Love is the death of me

by Dick Hardman

  She told the butler that a reporter by the name of Henry Roberts was coming at 2.00 pm and she wished to speak to him in private as soon as he arrived.

  ***

  David stopped his car at the corner adjacent to the Barkers’ massive house and agreed to return in an hour, and quarter hour intervals after that for the following hour, unless he saw signs of trouble. He would not be back after that.

  “Thank you for all your help David, and if I don’t see you again, have a good long life. Give Alice a hug from me.” His eyes watered as he shook the old man’s bony hand, possibly for the last time. Then he strode purposefully away to see Anna.

  The butler showed Henryk to the drawing room and saw him seated, then went to fetch Anna.

  “I beg your pardon my lady, but Mr Henry Roberts the reporter has arrived, and he is in the drawing room.”

  “Thank you Drake, I will see him now.” Anna followed the butler and he made the introductions then left, silently closing the double hardwood doors.

  “Did Peter send you?” asked Anna without delay.

  “No, I have lost contact with everyone since the party at the pub. I came to you to re-establish contact. I was arrested by MI5 and taken for interrogation, but I escaped and have been in hiding until I saw the news of your wedding in the paper.

  “How did you end up here Anna? Don’t tell me you have switched sides?”

  She told him everything as it happened, pausing only when Drake brought in English tea and cakes.

  Henryk was amazed at her stroke of luck, and told her about David and Alice. In a way, she was slightly jealous of him, he had found someone who genuinely cared for him.

  He did not mention the sad events that led to his capture, how he murdered the girl he loved. He was deeply ashamed and knew he had lost more than just his freedom.

  “So Henryk, what do you want of me?”

  “I need to let Peter know I am still available for the mission, though my cover has been lost. What are his orders?”

  “That is strange, Henryk, because it has become necessary to murder my husband.”

  “What! Why would you want that?”

  “We have no choice, the man is British through and through, and we need to disrupt the aircraft assembly at Gant’s Hill. With him gone, the place will be in turmoil, and then our agents can sabotage the place. Also, according to Peter when I spoke to him at the wedding reception, Germany believes I have turned and if he cannot convince them I am still active, they will want me killed.”

  “You make the bold assumption Germany will win this war, I don’t see much chance of that. The British are smart and resolute, they will not be easily crushed.”

  “You do know that Peter successfully tested a beacon, don’t you?”

  “No, when did that happen?”

  “On the 26th, he set one up on the Becton Gasworks and the first V-1 made a direct hit, nine others continued on in a straight line. It was a perfect result. With that accuracy, Germany can hit every target without great cost or losing a single man. What can the British do to them in return? Absolutely nothing.”

  “Yes, I see what you mean. Our role has just become more important. We will need to plant more beacons and to do that, we need to train more agents. I must get back in contact with Peter straight away.”

  “That will be far too dangerous at the moment. A lot of things have changed. Peter has a different role now, Andrzej is dead and so there is only you and me in the game. We cannot afford to lose you as well, so you must stay safe in the shadows.” Henryk could see no problem with staying safe.

  “The most important task is to disrupt the aircraft production line and that is where you come in. I can help you by providing times and places where you can get Sir Matthew alone, whilst I have the perfect alibi of lots of influential people around me.

  “With him out of the way, I will need someone to help me manage the estate. I can offer you comfort and security here in this house, no questions asked. After a respectable period, who knows, you might want to take his place.

  “I admit I had deep feelings for you” she lied “but I knew you were too good for me and I hated you for that. That night with Andrzej in Alderney was cruel, but I wanted you to be jealous. I am deeply sorry and I have always regretted it. Perhaps fate has given us the chance to rebuild things if that is what you want.”

  This all came as a shock to him. He had always wanted Anna, but had played hard to get in the mistaken belief it would drive her to him. Women were hard to fathom that was true, and now the episode with Andrzej made sense, sort of. Perhaps he should have played his cards better with Anna, she was more trustworthy than Jane. How could he have fallen for the story she told him, they had only just met, she was employed to lure him into bed. Saying she loved him without meaning a word of it would have been easy for her. The interrogator had told him that she smiled, because she had trapped him. It was not forgiveness, why should she forgive her murderer?

  Anna had no reason to trick him. This was an unexpected revelation, but life seemed to be like that.

  “OK Anna, I can dispose of Sir Matthew for you and Peter. I will need places and timings of course. Can I rely on you to communicate with Peter and Germany?

  “I have been through too much to stop now, just as Germany is on the path to victory. I need to make my place at the forefront of the new power and you can help me achieve that.”

  “Of course Henryk, that is what we are striving for, we can do that together.

  “Do you have access to weapons?” she questioned.

  “No, Peter would have cleared out the beacons the moment we disappeared, and he would have set up booby traps at our lockups.”

  “He did, your lockup was raided and all eight MI5 agents were blown to bits. Sir Matthew told me.

  “I expect my gun, silencer and some spare ammunition, are still hidden. I will give you the address and you can use it.” Anna wrote down the address of the flat where she used to live.

  “Look for the thread dangling in the wall cavity, behind the wall ventilator. You will have to break in of course, but with the thieving that goes on in the area it should not raise any concerns.

  “My husband will be here at 6.00pm for dinner, I suggest you waylay him on the road here, under cover of the blackout. Watch out for the chauffeur, he is a trained bodyguard and damned good.

  “This is the registration of the Bentley, they are quite common in this road. Make sure you have the correct car.” She added it to the note with the address of the flat.

  “Do you think you can get him tonight?”

  Henryk looked at the mantelpiece clock, and did a mental calculation. “I think I can just about do it, though I still have to come up with a plan.”

  To seal the deal, Anna stood up and looked around carefully to make sure no one was watching, put her arms around Henryk’s neck and kissed him with a passion he’d never expected. She pushed herself hard into him and sensually worked her hips to arouse him. He responded and push back. The signals were unmistakeable this time, he would not let her down.

  ***

  Away in the distance, Henryk could see David’s car parked discretely and he walked briskly towards it. When David was certain it was Henryk and that there was no risk to him, he started the car and drove to meet him.

  “David, could I trouble you to drive me into the city, here is the address. I need to collect some things and then we can head for home.”

  David followed Henryk’s direction as he consulted the map. They eventually reached Anna’s flat.

  “Could you drive to the end of the street and wait for me there, I will be no more than a few minutes.”

  David showed fatherly concern. “This is a red light area Henryk, I hope you are not up to mischief.”

  “No time for that, I can assure you. This is a matter of life and death.”

  Henryk checked the address Anna had given him, looked around and barged open the entrance door. It was far too early for the
ladies of the night and no one else noticed him, they were too focussed on their own lives.

  He paused at the top of the stairs, outside her old flat and could hear the sounds of frantic lovemaking within. Both the man and woman were hard at it, their animal cries rising to a mutual peak. Henryk’s full on shoulder charge ripped away the lock and dead bolts and he was on the naked couple before their brains came out of their trance.

  The hag faced woman in her early forties was riding the older fat man as if he were a bucking horse. A rabbit punch to her neck and she flopped her navel length breasts over his petrified face, to form a near perfect airtight seal. When Henryk sat on her back, the man lost consciousness and stopped thrashing as he almost suffocated.

  Henryk ripped off the loose wall ventilator. The heavy thread was hard to find amongst the thick black cobwebs, but he carefully pulled up the bag containing the gun and other bits.

  He ransacked the filthy room to make it look like a robbery and searched both sets of clothes, keeping cash and coupons, closing the door as he left.

  Between them, the man and woman netted Henryk nearly twenty pounds plus a good haul of coupons, David and Alice would be pleased with all that.

  David watched Henryk approach in his mirrors and started the car as he climbed in.

  “Where to now?” asked David.

  “I suggest you use these to get petrol and groceries.” He handed the haul to a surprised David, who looked at Henryk and decided not to ask where they came from.

  “Is your dashboard clock accurate?” enquired Henryk.

  “It runs a couple of minutes slow during winter, probably the lower voltage in the battery.”

  Henryk factored this into his mental calculations.

  “Please go back the exact route that we came on, I have something urgent left to do before we eat Alice’s fresh cake.”

  David felt reassured at the change in tone, perhaps the afternoon would turn out well, after all.

  The roadworks Henryk had seen on the way into the city were still underway. The long, deep trench was being filled with crushed stone and the tipper bed on the truck was slowly returning to horizontal.

  “Drive past about half a mile, drop me off and then go on to the place I had my meeting. I will catch up with you there. If I am not there by 6.30 pm, go home without me.”

  “Do take care Henryk and don’t forget Alice’s cake.” Henryk smiled broadly, the old man was a decent person. If everyone was like him, there would be no war.

  Ambush. 5 o’clock that afternoon.

  The branches either side of the road formed a natural arch and the tall, steep earth banks added to the evening gloom on this long stretch.

  A man staggered into the road ahead of the road works truck, and collapsed. He appeared to be smartly dressed, and was trying to get up out of the path of the vehicle. With no way around the body the driver was forced to stop. He climbed down and cautiously approached the distressed man.

  The man in the road quickly rolled over and faced the driver, clutching a fabric bag over the lower part of his face.

  He pointed a gun at the shocked driver. “Go back to your lorry, get in the passenger side and lay face down on the floor, head under the dashboard.” Henryk gestured with his gun and the man obeyed.

  “Don’t attempt to look at me or I will have to kill you. Put this bag over your head and stay still.” Henryk pulled the lapel of his jacket across his face until the bag was firmly over the driver’s head.

  The poor man tried to protest. “Why are you doing this? What are you going to do to me?”

  “I told you to be quiet. I can do what I want without you being alive, so do as I ask and you will live.” The driver said no more.

  ***

  Several cars squeezed past the parked lorry and went on their way as night closed in. The smell of the exhaust fumes from the idling engine of the truck was overpowering in the cab, even with both windows open. There was not a breath of wind in the freezing air, the prelude to a heavy frost tonight. Henryk was quite drowsy from the carbon monoxide fumes, and had almost drifted off to sleep when a horn sounded loudly alongside. The arrival of the Bentley from behind had been silent and it was about to squeeze past the lorry. The reflected light from the road showed this was the number plate he had been waiting for.

  Henryk whacked the crouched driver unconscious with the silencer of his Luger, slammed the lorry into gear and revved hard, as he turned into the car forcing it up the steep bank. This was one scenario for which the driver had never been trained, but he responded by trying to reverse, because moving forward was making things much worse.

  The bodywork had become locked into the lorry and the spinning rear wheels had no effect in pulling the Bentley free, so the driver urged Barker to leave the car and escape the attack on foot, in the dark. He would deal with the truck driver.

  Henryk had intended to run the car off the road at speed so it looked like some sort of accident, but the plan had stalled. Now he had to come up with an alternative.

  He yanked the handbrake on hard, and leapt over the crouched driver onto the ground.

  Barker slipped down the muddy bank from the rear car door and fell at Henryk’s feet. The Luger smashed into Barker’s skull and he fell dead. To prevent the occupants of the car being illuminated and therefore becoming a target, the chauffeur had already switched off the interior light. Now the bullet proof partition between driver and rear passenger area hummed as it descended.

  The chauffeur intends to shoot me, thought Henryk.

  Using the rear of the car as cover, Henryk pulled Barker to him. Scrabbling up the slippery bank, holding the dead body upright as a shield, he heaved the limp body into the car. Shots thumped into Barker as the driver saw the dark shape lunge at him.

  The muzzle flashes of the gun had lit up his position. With a superhuman heave of desperation from Henryk, Barker fell over the open partition onto the chauffeur, who suddenly realised it was Barker. He hesitated, who had he been shooting at in the darkness?

  Backlit by the instrument panel, Henryk grabbed the chauffeur’s hand and banged it hard against the steering wheel to release the weapon from his grasp. Several pile driver punches stunned the man long enough for Henryk to use the bodyguard’s own pistol to end him.

  The only bullets fired had come from the chauffeur, so the mystery of this ambush would run and run.

  Henryk opened the massive boot and found a can of petrol. He poured some inside the Bentley, securely replaced the spare can and closed the boot. The lit match thrown through the door ignited instantly, and Henryk quickly closed the door.

  It would be less than a minute before the lorry caught fire as well, so he pulled the unconscious driver to safety well away from the inferno, and removed the bag from his head.

  The car windows shattered in the intense heat, letting oxygen in and the flames out. Now the lorry was burning and the scene of the assassination was complete.

  Henryk had two miles to run before he would reach David’s car and the thought of Alice’s cake gave him an extra spurt.

  He turned as the blast of the exploding petrol tanks behind him echoed through the night, along the pitch black tunnel of trees.

  His job was done.

  Message to Germany. 5th January 1944

  Peter was awake long before breakfast, and used the time to carefully code a message to Germany. He would ask Sundown to transmit it later that day.

  Report of current situation.

  Arrow dead taking 8 MI5 agents with him.

  Ballerina married Sir Matthew Barker 2 days ago, responsible for security at Gant’s Hill aircraft factory. She claims to be able to provide ongoing intelligence for use against the installation and other targets, because of her position. She was forced to marry and I am satisfied she is a working asset. Her beacons recovered.

  Zebra was captured and held at Camp 020, but reported by MI5 as having escaped. Cannot confirm. His beacons recovered.

  Sundown was
replaced by MI5 agent posing as him. I am tracking him down. Will report outcome when known.

  Require a further beacon test, imperative it reaches target near London at 23.50 10th January. Timing is crucial, number sent and settings as before.

  New trained agents needed to place future beacons. I will be leaving for Europe 20th January but head for airlift from Calais to Alderney to provide the training. Facilitate this without exception, I have committed.

  I will find Raven and eliminate.

  Glass br5s28n

  Peter called Sundown, from a telephone box in Chelsea.

  “Good morning, is that Mr Marshal? Mr Glass here, about the encyclopaedia.”

  “I need to get a copy to you immediately, how can I do that please?”

  “I think we should meet the same as last time, I have something that you need. Can you make it the same time?”

  “I will be there, goodbye Mr Marshal.”

  Peter was delighted that Cathy wanted to come with him, it was doing her so much good, and the family were delighted to have their happy daughter back after months of emotional hell. Although they were worried about what would happen to her when Peter left again.

  ***

  The newsagent’s shop was near where Peter had parked.

  “Sorry Cathy, I need you to wait for me in the car. The person I have to meet does not like strangers and it is vital I see him.”

  She scowled, but said nothing.

  The moment Peter smelled the mothballs and lavender, he walked up the street to the alley, the old lady following him.

  Without turning around to face Sundown, Peter offered him a folded sheet of paper.

  “Will you transmit this message today, it is crucial to Germany. There will be no reply, they just have to make it happen.”

  “No problem Mr Glass, consider it done.

  “You remember Dan Stockley, don’t you, the man who drove you to the safe house.”

  “I am not likely to forget, that was a very close call. I was driving away after clearing everything out, when the place was surrounded by police.”