Top Secret Part 65

And then I will go to my room and call Mrs. Rachel Schumann.

- As he crossed the lobby of the hotel toward the elevator bank, Cronley saw something he hadn't noticed before. There was a Cla.s.s VI store. For reasons he couldn't even guess, the Army cla.s.sified hard liquor as Cla.s.s VI supplies, and the places that sold such spirits to officers as Cla.s.s VI stores.

He bought a quart bottle of Haig & Haig scotch whisky and took it to his room, sampling its contents before picking up the telephone to call Rachel.

- Rachel answered on the third ring.

"If you can't talk, say 'wrong number' and hang up."

"I've been waiting and waiting to hear from you."

"Well, I've been busy. Rachel, I don't have your Leica."

"I know that, sweetheart. Where are you?"

"In the Park Hotel. You know, by the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof?"

"What are you doing there?"

"Well, it was too late for me to fly home, so I'm spending the night here. Rachel, we have to talk."

"What are you doing in Frankfurt?"

"Actually, what I was doing was putting that Russian you're always asking about on an airplane."

Now, that wasn't smart. Why the h.e.l.l did you tell her that?

What the h.e.l.l. It doesn't matter. Orlovsky's gone.

"You put him on an airplane? What was that all about?"

"If I told you, I would have to kill you."

"Have you been drinking, Jimmy?"

"What gave you that idea? Rachel, we have to talk."

"What room are you in?"

He had to look at the telephone to get the room number.

"Four-oh-seven."

"I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"Can't we just talk on the phone? What's the colonel going to think when he comes home for supper and you're gone?"

"I'll be there in thirty minutes." She chuckled. "And don't start without me, baby."

Then she hung up.

Cronley thought he might as well have another little taste while he was waiting for her.

[ TWELVE ].

Room 407, Park Hotel Wiesenhttenplatz 28-38 Frankfurt am Main American Zone, Occupied Germany 0905 10 November 1945 The telephone rang, and when Cronley answered it, he was told that his ride was waiting for him.

"Be right down," he said, and hung up.

Rachel was nowhere in sight.

What the h.e.l.l did I expect?

She had to go home to her husband and the kiddies.

As he dressed, he tried to recall how well he had done in his attempt to get out of the affair as gracefully as possible.

If ending an affair means the cessation of s.e.xual activity between the partic.i.p.ants, I am still up to my ears-well over my ears-in this one.

Rachel had her tongue down my throat and her hand on my w.a.n.g no more than sixty seconds after she appeared at the door.

But, despite that, she had not been as anxious to get nailed as she was to hear "finally" about the Russian. I had to tell her about Orlovsky before I could get her to take her underpants off.

Did I tell her too much?

Probably. Both before Nailing One, and before Nailing Two, as she was still interested in the Russian after Nailing One and brought the subject up again. Satisfying her female curiosity was the price of Nailing Two.

But what's the difference? She can't tell anybody, not even her husband. If she did that, he would want to know why I told her, and she certainly didn't want to open that subject up for discussion.

I don't remember much of what happened-anything that happened-after Nailing Two. I must have pa.s.sed out.

Did I wake up later and see that she was gone? Did that happen, or am I just supposing it did?

What I am going to have to do is admit I failed to end the affair because I was a little drunk and thinking with my d.i.c.k.

Ending the affair now goes on the Que Ser Ser list beside the FBI finally catching up with me.

Five minutes after his phone rang, he was on the sidewalk outside the hotel, getting into an ambulance.

[ THIRTEEN ].

Commanding Officer's Quarters Kloster Grnau Schollbrunn, Bavaria American Zone of Occupation, Germany 1920 10 November 1945 First Sergeant Dunwiddie pushed open the door to Cronley's room without knocking. Cronley was asleep in bed and did not wake, although he was usually a very light sleeper.

Dunwiddie, none too gently, shook his shoulder.

"If that printout is to tell me Konstantin is safe in Buenos Aires, you are forgiven," Cronley said when he opened his eyes.

"Not exactly, Jim," Dunwiddie said as he handed the SIGABA printout to him.

"What the h.e.l.l?" Jimmy said as he began to read: PRIORITY.

TOP SECRET LINDBERGH.

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN.

FROM MOSES.

VIA VINT HILL TANGO NET.

1505 GREENWICH 10 NOVEMBER 1945.

TO VATICAN ATTN ALTARBOY.

SHARE WITH GEHLEN ONLY.

1-CONVOY UNDER PROTECTION BIS CARRYING ORLOVSKY ATTACKED BY SOME KIND OF ROCKETS AND MACHINE GUN FIRE SHORTLY AFTER DEPARTING JORGE FRADE FOR BUENOS AIRES.

2-THREE KNOWN DEAD INCLUDING ONE OF YOUR SERGEANTS AND SEVERAL OTHERS WOUNDED SOME SERIOUSLY.

3-TEX SENDS BEGIN QUOTE ALTARBOY THEY KNEW WHEN AND WHERE WE WOULD BE. WHOLE PLAN OBVIOUSLY KNOWN TO NKGB. ASK GEHLEN TO FIND OUT SOURCE OF BREACH AND DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT GET IN HIS WAY. END QUOTE.

4-TEX PRESENTLY WITH WOUNDED IN ARGENTINE MILITARY HOSPITAL.

5-MORE TO FOLLOW.

MOSES.

END.

TOP SECRET LINDBERGH.

- "Who is Moses?" Dunwiddie asked.

"Sergeant Stein. Ashton's Number Two. I guess he went to Buenos Aires after Ashton got himself run over. Rockets? What the h.e.l.l?"

"And machine-gun fire."

"Where's the general?"

"Taking a walk. I sent a jeep after him."

"What the h.e.l.l is going on?"

"I don't have a clue."

- General Gehlen and a second SIGABA printout arrived together about five minutes later. Cronley handed him the first message as he read the second: PRIORITY.

TOP SECRET LINDBERGH.

DUPLICATION FORBIDDEN.

FROM MOSES.

VIA VINT HILL TANGO NET.

1515 GREENWICH 10 NOVEMBER 1945.

TO VATICAN ATTN ALTARBOY.

SHARE WITH GEHLEN ONLY.

1-TEX SENDS BEGIN QUOTE.

A-REGRET INFORM YOU STAFF SERGEANT HAROLD LEWIS JR. DIED OF WOUNDS RECEIVED IN ATTACK AT 1405 THIS DATE.

B-STAFF SERGEANT PETRONIUS J. CLARK SUFFERED SEVERE INJURIES AND BURNS AND IS IN CRITICAL CONDITION.

C-REV KURT WELNER, SJ, SUFFERED BROKEN SHOULDER AND SOME BURNS BUT WILL SHORTLY BE ABLE TO LEAVE THE HOSPITAL.

D-MAJOR KONSTANTIN ORLOVSKY SUFFERED MULTIPLE INJURIES AND BURNS AND IS NOT EXPECTED TO LIVE.

E-MORE TO FOLLOW.

END QUOTE.

MOSES.

END.

TOP SECRET LINDBERGH.

- "Who is Moses?" General Gehlen asked.