The Einstein Pursuit (36 page)

‘Lucky me.’

‘No, lucky
me
,’ Masseri stressed.

He couldn’t have hoped for a better scenario. If Cole managed to kill Payne and Jones during the assault, Masseri would simply turn Sahlberg over to the South African as planned. He would be rewarded with his original fee, and the status quo would be maintained. However, if Payne successfully wiped out Cole and his men, Masseri was free to collect a larger fee from the other party seeking Sahlberg’s safe delivery. After that, he could give up this life and disappear for ever.

As long as he controlled Sahlberg, he controlled his own destiny.

The situation was already a win-win, so what harm could it do to push for a little extra? With Cole dead, there would be no more looking over his shoulder.

Payne studied the contents of the folder. They included little more than a map of the compound and pictures of the men he was to kill. ‘Which one is Hendrik Cole?’

Masseri twitched at the mention of Cole’s name. ‘You know he’s involved?’

Payne stared across the table. ‘I do now.’

‘Very nicely played. But no matter, his identity was to be revealed during this conversation. The first picture is of Hendrik. He is at the top of the list. The others all take their orders from him. They are no less dangerous, just considerably less wicked.’

‘I’m familiar with his reputation.’

‘You have no idea,’ Masseri countered. ‘The Butcher of Benin doesn’t do it justice. The man is vile through and through.’

‘Given the source, is that supposed to scare me?’

‘It is not my intention to scare you. Rather, I want to be clear what you’re up against.’

‘If I do what you ask, if I kill these men, what assurances do I have that Mattias will be set free?’

‘You have my word.’

‘Not good enough,’ Payne insisted.

‘Then perhaps this will suffice.’ Masseri opened his briefcase and withdrew a small electronic tablet. He handed the device to Payne. ‘Press play.’

Payne tapped the arrow on the screen and a preloaded video began to roll. It was of a middle-aged man seated at a desk. In his hand he held the previous day’s edition of
Czechia Today
, one of the country’s newspapers. In the military, this was known as proof-of-life documentation.

As the camera focused on the man’s face, Payne began to recognize him. He had seen his image in the file that Dial had forwarded to him, although the man on the screen looked like he had aged ten years in the last two months. When he spoke, he confirmed Payne’s suspicion.

‘I am Tomas Berglund, and I need your help.’

Payne paused the recording. ‘You’ve had him the whole time?’

‘Keep watching,’ Masseri replied.

Payne restarted the video and listened as Berglund explained the situation.

‘When they destroyed my laboratory in Stockholm, I knew they would eventually go after Mattias. They were smart enough to find our communications and were untrusting of my pleas that he knows nothing of my research. To protect his life, I have made an arrangement with the very man they sent to locate him. Now that Mattias is safe, there is only one more thing that must be done. The men who destroyed my lab must be dealt with. It is the only way to end this madness. It is the only chance we have to walk away.’

Berglund leaned in to the camera. ‘Please, you must trust me. I beg of you, help me. Help Mattias. Help us all.’

Payne had committed to the rescue mission, but he had no intention of going through with things until he’d spoken to Jones about the particulars. He had his own opinions as to how they should proceed, but he always gave Jones the opportunity to make his case.

They met in the billiards room of the Café Louvre, which was less than a mile to the south. Over the years, this famous café had played host to some of the greatest minds of the twentieth century. It was a favored haunt of Franz Kafka in the years preceding his most influential works. Later, as a professor at the Prague German University, Albert Einstein himself frequented the establishment as a regular guest of the German Philosophical Circle, a Tuesday night round table of the city’s academics.

Jones was aware of its history, which was why he had chosen this spot as their meeting place. He thought it was only fitting. ‘That was a smart move by him, meeting under the umbrella. If I hadn’t beaten you to the square, I’d never have found you. As it was, I still didn’t have a shot.’

Payne nodded. ‘He’s not stupid, I’ll give him that. He knew what he was doing.’

‘And what
was
he doing?’

‘He was offering us a job,’ Payne replied.

‘What kind of job?’

Payne handed Jones the tablet with the Berglund video. ‘Here, see for yourself.’

Jones watched the recording in disbelief. Once it had finished, he used the device to pull up a picture of the
Czechia Today
newspaper. He flipped between the website and the image on the video, comparing the headlines. Once the date was confirmed, he found a picture of Berglund on a scientific blog. Then he compared the image on the Internet with the man in the video – the aged, downtrodden man – and concluded they were one and the same.

He nodded. ‘I’d say this is legit.’

‘Me too.’

Jones tried to wrap his head around everything. ‘So, let me get this straight. We eliminate the men operating this rogue lab outside of the city, and in return he’ll hand over Mattias?’

‘That’s the offer,’ Payne said.

‘Yeah, that’s the offer, but I’m still not sure why he’s making it. Why doesn’t he just kill them himself? He knows them. He could walk right up behind them and turn out their lights before they even knew what happened. Why does he need us to do the dirty work?’

‘That’s a good question,’ Payne admitted, ‘which is exactly why I asked that very thing before our meeting ended.’

‘I heard you ask the question, but I didn’t hear his response.’

‘He said he’d found someone better to do the job. Us.’

Jones nodded. ‘The man has a point.’

‘I thought so too.’

‘Out of curiosity, who hired him to begin with?’

‘I couldn’t get a name. He’s not willing to give it up.’

‘Or he doesn’t know himself,’ Jones offered.

‘That was my thought too.’

‘You know, we’re going to need that information before this is all done, right?’

‘I do. But right now we can only deal with the information we have. We can focus on the rest later. One thing at a time.’

‘What else do we know?’

Payne answered. ‘For most of the last year, Dr Berglund was working on a secret project here in the Czech Republic. He was the lead scientist at the Rakovnik facility. The place was his to run as he saw fit. Despite all that, two months ago he quietly set up his own laboratory in Stockholm, recruiting a hand-picked collection of scientists that he knew he could trust.’

‘Why the second lab? What were they studying?’

Payne shrugged. ‘No one seems to know. Best guess is some offshoot of the research being done in Rakovnik. It would explain all the secrecy. Berglund was trying to keep it from the people funding the lab in Rakovnik.’

Jones nodded in understanding. ‘You don’t sink money into a research facility just to watch your lead scientist walk away and start his own lab. You need a return on your investment. To make that point, they buried the Stockholm laboratory and everyone who worked there.’

‘But not Berglund,’ Payne stressed. ‘Killing him would serve no purpose, since he was the genius behind the science. They needed him to run the lab in Rakovnik, but what they didn’t need were loose ends. So when they found out about his late-night calls to Mattias, they were afraid he had shared too much with his mentor.’

‘Why didn’t they just kill Mattias?’

‘They couldn’t. They needed to find out who else he might have told. Which is why our new friend was hired to bring him in alive. They need to know what he knows.’

Jones groaned. ‘After that, he’s as good as dead.’

‘Fortunately, Berglund is a pretty smart guy.
Stupid
, for getting involved in this, but smart nonetheless. He realized Mattias was a target and made a side deal with the assassin that I met in the plaza for double his original fee. Now the only way to protect Mattias is to eliminate the men in control so the asshole can walk away free.’

‘On the plus side,’ Jones added, ‘it sounds like cutting them down will liberate more than a few scientists being forced to work against their will.’

‘Look at you,’ Payne replied, ‘ever the optimist.’

‘We’re going to need Nick’s help,’ Jones said. ‘If we’re going to rescue the right people, we need to know who to shoot and who to save.’

Payne held up the folder. ‘I have pictures of the bad guys.’

‘Maybe, maybe not. Who knows if we can trust his intel?’

‘True, but …’

‘But what?’

Payne knew what Jones was insinuating: they had friends in high places that might be able to offer some answers. ‘You actually want me to call the director of the homicide division and ask him to send us some photos so we know who to kill?’

Jones grimaced. ‘I think it’s
whom
.’

‘What is?’

‘I think it’s
whom to kill
, not
who to kill
.’

‘What?’

‘Your sentence—’

‘Yeah,’ Payne snapped, ‘I get it. Actually, I take that back: I
don’t
get it.’

‘Well, you see, in that particular sentence—’

‘No, dumbass, I get
that
part. The part I don’t understand is why you’re pointing out flaws in my grammar when you should be focused on the sentiment of my statement.’

‘Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!’ Jones teased. ‘
You’re
the one who butchered the English language, but
I’m
the dumbass?’

‘At least we agree on
that
.’

‘Here’s something else we can agree on: you’re afraid to ask Nick for help.’

Payne objected. ‘You know damn well that isn’t the case. I ask Nick for help all the time.’

‘Then what’s the problem?’

‘The problem is we normally call him
after
we’ve killed someone, not before.’

Jones smiled. ‘That’s a very good point.’

‘I thought so.’

‘In that case, maybe we should handle this without his help.’

‘That’s all I’m trying to say.’

‘Good idea,’ Jones said as he stood from their table. ‘And since it was your idea, I think you’re the one who needs to call Nick to tell him the bad news.’

‘What bad news?’

‘That we’re about to kill some people, but he’s not invited.’

‘I don’t think I’ll put it like that.’

Jones laughed and patted him on the shoulder. ‘Say it however you want. Just say it quick – like ripping off a Band-Aid.’

‘Wait. Where are you going?’

‘While you’re breaking his heart, I’m going to take a piss.’

Dial, who had arrived in Prague that morning, had reluctantly stayed away from the rendezvous at the Charles Bridge, but as more and more time passed by, he was wondering if he had made the right decision. As it was, he had paced back and forth so many times in the lobby of the Mamaison Hotel in Prague that other guests were wondering if
he
was actually a psycho killer.

He sure sounded like one when he answered Payne’s call. ‘Where the fuck have you been? I could have walked to the bridge and back twenty times since I heard from you last.’

Payne winced. ‘Don’t worry, I’m fine.’

Dial took a deep breath and tried to relax. ‘Sorry, Jon. I’m glad you’re fine. It’s just, I’m not used to this waiting-around bullshit. I’d rather be on the front line with you.’

‘I’m sorry to hear you say that.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I got a lead that you can’t pursue. At least not yet.’

‘Meaning what?’

‘Meaning exactly what you think I mean.’

Dial read between the lines. ‘Jesus, Jon, I don’t like this one bit.’

‘I know you don’t, but this is the way it has to be.’

Dial groaned. ‘The cop in me wants to hang up right now before I hear another word. The friend in me wants to help you out in any way possible.’

‘I’m cool with either. Do what you have to do.’

‘I haven’t hung up yet.’

Payne smiled. ‘In that case, I need some pictures.’

‘Pictures? Of what?’

‘Of all the missing scientists – the ones who
weren’t
killed in Stockholm.’

‘Why? Did you find more bodies?’

‘Just the opposite. I got confirmation that they’re still alive. They’re being forced to work at a second lab. We know where, and we’re going after them.’

‘Is Sahlberg there?’

‘Doubtful. But Berglund is.’

‘Wait! Berglund’s alive?’

‘As of yesterday, yes.’

‘Jon, you don’t have to do this. There are professionals who can handle this. Give me an hour, and I can round up the top men in the Czech police.’

‘No offense, Nick, but you won’t find a SWAT or rescue team that can do the job that DJ and I can do. We specialize in this kind of thing. Quick, clean and effective.’

‘And no red tape,’ Dial reiterated.

‘Now you’re getting it,’ Payne replied.

‘Jon, I’ll send you everything I have. Pictures and names of the scientists we believe were working in Stockholm and a three-dimensional mock-up of the facility that some of the tech guys put together. If the scientists are studying the same things, maybe the layouts of their laboratories are identical too. It will give you an idea of what you might find there. Which levels house the equipment, the test animals, that sort of thing.’

‘That’ll help.’

‘If you think of anything else, just say the word.’

Payne nodded. ‘I’ll call you when we’re done.’

In the early twentieth century, the forests outside Rakovnik were an ideal location for a military installation. The territory was far enough removed from the social, economic and bureaucratic center of Prague that its inhabitants could operate without fear of interference. Those in command in this remote area governed autonomously, without the oversight of central command. As such, the atrocities committed there throughout the years went largely unnoticed.