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Suddenly, the corridors exploded with shouts and threats as masked, armed, plain clothes officers of the Berlin Police’s ‘Spezialeinheit’ descended upon them. Joachim turned and sped towards the fire exit which opened as he got there; instant violence took him to the floor. Otto complied and was handcuffed.
The unmarked vehicles of the special unit had slipped into place unnoticed. Behind the buildings, officers accessed kitchens ushering staff to safety, reception desks were taken over with only seconds to spare. When Joachim and Otto entered the hotels, the ‘watchers’ outside were swiftly and quietly detained then isolated.
Gallagher waited to hear Felix’s voice before he responded to the knock. Astrid slipped into a waiting car and was driven away.
“You ready to go?” Felix asked.
Gally nodded and dragged the holdall off the bed. He fixed Felix with an enquiring eye. “How did you manage that so quickly?”
His companion grinned. “Prior planning prevents piss poor performance. I contacted a couple of friends as soon as I got here. All sorted out over a few beers. They agreed to standby for a last-minute job.”
Gally looked a little sceptical. “That was very kind of them.”
Felix affected a serious face.”It was, wasn’t it? Mind you they owed me a big, big favour.”
In the small car park at the rear, Felix introduced Gallagher to a brown leather jacket. Tall with slightly greying collar-length hair, the man nodded, extended his hand and, in almost unaccented English, said, “Tom Schneider, glad we could help you out. My driver here will take you to the airport. That all went relatively unnoticed. We’ll warn the staff not to say anything but you can’t always fully control these things. If we’re asked we’ll say it was an anti-racketeering raid.”
At the airport, after the driver dropped him off, Gally called Deacon and arranged to be picked up in Munich. Deek was already there having driven out the night before. Gally headed for the gate.
Schneider’s driver entered the terminal and watched from a discreet distance. When his former passenger had departed, he approached the check-in desk and showed his ID.
In Munich, Deek was outside to greet Gallagher. “Your gun’s under the seat,” he said as he drove them away in the car bearing diplomatic plates.
Gally retrieved the PPKL and spare magazines, safety checked the weapon and pulled the pancake holster from his holdall.
Deek glanced at him. “Where we going now?”
Gally zipped the bag back up and dumped it on the back seat. “Did you bring it?”
Deacon pointed to the glove box. “It’s there.”
As he pulled in and turned on the hazard warning lights, Gally unfolded the map. “Right, Deek,” he said as he put his finger on a patch of green. “Take me there, old chap.”