Page 38 of Wild Oblivion

“Do you have any idea who tried to kidnap him this afternoon?”

“I have some ideas, but quite frankly, this is all a little hard to process.” I caught her up to speed on everything.

“So, that’s why you asked me about von Markov.”

I nodded. “Klaus could have hired these people to kidnap your grandfather, or it could be someone else entirely. A foreign intel agency or some other hostile group.”

She tried to wrap her mind around it. “Look, I’ve heard so many stories over the years, I don’t know what to believe. I always chalked it up to pure fiction.”

“Well, somebody thinks the technology is real.”

She considered it for a moment.

“Are you sure you don’t know anything about the Vrilkristall?”

Her lips tightened, and she shook her head. She probably wouldn’t tell me if she did know anything.

“I think that’s what they are after, along with whatever information he’s got in his head,” I said. “I’ve seen people do crazy things for what they believe in.”

“I’m sure you have.” She paused, concern tensing her face. “I’ve got a flight out tomorrow. I don’t really feel comfortableleaving him right now. But I don’t think there’s enough time to get my flight covered.”

“He should be safe here. I’m pretty sure we weren’t followed. Unless someone has tapped your phone, nobody knows he’s here.”

“Thank you for doing this.”

“It’s what we do.”

“I hope this isn’t too much of an imposition.”

I dismissed it. “It’s no big deal.”

Jack stepped into the galley. “It’s time. We gotta jet.”

“You go ahead,” I said. “I’ll stay and look after him.”

“If you’ve got somewhere to be, I can stay here with him,” Giselle said. “That is, if you trust me with your boat. I mean, we might be in the Bahamas by the time you get back.”

We laughed.

She might have been serious.

18

Jack convinced us it would be a good idea to get Henrik out for a bit. Giselle went along with it. We loaded into her white BMW SUV, and she drove us across town to the warehouse district.

She found a place to park close to the entrance. We hopped out and assisted Henrik. He was getting around a little better now that more of the sedative had filtered out of his system. He was surprisingly spry for his age. I figured the kidnappers had used propofol or some other fast-acting sedative that would process out quickly with minimal side effects.

The usual band of miscreants loitered out front, smoking cigarettes and drinking beer. The long-haired rockers wore skinny jeans and looked at Henrik with amusement.

“Never too old to rock ‘n’ roll,” one of them said as we approached. He high-fived JD, and we made introductions.

The guys couldn’t take their eyes off Giselle. She wasn’t the typical kind of girl you’d see around the practice studio. Shedidn't have raven hair, heavy eyeliner, and multiple piercings. She looked as wholesome as apple pie. Mouthwatering.

One of the miscreants handed Henrik a joint, and he took a toke before I had a chance to stop it. Weed was still illegal in the state for recreational purposes.

"What are you doing?" I asked, looking at him like he was insane.

“It’s good for the pressure in my eyes,” he said, handing the joint back to the miscreant.