by Hugh Fraser
I lie on my side and brace my legs against something solid. After a while I start bumping about again and then the car stops and I hear doors open and close. The boot lid squeaks, I feel a blast of cold air and an arm goes round my back and another under my knees. I’m lifted up and carried for a short way and then I hear a door being unlocked and creaking open, then footsteps on a hard floor and I’m sat on a chair. A rope is tied round my waist and the blindfold’s removed. I look up and see that I’m in a big wooden barn with three men standing in front of me. The one in the middle is very tall and big and broad with it. He stands with his feet apart and his hands behind his back. I recognise the shape of the big round head on his shoulders. One of the other men turns on a light and I’m looking at Heinz’s leering face.
He takes a step towards me and waves pieces of the bloodstained pages of the file that I dumped at the club in front of my face.
‘You need your glasses to see secrets you want to give to Russian filth?’
He tosses the paper on the floor and walks round behind me breathing heavily and talking in German. He comes in front of me again and leans his horrible red face into mine.
‘You work for fucking aristocrat fucking Boulter helping Russian bastards who destroyed Fatherland. You and fucking Russian bitch animal. I kill you both slow and painful like the vermin that you are!’
He steps away and says something to the other two men who open the door and leave. He kicks the wall and looks at me.
‘He make me work for him. Tell me it is against communist bastards but all the time he cheat me and make me help them. Twisted scum like him soon find out what happens to those against Germany.’
There are squeals and grunts outside and then the doors swing open and Olga bursts in head first with the two Germans hanging on to her arms and trying to control her as she thrashes about between them. Heinz strides over to her, gets her in a head lock and between the three of them they force her onto a chair next to me. While Heinz sits on her lap, one of the men takes over the stranglehold, and the other one finds a rope to tie her onto the chair. She seems to quieten down but when Heinz gets off her and they let go of her she rears up and catches him under the chin with her head. He staggers a bit then he swings round and fetches her a haymaker to the side of her head that knocks her out. She falls backwards onto the floor and the chair smashes underneath her. As she rears up again, Heinz takes a revolver out of his belt and shoots her twice in the head.
He walks away and leans against the wall rubbing his chin. The two other men look at him as if they’re waiting for him to say something. He waves them away and they go and stand by the doors. He looks at me and after some time his mouth widens into his leering grin. He reaches inside his coat, pulls out a long blade and walks over to where Olga’s lying. He kneels down, takes hold of her hair, lifts her head up and starts slicing at her neck with the knife. When he gets to the bone, he puts the knife down, takes hold of her hair with one hand and her belt with the other. He stands up and lifts her slowly off the floor like a weightlifter lifting a bar bell. When he’s got her up level with his chest, he drops down onto one knee, smashes her neck down onto the other knee and snaps the bone. He lays her down on the floor and starts cutting through the cartilage and the remaining flesh. One of the guards slithers down the wall and passes out.
Heinz gets the head free, picks it up by the hair, comes towards me and dangles it inches from my face.
‘You want to kiss your girlfriend goodbye?’
As Olga’s face swings in front of me, dripping blood, I strain against the ropes with everything I have to get the pain.
He drops the head on the floor, walks round behind me, grabs hold of my hair and I get a sharp pain in my neck as he jerks my head back. A moment later I feel his lips and his hot whisper in my ear.
‘She so fuck ugly she only good for burning but you are nice little kitten for me to play with, eh?’
I feel the blade against my neck and then he starts untying the ropes round my wrists. He calls to the guard who is still standing and he unties my ankles. When he’s done, Heinz comes in front of me and kicks Olga’s head aside. The guard stands back and points his AK at me. Heinz leans close to me, grinning.
‘First we see what you got, then I decide which part of you I take first. Hand, foot, or tit maybe?’
He grabs my collar, pulls me to my feet and shoves me into the middle of the room. I weigh my chances of rushing the guard before Heinz can reach me but decide that short of him having a stroke at the crucial moment, it can’t be done. All I can do is try to buy time and hope for an opening. I step back, slip my jacket slowly off my shoulders, let it fall to the floor and start undoing the buttons of my blouse. Heinz chuckles, picks up Olga’s head and sits in the chair I was tied to.
When I’m naked, Heinz says something to the guard who passed out and is now sitting against the wall. The guard gets up, comes towards me undoing his flies, and pushes me against the wall. As he leans into me and tries to force my legs apart I ram my knee up into his balls and feel his nose splinter as I nut him. The guard falls. Heinz lunges at me but I dodge sideways and dive at the guard with the AK. As I get hold of the barrel a weight lands on me from behind, knocks me to the ground and everything goes black.
I come round as I’m being dragged across the floor. There are hands round my neck and they’re squeezing tighter and Heinz is mumbling some German. I’m going out again but then there’s the sound of an engine. The hands loosen and I’m let go. Heinz is shouting something and I raise my head and see the guard turning off the light and opening the doors. As he goes outside a pair of headlights flare. He fires two shots and a machine gun opens up. The guard screams and falls backwards through the door. Heinz throws himself on the floor as a hail of bullets rip into the wall behind us. The doors open wide, headlights flood the room and I make out a small crouching figure silhouetted in the doorway. The driver gets out of the car, comes into the barn and turns on the lights. It’s the girl from the club with the cropped hair and I nearly cry out with joy when I see Greta in the doorway holding an AK47.
She smiles at me. ‘You are safe now.’
She walks forward, pointing the AK at Heinz’s head. She says something in German and he gets up off the floor and puts his hands in the air. The girl helps me up, sits me on the chair and gathers up my clothes. She sees Olga’s head on the floor, looks round and sees the body. She gives me my clothes, picks up the head, takes it to where Olga lies and places it beside her.
In the silence, an owl gives a long hoot, as if in mourning for Olga, and some distant night bird squawks a faint response. Greta indicates the guard with the smashed nose, who is lying in a corner holding his crotch. The girl goes to him, takes a revolver out of her belt and motions him to stand next to Heinz. He gets painfully to his feet, makes his way over and stands swaying next to his boss.
I’ve finished putting on my clothes and I’m squeezing my feet into my boots when Heinz gives an almighty roar, picks up the guard, swings him at Greta’s head and knocks her to the ground. As I dive for the AK, Heinz jumps over Greta and charges headlong out of the door and into the night. The girl runs to the door and fires a couple of shots after him but he’s gone.
I go to Greta to see if she’s hurt but she’s already getting to her feet. She shrugs off my attempt to help her, picks up the AK and goes to the door. She stands beside the girl and looks out into the darkness. She turns to me.
‘It is no matter. We get him next time.’
She walks slowly to the guard lying on the floor and puts a single shot in his head.
I look at the neat little figure with the quiet determination who’s saved my life and I want to thank her but suddenly I’m swaying, and feeling myself falling, then there are arms round me and it goes dark.
Greta and the girl help me up off the floor and take me across the yard to their car. After Greta’s opened the back door for me, the girl takes two petrol cans out of the boot and gives one
to Greta. I get into the back seat and watch them walk to the barn, open the cans and pour the contents along the bottom of the walls. They come back to the car and Greta gets into the driving seat. She starts the engine and swings the car round in a tight circle until we’re facing the road. I hear a crackling noise behind us and I turn and see flames leaping up the walls of the building. The girl gets into the front seat and slams the door. Greta puts the car in gear, we roar away and there’s a great woomph from behind us as the roof goes up. I turn and look at the great pillar of flame until it disappears behind a line of fir trees. As we reach the main road, Greta pats the girl on the shoulder and says, ‘This is Silke. She is my granddaughter.’
22
We’re in my room at the hotel. Greta’s in the armchair, I’m sitting on the bed and Silke is cross-legged on the floor beside her. The body stocking’s now covered by a pair of tight jeans and a sweater. We’re drinking brandy from china cups and Greta’s been telling me how Silke’s father died in the gas chambers along with her brother, and that Silke’s mother, who was Greta’s daughter, died in the camp while giving birth to her. She and Greta were able to survive in the camp because Greta had been a jeweller and the SS used her to value the gold and silver they took from prisoners before they gassed them. She would tell them what was worth keeping and what should be melted down.
She tells me about how they lived in the camp, how brutal the guards were and how they often had to eat rats and mice to survive.
I’m sickened by what I’m hearing but when I say I can’t believe that the Nazis could have been so cruel Greta just shrugs.
‘There are thousands of Nazis like Heinz and his cronies still living in Germany with false papers, and even working in the government and the German army. Idiots like him think they can recreate the glorious days of the Third Reich. The Americans released hundreds of officers and SS men from internment when they realised that they needed the intelligence that Nazis like General Gehlen and his men had collected on the Russians during the war. They had microfilmed it and hidden it before they surrendered. They traded it for their freedom and now they spy for the US.’
I’m amazed at what she’s saying and thinking how little people know of what goes on in the world. I reckon most people think that the Nazis were all hanged or banged up for life after the war for the atrocities they committed, and now she’s saying that there are loads of them walking round free as air because of what they’ve got on the Russians.
I take a drink of my brandy and look across to the window. I see that dawn’s breaking and it makes me want to get back to what’s happening now.
‘How did you find us?’ I ask.
‘We were closing on Heinz just as he captured you.’
‘You were after him?’
‘Of course.’
‘Why?’
‘It is what we do.’
I can see from the way she’s looking at me that she won’t say any more on the subject. I pour us another brandy and ask, ‘How do you think Heinz found me and Olga?’
‘He followed you from London.’
‘Thinking that we’re Nick’s agents?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you were following him?’
She nods.
‘Was he in the club?’ I ask.
‘He sent one of his men in.’
I remember a young bloke that could have been one of them leaning on the wall near us when Silke and me were in the dark corner. ‘Is it true that Nick’s a traitor?’
‘Oh yes,’ says Greta.
‘So why did he want me to get rid of Olga? Why not let her give the true submarine secrets to the Russians?’
‘Because he made her kill Lord Duncaid after he found out that the lord was about to expose him as a traitor.’
‘Nick told her Lordy was bent?’
‘Yes. So she kills him because she hates Russians. Then Nick realises he must have her killed as well, in case she finds out that he was lying to her. It would tell her that he is the real traitor.’
‘But I checked the file and Olga was going to pass the genuine secrets over.’
‘No. That file was fake. Nick switched files at Broadway later.’
‘How do you know?’
‘We have man in files office.’
My head’s starting to swim with all this but I trust Greta even more now she’s saved my life.
I’m sorry Olga’s dead, since she was going against the Russians after all, but at least it wasn’t me who killed her. I’m wondering if Nick will want me gone the same way as Olga in case I’ve rumbled him as well. As if she’s read my mind, Greta looks at me and says, ‘You are in danger.’
Silke looks up at me and I feel a tingle as I meet her eyes. I breathe out slowly, look at Greta and say, ‘From Nick?’
‘Oh yes,’ she says.
‘What if I grass him?’
‘You have no proof.’
‘So I kill him.’
‘That is no good,’ says Greta.
‘He can’t get me if he’s dead.’
‘And if there are others?’
She’s looking steadily at me and I know she’s right. If he’s got company they’ll be up to speed with me and Olga and the plans, and they’ll have me killed as soon as I’ve done him.
‘So what do I do?’
She pours another shot of brandy and offers the bottle to me. I shake my head. She takes a sip.
‘I go to London and tell him you are killed. You stay here in Berlin and we look after you.’
I sit back on the bed and look at the two of them. The wise old lady with the wrinkled face and the knowing look in her eyes, who’s seen more cruelty and suffering in her life than anyone ever should; and the beautiful young girl who was born in hell. I know that Greta’s all I’ve got against Nick and whoever he may have behind him, but I know I’m not going to do as she says. I won’t be beaten by a bunch of upper class cunts who think they’re better than people like me. She’s looking at me as if she’s waiting for an answer so I swallow the rest of my brandy.
‘Is there a convent near here?’
• • •
We’ve left Greta sleeping at the hotel and Silke’s driving along a wide street that’s nearly empty of traffic at this time of the morning. I reckon we’ve got just enough time before dawn breaks to get what I need. I can see a big arch up ahead that’s lit up with floodlights. As we pass it, she tells me it’s the Brandenburg Gate and swings the car to the right. We drive down a tree-lined street for a while and after we cross a wide square she points to a tall building on the left and pulls into a side street just beyond it.
I tell Silke to stay in the car while I have a look round but she says she wants to come with me, so we walk along the pavement and into a courtyard. There are tall brick buildings on two sides of it with arched stained glass windows with saints and adoring women staring up at them. We go round the back of the building and I find a door that I could open if I had my picks, but all I’ve got is a blade. Silke points to a drainpipe and some sash windows above that look easy enough. Before I can stop her she’s climbed up the pipe like a cat, walked along a ledge, and is sitting on a second floor windowsill, beckoning me to join her. I climb up, get beside her and see that the window opens onto a landing. I slide the blade between the casements, push the catch aside and lift the window.
Silke slips through and I join her on the landing and close the window behind me. The doors in the corridor are shut, and all seems quiet, so I close the window and follow Silke down the stairs.
We’ve almost reached the basement when a door opens above us and we freeze against the wall. Footsteps recede along the corridor and another door opens and closes. We wait a moment, then we go down the stairs. I switch on the torch and see what I’m looking for – two laundry baskets standing beside an open door.
We enter the laundry and I head for a clothes rail next to three ironing boards in the corner. I find a black robe that looks about the right length
, take it off the rail and hold it against me, while Silke opens cupboards and drawers until she finds veils and starched white hats. The first one she tries on me fits, so we bundle up the gear and head for a door that’s between two sinks at the back of the room. As we’re pulling back the bolts on the door, a bell starts dinging somewhere and there’s the sound of doors opening and closing and people moving around above. We shut the door behind us, walk round to the front of the building, go across the courtyard and into the street.
We drive back to the hotel, go up to Greta’s room and find her still sleeping in the armchair.
Silke lies on the bed and seems to fall asleep instantly. I want to go and lie down beside her but I think better of it. I put the nun’s habit in the wardrobe, take a towel from the rail by the basin and head for the bathroom.
The hot water geyser on the wall gurgles and rumbles when I turn on the tap, then it fires up and hot water gushes into the bath. I go to the mirror and look at the side of my neck where Heinz cut me. It’s a couple of inches long but it’s closed up and has stopped bleeding. Polo neck sweaters or a choker for a couple of weeks and a dab of foundation to cover the scar after that should do it.
I take my clothes off, sink into the lovely warmth and massage my wrists and ankles where the ropes have left marks. I lie back, close my eyes and think about what’s gone on. I realise that Greta must have sent Silke into the club after she saw Heinz’s man go in, then they must have followed us, stayed out of sight while Heinz and his men took us inside, and then moved in when they heard the shots that killed Olga. I let myself drift off and get dreamy and woozy and think of home and Lizzie until the water starts to get chilly. I get out, dry myself, pick up my clothes and go to my room.