Shadow Asset: Eden Klein, #1

By Linn Strang

 

When Eden Klein heads to Vienna on a mysterious assignment she has no idea what mayhem awaits her. The enemy weaves a sticky web of deception that fools law enforcement and Eden quickly runs out of both time and options.

Can Eden keep herself and her friends alive when events spiral out of control?

Eden Klein returns to the treacherous world of international espionage in this exciting page-turner. If you love to read fast-paced action grab "Shadow Asset."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gielas Publishing
• Release date: Feb 12, 2023
• ISBN: 9789657821091

Book preview

About the Author

Linn Strang spent her childhood skiing and fishing in Swedish Lapland before moving to the scorching heat of the Middle East. Her degrees in International Relations and Conflict Resolution would have been perfect for a job at the UN, but instead, she embarked on an equally exciting career as a fiction writer. She lives in Jerusalem with her family and two cats, Nefi and Sisu.

For more information about Linn Strang and her novels and to sign up for the newsletter, visit www.linnstrang.com

Also by Linn Strang

EDEN KLEIN SERIES

Crack of Dawn: A Short Story Collection

SHADOW ASSET

LINN STRANG

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SHADOW ASSET

Copyright‭ ‬©‭ ‬2023‭ ‬by Linn Strang

www.linnstrang.com

All rights reserved‭.

Published 2023 by Gielas Publishing 

www.gielaspublishing.com

Cover design copyright‭ ‬©‭ ‬2023‭ ‬by Elina Winterstrang

ISBN‭: ‬‭978-965-7821-08-4 (‬Paperback‭)‬

ISBN‭: ‬‭978-965-7821-09-1 (‬Ebook‭)‬

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. 

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book 

are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely

coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced 

in any form without permission.

10‭ ‬9‭ ‬8‭ ‬7‭ ‬6‭ ‬5‭ ‬4‭ ‬3‭ ‬2‭ ‬1

Shadow Asset

Contents

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

9. Chapter 9

10. Chapter 10

11. Chapter 11

12. Chapter 12

13. Chapter 13

14. Chapter 14

15. Chapter 15

16. Chapter 16

17. Chapter 17

18. Chapter 18

19. Chapter 19

20. Chapter 20

21. Chapter 21

22. Chapter 22

23. Chapter 23

24. Chapter 24

25. Chapter 25

26. Chapter 26

27. Chapter 27

28. Chapter 28

29. Chapter 29

30. Chapter 30

31. Chapter 31

Epilogue

Note to the Reader

Acknowledgments

PART I

A VIENNESE WALTZ

1

Friday, August 4th, 7:15 a.m.

Vienna, Austria

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August in Europe was supposed to be sunny and warm pretty much wherever you went. That’s what she’d been promised, anyway, but there was a stark contrast between conditions on the ground and what the weather reports had forecasted just a few days earlier. Other people may have been just fine with the rain and cold winds, but the moment she stepped onto the tarmac at Vienna International Airport she got gooseflesh and wanted nothing more than to get back on the plane.

Not that that was an option—she had a job to do.

The damp, chilly morning felt like late autumn as Eden Klein sat by the window of a small but popular café in downtown Vienna, drinking coffee and keeping an eye on the rush of early morning commuters. They all had their noses buried in glowing screens that they tried to shield from the miserable weather as best they could. Apparently, their early morning dopamine hits couldn’t wait even the time it took to get to the office.

Eden preferred leaving her phone behind whenever possible. Not that that was possible at the moment either. But at least it wasn’t her regular phone. There was nothing on it that couldn’t be replaced.

Holding the fresh cup of piping hot coffee clasped between her palms, Eden felt her fingertips slowly warming up. Not that it was that cold. But a rainy, dreary Austrian summer was vastly different from the bone-dry, scorching heat of Jerusalem. Eden was glad she’d packed some additional layers, most of which she was wearing. The soft tights under her black jeans were probably overkill, but at least her leg muscles were warm enough to break into a run at a moment’s notice.

Not that she planned on doing much besides leisurely walking today. She’d never been able to sleep well on flights and could feel the lack of sleep deep in her bones, urging her to go back to the hotel and catch a few hours of rest in the feather-soft bed that was almost too comfortable to be good for her back.

Instead of making a retreat back to the hotel, she took a generous sip of coffee, analyzing the street scene in front of her. Drops of water ran down the window separating her from the oblivious commuters. The rain blurred the fashionably somber-looking men and women, all dressed in dark monochrome hues that brought to mind a funeral procession. It began raining in earnest and umbrellas popped open all over, even though most people would soon be closing them again as they slipped down the stairs to the nearest U-Bahn station.

To the right in her field of vision was a metal bench that had seen better days. It looked as if some street punk had taken a bat to it—typical of the way big cities tended to be a blend of teenage vandalism and efforts by the city to increase tourism. The bench was badly dented and would probably only withstand another assault or two before the city caved and installed a new one in its place. Someone had left a half-eaten sandwich on the seat, the bread now soggy from the rain and leaking sauces down the bench’s curved side. It wasn’t a particularly high-class neighborhood, but neither was it hopelessly run down.

Her gaze soon moved on from the spoiled meal that the crows would start picking on the moment it stopped raining and scanned the street for anything out of the ordinary. Or rather, more out of the ordinary than the things she’d noticed so far.

A quick glance at her phone told her that it was already a few minutes past 7:30 a.m. The person she was expecting to see at any moment now was late. And in their line of business that was never a good sign.

She didn’t know if she should think of him as a target or assignment. Maybe both?

The rich aroma of the coffee was distracting so Eden took one last sip before pushing the cup to the side. The cup rattled the saucer and someone’s phone rang behind her, the ringtone shrill like a drill sergeant’s whistle, causing her blood pressure to react like an Olympic high jumper out to prove something.

But despite her racing heart, her focus remained unwaveringly on the street, having finally spotted a man carrying a large flat package covered in thick layers of plastic wrap. He hadn’t bothered with an umbrella, but the package was unwieldy; man and package together were attracting the attention of passersby just as much as if he’d opened up a brightly colored umbrella in the monotonous sea of black.

Hurrying outside, she set off at a brisk pace after the conspicuous figure. He seemed slightly younger than her, maybe mid-twenties to her early thirties. Eden scanned the street again, paying extra attention to anybody who wasn’t walking as fast as the rainy weather warranted. But it seemed the man had managed to avoid picking up a tail on his way here.

Maybe he wasn’t completely green after all. He walked with a steadfast aim toward the stairs leading down to the nearest U-Bahn station, and she increased her pace slightly to keep him in her sights. She had to mumble apologies every now and then as she followed the stream of people down the stairs to the station, bumping into bags and stepping on feet, but nobody yelled at her. They were too focused on getting to work on time.

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Down at the tracks, she spotted the courier’s trussed-up package first, and only then the man himself, standing beneath a red sign with the station’s name on it in big white block letters. The U-Bahn’s vaulted ceiling was latticed with thin white and red stripes, with blocks of dark orange on the wide supporting concrete pillars. The overall effect was oddly reminiscent of striped hard candy if you didn’t take into account the intense orange color of the pillars that set Eden’s teeth on edge. That particular shade of orange brought to mind old vinyl seats that creaked like a door on a rusty hinge when you sat on them carelessly. They eventually also cracked really badly. In short, there was nothing redeemable about either the shade of orange or the mental image of cracked vinyl that accompanied it.

She pushed through the throngs of people before she could lose the courier in the growing crowd waiting for the train to glide into the station. She had to navigate closed umbrellas poking out by peoples’ sides and the equally jarring pokes of sharp elbows as people tried to be the first ones to board. The train left and since the courier hadn’t gotten on it, neither had Eden.

When she was close enough to keep an eye on him, while still remaining outside of his field of vision, she relaxed a bit.

Four minutes to the next train.

Once she made sure that the man arrived at the pre-arranged hand-off, preferably with both him and the package in one piece, she would enjoy the rest of the weekend in Vienna before flying back home. It wasn’t a complicated assignment, all things considered, and she didn’t anticipate running into any trouble.

She’d been asked to backstop the exchange as an outside asset, and to keep out of sight.

Not a problem. She could do that.

In fact, she preferred it that way. She could count on one hand the number of field assignments she’d had since deciding to return to intelligence work on a case-by-case basis. These days not many people recognized her on sight as Eden Klein, famous concert pianist, so that made it easier too. Combined with the fact that the world of classical music lovers wasn’t as big as that of pop or rock music, her past life of niche fame wasn’t much of an issue.

She shook her head slightly, and a slight smile tugged at the corner of her lips. She’d never loved the limelight, and while her concert career may have been behind her, she felt right at home at this moment, maneuvering in the proverbial shadows.

It also didn’t hurt that her current assignment had taken her back to Vienna, the City of Music. She would have the whole weekend to herself once she was done with work, and she intended to spend it wisely, going to concerts, visiting old music teachers, and enjoying the best restaurants and cafés that the city had to offer.

The courier stared stonily ahead at the empty tracks, the package grasped in a death grip. Eden felt bad for him for just a second, seeing the way his nerves were getting the better of him. The package was securely cuffed to his wrist and looked very uncomfortable to carry even without the added stress that came when you were on your own in the field for the first time, or even the second or third time.

Learning to go with the flow sounded hokey, but it was pretty much all you could do when you were navigating a fast-changing urban environment. Somehow, you had to learn to do that while at the same time achieving what you’d set out to do. You had to come across as one fish out of a thousand. Otherwise, your days as an intelligence asset were numbered.

She slowly breathed in the muggy air and kept an eye on the courier out of the corner of an eye. He didn’t seem to be even the least bit aware of his surroundings. She watched as he gripped the package even tighter. It would hurt his cuffed wrist if he dropped the package, but at least he wouldn’t be mugged by some random person, as long as he kept his wits about him.

The train slid into the station and the mad jostling began again as the crowd surged towards the opening doors in a relentless mass of moving bodies. A tall, broad-chested man stepped between her and the courier and she briefly lost visual contact. The back of her neck tingled in warning.

The platform trembled as an explosion rained sudden chaos on the crowd of commuters. There was no time to do anything but drop to the ground as the explosion shook the platform to its foundation and cement dust filled the air in an impenetrable cloud that swept over the mass of screaming people.

She covered her head with her arms—no time to protect her ears from the auditory assault—and her senses sharpened into a single-minded focus like a laser beam searching for a target. The force of the blast had knocked the wind from her lungs and for a moment she struggled to get air, but then she was moving again.

The whole platform descended into panicked chaos around her as the cloud of cement began to settle. People tried to run to safety despite not knowing in which direction safety lay. Screams cut through the air as people