It was 2pm Sunday and I had just had a bath in an apartment that Mary referred to as a ‘safe house’. I was taken to the apartment in a police car at 4 am and slept until Mary had woken me 10 hours later, just before she left to collect Cherry from the hospital.
When we had emerged from the derelict building, earlier that morning, we almost ran into a police car that was driving around searching for us. Moments later Mary arrived with dozens of officers all of whom had been searching for us. An ambulance whisked Cherry away to hospital, while Mary escorted me to the ‘safe’ flat, where I gave her a brief outline of what had happened to us.
I had just wrapped myself in a white fluffy towel and sat down on the sofa to watch TV, when I heard the front door open and familiar voices talking.
“Beth!” It was Cherry’s rasping voice.
“In here babe,” I shouted, standing ready to greet my friend.
She came rushing through the doorway and threw herself into my arms, almost knocking me back onto the sofa. We clasped each other tightly, but desisted from kissing with Mary hovering close by.
“You look great babe,” I said to my excitable friend.
She was back to her bubbly self, but I could tell she was still in a lot of pain.
“You too,” she countered, looking around the room, taking in the surroundings. “This place is alright, but when can we go back to the hostel?”
“When we’ve caught the guy who calls himself Jürgen,” Mary said, taking a seat on the sofa.
The detective had brought a folder with her and after laying it on the coffee table, pulled out photographs of two men. We both instantly recognised them as Anton, the dark haired driver and Viktor the fair-haired thug who had beaten us with the rubber tubing.
“That’s the drivers!” I declared. “Have you got them?”
“The car they used was spotted and stopped. They’re in custody, but we won’t charge them until after Monday night.”
“Monday night? Do you still expect me to go to the appointment on Monday, after all that’s happened?” I asked, incredulously.
“It’s up to you. If you want to get this guy off the streets, then we still need your help. And remember Beth, it’s all down to you two that we have two of the criminals already in jail,” Mary said.
She removed a small booklet from her folder and handed it to me. It was an invitation to an event called ‘The Hoffenberg Rubber Ball’.
I flipped through the colourful brochure and immediately got the gist of what the ball was about. The picture that interested me, was of one of the ‘rubber doll’ maids. The girl was clad in pink rubber from head to toe, with a rubber hood covering her face, rubber stockings and a flouncy short skirt that flared out from her waist. She was standing in a brightly lit hall, with party revellers all around her, dressed in various kinky rubber outfits.
“Four officers have invitations, and you’ll be introduced to them before you go. We will arrest the guy as soon as you identify him.” Mary watched me carefully. “It’s a big event, so we’re not going to take any chances. Our team will be there from the start, dressed appropriately and they’ll keep close to you. A swat team will be standing by if he tries to escape.”
“What makes you think he’ll be there?” I asked.
It’s the only event on that night, so if he plans to go to the venue, then he’ll be at the ball,” Mary explained.
“Jürgen won’t show up there when he finds out that I’m not dead, surely?”
“We decided to supress the news of your escape. Instead, a news report’s been put out, that two bodies were discovered and the police are baffled as to who had committed the murders.”
Having been on the end of a police bungle once, I wasn’t sure If I could trust them again, but my revulsion and hatred for the murderous scumbag drove me on to want to help catch him.
“What about Wolfgang down at the agency?” I asked. “He’s going to be furious when he finds out about this.”
“Jack has been to see him and basically he’s given you a few days off to recover. He understands the situation, but wants to see Cherry back working her patch by Thursday night. He’s helped Interpol out a couple of times before and was relieved to hear that neither of you are police officers.”
Cherry tried to dissuade me from doing it, but I was desperate to know that the guy was behind bars. I pointed to the pictures of the hooded maids in the club brochure and told her that I would be unrecognizable with a rubber hood hiding my face. I wanted to get the sadistic bastard for hurting my friend so badly; and I was pleased that Cherry was out of harm’s way and would stay with Mary until it was all over.
My mind was made up, I would do it.