The Apocalypse Watch (95 page)

“Holy
shit
,” exclaimed Captain Dietz quietly.

Minutes passed as the former Sorbonne student examined the diagrams. Finally, she spoke. “As you can see, the first floor is obvious—the north veranda, the large common area in the center which also serves as a dining room, and the kitchen, large enough for a popular restaurant on the Rive Droite. The second and third floors are suites for visiting dignitaries, which Adrienne and I can describe down to a mattress.”

“Who’s in them now?” asked Witkowski.

“Herr Heinemann was with you, Adrienne, right,
mon chou
?”

“
Oui
,” said the girl. “Such a bad man!”

“Two other suites on that floor are occupied by Colette and Jeanne, their companions are businessmen from Munich and Baden-Baden; and on the third floor there is myself and a terribly nervous man, so upset he drank himself into a stupor and could not perform. I was grateful, naturally, and decided to go for a walk—where I met you, monsieur. The other rooms are not occupied.”

“The man with you, what does he look like?” asked Latham. Elyse described him, and Drew said quietly, “That’s our man. It’s Bergeron.”

“He’s terrified of something.”

“He should be. He’s a liability and he knows it.…
You’ve described three floors; there’s a fourth. What’s up there?”

“It’s completely off limits to everyone but a select few who wear black suits with the red swastika armbands. They’re all tall, like you, and their bearing is quite military. The help, even the guards, are frightened to death of them.”

“The fourth floor?”

“It would appear to be a tomb, monsieur, the living grave of a great pharaoh, but instead of being buried in the bowels of the pyramid, it is at the highest point, nearest to the sun and the heavens.”

“Clarification, please?”

“I said it was off limits,
verboten
, but I should also add that it is
sealed
off. This very-much-inhabited tomb comprises the entire top floor and every door is made of steel. No one goes in there but the men in dark suits. They insert their hands into spaces in the walls and press their palms down for a particular door to open.”

“Electronic print-scan releases,” said Witkowski. “There’s no way to bypass those photoelectric cells.”

“If you’ve never been up there, how do you know all this?” asked Drew.

“Because the front and back staircases to the top floor, as well as the hallways, are constantly patrolled. Even the guards need relaxation, monsieur, and some are very attractive.”

“Ah,
oui
,” piped the young miniskirt brightly. “The blond Erich asks me to please see him whenever I am free, and I do.”

“It’s an unfair world,” mumbled Dietz.

“Who’s the pharaoh on the top floor?” pressed Latham.

“That is no secret,” answered Elyse. “An old man, a
very
old man they all worship. No one is permitted to speak to him other than his dark-suited aides, but every morning he’s brought down in an elevator, his face shrouded in a heavy veil, and wheeled to what they call the ‘meditation path,’ beyond the pool. They open the gate and he dismisses everyone, orders them away. He
then gets out of his chair, stands erect, denying his years, and literally marches out to a place none of us has ever seen. It is said he calls it his ‘eagle’s nest,’ where he can contemplate and make wise decisions while having his morning coffee and brandy.”

“Monluc,” said Drew. “My God, he’s still alive!”

“Whoever he is, he is the treasure they
keep
alive.”

“
Is
he a treasure?” asked Witkowski. “Or in reality a figurehead to be manipulated for their own purposes?”

“I can’t presume to give you an answer,” said the educated, high-priced call girl, “but I doubt he’s manipulated by anyone. Just as the help are frightened of his aides, those same aides appear to be terrified of him. He constantly berates them, and when he threatens them with dismissal, they virtually cower before him.”

“Could they be playing their roles?” Latham studied the courtesan’s face in the dull blue light.

“If they are, we’d know it, for we must constantly play our own parts. Impostors can rarely fool other impostors.”

“You’re impostors?”

“In many more ways than you can imagine, monsieur.”

“Still, there has to be talk. That kind of behavior doesn’t go unnoticed.”

“Gossip, yes. The most persistent rumor is that the old man controls enormous wealth, extraordinary funds that only he can disperse. It’s further said that he wears electronic devices under his robes that monitor him constantly, sending signals to medical equipment on the fourth floor, which in turn are relayed to unknown locations in Europe.”

“At his age, I can understand it. He’s got to be over ninety.”

“They say he’s over a hundred.”

“And still with all his faculties?”

“If he plays chess, monsieur, I would not wager heavily against him.”

“The relay machines,
chłopak
,” interrupted the colonel. “If they’re programmed to retransmit, they can be torn apart and those unknown locations traced.”

“If nothing else, they’d lead us to the money sources, the transfer points. That’s why he’s monitored wherever he goes. If he drops deep dead, the vaults slam shut until other orders come.”

“And if we can trace the locations, we’ll know where those orders come from,” added Witkowski. “We’ve got to get up there!”

Drew turned to the cool but still frightened Elyse. “If you’re lying, you’ll spend the rest of your life in a cell.”

“Why would I lie at a time like this, monsieur? You’ve made it clear that I will be pleading for my freedom in any event.”

“I don’t know. You’re bright, maybe you figure we’ll be killed trying to get up there, your fall-back position being well-paid whores who don’t know a damn thing. That could play.”

“Then she will be dead,
mon supérieur
,” said Etranger Two. “I will strap her to the gate in the wall with
plastique
between her legs, exploded by my electronic
contrôle
.”

“Christ, I didn’t know you had that sort of thing!”

“I added a couple of things,
chłopak
.”

“I offer you a better solution,” said the courtesan, reaching out and holding the young girl’s shoulder. “I offer you both of us.”

“
Et moi
?” squeaked the miniskirt. “What are you
saying
, Elyse?”

“Be quiet,
ma petite
.… You wish to get into the Eagle’s Nest,
n’est-ce pas
? I suggest it would be easier with us than without us.”

“How so?” asked Latham.

“We are familiar—accept that as you care to—with many of the help and most of the guards. We can get you through the kitchen and into
le grand foyer
, where the main staircase is. The backstairs, as you can see by the plans, are through lesser parlors on the right. We can do this much and something more, something most vital. You will need one of the old man’s aides to get into the top floor—if you even reach it. There are five, all armed, and their quarters are also on the fourth floor, but one or another is always on duty. He stays in the library, in the
front of the château, where he can be reached instantly by the
patron
, or anyone on the staff. I’ll point out the door to you.”

“What about us?” said Etranger One. “How do you explain
us
?”

“I’ve been considering that. The security here is immense and varied. Technicians and others arrive and depart to check the equipment. I will say you are exterior patrols who have been sent to cover the grounds outside the wall. Your clothing will support the lie.”

“
Sehr gut
,” said Dietz.

“You speak German?”

“
Einigermassen
.”

“Then you tell whoever may ask, it will be more authoritative.”

“I’m not dressed like them.”

“You obviously are under those clothes you removed from the guards.”

“Jean-Pierre Villier …!” said Drew, as if the name had suddenly struck him out of thin air. “ ‘Clothes are the chameleon,’ or something like that.”

“What are you talking about,
chłopak
?”

“We’re going about this the wrong way.… Strip, Captain, down to your shorts!”

Four minutes later, Latham and Dietz, minus their fatigues, were in the far-better-fitting paramilitary uniforms of the neo-Nazi guards. The black cloth covered the bloodstains and the single rip in the commando’s back, while the webbed belts accommodated both their knives, garrotes, and small automatic Berettas.

“Tuck in your shirts, especially the rear,” ordered the colonel. “Looks more tailored that way.”

“Heil Hitler,” said Dietz, glancing approvingly at what he could see of himself in the dim blue light of the cabana.

“You mean Heil Jäger,” Drew corrected him, equally pleased with his appearance.

“The only thing you say is ‘
Halsweh
,’ Cons-Op.”

“Remember, Frenchmen, I’m your commanding officer,” said Witkowski. “If any questions are asked, I answer them.”

“
Très bien, mon Colonel
,” agreed Etranger Two.

“Ready, guys?” said Dietz, picking up the two semiautomatics and handing one to Latham.

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Drew turned to the women, who rose together from the canvas chairs, the young Adrienne frightened, trembling, the older Elyse pale and resigned. “I don’t make judgments, only practical observations as I see them,” continued Latham. “You’re afraid, and so am I, because what these two younger fellows do, I usually don’t—I’ve been forced to. Believe me, somebody has to, that’s all I can tell you. Remember, if we get out of this, we’ll be on your side with the authorities.… Let’s
go
.”

T
he first of the kitchen help to see the uniformed Latham and Dietz come through the door were two men at a long butcher-block table, one chopping vegetables, the other straining liquid through a sieve. Startled, they looked at each other, then back at Drew and the captain, who instantly separated in military fashion, permitting the camouflaged Witkowski to walk and stop between them. Grim-faced, they bent their elbows quickly in the informal Nazi salute, as if the colonel were a man of considerable stature, an impression the G-2 veteran reenforced. “
Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Falls nicht, parlez-vous
français?
” he barked.

“
Deutsch, mein Herr!
” said the astonished vegetable chef, continuing in German. “This is a place for food, sir, and only we can be trusted.… If I may, sir, who—who are you, sir?”

“This is
Oberst
Wachner of the Fourth Reich!” announced Dietz in clipped German, his eyes looking straight ahead. “He and his security colleagues were ordered by Berlin to inspect the outer grounds without notification.
Kommen Sie her
!”

On command, the Etranger agents, gripping the arms of the two courtesans of the Eagle’s Nest, marched through the open door.

“Can you identify these women?” fairly snarled Witkowski. “We found them walking freely around the pool and the tennis court. It is
very
lax here!”

“We are permitted to do so, you fool!” cried the white-gowned Elyse. “I don’t care who you are, tell your apes to take their hands off us, or start paying money!”

“
Well?
” shouted ‘
Oberst
Wachner,’ staring at the kitchen help.

“Oh, yes, sir,” said one chef, “they are guests here.”

“And our contract does not include servicing strangers, only other guests to whom we have been properly introduced!” Elyse glared at Witkowski. The colonel nodded; the
agent du combat
removed his hand, as did One from the miniskirted Adrienne. “I believe you owe us an apology,” said the older, far more intelligent call girl.

“
Madame
.” The colonel elaborately clicked his heels and bowed his head barely an inch or two, immediately turning back to the cooks. “As you may gather, our assignment here is to analyze the security measures without interference from those who would cover up the flaws if they knew we were here. If you like, call Berlin to verify our presence.”

“
Ach, nein, mein Herr!
This happened before, several years ago, and we certainly understand. We are merely kitchen chefs, and would
never
interfere.”

“
Sehr gut!
Are you the only ones on duty?”

“At the moment, yes, sir. Our associate, Stoltz, left for his room an hour ago. He must be up at six o’clock to prepare the breakfast buffet—what we have not prepared for him.”

“Very well, we shall continue our inspection beyond here. Should anyone inquire about us, you don’t know what they’re talking about.
Remember
that, or
Berlin
will remember you.”

“
Wir haben verstanden
,” said the vegetable man fearfully, nodding repeatedly. “But, if I may,
mein Herr
, for I wish to cooperate fully with Berlin, the guards inside are trained to fire on unannounced intruders. I would not care to have your lives on my conscience—or on my record.
Verstanden
?”

“Don’t be concerned,” replied Stanley Witkowski, whipping his American identification out of his pocket and proclaiming with the panache of a long-ago Polish royal, “If nothing else, this will put away their weapons.” He swiftly repocketed his U.S.A. embassy credentials.
“Also, we’ll take the ladies with us. The big bitch has a sharp, loud mouth. We’ll be fine!”

Latham and Dietz leading the procession, the French-American invaders walked through the double doors into the great hall of the château. A circular staircase, dimly lit by wall sconces, rose from the center of the huge, polished wood foyer. There was an archway straight ahead leading to other darkened, high-ceilinged rooms, and on the right, to the left of the large double doors of the entrance, a smaller door, light shining through the space between the lintel and the bottom panel.

“That is the library, monsieur,” whispered Elyse to Drew. “Whatever aide is on duty will be in there, but you must be quick and cautious. There are alarms everywhere. I know, for I have frequently thought of using several of them myself.”