Read Online The Folks at Fifty-Eight by Michael Patrick Clark - Free Book Online

and they all have feelings.”
    “You just concentrate on the sons and leave me to worry about the daughters. Now, what do you suggest we do with our fat little Kriminaldirektor in interview room two?”
    Strecker’s failure to protect the vulnerable Melody Strand had hurt; it showed.
    “If it were up to me I’d ship him straight down to Nuremberg, let them deal with him. The more I see of these murdering bastards, the more they make my skin crawl.” Carlisle frowned, and then stifled another smile as Strecker hurriedly back-pedalled. “No disrespect intended, sir, but strictly speaking, these people are war criminals. They are on the list.”
    “That all depends on whose list you use, Colonel, and your precise interpretation of Article Six. But no, that can’t happen. Kube’s too important to throw to the wolves.” He thought about his own level of political exposure and decided that escalation was the safest option. “I’ll call Marcus Allum, see what he wants to do. That is what they pay him for.”
    He picked up the phone. She answered immediately. “Get me Marcus Allum at the State Department, would you, Melody? Oh, and I may have some news about your transfer. I’m tied up this afternoon. Perhaps you could drop round to my hotel this evening, around seven. We’ll discuss it then.”
    “Uh, uh, yes, sir.”
    Alan Carlisle gave a self-satisfied smirk as he replaced the receiver. Then he saw the look of disgust and dismay on Howard Strecker’s face and roared with laughter.
     

5
     
    Gerald Hammond crouched low at the edge of the copse and scanned the road in both directions. He turned to ensure the girl was safely hidden from view, and found her as he’d left her, waiting a few paces farther back and looking anxious.
    They had been lucky in their leaps from the moving train, landing on soft ground and suffering little more than minor cuts and bruising. Then, in a frantic effort to escape the early search radius, they had run until tired legs could run no more. They found a wooded area and rested for ten minutes, knowing the train would soon arrive in Leipzig and their head start limited. After that they walked quickly for the rest of that day and all through the night, staying out of sight, or close to cover, until they neared their primary objective.
    Hammond had purposely chosen to head for the safe-house in Dessau. He reasoned the Soviets would expect them to make a run for the western-alliance sectors, and concentrate most of their search effort to the south and west. He obviously couldn’t take her south and east, because that way lay Leipzig and a large contingent of the occupying Red Army. North was the only sensible option, and north meant the safe-house in Dessau.
    Dessau, and more precisely its Junkers aircraft factory, had been the objective of heavy allied bombing during the war. As a result, the proud capital of the former Principality of Anhalt had suffered badly. However, it was not to the rubble-strewn centre that Gerald Hammond and his young charge were headed, but to one of the few undamaged buildings on the town’s northern outskirts.
    Hammond scanned the road and countryside again, just to make sure, then called and beckoned for her to join him. She crept forward, and he heard her ask,
    “Are you married?”
    The question took him by surprise. Of all the questions he might have anticipated her asking, about who he was, why he had rescued her, or if it was safe, she had asked that. It was only when he saw the admiring look in her eyes that he suddenly realized.
    He was her saviour, her gallant rescuer. It was a natural and understandable reaction, particularly for one so young, but it was a reaction that, nonetheless, needed careful handling.
    “Yes.”
    He wasn’t good at that sort of thing. She looked disappointed. He smiled benevolently and gently teased her.
    “Sorry about that. Would you like me to take you back to the train?”
    She smiled back at him.
    “We’ve probably