Paradise Gold: The Mafia and Nazis battle for the biggest prize of World War II (Ben Peters Thriller series Book 2)

by Robbie, Vic

  ‘Herr General,’ Horst interrupted, but von Bayerstein waved him away.

  ‘As you are aware, our U-boats are sinking thousands of tonnes of shipping in the Atlantic and the Caribbean every day. Martinique will become a major base for our wolf packs. They are already coming into the island at night to refuel. And we are refitting them to take our latest weapon.’

  ‘Herr General–‘

  He paused, but he didn’t appear to have heard the protest. He was now standing almost to attention and his chest was puffed out with pride and a light shone from his eyes. ‘We are now leading the way in rocket science. Soon our V-1 rockets will rain down on your cities and there will be no escape.’

  ‘They have a range of only 150 miles,’ Ben interrupted him, ‘so the damage you do to Britain or the United States will be limited.’

  With a triumphant laugh, the General dismissed him. ‘Our people have been working on a new way of launching the rockets and now after many trials we have perfected it. Our rockets will be fired from our U-boats. They can even be launched from underwater. We are refitting our wolf packs here in Martinique so they can carry the rockets. Our U-boats can already get so close to the American coast they can see the lights of the cities so your people will be sitting targets.’

  ‘So you’ll fire a few rockets. I doubt it will change anything. You didn’t succeed with the London Blitz.’

  ‘Don’t underestimate the Reich; our Führer wanted a wonder weapon to crush our enemies and change the course of the war. Now we have it thanks to our work in producing heavy water in Norway–‘

  Horst coughed another warning. ‘Herr General, you must not–‘

  ‘Silence.’

  Horst persisted. ‘This is a project of the SS and as such you have no authority.’ And he waved the sub-machine gun impatiently for them to move against the wall.

  ‘Where would we Germans be without our friends from the Gestapo telling us what to do?’ Von Bayerstein smiled sarcastically. ‘Kriminalkommissar, I want our guests to know what is to become of their families, friends and allies after they depart this world so they understand the power of the Third Reich and realise it is futile to oppose us.’

  Horst sighed and stepped back although he kept his machine gun trained on his prisoners.

  ‘It could be true what you say, Peters, about the V-1 rockets, but our scientists have also been working on the Vergeltungswaffe 2, the vengeance weapon or the V-2, which is an altogether more powerful beast. This will be the first rocket to enter space and re-enter our atmosphere at such a speed nothing will be able to stop it. Its range will be far superior to the V-1 and we will also be able to launch it using our U-boats. The game-changer is–‘ and he gave a broad smile ‘– it will be fitted with a nuclear warhead. Welcome to the atomic age. Britain will be devastated and from here in Martinique our wolf pack will sail to the Eastern seaboard of the United States to launch more nuclear missiles. There will be many thousands of casualties. New York, in particular, will be an easy target.’

  Ronnie put a hand to her mouth and gasped.

  Annoyed his superior was revealing too much, Horst rasped. ‘Herr General, this is wasting valuable time. This information is of no use to them.’

  ‘Very well,’ von Bayerstein sighed. ’Let’s get on with it.’

  Horst gestured for Natalie to join them and she rose slowly from her seat clutching a small handbag. Von Bayerstein waved her back. ‘No, not you, we have some unfinished business.’ She smiled sweetly and moved to his side, whispering ‘merci, chéri.’

  Again Horst wore a lopsided smile as he searched into their eyes as if burning his image into their brains so they would carry it into death and beyond.

  Ronnie was shaking and Ben grasped her hand and held it tight, reassuring her wherever they were going they would always be together.

  The Gestapo officer’s grin widened and he licked his lips as his finger tightened on the trigger, intending to cut them down with a sweep of his machine gun.

  The slightest of movements caught Ben’s eye. ‘Horst, tell me why–‘ he shouted as Natalie opened her bag and pulled out something resembling a large darning needle and in one fluent movement jabbed it into the side of the General’s neck. Von Bayerstein reeled away, and his eyes were wide open in shock as blood bubbled out of the wound. His knees buckled, and she reached again for the needle, pulling it out and plunging it once more deep into the side of his head.

  Ben lunged at Horst, and the German swivelled, loosening off a fusillade of shots that missed Natalie but caught the dying General in the chest. Raymond leapt forward and, using his superior height and strength, hit down with all his power on the back of Horst’s head. The German staggered away, but as he swung around, his sub-machine sprayed the room with bullets. The Resistance leader jumped on the Nazi, wrapping his arms around him and smothering the firing gun, and they both fell with Horst catching the edge of the General’s desk with his head.

  ‘Get out,’ Ben shouted, grabbing Natalie and Ronnie and making for the door, ‘before the rest of them get here.’

  Ronnie pulled him back. ‘Raymond needs help,’ she said. He was lying on his side, holding his stomach, and blood was seeping through his fingers. He’d taken several rounds in the gut and knew there was no hope.

  ‘Go,’ he gasped. ‘Save yourselves.’

  Paradiso, too, was leaning against a wall, his face deathly white and bathed in sweat, and clutching a weeping wound to his shoulder.

  52

  Ben half-carried Paradiso out of the room, switching off all the lights so they wouldn’t be sitting targets for any snipers waiting outside. Somewhere in the near distance the tracers of sporadic firing lit up the night sky and the occasional crump of hand grenades suggested the Resistance fighters and the remnants of Paradiso’s men were not giving up without a fight. He made them stay just inside the front door while he reconnoitred outside in case some of the soldiers were on their way to the General’s quarters.

  ‘Coast seems to be clear.’ He popped his head back in. ‘Quick, we have little time.’

  They crossed the lawn in front of the house, expecting at any moment searchlights to catch them in their glare and machine gunners to gun them down like a turkey shoot. Although it took less than a minute, it seemed an eternity before they reached the cover of the tree line. The effort had exhausted the remains of Paradiso’s strength and he slumped to the ground despite their efforts to keep him moving.

  ‘Let him rest,’ he said and went on ahead to scout a possible path through the trees. When he returned, Ronnie pulled him aside. ‘It’s not looking good,’ she said and glanced back at Paradiso, who was lying shaking on the ground. ‘Don’t think he’s going to make it.’

  In the darkness, it was almost impossible to find a path through the undergrowth. By now, the guards would have sealed off all the gates, including their entry point. Forts were very efficient in barring intruders but also in keeping the occupants in. He had no idea what forces were lined up against them. Was it just the Nazis, that was bad enough, or were the French troops also looking for them?

  ‘I’m beginning to wonder whether we will make it either,’ he said and bit his tongue.

  ‘What are you two whispering about?’ Natalie rasped. ‘It’s no time for a tête-à-tête.’

  Still not trusting her, Ronnie snapped back. ‘Keep your voice down and watch Paradiso.’ Her voice dropped and she leant in close to him. ‘Do we need her? She set you up as a fall guy. She’s the enemy. She killed my cousin.’

  He stared at her in disbelief.

  ‘My cousin was a member of the Resistance, too, and she was following Natalie. She simply disappeared. We never found a body although we know she is dead, killed by that woman.’

  He glanced at Natalie. Whatever her motives, she had tried to save his life and it was not an argument he wanted to consider at this moment.

  ‘If she hadn’t killed von Bayerstein, we’d all be dead by now,’ he said.

>   ‘She keeps changing sides,’ Ronnie insisted. ‘I don’t trust her.’

  ‘I don’t know if I do,’ he said, ‘but we’ve got to get out of here or else nothing matters.’

  ‘Dumbfuck, you’re a fuckin dumbfuck, Paradiso, you’ve gone and fucked up this time.’ Paradiso’s voice sounded like a drunk remonstrating with himself for drinking too much.

  ‘Shut him up,’ Ben hissed, and Natalie flung herself on him to smother the sound.

  And he heard Paradiso’s muffled reply. ‘Why couldn’t you have done that the other night, sister, eh?’

  He took Ronnie’s arm. ‘It’s useless; I can’t see a way out. You’re supposed to know your way around here. Is there any way to escape?’

  Even in the darkness he could tell she was smiling as if she’d remembered something that might help. ‘It’ll be dawn soon and once the light comes up there’ll be no escape,’ she said. ‘When I was little, I used to play nearby although what I’m looking for may no longer be here. Wait while I check it out.’ And with a rustle she disappeared into the brush.

  He went back to see how Paradiso was coping and lay down by his side, checking his pulse while Natalie used a handkerchief in an attempt to staunch the flow of blood from his shoulder.

  ‘Hang on, Paradiso, we’re going to get you out of here,’ he said and Paradiso flashed him a look suggesting he didn’t believe him either.

  Soft but in control, Natalie’s voice came out of the darkness. ‘Please take me with you. I’m on your side, believe me.’

  He said nothing and concentrated on listening for Ronnie and their pursuers, but the only sound was Paradiso’s ragged breathing reminding him how fast their time was running out.

  A faint rustling in the undergrowth and they both froze and held their breath. To their relief Ronnie appeared and she sounded upbeat. ‘Come on,’ she ordered them, ‘follow me and watch your step, it won’t be easy.’

  ‘Where are we going?’ he asked, dragging a complaining Paradiso to his feet.

  ‘Wait and see. We’ve got to get away from here.’

  Behind them, a loud click echoed around the grounds, followed by a humming sound and they stopped in their tracks. Suddenly the grounds of the Fort were bathed in light as every searchlight flashed on, illuminating the lawn and casting long shadows across the grass. And it was accompanied by urgent voices, shouting commands in German, and the baying of dogs.

  ‘Go,’ he ordered Ronnie and pushed Natalie to follow her and took an arm of Paradiso’s and wrapped it around his neck. ‘Try to walk,’ he encouraged him. ‘We’re getting out of here.’

  ‘About time, too, you dumbfuck,’ Paradiso said, gritting his teeth to control the pain.

  The urge was to run, to escape as quickly as possible, but any unusual sound would give their position away. Every step had to be tested to prevent them from falling as the ground sloped sharply downwards. And there were times when the undergrowth seemed to be alive, grabbing at their ankles and threatening to pull them over. They feared the rustling of the undergrowth would betray them as they moved deeper into the wood and they heard the Nazis’ voices getting closer and dogs running through the brush.

  Ronnie had stopped and a wall blocked her path and she was feeling along it with her hands.

  ‘What are you looking for?’ he asked.

  ‘An opening.’

  Carefully, he let down Paradiso and left him in a sitting position against a tree trunk and joined Ronnie at the face of the wall, looking for a break in the stone. He heard the relief in Ronnie’s whisper. ‘Got it, got it. Here.’ Ben saw an opening of sorts, almost hidden by a branch. He went back for Paradiso, who by now was unable to put one foot in front of the other, and Natalie joined Ronnie.

  They all peered into what appeared to be a black hole.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s a drain,’ Ronnie said. ‘In the wet season water flows from the hills and any excess water in this area is channelled into it and taken down through the walls and out of the Fort farther down the hill.’

  ‘It’s big,’ he said, tracing its circumference with his fingers and sensing Ronnie was hesitating.

  ‘It’s like a tunnel,’ she said. ‘When I was a child I could walk through it, but now we’ll have to crouch, although–’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I don’t know if it’s still in use. It may be blocked. We might get halfway down and then be trapped.’ He detected a growing panic in her voice.

  ‘We’ve no choice,’ he said. ‘If we turn back now, we’ll walk straight into the Nazis and their dogs.’

  ‘I’m ready to go,’ Natalie said and stepped past them.

  ‘Wait,’ Ronnie reached out to block her and Natalie moved to one side to evade her and stumbled, losing her footing, and with a shriek slid out of sight.

  53

  It was as black as space and just as treacherous. Ronnie caught up with Natalie and insisted on leading while Ben brought up the rear half-carrying and half pushing Paradiso, who had lost all control of his actions, making him twice as heavy. Legs and arms flapped around independently so they got caught up in the foliage that was blocking their path through the drain.

  At first, there was a drop of about eight feet and a bed of sludge and rotting bracken and leaves cushioned their fall. Because he couldn’t stand up to his full height, it made it difficult to generate the necessary leverage to move Paradiso. Visibility was no more than about a foot so it was impossible to anticipate the obstacles coming up. He would have to feel his way forward and then decide how best to push Paradiso through whatever gap existed. Every movement disturbed the bed of sludge and released the rank odours of rotting vegetation and dead insects and other things he dare not think about. He couldn’t see Ronnie and Natalie ahead although he heard them talking, warning each other about what to expect. Every so often, one would shout back up the tunnel, encouraging them.

  The drain dropped in stages. A section would be level and then, without warning, his hand would encounter space and he would have to brace himself for another fall. He started by pulling Paradiso down after him and soon realised it would be more efficient to lower him into the drop and follow him. If Paradiso had landed on him and broken one of his bones, they would both be trapped. His muscles ached with the exertion. Paradiso must have weighed around two hundred pounds and it felt like dragging a sack of potatoes in a confined space. And he had to close his eyes to protect them from the broken branches from previous torrents littering the floor. Sometimes objects, far from dead, squeaked and scuttled when his hand or a boot landed on them. He reached out and felt something familiar and furry and his hands moved around it to identify it. He dragged it close to his face, screwing up his eyes in the dark to focus. When the object came into view, he recoiled, realising it was the head of a dog, almost perfect apart from its missing eyes.

  ‘Oh, no,’ Ronnie cried. ‘The tunnel’s blocked, there’s no way through.’

  ‘We’ve got to go on, we can’t go back,’ he shouted along the tunnel. ‘The Nazis could be at the entrance.’ And he wondered if they had already traced the drain to its exit point and were waiting there for them as well.

  Natalie joined her and she shouted. ‘Here, let me try. If we both hold this and give it a pull…’

  A rustling of branches and a creaking and cracking of wood resonated along the tunnel and there was a thump as they both fell backwards giggling.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Ronnie shouted excitedly. ‘We’ve cleared it. You’ll have to be careful.’

  Paradiso had fallen asleep on him again and his breath rasped like a rusty saw, and he wondered if the American would survive to the end of the drain or whether he would be pulling a corpse. The strain of trying to move him caused the muscles in Ben’s back to spasm and he almost cried out in agony. He stood up to stretch them in an attempt to ease the pain and slammed his head into the concrete roof of the drain, causing him to slump back down into the mud. He was beginning to feel the pressur
e of being hemmed in and the fear of being buried alive was bearing down on him.

  ‘Leave me here,’ Paradiso said, regaining consciousness, and rasped: ‘Go on. Get the broads to safety.’ He coughed and there was an ominous rattle as he tried to laugh. ‘A cop once said I came from the sewers so it’s probably right I should die in one.’ He coughed again and lapsed back into sleep.

  ‘We’re at the end.’ Ronnie couldn’t contain her excitement. ‘It’s all clear.’

  That inspired him to redouble his efforts and when he saw a crack of light creeping into the end of the drain he knew they could make it. He pulled Paradiso’s body to the edge of the final drop and, using both his feet, gave one big push and the gangster tumbled down head over heels and out into the morning light.

  He quickly followed him, gasping from the exertion and filling his lungs with welcome fresh air.

  54

  The sun rose over the hills behind Fort-de-France and sunshine rolled down the slopes towards the Caribbean Sea like the ripples of a river. And he imagined people rising and standing erect like flowers as the sun’s rays re-energised them. Standing here, Ben thought you could be fooled into thinking this was paradise, especially after he’d endured hell.

  Ronnie set off to find her car and when she returned they manhandled Paradiso into the back of it and Natalie climbed in alongside him and dressed his wound, using part of her dress she’d torn off. ‘The bullet’s still in there,’ she said. ‘He needs a hospital.’

  No one spoke, not wanting to be the first to deny him. But Paradiso surprised them by opening his eyes and talking as though he’d been listening all the time. ‘No way, sister,’ he said as forcibly as he could, wincing at the effort. ‘Hospital’s first place they’ll look. You gotta get out of here.’