Generations
Nate returned to work on Monday morning. Brandt phoned twice that day. In the morning he phoned to say he had been to the AeB directorate, and had filed a formal petition to release Briana. He explained he was concerned about the outstanding school loan – they might not grant her release while it is outstanding, and she cannot dispatch the loan while in custody. He phoned again later that same day to say he had seen Briana. She was emotionally devastated and physically exhausted, but otherwise she appeared to be healthy. She was being held in a cell with three other AeB women. Briana told Brandt she was the only one represented by counsel, and the other women constantly pestered her to let Brandt represent them too. Briana did not otherwise report any problems with the three other women inmates. Brandt did say he was passing a message on to Nate from Briana. She said the police came to the detention center to question her about the restaurant with the table on the balcony, and she told the truth, exactly like he told her to. Nate nodded to himself, understanding Briana's coded message. She did not tell them about the encounter with the Romanians.
Brandt explained that Briana was still in the AeB program, which was good. It meant they had not revoked her AeB status, because if they had, she would be remanded to a general population detention center to await her original trespassing trial. The AeB center, he assured Nate, was a much preferred form of incarceration than general detention.
By late afternoon Nate could not put off returning Detective Visel's call any longer. He called the Hamburg police, and asked to speak with the detective. He recognized her voice from the answering machine when Detective Visel came on the line. She explained she was following up on a routine matter, and asked about the restaurant. Nate explained he had been to the restaurant with two ladies, and then they returned home together after the meal. She asked who he was with, and he replied it was Pavlina Kozak and Briana Evans, and he further explained his supporting role in their AeB status. She asked how he knew the two women, and Nate explained he didn't know Pavlina, but knew Briana from Canada.
Detective Visel returned to the night of the dinner, and asked if Nate had heard or seen anything unusual as they left. Nate said he had read about a murder in the neighbourhood, and wondered if that was what the call was about. Detective Visel did not respond. No – Nate had not heard or seen anything unusual. They walked straight home.
The interview took half an hour. Detective Visel thanked him for his time, and hung up. Hopefully that was one bullet dodged.
On Tuesday afternoon Brandt called and explained the police had put two seemingly unrelated incidents together, and were now operating on a theory that Pavlina never flew to Frankfurt, and had instead swapped passports with someone else on the outbound Hamburg flight. The police questioned Briana again, and apparently Nate was next on their interrogation list. Nate phoned Henry Taggart, his own lawyer, and asked if Taggart should be present during the questioning. After Nate relayed the details of Pavlina's disappearance, Taggart agreed his participation was warranted. Taggart said he would contact the police and call Nate back.
Twenty minutes later, Taggart returned Nate's call. Yes, he explained, the Hamburg police want to question Nate, and so do the BPOL. The Bundespolizei, or BPOL, is the German federal police, who have taken in interest in Pavlina's case. With the investigation reaching the federal level, Taggart considered it important Nate have counsel present. He had arranged an interview to take place on Wednesday morning at 9:00. Taggart invited Nate to his office at 8:00 in the morning, and they would walk to the police station next to city hall together.
Nate had no idea how much Brandt was charging him for Briana's ongoing AeB saga, but he seemed actively engaged. Now Nate was hiring Taggart to represent him in questioning with two police forces. He was beginning to think this whole wet dream had become a colossal mistake.
The interview on Wednesday morning took three hours. They wanted to know every aspect of Nate's relationship with Pavlina. He explained he did not know her before he met her in the park with Briana. In responding to their questions, Nate told everything about his week with the girls except for the encounter with the Romanians in the courtyard, and except for the sex-for-money deal. The questions circled around his relationship with Pavlina and Briana for a long time. They flirted with the topic of sex with either Briana or Pavlina, but each time the cops broached that subject, Taggart intervened and said that Nate's private life was not relevant to Pavlina's disappearance. .
By noon they ran out of questions, and they concluded the interview. Nate walked with Taggart back to the lawyer's office, and they reviewed the morning's events along the way. Taggart said it was likely Nate was in the clear – all of the police's questions were broad and open ended. Taggart was quite certain they would have asked much more pointed questions if they suspected Nate had any part in Pavlina's disappearance.
Nate had barely returned to work in the early afternoon when Thomas Brandt called him on his cell. The AeB Directorate had completed their investigation. They were prepared to release Briana into Nate's custody on a 20,000 Euro bond, or about $25,000 US. The bond would be repaid, minus a 1% administration fee, once Briana was confirmed to have left the European Union, which could only happen after she paid her London School of Economics debt.
"I guess she's staying in jail, then," Nate remarked flatly.
"I was thinking that would be the likely outcome," Brandt nodded at the other end of the phone line. "The AeB doesn't care either way, however it will be nearly impossible for Fraulein Evans to clear her school debt while incarcerated," Brandt explained. "Her AeB status will expire in 24 days, and then she will be transferred to a general detention center. It pretty much assures she will be convicted of the earlier criminal offence." Nate asked how long Briana would remain in jail. Brandt said the problem is on the criminal justice side, not the AeB – the courts are backed up. Perhaps six to twelve months, he ventured, and then she will be deported and barred from ever returning to any EU country. She will also be barred from entering the USA, Brandt explained, as the EU and the Americans share criminal conviction records.
It seemed grossly unfair for Briana to spend a year in jail for a misdemeanor like trespassing, but on the other hand, parting with $25,000 was hardly Nate's responsibility. Nate told Brandt to wrap up the case and send Nate the bill. Brandt agreed, but insisted he would stay in touch with Briana on his own time. He explained he was at the AeB directorate enough times in a week to occasionally stop in and check in on her. Not being an immediately family member or her lawyer, Nate was not permitted to visit Briana in the AeB detention center, which suited Nate just fine.
Nate's job was busy enough to keep his mind off of Briana most of the time, but he found his thoughts wondering to her and Pavlina from time to time. Pavlina's escape was a bold move, and so futile. She had a clear way home. She could have gone to Prague, and then disappeared there. What a waste.
He cruised through the balance of the week, focusing on work, putting in unusually long hours, even for him. Nate left the office at 5 PM on Friday – early for Nate – because he badly needed to pick up some groceries for the weekend before the store closed. The hot weather was finally breaking – it was only 26 degrees Celsius, much more comfortable than the previous weeks' sweltering thirties. Rain was in the weekend forecast, which was unfortunate, because Nate was looking forward to attending an outdoor music festival on Saturday. Nate crossed the street from the grocery store to his apartment building with one reusable canvas bag hanging from each hand.
As Nate rounded the corner of his apartment building someone called his name. "Mr. Traymore," he heard an unfamiliar woman's voice. It was a native English voice, there was no German accent. Likely American. Nate stopped and scanned the plaza between the apartment building and the park across the road. An attractive woman in her early thirties was approaching him. She wore a dark blue skirt and white button up short sleeve blouse. He would have pegged her for a business woman, except for the casual nurse's shoes.
"Mr. Traymore," she called out again, this time raising her hand slightly. Nate looked right at her. As the woman closed within 20 feet, Nate recognized something very familiar in her face. He searched through his memory, but as she smiled, he instantly knew who it was.
"I guess I should not be surprised to see you here," he called out. He had met Briana's mother only twice before. "Have you been waiting long?" he asked as she closed the gap to him. It was obvious she had been camping on a park bench in the plaza waiting for Nate to come home. She looked like she hadn't slept in a few days, which Nate surmised might be the case. Her hair was rumpled and there were faint bags under her eyes. She carried a small brown purse with a thin strap that hung over her right shoulder.
