“And can we buy them something to wear? Have we got any German money?”
“German money is useless, Colonel,” Tiny said. “So, for that matter, is American. But I think Max can get them some clothing by trading a couple of Crations and packs of Lucky Strikes. I also have Nescafe.”
He pulled open a kitchen cabinet door. The cabinet was stuffed with cartons of cigarettes and Nescafe.
“Like I said, Colonel—‘Be Prepared.’”
He walked back to the table, where he showed the boys how to open small, olive-drab tin cans labeled STEW, BEEF, W/POTATOES.
Clete saw that tears were running down Heinrich’s and Gerhard’s cheeks.
Frade took a swallow of the Don Guillermo Cabernet Sauvignon 1944
Then he looked at Lieutenant Colonel Archer W. Dooley Jr. and saw that tears were running down his cheeks, too. Suboficial Mayor Enrico Rodriguez, Retired, wasn’t crying, but he looked as if he was about to.
“You going to drink all that wine by yourself, hotshot, or do I get some?” Dooley asked.
Mattingly came into the kitchen.
“Pay attention,” he said. “There is a message from the Supreme Commander. Quote. Pass to all OSS and Air Forces personnel involved. Well done. Eisenhower. General of the Army. Close quote.”
“You’re welcome, Ike,” Frade said. “We’re always happy to do what we can.”
“The significant part of the Supreme Commander’s message, Colonel Frade, is that Ike is grateful to the OSS. That just may buy us some time.”
“Point taken,” Frade said.
“And then, when David Bruce had finished delivering Ike’s thank-you, he dropped the other shoe. ‘Get the Argentine diplomats and their airplane out of Berlin as soon as possible.’ He was more than a little disappointed that we couldn’t leave this afternoon. But first thing in the morning . . .”
[FIVE]
357 Roonstrasse, Zehlendorf Berlin, Germany 0715 21 May 1945
Breakfast was prepared by the two women Max had brought to the house late the previous afternoon, when he returned from his bartering expedition to get the boys clothing.
The women were neither old nor ugly.
Clete saw that their eyes, however, were empty. They were sexless.
It was hard to guess even how old they were. Somewhere, Clete gauged, between his own age and fifty.
Both wore wedding rings, but Clete suspected their husbands were no longer part of their lives.
Frade, when able to do so quietly, gave in to the temptation to ask Egon if he thought they had been raped.
“They told me, with great hesitation,” Egon reported, “that the Asiatics had Giesela for most of a week. And Inge for four days. That meant Giesela had been repeatedly raped for most of a week, but Inge for ‘only’ four days.”
“Jesus H. Christ!”
“It happened all over, Herr Oberst,” Egon said. “Women. Young girls. Grandmothers. Boys. It would have happened to Gerhard and Heinrich, too. Except that when the Asiatics finished with boys from the Volkssturm, they killed them. That’s why Max and I took Heinrich and Gerhard with us.”
Von Wachtstein came into the kitchen. His officer equivalent civilian employee uniform had been replaced by clothing that looked only a little cleaner and less tattered than what the boys had been wearing.
Frade knew immediately what that meant, but had a hard time accepting the reality of it.
“Have a nice flight, Clete,” von Wachtstein said. “I’ll see you when you come back with the money.”
“Didn’t you hear what Gehlen said, you goddamn fool? The Russians are going to crucify you upside down, because you’ll be easier to skin that way.”
“That presumes the Russians catch me. I’m going to try very hard to see that doesn’t happen.”
“Well, you’re not going, so get rid of those clothes and put on your uniform. We’re about to leave for Tempelhof.”
As if to make the point that it was time to go to the airport, Peralta came into the kitchen, followed by Stein, Mattingly, and Boltitz.
Mattingly’s, Boltitz’s, and Stein’s faces showed that they also knew the meaning of the clothing and didn’t like it either.
Peralta’s face showed complete disbelief.
“Hansel,” Frade went on, “you’re going back with us if I have to have Tiny and his guys tie you up and throw you on the airplane.”
“You could of course do that, Clete. But all that would do is delay my departure for Pomerania and increase the chances I’ll be caught by the Russians.”
“You’re out of your fucking mind!” Clete said.
“It is my duty to our people.”
“What about your duty to your wife and child? Don’t try to feed me that noblesse oblige bullshit. I don’t buy it, Herr Graf! It’s a crock of shit!”
“I’m sorry you don’t understand, Cletus. It is a matter of honor.”
“Where’s the honor in getting skinned like a fucking Christmas turkey?”
“You know how much of the von Wachtstein assets are in Argentina, Cletus. How could I live with myself in Argentina if I didn’t use them to help what are now my people?”
“How are you going to help them, Herr Graf, your royal fucking majesty, if you’re nailed skinless and upside down to the fucking castle door?”
“What I am going to do, Cletus, is let my people know—”
“You sound like Moses, for Christ’s sake. You should hear yourself ! ‘Let my people go!’ Jesus!”
“Moses said, ‘Let my people go.’ What I said was that I intend to let my people
“There’s that regal fucking third person! Mattingly, do you believe this?”
“. . . everything in his power to get them out from under the Communists and to a new life in Argentina.”
“Send them a fucking telegram!”
“They have to see me. Once they have seen me, and I have spoken with them, I will come here.”
“Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that doesn’t work. What am I supposed to tell your wife?”
“If something should happen to me, my dear friend, I would want you to tell the Countess von Wachtstein that I loved her as I have never loved any other woman, and that I regret that she must now assume the responsibilities that come with the title. And remind her that if I am no longer alive, our son is the Graf von Wachtstein.”
Clete looked at him but, feeling his throat constrict and knowing his voice simply wasn’t going to work, said nothing more.
“I have treasured your friendship, Cletus,” von Wachtstein said. “Will you not shake my hand and wish me luck?”
