Time and Again(71)

Katarina was worried. The call hadn’t gone like she planned. He seemed to really know where it was, but his voice was cold. Faced with the real possibility that her final moments may be spent sitting in this chair, she considered her stained soul, and the truth of who she had become was unavoidable. She had used Henry, because she could. It was this way with all the men from her past, but they deserved it, they had souls blacker than hers, they had their agendas and she used that against them. Revenge is a sweet dish, best served cold they say. She thought of how she had used Henry’s affection for her, to blind him to the truth. It had worked to keep him in the dark. The taste of the truth was foul.

The reaction from her Greek captor, so completely caught her off guard that she almost tried to run. Her instincts had told her it would be fatal, and she listened. Still it was a mystery what they had said, and since he stormed out of the room, she had not heard a word.

Patrick stretched, waking from a fitful sleep, “It must be morning. I wonder if it will be our last?” He said with a smile, which seemed oddly optimistic, considering.

“I fear it might be.”

“Now don’t be that way, love, I'm sure that a clever lad like Henry will ride to our rescue on his mighty steed. Or maybe he won’t, who knows? But I could really use a cup of coffee.”

She looked at him. It seemed that all traces of Father Patrick were gone. She wondered if this were the real man behind the collar.

“It may be my last day, but it is my first day without that choker around my neck, and I feel great.”

“Slept well did you?”

“Not well, but I slept. I had a dream of a lassie back in Dublin. I haven’t seen her since I was a wee one.” His voice had changed and now his accent was coming through. “She had raven black hair and a serious look that could put the fear of the Almighty in one’s heart. If you had the stones to get past the serious though, you were in for a treat. It was good to see her again.”

Katarina wanted to be disgusted with his flippant attitude, but he was too damn charming, and the worst part was she knew he wasn’t even trying.

They heard the heavy door open and two large men brought in plates with some donuts and a couple of cups of coffee. They said it was from their boss, apologized for the meager fair, and then left. They didn’t’ sound sincere, they sounded annoyed.

“I think the help is getting antsy,” Katarina observed.

Patrick grabbed a donut.

“I have been trying to figure out what made our host so mad.”

“Perhaps your boy Henry told him to piss off, he was keeping ‘The Eye’ for himself.”

She hadn’t considered this angle. It hurt her pride and now she was mad. “You don’t know him, he isn’t like us, and he wouldn’t keep it knowing it would…”

“What?...get us killed? Sure he would, everyone has a price. His just happens to be north of 5 million somewhere, I would guess. So how much were you willing to bid?”

“Why don’t you shut up?” She had had enough of Patrick. His laughter at her anger just made her more furious.

Patrick took another donut.

Katarina sat in silence, ignoring the occasional comments from the other chair. She went back to thinking about Henry. She went back to when they met. It helped her feel a little better and made her feel much worse.

When the heavy footsteps of their Greek host stormed into the room, they both sat up straight. He picked up the phone from the table by his chair and slammed the phone down in front of Katarina, and said, “Tell your friend I will pay him the money!” He then started muttering something loudly in Greek and left the room. The two men who brought the donuts came in and grabbed Patrick and dragged him out of the room, spilling his coffee.

She stared at the phone almost afraid to dial.





Chapter Sixty-One



The phone rang and Henry answered. He was expecting the call, but not this call. He recognized Han’s voice.

“Mr. Wood, I wasn’t sure when you would be in the office today.”

“Hello, Hans.”

“Dr. Schaeffer was pleased with how it went yesterday.”

“I thought it went well, too.”

“There is a problem though.”

Henry was not sure where this was going and didn’t want to stay on the line too long. He looked at his watch, 7:01.

“Yes?”

“I would like to see you in person, if you wouldn’t mind.”

“I am actually pretty busy this morning…”

“It’s urgent.”

Henry considered saying no, but his gut told him it might be worth hearing him out.

“How long will it take you to get here?”