Ludwig's big-knuckled hand clamped down on Jorja's bicep. His breath reeked of cheap beer and garlic, a smell that nearly made her hurl right there on the curb. His sidekick's podgy fingers were a tad more forgiving, something she was grateful for since he had her by her bad arm.
"Walk,” Ludwig said through gritted teeth when she slowed down too much.
"I'm happy to exchange my six-inch heels for your boots if you like then we can see how fast you walk on these cobbled sidewalks," she replied with sarcasm.
He grunted in response and shoved the gun deeper between her ribs.
"Of course, you could always tell me where you're taking me then I can meet you there and save us all a lot of trouble."
"Shut up and walk before I put a bullet through you."
She scoffed.
"Ah, yes, that's precisely what you should do if you're abducting someone in the middle of a foreign city." She raised her voice intentionally on the abduction part and it made him grip her arm harder.
"I told you to shut your trap, woman,” he said leaving a puff of his foul-smelling breath in her face.
"Nice nose job, by the way," she said, ignoring his warning once again.
She was riling him up on purpose, she wanted him to lose his cool since she was fully aware he wouldn't create a scene—or kill her—on a busy sidewalk. More than that, she already knew where they were taking her and it didn't matter at this point. Sure, her plot to expose Züber would not be quite as impactful or gratifying as doing it at his biggest fundraising gala in front of all his esteemed colleagues, but she would expose him, nonetheless. All it would take was to find a computer and send the files to the FBI. She would simply bypass his security and escape, no big deal.
At the end of the block, they ushered her into a quieter street where a stratus blue Volvo sedan was already parked up and waiting for them. As they came closer, she could see the back of a man's head where he was seated in the driver's seat. He popped the trunk as they reached the car.
Ludwig's meaty hand shoved her against the rear of the car causing her hat to fall on the ground next to her feet.
"Get in."
His hairy sidekick followed suit, prodding her side with his gun.
"Come now, fellows. This is no way to treat a lady. I promise I won't bite if I sit next to you on the back seat."
He clenched down hard on his jaw, pushing the muscles in the sides of his cheeks to the surface.
"Quit playing games, woman, and get in the trunk before I smash that pretty little face of yours in."
Her heart pounded against her chest and she took a deep breath, steeling herself for a fight.
She seized the moment and thrust her forehead into his already broken nose. He groaned in pain and instantly let go of her arm.
The hairy man's arm closed over the back of her neck, forcing her head forward into the trunk of the car. His podgy thumb drove hard into the soft flesh behind her ear while his stocky body heaved on top of her back. But she fought back as hard as she could, driving her fist into his groin.
He let go, and she heard the driver’s side door open.
To her right Ludwig had already recovered and drove his fist into her right kidney.
She doubled over, gasping for breath.
From somewhere behind her a soft rag closed over her mouth.
A sweet-smelling odor seeped into her nostrils before the sweet taste settled on her tongue.
The car became blurry. Then everything spun around her.
The sweet scent drove into her legs. Her knees gave way.
Then everything went black.
Soft light flickered from behind her heavy eyelids as she tried forcing them open. Disorientated, her mind scrambled to make sense of her surroundings. Her body felt lethargic, her tongue thick and furry. As she lifted her head to take it all in, pain stabbed behind her eyes and caused her to flinch, forcing her to pause for a moment to adjust to the light. The sweet taste in her mouth had transformed to an intensely sharp sensation that scratched at the back of her tongue and she wished she had some water to rid her mouth of the dryness.
Shoving the discomfort aside she homed in on her vision, forcing her eyes to penetrate the orange glow that surrounded her. The room looked warm and inviting and wasn't what she had expected to see after having been abducted. It was dignified, welcoming even. She was seated in the center of the room, bound to a carved vintage oak chair. Thick ropes ran around the back of the chair, and her waist and torso, keeping her fastened in place atop the dark leather seat.
Her feet were tied at her ankles, mirroring the same thick rope around the carved legs of the chair. Running across a large section of the floor underneath the chair and her feet was a hunter's green and gold Persian rug. She didn't recognize it. Confusion set in at the back of her mind. Perhaps Ludwig wasn't working for Gustav after all. Perhaps she had assumed wrong and it wasn't even Gustav who’d been after her to begin with. Through hazy eyes, she took in the seventeenth-century carved oak dining table, surrounded by seven chairs matching the one she was seated on. To her right, a fire roared in an open fireplace framed by an ornate marble mantelpiece with two lions carved into the marble on either side. A companion set of antique brass pokers dangled from a nearby rotary and she made a mental note that they would serve well as weapons should she need them later.
She twisted as much of her body as the ropes' tension would allow, looking over her shoulders to take in the rest of the space. The room was large and sparsely furnished, taken up mostly with the dining table and a few button-threaded wingback chairs positioned in front of a large window that had a direct view onto a lake. Concluding that it must be Lake Geneva, she tried making sense of her exact location but the sun had already started to set behind the tall trees that flanked the house on both sides.
"Hello?" she called, not expecting anyone to answer since the house was deathly silent. She listened nonetheless, hearing nothing but the calm flickering sounds of the fire.
When she was certain no one was around, she wriggled trying to free herself from the ropes but found it futile. She heaved the chair upward, willing it to move closer to the fireplace. If she could grab hold of one of the pokers, she might be able to cut through the ropes. The chair's legs stuck to the piles in the carpet, making it difficult for her to slide across the floor. Dull thumps echoed throughout the room instead and she silently prayed that no one would hear her.
But the wishful thought was soon to be just that when Gustav Züber's voice brought her to a standstill.
"Well, well, well, it seems my long-lost friend woke up a little bit earlier than anticipated. Long time no see, Georgina."
His presence surprised her and was evident to him immediately.
"Oh, now, don't be rude, Georgina. Is this a way to welcome your old business partner?"
"We were never business partners, Gustav."
He made three clicking noises with his tongue against his teeth expressing his annoyance over her insult then took a seat in one of the wingback chairs opposite her. Dressed in a designer tuxedo he looked every bit the suave, sophisticated man she remembered.
"Well, be that as it may, by my account we were until, of course, you decided to blow the whistle on me and rat me out, that is. I must confess, I never saw that coming. And here we are. Two decades later, a little reunion is what this is. Wouldn’t you agree?"
She didn't give him the satisfaction of answering his question, fighting hard to suppress the anger that slowly rose into her chest.
"What's the matter, Georgina? Cat got your tongue all of a sudden? Well, let's see if we can do something about that, shall we?"
She didn't like the mocking warning that sat behind his eyes. Something told her he was up to something and she was not going to like it.
He got up and took a tobacco pipe from a gold box on the mantelpiece, filling it and then lighting it up, puffing big balls of cherry fragranced smoke into the air. Next, he took his time heating one of the pokers between the blazing flames in the fireplace.
"What were you doing at the bank?"
There was a steely edge to his question.
"Getting lunch money."
He inspected the glowing fire poker.
"It's going to be like that then, is it? You know, Georgina, you are not giving me enough credit. You still think you are smarter than me. Did you honestly think you could waltz back into my city undetected? You forget that we created this disguise of yours together."
She smiled, intentionally hinting that she might have planned it that way.
"Ah, and there it is again, the bit where you think you are smarter than me. I see right through you, Georgina. You knew I'd track you down looking like that and, in the event that I captured you, I'd bring you to my house, one you'd escape from easily because you consulted on the security system."
She tried not to reveal that he had guessed her plan to a tee, so she looked blankly at his face.
"But here's the thing, dear friend, I learned a thing or two in that prison you had me locked away in. I met a few, shall we say, business consultants who taught me a thing or two. Not to mention that I had a lot of time to think. And here we are, tucked away in my lake house instead where I had a very impressive security system installed that I am positive not even you can escape from."
In the furthest corner of the room, a cuckoo clock sounded the time and he turned to take note of the time. Looking annoyed, he placed the poker back in its stand.
"I guess we will have to continue this conversation a little later. I have more pressing guests to attend to." He smoothed his already perfectly groomed hair with his comb then pivoted and left the room.