The Hadrian Memorandum Part 7

The ranks of boarding pa.s.sengers were lessening rapidly as people entered the aircraft. The Athlete, as Marten had decided to call him, was still talking with the British Airways employee, gesturing as if he had some problem with his ticket or seating arrangement or something similar. Every so often he looked off, as if he were becoming frustrated with the direction of the conversation. That glance away and then back, Marten knew, was carefully calculated to keep an eye on him. See where he was in line. Make certain he was moving forward with the remaining pa.s.sengers, whose number by now had dwindled to fewer than two dozen. Athlete or no Athlete, if Marten was going to get out of there, he had to do it soon.

"Excuse me." He turned to a young woman in line behind him. "I have a splitting headache and need to get something for it before I get on the plane. Would you mind holding my place in line? I'll be right back."

With that he was gone, leaving the boarding area and crossing to the bookstore/newsstand/convenience store on the other side of the corridor.

Immediately the Athlete turned from the airline agent and raised his hand to his mouth. "He just left the boarding area and has gone into a newsstand across from it!" he blurted into his hidden microphone.

"Stay with him! Stay with him!"

8:55 A.M.

Marten entered the store in a rush looking for another exit. He pushed around a magazine stand and then past a rack filled with toiletries. No time to think about the Athlete-just find the exit and get out of there. But where? There was no other egress. In front of him was a wall of bestselling books. To his right, a large magazine rack. To his left, a floor-to-ceiling case of PARIS, FRANCE PARIS, FRANCE T-s.h.i.+rts and caps. T-s.h.i.+rts and caps.

"Christ!" he said to himself and turned to look for another way out. As he did, the Athlete came into the store and stood in the entryway, his eyes scanning the room. Immediately Marten looked away. The only exit was the doorway where the man was. To use it he would have to walk right past him. The clock was fast ticking down. If he missed the Berlin flight, there was every chance people employed by Striker/SimCo or agents from the Equatorial Guinean army would be at Theo Haas's doorstep before he was. Athlete or not, he had no choice but to go out past him and go now.

He was turning, starting to move, when a nearby door suddenly opened and a female clerk came out of a back room pus.h.i.+ng a service cart piled with magazines and boxes of candy. In an instant Marten was past her and into the room looking for a service exit. All he saw was shelves full of supplies.

Immediately the clerk came in behind him. "Sir," she said with a French accent, "you're not allowed in here!"

"Sorry," he said and turned back, disheartened. Then he saw an exit door to the side, a crash bar mounted across it just below a bright red warning sign.

EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY, it read, in French and English.

Marten studied it. Go through it and the alarm goes off. People come running from everywhere. Perfect.

8:59 A.M.

21.

9:03 A.M.

Marten walked quickly, suitcase in tow, the blaring of the emergency exit alarm and the rush of security personnel toward the convenience store diminis.h.i.+ng behind him as he left Hall 2B and moved through the throng of apprehensive travelers drawn by the sudden activity and toward Hall 2D and his destination, gate D55 and his 9:30 Air France flight to Berlin.

To his right, floor-to-ceiling windows looked out on other terminals across the way. Through them he could see that the bright, cloud-pocked sky of earlier had become completely overcast and large droplets of rain were splattering on the gla.s.s. Suddenly, even as he rushed for the plane and at the same time tried to evade the Athlete and his unseen players, the idea of rain brought memories of the storm in Malabo that he had feared might keep him grounded there for days. It was a reflection that carried with it the haunting memories of Bioko itself: Father w.i.l.l.y and the young boys clubbed to death by army troops; the bodies of the woman and children caught in the branches of the floating tree; the venomous features of the soldiers murderously pursuing him through the rain forest; the deadly, piercing eyes and tribal-scarred face of the army major who had interrogated him; the preposterous entrance of President Tiombe into the bar at the Hotel Malabo and the awful, chilling stare with which he had fixed Marten as he moved on.

Only one word could express his feelings about all of it.

Anger.

The people of Equatorial Guinea were victims of machinery and measures and dynamics far beyond their control. More infuriating still was the numbing realization that there was so very little that could be done about it. Father w.i.l.l.y had tried, done the very best he could, and he was dead because of it. Yet the thing was, no matter the outcome, he had tried, which was what Marten, in his own way, was attempting here. If he could somehow retrieve the photographs and get them to President Harris and Joe Ryder, it might be ammunition enough to pressure Striker and Hadrian and SimCo to stop arming the rebels and at the same time force Tiombe to pull back his forces, a combination that could quickly lessen the barbaric scope of the fighting. It wasn't much, but if he could do it, it was something. And to Marten, as he hustled toward gate D55, that little bit of something meant everything.

9:07 A.M.

The Athlete was stopped midcorridor outside Hall 2B. Through the terminal's gla.s.s wall he could see the British Airways London-bound aircraft pull back from the gate. He lifted a hand to his mouth. "This is Three," he said quietly but with urgency. "Who's got him?"

"This is Two. He came out of the gate area. Security swept in and we lost him. One?"

"I don't have him."

"There's three of you out there! Somebody had to pick him up! Four, where are you?"

Silence.

"Four, repeat, where are you?"

Silence.

"This is One. Four isn't answering."

9:11 A.M.

Anne Tidrow watched Marten enter Hall 2D, then go into the boarding area, looking at the gate numbers as he went. No one had had to tell her he'd been lying about his British Airways flight to London and his connecting flight to Manchester. In the minutes before he'd seen her watching him from the upper balcony, she had seen him. He'd been about to enter a cafe area in Hall 2B when he'd stopped a uniformed Air France flight crew and asked directions. One of them had pointed in the direction of Hall 2D. Marten had nodded, then thanked them and gone into the cafe, where he'd purchased coffee and a croissant and soon afterward made a call on a cell phone.

9:15 A.M.

She saw him enter the section at Gate D55 and join the line of pa.s.sengers boarding flight 1734 for Berlin. Ninety seconds later he handed an Air France gate attendant his boarding pa.s.s, then entered the jetway and disappeared from view.

A breath and she lifted her hand to her mouth as if to stifle a cough.

"This is Four. I'm in Hall 2D. I thought I saw him come this way, then he took the escalator down and I lost him."

"Roger, Four." The voice of One came back.

Anne Tidrow watched for a moment longer as the last of the pa.s.sengers slipped into the jetway and the Air France people closed the door behind them. She lingered a few seconds, then walked off. As she did she took a cell phone from her purse, flicked it open, then tapped in a number and waited for it to ring through.

Past lives, fond memories, old friends.

By the time Marten reached Berlin and entered the city-by taxi, private car, public transportation, or even if he walked-she would know where he had gone and where to find him.

22.

BERLIN TEGEL AIRPORT. STILL FRIDAY, JUNE 4. 11:15 A.M.

Nicholas Marten exited Air France flight 1734 in a group of pa.s.sengers. Suitcase in tow, he left the Gate A14 area and pa.s.sed through the green NOTHING TO DECLARE customs archway into the crowded arrivals area, where people were gathered to meet travelers from incoming flights. Two minutes later he was outside in warm suns.h.i.+ne and walking toward the taxi area. A dozen paces more and he moved to the edge of the curb away from sidewalk traffic. He gave a quick glance around and unzipped the upper pocket on his suitcase and took out the dark blue throwaway cell phone. By now Theo Haas's private phone number was etched in his memory. He punched in the number and waited. The phone rang four times, and then a recording clicked on. A husky male voice that he took to be Haas's made a brief announcement in German. The recording ended and there was silence, followed by the usual beep signaling the caller to leave a message. For an instant he thought about identifying himself and mentioning Joe Ryder's name, then decided against it and clicked off. Who knew what other party might retrieve Haas's calls-wife, girlfriend, house man, secretary? Maybe he talked about personal business with people he knew well, maybe he didn't. Besides, there was every chance Joe Ryder hadn't yet reached him. Or maybe he'd tried and like Marten got only a recording. No, Marten thought, better to wait, call him a little later in the day. Immediately he clicked off, slipped the phone into his coat pocket, then walked off toward the taxi queue.

A gray-haired, matronly woman wearing a lightweight summer coat watched him go. She had been in a group of others waiting at Gate A14 to meet arriving pa.s.sengers and had followed him when he left. She'd seen him step to the curbside, take a cell phone from his suitcase, and make a call. Now she followed him again. Safely and at a distance. She stopped as he entered the taxi line, then watched as he got into a black Mercedes Metrocab. Number 77331.

11:35 A.M.

MADRID, BARAJAS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. SAME TIME.

Tired, but happy to be finally home after a flight delay of nearly two hours in Paris because of mechanical problems, Marita Lozano and her medical-student charges-Rosa, Luis, Gilberto, and Ernesto-left Iberia baggage claim, pa.s.sed through the customs area, and went out into the arrivals hall on their way to the Metro that would take them into the heart of the city.

The area was crowded with friends, relatives, business a.s.sociates, and others gathered to meet arriving pa.s.sengers. Among them were perhaps a dozen limousine drivers, most of them in dark suits and white s.h.i.+rts, holding cardboard signs that were hand-lettered with the names of the clients they'd been hired to pick up.

"Marita!" Rosa was the first to notice. "A sign with your name."

Puzzled, Marita looked to the bank of limousine drivers. A handsome young man was holding a sign that read DR. LOZANO.

"Some other and richer Dr. Lozano." Marita said with a laugh and kept walking.

As they pa.s.sed, the man suddenly approached. "Marita Lozano?"

"Yes."

"I have a limousine to take you into the city."

"Me?"

"Yes, and your friends."

"I don't understand."

He smiled. "It was paid for by the oil company in Bioko. To thank you for your work there and help compensate for your trouble with the army. I was instructed to take each of you to your homes."

Marita looked at him carefully. Something didn't feel right.

"That's very nice," she said politely. "But I think we'll just take the Metro."

"Please, doctor, the company insists. You have all had a very long trip."

"I don't know."

"Oh, come on, Marita." Rosa giggled. "We're all tired. It's very nice of them to do this."

Luis grinned. "Who wants to take the Metro when we have a limo?"

"n.o.body," Ernesto added.

Marita hesitated a moment longer, still unsure.

Rosa pressed her again. "Marita ..."

Finally she gave in. "Alright, Rosa, we'll take the limo."

"Good." The driver smiled warmly, then took her bag and Rosa's and led them toward the exit.

23.

BERLIN, HOTEL MOZART SUPERIOR,.

94 FRIEDRICHSTRa.s.sE, ROOM 413. 1:35 P.M.

Freshly showered and shaved, Nicholas Marten stood in the window looking down at the street below. He was barefoot and bare chested, wearing jeans and nothing else. The dark blue cell phone was in his hand. He hesitated for the briefest moment and then, for the third time since he'd checked into the hotel ninety minutes earlier, he called the number President Harris had given him for Theo Haas.

Again it rang through. After the fourth ring he again got the husky-male-voice recording. Again he clicked off.

"d.a.m.n it," he swore angrily. Where the h.e.l.l was Haas? What was he doing? When would he be home?

Suddenly it occurred to him that the n.o.bel laureate might be traveling and not in the city at all. Then what? Try to have the president or Joe Ryder track him down? That could take days, even longer. In the meantime, where were the photographs, a.s.suming Father w.i.l.l.y had indeed sent them to his brother? Where? Sitting in a branch of the Berlin post office? In Haas's home, just lying around, opened or unopened? Or did Haas have them with him? Was he at this moment preparing to reveal them as only an irascible world-famous writer could, and most likely would?

As quickly Marten thought of something else: that maybe Conor White's people or operatives from the Equatorial Guinea military hadn't been as slow to put Father w.i.l.l.y and Theo Haas together as brothers as he'd first thought. Maybe one group or the other had already reached him. If so he could be in grave danger or even dead. In what could only be described as an urgent, near-involuntary reaction, he lifted the phone and punched in Theo Haas's number again.

Once more the call rang through. Once more he listened as it rang four times. He was expecting the recording to click on once again when instead a male voice answered.

"Yes?" came a grumble in German.

"My name is Marten, Nicholas Marten. I'm trying to reach-"

"You've got him," Theo Haas said sharply in English.

"I would like to meet with you. Could I come to your apartment?"

"Across from the Tiergarten. Platz der Republik. The gra.s.sy park in front of the Reichstag. Five o'clock. I'm an old man in a green cap and carrying a walking stick. I'll be sitting on a park bench near Scheidemannstra.s.se. If you're not there by ten minutes past I will leave."

There was an abrupt click as he hung up and the phone went dead.

"Well," Marten said out loud and with relief. At least no one else had gotten to him. Not yet anyway.

PLATZ DER REPUBLIK. 4:45 P.M.

Marten came into the park early, determined not to miss Haas through some happenstance beyond his control. In front of him the Platz der Republik sprawled for nearly a quarter of a mile and was filled with seemingly hundreds of people taking advantage of a warm early-summer afternoon. To his right was the ma.s.sive edifice that was the historic Reichstag, Germany's parliament building. He vaguely remembered that it had been burned down, purportedly by the n.a.z.is in 1933, and was then rebuilt and reoccupied by the parliament in 1999 as a symbol of German unity following the Cold War. The words carved above its main facade in 1916 had been restored as well-DEM DEUTSCHEN VOLKE ("To the German people"). Maybe the historical significance of it was something Haas was trying to impress on Marten and the reason he chose to meet in its shadow. Or maybe it had no meaning at all. What was curious was why he had chosen to meet outdoors in public rather than in the privacy of his home, especially when he knew that what Marten had to tell him concerned his brother. He was known for being a "character," and so maybe it was a whim, or maybe he simply didn't want strangers in his home.

4:50 P.M.

Marten reached the far end of the park and turned back, staying close to the pathway that ran near Scheidemannstra.s.se. He looked carefully at every bench he pa.s.sed, most of which were occupied, and then beyond them to the crowd in the park and what suddenly seemed like the impossible ch.o.r.e of sorting through them to find an old man in a green cap with a walking stick.