Blindside(57)

Ollie cut off the call. “He sounds pissed.”

Christoph said, “He always sounds pissed. That’s how crazy people sound.”

“Exactly why I’m not sure we should even waste time looking for Bennett and Natalie.”

“What? Have you lost your mind as well? Look what they did to me.”

Ollie thought for a moment. “This is still business. We need profit, not problems.”

“Then I’ll finish this alone.”

“Wait—”

“No, I’m serious. This has to get done.”

Ollie said, “All right, we’ll finish this, but then we walk away from Henry. This is getting to be a pain. I don’t care how well he pays. You get your revenge, we collect our pay and head straight back to Amsterdam.”

Christoph smiled. That’s all he wanted. A chance for some revenge.





CHAPTER 80


WITHOUT A SOUL noticing, Natalie and I had slipped back upstairs in the building to what seemed like an empty ground floor and out the front entrance. Then we ran, trying to stay off the main roads. Neither of us was hurt. Natalie squinted at the street signs, and I remembered that Christoph had knocked her glasses off.

“You can still find your way around town, right?” It went without saying that I was a tourist. Most of my travels around this town had been out to St. Laszlo’s with Fiore driving and on the floor in the back of Christoph and Ollie’s car where I couldn’t see anything.

As we trotted down an alley, I said, “Do you have any money? Anything we can use to get a ride?”

“I have a few euros, that’s it.”

“I don’t know if that’s going to help us much.” I found the euro coins in my pocket that I’d told Christoph about, which I doubted amounted to enough for a cab.

When Natalie stood on a street corner, looking for an approaching bus, I snapped at her. “Keep off the street. They’ll be looking for us.”

Natalie turned and frowned at me. “Sorry, I’ve never been on the run before. How about cutting me a little slack?” After a few moments, she said, “Where are we running to, anyway?”

“Do you know St. Laszlo’s Church?”

“Yeah, but it’s on the other side of the city. The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is nicer and a lot closer.”

“I’m not going there for mass. I know someone at St. Laszlo’s who can help us.”

Natalie led me through an alley and then over a few blocks, where we caught a bus. We transferred after a few minutes. The second bus seemed to stop every two blocks.

Natalie said, “I could walk faster than this.”

“Go ahead. I’ll meet you at St. Laszlo’s.” I was done with whining. As long as we were moving and on the bus, we were relatively safe. I would gladly ride it all night long.

About forty minutes later, I recognized the neighborhood and soon saw the lighted cupolas of the Orthodox church. I hoped we weren’t too late to catch Father Marty at the office.

When I raced into the building, Natalie followed me through the door. Almost immediately, we ran into Father Marty.

He smiled and clapped his hands. “You found her. Good for you.” He looked at Natalie and said, “I prayed for you, my dear.”

She mumbled her thanks, and I gave him a quick rundown of what had happened. I left out some of the bloodier details, but he now knew the facts. I ended by asking if he had heard about the shoot-out near Tartu Maantee.

Father Marty said, “No, I haven’t heard anything about a shoot-out in Tallinn.”

“The FBI agent who was chasing me was injured trying to save us.”

“Oh, dear. And you don’t know how Mr. Fiore is doing?”

“No, Father, I don’t. As soon as I make sure Natalie’s safe, I want to check on him. He saved my”—I paused for a moment, then came up with—“life.”

“Mr. Fiore was quite angry at me after I helped you escape. I told him I followed my heart.”

“And what’d he say to that?”

“He had another suggestion on showing my love for myself.” The priest smiled.

I hid my own smile as I imagined the exchange. I said, “I’m sorry, Father.”

“No. One needs a diverse experience. It’s sometimes nice to hear new phrases. And in his defense, he did appear to be a dedicated law enforcement officer.”

“He absolutely is. And I hope he’s safe.”

Father Marty said, “I can have a car here in an hour. A man I know can drive you down to Riga, in Latvia. I think that’s the safest course of action. It will be easy to arrange a flight back to the US from Riga.”

Natalie said, “Can I send a quick email to my mom? I left my phone back at Henry’s building.”

“Of course, my dear. Use my office. There are some drinks in the little refrigerator if you need them.”

I plopped down in an overstuffed chair. Suddenly the events of the last few hours hit me in a wave. I dozed off before I even realized how comfortable I was.





CHAPTER 81


CHRISTOPH WAS BEHIND the wheel of the Volkswagen Passat. He hated this car. It didn’t fit his image. Ollie had tried his best to talk his partner out of driving. With blood still leaking out of Christoph’s nose and his face turning a dark purple, Ollie had thought it would be best if he drove. The debate had lasted almost a minute, until Ollie had relented.