Chapter 50
50
Dieter didn’t relax until the four-vehicle convoy reached the gates of the Braun Logistics property, hidden in a forest outside of Berlin.
The driver tapped a remote and the fence rolled out of the way. Once the last of the sedans behind them passed through, the barrier moved back into place.
Originally, the facility had been a base for the Stasi, the East German secret police. Though most of the buildings now were new construction, a few of the originals remained. All were dark tonight, as any employee who might have been present had been given the day off.
The van’s destination was one of the legacy buildings, set off a bit from the others.
The unassuming two-story concrete structure hid a multilevel basement where the Stasi had conducted interrogations. Though they weren’t used as often now, the lower levels served the same purpose for BLS’s illegal activities.
Braun’s Mercedes-Maybach was parked near the detainee entrance, but the man himself was not present.
As the van pulled in next to the Maybach, Dieter said to Rolf and the other man in the back, “Get him up.”
Dieter hopped out, circled around to the back, and opened the doors.
Between the three of them, they were able to get Billy Barnett outside without dropping him.
Dieter used a key card to open the building’s entrance. Harsh fluorescent light spilled out of a short hallway that ended at an elevator.
“Take him to the elevator and wait for me.”
While Rolf and the other man did that, Dieter turned to the sedans. For some reason, they’d stopped a good fifty feet away and were still in single file.
If he could have, he would have fired them all on the spot.
He motioned for everyone to get out and create a security net around the building. He then joined Billy Barnett and his men in the elevator and pressed the button to close the door.
Events at the building were relayed to Vesna and Stone via a camera in the lead sedan.
As Teddy was led into the building, Vesna asked Andreas, “What part of the building are they taking him to?”
“Basement, I think,” he said.
“You think ?”
“I don’t know for sure. I’ve never gone down there. I’ve only heard of it.”
“What’s in the basement?” Stone asked.
“Interrogation rooms. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.”
On the camera feed, Dieter motioned at the sedans for the men he thought were in them to get out and stand guard, then he entered the building. Moments later, the feed from Teddy’s mic went silent, all but confirming Andreas’s guess that Teddy was being taken to a basement.
Vesna turned on her mic and adjusted the channel to the one assigned to Strategic Services. “We need four people for perimeter watch. The rest meet me at the door in two minutes.” She shut off her mic. “Stone, you should probably stay here.”
“While I appreciate your concern, I do have a bit of experience in this kind of thing,” he said.
“Rescuing someone from an East German spy bunker while taking down those responsible?”
“Perhaps not specifically this. But close enough.”
“I can’t be held responsible.”
“Nor would I ask you to be.”
“Fine. But do me a favor and stay toward the back. I don’t want to shoot you by mistake.”
“That I can promise. I do have one question, though. Does anyone have a spare weapon?”
After getting Stone sorted and asking the other two men in her sedan to put Andreas in the trunk, Vesna approached the van at an angle that would keep its driver from seeing her.
In a crouch, she circled the front until she was right below the driver’s-side window. It was open and she could smell cigarette smoke wafting from inside.
She stood, her silencer-equipped pistol pointed at the man’s head. “Hello,” she said in German. “Don’t move.”
Either he didn’t speak German or he was an idiot. He reached down and came up with a shotgun, clearly intending to use it.
Vesna disabused him of the idea by putting a bullet through his temple.
When she reached the building entrance, Stone and the Strategic Services team were already there. One of Strauss’s people had an electronic device connected to the lock sensor pad.
The woman with the device said, “We’re good.”
Vesna yanked the door open, and she and the others hurried inside.