Chapter 9
Narrow Escapes
As Lina gets closer, Vytautas escalates his efforts. She narrowly avoids a staged accident, realizing the danger is very real and personal.
The midday sun beat down on Jurbarkas, a relentless, golden hammer striking the cobblestone streets. Lina, her worn leather satchel slung over her shoulder, walked with a determined stride, the rhythmic click of her sensible shoes a counterpoint to the distant rumble of a passing truck. The air, thick with the scent of blooming linden trees and exhaust fumes, felt charged, electric, mirroring the jolt that had run through her just hours before. The “accident” had been too close, too convenient, too… orchestrated.
She’d been crossing the street, lost in thought about the cryptic numbers and letters scrawled on that sodden Sodra notice, when a delivery van, its brakes squealing a violent, unnatural protest, had swerved directly into her path. It had been a blur of screeching tires and panicked shouts. Lina, reacting on pure instinct, had leaped back, stumbling onto the curb, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. The van, its driver a fleeting, shadowed figure, had sped away, leaving a trail of acrid smoke and a lingering sense of unease.
Now, walking towards Jonas’s office at the ‘Jurbarko Laikraštis,’ the memory still sent shivers down her spine. It wasn’t just a near miss; it was a message. Vytautas Kazlauskas, the man with the polished shoes and the deceptively kind eyes, was playing a dangerous game. Her investigation into the Sodra cipher, the whispers of a pension increase, had clearly ruffled more than just a few feathers. It had stirred the hornet’s nest, and now, Lina was the target.
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