Empire and Honor (Honor Bound 7)

“Jawohl, Herr Oberst,” Dunwiddie said, and sat down.

“And you, too, Cronley,” Mattingly said. “Sit there, eat your lunch, confine your conversation to brief responses to my questions, and volunteer nothing. Understood?”

“Jawohl, Herr Oberst.”

“What I have to say to you, Cronley, or anything any of these gentlemen says to you, is classified Top Secret–Presidential. Do you know what that means?”

“No, sir.”

“Simply phrased, it means that information thus classified is so important to the security of the United States that extreme measures—killing people—is authorized to protect it. Understand?”

Does he really mean that?

What the hell is this?

Does it have anything to do with Elsa?

Cronley nodded. “Ich verstehen, Herr Oberst.”

Plates of pork chops, applesauce, mashed potatoes, and bread were laid before Cronley and Dunwiddie. And then two liter-sized mugs of beer.

“Where to begin?” Mattingly asked, rhetorically.

The others waited.

“How much do you know about the OSS, Cronley?”

“Not very much, sir.”

“During the late unpleasantness, the Office of Strategic Services was charged with providing a number of clandestine services to the Armed Forces of the United States. Its director, Major General William Joseph Donovan, reported directly to President Roosevelt. You didn’t know that?”

“There was a lecture when I was at Camp Holabird about other intelligence agencies. I guess I didn’t pay much attention.”

Harry shook his head.

“You didn’t make the connection between General Donovan of the OSS and your father’s old Army buddy Donovan from World War One?”

“Not until this moment, Colonel.”

“And now that you have?”

“The Colonel Donovan I know—not a General Donovan—is my father’s New York lawyer. He used to come to the ranch when I was a kid.”

“So he told me last night,” Mattingly said drily. “He has fond memories of you. . . . He said you were expelled from Saint Mark’s School in Dallas at age fourteen for bootlegging and operating a poker game. True?”

Jimmy grinned. “Yes, sir. Guilty.”

r /> “Actually, I got that story from Colonel Frade yesterday, on the way to Rhine-Main,” Mattingly said. “And then Colonel Frade suggested the high probability that your father and General Donovan were close, as a result of their service together in World War One. The circumstances being what they are, I telephoned General Donovan immediately after dropping Frade and company at Rhine-Main.

“Colonel Frade was correct. As I said, General Donovan remembers you fondly. He said to give you his best regards. The circumstances being what they are, that is tantamount to your being approved for service with the OSS.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Aren’t you going to ask me about the circumstances to which I refer?”

“Sir, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about,” Cronley confessed.

“On October first—eight days ago—President Truman issued an Executive Order disbanding the Office of Strategic Services,” Mattingly said. “You are witnessing the death throes of that organization.”