Chapter Thirteen
February 3, Morning
Major Lindisl woke up in the morning, had his usual leisurely but substantial breakfast, and went to his office. There was a furrow between his brows, which his underlings knew meant trouble for someone. When he entered the office, there were the normal standing-at-attention, heel-clicking, Heil Hitler salutes, to which he responded with his usual Heil Hitler and salute. He went to his office, and a few minutes later Captain Heidelstrauss, his second-in-command, knocked on the door with a fistful of reports. The major had been gone for a week, and there were several items to be gone over. A handful of Jews had been picked up, and he signed their death warrants. “Stinking Jews, did they have any belongings?” “No, Herr Major, only the clothes on their backs.” A suspected Allied sympathizer had been detained and questioned. “Herr Major, either he was too stubborn to talk, or he actually knew nothing.” Lindisl noticed the past tense. “Was the body disposed of?” “Jawohl, Herr Major.” There were several reports along these lines.
“Here is a report about the battle at Faid, Herr Major.” Lindisl glanced at it, and then turned a penetrating eye to his subordinate, “And why would I be interested in this?” in a threatening tone. The captain was quick to answer, “An Arab was captured while fleeing from a destroyed American vehicle. He invoked your name and was sent here.” Lindisl scanned the report more carefully and saw the Arab’s name. “Send him here at once!” “Jawohl, Herr Major,” the captain scurried away. A few minutes later, he led the Arab into the room, who bowed to the major, “Your servant, effendi,” and the major looked into the sly face of Abu Mehouf.
The American party woke up and ate breakfast. Normally Angelique ate sitting between Drew and Dane, but this morning she chose to sit between Drew and Fredericks, much to the latter’s pleasure and Dane’s hurt and puzzlement. Drew couldn’t resist a gloating look at his rival. During the meal, Zabronski asked, “Where did you ditch the halftrack?” Dane waved vaguely northward, his wave encompassing over a ninety degree arc, “Up there.” He did not trust the Russian.
“Where are the three cases?”Zabronski cast a meaningful look to the others.
Dane looked surprised, “We ditched them too. After all, we can’t carry them, can we?” The others saw the sense of it, but Zabronski was frustrated.
After the meal, Drew turned to Angelique, “I thought that you and I can walk over to Sfax. I would hide on the outskirts, while you go into the city and buy me a suit and bring it to me. Then you could lead me to the café. Do you think you could do this?”
Angelique grew frightened. Now that the time had actually come for her to do what she had agreed, she wasn’t sure that she could go through with it. She glanced up at Drew, and then, almost against her will, to Dane, who gave her a reassuring smile. “I know you can do it,” Dane said confidently,” I will pray for you, both of you,” with a smile to Drew. Somehow, Angelique drew strength from Dane’s confidence, and with a brave, but wobbly smile, nodded to Drew.
Drew spoke privately to Dane, and then Drew and Angelique started walking the two miles to Sfax. Dane gave a critical look at their campsite, “I don’t like this spot, it’s too hard to defend. Let’s see if we can find a better spot.” Within half an hour they had found a spot where sometime in the past a flood had washed out an overhang. It was barely big enough for them all to lie down but they could stay dry from the rain, and was easily defended. Water was found less than a quarter mile away, and Dane had all the water containers filled, and posted a guard on the top of the hill. From there, they could observe anybody approaching, and see Drew and Angelique coming back from Sfax and direct them here.
Back in Sfax, the major slapped a meaty hand on the table, “I paid you money to offer to work with the Americans, and much more when you brought important information to me, yet all you have is that you were to lead this American captain to this café to meet this Monsieur Gascoigne. Have you nothing else to add?”
“No, effendi, but I did convince the German commander to let the American flee and not pursue him,” Abu groveled.
“Yes,” the major nodded slowly, “that was wise of you, and wise of the commander to listen.” He made a note to commend the commander. His brow furrowed in thought, “Did he have any other contacts, anybody he knows in Sfax?”
“No, effendi, there is no one else.” Abu was firm on that point. “I learned that when I was hired to bring him here.”
“I wonder,” Lindisl mused out loud as a thought came to him, “I think I might have seen evidence of the good captain, but he wasn’t alone; there were half a dozen men with him.” He glared at the Arab, “How do you account for that?”
Abu raised helpless arms, “I don’t know, effendi, maybe he picked up some stragglers from the battle?”
Major Lindisl slowly nodded, “That could very well be.” He felt excitement mount up in him; this could be the break he was looking for. Surely there couldn’t be two parties of American soldiers wandering around Sfax; surely they must have his money, somewhere. He must find out where it was. He made a decision and pushed the buzzer on his desk. When Captain Heidelstrauss back came in, he was issued orders in German, “Establish an observation post to watch the Le Belle Francais Café. This dog can identify an American spy who is to meet a Frenchman named Gascoigne there. When they are identified, have them arrested, but they must not be killed. I must personally interrogate them. Make sure you get both of them.”
“Jawohl, Herr Major.”
Abu lowered his eyes; he understood more German than the others suspected.
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