The Kiss after Midnight (The Midnight Trilogy) (33 page)

Tobias headed toward the bathroom and looked back at Juan. “I won’t be long.”

The
gobernador
pointed to his watch. “We don’t have time to waste.”

Tobias shut the bathroom door and leaned against it. Suddenly, there seemed to be a newfound worry within Juan’s camp about what killing him would mean. He felt as if he were actually calling the shots to a degree, but in dealing with someone as dangerous as Juan, he worried that he would mistake caution for fear. The
gobernador
was certainly not afraid of anyone, even his grandfather’s associates, and any disrespect on his part could result in Juan’s instantly putting a bullet in his head.
He still might have been the one who killed my grandfather.

He shook the thought from his head and took a shower. After drying off a few minutes later, he put on an almost crease-free white shirt that was tight across his broad chest. He sprayed Hermes after-shave on his neck and wrists and smiled at himself in the mirror. He had to admit he looked good.

He opened the door to find everyone standing by the room’s entrance, looking expectantly at him. “You clean up good, son,” Juan said. He walked forward and tugged at his collar and straightened the black Hermes tie he wore. “It’s a shame I had to meet you like this. I liked your grandfather. I would have taken care of you for him.”

Tobias walked toward the door. “Let’s just get this over with.”

***

Rico glanced at his watch. It was nearly 3 a.m. Fernando’s snoring wasn’t as loud as it had been a few hours before. He lit his second cigarette of the night and looked at the stars. The rain had stopped, and all was silent except for hints of loud music emanating from a nearby building.

Suddenly, he heard laughter and reached for the shotgun on his lap. He halted after noticing a couple in high spirits and stumbling over each other across the street. He half-smiled and took another drag on his cigarette.

His cell vibrated, and Marie’s name appeared on the caller ID. He glanced at Fernando, who lay on his reclined seat with his mouth open and his eyes closed. Rico carefully opened the door and stepped out. “Hi, Marie.”

“Where are you, baby?” She sounded tired.

“I’m just ... Rico took another drag. “I’ve just got to take care of something.”

“Is it the thing he asked you to do in the hospital?”

Rico didn’t answer.

“Please, baby, whatever it is, don’t do it. Just come—”

He hung up and stared at the sky. After two more drags on his cigarette, he stubbed it out. The phone rang again, but he ignored it. He put it in his pocket and walked back to the car.

***

Nino parked the black Range Rover on Grunstrabe, a side street close to the bank. The spot allowed them to monitor the bank’s entrance without being too visible. He looked in his rearview mirror as Pablo parked the second Range Rover behind them.

Sitting in the back, Juan exchanged gazes with Annabel and Tobias. “Andrés will continue refreshing the bank-account information on his tablet. If the money isn’t in there in half an hour, I will drive away, but my life will be dedicated to hunting you down.”

“I don’t plan to fuck you,” Tobias said. “Your money—fifty million—will be transferred to that account.”

Juan nodded and smiled.

“What about you? How are you going to help us?”

“When you get back here, we’ll talk about that.”

Tobias laughed. “And you really think I trust you? I want to know now or I won’t do it.”

Juan extended his hand toward Andrés, who handed him a folded sheet of paper. The
gobernador
unfolded it and put it in Tobias’ hand. It listed an address and a phone number. “I have a guy who lives there,” Juan said. “You can go to him after you transfer the money and he’ll arrange your papers.”

“And what will you do?”

“Well, I assume you won’t be stupid enough to let the police know about me, so once I have my money, I’ll go back to America.”

“And you’ll leave us alone? Just like that?”

“I’m hardly going to need you any further, and now that you have the address, you don’t need me. Unless you’d prefer us to stick around?”

“No,” Tobias half-shouted, “that’s fine.” He straightened his collar once more and grasped the door handle. “I guess this is it then.”

Juan pulled Tobias’ head close to his. “I’ll say this again—don’t fuck me.”

Tobias nodded and opened the door, and Annabel opened hers, too. He walked around the car and joined her on the sidewalk, where she squeezed his hands. “You know they’ll shoot us once we walk out of there,” she said.

He looked at her, shock on his face. “Why do you say that?”

“Think, Tobias. They won’t need us anymore. All that talk about not wanting to kill you because of who your grandfather was is bullshit. Juan isn’t scared of anyone. He just wants you to believe you’re safe. Since you don’t have the memory stick, he’ll probably just kill us both and take his chances. Less witnesses.”

Tobias glanced at the Range Rover and saw that all three men were watching him intently. “Then go,” he said to Annabel.

“What? Without you?”

He nodded. “This isn’t where it ends for me. I still have to figure out who killed Penélope and my grandfather, but I can’t bear for anything to happen to you. I’ll transfer the money to the account in the Caymans, and once I know the whole truth, I’ll find you. We can be together.”

“But they’ll kill you.”

Tobias smiled. “You’re forgetting that this is now my country and that is my bank. I’ll give him his money, but that’s all he’s going to get. He’s not taking my life, too. But you have to go now.”

Annabel fought back tears and squeezed his hands again. “No one’s ever done anything like this for me.”

“Not now, Annabel. Let’s talk about this when we’re on a beach with more money than we know what to do with.” He glanced back at the Range Rover again and saw agitation on the men’s faces. “Go now, please, for me.”

She kissed him forcefully on the lips, a tear falling from her left eye. “I love you, Tobias. Don’t ever forget that.” She placed a cell phone in his hand. “Call me on the last dialed number after you get away.”

He looked at the phone and nodded. “I love you, too. Now go.”

She darted down the main road and out of sight. Andrés and Juan rushed out of the car. Andrés held a gun to Tobias’ back, and used his own body to shield it from pedestrians.

“What the fuck was that?” Juan said.

“You don’t need her for this. You have me and I’ll still get you your money. As long as she’s still breathing, I’ll transfer everything. If you double-cross me when I walk out of there, at least I’ll know she’s safe.”

Juan shook his head in disgust. “So all this time you’ve been more worried about saving the girl. When will you ever learn, son? Women are not what they seem.”

“Annabel is. She didn’t need to be involved, but she’s helped me ever since you guys decided to destroy my life.”

Juan placed his hand over Andrés’ gun. “I hope for your sake your trust in her is a two-way thing. I really hope so.” He eased the nine-millimeter away from Tobias’ back, and Andrés holstered it.

Tobias nodded at them and crossed the two-lane street. He stopped at the bank’s entrance and turned around to face them. After taking a deep breath, he walked through the sliding doors.

Tobias stood inside the entrance for a few seconds, watching people walk past without noticing him. He studied the two security guards standing nearby—both stared directly at him without any visible reaction—and realized that even if they recognized him, they couldn’t be aware of his supposed crimes in the United States.

The bank was large, with two floors. He looked through glass windows on the top floor and saw a host of suited men sitting by computers and talking to clients. The bottom floor looked similar but was far busier. In the crowd, he noticed two men and a young woman approaching him. One of the men looked to be in his mid-sixties, with a leathery face and a dark suit. Beside him was Erwin. His gray suit fit closely to his body, highlighting his large shoulders. The woman was thin and cute, Tobias thought, more the girl-next-door type than overtly sexy.

They seemed to look straight in his direction. He smiled at Erwin and walked toward them.

“Siegfried,” Erwin said in German. “It’s so good to see you.” They shook hands and Erwin leaned toward his ear. “Did everything go as planned?”

“We’ll talk after,” Tobias said.

“Please allow me to introduce you to the bank manager, Gunter Fuchs, and Gretel Hoefler, your grandfather’s attorney. They’ll help you with everything you need.”

Tobias shook Gunter’s hand and kissed Gretel on both cheeks. “It’s good to finally be home.”

Gunter stood aside and motioned for him to walk toward the left of the building. “Hopefully, everything will go smoothly. I was most pleased when Erwin told me you had changed your mind. If you don’t mind my asking, what made you?”

Tobias smiled. “I’m German and proud of it. What better way to make my country proud than to continue what my grandfather started?”

They took the stairs and entered an office on the second floor. Tobias marveled at how large it was, at least 260 square feet. Ornaments filled the shelves, many of them antiques. And there were three expensive-looking portraits, one depicting the Eiffel Tower. He sat across from Gunter and Gretel, and Erwin sat beside him.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment,” the manager said.

“Please,” Tobias said, “take your time.” His eyes returned to the magnificent portrait of the Eiffel Tower. “So, have you been?”

Gunter looked confused.

Tobias pointed to the painting. “The Eiffel Tower. Have you been?”

“Oh.” Gunter laughed. “Of course. I went there for my honeymoon and have probably been fifteen times since. Great place, Paris.”

Tobias laughed. “The Americans love it, too. They actually love most places in Europe. I guess you never appreciate home until you see others marvel at it.”

Gunter put his pen down. “So how are things in America? I trust you must be very popular, being Albert’s grandson.”

Tobias nodded awkwardly and looked away.

“He doesn’t really like talking about his grandfather,” Erwin said.

“I’m so sorry,” Gunter said.

“Don’t be.” Tobias smiled. “You couldn’t have known.”

The bank manager spent the next few minutes pressing buttons on the keyboard as Gretel looked intently at the screen, nodding occasionally. Finally, he sent a file to the printer.

“We’ll get the signatures out of the way,” Gretel said, “and after that we can discuss where you’d like your money.”

Tobias pulled out two sheets of paper and handed a heavily creased one to Gunter. “Most of it needs to go here,” he said. Then he passed him the other one. “And fifty million needs to go here.”

Gunter studied them carefully, his mouth moving at the same time. “That should not be a problem, Mr. Eichelberger. We should have everything done for you in no time at all.”

***

Juan glanced at his watch for the third time in a minute. Tobias had been inside the bank for twenty-five minutes. “Has it come through yet?” he asked Andrés.

On his tablet, the
comisionado
refreshed the web page for the offshore account in the Cayman Islands. “Not yet.”

Juan stretched before putting his right hand over the pocket holding his gun. “That boy better not screw with me.”

“What do you want to do?” Nino asked.

“We wait. I don’t think that boy will fuck with us. There’s too much at stake for him.”

Andrés refreshed the web page again. “Still nothing.” He glanced at his watch. “Maybe we should just leave. We’ll make the money back with Hector’s deal in no time.”

Juan pounded his seat. “This isn’t just pocket change. It’s $50 million. Hector’s money is for the whole family,
this
money is mine. We wait. If the money’s not out in ten minutes, we go in.”

Andrés and Nino exchanged worried glances.

“If you’ve got something to say, say it,” Juan growled. “I won’t let some young punk play me. I’ll get my money today.” His watch said 9:37 a.m., and he slammed his hand against the door. “Nino, call Pablo. You two need to go in there and see what’s taking so long.”

Andrés pressed his palms together in a plea to the
gobernador
. “But why do this? We don’t know anything about this bank. Is it wise to show our faces even if we’re just scoping?”

“I just don’t trust that son of a bitch. If he’s screwing me, I need to know right now.”

Nino opened the door and placed a foot on the pavement.

“Wait,” Andrés shouted.

Nino held the door half-open. “What is it?”

“It’s taking longer to load,” Andrés said. “Yes,” he shouted as he punched the air. He turned the tablet toward the
gobernador
and pointed at the balance. It read “$50000000.” “We have it, boss, all fifty million.”

A broad smile crept onto Juan’s face. He motioned for Nino to shut his door. “Call Pablo. Let’s get out of this country.”

Nino made the call and started the engine. He was backing up when the sound of sirens filled the air. Suddenly, at least ten police cars surrounded them, along with five unmarked cars, all with blue lights flashing.

Juan clutched his head with both hands. “That punk sold us out!” He punched the seat.

Breathing heavily, Andrés threw his gun to the floor of the car and looked to Juan for instruction. The
gobernador
threw his gun down and looked out the window, where at least twenty police officers had guns trained on both cars. “Say nothing,” he said. “Wait until Dominic gets here. He’ll get us out of this.” He opened the door, put his hands over his head and stepped out, and the rest of his crew followed suit.

The officers shouted a lot of German words that none of them understood. They remained still, eager to avoid any misinterpretation of their body language. Another unmarked car pulled up. A man with dirty brown hair and stubble on his face rushed out, followed by another with short dark hair.