Lady Death by Brian Drake (good e books to read .TXT) 📕

half burst go left. Swinging in the direction of the second unit, he fired a longer burst. Pivoting, he ran hard. Hell with the terrain. If he didn’t get to the Audi he was finished.

He ran, dodging, jumping, listening. The gunners opened fire in response to his bursts. Each side had heard the shots hit near them and they responded in kind. The chatter of automatic weapons lasted at least three seconds until somebody yelled for another cease fire. He’d confused them and bought a little more time. They’d reorganize before continuing.

Raven now had a chance to get out of there alive.

He didn’t look back.

Hannah Schrader jerked awake with a startled yelp.

Several faces turned her way.

The CIA plane was quiet and comfortable. Leather single seats and longer leather bench seats lined the interior. The cabin crew had herded her, Macedo, and Storey to the back upon their arrival. She had no complaints about the accommodations. But the grim faces of the well-armed and powerfully built CIA crew up front, the jet’s primary passengers, were not friendly. She turned away from their investigative gaze.

Macedo, next to Hannah, touched her arm. “You okay?”

Hannah nodded. He left his hand where it was. The touch felt comforting. She let her heartrate settle and said, “My father is dead.”

“How do you know?”

“I know.” She closed her eyes. “I just know.”

Hannah brushed Macedo’s hand away and he withdrew. Storey, across the aisle, resumed reading a magazine he’d found on the jet.

She curled up in the chair and turned to face the fuselage on her right. She’d closed the window shade when they left Berlin. Part of her didn’t want to watch her home city fade into the distance.

She didn’t know if she’d ever be back.

She’d didn’t know what to make of her life now.

Hannah had information to share, but she didn’t know if the details would help the Americans. They’d want to know how Tanya, as the first heir, now had control of the company. Her father was gone, but his money would still finance terrorism until they removed Tanya from the equation. Then Hannah would take over. She’d dismantle the monster piece by piece.

She knew all about the company, but where Raven might find Tanya wasn’t a detail she could share. Tanya might be anywhere in the world. She may not have even left the United States.

Hannah hadn’t only left her father’s world. She’d abandoned what little life she carved for herself. What would her friends think?

But she didn’t dwell on her friends for long. Her thoughts circled back to four words bouncing between the spaces of her mind like a stray tennis ball.

Her father was gone.

He’d funded terrorism. He’d tried to have her killed. Despite everything, he was still her father. And as she started to quietly sob, she decided there was no sense in pretending otherwise.

Part III

1

“Where are you?” Clark Wilson asked.

“My own safe house,” Raven told him. “I’m still in Berlin.”

“Do you understand the shit show you unleashed?”

“I have plenty of popcorn.”

“I’m serious, Sam. The German police are going nuts. Those men you killed at Schrader’s place? They all have connections to terrorism or neo-Nazi factions. His body lying in the middle of the mess is a PR nightmare.”

“I’m not interested in what the Germans think,” Raven said. “We fought two world wars so we don’t have to care what Germany thinks.”

“Fisher wants to know why.”

“Tell the Deputy Director I wanted to send a message to Tanya.”

“What kind of message?”

“You got to us, we can get to you.”

“You’re acting like this was personal.”

“It is personal, Clark. She used me. I brought her to you. Her man killed a lot of good people at the black site. Did you forget that?”

“We haven’t forgotten anything, Sam.”

Raven said nothing. Wilson paused too. The silence carried on a moment. Raven was happy for the break. He and Clark needed a second to calm down. If the CIA wanted an apology, Raven wasn’t going to oblige them. He had nothing to apologize for.

Wilson said, “They think we took Hannah out of the country.”

“She’ll be a valuable source of information. Use it to your advantage.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ask the German government if they’d like to know how one of their most prominent citizens built his own terrorist army.”

Wilson paused a moment. “Explain.”

“If I have to explain, you haven’t talked to Hannah.”

“Dammit, Sam, help me out! I can’t be everywhere at once.”

Raven ran through his first conversation with Hannah. “Her father took advantage of Ahmad and Tamal. They were in the public eye and had vulnerable family members. He paid his goons to harass Berlin Muslims in general and target the two families in particular. The goons killed Ahmad’s grandfather and two members of Tamal’s family. Schrader convinced both to turn their rage into action. Follow?”

“And he was the money man like we thought.”

“Correct. Hannah says there is proof in her father’s office safe. I wasn’t able to get there.”

Clicking computer keys sounded in the background. “I’m taking notes for Chris,” Wilson said. “Anything else?”

“No, start there. I think the Germans will cool their jets once they realize the scope of the problem. There’s more to it than a dead CEO surrounded by neo-Nazis.”

“Right.”

More typing.

“Okay, I sent an email to Fisher and I’ll go see him after we hang up. We’ll deal with Berlin. You do your thing.”

“Do you have anything useful for me or am I officially on my own?”

Raven looked out the small window of the apartment “safe house” and watched the activity on the street. He was in a quiet neighborhood in Berlin. The ground floor of the building across the street had a line of shops and restaurants. Raven wanted to go out and eat but didn’t think it was smart to move around during the day. If Schrader or Speidel had any contacts on the local police force, they might have given them his picture.

Wilson sighed. “We have scraps, Sam. Crumbs.”

“With enough crumbs you can make bread. Did you get