Colton Banyon Mysteries 1-3: Colton Banyon Mysteries (Colton Banyon Mystery Book 20)

by Gerald J Kubicki

  “‘Mr. Pierce, I don’t think he is coming back.’ The boy had tears in his eyes. ‘He did want you to get this message, though. He had his heart attack right after he read it.’ Frank handed me the paper.

  “In seconds I was crying too. The Gestapo had tried to arrest the admiral for attempting to assassinate Hitler, and for treason. Somehow the admiral was able to persuade them that he was not part of a plot, and was, in fact, in Italy at the time. But the note said he was under surveillance, and we all knew what that meant. The message continued with a warning that Adams and I were being recalled and would be told to bring the box. A submarine would meet us off of the lighthouse again on February 1.

  “‘Do not mention this to Andrew. We cannot go back, you know.’”

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  After pausing to wipe his teary eyes, Pierce went to continue his story, but Rogers asked a question.

  “Walter you don’t look to well. Do you want to take a break? Do you want something to drink or a nap?”

  “No,” Pierce yelled out. “I need to finish this now.” Then he started to speak again.

  ***

  “In the middle of March 1943, Mr. Hoch died. Adams and I drove to the funeral in Remsenburg. There were perhaps two hundred people there, most of German extraction. Several people were on the periphery taking pictures. I was certain they were FBI. I nudged Adams. He understood that we should leave. A man who hailed me by name stopped me.

  “‘Good afternoon, Mr. Pierce.’ He said.

  “‘Who are you?’ I asked.

  “‘I am Agent Paul Williams of the OSS,’ he replied.

  “‘What can I do for you?’ I looked him straight in the eye as we were trained to do when questioned.

  “‘You are how old?’

  “‘Why I’m thirty-two,’ I responded cautiously.

  “‘Do you have a draft card, please? Someone your age should be in the army.’

  “I was nervous now. Adams, who was ten years older, turned to the man and said, ‘This man is a war veteran. Walter, show him your recent scar.’

  “I opened my shirt to show him the big scar on my shoulder where I had taken a bullet in Poland. ‘It happened in North Africa.’ I had become an adroit liar by this time.

  “‘I’m sorry to have bothered you.’ He held out his hand for me to shake, and passed me a piece of paper.

  “I told Adams I needed to say good-bye to Frank Hoch, and told him to go to the car. I then read the note.

  “You are in grave danger. Trust no one. Meet me at the all-night diner in Riverhead Circle at 1:00 a.m.

  “It was signed, A Friend.

  “I was truly terrified now. How did Adams know about my scar? ‘Trust no one,’ the message said. What of Frank? I knew the OSS was the Office of Strategic Security, and they were very similar to the Abwehr. Why were they contacting me?

  “In the car I decided to find out how Adams knew about my scar. As usual, the simplest plan was the best. ‘How did you know I had a scar?’

  “‘I thought you might catch that,’ Adams said.

  “I was now getting tense. ‘That is not an answer.’

  “‘Bernard and I were given extensive background about you. Some in high places felt you might have mixed loyalties to the mission,’ he admitted.

  ***

  “That night I slipped out and went to the diner as instructed. Upon entering, I saw Paul Williams seated in the corner. I walked over to the booth as I looked around to see if anyone was paying any attention to me. I could not see anyone suspicious. ‘Mr. Williams,’ I said.

  “‘It is nice of you to come, Wolf.’ This gave me a shudder.

  “‘Why did you call me Wolf? My name is Walter.’

  “‘I have been sent by Bill Donovan. Do you know who he is?’

  “‘The name means nothing to me.’

  “‘He is the head of the OSS and has been in contact with Wilhelm Canaris. You do know who he is, don’t you?’

  “‘Why are you interested in me?’

  “‘I have a message from the admiral. He passed it to Donovan to give to you.’

  “What?” I exclaimed.

  ‘“For your information, Donovan and Canaris have met before and are going to be meeting again shortly. They are trying to end the war clandestinely, you know.’

  “‘Just give me the message that you are sure should go to me. Maybe then I can figure out what this is about.’

  “‘That’s fair. The message is this: The Nazis have sent a Gestapo assassin. She has managed to reach America and is looking for you. It seems she wants the box, whatever that is, and has orders to eliminate you and the other agents with you. Apparently you missed the rendezvous which was included in your instructions. Yes, we have known about the three of you for some time. Hall has gone missing, hasn’t he?’

  “‘Why would you deliver a message to a foreign agent? I just don’t get it.’

  “‘We know about your mission and would like to capture the Nazi leadership in America. While the OSS is not supposed to be working on U.S. soil, Bill feels this is very important and can end the Nazi movement in America. We will catch them all in one place. Don’t worry, your box will be safe, and locked in a secure facility, never to be seen again.’

  “I suddenly realized the admiral was at work here, that he was somewhere behind the scenes. This would be a typical diversion while getting me information. ‘If I had such a box, it would already be secure. Do you have a name or a description of the Gestapo agent?’

  “‘We don’t know her name, but she is of average height and slim build. Her eyes are green, and she had red hair when she was last seen. One more thing, she has a one-inch round mole on her right leg, in the middle of her thigh. That is all we know. But she is very dangerous, and has already killed several Germans in New York City while seeking information to find you. She interrogates with a knife and then kills her informants. As you can imagine, we want her off the streets.’

  “‘What do I do if I meet her and survive?’

  “‘Here’s my card. It has a telephone number on it. If you see her, call me. We will take care of her. Any questions?’

  “He put out his hand for me to shake. ‘I never thought I would be doing business with a German spy,’ he said.

  “‘I’m an American,’ I replied while standing proudly.”

  ***

  “Everything was changing for me. My partner was a question, my grocer was a question, and the OSS was a question. The admiral was somewhere behind the scenes, but I knew his influence was limited, and I started to carry the Luger.

  “A month passed. I went to work at the bank, and Adams went to the docks. We were just treading water, and my mission was not moving ahead. News on the war front was bad for the Germans. Everybody knew that Italy would be invaded soon.

  “One day a man came into the bank. He said he wanted money to be transferred from an account in England. He explained that he was buying a house in America and needed the money for a down payment. I had no idea money could be transferred without going to the specific bank where the money was on deposit. The bank manager greeted the man and handled the transaction. Later, I asked the manager to show me how it was done. He was happy to show me the telex machine, and explained the operation. I was amazed. Now I knew I could access the money my grandfather had left me if I needed it. This was good news indeed.

  ***

  “Spring was in full bloom when the trouble started. The FBI had done a sweep of the docks and arrested several people who did not have papers. Adams was one of them. I did not find out about it until I arrived home that night to discover FBI people swarming over my rented home.

  “‘Who are you?’ the FBI agent demanded.

  “‘I live here.’

  “‘Do you have identification?’

  “‘I have a driver’s license and my passport. They are inside.’

  “I retrieved the documents and handed them to the agent. He said nothing, and instead wr
ote down all my information in a small notebook.

  “‘Do you know an Andrew Adams?’

  “‘Of course. He’s my roommate and has been for years. Has something happened to him?’

  “‘He didn’t have papers on the dock when we did a sweep looking for illegals, especially Germans. He’s German, correct?’

  “‘I thought he came from Wisconsin, and had been on Long Island for many years, since he came back from the Lincoln Brigade.’

  “‘So he’s a veteran?’ The FBI agent seemed perplexed by my comment.

  “‘Yes, he fought against the Germans in Spain. I know where his passport is hidden. I can get it for you.’

  ‘“Do that,’ he said.

  “I went into his room and knew I had to dump the gun while fetching Adams’s passport. This was going to be tricky, as there were police all over the place and the agent was following me. I went to Adams’s room and picked up the carpet on the floor to gather his passport. I also noticed some cash and a matchbook cover. I would look at this later.

  “‘Here,’ I told the agent. ‘Can I go with you to bring Andrew home?’

  “‘Only if you don’t mind sitting around while we check out his passport.’

  “‘I’ll follow you in my car, okay?’

  “He agreed.

  “We left in a multicar caravan. Along the route, I slid the gun under the front seat of the car. When we arrived at the local FBI headquarters in Riverhead, I was told to wait in the outside room. It was an hour before Adams appeared. Back in the car, I asked him what had happened. He said the FBI, without warning, showed up on the docks and arrested anyone who didn’t have papers.

  “‘Did you see anything unusual on the docks?’

  “‘I don’t know. There was this woman there that I have seen before. She was buying some fish when the FBI came. She disappeared, but she had been on the docks for several days, you know, hustling. She gave me a matchbook cover.’

  “‘What did she look like?’

  “‘Slim, long brown hair. She had green eyes.’

  “I checked to see if the gun was still under the seat. It was.

  ***

  “The next day I was at Frank’s store when I heard on the radio that there had been a knifing at the docks. I called Adams immediately. The phone rang with no answer. Had the killer zeroed in on him? I made one more call.”

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Suddenly, Pierce’s cell phone rang. He grabbed it and spoke into the device. “Hello,” he said weakly.

  “It’s Michael Dean. I called your home but just got voicemail. I was a little worried since you left me hanging for a year recently.”

  “Where I go and what I do is of no concern of yours,” Pierce shot back vehemently. “What do you want Dean.”

  “You did say that you were donating one hundred and thirty million dollars to the cause, didn’t you?”

  “You heard me correctly,” Pierce responded in an irritated voice.

  “That’s all I need then,” Dean said happily and hung up the phone. Dean had put the call on speakerphone so Teddy could listen in.

  “What an idiot,” Pierce moaned. “Now where was I?”

  ***

  “On the way home, the voices came into my head again. ‘The road ahead has trouble on it; change your plan a bit.’ I had to act fast to protect my mission, so I stopped at the fire lane. It was directly on the way, and ran down the path to the marker. At first I planned to dig up the box and take it, but a freshly dug hole would be obvious. Besides, I didn’t have a shovel. I was panicky. Then I realized once again that a simple plan was always the better plan. I grabbed the marker, pulled it from the ground, and slid it back into the ground thirty paces due east of the original site. The sandy ground was soft. With the use of a stick of wood as a hammer, I drove it back into the sand. I threw the stick as far as I could and kicked dirt into the old marker hole. Then I covered it with some pine needles and leaves. The box was still in the same place, but now that the marker was moved, it would be nearly impossible to find the box.

  “Back in my car, I was dirty, sweaty, and already ten minutes behind schedule. I floored it.

  “Turning off my lights, I coasted into the driveway of our rental, and had the door open with my finger on the button that turned on the overhead light. The lights were on in the house. Yet there didn’t seem to be anyone around. Suddenly there was movement on my left. I dropped down outside the car door, and reached under the seat for the Luger. Before I could find it, a hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. All I saw was the barrel of a gun.

  “‘Where have you been?’ Paul Williams asked. ‘I got your call, and headed right out to your house. There hasn’t been any movement since I got here. Are you sure it was the green-eyed assassin? And that she was after Adams?’

  “‘He told me he had seen a woman hanging around the docks. She fit the description, except she had brown hair. I think she picked up Andrew’s trail on the docks.’

  “‘You may be right. Let’s go see what’s going on inside the house.’

  “Stealthily we moved to the window in the front. Williams peered inside. ‘No movement here.’ We tried the door and it was unlocked. The hair on my neck was standing up. We entered the house as quietly as possible, and worked our way to Andrew’s room.

  “There was blood on the bed but no Adams. Could this be our girl? Would she have taken him to bed to find out what she wanted? Where was the body?

  “As Paul checked out the other rooms of the house, I had an urge to pull back the carpet. Sure enough, there was the matchbook cover I had seen earlier, along with the money and passport. I scooped up the cover without Williams seeing me do it.

  “‘Paul, you have to trust me. I think I know where they are. I think she has taken Andrew to look for the box.’

  “We were quickly in my car, speeding toward the fire lane. Williams was beside me, checking and reloading his gun. How would I get my gun from under the seat?

  “‘Do you think she will kill Andrew?’

  “‘So far her informants have had a short life after she talks to them. We have given her the name of the Black Widow.’

  “‘Paul, what happens if we find her?’

  “‘Let me worry about that, as I’m authorized to do whatever it takes to finish this.’

  “‘I still don’t understand why you are willing to help me.’

  “‘My orders are to find, and to eliminate the Black Widow. I’m not to interfere with your mission. Just watch and observe and report back when things heat up. I told you, we want all the Nazis. War makes strange bedfellows, Wolf.’

  “‘My name is Walter, please.’

  “‘Okay, Walter. Now you can tell me about the matchbook cover in your pocket. I saw you pick it up. I am a trained agent, you know.’

  “I reached into my pocket and gave it to him. ‘I don’t know anything about it. I saw it under the carpet a couple of days ago, and was going to look at it to try to figure it out. It’s unlike Andrew to keep anything like it. It’s not a secret, as far as I can tell. He said the woman gave it to him.’

  “Williams turned over the cover to study it. As we reached the fire lane, there was another car parked by the side of the road. No one was in it. I shut down my car. ‘We have to walk from here,’ I told him.

  “He slipped the cover into his pocket. With his gun drawn, he jumped out of the car. I pretended to have to tie my shoe and grabbed the Luger while Paul was writing down the license plate of the car. We then headed off to the hunt.

  “It was a full moon that night, so we could see quite clearly. Of course, the Black Widow could see us, too. I could tell that Williams was concerned about entering a dark wood with me at night. But he said nothing.

  “‘The box is buried in the woods,’ I said. ‘I know where.’

  “We were very quiet as we walked down the fire lane. I couldn’t imagine failing my mission after all that I had been through. I was not going to let that happe
n. After all, I was a trained agent, too. I would survive.

  “As we got close to the clearing, I whispered to Williams that we would need to go in through the heavy woods. He said to walk slowly, and not to make noise. He did not understand that I was a trained spy. The shadows were maddening. It was hard to tell what was in front of me. I started to shuffle my feet in the sand so that I would not step on leaves or twigs. This seemed to work, but progress was slow. I now knew what it felt like to be in the middle of a war, searching for the enemy, trying to be quiet, and watching everything at one time. I was scared.

  “Eventually we saw the clearing and a mound of dirt. We waited in the bushes for some time. Finally Williams crawled out and peered into the hole. He stood up, shouldered his gun, and then waved me over. I was very concerned now.

  “Adams was lying in the bottom of the hole. His throat had been cut. Williams was cursing and kicking the ground. I just fell to my knees and cried. Adams didn’t deserve this — she was after the box and me. I knew the box was still safe, but also knew the Black Widow was not yet finished with me.

  “‘We are in trouble now,’ Williams said. ‘Now that she has the box, all she has to do is to kill you. I’ll never find her alone; I’m going to need help.’

  “‘No help,’ I said. ‘She will be looking for me real soon, maybe at my home right now. She doesn’t have the box; I moved it.’

  “‘Moved it to where?’ Williams asked.

  “‘To a secure position.’

  “‘You’re not going to tell me?’

  “‘The fewer people who know about this, the better. If she gets me, then the box is gone forever.’

  “We decided to bury Adams in the hole. I said a few words in German over the stark grave and resolved to kill the Black Widow in revenge.

  “Reaching the car, we found that one of our tires was slashed. The other car was gone. We changed the tire and drove back to my house. Along the way I asked. ‘Do you think she is at my house?’

  “‘No, I don’t think so,’ answered Williams and shook his head. ‘If she was setting anything up at your house, she would have cut the distributor wires on the car to give herself time. She just wanted to stall us long enough to get away.’