Spandau Phoenix (78 page)

"Don't make me do it, Sergeant," Smuts said into Hans's ear.

"Why give Lieutenant Luhr the enjoyment at your expense?"

"You fucking animal! Hauer's at the hotel!"

"Which hotel?"

"The Bronberrick Motel! Now let her go!"

Smuts raised his hand once more, and Luhr, his face red with anger and disappointment, snapped his cigarette lighter ;hut. The Zulu shoved roughly down on the tire until it lropped at Ilse's feet, then he led her away.

like a dying chicken-"

"Let's go, Sergeant," said Smuts, pulling Hans toward the door.

"You've got a telephone call to make."

326 pm. Room 604. The Protea Hot Hotel

"I ought to shoot you!" Hauer growled. "You senile idiot!"

"Steady, Captain," Professor Natterman urged. "I told you I meant to get here one way or another."

Hauer's mind reeled. How could he have been so stupid as to leave Natterman holding a shotgun on the forger in Wolfsburg? The professor had probably gotten the false passport names before he and Hans had driven a mile from the cabin!

"Are you alone?" Hauer asked sharply.

Natterman's eyes flicked to the door. "Please don't overreact, Captain.

I was in no position to get here on my own."

"Who is with you?"

"Another old man like me. He's a Jew."

Hauer whirled around toward the foyer and covered the door with his pistol. "Where is he?"

"Is Hans with you?" Natterman asked.

"Where is this Jew?"

Hauer's question was answered by a deep, unfamiliar voice. "I am standing alone in the washroom," it said.

Hauer dived into the space between the bed and the bathroom wall, clutching his Walther to his chest.

"I'm unarmed, Captain," said the voice.

"Shut up! Stay where you are!" Hauer jabbed his pistol at the professor. "You too, damn you. Don't move."

Natterman snorted. "You're being ridiculous, Captain.

Herr Stern is harmless."

"You couldn't stay away, could you?" Hauer thought furiously for several seconds. "All right!" he called finally.

"You in the toilet-walk out slowly-with your hands over your head! I won't hesitate to shoot!"

"Can I put on the light?"

"No!" Hauer lay pr-one in the'space between the beds with only his head and his gun hand exposed. When the tall silhouette appeared in the dim foyer, Hauer trained his Walther on the man's head. "Start talking," he growled. "And keep your hands up."

"My name is Jonas Stern," said the tall shadow. "I assure you that I mean you no hartn, Captain. I suspect that my interest in this case is similar to your own, and I would like to discuss it with you."

"Who do you work for?"

"For myself. But to give you a frame of reference, my native country is Israel." Stern paused. "May I switch on the light now?"

"The bathroom light. That's enough to talk by."

Fluorescent light flickered from the small cubicle. The fixture buzzed softly. Stern stood squarely in the pool of light so that Hauer would feel at ease, but Hauer kept his Walther trained on him anyway.

As -the silhouette took on human features, Hauer noted the tanned, angular face with its quick, piercing eyes.

"Captain Hauer," said Stern, "would you mind telling me where Sergeant Apfel is now?"

"I'd rather find out how you arrived on my doorstep."

Stern's eyes met Hauer's with steady assurance. "Frankly, that would be a waste of time. Suffice to say that I have been involved in this situation since the first night at Spandau. I'm sure the most important detail from your perspective is that I have the three missing Spandau pages in my possession."

Hauer felt his heart stutter. So you're the one. You slashed that Afrikaner's throat like a suckling pig. "You still haven't explained your interest in this matter."

Stern sighed. "We're all concerned for the girl, Captain, let's have that said. But I suspect that your interest, like mine, runs a bit deeper than simple kidnapping. To the safety and future of Germany, perhaps?"

Hauer waited.

"I am a Jew, Captain. An Israeli. I believe that the men who want these Spandau papers pose a very serious threat to my country.

They may pose a different but equally perilous danger to democratic Germany-I have come to root these men out."

"How do you propose to find them?"

"With your help."

Hauer shook his head in amazement. "You expect me to drag the two of you along with me? Is that what you think?"

Stern smiled. "I do bring certain assets to the game."

Hauer raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Such as?"

"Superior intelligence experience. The professor tells me that you have counterterror training, Captain. That is of limited value under the circumstances. We're not dealing with the Red Army Faction here. This is the 'big league,' as the Americans say. I've fought in the secret world for many years. I can keep you from making some very serious mistakes."

Hauer shook his head. "I don't think your experience offsets your age.

This is a hostage situation. Speed and reflexes will be critical."

Stern suppressed his anger. "If you see this as rely a hostage situation, you are fatally mistaken. We are at the edge of a web of intrigue spun fifty years ago, a web that has grown more complex with each passing year. Ilse Apfel is but a speck of dust trapped inside it." Stern raised his hand and plucked an imaginary mote from the air.

"Every time you take a step toward her, Captain, the entire web shakes.

The spider knows where you are at every moment, and when you finally make your move, you will find that it is you who are trapped."

"Interesting metaphor," said Hauer. "What lesson should I draw from it?"

Stern smiled patiently. "Your attention should be fixed upon the spider from the start, not the speck of dust. Eliminate the spider, you can plunder the web at your leisure."

Hauer said nothing for a while. "I'll take my chances alone," he answered finally. "I've handled a few spiders in my time."

Stern's jaw muscles tightened. "You'd stand a much better chance with my help."

Hauer raised his Walther. "If information is all you have, Stern, you can give that to me right now."

In the instant Hauer's finger hesitated on the trigger, Stern slipped out of the door. He reappeared moments later. Behind him stood three very fit young men. Their hard faces and burning eyes told Hauer everything he needed to know about their probable areas of expertise.

"These are my other assets, Captain," Stern said. "Sayaret matkal-Israeli commandos. You may have heard of them.

If you're any judge of men, you will recognize their value vis-A-vis our particular situation."

Hauer instantly revised his estimate of Stern's possible contribution.

Even the elite officers of Germany's GSG-9

spoke of the sayaret matkal with respect.

"You!" he cried suddenly, recognizing the bandaged Yose Shamir from the stairwell of the Burgerspark Hotel. "You were following me last night!"

Stern quickly interposed himself between Hauer and the young Israeli.

"Yosef was there-at my request," he explained. "I had hoped to meet you at the Burgerspark myself, Captain, but unexpected trouble prevented me.

I'm only thankful you decided to return here this evening. I assume you found another hotel last night after your brush with Yosef?"

Hauer nodded reluctantly.

"And you returned here because ...

"Because our distraught young husband decided to lie to me. He made contact with the kidnappers on his own."

Stern closed his eyes.

"Oh,'no," Nattennan groaned. "Why?"

"Because he realized that any attempt to free Ilse by force might well bring about her death. I believe that was the same position you took back in Germany, wasn't it, Professor? Also because Ilse is regnant."

Natterman's eyes widened.

"Is the boy mad?" Stern asked. "Doesn't he know the kidnappers will kill both him and his wife no matter what he does?"

"No. I don't believe he does. He thinks with his heart, not his head."

"An often fatal mistake," Stern said dryly.

"Ilse is pregnant?" Natterman murmured.

Hauer walked to the window and opened the drapes. Van Der Walt Street looked as calm as the Kurfijrstendamm on an early Sunday morning.

In the corner of the room, Aaron Haber picked up Hans's loaded crossbow and showed it to his fellow commandos, an amused smile on his face.

Stern motioned for him to put it down.

"What had you planned to do before we arrived, Captain?" Stern asked.

"Play bait? Tell the kidnappers you had the missing pages of the Spandau diary and try to turn their trap inside out?"

Hauer grunted. "That's about it."

"A dangerous game."

"The only one left."

"Not quite," said Stern. "You're forgetting something."

am?"

"I really have the missing pages. I would think they rate -us an invitation to the Kidnapper's Ball, wouldn't you?"

Hauer's lips slowly spread into a smile.

Everyone froze as the telephone rang, faded.

"You answer it," Stern advised.

Hauer darted between the beds and picked up the receiver.

Yes?"

"Captain!"

Hauer kept his eyes on Stern. "Where are you?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"I can't say," Hans replied. "I'm not sure, anyway. Captain, I've got to have those missing diary pages. I made a mistake in leaving you, I'm sorry. But these men really will kill Ilse unless they get all the pages. They're insane!"

Hauer thought silently. "But I don't have the pages," he said at length, still watching Stern.

"I know," Hans said quickly. "But you can find them.

You've got to! Go back to Germany! To the cabin! You can find them, Captain, you must. It's simple police work!"

"Not so simple," Hauer stalled. "Not when I'm wanted for murder in Germany."

"They can fix that!"

Hauer sealed the mouthpiece with his palm and whispered to Stern.

"Phoenix wants the rest of the diary. Do I tell them I have it?"

Stern shook his head vehemently. "They won't believe that. If you'd really had the other pages, Hans would have found a way to steal them before he went to the rendezvous."

"Hurry!" said Hauer, wondering why he was asking this strange old Israeli for answers anyway.

Stern jabbed his finger at Professor Natterman. "He's got them.

Tell them the professor followed you and Hans to' South Africa, and that he brought the missing pages with him."

Hauer shook his head angrily, but he could think of nothing else to say.

"Hans?"

"I'm here!"

"Can the kidnappers hear me?"

"Yes!"

"Don't hurt the girl," Hauer said slowly. "Do you hear me? Do not hurt the girl. Her grandfather is here with me, and he has what you want."

AL@'

Hans gasped..

A new voice came on the line. "Listen well, Captain Hauer," said Smuts.

"You will send the old man to the same place as before, the Voortrekker Monument. He must be there thirty minutes from now, alone, with the missing pages. After we are satisfied that no copies exist, we will release our prisoners. If you attempt to follow the vehicle that picks up the professor, the driver will shoot him on the spot."

Smuts's voice went cold. "And you will never leave this country alive.

Do you understand?"

"Ja, " Hauer growled.

The phone went dead.

Hauer whirled on Stern. "Well, Herr Master-Spy, you've painted us into some damned corner. They want the professor to deliver our last bargaining chip to them, and'if we try to follow, they'll kill him.

Now three hostages will die instead of two."

Stern smiled enigmatically. "Captain, where is your imagination?"

Hauer flushed with anger. "I try to be practical when lives are at stake."

"As do I," Stern said calmly. "But pragmatism alone is never enough.

You should know that, Captain. It is imagination that wins the day."

"And what miracle does your imagination suggest for this problem?"

"A simple one." Stern's eyes had settled on a bedfuddled Professor Natterman. "Does your granddaughter carry any pictures of you in her handbag, Professor?"

Natterman looked mystified. "I ... I don't believe so."

"Well," Stern said brightly, "there it is."

Hauer's eyes widened in comprehension.

Stern smiled. "It's the perfect solution, Captain. I become the professor."

Hauer was shaking his head, but he knew that he had been trapped by a master. Stern was already disrobing. "It's too risky," he objected.