Chapter 14

“Where the fuck is Erika?” Hanson yells.

“I don’t know,” Rudolph answers. “We haven’t been able to contact her.”

“Have you sent anyone to Yonovich’s warehouse?” the terrorist asks, pacing through the small office.

“Of course, the moment she didn’t return on time.” Rudolph is sitting watch the man pacing angrily.

“At least I can count on you, Rudy,” he says, stopping his pace. “Erika always has her own agenda. The bitch is just using me.” He knows his words are false, but it’s the only way he can get his frustration in check. “You want a drink?”

“Yeah, sure,” Rudolph says dismissively. He as just invested as Hanson is in this. He is also as equally pissed he just doesn’t have the same short temper as the man.

Hanson walks over to the makeshift bar to pour a couple of drinks when one of his men burst into the room. “Hanson!”

Turning, red in the face and angry with the sudden intrusion, he says, “What is it?”

The intruding soldier trembles visibly. “It’s about Erika.” He stops and just stands there as if waiting for the go ahead.

A little too late for that. “Well, you fucking idiot,” Hanson almost shouts. “What about her?”

“The TDF seems to have raided Yonovich’s place,” the soldier continues. “Yonovich is dead. The FBI and DEA are all over the place.”

Hanson is furious, so furious he throws the bottle across the room. It smashes into the wall, making the soldier jump. “What about Erika?”

“Not sure,” the soldier replies.

“What the fuck do you mean not sure?” Hanson stalks over angrily toward the man. “Do the Americans have her?”

“Well, there was no sign of her,” he answers, shaking more than before. “We saw Yonovich and a bunch of his men being hauled out, but there was no sign of Erika.”

“This is not acceptable, by any means,” Hanson says, staring right at his lieutenant. He heads back over to the desk, taking a seat in the chair and muttering to himself the whole time. Rudolph quickly dismisses the soldier before Hanson has a chance to finish raging against him and possibly killing him on the spot. “If Erika was arrested by the Americans then we need to move out operation,” Hanson explains in a much calmer tone.

“Do you really think she’ll talk?” Rudolph asks.

“If it gets her closer to whatever goal she is after, then yes,” the man replies. “She is loyal to any man so long as it benefits her.”

“Shall we move to our fall back?” the lieutenant asks, rising from the couch.

“Since we are forced to move ahead of schedule, yes,” Hanson says, sighing. “A change of scenery won’t be that bad. Now that we are short on our supplies we’ll be even worse off here. We need to find someone else.”

“You know that is just going to cost us more,” Rudolph warns.

“Like it hasn’t cost us enough already?” Hanson asks ruefully. “Besides, it’s Kloser’s money. He can foot the bill. But we need someone we can trust.”

“Everyone has bailed on us because of Kloser,” Rudolph reminds the man. “It will be hard to find someone trusting on such short notice. What if we ask Kloser? He is sure to have a few contacts.”

“You really think that is wise, Rudy?” Hanson asks, looking up at the man standing over his desk. “No. We will not go crawling to him. It’s just what he wants.”

“Then let’s go to Bowling,” the man offers. “He set us up with Kloser in the first place.”

“You’re right, Rudy,” Hanson says, perking up a little. “He’ll have to wave his fee for referring us to Kloser and getting us into this mess.”

“And asking them may only strengthen the fact that we trust them,” Rudolph reasons.

“And Kloser will foot the bill for everything,” Hanson adds. “How long until we clear out of here?”

“About twelve hours,” the lieutenant answers.

“Make it ten,” Hanson directs. “I don’t know how long Erika will hold out for. For all we know they already gave her an offer she couldn’t resist.”

Spencer stopped by the hospital to see his partner, finding her well without any long term problems. She was sleeping when he found her room and he decided to let her stay that way. He could have stayed with her, but the nurses said Sam would probably be out of it all night. And there was no sense trying to sleep in a chair when he needed a good restful sleep.