Tserchenko looked at the photograph more closely. ‘This young girl shot six of our people?’
‘Yes, she did. You are entitled to ask if she is entirely human. Do you wish to avenge your sister, and bring this arch-criminal to justice?’
‘Of course I would like to do that, sir. But—’
‘That is also the wish of Premier Stalin.’
‘Yes, sir. I can understand that. But—’
‘I am relieving you of your duties in the field, Colonel, and appointing you to the NKVD.’
Tserchenko swallowed. ‘You are sending me to America?’
‘No, no, no. I have told you, Andrews turned her loose. She seems to have the power to bewitch men. So she returned to Germany and resumed working for the SS. Do you know that only two days ago there was an attempt on the life of Adolf Hitler? It failed, and we have not yet obtained any details, but Berlin Radio is saying that it failed principally because of the efforts of this Countess von Widerstand, who they describe as Herr Himmler’s personal assistant. So we know she is in Berlin.’
‘Berlin,’ Tserchenko muttered.
Beria smiled. ‘I am not asking you to commit either a miracle or suicide, Nikolai. Our armies are going to be in Berlin in the very near future. Within a week they will be across the Vistula, and one of the last natural barriers protecting Germany will have been overcome. I am thus transferring you to Marshall Rokossovsky’s Front, as a political commissar. You will have carte blanche to requisition whoever and whatever you require to complete your mission, which will be to return the Countess von Widerstand to the Soviet Union, to me personally. We know that she is at this moment in Berlin. You will accompany our forces in the capture of that city. However, there is the obvious possibility that when she realizes that the end is nigh, she will leave the city and seek to escape. You will follow her wherever she goes to bring her to justice.’
‘If she is a friend of the Americans—’
‘That is not relevant. She is an enemy of the free world. Even Andrews will not be able to protect her when the facts of her life are made public, which we intend to do.’
‘And when you say, return her—’
‘Believe me, Nikolai, I understand the difficulties. This woman is as deadly as a cobra, a black mamba, and a boa constrictor all in one. And she is all of those things while hiding under that mask of innocent girlhood you have in your hand. I have never met her myself, but I will read you some of the things said of her.’ He picked up a sheet of paper. ‘Hair like fine spun gold. Soft blue eyes that would tempt the devil himself to her bed. A voice like the cooing of a dove. A face of which Helen of Troy could only dream. And a body to turn the Venus de Milo green. And while you are admiring all of those assets, you are already a dead man. Apparently her lethal skills, with or without a weapon, are outstanding, and the speed with which she can apply them is phenomenal. This is perhaps hearsay, as the only people who can truly know of them are dead. But I would recommend that you approach her with extreme caution. I would dearly like you to bring her to me, alive, but if it is necessary to do so, kill her first. However, if you need to do that, I shall require irrefutable proof that she is dead. I wish her head.’
‘Sir?’
‘It is old-fashioned, and perhaps barbaric. But it is also irrefutable. Cut off her head, Nikolai. Pretend you are Perseus. After all, this woman, apart from her good looks, is very close to being a Gorgon. If by any mischance she has died or been killed before you can find her, you will locate the grave, dig up the corpse, and again, cut off the head and bring it here. From this moment on, the Countess von Widerstand is your sole objective, your sole reason for living. Do you understand me?’
Tserchenko swallowed. ‘I understand you, Comrade Commissar.’
*
‘Mr Andrews is here, Mr Bartley,’ Amy Barstow announced. Her tone was disapproving. Amy Barstow disapproved of Americans in general, for no very good reason save perhaps that the only American women she had ever seen were film actresses on the screen, and they were always slim, svelte and immaculately dressed, whereas she was overweight and clad in the utility clothes that were all that were available in Great Britain after five years of war.
But she also disliked Joseph Andrews in person. Not because she knew the man – she had only met him on a few occasions – but because he shared with her boss what she considered to be an unhealthy relationship with the countess von Widerstand. She had never met the countess at all, but she was in charge of the file on her, and while she could not fault the facts, which indicated that she was every bit as compulsive and dynamic, not to mention beautiful and sexual, as her reputation suggested, it was impossible not to loathe a woman the very mention of whose name could have such a man as Clive Bartley behaving like a schoolboy.
And he was always pleased to see his old friend, rising to his feet with a smile. Clive Bartley was six feet two inches tall, built like a second row forward, and with features to match, with lank black hair just beginning to show grey at the temples, although he was only forty-two years old. As he also had a mostly even personality, and a good sense of humour, he was a delight to work for – but not when that beastly woman turned up or was even mentioned. Yet Amy knew that this morning he was not a happy man, although he called, ‘Joe! Come on in. Nice to see you. That will be all, thank you, Amy.’
Amy sidled past the American in the doorway.
Joe Andrews was the same height as Clive, but very thin. He also had a matching face, very aquiline. He shook hands. ‘You’ve heard the news?’
Clive gestured him to a chair, sat down himself. ‘This one at least went off. But the bugger seems to have a charmed life.’
‘And Anna?’
‘She wasn’t involved, thank God.’
‘Not involved? You mean on our side. According to Berlin Radio, she virtually put an end to the attempted revolt, while the conspirators were still assuming that Hitler was dead and were ready to go ahead.’
‘She was out on a limb, and had no choice. We knew she was part of the actual conspiracy. We told her to join it, remember? You did.’
‘We never suggested that she should betray them.’
‘Look, we planted her, told her to be a Nazi one hundred per cent. She has done this so successfully that she is now Himmler’s PA. He trusts her more than anyone else in the world. It is her business to make sure he never loses that trust. So when he gives her an order, she carries it out without hesitation, utterly and completely. He obviously told her to investigate rumours of this conspiracy. This she did. And more. She actually had a go herself, back in December, at enormous personal risk. For God’s sake, to place the bomb she had to sleep with Hitler.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘She told Baxter.’
‘I’m not with you.’
‘Himmler sent her to Stockholm in January, with a personal message for Folke Bernadotte.’
‘The Red Cross guy?’
‘That’s right.’
‘And what was this personal message?’
‘She doesn’t know. The envelope was sealed, and she didn’t feel that she could take the risk of breaking the seal. But she has a pretty good idea that Himmler is seeking some kind of personal salvation when the Reich comes crashing down.’
Andrews blew a raspberry, which Clive ignored. ‘The point is that she took the opportunity, while in Stockholm, to contact us. Unfortunately, I was out of the country on another assignment. So Billy answered the call.’
‘Baxter went to Stockholm, in January, to meet with Anna? I thought he never left this office.’
Clive allowed himself a grin. ‘Wouldn’t you break the rule of a lifetime, for a get together with Anna? Seems to me you once broke quite a few rules, in Washington, for that purpose.’
‘OK, OK, she’s a turn on. And Baxter?’
Clive shrugged. ‘I don’t really know. I don’t know if Billy can be turned on by anyone. All I know is what he brought back, which was the goods, as al
ways. She warned him that the V-bomb was about ready to go into action. That was no lie. And she brought him up to date on the plot. He says she was madder than a wet hen, because that first bomb had failed to go off, after all her spadework. She wanted out, but he told her to get involved with the conspirators and make sure they tried again. And as always, she obeyed orders.’
‘Has it occurred to you, old buddy, that this is pretty circumstantial stuff? Anna tells Baxter that the bomb we gave her didn’t explode. Do we know that she ever even activated it?’
Clive’s gaze was suddenly hostile.
‘Then she happily agrees to go along with instructions to get involved in the general conspiracy. Great. But the moment this second attempt fails, she starts executing the conspirators left and right. For Christ’s sake, according to Berlin, she shot two of them in her own office in Gestapo Headquarters.’
‘We don’t know the truth about that,’ Clive said defensively. ‘We do know that Anna is inclined to resort to executive action if she feels her life is in danger.’
‘How many does that make?’
‘God knows. More than twenty, certainly.’
‘Holy shit! But you still trust her absolutely.’
‘Don’t you?’
Andrews decided it was time to inspect his fingernails. ‘Wild Bill isn’t happy.’
‘I got the impression that Donovan went for her?’
‘Sure he did. Don’t most men go for Anna, when they meet her? And according to your figures, maybe twenty of them have regretted it, all the way to the morgue.’
‘A few of them were women,’ Clive said absently. ‘Tell me what’s bothering Donovan.’
‘You mean, apart from this Hitler fiasco? Shit, Clive, don’t you think it’s time for you to take a long, hard look at the situation? So you meet an absolutely stunning eighteen-year-old at an SS ball back in ’38. You told me yourself that you were suspicious of her from the start, and even more so when she marries Bordman and becomes a wow in London society. Then purely by chance, so you say, you bump into her again in Berlin, and bingo, you’re in bed. You didn’t find that suspicious?’
‘It was entirely by chance,’ Clive said, patiently. ‘And if you will take the trouble to remember the facts, she had just been savagely punished by Heydrich for a breach of security. That made her realize just how much she hated him, and the whole regime.’
‘And you just happened to pop up at that moment. So you had sex with her. I assume you took your clothes off, and hers?’
Clive stared at him.
‘So you must have seen all the marks left by this “savage” punishment.’
‘There were some marks on her arse, yes.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake. So they spanked her. That’s a savage punishment?’
‘They used electric shocks. Those inflict maximum pain but leave no marks.’
‘She told you this.’
‘Yes, she did.’
‘And then she asked you if she could work for MI6.’
‘You really are being absurd, Joe. Of course she didn’t ask to work for us. I persuaded her.’
‘In between thrusts, I suppose. And she said yes without hesitation, in between gasps.’
‘You know, Joe,’ Clive said equably, ‘if you weren’t one of my oldest friends, I would throw you through that door without opening it, and send you the bill for the damage. Anna has worked for us, faithfully and at great personal risk, for five years. Her sole ambition is to bring the Nazis down so that she can get her family out of hock. In my book, that makes her the ultimate heroine of this war. When you found out about her, you virtually blackmailed us into having her work for you as well. Now, if you want to end that arrangement, that is all right by me. But if you do, she reverts to being our property and no one else’s.’
‘Because you trust her, no matter what.’
‘No matter what.’
Andrews stood up. ‘I hope you’re right. I mean that. But . . . there’s a chance you may be subject to higher authority.’
‘Just what do you mean by that?’
‘Like I said, Wild Bill’s a guy who doesn’t like to be made a fool of, and he’s beginning to wonder if Anna hasn’t been making fools of us all, for all of those five years. And he has the ear of a lot of important people, including FDR.’
‘Are you threatening me? And by implication, Anna?’
‘I wish you’d get your facts straight. I’m on you side. And hers. The thought of anything happening to Anna can keep a man awake at night. So I’m warning you of what may lie ahead. Can’t you pull her out?’
‘You know I can’t do that, Joe. She won’t come out as long as Himmler holds her parents.’
‘Well, then, you want to be goddamn sure that when that house of cards comes tumbling down, which is liable to happen within the next few months, your people are there to dig her out, before either the Soviets or, sadly, us. The Reds want her more than anyone. And while we may merely put her on trial as a Nazi mass-murderess, God alone knows what those bastards will do to her if they can lay hands on her.’
‘As you say, sort of keeps a man awake at night. Thank you for that warning, Joe.’
*
Clive waited until he was sure that Andrews had left the building, then went upstairs. He had already discussed the bomb fiasco with his boss, and as he had told the American, he knew that their minds were one as regards Anna. But Billy Baxter did not look very pleased to see him again.
Short and thin, invariably untidy, his sweater, the refuge of innumerable strands of spilt tobacco, he always did regard the world from a jaundiced point of view. ‘What now?’ he barked. ‘Don’t tell me she’s slipped up and is under arrest.’
‘Anna does not slip up. Unfortunately . . .’ Clive sat before the desk and outlined his conversation with the American.
‘I said from the beginning,’ Baxter commented, ‘that letting the Yanks muscle in was a mistake. Those bastards have only one god: pragmatism. Results, results and then more results. No results, no dice.’
‘And Anna hasn’t come up with the right result. That is in the main because since Bartoli bit the dust we have had no ready means of contacting her, and the damnable thing is that she has no idea of her situation. Oh, I think she knows that she can’t afford to fall into the hands of the Russians, but she regards the Americans, and above all, Joe Andrews and Wild Bill Donovan, as her friends. You may not believe this, Billy, but Anna, for all her apparent cold-blooded ruthlessness, is at heart still just an eager little girl. Or maybe you do know that.’
Baxter began to fill his pipe. ‘Just what does that mean?’
‘Well . . . you managed to get close to her in Stockholm. Didn’t you?’
‘In a manner of speaking.’
‘Now I think I’m entitled to ask, just what do you mean by that?’
‘What I said. She opened her door to me with a pistol in her hand, and although she didn’t shoot me out of hand, she was furious because the bomb we gave her didn’t go off, after she had had to spend the night with Hitler.’
‘So you told me. But you managed to calm her down.’
Baxter stuffed tobacco into his bowl. ‘I think so.’
‘And you never laid a finger on her?’
‘No, I did not.’ He struck a match, puffed contentedly for a few moments, then added, ‘She did invite me to stay the night.’
‘I see.’
‘Well, it was snowing. You ever been to Stockholm in January?’
‘I did not have that privilege,’ Clive said bitterly. ‘And you didn’t take her up.’
‘I had a plane waiting.’
‘My heart bleeds for you.’
‘But she did kiss me goodbye,’ Baxter said, reminiscing.
‘Now she needs more than a kiss. She has to be warned, firstly that she must not be in Berlin when the Russians arrive, and secondly, she must not surrender to the Yanks.’
‘How are we supposed to do that? We have no contact. Only
that fellow Johannsson.’
‘That’s out,’ Clive said. ‘Johannsson works for Andrews.’
‘Hm. Well, unless she is sent on another mission to a neutral country by Himmler . . .’
Clive snapped his fingers. ‘Belinda.’
Baxter raised his eyebrows. ‘You’d risk her again? You mean she is no longer your mistress?’
‘Well . . . yes and no.’
‘I’m sorry. You’ll have to say that again.’
‘Belinda is my mistress.’ Clive spoke carefully. ‘When she is in the mood. That is actually the way it always has been. But over the past year the mood has been increasingly absent.’
‘You mean she’s found someone else. I don’t blame her. And so you’re quite happy to put her head on the block. Didn’t she have a horrendous time on her last visit to Germany?’
‘That was due to her own carelessness. She talks too much. And she was extricated from real trouble by Anna.’
‘And you think she’d be willing to chance her arm again?’
‘She has said she would.’
‘She has guts.’
‘Yes,’ Clive said dryly. ‘I think we want to remember that that incident was ten months ago. That is just short of a year, right?’
He gazed at Baxter, and Baxter gazed back. ‘You’re not suggesting . . .’
‘I’m not suggesting anything, Billy. I can only afford to deal in facts. Because of her Italian mother, we got Belinda into Germany, to contact Anna. She got herself picked up by the Gestapo, and as I said, was rescued by Anna in her capacity as a senior officer in the SD. Anna kept her in Berlin for a night before sending her home. Since then she has been . . . not really interested in sex. At least with me.’
‘That could be a concomitant of being tortured by the Gestapo.’
‘Belinda was not tortured by the Gestapo, Billy. Oh, they may have roughed her up a little, but the actual torturing was done by Anna.’
‘What?’
‘As I said, she was able to intervene as a senior officer in the SD, sent by Himmler personally to interrogate the suspect. But there was a security camera in the room, so it could not be faked. Fortunately, she was able to warn Belinda – I don’t know the details as to how she managed it – to put up with it as it was her only hope of getting out.’
Angel of Doom (Anna Fehrback Book 5) Page 2
