Chapter 37: Dead End
E80 Highway, Towards French-Italian Border.
The rain had finally stopped completely. Wet asphalt reflected the blurry streetlights. The black Maybach was in critical condition. Its V12 engine spewed thick white smoke that smelled of burning rubber. The front left tire was gone, leaving only the steel rim grinding directly against the asphalt, sparking with every rotation.
Xavier held the vibrating steering wheel. He saw an old sign: Rest Area 500m.
"We switch vehicles ahead," ordered Xavier flatly.
Xavier swerved the car to the right, taking it off the main road toward a pitch-black rest area that used to be a gas station.
The car stopped behind an abandoned minimarket building. They got out immediately. Their appearance was chaotic. Agatha's red gown was torn, Frans's shirt was scorched, and Xavier had dried blood on his temple.
Xavier walked to the trunk. He pried it open with a tire iron. He dragged Petrov's remaining body out and dropped him onto the muddy ground.
Petrov fell like a wet sack. His kneecaps, shattered by Xavier at the harbor, made it impossible for him to stand. The shock of the recent explosion added to his internal injuries.
Petrov did not smile. He cried.
His body shook violently from shock and pain. Tears mixed with blood and snot wet his dirty face.
"Mercy..." squeaked Petrov. His voice broke with terror. "Don't kill me... please..."
Agatha stepped closer, standing over him barefoot. "You are still alive so stop crying, it is very noisy."
"Please..." sobbed Petrov, trying to crawl backward with his elbows, but his paralyzed legs wouldn't move. "I don't want to die... I don't want to die..."
Xavier stared at him coldly. "What is Luigi's plan and why is he hunting my wife?"
Petrov shook his head in panic. "I don't know! I swear to God, I don't know! He said I failed... He... He... Discarded me."
Petrov began to wail, realizing he had been betrayed.
"He discarded me! He promised to make me an elite squad member if I obeyed his orders! He lied! He wanted to kill me!"
Agatha crouched down, grabbing Petrov's shirt collar.
"If you don't want to die, answer me," hissed Agatha. "Where is Luigi hiding?"
Petrov stared at Agatha with wide eyes. He wanted to answer. He desperately wanted to answer so he wouldn't be killed. But his mouth only opened and closed soundlessly.
"I... I don't know," whispered Petrov hopelessly.
Agatha shook his body. "DO NOT LIE!"
"I don't know!" screamed Petrov in frustration. "He never told me! We only communicated via one-way satellite phone! He never told me! We only met once when my mission failed!"
Agatha released her grip roughly. Petrov fell back into the mud, crying uncontrollably, mourning his fate of being thrown away like trash.
"He is useless," said Agatha, standing up and looking at Xavier. "He really doesn't know anything. Luigi threw him away."
"Good," replied Xavier. He drew his pistol. "If he is useless, why should he live?"
"Wait, Xav!"
Frans jumped down from the hood of the old SUV he had just hotwired.
"Don't shoot yet," prevented Frans. He ran closer holding a cracked tablet. "His mouth might be useless, but his hand is still usable."
Frans crouched down, pulling Petrov's broken left arm. A digital military watch was strapped there with a cracked screen, but the red indicator light was still blinking.
"What is that?" asked Xavier.
"Heart rate monitor," explained Frans. "Luigi is monitoring whether this bait is alive or dead from his headquarters. As long as the heart beats, this device sends a signal."
Agatha's eyes narrowed. "Trace the signal back."
"I am trying," Frans connected a data cable from the tablet to Petrov's watch. "If the signal is active, I can find the receiver server coordinates."
Petrov looked at Frans hopefully. "Track him... Track that bastard... So you can kill him..."
Frans typed quickly on the tablet screen. "Accessing gateway... standard encryption... got it!"
The tablet screen displayed a digital map. A red line began to form, tracing the signal path toward a coordinate point in the mountains.
"A little more..." muttered Frans. "Come on... get the location..."
Suddenly, the red indicator light on Petrov's watch died.
The tablet screen turned black, then text appeared SIGNAL LOST. DEVICE DISCONNECTED.
"Damn it!" shouted Frans. He slammed the tablet onto the car hood.
"What happened?" asked Agatha.
"He cut it," answered Frans with heavy breath. "Luigi cut it from his end."
Frans pointed at the dead watch on Petrov's hand.
"Luigi realized Petrov was still alive because the heartbeat was stable after the explosion. He knew the plan failed. So he manually disabled this watch's access from the central server. The line is totally dead."
Silence.
Their last hope vanished.
On the ground, Petrov laughed discordantly amidst his sobs.
"He threw me away..." moaned Petrov. "He really threw me away..."
Agatha looked around the dark rest area. No clues. No direction.
"We are at a dead end," said Agatha softly.
"Our witness knows nothing, and our digital trail has just been wiped," summarized Xavier coldly.
"And now Luigi knows we survived," added Frans gloomily. "He must be sending a cleanup team or preparing to flee to another hole."
The situation turned completely. They were blind in the enemy's territory.
"We cannot stay here," decided Xavier. He holstered his pistol. "We have to move before they come for us."
"Where to?" asked Agatha. "We have no destination."
"Toward Milan," answered Xavier. "We find a hiding place first. We need cars, weapons, and a new plan."
"What about him?" Agatha pointed at Petrov who was still crying on the ground.
Xavier looked at Petrov with a gaze devoid of mercy.
"Bring him," ordered Xavier.
"What for?" asked Frans. "He is trash."
"Because he is the only evidence of Luigi's crimes we have right now," answered Xavier. "Put him in the trunk. Let's go."
Frans and Xavier dragged Petrov's struggling body and threw him into the back of the old SUV.
The car engine roared roughly. Frans stepped on the gas, taking them out of the silent rest area.
They drove in silence, piercing through the pitch-black night without knowing where to go, while their enemy laughed in a place unreachable.