Authors: Steve N. Lee
Tags: #Action Suspense Thriller
Too close to this problem.
She couldn’t afford that.
Emotional attachment was the surest way to a bad ending. If a person had feelings for someone, they’d sacrifice for them. The more feelings they had, the bigger the sacrifice they’d make. Tess had to pull back. Had to remain detached. Had to be able to do what needed doing without having to consider how it might impact others.
It was feelings for someone that almost got her killed in Shanghai. Feelings which almost made her sacrifice what she’d spent nearly ten years planning.
Tess barely knew this woman. Had never even seen her daughter. This was a job. Not a favor for a friend. Not an obligation for a loved one. It was a job for a nobody. If it came down to it, she wouldn’t be putting her life on the line for a couple of strangers. Oh, no. She had far too many plans, far too much justice to administer. After what she’d been through to get this far, there would be no sacrifices today. ‘Friendship’ ended here, now. She needed to stay detached. Objective. Focused.
Elena turned around and offered her bottle of water. “If you’re tired, you can rest here while I go and ask.”
Tess declined the water with a wave of her hand. “No, I’ll come in.”
She’d do what she’d promised. Then she was gone. No matter what happened. A doctor could slice away a tumor without needing to hug the patient afterward. That was why they didn’t break down in tears if the patient died, but went on happily living their life.
Sacrifice? Sacrifice was for losers.
The restaurant on the corner was a bust. Just like everywhere on the first couple of streets they’d tried. A bistro just a few doors along was a bust too. And a hotel further along.
As they tramped into a hotel on the opposite side of the street with a lantern hanging over the entrance made of rose-colored glass, Tess wondered if they were ever going to find any sign Catalina had ever even been in Krakow.
It was strange they hadn’t. Very strange.
Elena had been adamant that this was the right area, so how come not one single person had seen Cat?
Then it dawned on Tess.
She looked at Elena waltzing over to the reception desk in a swanky hotel with tens of tiny lights scattered across the ceiling and abstract wall hangings inspired by the works of Pollack, Monet, and Kandinsky.
Any fool could see Elena was seriously ill. But who was to say her illness was purely physical? And even if Elena’s mind was as sharp as it always had been, Tess had witnessed firsthand Elena’s total disregard for the effects of mixing alcohol with her medication.
“Oh, God.” Tess drew her hands down her face. Her shoulders slumped as all the energy drained out of her like the sand falling through an hourglass.
In Shanghai, while she’d been recovering after the Leong incident, Sergei had persuaded her to down a few shots of vodka. Once the alcohol had mixed with her meds… Man, she could still picture Sergei’s dog levitating, even though she knew it hadn’t.
Maybe the reason they couldn’t find Elena’s daughter was that she’d either never come to Krakow with her mother or that she’d never even existed. Elena might be a kind old soul, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t completely whacko, living in her own drug-fueled reality.
“Oh, God, no,” Tess said under her breath. That was it. That explained everything. Elena was a nutjob who’d dragged Tess into her fantasy. A kindly old thing, but completely cracked.
Tess slumped down onto a beech stool formed from a single piece of wood cut and bent into a Z shape. It was stylish, but uncomfortable. Tess didn’t care. She had bigger problems than on what she was sitting.
She groaned quietly, long and slow. This was what happened when you felt sorry for people and tried to help them. That was why she had her rule. Why the hell was it so goddamn difficult to stick to it? No feelings. Ever. For anyone. It was simple enough.
Turning to the reception, Tess watched Elena gabbling on in Polish. Tess could imagine the stories she was telling the poor man in the white shirt and black tie. He’d probably been having a decent day up until now.
Tess slumped forward, dropping her head into her hands.
So what was the story this time? Maybe Catalina was a scientist who’d discovered how to turn water into gasoline and the Saudis had kidnapped her to retain their power through the world’s dependence on oil.
From what appeared faraway in the distance, Tess heard a voice, but she was too deep in thought to register what was actually being said.
“Oh, Christ.” Tess shook her head. What was she going to do? Okay, she’d feign a migraine. Excuse herself and head back to her hotel. By tomorrow, Elena would have dreamed up another crisis and roped in another stranger to help her solve the mystery.
That faraway voice spoke again. But this time, something clicked and Tess looked up.
Bright-eyed, Elena beckoned her.
Tess trudged over. She did not want to be dragged any deeper into this whacko’s fantasyland.
Elena beamed. “Marek saw Cat.”
Just like a cartoon character’s, Tess’s jaw all but hit the floor.
Elena continued, “Around nine twenty yesterday.”
Tess heard the words, understood them perfectly, but still couldn’t grasp their meaning.
“What?” Maybe she’d misheard.
Marek spoke reasonable English, but with the usual Eastern European accent which meant a lot of
R
rolling and guttural consonants.
“Yes,” he said, “she come asking for work, but we have no work, so she go.”
Tess pointed to the photo on the ebony-colored counter in front of them. “This woman? You saw this woman? Yesterday?”
“Yes, I remember because, er, well, she very pretty girl, you know.”
“At nine twenty?”
“About.” Marek shrugged. “I cannot be certain. Maybe, er, nine thirty.”
Tess looked at Elena. The woman’s drawn, gray face suddenly burst with more life, more color than Tess had ever seen.
Just as emotional involvement created problems, so too did detachment. While detachment was necessary to a degree, it had to be tempered by compassion. If Tess couldn’t temper hers, she’d be just one more asshole blundering through the world, blaming everyone else for everything that was going wrong, while not contributing one damn thing to making it any better. And if there was one thing which was certain it was that the world didn’t need one more asshole.
They thanked Marek and headed for the exit, Tess ambling slowly as the revelation sank in, Elena striding out as if she’d had a shot of adrenaline.
But Tess turned back. “Excuse me.”
Marek looked up.
“Do you know Jacek Grabowski?”
“No. Sorry.”
“That’s okay. Thanks.”
Outside, while Elena bounced along as if going on a first date with a man she’d had a secret crush on for years, Tess struggled with how she’d condemned Elena so easily. Guilt gnawed in her gut. Her instincts had told her Elena was good people – why the devil hadn’t she listened instead of overthinking the situation? She’d have to make amends for that, or it would continue to eat away at her.
At the next place, they drew another blank, but one place after that confirmed that Cat had been there sometime between 8:45 and 9:15. As the times were getting earlier the further along the street they went, it looked like Cat had started at the end of this street and worked her way down toward the square.
They continued along the street.
At the other side of Planti Park, a small café advertising what sounded utterly revolting but probably tasted absolutely delicious – an all-day English Breakfast Fry-up – confirmed the theory. Cat had called there around 8:45.
That was the only confirmation they needed. They headed back to the main square. Cat had left the phone message for her mom around 10:00. She’d obviously explored a different street between 9:30 and 10:00. If they could find which one, they’d be one huge step closer to discovering what had happened to her.
As they neared the main square once more opening, Elena said, “Have I said something wrong, Tess?”
“No, I, er… No.”
“You’re very quiet.”
“Don’t worry. That’s just me. I suppose I’m so used to traveling alone, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have someone to talk to.”
“Oh, thank heavens. I was starting to think I’d upset you with what I said earlier.”
“No. No, it’s okay. It just got me thinking about things I shouldn’t. Not when I need to focus on finding Cat.”
Elena covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be a distraction. Please, anytime you need to, just tell me to shut the hell up – that is how you say it, isn’t it – shut the hell up?”
Tess flashed her a reassuring smile. “Yes, that’s how you say it. And yes, I will, don’t worry.”
“Good.”
Elena took a sip of water and then offered it to Tess. She took it and shared a drink with the lady.
‘Shut the hell up’. If only Tess had a switch that let her make her own mind shut the hell up.
Back in the square, Tess pointed to the next street. “Logically, Cat would’ve taken that one next.”
“Yes, she’d have followed her plan so she didn’t have to double back later to catch places she’d skipped.”
“Are you still feeling okay?” Tess said. “You’re not tired yet?” They’d been walking for hours, and while the pace had been gentle, they’d still been on their feet the whole time.
Slapping Tess playfully on the arm, Elena said, “Don’t you start. I get enough of that from Cat.”
Tess pointed to Szewska Street. “Shall we?”
With a greater sense of urgency, they marched toward Szewska. Tess could already see the first place they’d have to try – Hotel Grand Krakow.
The automatic doors opened and they walked in. The fireplace was impressive. A coat of arms carved into the stone chimney breast displayed a crown atop three towers and an eagle inside a doorway – the symbol of the city.
At the reception desk stood a snooty-looking woman with her hair in a bun.
Placing her photo of Cat on the desk, Elena launched into her spiel.
The snooty woman eyed them both up and down with a look on her face as if one of them had silently broken wind, then she said something in Polish while shaking her head.
They thanked her and left. Outside, a small café across the road with round tables on the sidewalk captured Elena’s attention. Undeterred by the minor setback in the hotel, Elena was so eager to glean more insights on Cat that, without looking for traffic, she launched herself toward the café.
Zipping silently along, a group of young teenagers on Segways flew down the street straight at Elena.
Tess darted into the road. Grabbed Elena around the waist. Whisked her across to the other sidewalk as the guys sped by.
The sudden movement proved too much for Elena. She coughed. Then coughed harder. And then harder still. Tess pictured a lung flying out and landing on the sidewalk at any second.
She guided Elena over to the only free table outside the café and eased her onto one of the chrome-finish seats.
Bent over her knees, Elena shuddered as she coughed into both hands.
Tess took a fresh bottle of water out of her black backpack, opened it and offered it to Elena.
Elena tried to take it, but was coughing so much, she couldn’t.
Tess held the bottle to her lips.
Elena did her best to drink but just splashed water all over the ground. She put her precious photo of Cat on the table and took hold of the bottle herself. Spluttering out as much water as she drank, she managed to down a few drops.
A gust of wind blew Cat’s photo off the table. It tumbled through the air and landed under a table a few feet away. Tess turned to retrieve it, but a woman with long blond hair picked it up. However, she didn’t hand it back immediately, as someone would normally do. Instead, she glanced at it, then paused to scrutinize Elena, then glanced back to the photo, and finally passed it to Tess. The incident only lasted a moment, but it was long enough for it to be noticeable.
Tess thanked her in Polish. “
Dziekuje
.”
The woman nodded, then returned her gaze to Elena, who appeared to have struggled through and had managed to get her coughing fit under control.
“Are you okay?” Tess held her trembling hand. “If you need to rest, we can take a taxi back to your hostel.”
With the occasional splutter between words, Elena said, “But we’re so close. We can’t stop now. We can’t.”
“You’re sure?”
Having a last cough, she nodded.
Tess took out her phone. “You know, if we lose this” – she held up the photo of Cat – “we’re completely screwed.” She placed the photo flat on the table and then took a shot of it with her phone.
The blonde woman stared. But not at Tess – at the photo on the table.
Tess took another couple of shots to be safe, then turned to the blonde. She held up her phone with Cat on it. “Excuse me, but have you seen this woman?”