The Hunt

Darling Kee,

You were sleeping like a child and I hate good-byes. Am taking a taxi to the airport. I will call you tonight.

Five days, my darling, and then we will be together always.

I love you in my heart.

Thank you for changing my life.

Jenny

He opened the door and Bert Rudman, as usual, burst into the room without being invited. He was waving the morning paper over his head and babbling. Keegan had never seen him quite as agitated.

“Where have you been? Why was the phone turned off? I’ve been trying to call you all night!” Rudman jabbered, running all the sentences together.

Keegan stared at him sleepily, then looked back at the note.

“Where’s Jenny?” Rudman asked, looking around the suite.

“She left already,” Keegan said, handing the slip of paper to the journalist.

“Left? For where?” Rudman asked as he read the note.

“Back to Berlin.”

“And you let her go?!”

“Let her go? I don’t own her. Besides, I’m picking her up Thursday and then we’re off for London. What’s the big deal?”

“You don’t know what’s going on?”

“Where?”

“In Germany! Where do you think, on Mars? Goddamn, Kee, the Nazis have gone berserk!”

He handed Keegan a copy of the morning edition of the Paris Gazette, reprinted from his Times story.

“Christ!” Keegan said when he’d finished reading Rudman’s story. He looked up at his friend and his eyes revealed admiration. Admiration mixed with fear.

“I’m going back to Berlin on the afternoon plane for a follow-up.”

“You’re going to Berlin after writing this? They’ll kill you, you silly bastard.”

“I keep telling you . .

“I know, I know, they won’t mess with the American press. Let me tell you something, if they’ll knock off three thousand people in one night, your press pass ain’t gonna mean bopkes. You’re worried about Jenny and you’re probably number one on their hit parade.”

“That’s very flattering.”

“No, what it is is very true. Look, Dick Daring, I don’t like funerals, okay? Particularly when my best friend is the guest of honor.”

“I can take care of me. But you’ve got to get Jenny the hell out of there.”

Room service arrived. Keegan signed the check and doctored his coffee. Rudman sat down heavily on the sofa, took a long pull at his drink and sighed.

“You taking the four o’clock plane?” Keegan asked.

“Yeah, four-ten.”

Keegan sipped his coffee thoughtfully. A sudden jolt of fear stabbed his chest. Was she really in danger? he wondered. She wasn‘t political. But the whole country seemed to be going crazy. Maybe Bert was right. Maybe he better get Jenny out of there. Abruptly he snatched up the phone.

“I’ll try to locate my plane,” he said to Rudman. “We can fly over together.”

A few minutes before noon the phone rang.

“Francis?” the familiar voice said. “It is Conrad.”

“Conrad! Are you here in Paris?”

“No, I am in Berlin.”

“Is it crazy over there?”

“Only if you read the papers. Francis, I am calling you because Jennifer is in serious jeopardy.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have heard through sources that the Gestapo plans to arrest her if she returns to Berlin.”

“Where’d you hear that?”

“I can’t tell you but believe me, it is most reliable. I am taking a great risk to even call you but I feel I contributed a little to your romance. You must be very careful.”

“But why Jenny? She isn’t.