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The man flicked a hand at Julie, and her gag and bindings were quickly removed. He put his hands on the table in front of him.
“Welcome,” he said, a smile flitting across his lips but never coming close to reaching the blue eyes.
Julie simply stared at him.
“I’m sure you are wondering where you are and why you are here.”
“Did you hurt Jerome?” she said.
“Jerome?”
“My guardian. I live with him. Did you hurt him?”
“Not to the extent that he will not recover. Now, getting back to the matter at hand, I’m sure you have no idea where you are or why you’re here.”
She looked him over. “Well, we’re not in Germany. The plane was a turboprop. No transatlantic range. And no plane can take you back in time to, say, the 1930s.” She said this last part with a disgusted look at the swastikas on the walls. She continued, “We were in the air about two and a half hours. So I’d say we’re somewhere in the Deep South.”
He looked bemused by this statement. “Why not the North? You don’t think our brethren dwell there?”
“Your accent is southern.” She glanced down. “And the dirt floor is red clay. Georgia. Alabama, maybe.”
The man’s bemusement receded and he looked stonily at her. “You would make a good detective.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before. What do you want?”
“I want nothing from you.”
“So it has to do with someone connected to me, then?”
The man nodded.
“Do you want me to guess?”
“You’re good at deductions. Continue making them.”
“Your hair doesn’t match your eyes, and your face is way too old for the hair, which means you dye it. With all those age spots on your hands I’d say you’re probably in your late fifties or even sixties. And the type of uniform you have on was worn by Himmler, who headed the SS. He was also the asshole behind the concentration camps. Congratulations. Something really to be proud of.”
Julie heard the breathing of the men behind her accelerate, but the man across from her didn’t change expressions. He said, “No, I was speaking of who you might be connected to. Please elaborate on that.”
“And give you intel you might not otherwise have? No, I think I’ll pass.”
“You are a most unusual young woman, not at all like I expected.”
“What, did you expect some timid pre-feminist girly-girl quaking in her boots at the sight of you? Sure, I’m scared. You guys kidnapped me. You have me outnumbered. You have guns. I’m completely in your power here.” She looked at the swastikas again. “And you’re all obviously full of hate and seriously demented. I’d be an idiot not to be afraid. But that doesn’t mean I’ll help you, because I won’t.”
“I actually have no need for you to do anything, Miss Getty.”
“I’m not impressed that you know my name. Easy enough to find out.”
“Do you know the name Sally Fontaine?”
“No.”
“How about the name Jessica?”
Julie said nothing.
“Tall, lean woman with blonde hair?”
Julie still said nothing.
“Your silence speaks volumes.”
“Okay,” said Julie. “So what’s the plan? Me for her? Won’t be happening.”
“Well, for your sake, you should hope that it does happen.”
“It’s not up to me. It’s not up to you. It’s actually not up to her.”
“So you do admit knowing Jessica?”
“I admit to nothing. But let me ask you something, if I may?”
She waited until he nodded.
“You think this Sally Fontaine is the same person as this Jessica?”
“I know that she is, beyond doubt.”
“And how do you know Sally Fontaine?”
“She used to be one of my most loyal followers.”
“Okay, that’s bullshit.”
The man hiked his eyebrows. “And how do you know that? A guess with no factual foundation?”
Julie shook her head but said nothing.
“You don’t seem intimidated by your surroundings. Most people, even adults, would be very distressed at being kidnapped and held at gunpoint.”
“It’s not my first time being kidnapped and held at gunpoint.”
“Really?” he said in a skeptical tone.
“Yeah. The last time was a Saudi prince with serious jihadist tendencies. He nearly killed me.”
“And why didn’t he?”
“My friends came and rescued me.”
“That won’t be happening in this case.”
“Never say never. And you have no intention of letting me go.”
“And why is that?”
“You let me see your face. I can identify you. So, you can’t let me go.”
“We’ll see. As you said, never say never.”
“What is Sally Fontaine to you?”
“As I told you, she was one of my loyal followers.”
Julie snorted at this.
The man pulled out a picture from his pocket. “Perhaps you will recognize your friend.” He showed it to Julie.
It was of a teenage girl standing next to a younger version of the man across from Julie. He was dressed in a similar black SS uniform. As Julie looked closer she could see that the girl was Jessica Reel. And there was something else.
“She’s pregnant,” exclaimed Julie.
“Yes, she was carrying my child. Our love child, as I liked to say.”
“But she looks my age and you were a grown man. Are you a pedophile too?”
The blow knocked Julie out of her chair and she landed on the hard clay. An instant later she was jerked up and thrown back into the chair by the men behind her. The man across from her was rubbing his hand where he had struck her.
“Forgive my outburst of anger. But your words struck a chord deeply in me.”
Julie rubbed the blood off her mouth and stared across at him.
“We were very much in love,” he said. “Despite our age difference.”
She said, “But no longer in love, then.” He cocked his head at her. “If you have to kidnap me to get to her.”
“Time passes and things change, it is true. But my feelings are still there.”
“And the child?”
“Another empty hole in my heart. I wish to rectify that.”
“Did you know Sally’s father?”
“Earl? Yes, a good friend of mine.”
“I’m sure he is. Is that how you got on to her and to me?”
“You really are extraordinarily precocious. I could use someone like you in our effort.”
Julie didn’t bother to respond to this. “So what’s the next step?” she said.
“We have made contact. We expect her to do the same shortly.”
There was a buzzing sound. Julie looked around for a moment before realizing it was coming from the man’s pocket.
He took out the phone and looked at the screen. “Speak of the devil.”
He turned and left the room.
