Hunter's Rain Read Free Page A

come, Miss Bloomfield. Be nice. She’s only worried that you may have a…bad influence on Jens. Remember when she first met you, you were pretending to be a journalist. Now that we know you’re CIA…”
    “ Not CIA, Pappi, as I’ve been repeating since I first met you guys.”
    “Whatever.”
    “So what’s this happy news she’s going to get?”
    “In his infinite wisdom,” Pappenheim began, “ the Great White Shark…”
    “Your beloved boss Direktor Kaltendorf…”
    “Not beloved by anyone here,” Pappenheim corrected, “and still a probationary Direktor …”
    “ His bosses still don’t trust him to do the job? They gave him a special police unit to play with…”
    “It isn’t quite like that. Well… perhaps it is. Whatever their reasons, it’s a way of keeping him on his toes, which has a ricochet effect on us. He gets in our hair, as you know.”
    “Do I!” Carey Bloomfield said with the air of a veteran.
    “So in his infinite wisdom,” Pappenheim continued, “he decided we needed an extra kommissar in our little part of the unit. We decided to head him off at the pass, before he could dump one on us.”
    “Berger,” Carey Bloomfield said.
    Pappenheim nodded. “She’s fully qualified for the job. She’s already done the three years’ study and passed the first and second examinations, with excellent results.”
    “So she’s really just waiting for an appointment.”
    “Yes. And she’ll be highly recommended. As yet, she knows nothing about it.”
    “Will Kaltendorf let you?”
    “There are ways,” Pappenheim said dangerously.
    She gave him a searching look. “Why do I think there’s more to this than you’re telling me?
    “So how’s the brand new lieutenant-colonel?” Pappenheim asked.
    Carey Bloomfield’s expression said it all. “Nice change of tack, Pappi. The brand new lieutenant-colonel is fine, and hopes to keep the rank. So I hope you’re not getting me into any trouble. They can take the silver oak leaves back as quickly as they gave them.”
    “Nothing you can’t handle.”
    “Is that a compliment? Or should I worry?”
    “You should not worry.”
    “ That worries me already.” She gave him another searching look. “And did I just hear you say you got shot ?”
    He nodded. “Sadly…yes. One night, someone jogged up behind me and put a single, silenced shot into my back. It was a powerful gun. Threw me to the ground…”
    “Jesus!”
    “My thoughts at the time, were less pious. Luckily, for a reason I will never know, I’d decided to wear a new body armour that I had kept in a cupboard for months. Hate wearing the things; as does Jens. But this one is very light and very strong, for wearing under your clothes. It was a fine evening. I decided to walk home and thought if I didn’t get fed up with wearing the thing by the time I got there, perhaps I wouldn’t send it back.”
    Carey Bloomfield was staring at him. “You’re kidding. And it saved your life.”
    “I would not be here talking with you. The shooter was a pro. It was a clean, fast shot. He fired on the run, and never paused. He ran past as I fell, and kept going. He was so sure of the kill, he never looked back. Lucky for me he was so sure of himself. He might have considered a second shot – to the head – just to make certain. In which case, goodbye Pappi.”
    “Jesus,” she said again. “My God, Pappi. How could you have been taken like this? Like a rookie. You, of all people.”
    “I’ve been annoyed with myself ever since. We’d been having some…exciting times. Plenty going on, and still is. I let my guard down. That’s not an excuse. I would not accept it from one of my people, so I can hardly accept it from myself. It was stupid.”
    “We all have off-days.” She shook her head slowly, amazed he had survived. “As you’ve said, lucky for you your guardian angel didn’t.“
    “Yes.” Pappenheim gave a rueful smile. “Definitely working overtime that