Chapter 30

"It's a public place anyway," Wolfgang said as he adjusted the knot in his tie.

As much as Eva tried to change her brother's habits, she couldn't talk him out of his taste in clothing. At least he had a better selection now. After fencing their share of the diamonds, the couple had spent several thousand dollars on a small, but decent wardrobe. She did have to admit that the man looked good in a well tailored suit, navy blue in this instance and made of gabardine wool.

"Is that for us, do you think?" Eva wondered. "Or for him?"

"Both, I'd imagine," Wolfgang shrugged, combing his fingers through his damp hair, pushing it back from his smooth brow.

"Hmmm..." Eva was straightening her dress, a form fitting Gaultier suit in thin, black leather. It was worn with a leather jacket, rather than something more conventional like a blazer. The design had come straight from the eighties and punk-couture was becoming once again popular in Germany.

Wolfgang checked his Glock 29, ejecting the magazine and clearing the breech. He reloaded it while Eva did the same with her pistol, a 9mm Walther P5. The pistol was small and carried only an eight round magazine, but it fit easily into her purse and being left handed, Eva preferred the unusual left side ejection that the gun used. She had a suppressor for it, a baffled tube that she zipped inside the long outer pocket of her bag. Wolfgang put his own weapon away, tucked in the shoulder harness beneath his suit and indiscernible thanks to the creative and discrete tailoring afforded by their modest wealth.

"Are you ready?" Wolfgang looked at his watch. "We have forty minutes."

"Yeah," Eva nodded, arranging her passport and other papers in her purse.

They'd leave nothing in the apartment that they couldn't afford to lose if they had to run unexpectedly. Thankfully, that consisted largely of their weapons, papers, and some ten thousand Euros cash. The remainder of their money waited in a small suitcase, in a baggage check at the Hauptbahnhof train station where Wolfgang's Audi had been parked.

The Leinwandhaus, or linen drapers' hall, was one of the old city's many tourist attractions and while there weren't so many foreigners on holiday as the summer months would bring, there were several busses parked nearby. Hundreds of school children on a field trip were filling the nearby square. Some of them obediently filing behind their teachers, but many more were left to explore the many shops and souvenir and sweets laden kiosks. The day was pleasant and bright, though with a chilly breeze that would gust every few minutes and tousle Eva's hair into her face. She stopped at a small stand and bought a pair of sunglasses, giving Wolfgang a little grin as she put them on.

The couple walked slowly together, moving casually and smiling and sharing softly spoken words. They seemed to be lovers on holiday, but their eyes were never still, never fixed as Wolfgang and Eva catalogued their surroundings. The drapers' hall occupied a large stone building dating from the thirteenth century and had been the very center of the German textile industry for hundreds of years before being gradually replaced with larger, newer structures as technology progressed.

Around it were the same narrow buildings crowded shoulder to shoulder as the rest of Altstadt, and behind any one of a hundred windows someone could be watching them. There was little Eva and Wolfgang could do about that, but at least their very public surroundings did lend them a small sense of security. There were many avenues of escape, should it come to that, and they'd worked out plans in case they were separated.

"Do you want to sit for a minute?" Wolfgang asked half an hour later, after making their wary circuit of the square and seeing nothing that struck either of them as overly suspicious.

"Yes," Eva agreed, looking down at her leather heels and one of the ankle straps had come loose. "Next time I'll wear my running shoes, yeah?"

"Hmph," Wolfgang smiled as they sat down at a sidewalk café. A colorful awning ruffled with the wind and it felt much cooler in the shade. A pink faced girl took their order for coffee and there was little the pair could do but wait for someone to approach them.

"Herr Brandt," a man smiled at Wolfgang. "Coffee. What an excellent idea! Do you mind if I join you?"

"Please..." Wolfgang gestured to an empty chair, sharing a glance with his sister.

The man appeared young, perhaps the same age as Wolfgang or a little older, but not yet thirty. His black hair was thick and neat, parted to the right side above a strong, handsome face. He had a congenial smile, showing off his pearly white teeth, and he offered it to Eva as he crossed his legs comfortably with his hands in his lap.

"Eva, yes? May I see your eyes?" the man asked her. "I've only heard rumors about them, you see."