Chapter 15: Showtime!

We said goodbye; Pavel gave her a medium-serious kiss considering that we were still in the Lobby and people were watching us. The Mercedes was waiting, and off we went. Showtime!

We picked up Mr. Simik at his office, and when we arrived at the Palace, the same scene was repeated. “Only Count and Miss Parker!” I told them no, they called a superior and received a reluctant admission. However, they told us that the car had to go to the lower garage and the driver had to wait outside. I expected Pavel to protest, but he winked at me and accepted. I told Jenny to turn on the camera.

We went in, the elevator was held for us, and the passage through the waiting rooms was rapid. Mr. Simik was told to stay and wait for us, and we were rushed into the PM’s office. He was furious! He came closer and waved his finger into my face.

“Mr. Winter, I told you to deposit the twenty-five million dollars by today, and nothing has happened. Are you playing a game with me? If I don’t have that deposit by two o’clock, you either pay thirty-five million dollars, or the deal is off!”

I stepped back and waited for him to finish. Now he was waiting for my response.

“Mr. Prime Minister, there never was a deal. You told us what you wanted, gave us until today to analyze what our options were, and we’re ready to give our answer. We will not pay anything and go to Court, here, in Brussels and The Haag. We believe that our chances to win are excellent. So, no deal, Mr. Prime Minister.”

Mr. Wacynsky was stupefied – someone was challenging him? He became red all over his face, trying to say something but unable to pronounce a word. Mr. Bukos went over and whispered something to him, and he calmed down. “Mr. Winter, I give you one more chance: either you pay me, or you will have more problems than you can imagine!”

Considering that Jenny was the CEO, I asked her to confirm my answer. He ignored her, and he dared to push her aside when he came back to me. That was something I could not stand. I pulled her back and told the PM that we expected the courtesy a man should always show a woman. In this case, the woman was the CEO of a global company, so it was even more important. He was irate and told me to mind my manners: he was the Prime Minister of a great nation, and I just a minor count, not even living in my country. Now Jenny was getting upset and started to say something, but he just pushed her aside once more.

“Tell your bitch to shut up when I’m talking. One more time – will you pay up or not?”

Jenny was ready to hit him, so I pulled her back, and it was me who was stepping forward.

“Mr. Wacynsky, If you touch my wife one more time, I’ll break your arm, prime minister or not.”

I was mad; he had touched Jenny without her permission! I glared at him, and as he stepped back, I followed him until he hid behind his big desk. Mr. Bukos tried to say something, and it was his turn to see my anger; they must have noticed that I was serious because both were behind the desk now.

“Let me tell you something I wanted to avoid. You better think twice before you try anything with me or with us. You will regret this very much!”

I stepped forward and placed a folder on his desk. When I turned around to leave, the PM yelled at me.

“You idiot, who do you think you are? And who do you think I am? I am the Prime Minister of this country, and you have insulted me. I’ll get you and that woman on anything I want, and once you’re in our jail, you’ll regret your stupid attitude. I’ve made these deals with other companies, and they paid up and never had a problem. You’ll lose everything and end up in jail, and when they interrogate you, you can think about what we’ll do with this woman. We had unfortunate suicides before! You better leave now while you still can walk!”

He was still ranting when I opened the door, but suddenly he stopped and yelled at Bukos.

“Call your people now! Let’s start to show them who is running the show!” I glanced back and saw that Bukos had opened the folder; he was looking at the first pages and immediately grasped the PM’s arm.

“PM, look at this!”

It was time to run.

Mr. Simik was staring at us: the PM yelling, Bukos at the phone calling someone, Jenny furious, and I pulled him along. “Mr. Simik, now it’s time to get out of here.”

We waited for a moment for the elevator to arrive, and when we stepped out on the ground floor, I saw two gorillas with a definitive military look about them running towards us. The suits were off the rack and were a little loose fitting. There was a substantial side bulge evident under each man’s left arm. At least one was also wearing an ankle holster, visible when they both stopped in front of us.

“Return now! The Prime Minister wants to talk to you!” That was not a request; that was a threat. I tried to walk around them, but they took hold of our arms, not very gently either. Mr. Simik intervened.

“Gentlemen, Miss Parker and her husband have other business now. They finished the conversation with the PM and will leave.”

They ignored him and started to pull us in the direction of the elevator. It was terrific what Krav Maga teaches you for situations like this. I lifted my hand to his neck and pinched a nerve – he suddenly stopped and groaned with pain. His colleague stared at him. “Let’s go; you heard Bukos!”

I took his wrist and pinched another nerve, and he slowly went down, releasing Jenny. I took her hand and walked to the exit. There was some noise behind me, and someone grasped my shoulder, turning me around. “You come now!” I used his move, taking his arm and twisting it.

“Gentlemen, let’s stop this nonsense. We will leave, and you can tell Mr. Bukos that our lawyers will contact him.”

Mr. Simik tried to help and stepped between us, but they pushed him aside; he stumbled and fell. Now they were angry, and one pulled a gun.

Pavel was suddenly at Jenny’s side; when he tried to pull her away, they yelled at him to get lost; this was between them and us, and we had to return to the PM’s office. He whistled, and four men came between the goons and us. Pavel tried to be reasonable.

“There are two of you and five of us. Do you want to see who is stronger? And remember that people are watching us; you have already assaulted a well-known lawyer, and charges will be entered against you. Do you really want to try this?”

That made them stop for a moment, and we used it to get out of the lobby. Pavel was doing his job – he had Jenny’s arm and pulled her along, not even looking at me. She was furious, trying to pull loose, but he was strong enough that we managed to get to the car. The doors were already open, and the driver accelerated rapidly. People were yelling at us at the guard cabin, but he ignored them and drove through. We were free and off to the airport.

I thanked Pavel, and when Jenny wanted to interrupt me, I looked at her. “Jenny, not now. You can complain later, but please be quiet now.” She acquiesced after a moment, and I turned back to Pavel.

“What now? Airport?”

He nodded but advised. “One more problem will probably be coming up. Whatever happens, say nothing.”

The driver accelerated, but after three blocks, I heard police sirens coming close. One car passed us, forcing us to stop; another stayed behind us. Three policemen came out of the car in front of us, one with his gun drawn, and yelled at us to get out of the car. Pavel told us to stay in the car.

“Let me handle this. Mr. Simik, would you please accompany me? I’ll need a lawyer.”

They got out, but the head goon wanted us out also. After a while, Pavel nodded at us.

“Count, Miss Parker, please exit the car.” He whispered “Say nothing!”

Mr. Simik was arguing with the guy with the gun. It seemed that they wanted to search the car, and Mr. Simik requested to see the warrant. I heard a few words inferring that they knew there were drugs in the car. Drugs? If they could arrest us, things would go down very rapidly. Pavel saw me getting nervous and shook his head. “Say nothing!”

Finally, they ignored Pavel’s and the lawyer’s protests and forced the driver to open the trunk. One of the policemen had a camera and filmed every move. The guy put on a surgical glove and, staring at us with a triumphant smirk, reached into the car. He reached for something, hesitated, looked into the trunk, bent down to search more, and when he couldn’t find anything, he yelled at his colleague. “Where is it?” The other guy came over also and reached into the trunk. Finding nothing, they took out the luggage, then the tools box, and finally the spare tire. Nothing.

Desperate now to find whatever he knew was in the car, he told us to move away. He would take the car to the police station, and we would have to wait there for a more detailed search. Mr. Simik became agitated. “Sir, you have no reason to take that action. There’s nothing in the car, and Miss Parker, the CEO of an international company, has other appointments. I have called Judge Simon, and he wants to talk to you.”

He handed the phone to the guy, and after a heated discussion, I was told that we could go but that the car was impounded. Pavel whistled, and another Mercedes appeared. Another debate started when the driver took our luggage to put it into the new vehicle. Finally, we opened the luggage, showed that it contained only personal items and documents, we were allowed to leave. It probably helped that we had now a multitude standing around us, watching every move and commenting quite unfavorably on the policemen’s actions.

We moved into the other car, and Pavel told the driver to get to the airport - fast. I wanted an explanation.

“Count, they ordered us to take the car into the underground garage for a special purpose: They placed half a kilo of cocaine in the trunk. That would have been enough to arrest, you take you to prison, and that would have been extremely dangerous. I expected something like this and had one of my friends already in the garage. He filmed it when they placed the drug into the car. He arranged a diversion, and when they ran away to see what was happening, he took the drug out. I’ll send you the video - our driver filmed the policemen’s actions; another point in your story about corruption in high places. But let’s get to the airport. Our driver is an excellent rally car driver!” and the speed suddenly doubled. Pavel smiled. “I’ll handle speed fines, Count.”

He would receive a good bonus.

Two blocks after getting rid of the police, his phone rang. He listened to a few words and told the driver “Change of plans. Plan B.”

“Count, they acted faster than I thought. The jet is surrounded by police, and we have to get out another way.” A car passed us and stopped in front of us. Pavel asked “Is there anything in your luggage that you’ll need urgently?” I shook my head. “Only the documents.”

He took that case, told the couple in the other car to get into the Mercedes, and we took their places. Jenny and I stared at him. What had happened? Off we went but on a different route. The Mercedes went on as planned.