Grip - 18. Chapter 18

Warehouse

Max approached the warehouse door, looking at Jae who was standing by the damaged Lamborghini, the laptop on his lap as he squinted his eyes at the data on it.

“Where’s…?” he asked, shrugging deeper into his coat, trying to ward of the frigid chill in the early hours of the morning.

“She’s gone,” Jae said, shaking his head. Lifting his phone and showing Max the text message.

Take Max and Run!

“We have to do something…” Max said swallowing as he re-read the message.

“What?” Jae asked him pointedly, his bow tie hanging loose and Mister Cooper’s overcoat on, his own coat was still in the back of Vlad’s car along with his suitcases.

“We can’t just leave her…” Max insisted.

“Where is she?” Jae shrugged. “We don’t have time to wait, the Militsiya are going to be looking for that Jag of yours, and the FSB have probably got people at the airport watching for us. Did you bring your passport?”

Max nodded, mutely, reaching into his coat and pulling out his passport. “How are we going to get out of here…” he asked.

“Get Jag in here,” Jae suggested. “At least that way no one’s going to know we were here until we’re long gone. Then we get our asses to Rizhskaya Railway station. And hope some things stay the same…”

Max disappeared, returning a few moments later, driving the damaged Jag in and parking it alongside Mrs. Cooper’s crippled Lamborghini. He sat there a moment, running his gloved hands over the steering wheel lovingly. “Couldn’t we…” he began.

Jae set his jaw, shaking his head so that his glasses flashed in the dim morning light. “That car’s a weight around your neck, if you are caught in it you go to jail. You know you can’t keep it…”

Max drew a shuddering breath as he leaned back into the seat of the car, feeling the communion that he shared with it. The connection that had been the desperate run across Europe, finally ending in Russia, culminating in the desperate Grip race against Bull.

They’d won, he was the Master of the Grip, and the Arden had got him there. Parting tore at his heart, but he knew that he had no choice. None of them had a choice.

He climbed out of the car, shutting the door, leaving the keys in the ignition. Walking around to the back and pulling his backpack out, slipping it on and swallowing as he nodded.

“How long till this train?” He asked, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice.

Jae looked grim, “Two hours, we need to get to the metro and across town. Up the Orange line, I have the tickets… I’m sorry Max.”

Max waved it off, “let’s just get out of here.” He said, reassuring his friend that he would be fine. Touching his arm as they left the shadowy warehouse, closing the door on the cars, and on their lives in Moscow.

* * *

Rizhskaya Railway Station

The overhead PA droned in Russian that the next train to Riga, Latvia was preparing to depart. No one seemed to pay Max any attention at all, his jacket saw to the fact that he was ignored. Just another patrolman going about his business.

Jae kept his dark sunglasses on and a freshly bought ballcap pulled low, hiding his Asian heritage. There was an advantage to having Russian ethnic markets outside of every train station, and a suitcase full of cash. He’d used the station washroom to quickly change into cheap clothes, and balled Mister Cooper’s gun up in the jacket, tossing both into a garbage can on his way out.

“Ready?” Jae asked, a light smile on his face.

“How’s this going to work?” Max asked as they both made their way along the platform and climbed aboard the train.

“Keep your head down, we won’t be bothered till we reach the border,” Jae said as they found their berths, two beds in a four berth cabin. Both men stowing their things as they settled in. “Once we reach it, just don’t speak. The border guards on the train lines usually don’t speak English and foreigners are a big hassle for them… do you have your registration card?”

Max nodded, pulling it out of his passport.

“Hold onto it,” Jae advised. “They’re not going to look too hard, and it depends on the FSB, but they are going to be focusing on the highway and airport border controls. We might, and I mean might, get away with this.” He shook his head. “But our chances are maybe twenty percent, if we’re really lucky.”

The train lurched as the conductor collected their tickets, the young woman looking bored as she marched on, ignoring the two foreigners as much as possible while she made notations in her book.

“We’ll arrive at about midnight,” Jae said as she moved on, kicking off his shoes and rolling up into the bed, taking off his sun glasses and putting on his normal ones. He looked over at Max, who was staring almost shell-shocked out of the window as the train lurched and shuddered its way forward.

“She’ll be all right, right?” Max asked, glancing at Jae worriedly as he crossed the train berth, sitting down beside Jae. Feeling the Korean’s arms go around him.

“She did what she had to do,” Jae said firmly. “I just hope she caught him.” He squinted at his phone, dialling her number again. Shaking his head after receiving a No Answer message.

* * *

Militsiya station

Mrs. Cooper gave the Colonel a stern look. “Let them go,” she insisted again.

The Colonel was holding her phone, which showed that Jae was calling her again. He gave her a sceptical look as he set it down on the worn wooden table.

“Why?” He asked.

“You got who you wanted,” Mrs. Cooper insisted. “Max and Jae are nobodies, you can look the other way this time. You owe me that much.”

“And if I let them go?” The Colonel asked. “What will you give me?”

“A complete confession,” Mrs. Cooper said, lighting her cigarette and taking a long drag. “And I’ll also tell you where I put the memory card I took from my husband.”

The Colonel smiled.

“You are wonderfully compliant,” he purred. “Done, they can run. And you, you’ll find things are quite comfortable in Russia for someone who enjoys helping the State.”

THE END