Cold Lonely Courage

by Soren Petrek

  “It doesn’t sound like you really believe that.”

  “Her confirmed kills number more than two hundred, Willi. I am sure she’s responsible for twice that. No doubt she’s formidable, but Von Schmelling might get lucky and capture her. Naturally, he’ll want to torture her. She will kill herself if faced with that. She will not surrender if she is given the option. We must take her completely by surprise.”

  “You admire her, Horst.” Willi had dropped the informal address he usually directed towards Stenger. Willi could become dead serious instantly. His statement wasn’t a reproach or a question. He didn’t even seem to expect a response, he was simply voicing an important fact regarding the operation they were to undertake.

  “Yes, Willi, I do. I hate what Germany has produced in these monsters. If some of us don’t stand up and represent the good people of Germany our country will be lost to the ages. The Nazi party controls Germany, but it is not Germany. I am a policeman and a German. I know what is right and wrong. This woman must be captured for the safety of the French and herself. I see her as a soldier. She does not prey on the innocent, at least not yet. The last chapter of the atrocities of Hitler’s thugs has not yet been written. When the Americans and British invade, the SS and Gestapo will take a terrible revenge on the French. These men are the worst of the criminal element that we dealt with at home. I have actually seen names among the SS that were documented psychopaths prior to the war. You can’t get normal, God-fearing people to do what they have done to the people of Europe. Some, but not all, will be brought to justice after this is over.”

  “Are we going to help the enemy round them up after the war, Horst?”

  “I will, Willi.”

  “Then we will, Horsty.”

  Stenger smiled and picked up the menu.

  “You still haven’t told me how we’re going to pull this off.”

  “We give the information to our friendly local double agent, of course.”

  “Pardon my ignorance, but who might that be?”

  “A piggy little butcher over in Toulouse. He’s making big money selling meat on the black market. Clever bastard. He hasn’t been discovered yet. He profits by selling information to both sides. We discovered his activities and used him to feed disinformation to the British.

  “So what happens to him if the Resistance discovers his disloyalty to France?”

  “He’ll end up in a pork sausage hanging in his window, no doubt.”

  Their lunch came and the conversation turned to thoughts of home, people they knew in common, and the cases they had worked together. For a brief moment the war was forgotten and they were just policemen trying to do what was right.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Many miles away in the basement of an old factory used to store useless rubbish from a more prosperous time, Madeleine pondered the message that she received over the wireless. It provided the details of another hit, an SS Major this time. She sat in a small apartment, hidden behind a wall in the corner of a greasy common room, where employees had stored their belongings for decades when the factory was in service. The factory was fire damaged and closed. Nobody ever entered it. If they had, they would have discovered nothing. Madeleine heated up a pot of soup on a small electric burner and considered the message. There was something about the fact that her controller had guaranteed the presence of the target that bothered her. That was something new. Whether the intelligence was that good or if there was some other reason, she didn’t know. She knew from experience that intelligence sent to an agent or soldier on the ground was only good upon confirmation. Countless times she had received directives that were scanty or downright wrong. The Gestapo in particular wanted to capture her. She treated each of these situations first as a trap and then as an opportunity. This one seemed too good to be true. During her years of operating alone, she had plenty of time for contemplative thought. The old maxims like “if it sounds too good to be true, it is” were sound advice. This one required maximum scrutiny. She needed to see the layout of the killing ground. Until then she labeled it a trap and planned accordingly.

  Madeleine finished her soup and heated up some hot water for a bath. She was accustomed to bathing in a smaller metal tub. She didn’t mind it. She remembered how as a child her mother would bathe her brother and her on Sundays in the back yard, soaping them up and rinsing them off with the cold water from a small garden hose. Her father would often chase them around the little courtyard spraying them with the icy water as they squealed with delight and pretended to run away, always stopping if he couldn’t keep up on his peg leg. Suddenly, she burst into tears at the intensity of the memory. She saw her brother, her beautiful twin, torn to pieces. She would never forgive or forget. The image blazed in her mind as she held herself against her loneliness.

  Slowly her sobbing subsided as she tried to push back the memory of her brother’s death. The best way was to concentrate on a happy memory. She did not have to choose: she thought of Jack. She thought of his spirit and the traits of character that she so admired in him. As she soaped her body in the warm water she couldn’t help but think of the feel of his strong hands on her and the force of his need. She let herself be pulled into the sensuality of the memory, if only somewhat keeping one foot on the floor of the reality of the situation. She rinsed with cold water and allowed the air in the room to dry her. Summer was here. Late May in the south of France is just a hint of what’s to come. The mighty Mistral wind had subsided and the blaze of summer was just behind it. Madeleine stood, and as the water evaporated off her skin she felt clean and cool. She sighed as she forced herself to put on her clothes. At least they were clean and fit reasonably well. Too bad she couldn’t sit around naked and think about her lover a little more.

  She laughed at the thought and finally said to the empty room, “You better be ready when I see you again, Jack Teach; the next time will make the first time seem like a tender first kiss.”

  She never doubted that he would be there, alive and ready for her. It was her beacon of light at the end of the tunnel. It seemed closer now. Every day she listened for news of the invasion. She could sense that something was changing. The Resistance had mobilized and was causing problems for the Germans all over the country. She resolved to continue to do her part. Given her skills she could have disappeared for good and waited out the rest of the war, sitting on the laurels of her work to date. She knew that Jack would fight to the end and therefore so would she.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Madeleine hid in the attic of the building adjoining the tailor’s shop in Nice. She had been there for almost twelve hours and was sure that she had not been seen. She knew that if the operation was a trap, the military police or soldiers would have the perimeter of the shop covered and would expect her to enter in a clandestine but conventional manner. They would not expect her to be in the perimeter already. She had experience far beyond their training. They could not stop her. If everything wasn’t right, she would back off and come at the target again later. Her caution had served her well many times before.

  It seemed to Madeleine that she spent most of her time watching and waiting. It was a lonely way to fight, but it was the way she had chosen. Her courage had to hold at all times. There was never any relief from danger in her solitude, no chance to step back and rely on others. She knew it wouldn’t last forever, but it seemed as if she had never known anything else. If today was a trap her escape route was already determined. She had walked it already. She had also walked the most direct route to the kill. It consisted of a short path along the parapet between the roofs of the buildings, through a small door and down a flight of stairs. She would then be able to enter the tailor’s fitting room from a small adjoining room, and strike. She didn’t much care if the tailor was present or not. He wasn’t a known collaborator, and death and killing was a daily occurrence during war. All he was going to see was her back walking away, if he saw anything at all.

  Madeleine watched from a sm
all window high above the street; she did not see any activity. No policemen arrived. The tailor came and opened his shop and busied himself preparing for the day’s customers. Madeleine could hear the activity next door plainly, and it seemed to be business as usual. Customers came and went and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Madeleine never took her eyes off the entrance or the surrounding rooftops. There was no back door to the small shop as the necessary deliveries were carried in through the front door. She was extremely careful to make sure that the people who entered also left.

  The scheduled hour of the SS officer’s appointment came and went. Madeleine was about to consider the mission aborted and leave the building when a large staff car came driving down the center of the street, scattering pedestrians and vehicles alike. A tall, arrogant looking SS Major stepped out of the back as one of his two escorts opened the door for him. The escorts moved as one towards the front door and positioned themselves as sentries outside. Both men carried machine guns and looked well versed in using them. Stay outside, Madeleine thought as she watched to ensure there wouldn’t be any other arrivals. She doubted whether there would be any more casual traffic into the store with a giant staff car parked out front flying the Nazi insignia and SS markings. She moved slowly, deliberately affixing a silencer to her pistol. She checked her back up weapons and felt confident to proceed. This time she was dressed in well-worn street clothes with a scarf for her head, which would help to hide her features. More than likely all the tailor would remember would be the gun in her hand. She made one final check of her escape route and the back of the building, and then moved out of the attic and across the parapet.

  “I don’t know, Horsty, no nasty killer so far,” Willi said, looking out from the back room where Stenger had glanced at the tailor’s receipts two weeks ago. He leaned against the counter and smoked a hand-rolled cigarette, completely at ease even though they were waiting for a notorious assassin. Willi looked like he was casually waiting for drinks to be served.

  “With the two goons out front she’d have to have steel nerve to come in that way. But she has done it before. I guess she just doesn’t come across as a threat.” Stenger motioned with two fingers asking for a cigarette. Willi slid a tin and some rolling papers towards him.

  “I’ll check the street for anyone fitting her description,” Willi mentioned.

  “What description? A young beautiful girl, never looking quite the same? France is full of beautiful young women. Besides, she’s very good at what she does. She might just materialize out of thin air and shoot the bastard.”

  “Clearly, we’re not here to protect Herr Schmelling.”

  “We’re policemen, not body guards, Willi. Besides, Major Von Schmelling is an SS superman with two more out front. That’s three supermen verses one little girl. Besides, he is an arrogant ass and would screw up this surveillance if he knew the plan.”

  “Still, if she got through and we missed her, somebody will want to know if we told Von Schmelling.”

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, Willi, but if he’s dead, who’s to say we didn’t tell him?”

  Willi just chuckled and smiled, clearly in agreement.

  “Peek in up there, Willi, but don’t let Von Schmelling see you.”

  Willi started up the stairs, trying not to make too much noise.

  Von Schmelling admired himself in the full-length mirror as the tailor made some last minute adjustments to his sleeves. The Major was completely engrossed in his image and failed to notice Madeleine enter the room through the door and approach him from his blind side. Leblanc was focused on the items of clothing on a small side table as Madeleine moved boldly up behind both men. She raised the silenced pistol in one fluid movement as she entered the room. At the last second Von Schmelling caught movement out of the corner of his eye, spinning around in disgust, a reproachful retort on his lips. Madeleine paused just long enough for the fear to show in his eyes. He needed to suffer a glimpse into the terror that he so easily inflicted on others. Before Von Schelling could react, Madeleine fired two bullets directly into his chest and throat. Von Schmelling clutched his throat, blood spurting profusely through his fingers. He flailed around trying to find something to hold himself up. Leblanc moved away from Von Schmelling, clearly unwilling to help him in any way. Madeleine shot Von Schmelling again through his right eye and turned immediately to leave the room. As she did so Von Schmelling crumpled to the floor, and his head struck the floorboards with a solid thud. Leblanc was motionless, his face and eyes hidden by his arms. He didn’t want to see anything, much less the killer turning the gun on him.

  As Madeleine approached the doorway she heard faint steps on the stairs. She knew that there was no time to cross the landing at the top and get away. Madeleine ducked behind the door and waited for the man to enter the room. She assumed that once he saw Von Schmelling he would run over to the body and then she could slip away. Madeleine wanted to avoid a confrontation knowing that she had made a mistake. Someone had been in the building already, waiting just like she had done next door.

  Stenger watched as Willi walked up the stairs until he lost sight of him. It was then that he heard the thud from above. A couple of seconds elapsed before a wave of realization hit him. It was instinct coupled with confirmation of fact. Someone had hit the floor. He pulled his side arm and sprang for the stairs.

  “Willi! Watch out!”

  Willi walked through the door just as Stenger yelled. Madeleine simultaneously stepped out from behind the door and held the silenced gun to Willi’s head, keeping herself behind him.

  “Either of you move, this man is dead,” Madeleine said in German.

  Willi stopped dead in his tracks.

  “Hands up,” she said to Willi as she nudged his head with the silencer. She knew that even if she got the man in front of her, there was no telling how the man on the stairs was armed. Willi looked regular army, not SS or Gestapo. She did not want to kill him unless necessary.

  “Don’t shoot him,” Stenger immediately responded in French. “We can work this out. Nobody has to die.”

  “No such luck for the SS Major. He had to die,” Madeleine said.

  “You know mademoiselle, I really don’t care about him at all. You’ve done the world a favor.” Stenger’s words sounded tired and hopeless. He really did care for the man on the other end of her gun.

  “Then you’re not SS or Gestapo?” Madeleine asked. Willi snorted spontaneously.

  “I am Horst Stenger. I am a police officer and a detective.”

  “What next, detective?”

  “I don’t suppose you’ll just give up? It would make my life a lot easier.”

  “And be turned over to the tender mercies of torturers? I think not. Maybe I shoot him and then you and I shoot each other.”

  “You can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s my friend, my brother. Just don’t do it. He’s a good man.”

  “He’s a German soldier killing my countrymen and occupying France.”

  “No, he is not! Stenger said loudly, now angry, He is a detective in the Berlin police force and a hero. He saves lives, he does not take them!”

  Madeleine did not waver with indecision. There was something in this man’s voice, and the fact that the man in front of her was calm and unafraid. She needed to get out. She thought of Jack and knew that this situation was pivotal. Die here and never see him again.

  “I am leaving, Officer Stenger. Your friend will kneel on the ground with his hands behind his head. You back down the stairs and around the corner. I see you even out of the corner of my eye and I will put one in his ear.”

  “I will do as you say.”

  “There’s one more condition.”

  “What?”

  “I want a five minute head start.”

  “You’ll get more than that. I’ve got a slight problem. I never told the Colonel up there that we were setting a trap for you. Willi and I are definitely leaving. The SS tw
ins in the front are going to have to deal with this.”

  “You wanted me so desperately and now you let me go? Why?”

  “You’re not the person I thought you were.”

  “Maybe I’m not completely the person I thought I was either.”

  “Willi, get down,” Stenger said.

  Willi slowly sank to his knees and Stenger backed out of the stairwell and into the front room. Madeleine immediately moved from behind Willi, with only a quick glance down the stairwell. She was across the parapet into the adjacent building. Two steps from the back door, a storm drain was ajar. A filthy packing crate covered it. She pushed it aside and pulled the crate back into position. She turned and disappeared down the tunnel.

  “Willi, you okay?” Stenger yelled, coming up the stairs. As he did so he saw Leblanc slumped in a chair, stunned.

  “Yes, my brother,” Willi said laughing. “Shit, Horsty, that was bad. Seemed like a walk in the park for her.”

  “Mr. Leblanc. We weren’t here. It’s integral to the investigation. Besides, if she thinks you’re giving any information to the SS, well, I’m sure she’ll pay you a visit.” Stenger said with certainty. The look on Leblanc’s face was enough for Stenger to know he’d never say a word.

  Stenger and Willi walked across the stairs and into the adjacent building.

  “I’m not so sure. She is an enigma. She must just go after the real bad guys, not regular grunts like us,” Stenger said.

  “Maybe it’s because we’re policemen. She could have an uncle or a family member that has the same damn thankless job we do.”

  “It’s not all thankless, Willi. Sometimes when policemen are off duty they can drink beer together.”

  “You get to buy the beer, Horsty. I’m going to need several to soothe my frazzled nerves. That was like holding a poisonous snake in your hands when you’re too petrified to move. There was no doubt in her. She would have shot me without a flicker of remorse.”