Shame Of Maastricht by Marie N. Hallen (any book recommendations TXT) 📕

“How could that happen? There was an antidote! He had it! He had it...”

“This is what I wanted to learn more about. Do you remember what exactly happened then?” “Not that I would understand myself. They tortured us. Every day they found a new atrocious idea but then they decided to… I don’t understand, really...” Kate almost started to cry. Through tears she told the inspector all the details, without missing their torture tactics description. But she really couldn’t grasp what happened at the end.

“They told him to choose who of us will die. Like two people and one syringe. We received injections. That guy gave him the antidote and said he could only save one of us. The antidote was for one person so the other one would die. But she is his girlfriend… I don’t understand.”

“So he saved you. Now it’s clear to me, thank you.”

“Have you talked to him?”

“No, not yet. I was told he was resting.”

“Who are these people? Why do they treat us like that? Did his parents really get killed by Matthijs Visser?”

Kate asked the inspector to tell her more. She explained to him that Bas abducted them in order to extort money from their families and thus to save his parents from cancer and another malevolent group but eventually failed. Mr. De Vries confirmed that a car with two dead people had been found in Maastricht, on the side of the road, and that it happened a day before with the accident cause not determined yet. The police failed to spot the location and number of members in the group lead by Visser who had presumably left the city after committing the crime and failing to get his money back. However, he also emphasized that he had no right to disclose all the information on this matter. How much did Bas owe to Visser that he had to raise the funds with such inhuman methods? This will remain unknown.

“If you could share all the information you have, you will contribute to the course and the outcomes of the investigation. I will get back to you anyway, but now for now you need to recover. Thank you for your assistance,” replied inspector De Vries and left the ward.

Kate just finished dinner as the nurse entered.

“You have visitors,” she said and left.

Kate turned around and saw Luuk in a white coat holding a bag with something inside.

“Hey there!”his voice sounded joyful as never before. She rushed to him and he gave her a strong hug. She didn’t even want to release him. They sat down on her bed. Kate was looking in his mesmerizing blue eyes with long fair eyelashes. How could such perfect people walk the earth? How could he be so handsome? Why would he even visit her?

“Luuk…” she touched his face carefully as he took her hand. “Why did you do it?”

“Did what?” he pretended he didn’t understand.

“I didn’t want to be in the way, really. Thought you would be happy”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted you to be happy. Like I said before, if this is someone else, let it be, as long as she can satisfy your expectations and make you happy.”

“What an idiot you are! I’m happy that you are here and that we can move on. Once you are discharged, I’ll take you home. To my home I mean,” and Luuk hugged her even tighter, stroking her head and pressing his cheek to hers.

“Even that I’m handicapped from now on?”

“I couldn’t care less. You won’t get away from me.”

“I wonder how they found us. This seemed impossible… I was sure he would finish us.”

“That’s the story I planned to told you later, love, but ok, I will spoil it… Just didn’t want to stress you.” Luuk smiled and continued. “My parents reported to the police. The hand was… yes, it couldn’t be reattached anymore, so… In the end the police tracked down your phone. I mean the location where the calls were made. They knew it wasn’t you, so these guys didn’t really come up with anything tricky. I can say they are really bad at prognosing consequences.”

“You’re no good at telling exciting stories!” Kate laughed and pinched his cheek, “I expected to hear something really thrilling. Like how they got to there. He didn’t make calls from the place where he kept us. He traveled somewhere, didn’t he?”

“Exactly. This is the place they managed to spot his location. And they arrived there and started some kind of secret surveillance. And since he came there several times, they did manage to spot him and tracked him on his way to Geleen.”

“Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.”

“It took them several days to find him but he was there every day. I didn’t even know he contacted my parents so often. I thought he only approached them a couple of times but no, there was a whole dialogue. My parents acted really smart.”

“They deserve respect. I’m so grateful to them. I wish I could thank them. I will bring some gifts. If…”

“If?”

“If you finally introduce me to your family!”

They both laughed. Luuk told her everything he managed to find out. Bas Verstrate used to work as financial inspector in Brussels but moved to Maastricht together with his parents around two years ago where they both were diagnosed with cancer. For this reason Bas engaged into criminal activities and cooperated with another criminal group led by Matthijs from whom he borrowed around seventy thousand euros in order to pay for his parents’ rehabilitation and start own business which eventually successfully failed. He also failed to pay off the debt thus becoming a target for Matthijs Visser who was seeking to kill Bas or get his money back. Thus Bas took a dive down the rabbit hole and chose a criminal path and offered big amounts to everyone who would agree to assist him. He managed to save half of the debt amount by methods of extortion he was brilliant at. Other men and Anne, now deceased, were all former prisoners who failed to find a sustainable source of income and never had permanent jobs. They fully depended on Bas and wouldn’t ever think of changing their lifestyle a slong as he pays them. Of course they would never let him down no matter what kind of plan he came up with. No everyone from the crew was arrested and Bas got killed. His parents also got murdered by Matthijs and his group which consisted of around ten people, but the police failed to find Matthijs and his accomplices.

“This means that a larger group is still somewhere in Maastricht,” concluded Luuk. “And this is how the story ends.”

“So they are free now. But has Matthijs received his money?” Kate wondered. “Do they know we were abducted?”

“Haha in this case you can go to Matthijs and ask him personally. Let’s see what he says.”

“I mean is there a chance he will try to recover the money?”

“No, I don’t think so. The money has been returned to my parents. I mean they got back what they had paid. And I don’t know what happened to the rest of the amount Bas managed to save. Why do you care about this?”

“What if they don’t leave us alone, Luuk?”

He laughed.

“Come on, don’t fantasize. They don’t even know how we look like. Hey, you’re just paranoid!”      

“I’m gonna protect you again, and again,” Kate smiled and touched his platinum blonde hair, shimmering like moonlight.

“No, this time it’s me who will protect you. But no hand cutting next time!”

***

They were driving down the empty lane through the woods. The weather couldn’t be better with its sunny sky and green grass, sparkling with freshness. Kate recalled her childhood and the stunning paradise forest she loved so much, but then realized that the surroundings were just as beautiful as the ones in her sacred memories. Everything was more beautiful when he was around. “I don’t know what kind of addiction and dependence this is, but I don’t want to fight it,” she thought. They will discover new universes together, they will travel all over, they will start a new life and he will always be with her even that she is handicapped now. She will be able to kiss him whenever she wants, she will cook for him all his favourite meals and maybe she will succeed to repeat her grandma’s recipes more precisely and get that magic and unforgettable flavor. And he is going to love it. And he will always be there for her.

She didn’t want to think about what happened and what they went through. It left far behind, dissolved in the haze of the past and there is no more past, only the future she dreamed about but couldn’t believe. Her friend used to tell her she should learn to accept reality and stop trying to escape. But the reality is already there and it couldn’t be better, even in her dreams.

The airport showed up ahead.

“Don’t forget to lift my suitcase, it’s better not to roll it upstairs,” Kate said as they were leaving the car.

“Of course, you don’t want luggage without wheels during our first vacation!”

“Especially that we have two stopovers. I really hate stopovers!”

“Me too. Unless they allow you to explore a new city in the daytime. But hey, we have the whole day to explore Los Angeles.”

“And the whole night to get stuck in Papeete!”

Luuk grabbed their suitcases and carried them as they headed towards baggage check-in.

“For God’s sake, Kate, how on Earth could you choose Bora-Bora? Of all the places in the world? I’m only going there because of you!”

“Once we land, you will see! And won’t blame me so much. Probably,”

“If there is no flight delay, of course, God forbid!”

“You know what we are going to do if this happens,” she smiled and took his hand after they entered VIP-lounge which was almost empty now. Some old man was sitting at the table and working on his laptop. There were no other passengers.

Luuk and Kate sat down and ordered drinks and doughnuts with cream. Kate was smiling as she looked at the one she loved more than her life and now even twice as more. He leaned over and kissed her. She felt his tongue in her mouth and replied passionately, licking the cream off his mouth.

“Don’t ever let me go… My God, how I love your lips,” she whispered and looked into his magnificent eyes. “I want more.”

“No I won’t let you,” he replied and kissed her again. “Love you so much.”

They boarded and took their seats. Kate was sitting by the window. She was holding Luuk’s warm hand like a treasure. And indeed, this was the most precious thing she ever touched. She closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest. He hugged her and the plane took off into the sky.

They arrived to Los Angeles without a delay and had enough time to explore the whole city which immediately absorbed them with its endless skyscrapers. As this was a stopover on their way to Bora-Bora, Kate was praying that the next connection flight doesn’t get delayed or cancelled. Fortunately this didn’t happen and they made it successfully to Papeete, which wasn’t the final destination and they had to depart for Bora-Bora.

As the plane started descending and the clouds cleared away, a celestial-turquoise archipelago emerged from the blue mist. There were thousand shades of azure and stripes of snow-white beaches along with an emerald green peak in the middle and no human language could describe this heavenly beauty, which was hard to put into words. She started doubting they were still on the same planet as this was the most spellbinding view. They were blessed with sunny weather which allowed to enjoy everything they could see from the window.

The resort welcomed them friendly and once they