Chapter 24

Annie abandoned her stolen getaway car in a back alley near the main street of Sachsenhausen, knowing that once she got close to the Hinninger tower it would be easier to sneak past watchful eyes on foot. Winter called for early sunsets, and the afternoon hours were stretching away with the steady leave of light. This part of Frankfurt was known for its night life, and the surrounding bars were already bustling despite the cold, the various people lining the sidewalks and outdoor cafes casting vivacious and vibrant energy into the surrounding atmosphere.

She was a shadow lingering in their brightness. Solemn, haggard, she drifted through the crowds, counting each step, each block toward the looming, threatening tower - floating. Everything in her body ached, a throbbing, ceaseless sensation of being slowly broken and crushed. Yet despite the effort it took to continue moving forward, the exertion required to focus beyond the severely shaken physicality of her existence, Annie did not falter. The anxiety that had eaten at her during her drive had been replaced with something sobering, and her motivations now fixated on one goal, and one goal only; saving her sister.

She urged herself forward, knowing the sand in the hourglass would eventually run out. Auggie had once told her that timing was everything, and now, facing this latest horror, she could not help but wonder if her choices up to this point would have changed had the timing been different. Would she have been in this situation at all?

Leaving the world of the living behind, Annie found herself sneaking past barricades and into the part of the district closed off for the impending implosion. After several minutes of walking, she turned down the final side street that would lead her to the back of the Hinninger, where Sarah Tam had described a rear entrance into the building where she could reach the stairs that would lead her to the seventh floor - her destination. Her hands itched, the absence of a weapon unnerving, and she craved the familiar comfort of a gun resting against her palm. The side street was empty, ominous, and Annie shrugged deeper into the jacket she had lifted from the stolen car, the echo of voices barking orders drifting toward her as the Hinninger came into view.

Annie hesitated, watching intently. The men in hardhats and safety vests in the distance were loading work vehicles, clearing the immediate area. Her stomach flipped, the clock continuing its countdown.

When the men entered their trucks and drove away, she started forward again.

Just as she was about to break the threshold of the sheltered side street, an unknown force snatched her backward.

Annie was thrown against the wall, a hand covering her mouth, muffling the cry of pain as her head connected with the brick, her shoulder screaming in protest. She could barely make out the insistent hiss in her ear demanding silence, and as her vision cleared the profile of the woman in front of her dissolved out of the growing darkness. She struggled against the stranger's weight, but the arm pinned across her chest and the hand digging into her good shoulder held her in place.

"Go on and let the whole world know we're here." The dark haired stranger whispered, seething. "Did you think you could just waltz in there, like a welcoming party would be waiting for you? That your sister would be delivered to you at the snap of your fingers, no questions asked?" Annie's eyes widened, and the strangers narrowed. "Rachmana Litzlan, what have I gotten myself into?" the stranger stepped back, shaking her head, "Eyal was right. You really are crazy."

"Who the hell are you?" The sharpness of Annie's incredulity was hindered by the throbbing inside her skull. "And how do you know Eyal?" She reeled, fighting the wave of nausea that hit her, the taste of bile bitter on her tongue.

"Of course he didn't tell you who I was." The dark haired woman's exasperation was thick enough to choke on. "Liat, my name is Liat, and you-" She jabbed an index finger pointedly in Annie's direction, "-are Annie Walker. The same Annie Walker who caused trouble in my city the last time you were here. And look, here you are again, and trouble's followed right along with you."

"Your city?" Annie straightened up, eyeing the other woman suspiciously.

"Last time I checked, Mossad had appointed me station chief of Germany, so technically they're all my cities." Liat smirked, head cocked to the side, cheshire cat grin glinting mischievously. "Honestly though, did you really think Eyal pulled it off all by himself when he helped you the last time? He's good, but he's not that good."

"Last time…" Annie's brow furrowed, not following.

"You know, the free ride in the back of the ambulance, the free drugs that returned your heat rate to more than barely beating, the free chocolate." Liat paused, considering. "Especially the chocolate."

Annie, with dawning awareness, stared at Liat, her mouth forming into a simple, "Oh."

"A simple thank you would've suffice." Liat snarked after an extended moment of silence.

"Right. Thanks." Annie replied shortly, pressing her fingers to the back of her head where the gauze remained intact. She could feel the sutures beneath the surface, and it made her wince.

"Sorry about that." Liat added with more sincerity, shifting the black bag onto her shoulder. "Listen, I know why you're here - to find your sister - but we've got another problem."

"Which is what, exactly?"

"Eyal was working the perimeter, hoping to find you. He missed his last check in, and he's not answering his burner phone."

Realization - then sinking panic.

"Shit."

"My thoughts exactly."

That's when Annie saw it - the brief flash that gave away Liat's callous indifference, betraying her ruse of unflappable, fierce Mossad agent. And for a moment Annie's thoughts halted, the steady stream of worst case scenarios that had been been forming interrupted by a curiosity that hadn't been there before. It was something in Liat's eyes, a softening of the hard, steeled light that had glowered back at Annie from the alley shadows just moments before. And despite the fact that Annie had no reason to trust this woman, no proof or certainty that she was who she claimed to be, she found that she was softening too.

She had risked everything to save Eyal once before, and she knew - without hesitation - that she would do it again. Annie's mind raced, the stakes now significantly raised, the status quo further shifted out of her favor. The probability that her sister was no longer the only one in danger set ice inside her soul, and the recognition that she had little left to bargain with to guarantee their safe return (if Eyal had been captured) sat heavy on her chest.

Trust was a fickle thing, something Annie did not easily give, but they were running out of time, and desperate times called for desperate measures.

Her resolve caved.

"Is that what I think it is?" Annie gestured with a tilt of her head to Liat's bag.

"If it is?" the Mossad agent asked tentatively.

Annie glanced back toward the threshold of the side street, to the Hinninger, and then at the surrounding buildings, before looking back at Liat with a grim smile - decided.

"I have an idea."

"Ten more minutes and we're there." Agent Vaughn called over his shoulder from behind the wheel of the the SUV that was currently violating the Frankfurt inner city speed limits.

"Is this going to work, Anderson?" Calder asked skeptically, eyes on the road ahead, pensive in the passenger seat. Auggie and Barber were working furiously over their laptops in the back, Oliver Lee sandwiched unhappily between them.

"It's going to work." Auggie affirmed, scanning the radio chatter of the local law enforcement being filtered through his headphones. "Barber?"

"Ten more seconds and the satellite I rerouted from its position over the mediterranean will be locked and loaded over the city." Barber leaned back, a final keystroke, a triumphant grin. "Boom - done!"

"When we get back to DC, we're having guilt free pizza and beer, on me." Auggie, pleased, nodded appreciatively. He spoke to Calder next: "Ready, Wyatt Earp?"

"The Sheriff" snorted. "Once you get the heat signatures on Walker and her sister, we'll make our move." Calder decided. "Still no word from Eyal?"

Auggie frowned, troubled. "His burner rings and goes to voicemail."

"Not good."

"Yeah, I know."

A/N: OMG, school is over for the semester. Sooo sorry for such a long wait y'all, worst case of writers block EVER. Now to finish this! Enjoy!