The European Enigma (LSD, #9)

28. The Moldovan Monster

The Moldovan Monster

Francine ploughed through the knee-deep snow. Climbing the hillside was almost impossible. She was exhausted. She stopped to catch her breath, looked around, used her freezing hands as a megaphone and shouted: "Victor! It's me, Francine! Come here! You're in danger!"

Only the echo answered. The icy silence that followed made her shiver. She hated that silence. She hated being alone. She needed Victor.

"Victor! I need you! Come here! You're going to get killed!"

She had to keep moving. She had to reach the trees, over there, on the top of the hill. Between the pines and the firs of the forest, there would be less snow; she could move faster. Perhaps she'd find Victor there, wounded, bleeding, unconscious, freezing... She HAD to find him. The higher she climbed, the wider the view. That frozen snake was the river. She could see the village. But she didn't see Victor.

When she turned her head towards the bushes, looking for a place to enter the trees, she froze. Right before her, between the branches loaded with snow, almost invisible, a white fuzzy... thing... was staring at her. In its huge eyes, Francine saw the reflection of her own terrified face. Her heart missed a beat. She'd heard the stories, but she always thought the Yeti was some imagination. The abominable snowman lived in the Himalayas, and not here in this winter wonderland of Moldova. But it was here, right in front of her. All she could do was raise her hands for protection and shout: "Go away!"

Katja lifted her Re-Flex sunglasses, lowered the white scarf that covered her face, took off the hood of her snow-white-fur camouflage coat, and whispered: "I can't. You're standing on my skis."

When Francine looked down to find out what she had stepped on, Katja grabbed her arm, twisted it, and turned it onto Francine's back. With the handcuffs from her pocket, she joined the girl's wrists in holy matrimony. Rapidly, she searched Francine: no weapons, no drugs, no cigarettes, not even the most essential make-up articles, just a wallet with ten euros and a driver's licence.

"Francine Stone? Are you the one who caused all this mess? Pleased to meet you. I'm one of the agents who were sent to find the monster."

Francine looked down and muttered: "Victor isn't a monster. He's kind and friendly, even a bit shy. And he's cute too."

Katja pushed Francine aside; the blonde girl blocked her view over the white hills: "Yeah, the newspapers are excited about this cute and friendly boyfriend of yours, who kills everything that comes close. I hope you kissed him goodbye the last time you saw him, because the first time I see him, his story is over. And if my eyes are as sharp as they are pretty, that shadow over there might just be what we're looking for."

She took the sniper rifle from her back, placed the scope, and adjusted it.

Francine couldn't control her panic: "Don't kill him. He's done nothing wrong. He's..."

Katja suddenly forgot her rifle and concentrated on Francine. This girl was in love with the monster, and she stood close too. Too close. The danger was so close that Katja could smell it, the breath, the sharp teeth; she got visions of Luis Suárez biting her in the neck... She acted on instinct and poked the rifle's back end in Francine's ribs. Francine fell down with a cry of pain. Before she could get up, the barrel was between her eyes.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't kill him.", Katja suggested, her voice cold as the snow Francine was lying in.

"Victor isn't a bad person... He's..."

"He's eating people, hon. I work for the Secret Service; I serve, but I don't enjoy being served."

"He's the best lover any woman can dream of, and I'm not letting you take that away from me!", Francine shouted.