by James R Benn
Me, not so much. I circled around back and saw Jenkins and two of his men hustle out from their small building and head for the entrance. A reception committee for the visiting brass? And why were they here? Looking into the death of Holland? Perhaps Snow was in trouble with his bosses. If he’d been an SOE agent behind the lines in Italy, and wounded in action to boot, this assignment had to be a bit of a letdown. Where would he go from here? Discharged from duty?
No use trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together when most of them were missing. There were dozens of reasons for a high-ranking visit. Each patient here held secrets others had died to protect, and any one of Saint Albans’s prisoners might bring the brass running for good cause.
I trudged along, the wind snapping at my neck, my hands in my pockets. Holland’s companion in silence, Faith, was the only new factor. She appeared too delicate, mentally and physically, to do him any harm. And from what Iris said, they were simpatico. What about Iris, though? She was in a weakened condition, thin as a scarecrow. Would she have had the strength to push Holland over the parapet? Or perhaps Holland had come out of his stupor and made unwelcome advances on Faith.
Trained in seven ways to kill people, Iris had said.
Did Holland know or do something that threatened someone’s status here at Saint Albans? I couldn’t see how, but decided I needed to speak with Faith. Whether she would—or could—answer, I had no idea.
I turned the corner on the south wing of the building. An ambulance and a jeep were parked out front. Orderlies were unloading a stretcher case from the ambulance, hurrying inside as the patient lay silent, face swathed in bandages.
Then I noticed the two guys getting out of the jeep. Big Mike and Lieutenant Feliks Kanski.
“Geez, Big Mike, am I glad to see you,” I said, rushing over to the jeep and slapping him on the arm. I wanted to hug him, but the guy was so big I couldn’t get my arms around those shoulders. “Feliks, good to see you too. Are you here to visit Kaz?”
I was all smiles at seeing them, but the look on their faces said nothing but bad news.
“I must attend to Skory,” Feliks said, his eyes following the stretcher. “Excuse me, Billy. Sergeant Miecznikowski will explain.”
Feliks took off before I could ask what the hell he was doing in England. The last time Kaz and I had seen him, he was fighting with the Polish 1st Armoured Division in France. That was right before the trip to Paris that ended with me and Kaz in this joint.
“First of all, when are you getting me out of here?” I said to Big Mike. “And secondly, what the hell is going on? Who’s Skory?”
“Good to see you, too, Billy,” he said. “The last question is easy. Skory is a code name. He was important enough to rate a pickup at an abandoned airfield in Poland. He got shot up when a Kraut patrol stopped him on his way there. As for the first, sorry, but I can’t spring you. That’s up to the doctors. You okay? You do look a lot better than the last time I saw you.”
“The last time you saw me you had me strapped down in an ambulance bringing me here,” I said. “I sure as hell hope I look better.”
That had been right after Paris. Big Mike was a good guy, the kind of guy who you want in your corner. But I did feel left behind. It was bad enough he dumped me here, but then not to see hide nor hair of him, that was a bit much.
“Hey, slow down, Billy. Sam and I were both here, a couple of times. You don’t remember?” Big Mike looked at me like I was crazy. Okay, he had every right to, I guess.
“No,” I said. “I don’t. When?”
“The day after we brought you here. You were out of it, that’s for sure. Kaz was in bad shape, too, but he came around faster than you. You still got the shakes?”
“How do you know about that?” I asked. “And no. Not often.”
“You told me. Showed me. When we came the second time, a few days later.”
“Jesus. Sorry, Big Mike. I was somewhere the hell else. The doc gave me something to sleep, a Blue Eighty-Eight, and that finally snapped me out of it. Slept for more than two days. Woke up with my head almost screwed on straight.”
“That’ll be a pleasant change! Come on, let’s get inside,” he said.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked, as we settled into a couple of chairs in the dayroom. We sat by the window, which had a nice view of the fence. We were far enough away from the pajamaed patients leafing through books and magazines that we could talk without being overheard.
“It’s bad news. About Angelika.”
“Is she—”
“No, she’s not dead,” Big Mike said, holding up a hand to put the brakes on the nightmare I was seeing in my mind. “But she was taken by the Gestapo. Captured outside of Warsaw.”
“As good as, then,” I said.
“We don’t know. We do know that she was alive last week. She was put on a transport to a camp in northern Germany. Ravensbrück. It’s for women prisoners.” Big Mike sat back, his hands on his knees and his eyes avoiding mine. Neither of us said a word.
There’s something else he’s not telling me.
“It’s Diana? That’s where she is too, right?” I said, filling in the blanks left by his silence.
“Yes. We heard from the French Red Cross that they’d gotten a list of names, all French nationals, who’d been arrested and sent to the camp. Diana’s name was included. Her false identity, I mean. The Krauts don’t know she’s SOE,” he said.
“Thank God she’s alive,” I said. Her cover story was that she was a high-class hostess in a Paris brothel. When things had gone south in Paris, she’d been picked up as a member of the Resistance, but the Gestapo only knew her as Malou, a Parisian. Her French was flawless, her identity papers were the best SOE could print, so her story held. Now all she had to do was survive a Nazi concentration camp.
“It’s good, Billy. Best we can hope for, under the circumstances. Listen, I know this is a shock for you, but now we have to think about Kaz.”
“Jesus,” I said, my head falling into my hands. I’d already known Diana was in the hands of the Gestapo, so hearing she was alive, no matter where, was its own silver lining. But Angelika had been free, if on the run. News that she’d been arrested and deported to a concentration camp inside Germany couldn’t be dressed up as anything but a disaster. “Can he take it?”
“I’m worried too,” Big Mike said. “But we have to tell him. Feliks said he’d do it but wanted some help.”
“Is that why you’re here?”
“That’s a long story. For now, let’s just say I had a reason to come along for the ride.”
“But wait, what is Feliks doing here?”
“He was transferred to the Polish Army Second Department,” Big Mike said, standing and motioning for us to go.
“Intelligence,” I said. “And that’s why he’s here with Skory. Which is why you’re here with him.”
“Yeah. A few days ago, Skory was in occupied Poland. He’s important. Feliks was active with the Polish Home Army before he escaped the country, so they pulled him out of France to work on this. More on that later, okay? Let’s go see Kaz.”
I took Big Mike upstairs and we found Feliks. Skory was out cold, with orderlies finishing getting him comfortable in bed. Big Mike had told me he’d been drugged for the ride, and Feliks didn’t expect him to wake for a few hours.
“Lead the way, Billy,” Feliks said, when he was satisfied with the arrangements. Then I remembered Kaz had thought Feliks and Angelika might have been involved romantically back in Poland. War throws people together and rips them apart. Feliks looked gutted, his young face ravaged by worry, his eyes heavy with darkened bags.
I couldn’t imagine what it would be like for Kaz.
Chapter Fifteen
Kaz’s face brightened at the sight of Feliks, like mine had. It lasted a second, and then his expression went
numb, his eyes darkening as if a cloud had passed over them.
“Angelika is alive,” Feliks said, moving to the side of the bed and stooping to embrace Kaz. Feliks’s statement belied his somber mood.
“What is wrong? Why are you here?” Kaz said, his voice trembling with dread.
“I have news,” Feliks said, stepping back and pulling a chair close to the bed. Big Mike and I stood behind him, feeling the tension in the air. Feliks looked around, unable to meet Kaz’s eyes. “It could be worse.”
“Angelika has been arrested,” I said, unable to stand the hemming and hawing. “She’s been sent to Ravensbrück.”
There. Done. Feliks glared at me, as if I should’ve softened the blow, but I knew Kaz had been in agony since we walked into the room. Now it was out there.
“You are certain?” Kaz asked, his steely eyes focused on his Polish friend. Feliks was the one with the intelligence contacts. He was the one who knew of Angelika’s work with the Home Army. “Tell me everything.”
“The message came through only yesterday. Angelika had been travelling to Poznań to deliver a message about an operation to the units there. She never arrived,” Feliks said, his hands pressed to his temples. He looked exhausted. He was fresh from the battlefield, and delivering horrible news to Kaz, never mind reliving it himself. “The units scattered, fearing she would be forced to talk.”
Feliks took a deep breath. Kaz betrayed no emotion. Both men were fighting off visions of what the Gestapo did to people to extract information.
“We have people at the rail yard there,” Feliks continued. “They reported seeing Angelika in a crowd of a hundred or so young girls being loaded into cattle cars. Among many other people.”
“She was with other girls of the same age?” Kaz said, his eyes widening at the slightest sliver of positive news. “That suggests she was part of a roundup, does it not?”
“Yes,” Feliks agreed, placing his hand on Kaz’s arm. “There was less than a day between her disappearance and the sighting at the rail yard as well.”
“Not enough time for an interrogation,” Kaz said. He looked to me, his expression begging for me to agree. It was the thinnest of threads on which to pin his hopes for Angelika’s survival, but it was all he had.
“Right,” I said. “Sounds like she was picked up off the street in a sweep. But why?”
“Angelika plays the piano,” Feliks said. “Beautifully.”
“Okay,” Big Mike said. “But what does that have to do with Ravensbrück?”
“Perhaps a great deal,” Kaz said, twisting the hospital sheet with his hands. “She has lovely, delicate hands. The hands of a child when I last saw her, but swift and sleek when she played.” He looked to Feliks, who nodded his agreement.
“The Germans have developed a new weapon. A rocket. One that may pose a great danger,” Feliks said. “They have factories for building parts in many locations. One is close to Ravensbrück.”
“They employ slave labor,” Kaz said. “I don’t know about this latest weapon, but for the V1 flying bomb, they used young girls for constructing the most delicate mechanisms. Those with the slenderest of fingers.”
“At least she was not sent to a death camp,” Feliks said. “A train left for Auschwitz later the same day.”
We’d heard about Auschwitz. A place where Jews, Poles, and many others were put to death. A camp built for the extermination of an entire race, along with anyone else who didn’t fit in with the Nazi order. I would have found it hard to believe if I hadn’t read the report. A Polish spy who’d escaped from Auschwitz brought out the truth about what went on in that pit of horror. Women and children gassed upon arrival. Those with strength enough to work put through labors that killed them. Yes, any place was better than Auschwitz.
Even Ravensbrück.
“How sure are you about this?” Big Mike asked. “It seems like you’re jumping to a conclusion without much to go on. Sorry, Kaz, I want Angelika to be as safe as possible, but there could be any number of reasons the Krauts sent her to Ravensbrück.”
“There is more,” Feliks said, jumping in before Kaz could agree with Big Mike’s logic. “Our spy in the rail yard reported that Angelika’s group was unusual. Mostly city girls. Well-dressed, or as well-dressed as possible for a Pole in any city occupied by the Nazis. No country girls, no peasants.”
“No callused, thick fingers,” I said.
“Correct. Our man didn’t know what was behind the selection, but he thought the group unique enough to mention,” Feliks said.
“Did he know Angelika by sight?” Kaz asked. “Are you certain she was on that train?”
“Yes,” Feliks said. “She’d been acting as a courier in Poznań for several weeks. She’d been to the railroad yard before, to pick up information on German troop movements from that very fellow. We are certain it was her.”
“Very well,” Kaz said, slamming his hand on the mattress. “Then we must trust she can keep her head and survive. She has done well since the occupation, hasn’t she Feliks?”
“Yes, yes, she has,” Feliks said eagerly, grasping at this small hint of hope. “She means everything to me, you know. My family is gone. She is all I have. I am sorry, I should have protected her.” He looked ready to break.
“The best way to protect Angelika is to do your job,” Kaz said, granting Feliks no sympathy. “Let us finish this war, that is our job. Hers is to live until we do. Do you understand?”
“I do. Thank you, Piotr. Now, we must return to Skory. Hopefully he will regain consciousness soon. There is someone from London coming to see him. We will return when we can,” Feliks said. He left, Big Mike stopping to take Kaz’s hand before he followed him out.
“Big Mike, I have a favor to ask,” Kaz whispered.
“Sure, buddy. Name it.”
“Will you deliver a letter for me? To Walter, the concierge at the Dorchester Hotel? It must be delivered to him in person. It’s important.”
“Yeah, no problem. We’re headed back to London tomorrow morning,” Big Mike said.
“I will have it for you within the hour,” Kaz said, holding Big Mike’s hand tightly in his. “Give it to Walter. You will have to wait for him to retrieve something for me. Then bring it back here, as soon as possible. Will you do that?”
“Sure. No questions asked. I’ll get here as soon as I can. Colonel Harding is working on this project with Skory, so I’ll have good reason to come back. Listen, both of you. There’s more to this Kraut weapons project. I’ll tell you later, on the q.t. But it’s linked to Ravensbrück. It might help us keep tabs on Angelika and Diana.”
Big Mike dashed out of the room, following Feliks.
“That’d be great, Kaz,” I said, sitting down and pulling the chair closer to his bed. “Right?” He looked away, letting his head drop into the pillow. His eyes squeezed shut and he passed a long minute like that.
“She was only a little girl when I last saw her. She’d grown tall, but was still awkwardly coming of age, all pigtails and freckles,” he finally said, sitting up and staring at the wall. No tears, nothing to betray the enormity of his feelings but the utter simplicity of his words.
Chapter Sixteen
I sat with Kaz for a long time. He hadn’t said anything else, and there was nothing I could say to offer comfort. Between the two of us, I think we understood that everything we had called good news was wishful thinking at best. Maybe there was a chance for Diana and Angelika, but whatever hope of survival they had rested with them, not us. We couldn’t even help ourselves.
“I am sorry, Billy,” Kaz said, coming out of his silence.
“For what?”
“This news was a shock, of course, but I should have thought about Diana. She is in the same camp, as Big Mike informed me. I should have acknowledged that. You have your own worries, don’t you?”
�
��Yeah. And getting you out of here is one of them,” I said. I checked to be sure no one was listening and leaned closer. “I dropped a heavy hint on Dr. Hughes. I told him you’d be grateful if he supported your release and approved you for staff duty. Extremely grateful.”
“What did he say?” Kaz asked in a whisper.
“Nothing. But when I described your lodgings at the Dorchester, he was impressed. Impressed enough not to throw me out for suggesting such a thing.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Good thinking Billy. I was planning an approach myself, but now you have broken the ice. I will proceed as soon as Big Mike returns from London.”
“Yeah, I meant to ask. What’s he bringing back for you?”
“One thousand pounds from the safe at the Dorchester. Walter holds a considerable amount of funds for me,” Kaz said.
“That’s over four thousand bucks, Kaz,” I said. “You sure you need to lay out that much dough?”
“I will present it as the down payment,” he said. “The remainder, twice that amount, will be given upon my release. I wish the offer too tempting to be rejected.”
“It’d sure as hell tempt me,” I said. “I bet Hughes will bite.”
“I hope you are right, Billy.”
“Yeah, he’s an odd one. I can’t figure why he’s so eager for me to investigate Holland’s death. Snow I can understand, security is his job. But what angle is Hughes playing?”
“Did you learn anything last night?” Kaz asked. I glanced at the open door and the mix of orderlies and patients in the hallway.
“Sure, like a padded cell isn’t as comfortable as it sounds. Hey, can you take a walk? Too easy to be overheard in here.”
