“You take one side, I’ll take the other,” Crusher said and weaved his way through the tables. As he approached the bar, he slid onto the barstool to the right of Thomas. Phantom settled on the one to the man’s left.
Thomas’s brow dipped as he looked from Crusher to Phantom.
Crusher leaned toward the bartender as he approached. “Ein Bier, bitte, und eins für meinen Freund.” He nodded toward Phantom on the other side of Thomas and smiled at Thomas. “That’s the extent of my German. Do you speak English? My buddy and I are new in town and don’t know anyone. Can I buy you a beer?”
The man’s frown lifted. “Ja. I speak English,” he said with a Queen’s English accent. He said something to the bartender, and the man brought three beers, setting them down in front of Phantom, Thomas and Crusher.
“My name’s Jack.” Crusher held out a hand and nodded toward Phantom. “That’s Brett.”
“I’m Reuben.” The janitor shook hands with Crusher, then with Phantom. “What brings you to Zurich?”
Crusher lifted his mug of beer and took a long swallow before answering, “We came to find my girlfriend. She’s been kidnapped along with another young lady. They’re being held hostage at a place called Helvetic BioSolutions. Have you heard of it?”
Reuben Thomas’s hand froze with his beer mug halfway to his mouth. For a long moment, he hesitated. Then he slammed the mug on the bar and jumped backward off the barstool.
Crusher and Phantom reached out and snagged an arm each and kept Thomas from leaving the bar.
“Please, have a seat,” Crusher said. “Finish your beer. Surely, you don’t have any reason to worry about the ladies in question.”
Phantom and Crusher physically sat Thomas back on his barstool.
“Reuben...is it all right to call you Reuben?” Crusher asked.
The man nodded.
“We don’t think you had anything to do with taking the two young ladies. We figure you were hired by Helvetic or someone close to Helvetic to perform some services and keep your mouth shut about what you see. Is that right?”
Thomas shot a glance over his shoulder, as if looking for anyone keeping tabs on him.
“Are you afraid of anyone in this bar besides us?” Crusher asked, his voice low enough that the bartender couldn’t hear his words.
Again, Thomas scanned the room behind him before answering with a shake of his head.
The restaurant and bar weren’t that crowded. If the man thought he was being watched, he’d have known it quickly.
“We know they paid you well for your silence,” Crusher continued.
Thomas stiffened.
“Don’t worry, we’re not going to turn you in. However, the people behind the work they’re forcing my girlfriend to do want to kill huge populations with a virus that could spread throughout the world. Did you know that?” Crusher asked.
Thomas’s brow formed a V over his nose. “No. I did not.”
“If he’s caught in his attempt at genocide, anyone who assisted in that effort will go to jail with him,” Crusher said. “Do you understand what that means to you?”
Thomas buried his face in his hands. “I did not know.”
Crusher leaned closer. “Ignorance will not excuse you of complicity in their plan.”
Thomas shook his head, still buried in his hands. “I had no choice. It was take their offer or lose everything.” He looked up, his face pale, his eyes sunken. “I lost my wife. My brother and partner and would have lost my business. They told me that if I took on the cleaning job at Helvetic BioSolutions, they would pay off my debts. All they asked of me was to clean and remain silent.”
Phantom patted the man’s back when Crusher wanted to shake the man.
“They will kill the ladies when their work is done, and then they will kill many people by starting a pandemic that will sweep the world,” Crusher said. “Is that what you signed up for?”
Thomas shook his head. “My wife died of COVID. I would not wish a pandemic on anyone or any country. You must believe me.”
“We do.” Crusher stared into the man’s stricken eyes. “Bad people take advantage of good people when they are at their lowest. You don’t have to keep doing what they tell you. You can help the two young ladies and, in doing so, stop the people responsible before they succeed in killing thousands, possibly millions more.”
