Suspicious (On the Run) (12 page)

“Well, I’m glad we get to eat. It’s not the pizza—which you still owe me. I haven’t forgotten—but it’s delicious.”

“Wait, a man sat down across from Harrington.”

Gemma still couldn’t quite believe the files they’d found yesterday in the apartment that Harrington Throckmorton had rented. It was all there—every detail about the country house robberies. Who would have thought that she’d find it in Rome of all places? But, she supposed, if you were a jewel thief and the amazing Flawless Set was on display for the first time in years, then Rome was the place to be. Strange that there was no file on the Flawless Set, though.

And what was odder still was that she didn’t remember any mention of this Harrington Throckmorton or the Andrews couple in connection with the country house thefts. She was scrolling through her notes on her phone, looking for any link between the three people and the country house thefts when a young lieutenant hurried into Alessi’s office and did a double take when his gaze fell on Gemma. She had taken up residence at a table in the corner. A forensics team was working at the apartment today, but she was sticking close to Alessi, who had returned to the office. Every bit of news and information about the case would come to him, and she didn’t want to miss anything.

The lieutenant slowed down enough to give her a lingering smile. Alessi snapped out a final instruction into the phone. Gemma couldn’t help overhearing. The one-sided conversation was in Italian, but she picked up enough words to figure out he was working on another case, something involving stolen statues. Alessi dropped the phone into the cradle, which pulled the young man’s attention away from Gemma.

Alessi and the man had a short exchange in Italian then the young man left with one last smile at Gemma.

“A new charge on Harrington Throckmorton’s credit card,” Alessi said with a sigh. “A ticket for the Zugspitze.”

Gemma raised her eyebrows. “Germany.”

“Why couldn’t he have stayed in Italy?”

Alessi reached for the phone then called the young man back, who appeared so suddenly that he had to have been lingering outside the door. She caught the word “Andrews.” After a few more questions, Alessi motioned the young man on his way and spun toward Gemma.

“There is no sign of the Andrews couple at their hotel. Desk clerk says they asked about Tivoli and Ostia last night. I’m having their room checked again as well as their credit cards and bank account.”

“Maybe they’re in Germany, too,” Gemma said. Alessi frowned, clearly displeased at the thought they might have slipped out of his city. His desk phone rang and he reached for it. A long, conversation—an argument, really—in rapid-fire Italian followed. By the end of it, Alessi was standing, gesturing widely as he spoke. He finally slammed the phone down, muttering to himself.

He made another call, his attitude and voice slipping into resignation. Finally, he hung up. With his hand still on the phone, he looked at Gemma. “I am sorry, signorina, but I must leave. I will introduce you to my second-in-command before I go. He will keep you updated—”

“Where are you going?”

“To Germany.” He said it as if he was leaving for Siberia. “My superiors insist. The theft of the Flawless Set is of primary importance. The news …the embarrassment…the headlines. I must make every effort to recover it.”

“I understand,” Gemma said. She’d grabbed a newspaper and read it on the plane. The articles were not kind to the Italians, accusing them of lackluster security and shoddy investigation.

She understood the pressure, but there was no way she was staying in Rome if the investigation was moving to another country. “Good thing I travel light,” Gemma said. “I’ll meet you at the airport in an hour.”

***

Zoe leaned to one side to give Jack a better view of the men seated at the picnic table behind her.

Jack pulled a napkin from under the anchor of the paper trays that held their sausages. The wind snagged it, and he reached over to pick it up before the wind whipped it over the edge of the platform. Jack straightened. “It’s McKinley. Can you hear anything they’re saying?”

Zoe tilted her head to the side and focused all her concentration on listening. After a few seconds, she shook her head. “Nothing. Either they’re not talking, or they’re speaking so quietly I can’t hear them. Do you think…is he giving it to McKinley here?” If that was the case, things had moved too fast. They’d arrived too late to get Alessi involved before the Flawless Set changed hands. The horrible consequences of what that would mean settled on her like a heavy weight on her shoulders.

“Let’s not panic yet. It looks like all they are doing is sitting.”

Zoe reached for her messenger bag and pulled out the small camera she’d used to snap photos of all the tourist sights. “You know what we need? Pictures, so we’ll have more than our word that they met.”

“Good idea.”

“Don’t worry,” she said before he could say anything else. “I’ll use the zoom.”

She ate another bite of her sausage, then inched her way out of the picnic bench seat, and went the long way around the building situated in the middle of the viewing platform, which housed the snack stand as well as stairs and elevators to the other levels of the building. She came out on the other side, snapped a few photos of the outcropping of rock topped by a golden cross that marked the highest point in Germany, then swiveled toward the rows of picnic tables.

She focused on the pair of men and hit the shutter several times. Through the viewfinder, she studied McKinley. He had a deep tan, curly golden hair, sparkling teeth, and wore a ski jacket, pants, and ski boots. A pair of waterproof gloves rested on the table by his pretzel.

He broke off a piece of pretzel and washed it down with a swallow of beer. He spoke a few words, and Harrington nodded then they continued to eat. Their lack of interaction made them look like they were simply two strangers who’d happened to sit down beside each other. The long rows of tables meant that different parties often sat beside each other, politely ignoring each other. But it couldn’t be coincidence that the two men were seated across from each other, no matter how disinterested they seemed.

She meandered back around the far side of the building then took a few more pictures from the other angle to ensure that she had both of the men’s faces clear in the pictures. As she watched, McKinley crumpled his napkin and stood. Harrington rose as well. The men cleared their trash, and Zoe blinked. Something was wrong…different. She couldn’t figure out what it was, but something had happened. Before she could pin it down, the men moved to the railing where they stood side by side.

Zoe looked at Jack. He motioned for her to stay where she was. Jack picked up their trash and dumped it in a trashcan that was close to the two men, then he went to a point farther along the railing and put his head down as if he were studying the panoramic map pinpointing all the peaks in view. The two men turned toward each other and shook hands. Zoe hit the shutter, trying to capture the image. Harrington strode away, and McKinley headed for the snack line again, which meant he was heading directly for Zoe. She faded to the right, moving to the railing where Jack met her.

They fell into step together as they followed Harrington back down to the cable car. Zoe glanced over her shoulder at McKinley. “Should we see what he does? Where he goes?”

“Looks like he’s going for another beer. No, I think we’d better stay with Harrington. When I threw away the trash, I heard a few words. McKinley said, ‘See you in Ischgl tomorrow’ then Harrington nodded.”

“They’re meeting tomorrow so Harrington can sell him the Flawless Set.” The rush of relief Zoe felt was so intense that she almost felt lightheaded for a moment.

“Well, they weren’t that specific, and I only heard a few words, but yes, I think that’s what they’re planning. I did hear what I thought was the word wire transfer.”

They hung back on the cable car platform as they waited in the line about ten people behind Harrington. Zoe had switched the camera to the review mode so she could look at the pictures she’d taken and was examining each one. The screen was tiny, so she zoomed in until the worn wood of the picnic table showed up in high definition so she could examine what the men had in front of them. Then she quickly skipped to the last photos, the one where the men were shaking hands.

“They did make a switch,” Zoe said under her breath.

The car arrived, and they crowded on, again making sure to go to the opposite side of the car from Harrington. The atmosphere of this car was different from their last ride up. While the mood going up the mountain had been one of quiet expectation, on the way down their full car contained a large group of people in ski gear who obviously knew each other and had just come off the slopes. They loudly recounted their runs, laughing and joking, in a mix of English and German. Under the cover of their chatter, Jack and Zoe chatted quietly.

“What have you got?” Jack asked.

“They traded gloves.” Zoe showed him the first photos of the men, their gloves resting on the table. “See, Harrington’s brown leather gloves are beside his food, and McKinley’s black waterproof ski gloves are beside his beer.” She went to the last photo. “But here, where they are shaking hands, Harrington has the black waterproof gloves in his hand and McKinley is tucking the leather gloves into the pocket of his ski jacket. Neither one of them had gloves on when they parted.”

“Interesting.”

“Odd. I mean, I bet it’s not even above zero at the top. I can see taking off your gloves to eat—maybe, but then why wouldn’t you put them back on? I’d certainly wear gloves if I had any.”

“You’re right. They traded.”

The short ride was over, and Zoe put the camera away as the car glided into the platform. She’d completely missed the scenery on the way down, but didn’t even care. She was so consumed with thinking about the trade that a sick feeling descended on her. “Jack, did we mess up? What if Harrington gave him the Flawless Set, right there in front of us? McKinley could have it now, and we’re at the bottom of the mountain.” There was another way down from the top, a cog railway, and there was another cable car that departed from the top of the Zugspitze that ferried skiers to the glacier and ski area slightly below the summit of the mountain. “Finding McKinley will be much harder. We don’t know when he’s coming down or what route he’ll take. We might never find him.”

They hung back again, waiting for Harrington to depart first. As he walked away through the rows of cars in the parking lot, Zoe glanced back at the cable car. “Maybe we should go back up—try to find McKinley.”

“No, we’ve got to stay with Harrington. Bird in the hand and all that. They did exchange something, but I don’t think McKinley has what we’re looking for. Why arrange to meet tomorrow in Ischgl, if the deal was done today?” Jack headed for their yellow car, which seemed to glow among all the other understated blue, gray, and black cars that filled the lot.

“Unless it’s to feed him more stuff from the other robberies,” Zoe said as they got in the car. “Harrington told us that the other gems haven’t been recovered. What if Harrington’s been holding them?”

“Then why wouldn’t he have done it now?” Jack countered as he pulled onto the road and followed the white Jetta from a good distance as it retraced its earlier route, heading back toward Garmisch.

“Because he wanted to get rid of the biggest piece, the most incriminating one first.”

“Okay, that’s possible. Here’s another scenario,” Jack said. “Harrington meets with McKinley today and McKinley gives Harrington a down payment on the Flawless Set to show he’s serious. They meet tomorrow to complete the transaction. Or, Harrington was handing off the account info—McKinley needed the account number to set up everything for a wire transfer.”

“I suppose that could have happened. And they’d want to meet in person instead of exchanging information like that over the phone or in an email.”

“Right,” Jack said. “Less traceable evidence if you avoid using phones and computers. And you have the added benefit that you actually see the guy face-to-face, get a feel for him.”

Zoe sighed. “I hope it was just a preliminary meeting.”

“Either way, they’re meeting again tomorrow, so we’re not sunk. We have to stay with Harrington, but make sure he doesn’t know he’s being followed.” Jack’s words slowed with the last sentence as he frowned at the road ahead. “Except that he
is
being followed.”

“Did he spot us?”

“No, someone else is following him. See that gray hatchback? It’s been on his tail since he left the cable car parking lot.”

“Could be a coincidence, I suppose,” Zoe said, thinking about the map. “There’s only one road coming back from the cable car. The cars have to follow this same route.”

They reached the main road, and Harrington’s right blinker came on as he made the turn and headed toward Garmisch. The gray hatchback didn’t pause or signal, just accelerated into the turn as if trying to keep as little space between the two cars as possible. “Not doing a good job of being inconspicuous, are they?” Zoe said.

“No, tailgating is generally frowned upon as a following technique.”

“Maybe they’ve figured that out,” Zoe said. “They’re dropping back. No, wait—” she paused, then sucked in a breath. The driver of the gray hatchback must have floored it because the gray car closed in on Harrington’s car in seconds.
There’s going to be a wreck
, flashed through Zoe’s mind, but before she could say the words, the driver of the gray hatchback veered slightly to the right, and instead of hitting the car directly in the back, the left front bumper of the gray car smashed into the rear bumper of Harrington’s car. The force of the impact sent the white car off the road in an arc toward the thick line of trees that bordered the road. Red brake lights flared and tires churned snow as the car bumped through the rough surface toward the trees.

The gray hatchback’s brake lights blazed, too. It straightened inside the lane lines then accelerated away down the dark strip of road. Harrington’s car shot through the line of trees and disappeared into the thick darkness of the forest.

“Oh my God,” Zoe said through fingers pressed to her lips.