Emerald (29 page)

Hank walked her to her car, waited while she unlocked the door and said he would be back in a few minutes so she could follow him to the restaurant.

After a few minutes, he pulled up and honked in a late-model silver Mercedes. She pulled out behind him and followed the Mercedes through the streets of Munich for only a few minutes. Hank pulled into the parking lot of a touristy, chalet looking restaurant painted in garish colors. He walked over to her car and she rolled down her window and asked, “Are you sure this is where you want to eat?”

“Don’t worry about how it looks. They serve some of the best food in all of Munich! I think the paint job is really to scare off tourists.”

“OK, if you say so, Hank.”

While placing their orders, they both smiled silly grins. They could see each other in a clearer light. Miriam noted Hank was quite handsome and had the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. His neatly-kept mustache and wavy brown locks gave him the looks of a movie star. She began to feel a little too attracted to him, and shivered. He seemed never to take his eyes off her. That felt good for a change. Before their food arrived, Miriam excused herself, and Hank was tantalized by the sway of her hips as she walked to the ladies room. His sensuous goal was to get between them before the sun came up. Toward that end he kept up the charming banter all through their meal when she returned.

Lingering casually over coffee they talking familiarly as if they had known each other much longer than a few hours. After they left the restaurant, Hank noted that it was almost four in the morning. He asked her if she’d like to get a room at the motel next door. He knew he was taking a chance, but something about their natural chemistry gave him the courage.

Miriam hesitated, wanting to, but it was so crazy after such a short time. He squeezed her arm gently encouraging her. It was time they got some rest, he suggested. They could get two rooms or twin beds if she preferred. After he said that, she accepted. Nevertheless, of course, they did not get two rooms or twin beds.

As they entered the garish motel room Hank laughed, “The same mad decorator must have designed both the restaurant and this motel.” But there was no mistaking that the king-sized bed certainly dominated the small room. Hank told her to make herself comfortable, to go on to bed if she wished. He was going to shower first so he proceeded toward the bathroom, turning on the light, commenting on how nice and large it was. She walked over and peered in. He was right. It was all beige and blue tile with a huge sunken tub beside a glassed-in shower. Plush towels were piled everywhere and the floor was covered with warm beige carpeting.

Hank touched her arm and said, “You’re welcome to join me in the shower, Miriam. I’ll just get in and let you decide…whatever you wish.”

As Miriam walked away, she heard the water go on, then the shower door was shut. She kept standing there thinking, what am I doing? Hell, she knew she couldn’t just get undressed and get in that bed and go to sleep. She quickly got undressed and joined him in the shower.

It was near noon the next day when they had breakfast in the same restaurant. By now they were feeling completely comfortable with each other. He had been gentle in his love-making, had never rushed her into anything. He called it exploring each other in more profound ways. There was just something about him she really liked. She decided, if he asked, she would see him again, at least until she left for Italy. What did she have to lose? She felt good being with someone again. However, falling in love was definitely out of the question, she rationalized, no more of that stuff. Once was enough.

After he made a date with Miriam for dinner later that night, Hans returned to his hotel room. He was very relieved his mustache and hairpiece had passed the test while making love to Miriam. He had never had to put his disguise to that kind of test before, and it had accounted for much of his gentleness with her. He had no need to bother with a disguise when he had been with Ingrid and it had been so much easier. Before that he had only been with prostitutes. Back in Argentina or with women like Emily who he cared nothing about, he only used women to get what he needed. This was something new that he had neither experienced nor even considered- - -he actually had feelings for her. She was quite sweet and tender, not what he expected at all. From the news articles, he knew she could pretty well match David if the occasion called for doing battle. After last night he hoped that would never occur. It was a thrill for him - - - shooting that Jew and then taking his girl. Maybe she did live in Munich like she had claimed and had only been David’s date for the evening. Either way, he liked Miriam. It was that simple. He could not explain it even to himself, but he knew there was something there.

He remembered that he had missed his ten to noon phone time with whoever was that called themselves “The Organization” and had been giving him his assignments of people to kill. That was a very strange arrangement. How did they know he had a passion for killing Jews? He didn’t like taking orders from anyone. He thought about declining their directions, but the money for each hit had been good - - - good and it certainly helped him grow his bank account.

Had he missed today’s call? But by four, he had heard nothing and now it was after six, so he figured he’d lucked out and wasn’t going to be called at all today. Rather than start worrying about that, he decided to concentrate on a plan to win Miriam’s affection. He would do whatever it took to gain her trust. Only then could he find out what he wanted to know - - - no matter how things went between them. He needed to figure out what Mossad was up to in Munich. Were they after the emerald, him, or just trying to infiltrate the organization? If he could answer that question maybe he could take advantage and sabotage those fucking Jews who shot his father. He had the time and was gaining the financial resources to wait it out.

For the next five days, this strange pair went out every evening but Hank really learned nothing about Mossad from Miriam. He tried every trick he knew to get her to admit that she was a Mossad agent, but she was very tight lipped. All she would say was that she worked for a new company that developed computers, and she was in Germany to locate and heir people for that company. No, she wouldn’t tell him the name of the company because it was still under development and they were in a race get their product into the market before several others beat them.

They also talked about relationships, past and present. She told him she planned to never fall in love or marry, ever. She was still raw from being burned the last time. She didn’t mind having a bit of fun, but please don’t ask for anything more. He agreed and said he felt the same even though he had begun having feelings for her. She informed him that in a few days she would be leaving to move to Australia to be with her family. They would never see each other again, so cool his emotions.

Two days before Miriam was to leave for Rome, they stood outside a hotel where they had just finished a lavish lunch buffet. She said her final goodbye, telling Hank she would probably never be back. She told him not to be too sad. He had been so much fun. It was for the best that they part now. He said he would miss her. If she had stayed, he would’ve wanted to marry her.

“Now, Now,” she said, “We agreed not to get emotionally tied up with each other.”

Hank slowly shook he head in affirmation. After a long hug, hey kissed goodbye, never believing they’d see each other again.

Hans realized later, after he began missing Miriam, that he had spoken the truth. Maybe he should just jet off to Australia and marry her. The more he thought of her, the more intense his feelings became. She was very much on his mind after he got home and at four, his phone began ringing. Maybe it is she, he thought, but it was not. After he hung up, he drove once by Henzel’s house to check it out then drove back home to put on his shooter’s outfit.

T
wo days later, the newspaper reported the assassination. It came from a long-range rifle shot, as Henzel had walked from the synagogue to his car. As Chief Beinschmidt read the report he found on his desk, he felt he could finally relax. Now both Jews within his department were gone, and he could easily hire Neuschondorf from the GRS to replace Henzel. At the morning patrol assembly, he gave his beat officers hell, followed by a pep talk exhorting them to get out there and find that maniac who was killing his best men. After he dismissed the briefing, he returned to his office, closed the door, and called Servette. After the usual pleasantries, their discussion turned to matters of the emerald.

“Did you figure out what the emerald had to do with “The Dagger”, Chief?”

“No. I was going to ask you.”

Servette continued, “We think he was after the emerald when he killed the man in your University hospital. That murdered man, a Mr. Tam Stratton, had just made the winning bid for the emerald at a Christies auction in Geneva a couple of days before. Actually, it seems, someone tried to kill him by running his car off a cliff shortly after the auction. I do not know if it was the same person, striking twice of if it is a group of some kind that was after him. Then, and this is quite strange, someone made arrangements to have him transferred from Geneva to your University hospital.”

“So you think this killer is after the stone as well. I wonder why? Maybe we, here in Munich, can track them both down. What else, Piet?”

“Nothing more, I guess?

“Well let me know if you hear anything. Keep in touch, Chief.”

After their conversation, Bruno quickly dialed a number and said to the silence, “The emerald is the clue. Locate it. Then we can keep a better eye on our man.”

He heard a metallic click in the receiver, and hung up the phone.

The next number Bruno dialed was Miriam’s. No answer. It was the fifth time he had called. What was she up to now? He drove over to her Hotel. Inquiring for her room at the desk, and was told that she had checked out several days ago. “No, Chief, I don’t know where she has gone. She left no forwarding address. Frustrated, Bruno sat down in the lobby and from his cell phone called Levi.

“I have no idea where she is Chief, that is strange. I thought you were keeping an eye on her. I know she was very distraught over David getting shot. Can you find her? She’s certainly not here. Call me back as soon as you learn anything, if you will, please.”

Later that evening, Bruno met with Neuschondorf and Gottschlag, his two replacements in the department for Henzel and Wiezer, and several others at his home. The meeting served as the executive council meeting of the organization they led - - -the Gestapo Revival Society, or GRS. If anyone asked, they would always be told GRS stood for Government Retirement System. After all, the three joked, aren’t we into the “retirement” business? We can retire whomever we please, whenever we please. They all laughed. The plan they finally decided on was to eliminate the couple in the house in which Miriam had stayed before she went into the hotel, because they were either Mossad or Mossad protectors but they would wait a couple of months until things cooled down, and wouldn’t Hans be the perfect man for the job? They also agreed that they needed to keep a tight control over Hans, as he sometimes went out of control and did his own thing killing Jews he met on the streets.