Page 47 of Sigma

He’s been dragging this out—they’re coming.

Shit.

I have to move. “Go remove the neckties from the bodies. Touch the guns and I’ll kill you.”

He does as he’s told, moving slowly, keeping his hands visible. Brings me the ties. I use one to tie his wrists together, and another between his molars as a gag, and then I knot the two together, pulled taut.

“To the car,” I say. He heads to the nearest car. I find the release for the trunk and gesture at it. “Get in.”

He hesitates, and then awkwardly, laboriously climbs into the trunk—seeing as I’ve bound him, I have to help him. Once he’s folded into the trunk, I close it.

Now what?

Call Anselm. But I know he’d tell me to keep moving, to not stay in one place for long. So I start the car and drive away. I don’t know where I’m going—shit, I don’t even know the street signs or the rules of the road, here. But I have to get away. So I just drive. I find myself on a one-way, two-lane road. Fortunately, the speed limit is clearly marked, so I can at least go the speed limit. I just keep driving, taking turns at random. When I’ve put a few miles between me and the bodies, I find a parking spot on the side of the road. I have Kai’s phone, and Anselm’s number was the last one dialed.

It rings twice. “Ja. I am near the location.”

“Anselm, it’s me.” I swallow hard. “I’m not sure if I’ve made things worse or not, but…I, umm, sort of killed…everyone. Except one guy, who’s in the trunk.”

A pause. “You…” a huff of laughter. “Oh, Kyrie. How many?”

“Four.”

“Where are they?”

“Where we were supposed to meet you.”

“And where are you now?”

I laugh. “Not a damn clue. I just drove around randomly.”

“Can you tell me the crossroads?”

I squint, trying to read the signs—the names are both long, and complicated, but I read them to him as best as I can. “Steg-ehh-weg, and, um…Mark…Schneider…strasse? There’s a Volvo dealership down the road, and train tracks across from me.”

“I know where you are.” A pause, and I hear an engine revving. “You are a wonder.”

“I’m not sure I believe what I just did, honestly. But, I do have the one guy who seems to know anything in the trunk. Anselm, he says the person doing this is Vitaly’s grandson.”

“You are fucking joking.”

“I wish. He claims to not know for sure, that he knows the person as Apollo. But…I spoke to him. This Apollo, or Apollo Karahalios. He has Rin. And I’m scared I did the wrong thing, that I just got her killed.”

“I don’t think Rin is important to him. She’s bait.”

“That’s what Kai said. That she’s bait. That I’m bait.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“That there’s ten more guys out there. Converging on the drop, I assume. But now that I’ve skunked things up, I have no idea what’s going to happen.” Fear is taking over. “Did I fuck up, Anselm? Oh god, what did I do?”

“No, Kyrie.Nein. Be calm. You went on the offensive. It will be all right. I’m going to go to the coordinates and see if I can hunt down the remaining men. Stay where you are. I will call this number shortly.”

“What if…what if he calls?”

“Answer. Tell him if he wants you, he’s going to have to deal with you directly. Try to get a location out of him. Set up a meeting. Tell him you’ll turn yourself into him. Promise him anything.”

“He could be monitoring this line, you know. I have no idea what he’s capable of.”