[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

The walk from Neukölln bahnhoff to their makeshift headquarters was not far, but they had to stop twice so Nate could rest. The second time, Quinn steered them into the sandwich shop, where he purchased several sandwiches and a large coffee for Nate.

'Here,' he said, handing him the cup.

'I don't want anything.'

'It'll keep you warm.'

They sat at one of the tables until Nate had downed nearly half of the coffee. 'No more,' he said as he set the cup down. Quinn picked up the container and threw it in the trash. 'Come on.'

** *

They reached the store ten minutes later. Orlando wasn't around, but Quinn hadn't expected her to be. The list of items she had to obtain was not an easy order to fill.

'Very cozy,' Nate said from the doorway of the back room.

There were two air mattresses with sleeping bags on the floor of the room. Nate looked at them, then back at Quinn. 'You weren't expecting me?'

'Not this soon,' Quinn said. 'We'll go out for another mattress and sleeping bag after Orlando gets back. You can use mine for now. It's the blue one.'

'I'm not tired.'

Quinn snorted. 'Right. You're going to fall asleep standing there. Lie down.' Nate smiled. 'Maybe for a few minutes.' He shuffled over to the sleeping bag and climbed in.

'You warm enough?' Quinn asked.

'I'm fine.' Nate's voice now a soft whisper. After only a moment, his eyelids drooped, then closed. Orlando returned an hour later. 'Get everything?' Quinn asked. She nodded. 'Of course.' He smiled, then told her about his fun-filled after

noon.

'I'm sorry,' she said after he told her about Sophie. She put a hand on his arm. 'Thank God you got Nate out, though.'

'Yeah,' he said, his voice hollow. 'Thank God.'

'It's not your fault,' she said.

'Isn't it?'

She looked up at him, her eyes soft, supportive. After a moment, she said, 'Why don't you show me the video?'

'Okay,' Quinn said. He knew she was trying to get him to refocus and take his mind off Sophie's death. And he was glad for it.

He picked the monitor up off the floor and handed it to her. Stuck in the side port was his memory stick.

'Just hit Play,' he said. 'I've already seen it.'

Orlando cocked her head, apparently expecting him to say something else, but he remained silent. As she looked back at the monitor and pressed Play, Quinn moved so he could look over her shoulder.

The screen was blank for a moment, then up came an image of a man.

'Who is he?' Orlando asked.

'Taggert,' Quinn said. 'Well, Jansen, I guess.'

The shot was tight, from just below Henry Jansen's shoulders to just above his head. The lighting wasn't great. Jansen was only a few shades lighter than the dark background behind him. From the acoustics, Quinn guessed it had been shot in a small room, but there was no way to tell for sure.

Jansen stared at the camera for a moment, then began. 'My name is Dr. Henry Jansen. I'm a research virologist. I have worked around the world for numerous groups, including the World Health Organization and the CDC. I only say this so that you will pay attention to what I have to say. Who I am really isn't important. But the fact that you are watching this means I am not able to give you the following information in person.

'For the past six months, I have been working undercover. This operation I have undertaken on my own. I was contacted by an organization that calls itself HFA. As far as I can tell, they are an extremist Serbian group. I will assume you have already read the document that will be uploaded with this video and know what the HFA plan is. Here are a few more details.

'An American named Dahl was hired to oversee the distribution operation. To be sure it all goes as planned, HFA also enlisted the help of a group run by a fellow Serb named Borko. His primary task, as far as I can figure out, is security.

'HFA is made up of Slobodan Milosevic loyalists. I think the fact that he died in prison in the middle of his war crimes trial gave them new energy. They talk of him having been murdered. To them, he has become a martyr to the cause. Milosevic believed Bosnia and Herzegovina belonged to a greater Serbia. So what better way to honor him than to finish what he started? HFA feels the removal of the Bosniaks will allow this to happen. They also are now feeling the pressure to move rapidly because of the growing reconciliation movement in Serbia, highlighted by the election of a new, moderate president who has been advocating making amends for past atrocities.