“Kate,” Alan said.
“I’m going Alan. You brought me this far into it. I’m going to go along with you to the meeting,” she insisted.
“Fine. Make it for six,” Alan said.
“It will be a pleasure. A beautiful woman is always welcome company,” Durr replied and bowed just slightly.
They walked off and Kate leaned back in her lounge. Alan could see she was shaken from the whole experience.
“Look at you. Why do you want to go tonight? Kate, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“I know. It was just like suddenly I didn’t exist any longer.”
“That’s crazy. Kate I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. You are right, I got you into this mess. It would be all my fault.”
“Not really Alan. I could have said no.”
“As handsome and debonair as I am, I don’t think so,” he said trying to keep a straight face.
“Hmm. I thought I was just trying to get a free trip out of it,” she shot back.
“Ouch,” Alan replied.
**
Back at the hotel Kate took a shower while Alan read the last few pages again.
“Kate,” he yelled to her in the shower.
“I’ll be right out, or you can join me?” she said.
“I love those clear showers,” he said.
“Pervert.”
“That would be me. I said, I was going to go down and make a copy of this. Actually five of them and they can have them. They can check it against mine if they want. That should make them happy.”
“Alright. Just don’t be gone long. For the first time I don’t feel really safe.”
“I make it as quick as I can.”
Alan went down to the reception desk and after a few gestures and pointing he finally managed to get them to make him five copies of the pages he indicated. Rather than stand there putting it together he headed right back to the room.
When he opened the door Kate stood there naked with water dripping off her and not moving.
“What?”
“Come in Mr. Lang.”
Fredric Clouse stepped out from the bathroom with a Walther P22 and a silencer on the end.
“Please. Come in and sit down on the bed.”
“You had better be ready to shoot me right now because if anything happens to Kate I will kill you.”
“Very brave talk Mr. Lang. Sit,” he demanded.
Alan thought through his options and finally came over and picked up a towel off the bed and handed it to Kate.
“Go on Kate. You can take a seat over there,” Alan said.
Kate wrapped herself in the towel and went and sat down.
“So Mr. Durr was right.”
“You met Durr?” he said, the surprise showing on his face.
“And his friends, Kinkel and Brandt.”
Alan could see the confused look on Lang’s face.”
“What did they say?” he wanted to know.
“Well, among other things that you were like stepping in dog shit. You might wipe it off but the smell lingers.”
“That sounds like Durr.”
“Hey, you asked.”
“What else did they want? The diary?” Clouse asked.
“Indeed they did. They have it as we speak. We are meeting tonight to discuss some of the entries.”
“You gave it to them? That is stupid. They won’t meet to discuss it with you. They are long gone. You are a very stupid man Mr. Lang.”
“I don’t think so. It seems they feel you are a thorn in their side and I do believe they are intending to eliminate that little problem if you get my drift.”
Clouse looked at him with hatred in his eyes. Alan didn’t blink.
“If what you say is true, you are worthless to me now. I should just kill you and go on. Instead, just to make sure, I think I will take the girl with me and see what happens at this meeting of yours.”
“Now there is a plan. What do you think Kate,” Alan said turning slightly to look at her.
“I think it stinks,” she said.
Alan swung around and dove at Clouse. He heard the gun cough but he had knocked Clouse’s arm up. He let his weight advantage carry them back until Clouse bounced off the wall. He heard him grunt. Alan brought his right hand back and slammed his fist into Clouse's soft belly. He could hear him make a noise as the air was forced out of him. He hit him as hard as he could just under the ribcage causing Clouse’s knees to buckle.
Stepping back slightly he grabbed Clouse’s wrist, the gun coughed again, but Alan managed to bang the back of Clouse’s hand against the tile on the shower until he dropped it. Alan kicked the gun out of the way and drove his fists into Clouse's face with two quick rights and a hard straight left. Blood splattered out of his mouth and he went down to his knees.
Alan stepped back and let him fall face first into the hard tile floor. Alan was breathing heavily when it was over. He picked up the gun and put it in the waistband of his pants. Suddenly Kate was beside him holding him around the waist. She was trembling uncontrollably.
“It’s okay Kate. It’s over. I don’t think he will be giving us anymore problems.”
“What are we going to do?” she asked.
“I don’t know just yet. I need to think about this for a second,” he said.
“Oh, my God. You have been shot,” she suddenly said.
“No I haven’t. That’s Clouse’s blood.”
“No, Alan. He shot you,” Kate said, stepping over the prone figure and showing Alan his face.
An angry red cut ran across his cheek and nipped the lower portion of his left ear.
“Well, that was a little closer than I would have liked,” he said.
“We need to stop the bleeding. Go lay down. I’ll get some cold cloths,” she ordered.
He stopped and checked Clouse. His breathing was shallow but steady. The hell with him, Alan thought. He made his way to the bed and laid back.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Alan woke up and Kate was setting beside him. The room was pretty dark. He started to sit up but Kate stopped him.
“Stay there,” she said.
“What’s going on?”
“You were exhausted. You fell asleep. I’ve got you patched up and have some pain medicine for you to take,” she said holding them out in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
“I’m fine. I don’t need them,” he replied.
“Yes you do macho-man. Just take the darned things, please?”
“Fine. If it will make you feel better.”
“No, it will make you feel better.”
He slowly sat up and looked around the room.
“Where is Clouse?” he suddenly asked.
Kate pointed to the storage wardrobe.
“You put him in there?”
“Well, I had to go to the bathroom and I didn’t like him lying there.”
“No, I meant you dragged him all the way over there by yourself?”
“See anyone else in the room?”
“Geez Kate. Give me a break. I just woke up and my head is pounding.”
“Sorry. All this is just a bit much.”
“I know. Look. Tomorrow we will get you a car and you can go on without me. I hate this but it’s the best thing to do. I don’t want you in any deeper,” Alan said after a minute.
“It’s not that. I’m just shook up. Give me some time and I’ll be okay.”
“Kate. Listen to me. Even I don’t know what I’m getting into. We are going to get you a car and then you can go wherever you want. If you want to try to meet up later we can after this is all over.”
“Yeah right. You’re dumping me just like that,” she snapped her fingers.
“I am not dumping you Kate. I’m protecting you.”
“Look, we need to go to the meeting in a few minutes. I will go with you. If I don’t like what I hear, I will not fight you on this. I will get a car and go off on my own. Fair e
nough?” she said.
“We’ll talk about it more later. I need to check on Clouse before we go,” Alan said waking over to the wardrobe.
He opened the door and checked his pulse and breathing. He was okay for the time being. Alan rummaged around in his suitcase and came out with a roll of packing tape. It wasn’t what he really wanted but it would probably do with the shape Clouse was in.
Alan bound his hands and feet and shut the door. He pulled the chair over and wedged it under the handle. He could probably get out if he could get his hands and feet undone. There was nothing more that could be done.
**
They had walked to the restaurant. It was just a few blocks from their hotel. He recognized Durr and Finkel immediately, sitting with the other men. The waiter showed them to the table and all the men stood as Kate got there. Alan pulled out a chair for her and she sat down. The other’s did as well.
“An accident Mr. Lang?” Durr asked.
“You might say that.”
“I don’t understand?”
“It seemed Fredric Clouse decided he wanted the diary and didn’t care how he got it.”
“Ah. His Walther.”
“Not anymore,” Alan said.
“Very impressive Mr. Lang. Fredric never fails to get what he wants. He is very determined.”
“He is very much in pain at the moment. I doubt Clouse will try anything again for quite some time,”
“Is he still alive?”
“He was when we left.”
“Would you like us to take care of Fredric for you? I mean, how are you going to explain what happened to him if he were to die in your room?” a man at the end of the table asked with an accent of some sort.
Alan had already figured he was probably Mr. Brandt. Sitting, it was difficult to tell his height but he was the only one in a suit. His tie alone probably cost more than Alan’s entire wardrobe at the moment. He had blond hair, blue eyes, and a square jaw. German or Norwegian, Alan guessed.
“I hadn’t thought of that actually. As you can see, he almost got the job done.”
“You are either very lucky or very good. Looking at you I would suspect a little of both,” the man said.
“I assume you’re Mr. Brandt?” Alan asked.
“Very good. Doctor Brandt actually but we are all friends here so I don’t mind what you call me really.
A waiter came and interrupted their talk and they waited until he had retreated with their drink order before they started talking again.
“One of Clouse’s questions was about the diary. He wanted it for himself. Why is that? Since you all seem to know him, why isn’t he part of this meeting?”
“That is an easy one. He feels he is entitled to everything.”
“Everything? Meaning what exactly? Gold. Diamonds?” Alan asked.
“Yes,” Brandt answered.
“And you all think the answer is in this diary of my grandfather's?”
“That is correct,” Brandt replied.
“Then I have some really bad news for you. Unless you are a heck of a lot smarter than I am, you are going to be very disappointed. I have copied the final pages of the diary and have a set for each of you,” Alan said turning to Kate.
She opened her bag and brought out the stack of copied pages. Alan passed them around the table. Then he took the original diary out of his pocket.
“So you know that I didn’t change one single word, this is my grandfather’s original diary. If you would pass this down to Mr. Brandt he can verify that what the copies say is exactly as it was in the diary,” Alan said handing it to Durr.
They passed it along to Brandt who was scanning the handout Alan had given. He placed the diary next to it and looked at each word carefully. It was a good ten minutes before he started to speak. Unfortunately the waiter reappeared with their drink order. They dismissed him with instructions to not bother them again.
“It appears to be exactly as you say. What I don’t understand is how you intended to locate the treasure,” Brandt said.
“Please listen very carefully to what I am going to say. To you, this is about the gold and diamonds. That is fine with me. What I am after is something totally different. I loved my grandfather. He never had a big house. His cars were all second hand. What little he had he would give to anyone that needed it. He was a decorated war hero and fought all the way from Normandy to the Ardennes and was part of the Battle of the Bulge. And then suddenly he is a thief and murderer. You can see what my own father thought of him. I want to know several things. How could such a thing happen? Did it happen? What was his reason? Did he actually murder those people, and if so, why? I am more interested in the ‘why’ than the where,” Alan said.
The men looked at each other for several seconds and then all turned to Brandt.
“Some of that I can answer. As you have probably figured out already, we, like you are descendants of our grandfathers who fought on the other side. It was our grandfathers that he murdered. He stole all the gold and diamonds for himself. Our desire is to recover what is rightfully our grandfathers',” Brandt told him.
“And what proof do you have of this? I mean how would you know it was my grandfather? If he killed them, no one would ever know who or why it was done. Something is missing. You seem so sure and I am saying prove it to me. Prove it was my grandfather. What I am also trying to understand, reading between the lines of the diary, is why and how would be become involved with a bunch of Nazi officers. No offence, but that is what we are talking about here,” Alan said.
It suddenly became very tense at the table. Alan knew the Nazi comment would rankle them but it was the truth.
“Alright. But understand not everyone was a Nazi in the German Army.”
“Really? That’s strange. Every time someone mentions that this person or that person was a Nazi, it’s like they didn’t exist,” Alan said.
Kate reached under the table and squeezed his leg.
“Mr. Lang. Please. The war has long been over. You won. What we are talking about is here and now. First. Our grandfathers were collectively in charge of transferring the gold and diamonds. It was to be given to Doctor Josef Mengele. Do you know who he was?” Brandt asked.
“The Angel of Death,” Alan answered.
“Quite right. Anyway, they decided that they were not going to have anything to do with helping him so they diverted the money. Of course this would be their death sentence if they were caught. We do not know how they met your grandfather exactly but apparently at some point they knew they would need help to get the money out of the country. They got as far as France before they realized they were never going to make it out. You grandfather offered to help. They were to split the money equally. It would have made them all very rich. While I’ll admit the details of what happened next are somewhat vague, we know they were killed and the money was no more.”
Alan sat there for several seconds replaying what he had just heard. That still left too many unanswered questions.
“Doctor Brandt unless there is more to the story, several pieces of the puzzle are missing. If my grandfather did this terrible thing, why wasn’t he rich? You said the part about who actually killed them is vague. Then how do you know it was my grandfather? While I was talking I got to thinking about something. Look at the original diary. Notice how each new section is dated? Notice that there are no blank pages. Look at the last entries. See the two blank pages before the writing starts up again?”
“Yes, so?” Brandt said.
“So something doesn’t smell right.”
“But it says in his own words that he killed them. What more proof do you want?”
“I want to make sure the last few pages aren’t forgeries.”
“Oh Mr. Lang. I believe you are really stretching, as you Americans say.”
“Because it is the only thing that makes any sense. I hate to keep going back to the obvious but if he took the money, why didn’t we have a better life?” Alan aske
d.
“Guilt?”
“Possibly. I intend to take the diary to a handwriting expert to find out for sure.”
Brandt looked at him, pulling on his lower lip for several moments before passing the diary back to Alan.
“I seriously doubt you will find it is a forgery. Let me ask you something else. You have been to Calais, Sainte-Mère-Église, Bayeux and now here. What are you looking for?” Brandt asked.
“It will make no difference what I say; you will think I have some secret treasure map to the location of the stash. I don’t. I think Clouse thought that or at least that the diary would give him the location. As you can well see. It doesn’t. I told you, I am trying to find out the truth about my grandfather. That was my initial goal. How, I wasn’t sure but I felt I had to at least try.”
“That still doesn’t explain where you have been or how you decided that would help,” Brandt said.
“I can answer that,” Kate said.
They all turned to look at her, even Alan seemed surprised.
“Please Ms. Gerber.”
“It is pretty much dumb luck. I happened to be staying at a small bed and breakfast when I met Alan. I didn’t know him at the time but I liked something about him and we started talking. We talked long into the night and really enjoyed each other’s company. Well, I know I did. He mentioned he was headed to Bayeux. My brother lives in Bayeux, you are welcome to check that out by the way. Since he was going there and we had two rental cars I suggested I get rid of mine and ride along with him. I could get another car after I visited my brother.”
“So, Sainte-Mère-Église, Bayeux and now here?” Brandt asked.
“We became very good friends and decided to travel. We are lovers now if you need to know.”
“I see,” was all he replied.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
They ate in silence except for an occasional pleasantry. No further talk of the diary or missing gold was mentioned. Several ordered coffee or cappuccino after they were finished and they waited until the waiter had dropped the bill off.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what are your plans from here?” Brandt asked.
“I think we will just kind of play it by ear. Sorry, I’m not being elusive; we actually haven’t talked much about it. Clouse has occupied us for a while.”
SINS of the FATHER Page 9