9:46 a.m.
“I’m putting you on speaker, Cherry.” Sitting behind the wheel of the SUV, Hardy put his mobile phone on the console and stared through the windshield at the Gruebenhaus. “Go ahead.”
From the Operations Room, Charity: “Just to be on the safe side, I ran checks of all the hotels in Zurich again and came up with nothing. No Isaac Wells—or variations of his name—registered anywhere. Then I did what you suggested and cross-referenced all the data we have on him with anything related to medieval times—exhibits, shows, museums, castle tours, everything.”
Hardy nodded. The conversation with the restaurant staff member about Wells buying relics from the Middle Ages made him recall the room he and Cruz had stayed in on the island, specifically, the pictures of the castles on the walls. The expensive knight’s armor in Wells’ office was the tipping point, and he had Charity include medieval elements to the search parameters. “What did you find?”
“Nothing.”
Hardy rolled his eyes at Cruz in the passenger seat before glancing out his window. “So why are we having this conversation?”
“Because my search turned up something interesting.”
Sitting behind Cruz, Dahlia leaned forward and poked her head between the front seats.
“There’s an old castle from the 1500’s—Baumhauer Castle—a couple miles from your location. Fun fact…back at the start of the seventeenth century, Count Von Baumhauer was—”
“I’m sure,” Hardy eyed his mobile, “this would be fascinating stuff, Cherry. And any other time I’d be as excited as you are, but we’re in the middle of an op. Come on, girl, focus. I just need the perts.”
Dahlia cocked her head. Cruz frowned at him. Silence consumed the vehicle’s interior.
Hardy spied his girlfriend before noticing Dahlia. “What?”
Charity: “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what perts are.”
Hardy went back and forth from Cruz to Dahlia. “Perts…it’s short for pertinent details. You know, like ‘deets’ means details.” He twisted in the seat to see Pence. “Isn’t that a term?”
His hands on his thighs, Pence lifted fingers and turned away. “Don’t look at me, man. I’ve never heard that before.”
Hardy faced forward. “I’m sure that’s correct. If people understand what deets is, then…”
“Okay, Hardy?” said Charity.
“…it makes sense that—”
“Hardy, I need you to focus. I’m sure your explanation would be fascinating, but we’re on an op, and I have important intel for you. Stay with me, boy.”
Leaning away from the phone, eyebrows arched, Hardy glimpsed Cruz and Dahlia. The one turned away, hand to her mouth, while the other leaned back in her seat, chuckling. He looked at the cell. “Very nice, Cherry. Very nice. I owe you one for that.”
“No, the look on your face that I’m imagining right now is payment enough. Anyway, Baumhauer Castle…I got a hit on it against the bank account we used in the wire transfer during the auction.”
Cruz tilted her head sideways, eyebrows scrunched. “I don’t understand. Someone at this Baumhauer Castle got our money?”
“No. The same account that received the transfer was also used to make substantial contributions to a foundation that oversees the operation of Baumhauer Castle.”
Dahlia: “Define substantial.”
“Multiple six figure donations over the last three years. That was enough to pique my curiosity, so I dug deeper. Shortly after the first payout, several different contractors were hired by Baumhauer to perform renovations.”
Hardy fidgeted in his seat. Cut to the chase, Cherry. Cut to the…a hand patted his leg, and he faced a grinning Cruz. She mouthed the word ‘relax’ and winked; their sign that everything was all right. He let out a breath and nodded.
“All of the work was done on the inside of the structure by carpenters, plumbers, HVAC personnel and electricians.”
“So you’re thinking,” Hardy’s mind connected the dots, “Isaac had the castle remodeled for him to live there?”
“You said so yourself. The guy’s nuts about the Middle Ages. What better place to stay at when you’re in Switzerland than a castle? Heck, I wouldn’t mind spending a weekend in a centuries-old piece of history. Oh, I almost forgot. A high-end interior decorator was also brought in that specializes in renovations of this type.”
Hardy shrugged. “All right, send us the coordinates.”
“They should already be on your phone.”
“Copy that. Nice work, Cherry.” He disconnected the call and handed the mobile to Cruz. “Bring up the location.” He eyed his teammates. “Let’s go check out a castle.”
“Hold on.” Pence held up his cell. “I think I might be able to help with this recon mission.”
… … … … …
The helicopter blades knifed through the air. The passenger’s earmuffs could not drown out the constant thumping.
“We’re coming up on the location now…port side,” shouted the pilot, who owned a helicopter tour guide business in Zurich, specializing in flyovers of scenic historical sites. He had served with Pence. The two knew each other well. “How close do you want to get?”
From the co-pilot’s seat, Pence turned around and tipped his head back at Hardy, who sat on the left side of the aircraft, Cruz and Dahlia on Hardy’s right.
“I only want to make one pass. I don’t want to spook our man if he’s down there.”
“Don’t worry about that.” The pilot gestured at Baumhauer Castle. “I fly tourists over this place all the time. It’s a real draw.”
Hardy shook his head. “One pass. Come in from the back and make a slow turn, so we can get a visual on the front.”
“You got it, chief.”
Hardy readied the camera on his phone. “Dahlia, Pence, snap pictures from your side.”
The chopper banked left, and the castle came into view. The stone structure was perched atop a hill and surrounded by walls of stone. A courtyard and garden were inside the perimeter, close to the main gate. Rows and rows of shrubs covered the sloping hill, stopping ten yards from the walls. A fresh layer of fluffy snow blanketed the landscape.
Hardy’s camera captured picture after picture, while his mind stored its own. Four…five… “I count half a dozen men in suits.”
Dahlia: “There’s probably more we can’t see.” She leaned in front of Cruz and pointed. “Check it out.”
Hardy followed her finger to a guard tower, situated where two walls joined on the backside of the castle. “That makes seven men.” He eyed the second tower, kitty corner of the first. “Number eight is most likely in the other one.” To the pilot: “How high are those walls?”
Having answered the question many times in the past, the man did not hesitate. “Twenty-five feet high and eight feet thick. The towers rise another ten.”
The helicopter made another turn, and Hardy watched the stone fortification get smaller, as the aircraft flew away.
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
.