chapter eleven
The kid was not even thirteen. He stood straight, head high. Though the face was in dirt mixed with tears and the whole body trembled. He really wanted to show that he was not afraid, but he was unable to control his own body.
Antonio looked at the boy, who was brought to the room where he was sitting with Sadik. He had a foreboding.
"Why he is here? He asked his boss, not taking the eyes from the boy. "He was caught near the depots?"
Sadik didn't answer. Instead he turned to the man who was holding the kid by his shoulders.
"Lock him in the basement and bring Sophie's cell phone." He added referring to the phone that Sophie left in his room before she ran away.
"Who is this?" The Spaniard repeated his question. "And what he did that you want to lock him in the basement?"
"The son of the Swedish doctor, Sophie slept in her house."
"And why he is here?"
"I kidnapped him."
"Why?" But Antonio sensed the answer on his own.
"When I heard about Sophie from that Estonian, I realized that she might look for help in people she knew from her childhood. So I told my people to find and talk with her all old friends. There were Łukasiewicz, looser, but we didn't caught him and the rest left the city or the district. Finally we found that Fink, Vai…Vei…" He tried for a moment. "Doesn't matter. And we found out that my girlfriend was in her house.
"But, what you will do with him?" Antonio still didn't understand.
"Data" He said a single word, which should explained everything. "Sophie has my data and I don't think she will come here and give me them like a good girl so I must have something that will motivate her to cooperate."
"But it is a child!" Antonio cried, leaning his hands on the desk. He looked at his employee.
"You have a problem?" Sadik growled. Antonio clenched his jaw.
"No." He said after a moment.
"Good. It would be bad for me to lose a good worker like you, especially after Heracles had left our group…"
Antonio was silent. He did different things and not always was proud from himself. He black mailed, robbed, but never kidnapped, never and he didn't want to harm a child.
"I wanted to kidnap the Fink, for friends Sophie would do anything, but then I found out that she lived with a doctor and her son. I changed my plans. It is easier to catch a kid, when adult are busy with their own things. And Sophie overwhelmed by guilt will want to help." Sadik smirked dangerous. "And when we harm this boy a little she will do everything. She will give me my data and then as a good girl she will take her punishment."
Antonio looked at him, unable to said anything. He felt bad for the boy, who was stared at him like Lovina used to, with a sorrow and hope for help.
Sadik went to the door. Walking past Antonio he threw.
"Take care of him."
Antonio clenched his fists, nails digging deep into skin.
"Or it is too much for you?
"No." He said slowly. "I will take care of him.
o
For Alfred hospitals were always associated with churches. When he went to them he lowered his voice And when he went through hospital's corridor he always felt like he went through church's nave. And the atmosphere in which were something more, maybe more spirit or something.
At this time he looked through the glass on Susana's body wrapped in cables, lying limply. Among the squeaking equipment. It monitored her vital signs.
"Her condition is serious but stable. The bullet brushed her head, broke a piece of ear and hurt the cheek. Trepanation was necessary, because the skull broke and its fragments could damage the brain. " Doctor who operated her said. He was an older man with tired eyes who long time ago was the guardian of Susana's practices.
"When does she wake up?" Alfred asked, not taking his eyes away from Susana.
"I don't know. Maybe in a few days, or maybe…maybe she will not wake up from the coma. And if she will I don't think that she will be able to speak or to hear. But we must have hope." The doctor said without conviction. "So you said that it was a rubber bullet." He asked wanting to change the subject.
"Our specialists are sure." The rubber bullet were used to stun not to kill, unless you were too close. And Susana was really close to Alice.
Alfred frowned, why Alice used the rubber bullets instead of normal? The answer was simple, she wanted to stun Edelstein and Susana appeared suddenly and Alice shot from small distance.
But one thought did not allow Alfred to calm down. Alice wasn't shooting to kill. According to reports, British woman wanted to immobilize the Swedish not to kill. The trajectory of the bullet showed that it should hit Susana in her shoulder. But when Alice shot Susana turned around to Sophie and the bullet nearly killed her.
It was strange. Killers didn't make such a mistakes. Or maybe Kirkland wasn't a killer. Maybe he was wrong? Maybe their past made a wrong image of Alice?
His thoughts were interrupted by Sophie who approached him. Behind her walked Daniel Hedarvary, a man who saved Susana. They both looked tired, recently returned from police office where they provided explanations.
"Do you know anything?" Sophie asked without greeting. Alfred summarized the doctor. The girl's face tremor.
"It is my fault." She said.
Alfred didn't denied, it was not his role. And he read the reports, he could blame the girl and didn't regret it.
"What's about Peter?" Daniel asked.
"We don't know anything, the kidnappers didn't call with demands. Until they do it we can't do anything."
"And you named yourselves guardians of the law? Daniel sneered. Alfred knew that everyone were tired and worried and angry, but he felt rage.
"We" He retorted. Quickly dug out from memory facts from report. "We stayed at the law side and you probably forget to visit immigration office Mr Hedarvary."
Daniel blushed, but when he was about to say something, Sophie started talking.
"We actually really forget about the immigration office, Mr Jones."
"We?" Alfred raised his eyebrows. Sophie grabbed Daniel's hand.
"Daniel is my fiancé." She said. Daniel looked surprise. "He came to me from Hungary, we get married soon."
Wedding. Alfred didn't believe it. It was enough to look at the Daniel's face, for whom the wedding was as much surprised as for Alfred. But he decided that he will worry about this lie later.
o
Shortly afterwards Tina joined them. She looked like a shadow crushed under weight of worry. The doctor allowed her for a short visit. She knelt beside Susana's bed and gently touched her hand.
Sophie felt pain, everyone who wanted help her were hurt or dead.
Tina got up, bent over and kiss bandaged forehead. She tried not to cried.
Sophie could feel her own tears and then she felt Daniels' arms around her.
She stood like paralyzed for a moment but then she also hugged him.
Daniel pulled her closer for a moment, then pulled away and asked.
"Can we talk?"
She nodded.
"Why did you say that?"
"I…I wanted to thank you for help."
"Susana is my friend. Anyway, anyone would help in that moment."
"It's not about that." Sophie stared at his hands.
"When you came back with the keys and I wasn't there, you thought that I ran away, right? She asked.
"In the beginning yes, but then I heard a shot and…"
"You came." She finished. She grabbed his hand. "Thank you."
They were close to each other, eyes to eyes.
"Sophie, I…"
"Ms Sophie Edelstein?" The nurse came. "Sorry, but someone left the package for you in the reception. This man described you and said where can I find you."
""It is me, thank you." Sophie ripped the ordinary grey paper.
Inside was her old cell phone that she left at Sadik's place.
"What's wrong?" Daniel asked seeing her suddenly pale face.
Then the phone rang, Sophie immediately pushed the button.
"Hello sunshine." She heard the voice from her nightmares.
"What do you want?"
"I missed my property. When do you come back, sweetheart?" When she was silent, he said. "I am afraid that when you left me in such a hurry you took some my things with you. I want them back."
"I have no idea, what are you talking about."
"No? Maybe I should refresh your memory, Antonio?" He turned to the someone in the room. "Remove the gag."
Sophie swallowed hard.
"Honey, I have someone who really want to tell you what you took from me, I think you knew each other, right Peter?"
"Peter!" She cried. Daniel quickly took the phone and switched loudspeaker on.. "You kidnapped him!"
"And you robbed me. Draw. And now, Peter can you tell Sophie what should she give me?"
And she heard shrill scream of pain.
"Peter!" She cried.
"Go and find Alfred Jones, he should be at room 326!" Daniel called out to passing nurse. "Quickly."
"Oh you are with someone? You quickly found a lover. Peter is disappointed…"
Another scream of pain and pleas for mercy. Sophie slid from the bench on her knees.
"Leave him alone, please." She said trembling.
"Bring me my data disk."
"What data?"
"Wrong answer, or maybe you didn't hear Peter?"
Peter's cries was heard on whole corridor, echoing off the walls They scared patients and nurses. Suddenly Jones and Tina appeared.
"I will give them to you, I will give.. Just stop it! Please stop it!" Sophie sobbed, Daniel knelt beside her and held her shoulders.
"Stop it! Stop it! Please, it hurts! It evokes memories, right, honey? You well great Peter, Antonio take him and gag. And you baby, listen, at 8p.m. the next day you will go to depot B359 in the 0th district, without anyone. You will bring me my data and I will let the boy go. Remember I want my date, it is a one thing I care about, unless you want to come back to me…"He snorted. "Oh, remember, no cops or anyone. You have to be alone. In any other case I will kill the boy."
Sophie nodded, pressing hands to her lips.
"I didn't hear the answer."
"Yes, sure." Jones said.
"In that case see you, bunny."
o
Alfred looked at Sophie and Daniel who were going somewhere. Hedarvary said that they should talk and Alfred was sure that it was about the marriage. He wondered how many people this girl used and will use in the future.
Although when she started crying and Daniel hugged her, she looked so delicately, like she could be broken by a light breeze. And in that moment Alfred felt sorry for her. And he read report, it makes no sense, her family was rich when suddenly something happed and they lost everything, but she ended conservatory, her teachers claimed she was really talented and she resigned from everything for Sadik Adnan. Made no sense at all. And for his surprise she was really worried about Susana and Peter. Strange girl.
"I am prejudiced." He thought. "And overworked."
Indeed, aside from kidnapping Peter, case of Susana, he had lot of other things on his head. Only yesterday his work partner, Wang Yao called and said that he get information from some Latvian about bomb attack on BraginskyNet, the attacker might by Honda. There were no details and Wang couldn't contact with that Latvian one more time. But this case was for Yao, he would try to find connection between Edelstein and Honda and yesterday shooting in which Susana was hurt so badly. And more he get a phone from Luise Beilschmidt, a former colleague, she claimed that she has a computer program which had something common with BraginsyNet. Alfred sent this to Wang, but Luise insisted he should consult it too.
Because of that and lack of sleep Jones was frustrated and he couldn't concentrate at all. And the worst was that he didn't see any reason for Honda would want to kill Sophie. At first he thought about the gang war, Japanese and Turkish, but Honda was too powerful to take care of Sadik. So why he was looking for Sophie especially when she left Adnan?
"Information." He thought. "Maybe he want to draw from her information, but what?"
His meditation was interrupted by Tina who left Susana's room.
"Where is Sophie?"
"She went out for a while with Daniel."
Tina nodded and stared through the window.
"Sophie feels guilty." She said suddenly. "This eats her from inside."
"Don't you think that she is right?" Alfred asked cautiously. "You don't blame her?"
Tina snorted, the first living emotion, since Susana…
"No! Why should I? It is no Sophie who shot Su, she wasn't the one who did nothing when they kidnapped Peter…" Her voice broke.
"Tina…"
"I was returning from Daniel when I saw that someone in front of our house was put to the car, he had a jacket on his head. And I heard "Mom!" And I understood, it was Peter. I wanted to run, shout, but one of those man just waved to me his gun. Out of fear I could not do anything, I was like paralyzed, you know?" Tina covered her face in her hands.
"it was not your fault Tina…"
"I know." She replied. "But it is also not Sophie's fault."
"Why you forget her so easy?"
"Friends don't need to forgive. Friends need to understand."
Alfred suddenly was struck by a memory.
o
Alfred a junior – ranking police officer and Alice, a senior fellow engineer. Both grew up in the 4th district, were friends since childhood. Alice was always an individualistic. With clearly defined views, she cared for Alfred and his sister Madeline. For her he joined the service and then it started going bad between them.
Alice hated the city. She hated division into rich and poor and Alfred supported her in that. But one day she upset him.
"This is rulers fault. The divisions. We should kill them all, blow up for example." Alfred laughed, because what he should do?
"This town is rotten. Someone should take responsibility for this. If only I could clean them…"
And then there was a riot.
They were assigned to the different groups one led by Alfred, Alice was in group led by one German woman, whose name he couldn't remember.
In the center of a riot a bomb exploded. Who detonated it? It was on barricade? Or somewhere else? There were civilians!
His group was away from the field of destruction. Worse with the second, they came too close.
Alice was in the second group.
Alfred ran to look for a friend, but she wasn't there. He found a madwoman, who was responsible for that all.
"We did it! Did you see it Al? I will make more of them and we will clean the city!"
"He will help us Al, no more divisions, it was our dream Al?"
Alfred didn't understand. He didn't want to. And Alice noticed it.
"So you are not with me?"
"So here our paths diverge."
And she went away.
Alfred wanted to pursue her. He tried. But the explosion destroyed the wall of the building and collapsed on him and other people. Until he lost consciousness he was waiting for Alice and her help.
When he awoke, he saw the tall blond woman with a cool look bent over him.
"You live!"
So he met Susana who was with other civilians who were by accident near the riot. To his lucky she was a doctor, a good one and she saved his live.
Later in the hospital he found out that not everyone had so many luck. Among the civilians was his sister Maddie. She was a volunteer at a nursing home near the riot. She was killed in the explosion.
Alfred lived and had never forgotten Alice and himself, that he could not prevented it.
o
Once again during this day Alfred was torn away from his thoughts, this time by a nurse who terrified screaming something about the murder and the child. So he and Tina went to corridor in which were Sophie and Daniel.
"So we have demands." Alfred thought. "But why it is associated with Edelstein?"
And he was enchanted when he heard Sophie' scream.
"I will give you that disk, you hear…"
"A data disk… Luise rang that she found the disk with strange program. Maybe this is connected…"
Moved by sudden discovery Alfred didn't thought about mediations with kidnapper, he only instinctively answered.
"Yes, sure."
When the conversation was over he knelt beside Sophie and Daniel who was holding her.
"Are you all right?" He asked and immediately regretted this stupid question.
Sophie pulled away from Daniel and suddenly punched Alfred straight into his nose. Jones staggered and fell on his back.
"Sophie!" Tina shouted running to the lying, who pressed his fingers into the bleeding nose. "Calm down!"
"You, you asked me if everything is okay? Nothing is okay!" Sophie screamed and jumped on her feet. "I thought I made right decision when I ran away from this bastard, but since that time all people around me suffered. Bell, then Susana, now Peter and you think I am okay?"
She turned and walked to the hall.
"Wait!" Alfred cried. ""I don't think so."
Sophie didn't stop. Jones stood up with Tina's help.
"You've made a right decision!" He tried again. This time girl stood, but did not turn to him. "No one deserves a life with such a motherfucker, like Sadik. I don't condemn your choice, I admire it, I admire your courage, I don't know if I could do this by myself."
"But my friends are in danger." She whispered and cried.
"Stupid." Alfred snapped irritated. "They decide to help you, so be happy that they want to do such things for you. They are not idiots, they know the danger."
Sophie slowly approached him. Jones instinctively took a step back.
"Hey, this stupid it was only…you don't need hit me again…" But the girl only touch his hand.
"Thank you."
o
"She has hands of the pianist, but she knows how to hit." Alfred thought when he was sitting in nurse office, when someone was taking care of his broken nose.
He took a cell phone.
"Wang, It is Alfred. Tomorrow we will go to Luise Beilschmidt. I know you are busy, but I think we have something and I need someone with computer knowledge. Tomorrow morning, yes. Address, I will send you later. And I need your contact, yeah from Swiss store. See ya."
Alfred F. Jones was sure, he had something, but still he didn't know how to connect all those things and why Sophie Edelstein was so important.