1989, p.28
1989, page 28
‘All I own is tied up in the business. I don’t even own my own home. I rent it from Glasgow City Council. I don’t have that sort of money readily available.’
‘Then borrow it. You have businesses for security.’
Businesses mortgaged to the hilt. Some of them several times over. ‘That’s not how it works. I love my daughter but I cannot give you what I do not have. Release her now and we will forget this ever happened. But if you harm a hair on her head, I swear you will be hounded to the ends of the earth.’
‘Really? You can’t afford to save your daughter but you can fund a crusade of revenge? Seems to me, Herr Lockhart, that your priorities are, as we say here in Berlin, fucked up seventeen different ways.’
‘It’s a matter of timing. In six months, it will be a different picture, but now—’
‘Are you saying we should let Genevieve go and kidnap her again in six months?’ Her incredulity turned to laughter. ‘You really don’t care, do you?’
‘I love my daughter. If I had the cash, I would pay double what you ask to see her safe. But I do not have the money to hand. I don’t know who you are, but you must have parents. Would you put them through this agony for the sake of money?’
‘This is not about me. It is about how much you love Genevieve. Your only child. Your only living relative.’
Something in him snapped. ‘Yes. My only living relative. Thanks to what you people did in the war. I see you have learned nothing from that. Set my daughter free if you have any human decency.’
A brief silence. Then, cold as winter, ‘You have until Friday. I will call again at the same time. This will be your last chance.’ And the line went dead.
He slammed the receiver down, dropped his head into his hands and wept.
47
‘This will be your last chance,’ Allie heard. Then the phone was replaced. The man spoke enthusiastically. It sounded like ecstatic congratulation. Time to make herself scarce. Shocked by what she’d heard, Allie hurried down the hall and took the stairs at a run. She found Dieter in the foyer, sitting on a bench ostensibly reading a magazine. Allie jerked her head towards the door and he caught up with her outside. ‘Where’s the car?’
‘Two rows down. I can see their French junk heap.’
‘Let’s go.’
‘What happened?’ He lengthened his stride to keep up with her.
Once they were in the car, she told him what she’d heard. ‘It sounds like he’s pleading poverty,’ she said. ‘It’s not a very credible line. He presents the image of being a successful media mogul. He lives a life of extreme luxury – a private jet, his own helicopter, a Hebridean island and all the accoutrements of wealth. He may well not have cash on hand, but it’s not a convincing argument to someone on the outside of his world.’
‘I would not believe him,’ Dieter said. ‘He wants the best of everything – but always at a discount.’
‘You don’t get a discount on a ransom demand.’
As she spoke, Fredi and her companion emerged from the building and got into their car. ‘You want me to follow them?’
‘Yes, but don’t worry if you lose them. I have a pretty good idea where they’re going.’
Twenty minutes later, they watched the 2CV turn into the street where Frau Braun’s apartment was situated. Dieter pulled up to the kerb and they waited till their targets were inside before he parked in a side street. ‘Is this what you expected?’
‘Oh yes,’ Allie said, releasing her seat belt.
‘What will you do?’
‘In the world of investigative journalism, we call it the showdown. I’m going up to the apartment to confront them.’
Dieter swung round, alarm on his face. ‘This is too dangerous.’
‘I’m not scared of a junior professor and her sidekick. It’s not Die Hard. I think they’re the conning kind, not the killing kind.’
‘Conning? What is conning?’
‘Cheating. Lying.’
‘It doesn’t mean they won’t turn on you. I will come too.’
Allie weighed it up. Face it, your recent track record doesn’t bode well for you in a showdown. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone at her back who looked like muscle. And who could also speak the language. ‘OK. But let me take the lead. Her English is very good. And if I’m right, there’ll be someone else there who speaks English like a native. Because she is one.’
‘Why are you doing this?’
‘Because we know Fredi is the person demanding the ransom, and her sidekick is in an apartment that isn’t his with a woman that isn’t Fredi and who might just be Genny. It’s not rocket science, Dieter.’ She opened the door and got out, then stuck her head back in. ‘Come on, let’s go before Fredi nips out for lunch.’
They walked down the street, Allie pushing a little swagger into her stride, wishing she wasn’t wearing the same clothes for the third day running. Rona would have something to say about that.
Faced with a column of door buzzers, Allie gestured to Dieter that this was his forte. He got a response from the second one he tried. They let him in without comment. ‘What did you say?’ she asked.
He shrugged, leading the way into the hall. ‘That the buzzer for another apartment seemed not to be working, that I knew my friends were home. This is a nice neighbourhood. People are not expecting bad stuff to happen to them.’ He stopped at the iron cage of the elevator and raised his eyebrows in a question.
She grinned. ‘We’ll take it to the second floor and walk up the last flight. That way, they won’t notice anything amiss. And I won’t turn up red-faced and sweating.’
They stood outside Frau Braun’s door, gathering themselves, breathing deeply. Allie felt the familiar mix of emotions. Fear of failure; the electric fizz of adrenaline; and the knowledge that it might all go to dangerous shit like her encounter with Little Weed had. But at least this time she had Dieter at her back. It would be all right. It would have to be. She raised her hand and rapped on the door.
Nothing.
She knocked again, more aggressively this time. Still nothing. They exchanged looks. ‘One last try.’ Allie hammered with the side of her fist. She stepped back and gestured to Dieter to do what he could.
He surprised them both. ‘Öffne die Tür, Polizei!’ he shouted, banging on the door. This time there was a response. Heels on wood, then the door opened to reveal Fredi. She looked fierce and imperious. ‘Was ist es?’ she demanded.
Allie stepped forward. ‘Let’s do this in English, eh? I know Genny speaks great German, but ich kann kein Deutsch.’
‘What are you talking about?’ No quarter asked or given.
Allie shook her head, working up a pitying look. ‘The game’s up, Fredi. It’s over.’ She raised her voice. ‘Genny? It’s Allie Burns. It’s time to go home. Dieter and I will see you back safely.’
Fredi tried to slam the door shut but was thwarted by Dieter’s foot. He winced but didn’t move. ‘Get out of my apartment,’ she snarled.
‘Good try, Fredi. I don’t know what you’ve done with Frau Braun, but this isn’t your apartment. You live on the other side of town. Lovely spot, nice view of the park. Do you really want to swap that for a jail cell?’ Allie said conversationally.
Now she’d earned a glare. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Allie put on a puzzled face. ‘How the fuck did you get to be a professor? So far, you’ve displayed all the intelligence of somebody who’s very low on the criminal totem pole.’ She raised her voice again. ‘Genny? Time to stop hanging out with the losers. There’s only one winning team here and you’re not on it. Let’s get you back before your dad moves from upset to raging bull.’
Fredi gave a quick look over her shoulder. Her momentary distraction was enough for Dieter. He surged forward and walloped into the door, driving Fredi backwards and forcing an opening wide enough for him and Allie to push their way into the flat. Recovering herself, Fredi rained blows on his head and shoulders. But Dieter simply chose his moment and grabbed both of her wrists. ‘Genug!’ he roared.
She looked bewildered. Clearly nobody had ever dared to treat her like this. ‘This is private property,’ she stammered.
‘But not yours,’ said Allie, pushing past her and kicking the door shut. There was nobody in the kitchen or the living room. She carried on down the hall. Bathroom. Probably a spare room. The last door. They had to be there. Allie turned the handle but the door didn’t budge. ‘Genny? This is Allie. This could be your last chance to salvage your relationship with your father. I don’t know what you think you’ve been playing at, but I know you love him.’
She heard a muffled sound, then nothing. ‘Dieter,’ she called. ‘I need your shoulder again.’
He said something firm and Germanic to Fredi then appeared at Allie’s side. ‘I think they’re in there.’
He took a couple of steps back then threw himself shoulder first at the door. It splintered at the first blow and banged back against a piece of heavy furniture. The scene that revealed itself was not what Allie had expected. Genevieve Lockhart was dressed for outdoors, but she was bound and gagged on the floor, making small animal noises. The man whose face Allie had grown familiar with hurled himself at her, knocking her off balance enough to make it into the hall where his balls had a sudden encounter with Dieter’s knee. He doubled up with a thin scream and fell to the floor moaning.
Bewildered, Allie said, ‘What the fuck?’ Genevieve managed to turn her head and meet Allie’s gaze. The sound that came through the silk scarf might have been any random three syllables, but Allie thought it was probably, ‘Let me go.’
‘All in good time,’ Allie said. ‘Dieter, let’s get Fredi in here. Then we’ll try to make some sense of this.’
He hurried back down the hall and rounded the corner. ‘Scheisse!’ he roared. ‘She is gone.’
Of course she was bloody gone, Allie thought. ‘Over the hills and far away.’
‘I will go,’ Dieter shouted.
‘Leave it, Dieter. We know where to find her if we need her.’
The man on the ground tried to crawl away and she kicked him hard, right where Dieter had already done damage. His face went white and he curled in on himself. ‘Genug,’ he groaned.
She turned her attention back to Genevieve, whose eyes were blazing rage at her. First she untied her feet, then her hands. Genevieve tried to scramble to her feet but only made it as far as the rumpled bed. She batted Allie’s helping hand away and hauled at the knots fastening her gag. ‘You took your time,’ she said. ‘What kept you?’
So that was how it was going to be. ‘Kidnapped, were you?’ Allie went for mild amusement.
‘Well, obviously. You found me, bound and gagged.’
‘In the clutches of your kidnappers.’ Flat delivery, holding Genevieve’s eyes.
Genevieve frowned. ‘Yes. Exactly.’
Allie pointed to the man on the floor. ‘People don’t usually snog their kidnappers while they’re doing the dishes together. Or are you going to be claiming you’re channelling Patty Hearst and suffering Stockholm Syndrome?’
‘I don’t know what you think you saw, but you couldn’t be more wrong. I’m the bloody victim here.’
‘We know all about Fredi, but what’s your pal’s name?’
‘How would I know? She never used his name.’
‘Oh, come on. Do you think I came up the Clyde on a bike? He’s one of the revolutionary Green lot you’ve been hanging out with. Either you tell me or I let Dieter find it out the hard way.’
‘Hans Weber,’ the man on the floor croaked. ‘My name is Hans Weber. This was all Genny’s idea.’
‘Don’t fall for his bullshit. But we won’t be pressing charges. You can just let him go.’ Genevieve insisted, as if she had the right of command.
Allie shook her head in a pantomime of regret. She had no investment in covering Genevieve’s back. ‘The person who gets to decide what happens to those two is your father. He’s the one who’s been wronged here. By that pair of prize manipulators. And maybe by you too, Genny? It’s Ace who gets to decide what happens – let them go, call the cops, drop them in the Spree bound hand and foot—’ she paused, enjoying Genevieve’s look of horror. ‘That last one was a joke.’
She sighed. ‘I’m the victim here. Don’t try to put this on me.’
‘Yeah.’ Allie walked back to the old-fashioned phone mounted on the living-room wall. She opened her contacts book and dialled the number she had for Ace Lockhart’s private office. Waiting for the connection seemed to take forever but then she heard the ringtone.
‘Mr Lockhart’s office,’ came the familiar voice of his PA.
‘It’s Allie Burns,’ she said. ‘Can you put me through?’
‘He’s not here,’ she said. There was an acerbic note in her voice. ‘He’s over on Ranaig but he’s not answering his phone. He had a call booked to the Home Secretary half an hour ago, but he didn’t make it. I’ve had Mr Hurd’s office on, very annoyed. I’ve sent a fax and a telex, but he hasn’t replied.’
‘You don’t think something might have happened to him?’
‘We’d have heard. He does have staff, you know.’ Huffy now.
Thus giving the lie to the truism that no man has any secrets from his PA. ‘If he contacts you, can you pass on this number and tell him it’s urgent?’ She read the number off the phone dial. ‘That’s Berlin, by the way. In Germany.’
‘I know where Berlin is.’ A definite frost now. ‘I’ll let him know when he surfaces.’
Allie jiggled the receiver rest then dialled another number, one she knew from memory. When it was answered, she said, ‘It’s me.’
‘I was beginning to think you’d gone off the air as well as Ace.’ Rona’s voice had never been more welcome.
‘I’ve been busy sorting things out.’
‘And have you?’
‘In a manner of speaking. Yes. But I need to speak to the man.’
‘You’re not alone. As far as I can establish, he’s spoken to nobody since he took that phone call. If he took that phone call.’
‘Oh, he did. I can confirm that much. Am I misremembering or did you tell me he’d told the Ranaig staff to stay away?’
‘That’s right. He didn’t want to be disturbed. What’s going on, Allie? Have you tracked down Genny?’
Allie chuckled. ‘Oh yes. Listen, Ro, I think you need to get the staff out to Ranaig. It’s not like Ace to go dark. They can tell him Genny is out of the hands of her abductors and if he calls this number, he can speak to her.’ Allie read out the number to Rona. ‘I’ll speak to you later,’ Allie promised. ‘But I really need to talk to Ace.’ She put the phone down and went back through to Genevieve.
‘Let him go, Allie. Nobody will thank you for pursuing Fredi and Hans. I will refuse to give evidence against them.’
Hans was stirring. ‘Does that other bedroom have a lock, Dieter?’ Allie asked. It did, and she asked him to lock Hans inside for the time being. ‘And we’ll go and sit in the living room and try to work out what in the name of the wee man has been going on here.’
She watched Genevieve carefully as she made her way through. To nobody’s surprise, she settled in the most comfortable chair, rubbing her legs to fully restore circulation. Allie pulled up a kitchen chair close to her and sat down. ‘So why would anyone refuse to give evidence against their captors? Unless they were in cahoots?’
Genevieve’s smile was condescending. ‘Because the person who brings them down will bring down the Green movement on both sides of the wall. People are too stupid to differentiate between the radical Greens and the more conservative ones. The whole movement will be tainted.’
‘Really? You don’t think they’d be heroic martyrs who took radical action?’
Genevieve scoffed. ‘You have no idea, do you? Germans are so conservative. It’s not so long since the Bader-Meinhof terrorists had the whole country running scared. A lot of people who are contemplating change would take fright at a case like this. And I’m willing to put my own discomfort and fear behind me for the sake of the cause.’ Her smile was triumphant.
‘Taking one for the team doesn’t strike me as being your style, Genny.’
Anger flared in her eyes. ‘Things are changing, Allie. You news reporters, you’ve always got your heads in the here and now, you can’t ever see the bigger picture. The planet’s in crisis and we need to stop it. The end of the world isn’t going to be a singular nuclear disaster like Chernobyl. We’re all going to cook in a slow global warming. Like boiling a frog. Fredi’s one of the people trying to stop that. Building bridges across stupid constructs like the Wall, like the Iron Curtain.’
‘But it takes time to make change, right? Time and money.’
‘Obviously.’
‘So you all decided to speed things up and extort money from your dad. Nice one.’
Her lip curled. ‘You’ve no evidence of that. Not a shred. Because it never happened. Who’s going to believe the loosest cannon in the Ace Media group over the boss of Pythagoras Press who also happens to be Ace Lockhart’s only child and heir? And anyway, you’ve no right to the moral high ground. If you try to push it, I’ll point out that it was you who gave me the idea.’
‘Me?’ Allie laughed. ‘How do you work that one out?’
‘You’ve got a very short memory. Only last week I had to rescue you from the Stasi. After you’d faked an abduction to achieve what you wanted.’
Allie couldn’t credit what she was hearing. ‘I was doing that to expose a criminal conspiracy that would cost lives.’
‘And how is that different from raising money to stop all of us dying?’
‘Well, for a start I wasn’t betraying someone who loves me. If Ace finds out you were behind this – and let’s not kid ourselves, we both know the truth here – it will break his heart. Always supposing he has one.’ She sighed. ‘Why didn’t you just ask him?’
