked, nearly falling backwards into Ludwig, "Who's fucking idea was it to put that at the top of the stairs?"
"Someone with a rather macabre sense of humour," Toris answered between chuckles behind Ludwig, "I nearly fell down the stairs the first time I saw it too."
Natalya finally resumed moving forward, and Ludwig followed to see what was at the top of the stairs. The hallway continued on a few feet before turning a sharp right at the end, but the far wall had an unusual painting of a polar bear on the Arctic sea ice. The bear had its muzzle drenched in the blood of the dead seal at its feet, and it was glaring forward with incredible rage.
"That is bloody terrifying," Ludwig agreed as Natalya resumed moving forward, and he could barely keep his eye off of the painting as they followed the hallway's turn to the right.
As Ludwig shifted his gaze, he was greeted by a large living area. There was a kitchen in the far corner, with a sliding door to an outside balcony, and the main area was filled with chairs, a couple tables and a couch. The side wall to his right was filled with computer monitors, and a familiar man turned his gaze away from them to look at the newcomers.
"Hello Natalya, Ludwig," Ivan greeted, "Welcome to the bear cave."
"Where is she?" Natalya immediately asked, "I have a few choice words for the bitch, and for you bastards as well."
"She's not here, and she will avoid meeting you as long as she likes," another voice replied, and Ludwig turned to see Antonio and Madeline entering the living area from another hallway by the kitchen.
"How did you get here so fast, Maddie?" Natalya drilled, "You were still at the cafe when I left."
"I left just shortly after you did, I had to do a few things at home," Madeline explained, "I got a call from Antonio a short while later, telling me that the cafe was about to be surrounded. I arranged to meet up with them, and here I am."
"We heard the reports on the police scanners about the showdown at the cafe, and attempted to take action," Toris added, "I tried to call Feliks, but he never answered his phone."
"What happened with the cameras last night?" Ludwig inquired, "You guys claimed to have turned them all off, yet the police still found high-quality footage of our heist."
"The bank had set up a couple new cameras only a couple days before the heist," Ivan defended, "Although they were made live and operational, they had not been added to the main circuit that I had focused on turning off."
"That's your excuse for getting us all caught?" Natalya sneered, "Six of our friends have been arrested, Ludwig had to run from the police, and that's your fucking excuse?"
Ivan glanced behind Natalya, and Ludwig looked around as everyone else in the room shared worried glances.
"There were only four arrests," Madeline finally revealed, "Yao was in the cafe kitchen with Feliks, and he didn't take too kindly to how the Commissioner was arresting Katerina. The two of them started a gunfight through the serving window, and the police retaliated. The gunfire didn't stop until they had both been shot dead."
"Yao and Feliks are dead?" Ludwig repeated, "What about Katerina?"
"She was arrested, as were Elizaveta and the twins," Antonio reported, "Out of the 12 people in our combined groups, the six people that haven't been found yet are in this room."
"The police have added the two of you to the most wanted list, and made your files classified," Toris added on, clicking on the computer mouse and allowing the reports to fill the screen, "You are officially being hunted by the police."
Ludwig approached the screen, staring at the report on his own file. It had been updated with official discharge notice from the force, and the listed crimes for which they wanted to prosecute him included desertion, treason, resistance of arrest, and collusion with the mobsters.
"What have I done?" Ludwig muttered as guilt, regret and alarm began to rush through his mind.
"You broke the law, that's what you've done," Ivan scoffed, "You chose to go rogue, and now the police are holding you accountable for it. You can deny it all you want, but the truth remains that you are now a criminal and a fugitive of the law."
Not wanting to acknowledge Ivan's words, Ludwig turned and marched through the room towards the kitchen. He reached the sliding door, opened it, went onto the balcony and shut the door behind him. He took deep breaths to calm himself down, while staring out at the waterfront. The bridge was only about a mile away, but he could tell that there would be no way to navigate the shipyard and find the base from the water.
Spotting a patio chair beside him, Ludwig sat down and held his head in his palms as the millions of thoughts ran through his mind. Did he make the right choice, running from Gilbert instead of turning himself in? If he had turned himself in, would the others still have been caught? If he cooperated, would Yao and Feliks have survived? Did he really just throw his life away?
The sliding door opened beside him, and he turned to watch as Madeline joined him on the balcony and slid it shut behind her.
"Are you okay?" she checked.
"Far from it," Ludwig replied, "I just threw my life away. My brother, my career, everything in one fell swoop. I gave it all up to avoid having to tell my brother how I was connected to you and the others. It might be because I resisted arrest that the others were targeted, and why Yao and Feliks are now dead."
"There's no way you could've known that would all happen," Madeline declared, "You followed your instincts to do the right thing, and here you are now."
"Gilbert has security camera footage of us kissing outside the vault," Ludwig confessed, "He knows now that you are my girlfriend, and that I kept you hidden from him after he arrested you."
"He was bound to find out at some point, we couldn't have hidden from him forever," Madeline assured, "However, what happens next is completely your choice. You could turn yourself in, tell the police what you know, and spend the rest of your life in prison. However, you could also go to Natalya's safe house, and find a way to live in the shadows of society and live the rest of your life in hiding. Another option is to accept Ivan's statement that you have become a criminal, embrace your turn from the law, and work the black market like the rest of us do."
"Would I be able to stay with you?" Ludwig asked.
"Only if you choose the third option," Madeline professed, "I am already a criminal, I cannot have you turning me in to your brother. If you choose to return to the police, I will dump you on the spot. If you go into hiding, it would be difficult for us to keep our relationship a secret."
The sliding door opened, and the pair turned to see Antonio leaning out.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," he said, "Ivan wants a word with you, querida."
"I'll be right there," Madeline acknowledged, and she rose as Antonio went back inside before turning to Ludwig.
"Keep in mind, Ludwig, this choice is completely yours," Madeline reminded, "I cannot choose your new life for you, this is your decision to make."
With that said, she went through the sliding door and shut it behind her. Ludwig stared at the door for a couple more moments, before staring out at the ocean and pondering her words.
What will he do now?