The Longest Winter (18 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

M
ax rubbed his hands together over the open flames that leapt from the old oil drum. The fire was full of anything that would burn, from wood to papers to cardboard and old clothing. The flames took on different colours as they burned through the refuse – and different odours as well. Max didn’t care. He hadn’t planned for any of this, and wasn’t prepared to be sleeping outside under a bridge just a stone’s throw away from the middle of nowhere.

He’d been offered a pair of gloves from an elderly man but politely refused them. They smelled of stale tobacco and sweat and looked to be older than the bridge that sheltered them. Now, Max wished he had taken the gloves. Even the fire wasn’t enough to remove the chill from his weary body.

Max kicked at the snow that surrounded the fire barrel. He thought of the boys and felt a pang of guilt for having left them. They weren’t far away, only a few miles, but it was a risk he wasn’t prepared to take. The cops might have found them already, they might have been staking out the place.

Everything was still going to plan, it was just happening in a different way. He had put the boys together, brought them closer than they had ever been, and they would be together forever.

Even if it was in death.

It was the way it was supposed to be, the way it should have been. He wanted them to bond and to carry that bond into the next life.

It was something he was never given the chance to have.

Chapter Thirty-Three

K
ara and Yuri waited in the car a distance from the homeless camp. Other cars waited on the other side, just out of sight. The last thing they needed was to scare Max and have him try to run or, far worse, take a hostage.

That had been the main concern in the minds of both Kara and Yuri. A hostage situation. Police were trained to visualize the worst-case scenario, as well as every other possibility. It was a simple matter of running through the scenario in your mind and with others. If you could imagine it, you could prepare for it. Then, if the situation went sour, you’d been through it once – even if it was just in your mind. It was a powerful and proven technique.

Yuri put down the camera. From viewfinder to lens it was almost as long as his arm, but it did the job and it did it well. They had high-resolution photos of Max, more than sufficient to prove that he was there. Night had fallen before they could confirm it, and their photos were taken by the light of the fire Max had spent most of the evening beside, rubbing his hands endlessly. They wanted to wait until the majority of the camp, including Max, was asleep before they moved in.

When midnight fell, Yuri left the vehicle and made his way to another waiting car. There, Sophie – Detective Vandroogenbroeck, Kara’s intended interim replacement – handed him a worn-out winter jacket and a toque.

“Thanks,” Yuri said. “Where did you find this jacket?”

“Thrift shop,” Sophie said before smiling. “Then I got creative with a pair of scissors and some sandpaper.”

Yuri looked at the cuts and tears, the scuffmarks and threadbare patches. “Little over the top, perhaps? Should I pour a little rum on myself and really fit the stereotype?”

“You’re a mountain with a recognizable face thanks to the media these days. I’m hoping they look at the jacket and not at you.”

Yuri nodded. “Makes sense. What are you wearing?”

Sophie pulled out an old fleece vest and put it on over the hooded sweater she was already wearing. She put on a toque that almost didn’t fit over the bulge of her ponytail and set a pair of old woolen gloves on the hood of the car.

“One minute,” she said before she climbed back into the car. When she emerged her face was free from the makeup she had been wearing.

“Freckles? I still do not understand why people cover them.”

Sophie blushed. “I used to get made fun of in grade school. One of those stupid things that stuck with me.”

Yuri nodded. “I know what you mean. Try being a foot taller than everyone else. No amount of makeup will help me.”

“True. I’m glad I’ve got you on my side though. Not looking forward to this.”

“It will be fine,” Yuri said. “We have planned for everything.”

“I know we have. I think we’ve run through every possible way this could go down.”

“Best way to do it. You know that. Imagine the worst situation, run through it in your head, then if it happens it isn’t your first time through it.”

“Standard visualization techniques,” Sophie said. “I’m pretty new on, Detective. This sort of thing, I’m even newer.”

“You will do fine, I promise.”

“I hope so. You really think he’ll be asleep?”

Yuri nodded. “He hasn’t moved in over an hour, and with how much he was warming his hands before that I would say he is either asleep or he froze to death already.”

“Yeah, didn’t look like he dressed for the weather… or an extended stay outdoors.”

“With any luck he will be too cold to even think of fighting back. I remember Kara saying that if the weather was bad enough in the winter, they would get people turning themselves in on warrants to get out of the cold. He might go willingly.”

“I doubt it.”

Yuri shrugged. “One can hope.” He checked his gun and TASER, making sure everything was where it was supposed to be. He was glad Sophie had bought a large coat for him, with two weapons and a radio underneath it was hard to hide the bulges. He put his gloves on and folded back the flap that went over the fingers. Sophie had thought of everything. Tactical gloves would be too obvious. The fingerless woolen gloves she had found looked the part and kept his trigger finger uncovered and ready to go.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

Sophie keyed the mike on her radio. “We are good to go. Start moving up in two minutes.”

The three teams all radioed their confirmations. Sophie kept an eye on her watch until the two minutes had passed. “Time to move out,” she said.

The other teams, each consisting of two members, had been instructed to approach to a safe distance where they could watch without being spotted. They were to remain on standby until required and were prepared to move in to assist. Each team was armed with a rifle in addition to their pistols. The final element of the plan was a highly trained marksman, armed with a Remington 700 PSS – Police Sharp Shooter – sniper rifle. She was a last resort and only featured in the worst of their imagined scenarios.

They needed Max alive and able to talk if they wanted to find the boys before time ran out. His body would be a suitable second option, but it was not the preferred result.

“Dead men do tell tales,” Yuri had said. “It just takes longer to get it out of them.”

Yuri and Sophie closed in and held position until everyone was in place. Yuri took out a small pair of binoculars and saw Max, still in the same position he had been in for the past hour – lying down beside the fire barrel.

“Okay, the gun will be in his waistband.”

“Right, probably in the front since he is lying on his back. We get close to him, wake him from a distance, me with my gun out, you with the TASER, and get ready.”

“I go first, of course. We don’t shoot unless we have to.”

“I’m not that nervous, Detective.”

Yuri looked at her face then down to her hands. She was holding them in front of her as she talked and Yuri saw that they didn’t tremble at all.

“I know, but it has happened. Ready to move in?”

Sophie nodded. They walked toward the camp, keeping it as casual as possible.

“
Bonjour
,” Yuri said to an old man sitting near the edge of the camp. The bridge was right overhead and provided them shelter from the elements. It was clear though, stars twinkling in the sky and only a few wisps of clouds visible in the night.

“
Bonjour
,” the man said. He eyed them suspiciously, but Yuri and Sophie kept walking. The regulars would be suspicious, Yuri told himself, and they were the second and third new people to show up in the last two days.

Max was still asleep when they reached him. Yuri stood back several feet and Sophie took a place at his right. They looked around, taking inventory of the people sleeping nearby and the two who were still awake. It was one thing to keep an eye on Max, but there was no way to know if someone else would take offense to police arresting one of their own. Caution was paramount.

Yuri looked at Max, sound asleep on an old tarp, and had to restrain himself. Kidnapper, murderer, cop killer. The words kept running through Yuri’s head, and everything in him told him to shoot. He pushed the thoughts away and focused on Jacques and David, innocent boys in need of rescuing.

“Maxime Peeters,” Yuri said. No response. He raised his voice and said it a second time. Max’s eyelids fluttered then his right hand started to move, bit by bit, toward his waist.

“Police, keep your hands…”

Max reached for the pistol but it was too late. Yuri shot first, probes like straightened fishhooks shot from the end of the TASER, wires scrambling behind them. They planted themselves into Max’s chest and the electricity began to flow. Max shook on the ground as fifty thousand volts coursed through his body. It lasted only five seconds, but it was enough to stop what he was trying to do.

The clicking sound came to an end and the electricity stopped flowing. Max reached for the gun again and Yuri pulled the trigger once more, giving Max another five-second blast.

“We can do this all day,” Yuri said when it stopped for the second time. Max took a deep breath then reached for the gun again.

“Are you done yet?”

Max nodded. “Roll toward me, onto your side, and put your hands behind your back. My partner is going to handcuff you. Try anything, and I’ll give you another jolt.”

Max complied, rolling onto his side so that Sophie could get the handcuffs in place. As long as she didn’t touch between the probes, she would be fine if Yuri pulled the trigger again. Once the cuffs were secure, she reached to his front and removed a pistol from his pants. She looked up and noticed that they had an audience. Most of the people in the camp were awake now, and Sophie counted at least half a dozen milling about.

Yuri had seen them as well. “We are with INTERPOL,” he said, in the best French he could manage. “This man is wanted for murder.”

“I thought he looked familiar. He’s that pedophile from the papers.” Yuri turned to see an old man standing nearby. “I can’t believe I offered you my extra gloves.” The man spit through the gaps in his teeth hitting Max in the side of the face.

“Enough,” Yuri said. He turned toward the old man, his eyes still on Max, and winked so that only the spitter could see. “Ready? We need to get him out of here before anyone else decides to join in.”

Sophie stood up, dropped the magazine from Max’s pistol and racked the last round out. It fell to the ground by her feet and she bent to pick it up. She saw a glimmer in Max’s hand, a knife he had kept behind his back. He twisted his legs toward her to try to knock her down but missed when she jumped back.

Yuri pulled the trigger again and smiled at Sophie as Max convulsed on the ground. “I find it amazing how fast people forget they’re still hooked up to this thing.”

The TASER ran its course and Sophie looked down on Max. “Are you done?”

“
Oui
,” he said. “No more.”

* * *

Four hours later Yuri and Kara sat across from Max in an interrogation room. The table and chairs were bolted to the floor. Max sat in one of the wooden chairs, his handcuffs still keeping his arms restrained and behind his back. They had been at the hospital for a short time, just long enough to give Max a clean bill of health following his run-in with the TASER, and also to remove the probes from his chest.

The handcuffs had been removed at the hospital in order to take Max’s coat and shirt off to better see the wounds; he took the opportunity to try to flee. Kara jumped back as Yuri and Sophie moved in.

Max swung wide and missed Yuri whose own punch connected, stunning Max. Sophie drove a knee into his thigh then kicked him in the calf, forcing him to the ground. He fought as they put the cuffs back on him, but with the help of two orderlies, the battle didn’t last long.

Even in the interrogation room, in the basement of a secure police detachment, it wasn’t worth taking the cuffs off again. A fight was inevitable, and it always ended in someone getting hurt.

Yuri looked at the bruise rising to the surface around Max’s right eye. It had been a good punch and he was surprised Max had stayed on his feet after the hit. They were well matched in terms of size, Yuri standing only a little bit taller, but in terms of fitness there was no debate. Max was heavier set, a slight paunch from one too many beers hung over his pants. He was still in decent shape, as Yuri had found out, and he had managed to stay ahead of the two cops who had pursued him.

Adrenaline is a powerful thing.

“We’ve been through all the required stuff. You know why you’re here,” Kara said. “Kidnapping, five counts of murder. I’d say the only chance you have of seeing daylight again is if you cooperate. You’re looking at life. You’ll do your time here in Luxembourg first, and if you ever get paroled then Belgium will want you to serve time there.”

“It’s better this way. I’m going to plead guilty. I don’t deny my crimes. I abducted those boys. I killed two of them. I ran those people over. I shot those police officers. I am guilty of everything you have said.”

Kara tried to hide her surprise. She wasn’t used to such a blatant and easy confession.

“Then help us. Help us find the boys.”

Max shook his head. “Nothing you can say or do will make me tell you where they are.”

“Why not?”

“They have to die. It is the only way.”

“No one has to die, Max. How is them dying going to solve anything?”

Max didn’t say a word, he just stared at Kara like he was looking right through her.

“They’re innocent. Surely you can see that.”

Max continued to stare, giving only a slight nod of his head.

“Then why?”

“I’m doing it for them.”

Kara shook her head and threw her hands up. “How the hell is that supposed to make sense.”

“I don’t expect you to understand it. It’s just better this way.”

Kara slammed her fist down on the table. “You’re honestly going to let those boys die?”

Max nodded. Kara saw a look in his eyes that told he was impressed with himself.

“You want me to get pissed off? I’m really good at that,” Kara said. She rose from her seat and leaned across the table until she was as close to his face as she could get. She motioned for him to lean in. “I’m not going to give you that satisfaction,” she said, just above a whisper. She leaned back and sat down again.

“I’m not going to tell you where they are. You might as well take me back to my cell.”

“You’ll sit here until you tell us.”

Max smiled. “Good thing you get overtime pay then.”

“Why don’t we talk about something else then, Max. Tell me about yourself.”

“Why?”

“I like to know the man behind the killer. There’s more to you than these past few weeks.”

Max nodded. “I don’t see why it matters.”

“Humour me. What do you do for a living?”

Max shrugged. He debated not answering, but decided no harm could come from it. It beat sitting there staring at each other.

“Odd jobs mostly. Renovations, farm work, whatever pays the bills.”

“You move around a lot.”

“Always have. Never felt like getting tied down in one place. I like to travel.”

“I’ve seen that. But you never committed any crimes anywhere else.”

Max shook his head. “No, model citizen.”

“So what changed?”

“I couldn’t fight it anymore. I always watched them, saw them walking to school and playing in the playgrounds. I’d watch them from my apartment or see them in the streets. It wasn’t hard to follow them and figure out where they lived and where they went to school. I could learn where they played soccer and on what nights, I’d sometimes go and watch. I knew their names, I knew what room they slept in, I knew if they had pets, or alarm systems. I planned everything.”