Zero Hour Part 31

In the meantime, I'd put that whole side of things on the back burner. It was getting more crowded by the moment.

We walked for another thirty minutes. We crossed wider waterways and parks, and under elevated dual carriageways. Our surroundings became increasingly residential. Trendy apartment blocks sprang up, with cycle lanes and neatly parked cars. We were back in civilization but there was no way I was taking trams, buses or taxis. Munic.i.p.al transport had CCTV. Taxi drivers might remember something. The police operation that had almost netted us was not going to shut up shop for weeks.

A shiny green phone booth materialized in front of us. At last I could make the call.

Anna answered immediately. I could hear the tension in her voice. 'When will you be here? I-'

'Stop, stop! I need you to come and pick us up. Can you do that? There's been a drama. Can you get a car?'

'Yes.'

'Get a car with sat nav, and meet me.'

'Do you still have her?'

'No, it was a f.u.c.k-up. But I have Lily. You got a pen?'

I waited a few seconds as the information sank in but she stayed completely switched on. She knew now wasn't the time to go wobbly.

'Go.'

'I'm at the junction, and I'll spell it, of H-e-t new word D-ok and K-o-p-e-r-s-l-a-g-e-r-i-j. The street names have one zero two one on them - that must be the area code. It's on the north side of the bay. You got that? It's full of smart flats, gra.s.sy open s.p.a.ces and a smart green telephone box.'

'Got it.'

I listened as she read everything back. I checked the road sign again, making sure the spelling was correct. 'Quick as you can, Anna, without speeding.'

'Is she OK?'

'She's fine. The other girls are safe. But you need to call off Lena's friends. No need to meet up. Angeles won't be needing them.'

The silence hung between us as she realized what I'd just said.

'OK, sure. I'll call.' I could hear her moving now, the door to her room closing behind her and her voice beginning to echo in the hotel hallway.

'It's probably going to take you about thirty minutes this time of night. I'll call you to check how you're doing. OK?'

'See you soon.'

'Anna ...'

'Yes?'

I hesitated. 'I can't wait to see you.'

She thought about it for a second. 'So get off the phone.'

26

For almost the whole hour and a half that we waited under the dual carriageway sirens wailed along the tarmac above us. The park was deserted.

I'd called Anna from a phone box when I said I would. She was on her way.

We sat shivering against a tree and I had to hold Lily in my arms to keep her warm. Her head was on my chest.

'Lily, what happened? Why did you leave home?'

She didn't move. Maybe she felt safe where she was.

'I had to get away.'

'Had to?'

She shrugged. 'It seems so stupid after what has happened. My father betrayed me. And he betrayed the protest movement.'

'After the election?'

Her head moved on my chest. 'You have to realize how wonderful it was for us to finally know democracy. For one day, for one bright shining day, it seemed as though the power was in the people's hands. We, the students, were going to be part of the solution. Not part of the problem, like my father.'

'He liked it just the way it was?'

I felt her head nod slowly.

'The Communists rigged the election. They bought everyone off - using money from people like my father. He just thinks of himself and his business. I wanted to leave - I wanted to hurt him just as he hurt me.'

'Why Christiania?'

'I read about it for a sociology cla.s.s last year. Communal life. Utopia. It sounded like a good place to escape to.'

She dug into her jeans and brought out the Facebook picture. She opened it up as if I'd never seen it before. 'But he changed that.'

'Was he your boyfriend?'

'Sort of.' She paused. 'He wanted s.e.x but I wanted to wait until I married.'

Her hand dropped and let go of the paper. I had to grab it before it blew away.

'He said he knew someone in Copenhagen, a friend of his father's. He said he would talk to him and he would help me there.'

I folded the picture and shoved it into my jeans.

'Viku sold sold me ... How could I have been so stupid?' She craned her neck to get eye-to-eye. 'I met the old man. He was kind to me. He bought me something to eat and we talked of how wonderful Christiania was and how happy I was going to be there. But then he took me to a house where he said I could stay.' me ... How could I have been so stupid?' She craned her neck to get eye-to-eye. 'I met the old man. He was kind to me. He bought me something to eat and we talked of how wonderful Christiania was and how happy I was going to be there. But then he took me to a house where he said I could stay.'

She didn't cry, just stared down at the ground, trying to close her mind to what had happened next.

'It's OK, Lily, I know the rest. But you are safe now.'

She replaced her head on my chest. I felt her jaw clench. Safety was something that belonged to another life.

'My father, did he send you?'

'Your dad knows nothing about it. One of his friends did.'

She scoffed. 'One of his murderer friends?'

'What makes you say that?'

'He and all the others who make weapons, they are killers.'

'I thought your father was in electronics?'

It was worth confirming what I thought I had worked out.

'I don't just mean missiles and tanks. Computers and radar are weapons too, any equipment that helps to kill and maim.' She sat up. She was getting quite animated. 'A military computer is as lethal as a bomb. Making military computers is a trade in misery.'

'The people your father sell his computers to - isn't he just meeting a demand?'

Her eyes blazed. 'A pimp pimp meets a demand. A meets a demand. A drug-dealer drug-dealer meets a demand. What is the difference between trafficking heroin or women and exporting weapons, except that weapons are more dangerous? They're all merchants of death. My eyes were opened to these things at university. I do not want to profit from his trade any more. That is why I left. Look where it got me.' meets a demand. What is the difference between trafficking heroin or women and exporting weapons, except that weapons are more dangerous? They're all merchants of death. My eyes were opened to these things at university. I do not want to profit from his trade any more. That is why I left. Look where it got me.'

I thought she was going to cry.

'Please do not tell him what has happened to me.'

I gave her a hug. 'He'll get nothing from me.'

'Thank you. What is your name?'

'Nick.'

'Thank you, Nick.'

We lapsed into silence. Lily was either asleep or almost there. Her breathing was slow and stable.

Another couple of sirens buzzed along the dual carriageway at warp speed. I consulted Mr G-Shock. 'We've got to go.' I stroked the top of her head.

She stirred. 'She is here?'

'Should be by now.'

We walked back out across the park, the traffic still zooming backwards and forwards overhead but now behind us. What I was looking for was a silver Opel estate. The start of the reg was 62-LH.

I spotted it parked just past the junction, and then the silhouette of Anna's head. There was no time for casual contact drills. I wanted to get in the car and go.

As we got nearer, I heard the clunk of the central locking. I opened the back door for Lily and I got into the front. Anna backed out and moved off without saying a word. The sat nav gave her a string of English instructions. I caught a hint of Bulgari that made me feel a whole lot better.

Anna checked her rear-view. She didn't want to talk yet. She wanted to get out of the area. I looked at her face and gave her a smile. It wasn't returned. She wasn't impressed with life right now.

It was only when we hit the dual carriageway that Anna broke the silence. 'Lily ... Can I call you Lily?' She didn't wait for a response. 'My name is Anna.' She gobbed off in Russian.

Lily gasped, and then almost choked with emotion. Her hands whirred like she was signing for the deaf. She leant in towards the front seat, her lips on overload. The only word I could understand was 'Angeles'.

'Stop, Lily. Stop.' I turned to Anna. 'All she knows is that Angeles is dead. I'll tell you everything as soon as we get to the hotel. But not now, yeah?'

27

We parked in a multi-storey at Schiphol. Lily had crashed out on the back seat. I felt like doing the same. The heater had been working overtime.

Anna showed me her Radisson door card. The room number was scrawled on its folder. 'Fifth floor.'

'Which way are the lifts when you walk into Reception - left, right, straight?'

'Turn right as soon as you go in, past the reception desk.'

'I'll give you and Lily fifteen minutes, yeah?'

Lily yawned, stretched and sat up. She must have sensed that we were no longer moving.

I looked over my shoulder. 'We can't all go in together. Anna and you go first. I'll come after.'

Her hand was already on the pa.s.senger-door handle.

'Lily, it's OK.' I reached over and gripped the leg of her jeans. 'You stay with me. We'll go together.'

Anna cut in: 'You two go in first, and I will follow. Is that all right with you, Lily?' She pa.s.sed me the door card.

We climbed out of the Opel and headed down the stairs of the multi-storey, arm in arm again. The stairwell didn't stink of last week's p.i.s.s like it would have done back home. 'Walk normally, Lily. Smile at me if I smile at you. It's just like we're staying here and we're heading back to the room for the night. Is that OK?'

She knew as well as I did that the desk staff would think she was a wh.o.r.e I'd picked up for the night. I was banking on the night shift not expecting to recognize any faces, and not wanting to embarra.s.s me by checking. This was Amsterdam, after all.

We walked into the empty foyer. In case there were eyes, I fiddled conspicuously with Anna's door card and turned immediately right, as if I knew where I was going. I strode towards the lifts and pressed the up b.u.t.ton. I studied the card again for good measure.

It was after midnight and a few people still propped up the bar. Flat-screen TVs above the optics showed pictures of fire fighters at the silo. The roof had collapsed. Two fireboats pumped water over the smouldering ruin. It was drenched in spotlights from police boats alongside. People in high-vis clothing swarmed all over the area.

I held Lily close as we waited. She'd seen the screens. A tear finally did roll down her cheek.

'It's OK, Lily. You're safe. Everyone is safe.'