The Last Survivor (A Wilde/Chase Short Story) Read Online Free PDF

will that take?’ he demanded. ‘This guy isn’t planning to ransom her. He’s here for revenge.’
    ‘Revenge for what?’
    ‘Remember a few months back, those news stories about Nazi war criminals hiding out in Argentina?’
    Slight confusion in her voice. ‘Yeah?’
    ‘There were a lot more of ’em before me and Nina turned up.’
    Confusion turned to disbelief. ‘Wait – you found a gang of Nazi war criminals? And now one of them wants revenge on you?’
    ‘Bang on,’ Eddie told her. ‘Look, Amy, I know you and the rest of the cops’ll do what you can to find her, but I’ve dealt with these bastards before. Just tell me where he dumped the truck, and I’ll take it from there.’
    She let out a resigned sigh. ‘Okay, Eddie, okay – but on one condition. If you do find them, you
call me
, call the cops for backup. Don’t try to handle it yourself. You promise me?’
    ‘I promise,’ he said. ‘Where’s the truck?’
    Amy hesitated again, then, with some reluctance: ‘In Two Bridges.’
    He looked to the south. The unimaginatively named district was beyond Chinatown, sandwiched between the two great river crossings of the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges. ‘That’s less than a mile from here. Which road?’
    She named a street; Eddie didn’t know it, but was certain his phone’s map app could locate it. ‘Okay, Amy, thanks – I owe you. And I’ll call you if I find this arsehole.’
    ‘You’d better. Just try not to kill anyone,’ Amy said, before disconnecting.
    Eddie pocketed the phone. ‘So what are we going to do?’ Natalia asked.
    ‘I’m going to Two Bridges.’ He gave her a warning look. ‘You don’t have to come with me. It won’t be safe.’
    She shook her head. ‘No, Eddie. I want to help. After everything that you have done for me? As you said to your friend: I owe you.’
    ‘Okay,’ he said, though not without misgivings. ‘If we do find ’em, though, stay out of the way. You might get hurt.’
    ‘So might you,’ she pointed out.
    ‘Better me than you – or Nina,’ he said grimly. ‘Come on. We need to find a cab.’
    The blond man forced Nina upwards through the building at gunpoint. They ascended an emergency stairwell that lacked both guardrails and lights, dim daylight leaking in from the unfinished floors higher up. Once they had picked their way up to the fifth floor, he ordered her to leave the staircase and enter a hallway.
    She moved cautiously down the passage. Shells of apartments greeted her, empty doorways letting in light from the windows. She realised with alarm why he had brought her to this floor rather than going higher: the double-glazing would block any sounds from reaching the street five storeys below.
    He pointed into the last room. ‘Go in there,’ he said, with another jab of the gun.
    ‘Nice place,’ she muttered sarcastically as she entered. The room was all barren concrete and drywall, bare wires protruding through holes where electrical outlets would eventually be fitted. A narrow vertical gap the height of the room marked where the heating system was waiting to be installed, sections of metal ducting visible in the neighbouring apartment beyond the hole. A wooden crate held more of the sheet steel pieces.
    Nina looked towards the window, wondering if she could alert someone outside or in one of the buildings opposite—
    Her captor shoved her into a corner, hard. She almost stumbled, barely catching herself before whirling to face him. ‘Son of a bitch!’ she snarled, unleashing her anger in an attempt to cover her fear – for both herself and her unborn child. ‘Who the hell are you? What do you want with me?’
    The man kept his gun locked on her. ‘You do not remember me, Dr Wilde?’ he said. His accent was distinctly Germanic, instantly giving her a horrible answer to her first question. ‘I am surprised. We have met before … at the Enklave.’
    Even forewarned, the revelation still sent a chill of terror through her.