Chapter four
"Alright, I'm set," Luther announced from the van. "We've got cameras in the building and the surrounding streets, but there's not much coverage. I've got the lobby and bits of street a couple of hundred yards away."
"Understood," Brandt sighed. It was far from ideal, but there was nothing they could do about that. At least they would have Benji's camera. "Everyone, check in."
The responses of his teammates came in quick succession and while he listened, Brandt let his gaze wander around the room. He was sitting on a low sofa in the lobby of the Lighthouse and Agent de la Vega was standing in the opposite corner of the room, ready to follow anyone leaving the building. He knew that Agent Leandre was waiting outside in the narrow alleyway the main entrance opened to, with a spray-can of slightly radioactive marker fluid in her pocket in case they couldn't get close enough for a GPS tracer. And Luther had parked the van in the one-way street on the other side of the building, so even if they didn't catch them at the entrance they were covered.
Brandt took a deep breath. It was a good plan. Not entirely foolproof, but when were they ever. Still, something made him nervous.
"There's Hauenstein," Ricarda suddenly said in his earplug.
He turned to the door, the tall red-head was hard to miss. Hauenstein walked across the lobby as if he owned the place and headed straight for the stairs. "Benji, your turn."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Benji was wearing a black suit with an intricately patterned black and silver tie, his hair slicked back flat and orderly against his head. His face was not unfriendly, but stern, lacking its usual expressiveness and overall he looked very un-Benji-like as he strode across the stone floor almost exactly where Hauenstein had walked before.
He walked straight up the stairs at the other end of the lobby, the briefcase in his hand swinging slightly with every step. They had scraped together all the cash resources they could find, knowing it wouldn't be 52 million, but hoping they could make it look that way long enough so that he would at least be admitted to the auction. And they had also thought of adding a tracer. Not that it was immediately connected to their mission, but it seemed to be a good idea to keep an eye on Hauenstein.
On the second floor, he found a door with an ornate wooden sign labeling it as the Tower Room and opened it. Inside Hauenstein was waiting, leaning against the wall between the windows. There were more men in suits scattered around the room, but his gaze was immediately on Benji. "Mr. Baker," he said in his curious staccato accent. "I had hoped you would come."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Outside in the van, Luther followed Benji on screen, through the camera in his jacket button. The picture shook slightly as he walked up the stairs, showed his hand as he pulled the door open. And then it was suddenly gone.
Luther frowned at the static and tried to reconnect, but nothing happened. He checked the connection, but there was nothing there. "I've lost Benji's signal," he announced. "The camera's gone, too."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
In the lobby, Brandt bit his lip to not curse out loud. Now they had no way of knowing what was going on in the Tower Room. For a moment he considered going after Benji, but with no indication, there was trouble that would only risk screwing up their plan. He would just have to hope Benji was fine.
"I'm going out," he decided and got up, folding his newspaper. It was utopic to think he could look inside, considering the narrow streets, but it also could be good to have another vantage point. "Vega, cover for me here."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
The silent click of the door closing behind Benji sounded weirdly out of place in the room that seemed to be right out of a medieval castle where a heavy wooden door would have been expected. It also suddenly brought to his attention how silent it was, and it took him a moment to realize that it was because there was none of the familiar background chatter in his radio ear-bug. It made him feel very alone.
"Welcome, Mr. Baker. Come in," van Hauenstein said, greeting him with open arms and the agent stepped forward reluctantly. "Or should I say, Agent Dunn?"
A chill ran down Benji's spine. How did he know his name? He hadn't let it slip the two times they had met before, he was sure of that. But maybe someone else had?
No, he thought, remembering what Ethan had said about the mole in the IMF. They had been sold out again. Now the whole team was in danger and he was right in the middle of it, with no way to warn them.
"Now, Mr. Dunn, there is no need to deny it," Hauenstein continued. "I know your identity. And that you are something of a specialist in the field of computers. That's why I want to make you an offer."
Benji's gaze around the room had told him there were four more men present beside him and Hauenstein. Tall men, no doubt armed, strategically positioned on either side of the door and left and right of him. To warn the others he'd have to get out and still be alive. "I don't think I'm in the position to accept any offers," he replied diplomatically.
"Don't worry," the tall man replied with a thin grin. "You're team can't hear you. We've jammed your radio transmitters."
Which would explain the sudden silence, Benji thought and swallowed. Better to play along now. "And what are you offering?"
"Money, mainly," Hauenstein smiled. "The contents of that briefcase for once, and at least that much again from my personal accounts in whatever form and currency you'd prefer. Plus any non-financial assets you require to disappear if you'd like to do that afterward."
He reached behind his back and produced a small laptop computer. He opened it, the display facing Benji. "What I need you to do is access the network of your organization and retrieve certain files for me."
In the back of his mind, Benji wondered who would ever need that much money, although he was sure there were enough people willing to do anything for that kind of sum, even in the IMF. "And what if I refuse?"
"Then I will make you an offer you can't refuse," van Hauenstein replied, his smile turning cold.
The air in the small room suddenly seemed to be hot and stuffy, and although they were only six people, Benji started to feel claustrophobic. He had to get out if only to warn the rest of his team, but the door was blocked.
Benji made a decision. "No, thank you," he said. Taking one step forward, he swung the money briefcase at van Hauenstein's head, where the sturdy attache connected with a crashing sound. On the backhand swing, he hurled it out of the window and himself after it, crashing through the remaining framework with his back.
He had chosen the right window that looked out over the small alleyway, hoping to get lost more easily in the confusion. In his fall, Benji managed to grasp a neon sign that hung suspended between the Lighthouse and the opposite building, just beneath the window. The sign ripped off on one side but broke his fall a little. It was not enough to land on his feet, but he rolled over quickly and he started into a run down the narrow corridor.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Brandt had just rounded the corner when he heard a crashing sound above. He looked up just quickly enough to see the attache case narrowly missing his head. Turning around he just saw a figure disappearing down the narrow street and took off after him.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"The signal's back."
Benji was relieved to hear Luther's voice in his ear again. Whatever they had done to his radio seemed to be confined to the room. "It's a trap," he explained breathlessly. "They're after me."
He had reached the end of the narrow alleyway and turned right into a broad but thankfully populated shopping street.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Brandt hadn't gotten two meters far when three black-suited men came out of the front door of the Lighthouse right in front of him, running in the same direction. He decided to risk the possibility of hurting a civilian and smashed the first of them into his colleague. Next to him, Leandre swung the third of them head-first into a wall. She almost hit de la Vega in the same motion, who was coming after the three goons.
"One of them called for backup," Ricarda reported.
Brandt cursed then ran off down the corridor. "Benji, you'll have to lose them," he said. "We'll try to cover you."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"They're behind you, Benji. Don't turn around."
Luther had used the tap he had already had in the public CCTV system to locate Hauenstein's backup and direct Benji around them. A lot of it was guesswork, the smaller side streets weren't covered by camera's and the main shopping streets were crowded, yet the goons seemed to be everywhere.
"Stay on the main street. Don't go into the subway."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
With the crowds slowing him down considerably, Benji had considered heading into the underground station, but just as he heard Luther's warning, he saw the two black suits running up the stairs. He rounded the station and continued running straight across the square. The crowd was thinner here, but he knew he was effectively clearing a way for his pursuers, too.
At the end of the square, he hit a crossroads and narrowly escaped being run over by a motorbike that had veered onto the sidewalk. Wide-eyed he watched as the biker did a narrow U-turn on the one-way-street, then he sprinted right across the road and down the street straight ahead, hoping the additional turn would slow the motorcycle down.
He seemed to be in a residential area now and at least there seemed to be no more suits ahead of him, but he knew he was headed straight for the river and before that a busy main road. The narrow side street branching off ahead looked very inviting in comparison, but he couldn't risk being stuck in a dead end. "Where do I go?"
"Straight ahead."
Luther's voice sounded strangely muffled but sure. Behind Benji the engine on the motorbike roared, quickly getting closer. Tapping into his last reserves, he sprinted on and right into the busy main road. Ignoring the squealing tires around him, he headed for the opposite curb. Just as he reached the saving sidewalk, there was another tire squeal and the noise of glass and metal breaking.
Benji risked a quick look back. Behind him, the biker was picking himself off of the front of a white van, while Luther scrambled out of the driver's seat and knocked out two of the suits in quick succession. Still at least one of his pursuers was already making his way around the back of the car, so he quickly turned left away from them, but as he did he could already see two more running towards him on the sidewalk. He found he had two options:
His first impulse was to the stairs down to the riverside walk. But that was a narrow path with the river on one side and there were several bridges, so he didn't know when he could turn back towards the city. Also, there weren't a lot of people going that way, giving his pursuers a clear line of fire and something told him they probably wouldn't care much for capturing him alive.
So instead he put in as much speed as he could to reach it before the suits and then turned right onto the South Portland Street Suspension Bridge. It was just broad enough to let two cyclists pass each other comfortably and right then packed with pedestrians and bicycles headed towards or away from the city center and tourists taking pictures of the river. They were spreading left and right, pressing themselves against the railing as he ran into the crowd with no intention of slowing down.
Benji charged on, still hoping to outrun the suits. He knew he was getting tired and as soon as they were off the bridge they were in a residential area with broad open streets and no more crowds to hide in, but if a fight was going to be inevitable, he'd rather do it with fewer people around. And maybe his team would have enough time to catch up on him, so he wouldn't have to face all these goons alone.
He took a quick glance back to see how close his pursuers were and almost ran into a biker who hadn't managed to get out of the way in time. Instinctively the agent took a step to the right, only there was nothing to his right. At first it was only the stinging pain in the lower part of his right ribcage and the fact that his feet suddenly had no contact to the floor anymore that told him he was going over the railing, but while he was falling he noticed a little scared that he had missed the first lamp post by hardly an inch.
While his mind was still trying to catch up, his fingers were on autopilot, clutching everything they came into contact with. He noticed the not quite painful yet increasingly unpleasant feeling of his fingernails scratching over metal and ultimately breaking at the base. And then there suddenly wasn't anything more to cling to. He braced himself for the hard, wet and cold impact into the waters of the river Clyde.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Ethan cursed himself for not following the others when they had headed out into the city. He had set up his room near the apartment they used as their base of operations, precisely so he could supervise it and see when they were coming and going. However, when they had gone out for the auction, he had been close on a very promising lead and decided to follow it instead of them.
He had had a tap into their radio and it hadn't taken him long to reconsider when Benji's signal was suddenly gone, but he had still been too far out. So he had followed Benji's progress and decided to come at him from the other side, take out any goons that might have made it around, back him up once he was past and hope not to run into anyone who shouldn't recognize him.
But now he was stuck on the bridge. It was the shortest route and since he didn't have a car he had also thought it to be the quickest one, but he hadn't anticipated it to be so packed. He was itching to run, but that would have drawn too much attention to him. So he could only hope Benji made it across before the suits caught up with him.
And then he had to stop. All the people on the bridge seemed to be crowding around a spot on the upstream side as if drawn there by a magnet. He also spotted two of the black suits coming up from the opposite bank, but no Benji.
Words drifted over from the crowd, something about a fall, someone calling the police. He checked the map display on his phone, the dot that had been Benji's radio transmitter was gone. Ethan decided his friend was likely taking an involuntary swim.
He glanced over the downstream railing, but there was no one to be seen. Without thinking twice, he pocketed his phone and kicked off his shoes, then threw them and his jacket into the shrubbery beside the bridge. He ran a few paces onto the bridge to not land on the bank and while everyone else was still watching the spot where Benji had fallen in, on the other side Ethan jumped over the railing.
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
Swimming proved to be more difficult than Benji had thought. The fall had given him just enough time to take a deep breath, but although he had braced himself the impact in the icy water had beaten most of that out of him. His clothes quickly soaked and his already sore muscles cramped from the cold.
Despite his training, he could feel panic rising inside him. His lungs were demanding air he couldn't give them and as he forced his tired muscles to propel him forward, he wasn't even sure up was where he thought it to be.
He was tired. After putting all his energy into running there was barely any left for swimming.
Then suddenly he felt someone grab him by his collar and with his hope renewed by the unexpected upwards thrust, he mobilized his last reserves. A moment later his head breached the surface. Spluttering, he gasped for breath, the wind feeling cold on his wet skin, but he didn't care as air streamed back into his lungs.
While he was still trying to catch his breath, he was already dragged to the shore. The bank opposite from where he had come from, he realized as he looked back at the bridge that was not as distant as he had thought.
Soon enough he felt more or less solid ground under his feet and scrambled up the muddy, stone-dotted shore just to collapse as soon as he was out of the water. A wet thud told him, that his savior was right next to him. Picking up his last bit of strength, he turned around to see who it was and gasped in surprise.
"Ethan?" he asked, his voice still slightly raspy from the water that had somehow found its way into his throat. The unmistakable face was framed by hair dark with water but clearly dyed lighter than its usual color and Benji wasn't sure he'd have recognized him dry.
There was a hint of a smile on Hunt's face, but before Benji could ask anything else he stood up. "Meet me in an hour, casino in the Corinthian Club," he said. "You, Luther, Brandt, no one else."
"Whoa, wait! What?" Benji asked, his mind still trying to comprehend what was happening, but Ethan had already disappeared in the shrubbery further up the bank.
Dunn was still trying to scramble to his feet when he heard something above him. Looking up, he saw Brandt breaking through the bushes above the shore, the rest of the team close behind. "Benji, are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, his look trailing back to the place where Ethan had vanished only moments before, but if either of them had seen him, at least they didn't show. For a moment he thought about telling them of the meeting right there, but then decided there was a reason Hunt had excluded Leandre and de la Vega. "I'm fine," he repeated, somewhat more convincingly and fought himself to his feet. His thoughts were still somewhere else.