Sparks by David Michael Slater

Author:David Michael Slater
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Published: 2021-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

13.

Safe

Annika wheels round, eyes wide and searching. I turn to search too, but for what?

The shower!

I rush into the tub and Annika is right behind me. Just as the front door opens, she whisks the curtain closed in front of us. We hear heavy footsteps accompanied by heavy breathing.

I realize in horror that we’ve left the laptop open, the silver food bags strewn across the table, and the burn-bag finds right out in the open. We had time only to hide ourselves!

We hear Adolf moving around, opening and closing drawers and cabinets. We hear the screech of the metal bed frame as he shoves it away from the wall, and the sound of him tossing cartons and containers out of the fridge. He’s looking for something.

The film!

Annika and I stand as motionless as we can, trying not to breathe. My legs are shaking, and I’m trying desperately not to fall out of the tub.

“Villy?” says a nasally voice with a thick accent. “Da. Okay. I am okay. Going to hospital vas vaste of time. Zey vere here, Villy. In Volfram’s junk house. Ya. Doubled back, clever girl. But gone now. Of course. I vill take care of ze boy. Girl vill not be harmed. And Villy, I think zey know you vere brothers. Ya, no matter now. Any news? Good. You stay focused on stone. I vill take care of zis mess. Vill go to house now and have orphans search for film. Ve are close, Villy. So close.”

Moments later we smell something burning. Then we hear the gurgle of water in the sink. Now footsteps. The door opens, then slams shut.

Annika and I stay in the shower for another long moment, frozen and silent, before she flings the curtain aside and steps out of the tub. The remnants of the burn bag are scattered in the sink, soaked. The newspaper clippings are ash. The laptop is gone.

“Well, that could’ve been worse,” Annika says. Before I can ask how, she shows me the key, flashing a sly smile. She had it the whole time.

I’m relieved, yet still panicking. “But Adolf’s going to Headquarters!” I cry. “What are we going to do now?”

“We’re going to get rid of him,” Annika says, as if the solution is obvious.

“How?”

“I say we just go out there and take him down. I did it once, so I can do it again.”

“I get the impression,” I say, “that you like to attack your problems head on.”

“Is there a better way?”

“Yes!” I insist. “You outwit your enemy! You fool him with disguises! You’re good at those.”

“Felix,” Annika says, “all I did was wear a wig and sunglasses to bribe an idiot.”

“Well, you do other things then. You sneak around your enemy using hidden passages, you confuse him with clever codes, you set traps! You—!”

“Read too much,” Annika says. “Look, Felix. I’m just not good with fancy planning. I mean, I don’t know, if someone won’t take a bribe—and there’s no chance in hell we’re bribing Adolf—pretty much

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