End of Spies by Alex Gerlis (best free ereader txt) 📗

whether it was apropos of anything in particular, so he left it, but two nights later she called him to her room. In the morning, he made her a cup of tea and brought it back to bed. He noticed that she nodded approvingly as she sipped it, so decided to raise the matter.

‘I was wondering what caused you to say I couldn’t stay here indefinitely?’

She turned to look at him, weighing up whether to answer. She finished her tea and plumped her pillow. ‘We heard from Germany, from someone in Frankfurt. You remember I told you about the English couple who turned up there?’ She moved closer and placed her hand on his stomach. ‘Well, it seems that the man is almost certainly the same one who was hunting for you earlier this year, and who so nearly found you. We think his name is Prince.’

‘The one you encountered in Gerrards Cross?’

‘Yes – and who I identified at the pub in London. If he’s involved in this case, then there could be a problem.’

‘So what is going to happen?’

‘The Admiral is of the view – which I share – that it’s too dangerous for you to remain in this country. We can get you on the Kestrel Line and away from Europe, and you’ll be able to take money over with you.’

He edged away from her. ‘But how will I get there… and when?’

‘I’m sorting things out at the moment, Edward. I’ll probably travel with you.’ She was talking as if they were planning a Sunday-afternoon outing, and now she pressed her warm body against his colder one.

‘That’s rather put the cat amongst the pigeons, hasn’t it, Tom?’

‘In what sense, Roly?’

‘Oh do come off it… A few weeks ago you were all for giving up looking for this Friedrich chap, ready to file it under “too much trouble”, but now – judging by this august gathering – it would seem to be a matter of the utmost urgency.’

Sir Roland Pearson swept his arm round to indicate all the people present, like a conductor preparing his orchestra. They were in a secure room in the basement of the MI6 offices. Roland Bentley was there, along with Hugh Harper from MI5 and a man called Bartholomew. Prince and Hanne were sitting at the end of the table.

‘I think one has to recognise that the rules of the game have rather changed,’ said Gilbey. He was looking in the direction of Prince and Hanne. Prince glanced at his wife. He could sense she was confused by the language and the unspoken tension in the room.

‘Prince, perhaps you and Hanne would care to give us your assessment of the situation,’ said Bentley. ‘We need to know how seriously we ought to take this Bormann business. If we believe it is true, then we need to up our game. Because of the gravity of the matter, I have referred it to the very highest levels, and I can tell you, the view of His Majesty’s Government is that because Bormann is arguably the most prominent Nazi apparently still at liberty, capturing him should be regarded as a priority.’

Prince looked at Hanne and gestured for her to speak. The others in the room seemed surprised.

‘I think the truth is we cannot be certain about what happened to Martin Bormann: I think we should regard him as unaccounted for rather than being at liberty.’

‘Nonetheless—’

‘My personal view is that had he been killed, we would have known about it by now. Commissar Gurevich, with whom we’ve been dealing, does not seem to think Bormann is dead. Through him I met Willi Kühn, who told me how Wolfgang Steiner had recently been to see him. I – we – think that the people running the Kestrel Line believe Bormann is still alive and are therefore anxious to help him escape. Who knows – it is possible Steiner found Bormann after he met Kühn: we just don’t know.’

‘You agree, Prince?’

‘Of course I do, sir. Until we have proof that Bormann is dead or captured, we must assume he’s alive and pursue this. I think we must keep up the hunt for Friedrich Steiner: find him and we’ll find Bormann.’

‘And how would you propose we go about that?’

‘If I may say, I think we are messing around.’ Hanne sounded annoyed. ‘Since I have been in this country, I notice how many meetings you have – meetings to decide everything. Meetings take up too much time and get in the way of an investigation. We know from Willi Kühn that Villach in Austria is a key place on the Kestrel Line. We ought to be there now rather than wasting our time talking about whether we think Bormann is alive or not.’

‘Hanne…’ Prince had placed his hand on his wife’s arm.

Tom Gilbey looked angry and started to speak, but Roland Bentley stopped him. ‘I don’t know what you were about to say, Tom, but I happen to very much agree with Hanne. We should be showing a far greater sense of urgency in pursuing Bormann. It would be an enormous feather in this country’s cap if we’re the ones to capture him. We wouldn’t want the Russians to have that honour, would we?’

‘Or the Americans.’

‘Absolutely, Roly.’

‘Or the French.’

‘I’d have thought that’s highly unlikely, Tom.’ There was a ripple of laughter around the table. ‘You two need to get to Villach as soon as possible. I find it hard to believe two agents as experienced as you won’t pick up the trail. Do we know whose zone Villach is in?’

‘Ours, sir.’

‘Jolly good – there ought to be a FSS in the town. Tom, have a word in the right ears to make sure they cooperate – remember it’s them working for us, not the other way round.’

‘Can I ask what FSS stands for?’ Hanne asked.

‘Of course – Field Security Section. They’re part of our military intelligence: we put them into areas we’re running. Tom, we’d better get a move on with