“Dead? They might be, but I doubt it. One thing is for certain, though, if they are alive and if these are the people I’m looking for, I promise you, they will be dead very soon.”

61

The drive back from Munich was grueling. Twenty minutes after Herman dropped Scot at the airport parking lot to retrieve his car and he was on the autobahn, a deep fatigue had set in. The psychological stress from the past several days and the physical damage to his body both came calling at once. The two cans of Red Bull he had with him and coffees at every other truck stop along his route kept him going until he got back to Interlaken and could finally drop onto his bed and slide into a deep sleep.

It felt as though only five minutes had passed before he drifted into a dream about Jackie. He could hear her concern for him in her voice, but for some reason he could not see her face. She was worried. Should she call a doctor? Was he all right? There was blood, she said. Not as much as before, but a little. Are you sure? she asked. I didn’t know what to do. Yes, I do care about him.

Her voice grew louder, but Scot still could not see her. A light shone and it, too, grew brighter. As he got closer to Jackie’s voice, the light grew in intensity. He found his eyelids opening of their own free will, even though all he wanted to do was sleep. Soon, he was able to see through the light and make out shapes. Jackie’s voice was still with him, but where was she? He blinked his eyes through the mist, trying to focus. There was a figure at the end of his bed. The voice continued, but the figure wasn’t speaking. The voice was coming from somewhere else. Harvath shut his eyes tightly, trying to clear his vision. When he opened them, he was terrified by what he saw.

It was her! The woman from the Ice Palace. She was sitting at the foot of his bed. Was this a dream? Some sort of hallucination? Out of sheer instinct, he reacted.

He rolled to his right and reached for the nine-millimeter Beretta that Herman had given him before saying good-bye last night. His hand fumbled clumsily along the nightstand. It was gone. But how? He had placed it right there before he went-

“Looking for this?” said the woman, holding up the pistol. “Or maybe, this?” she said as she raised the replica Glock. Now Harvath knew he wasn’t dreaming. “Please tell me you didn’t carry a toy to the Jungfraujoch yesterday. It will only make me think less of you,” said the woman.

Scot was trapped. There was no way he could spring from where he was and get to her before she got a shot off. The situation seemed hopeless.

From out of the corner of his left eye he saw a hand approach his face, and automatically he reached out and grabbed it by the wrist. He twisted it hard.

“Scot! Stop it. You’re hurting me. It’s me, Jackie. It’s okay. Calm down.”

“Jackie?” he said, confused. “I don’t understand. Are you okay? She didn’t try to hurt you, did she? If she did, I’ll-”

“No, Scot, of course she didn’t try to hurt me. I’m okay.”

“I was so careful. I thought I made sure no one was following me. I must have led them here. Jackie, I’m sorry. I never intended to get you this involved.”

“Scot, relax. This is Claudia Mueller. She’s a friend of ours.”

“What do you mean, she’s a friend?” asked Scot warily.

“Rolf and I know her from Bern.”

“What’s she doing here?”

“I’ve been worried about you,” Jackie said as she tried again, this time without meeting resistance, to apply a cold compress to Scot’s forehead. “I knew you didn’t want me to call a doctor, but I didn’t know what to do. You have been asleep for so long.”

“Jackie, you’re not answering my question.”

“Remember when I said I thought I knew someone who could help you?”

“Yes, and I told you I didn’t need any help.”

“But she can help you. She helped me and Rolf, and it was the same kind of help you need now.”

“What are you talking about? She’s a killer.”

“Scot, listen to me. During the last election there were some threats against Rolf. Claudia works with the Federal Attorney’s Office. She was part of the investigation into the threats and helped arrange security for us. We spent a lot of time together. You can trust her.”

Scot stared at Claudia. “Jackie, I want you to trust me. There is absolutely no way this woman is on our side.”

“Scot, you’re delirious. You haven’t moved since last night when I came in to pick up your tray.”

“Jack, I’m okay,” Harvath said as he pushed himself up into a sitting position with two pillows propped behind his back. “I was gone all night. I got back early this morning and was exhausted. I guess I was so out of it I didn’t hear you come into the room.”

“And wherever you were,” began Claudia, “I assume that’s where you got this,” referring to Herman’s gun.

“Hold it just a second,” said Scot as Jackie offered him a glass of juice. “I’m going to be the one asking questions here, okay? Being held at gunpoint by the same person twice in less than twenty-four hours allows me that privilege. So, first, who the hell are you?”

“You have already been told that. I’m Claudia Mueller of the Federal Attorney’s Office.”

“And you just happened to be up at the Ice Palace yesterday at the same time I was, and just happened to stick a gun in my back, and just happened to have two men with you who tried to kill me?”

“I had nothing to do with the men who were shooting at us in the Ice Palace.”

“‘Us’? What do you mean?”

“You do understand English, don’t you?”

“Enough to get by,” he replied smugly.

“I mean,” said Claudia, who ignored Scot’s sarcasm, “they were shooting at us. You and me. I have no idea who they were.”

“And you probably have no idea about who was then shooting at me in Wengen only an hour later?”

“I know one thing: it wasn’t the men from the Ice Palace.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because those two were still at the Jungfraujoch an hour later.”

“How do you know?” Scot asked as he continued to look her over. She was gorgeous, but he couldn’t shake his first impression of her. Funny how a gun jammed in your back could do that.

“I know because I was there too. I was trying to find you while avoiding them. It wasn’t easy. I don’t know how you managed to slip away. You must be quite clever.”

“I have my days, but yesterday sure wasn’t one of them. Someone else managed to find me, and they turned Wengen into a shooting gallery. I was lucky to get away with only this.” Harvath pointed to his left arm and noticed that a small amount of blood had seeped through the bandage. He started to unravel it, but Jackie quickly sat down next to him and took over.

“Do you have any idea who it was that tried to shoot at you in Wengen?”

“They weren’t trying to shoot at me; they actually were shooting at me; and besides, I said I would ask the questions here. What were you doing at the Ice Palace in the first place, and why did you pull a gun on me?”

“You know what, guys? I have got a ton of stuff to get done,” said Jackie. “I think I am going to leave you two alone.” Catching the look in Scot’s eye, she added, “Don’t worry. You’ll be perfectly safe with Claudia. She’s extremely tough. She climbs mountains in her spare time for fun. Did you know that?” Beckoning to Claudia, she said, “Why don’t you finish changing this dressing for me. There’s only been a little bleeding, but the stitches are all still intact. It looks like he’ll mend. Another toughie. You two’ll get along fine.”

Getting up, Jackie patted the place on the bed where she’d been sitting next to Scot. Claudia stood up and set the guns from her lap onto the chair and made her way to the bed. She took a roll of clean gauze from Jackie and began wrapping Scot’s arm. Jackie closed the door behind her.