Ghost paused and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Can you guys do that for me? For the victims and their families?”
The dedicated staff of Gray Fox all agreed, and with a renewed sense of purpose, they got to work. Ghost turned to his operatives and Jackal. He nodded for them to join him in the conference room. They followed him out of the Den and walked quietly down the corridor leading to Jackal’s temporary office where she’d developed the entity-relationship model.
Gunner was the first to speak once the doors were closed behind them. His tone of voice reflected his anger and frustration.
“Damn, this sucks!” He grabbed the back of a chair and twirled it hard so it rotated on its cylinder several times. As it slowed, he slapped the chair’s back for good measure.
“We’ve got nothing to go on except this Nazi-reborn concept,” complained Bear. “I hate an enemy who doesn’t have the balls to show themselves.”
“An invisible enemy is the worst kind of enemy,” added Cam calmly. “I don’t disagree, guys, but we do have something. Sure, it seems far-fetched and crazy conspiratorial, but it does make sense. Okay, maybe it’s not the Reich reincarnated. There must be someone within this terrorist organization who knew to be prepared to salvage the U-1226.”
“They also had the wherewithal to orchestrate an attack on a U.S. Embassy while having the political acumen to direct blame on someone else,” said Ghost.
“This is why I’m a believer in the Odessa theory,” said Jackal. “These aren’t terrorists. Terrorists are radicals who feel anger, resentment, or alienated from their stated enemy. They don’t have the ability to effectuate real change through conventional means, so they recruit others who agree with them and strike out the best they can.”
“Let’s just say the Nazi theory is correct,” said Bear. “Why now? Where have they been for eighty years? Have they been lying around waiting for someone to trip over the sunken U-boat? There was no guarantee that would ever happen.”
Gunner tuned out the others and began to wander around the conference room. He was desperate for answers. The investigation had so many moving parts. He tried to summarize where they were in the process.
Who? he asked himself. Nazis. Gunner actually managed a smile as he realized how absurd the answer was.
Why? They never stopped fighting World War II. Another reason to chuckle. Then he stopped. Or was it?
Gunner walked briskly across the room, unnoticed by the others, who continued to ask the same types of questions and tried to generate hypothesized responses. He reached the part of Jackal’s ER that contained newspaper clippings saved by Professor von Zwick. Some were in German and other languages. Most were in English.
He studied the dates. He made mental notes of the locations. He paused to read what he could about the subject matter of the reporting. Assassinations. Terrorist attacks. Cyber attacks. Financial market turmoil. National elections. The clippings spanned decades upon decades of significant events that took place around the globe, especially in Germany, England, and the United States.
His eyes were then drawn to the large map upon which Jackal had identified the ratlines. So many of them led from Germany to Rome. From there, they stretched around the world to a variety of destinations. He recalled the dying words of the dedicated professor who’d spent much of his last years on this Earth in search of the truth.
Odessa. Rome. Knight.
Then the old man groaned and died.
Was it a groan? Or was it …
“Argentina.” Gunner said it aloud. Von Zwick couldn’t say the word Argentina because he’d died at that moment. His last dying breath forced it out as arrggh. He repeated it. “Argentina.”
Wait, did he say night or knight?
“Gunner, we need you over here,” said Ghost, breaking him out of his deep thought. Gunner joined the group, but before they could address him, he asked Jackal a question.
He waved his arm around the room. “Does the word night play into any of this?”
“Night?” she asked. “Wait, do you mean knight like the chess piece, or as in Knights of the Roundtable?”
“Maybe? Any connection?”
“Well, yes. If you’re referring to k-n-i-g-h-t.” She spelled the word before elaborating, “There are a couple of references in my research. Himmler planned to create a leadership group of his top Nazi generals similar to the historic Knights of the Roundtable. In fact, he had a room or a tower, or something like that, built at his home for that purpose. I’d have to confirm that with Kala.”
“Any other reference?” Gunner asked.
“There were several articles in Professor von Zwick’s materials about an Austrian company. Knight Group, or something like that. I haven’t had time to run that down yet.”
“Let me know what you find out, okay?”
“Sure.”
Ghost faced Gunner. “I think we need to stick to our original investigative track and send you three to Argentina.”
Gunner shook his head in disagreement. “No, sir. With all due respect, von Zwick’s dying words to me were Odessa, Rome, Knight with a K, it appears. Then as he died, he seemed to groan, but in hindsight, I think he was trying to say Argentina.”
“All the more reason to send you there now.”
“Again, I respectfully disagree. He wasn’t a crackpot. He was leaving me breadcrumbs to follow. I’d like to go to Rome first.”
Ghost wandered the room and rubbed his temples. He turned to Gunner. “Do you feel strongly about this?”
“Yes, sir. I do.”
“I trust your judgment. You’re off to Rome. Just find these Odessa bastards before they strike again.”
THANK YOU FOR READING ODESSA RISING!
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