“I didn’t expect you to be here, Tom,” Cronley said.
“You said you wanted Kurt to check me out in the Storch,” Winters replied. “And here we are.”
“How did you get here?” Cronley asked.
“In an L-4.”
“The Storch checkout is going to have to wait,” Cronley said. “What you’re going to do is get back in the L-4 and take Charley here— Excuse me, Charley Spurgeon, Tom Winters and Kurt Schröder.”
The men shook hands.
Cronley went on: “What you’re going to do, Tom, is take Charley to Eschborn. I’ll call ahead and have a car waiting. He’s going to the Farben Building to see General Greene. When he’s finished, you’ll fly him back here . . . to the Compound . . . hopefully in time for him to catch the Blue Danube so he can get back to Vienna.”
“Can I ask what’s going on?” Winters said.
“Charley will explain on your way to Eschborn. Charley, you can tell Tom everything. He’s one of the good guys, as is Kurt.”
“Got it,” Spurgeon said.
“And you, Kurt, make sure both Storches are ready to go. I think we’re going to need both of them.”
Schröder nodded.
“How’s Lazarus?” Cronley asked.
“Tom and I just fed him his breakfast,” Schröder said. “His appetite’s all right.”
“I found out who he is,” Cronley said. “Major of State Security Venedikt Ulyanov.”
“How’d you find that out?” Winters said.
“Senior Major of State Security Ivan Serov told me while he was telling me how we’re going to exchange Likharev and his family for Colonel Mattingly. It came out, specifically, when Serov was asking me, as a fellow Christian, to arrange Russian Orthodox burials for the three guys Claudette took out. Who he also identified for me.”
“What?” Schröder asked.
“Jesus!” Winters blurted. “You’re going to make the swap?”
“So,” Cronley went on, “what I’ve been wondering about as I dodged rock-filled clouds on the way up here—keeping in mind that Serov is much smarter than me—is whether ol’ Ivan just let who Lazarus is slip out, or whether he wanted me to know. And I don’t know, so I guess for the moment I’m going to have to pass on getting to see the look on Lazarus’s face when I call him Major Ulyanov.”
He paused, and then asked, “Is there a car here, or am I going to have to go to the goddamn Compound in an ambulance?”
“There’s two Fords here,” Winters said.
“In that case, Lieutenant Winters, sound ‘Boots and Saddles.’ Let’s get the cavalry moving.”
“Yes, sir,” Winters said.
He smiled and so did Charley Spurgeon. Schröder looked confused.
IX
[ ONE ]
Office of the Military Government Liaison Officer
The South German Industrial Development Organization Compound
Pullach, Bavaria