Chapter 86
86
My court-appointed lawyer wasn’t good for much, but at least he got me a couple more phone calls.
The first one was to Rachel.
I dreaded it, but it couldn’t be helped. She worked at MI6. If anyone could get me out of this, she could. Even if that wasn’t an option, she could still wire me the money to get a better lawyer – one who spoke English.
I’d made it a habit to memorize her phone numbers as they changed from month to month. It was standard practice in Special Forces when given info you could not afford to lose.
Memorizing her number had been a pain in the ass since it changed every four to six weeks – but at least I knew it.
So I was beyond horrified when I dialed the number and heard the recorded message, “The number you have called has been disconnected. If you believe this is in error, please hang up and try again p>
“No… no,” I whispered.
I hung up and called again. Maybe I had misdialed – maybe my fingers had slipped –
“The number you have called has been disconnected. If you believe this is in – ”
“NO!” I yelled as I slammed down the receiver.
Every cop in the room turned towards me with their hands on their pistols.
“Scusi,” I said hoarsely, then set about dialing every number she’d had over the last 12 months.
Almost every single one of them was disconnected.
The two that weren’t disconnected were answered by people who told me, “Wrong number p>
SHIT.
Rachel’s cell number had only changed three weeks ago. She wasn’t due for another one for at least a week.
If she’d known her phone number was about to be changed, she would have told me before I left.
Had Alistair changed it so I couldn’t reach her? Because of his goddamn ‘firewall p>
He’d decided to burn me.
To make sure there was no one I could turn to.
Little did he know there was still one person I could count on.
I dialed and prayed that I wasn’t about to get fucked on this one, too.
A cheerful pothead’s voice answered. “Hello p>
THANK GOD.
“Gunnar, this is Lars,” I said in Swedish. I figured the cops were probably taping the phone call, so they would figure out what I said eventually – but I didn’t have to make it easy for them.
“Heyyyy, my brother! Are you in Italy right now? Cuz on caller ID it says – ”
“Yes, I am. And I got arrested for having some guns, so now I’m looking at 6 or 7 years in the slammer p>
“Oh SHIT p>
“Yeah. Listen, man – I need your help in a big way p>
“Anything I can do for you, brother, I’ll do p>
“I need you to find an attorney in Como, Italy – near Lake Como – who speaks English. Or a lawyer in Milan, that’ll do fine. I need you to hire them to represent me – Lars Andersen. Got that? Lars ANDERSEN p>
Gunnar knew something was up, but he didn’t say anything. “…okay p>
“And can you please front me the money? I’ll pay you back – I hate to ask, but – ”
“No problem, brother. I got you p>
“One other thing. I need you to find Rachel. I need you to track her down p>
“Um… yeah… remember I tried to do that one time, and it was impossible p>
“Gunnar, I NEED you to find her and let her know what’s happening. Please. Can you do that for me p>
“…I can try p>
“That’s all I can ask p>
The cop sitting near me made a circling motion with his finger like Wrap it up.
“They’re telling me I’ve got to go, Gunnar, so please – find that lawyer. AND Rachel. I really need your help, man p>
“I got you, bro. It’s gonna be okay p>
“Thank you p>
The cop tapped the phone like he was going to press the receiver down and end the call.
“I’ve got to go – thanks again, Gunnar. I owe you my life p>
“Sure thing, Lars – stay strong – ”
The cop pressed the button and hung up the call.