The Last Passenger (8 page)

XI

Moore shoved them out of the house before the police could arrive. Kate tried to protest, but one look from Feldman quieted her down immediately.

“There’s a decapitated body on the living room table. Parts are missing, and we’ve made a thorough search of the house,” Feldman reasoned as they climbed into the Audi. “I don’t want to spend the whole day in a police station, trying to explain why we were there in the first place.”

It occurred to Kate that she had been in the house less than twenty-four hours ago. Her fingerprints were probably everywhere. She shook her head as she reached to open the car door. “The police will want to talk to me. We should stay.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Feldman said as the Audi started up. “Things are about to get hot around here. And fast.”

Kate looked at him blankly before noticing a subtle movement in his eyes. She turned around and looked out the back window. Without realizing she was doing it, she let out a cry of horror as flames burst from the windows and the front door of the house. Thick clouds of smoke billowed out, enveloping that entire stretch of road.

“You set the house on fire,” she cried.

Feldman nodded as the convoy rounded a corner en route to the highway. In the distance, the wail of sirens could be heard, but they were not heading toward the fire. Denborough wasn’t a high-priority neighborhood. By the time emergency crews arrived, the house would probably be nothing but ash.

“Why?” asked Kate, still not understanding what had happened.

“To avoid potential problems,” answered Feldman. “Going in there, we left footprints, hair, and God knows what else. Half a dozen junkies watched us go in, and even if their word isn’t worth shit, they could lead the police to us if they found any forensic evidence. Our license plates are fake, so that won’t be a problem, but I don’t want anything that might lead to a criminal investigation. Not now that we’re so close.” Feldman stopped as if he had said more than intended.

“So close to what?” asked Kate with a knot in her stomach, sensing the danger of the situation. Feldman’s sinister reputation took on a whole new meaning.

“Nothing you need to worry about, Miss Kilroy,” Feldman grunted hoarsely. “Nothing you need to worry about.”

“You mean that the house and the body were just loose ends that needed tending?”

Feldman confirmed her accusation with a single nod.

A long silence ensued between the two of them as the convoy merged onto the highway.

“Am I just another one of those loose ends?” she whispered, the knot in her stomach turning to ice.

Feldman’s blank expression slowly transformed into one of respect. He nodded. “It’s true. You’re another loose end, Kate.”

“Where does that leave us?”

“In a complex situation for the both of us. You’re a strange variable in my equation. I’m not sure what to do with you.”

Kate shrunk into her seat. She looked out the window and immediately discarded the possibility of jumping out of a moving vehicle. They were traveling well above the speed limit, weaving between heavy traffic. A man like this paid no mind to things like traffic tickets.

Feldman looked at Kate, and a sudden look of understanding crossed his face. He let out a thunderous guffaw. “Do you think I’m going to kill you? Who do you take me for?”

“You’re Isaac Feldman,” she said weakly. “You’re a gambling tycoon. They say you enjoy watching your enemies get slaughtered. You have your own private army at your disposal. You’re a man who just set fire to a crime scene without batting an eye.”

Feldman laughed harder than before. “Some of those things are certainly true, and others not so much. But rest assured. I do not intend to harm you.”

Kate noticed that when Feldman let himself smile, his face became calm and peaceful.

“So?”

“So we have a complex situation on our hands. You know too much about the
Valkyrie,
which is not good these days.” He motioned outside in reference to Carroll’s house. “And you know too much about me. Plus, you’re an accomplice to the destruction of a crime scene.”

Kate opened her mouth to protest the accusation, but Feldman raised a hand to silence her.

“On the other hand, you’re a smart woman who seems to ask the right questions. You want to write a story on the mysterious ghost ship that comes to life after seventy years.”

When he said the words
ghost ship
, Kate noticed that Feldman made an effort to utter them calmly, but his eyes betrayed him.

“We cannot forget that you were the last person to talk to the only survivor of the
Pass of Ballaster
. All of that makes you quite valuable.”

“I would like to go aboard your ship, Mr. Feldman. I want to tell that story.”

“You can’t do that until the voyage is over, and you will let me read your story before it’s published.”

Kate would rather die than allow Feldman to censor her report, but she agreed. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.

“All right, Mr. Feldman.” Kate extended her hand and, for the first time that day, felt like everything would be OK. “Do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” he said. “Welcome to the crew of the
Valkyrie
.”

XII

Hamburg, Germany

Pier 74b, loading dock

The Elba River was dark gray that morning, concealing innumerable secrets as it splashed softly against the piles of Pier 74b. In the cold morning air a few seagulls squabbled over a piece of trash floating downstream as the river rolled toward its final destination in the North Sea, some sixty miles away.

Kate stood at the edge of the pier and zipped up her jacket, craning her neck in an effort to warm her face in the few rays the sun had to offer at that hour. Around her the people of Hamburg were shaking off sleep and getting ready for a new day.

Pier 74b was located in the heart of the port, near the city. It was one of the oldest sections in the entire port complex. A nearby set of low, run-down warehouses made the area appear even older than it was. During World War II, the Allied forces had thoroughly razed the port, which meant the warehouses couldn’t be more than fifty years old. Still, they looked older than the river itself. The dark windows loomed imposingly as if watching, and being utterly bored by, Kate and the two dozen or so people scampering about the docks.

Some one hundred yards away several enormous cargo ships from some of the world’s most unlikely places were docked. Cranes were lifting and lowering huge, colorful metal containers. The noise of the engines and the clanging of the containers was deafening, even from afar.

More than a half mile away, the upper edge of the
Oasis of the Seas
was visible through the fog. The enormous cruise ship had a maximum capacity of more than six thousand passengers. Its white body blended together with those of three or four other cruise ships in the vicinity. They were nearly as massive as the
Oasis
and were docked at the beautifully modern passenger terminal.

This is not that terminal,
Kate thought to herself as she blew into her hands for warmth.
Now we’re on this bloody awful pier waiting for Feldman
.

Despite being the middle of August, it was actually quite chilly. In the distance Kate could see the cafeterias and restaurants in the passenger terminal. They were most likely serving the first breakfasts of the morning. Her stomach growled in protest. But she ignored it completely. She had eyes only for the ship immediately to her right. Floating. Silent. As if out of a dream. Or perhaps a nightmare.

The
Valkyrie
.

Kate had arrived in Hamburg barely twenty-four hours earlier. Feldman had arranged for a private jet to fly her. Parting with Feldman had been truly bizarre. Instead of taking her back to Usher Manor, he’d insisted on taking her directly to her hotel in Liverpool. Once there, Feldman and his men waited patiently as she went up to her room, showered, changed, and came back down again. From there they drove her to the train station, where she almost died of embarrassment when their cavalcade screeched to a halt in front of the station entrance and several men in suits surrounded the perimeter.

“Tomorrow I will send one of my associates to meet you at your apartment,” Feldman said from the Audi window. “That person will accompany you to Hamburg. The
Valkyrie
and the rest of the team are there.”

“Hamburg? Germany?”

Feldman nodded.

“Will you be there?”

Feldman smiled astutely. Kate recalled that Feldman was being investigated by the Treasury Department and a judge had revoked his passport. Theoretically, he was not allowed to leave the country.

“I’ll be there, Miss Kilroy. But I’ll have to make the journey solo. Not to worry, though. We’ll see each other in Hamburg.”

Then, with a wave of his hand, the caravan started up again, and Kate was left alone in the middle of the sidewalk, confused and somewhat frightened.

That was how things were done in Feldman’s world.

Several hours later Kate was home, talking on the phone with her editor while she frantically packed a suitcase with her free hand. Finally, she did not feel trapped in the tomb known as her apartment. Kate realized the story of the
Valkyrie
had enthralled her because it gave her a way to escape the black hole she had wallowed in since Robert’s death. But there was something else. Something deeply disturbing about the whole thing held her inexplicably spellbound. She was hell-bent on finding the answer.

As she decided what clothes to pack, her gaze crossed to the mantel and the ceramic urn containing Robert’s ashes sitting on top. Kate had not passed by the fireplace for several days in an effort to avoid the agonizing evidence of his absence. On a whim she picked up the urn.

For the first time she was able to look at it without bursting into tears, though her heart still felt a lash. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine the musk of his flesh, the feeling of their embrace, and the vibrant force of his body. She shook her head to drive away the memories. Robert was gone forever. Hit by a drunk driver who fled the scene. Now he would walk on the dark banks of the River Styx for eternity.

On another whim she placed the urn in her suitcase. She didn’t know exactly why, but it suddenly seemed unbearable to be separated from him. If Kate were going to board the
Valkyrie
, the urn would have to come, too.

That night she dreamed of Robert. Her husband was aboard an empty ship and held a parcel, a parcel that was crying and had two chubby little arms flailing out of it. She tried to chase him, shouting his name but to no avail. She sprinted through the corridors, compelled by an infinite urgency. When he finally got to the dance floor, he gently placed the baby in the middle of the room. Then, as he turned to Kate, she saw that the man was not Robert, just someone who looked a great deal like him. Something dark, voracious, and evil had set a trap for her. She awoke screaming and soaked in sweat.

The next morning Kate, looking slightly pale, was dressed and ready when they arrived to pick her up. A black car with tinted windows parked in front of her apartment and drove her directly to Heathrow Airport. From there, Feldman’s private jet flew her to Hamburg. She arrived just as the sun was setting.

Another black vehicle—Kate wondered if Feldman had dozens of identical cars scattered across the world—took her to the Port of Hamburg. Kate’s surprise upon passing the cruise ship terminal turned to unease when they ventured into a forest of cranes, semis, and enormous ships in the industrial section of the port. Eventually, they came to an area cordoned off by security guards: Pier 74b.

The guards at the entrance would not allow the vehicle or its driver to enter. From that point, security became even more ironclad than the system at Feldman’s mansion. Kate was the only one allowed in, but only after extensive questioning. Once cleared, she had to walk the final stretch, dragging her suitcase over the rough cobblestone. Kate cursed Feldman under her breath for his paranoia and excessive affinity for secrets and security. As she walked along the pier, Kate tripped on an iron bollard, and she cursed aloud. Rubbing her ankle, greatly irritated, she looked up and saw the ghost ship. She gasped, and her eyes grew large as she took in the spectacle that stood before her.

The
Valkyrie
had been restored to its former glory. A team of welders, restoration specialists, mechanics, woodworkers, and painters had labored tirelessly for weeks to restore the
Valkyrie
. The ship looked like it had just been built instead of being over seventy years old.

Kate estimated it to be more than five hundred feet in length. The bottom half of the hull was painted black in the style of the 1930s, while the greater superstructure was completely white. Two tall smokestacks were painted red with a white circle in the middle. Kate found the combination strange until she recalled that, in its original design, the white circles had contained two huge swastikas.

The lifeboats hanging from the sides were of a design Kate had seen only in old photographs and movies. They were made of wood crossed by two long planks for seats. A waterproof canvas covered each one. From the pier, she could not tell what the walkway had in store, but she bet anything the floor was wood and the hammocks were netted. The ship looked exactly as it had in the thirties, with the exception of the missing swastikas on the smokestacks.

A gangplank ran up the side of the
Valkyrie
. Two armed men stood guard at the bottom, while a group of Feldman’s men loaded wooden crates, barrels, and mountains of baggage. A column of steam had already begun to rise from the smokestacks, mixing with the smog of the port. The
Valkyrie
was ready to cast off into the open ocean.

She almost looks alive,
Kate told herself, immediately wondering why the thought had occurred to her.

Kate gave a shiver that had nothing to do with the temperature and wondered if it would be wiser to just let the story go. Go back home, back to working on culture and society stories, and forget about everything else. Go out, get drunk, meet new people. Flirt with a guy, or maybe even several guys. Live.

But the
Valkyrie
called to her, and Kate yearned to get on board. Then, she could begin to unravel the ship’s mysteries and finish the story Robert had started. In doing so, Kate hoped to discover peace once and for all, something that was sorely lacking in her life and holding her back.

“Impressive, isn’t it?”

The voice startled her. Kate turned around to find a young woman, not more than thirty, looking at her carefully. She was tall, lean like an athlete, and undeniably Slavic in appearance. Her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail, and she was wearing cargo pants. A knapsack was at her feet.

“Senka Simovic,” said the woman, extending her hand without smiling, looking attentively through intense blue-green eyes. She spoke with a singsong accent that Kate couldn’t identify. She was probably from one of the countries that had come out of the chaos in Yugoslavia.

“I’m Kate Kilroy,” she replied, shaking Senka’s hand, surprised by the strong grip.

“You must be the journalist,” Senka said. Kate waited for her to say something else, but Senka’s silence felt strategic.

Just then, a delivery van from a meat shop drove up. It clattered over the cobblestones and came to a stop next to the two women. Kate had no time to wonder how the van had slipped through the iron grip of pier security before the rear doors swung open and Isaac Feldman jumped out.

“Good morning, ladies,” he greeted them cordially. “I see you two have already met. Hello, Senka. It’s a pleasure to see you here.”

The blonde gave a hint of a smile as if the mere act of arching her lips upward was taking a great toll. Still, she was clearly quite friendly with Feldman.

“Everything is ready, Mr. Feldman,” Senka said. “The scientific team is already on board and so is the crew. The only ones yet to board are the security detail and us.”

“Perfect,” Feldman answered. Seeing Kate’s confused expression, he took her by the arm and began walking with her toward the gangplank. “As you can see, I’ve had to travel an unbeaten path to get here. Not to worry, Kate. As soon as we’re on board, I promise I will explain everything about the research team, among other things, all in great detail.”

As they walked along, Kate could feel Senka’s gaze boring a hole in the back of her head.

They came to the foot of the ramp. Feldman stopped and turned to Kate with a look of severity. “OK, this is your last chance,” he said, his voice quivering with nervous excitement. “If you walk up this ramp, there’s no going back. If I’m right, this will be the most amazing story in history. But I offer no guarantees for that or for your personal safety. I don’t know if it’s a fair deal, but it’s all I have to offer. What do you say?”

Kate smiled and tightened her grip on her suitcase. Without a glance back she stepped forward and walked up the gangway.

All aboard the
Valkyrie
.