The Hunt

“This is your tailor. Your suit is ready.”

Keegan, disoriented, angry, completely overwrought, wasn’t thinking clearly.

“What? What suit?” he snapped.

“Your suit is ready and we’re closing early today, Mr. Keegan.”

Click.

Keegan suddenly snapped back to reality. Was that Wolffson? he wondered. He didn’t recognize the voice, not enough time. My God, he thought abruptly, that was the warning. Was the Gestapo after him now?

He stopped in the middle of the room, took deep breaths to calm himself down. What was it Wolffson had told him? If they called about the suit go immediately to the city zoo and find the phone booth near the carousel.

Immediately!

He checked the front window of the suite, then the back. Nothing out of the ordinary. He went to the closet and got his briefcase, the only luggage he had. He snapped it open, took out an envelope, checked the contents, and stuck it in his inside pocket. There was nothing else of real value in the case. He left it on the table and checked the windows again. As he was watching, a black Mercedes sedan pulled up and parked on the opposite side of the street. Four men wearing leather raincoats and black hats got out. Two of them entered the front of the hotel, the other two walked around to the rear.

Keegan left the suite, took the elevator to the second floor. He walked quickly to the fire stairs and started down. As he reached the first floor, the door opened. Two black hats barged into the stairwell. They stood two feet away from Keegan.

Leather coats, black fedoras, expressionless faces, blank eyes, lean as jackals. The only difference between the two was their height. One was two inches taller than the other.

The taller one stared at Keegan with surprise for a second, then blurted, “Herr Keegan?”

Keegan reacted immediately. He kicked the tall one in the kneecap as hard as he could. The man howled with pain and fell to the floor. As he did, Keegan slashed his knee into the shorter one’s groin, grabbed his collar and slammed his head into the wall. His forehead split open. Keegan slammed him into the wall one more time and as he fell, reached inside the man’s coat and grabbed the grip of his gun.

Whirling on the taller one, Keegan stuck the Luger under his nose.

“You make a sound and I’ll blow your brains all over that wall. You understand me? Verstehen?”

‘Ja.” The German nodded, his face still distorted with pain.

“Auto keys, Schlussel? Where are they? Beeilen sie sich mal, beeilen!”

“I don’t..

Keegan jabbed the muzzle of the gun under the agent’s chin, shoved his head back.

“You drove the car, you lying son of a bitch. Give me the keys or I’ll kill you just for the hell of it.”

The agent fumbled in a vest pocket and handed him the ring of keys.

“Take off the coat and hat. Beeilung!”

The agent struggled to one knee and took off the coat. Keegan snatched his hat off and put it on. He took the coat, leaned forward and slashed the pistol down on the back of the agent’s head. The man sighed and fell unconscious.

Keegan put on the coat and stuck the gun in his pocket. He pulled the hat down low over his forehead, entered the lobby and, without looking to the right or left, walked straight to the entrance and out the door. He crossed the street, got in the Mercedes, cranked it up and drove off. He turned right at the first street, stepped on the gas and wove his way through traffic. In two blocks he turned right, drove another block, turned left and parked. He got out and threw the keys down a sewer trap. He walked to the corner and found a taxi.

“Tiergarten,” he said as he got in.

The rain had settled into a fine mist. When Keegan got out of the taxi, he went into a store across the street from the zoo entrance. He waited until the taxi pulled away and rounded the corner, then he walked briskly across the street and entered the zoo. The carousel was in the middle of the park near the lake.

The phone booth was beside the monkey cage across the walk from the merry-go-round.

Keegan stood with his hands in his pocket and waited for the phone to ring.

“Do not turn around, Ire, “ a voice said behind him. “Listen quick. Ve haf learn Vierhaus is going to arrest you as a Spion.”

“I know. They came to the hotel after me.”

“You are in serious trouble. Go to the rear of the carousel now. Iss a tool shed there. Go inside.”

“Have you heard any more about Jen.

“Beeilen!”

A young couple came by and stopped beside Keegan. They stood with their arms around each other, ignoring the rain, and threw peanuts to the monkeys. Not a care in the world, Keegan thought. Two days ago that could have been us. He waited until they moved on. When he turned around, there was nobody there.

He walked around the carousel, found the tool shed and went inside. It was a small utility room. A. large worktable and chair took up most of the space. A bare bulb hung from a cord over the table. Cobwebs, like