Angel From Hell, page 17
part #1 of Anna Fehrbach Series Series
‘Well, I can tell you that he is the devil incarnate. He had me arrested the moment I set foot in Germany, taken to Gestapo Headquarters, where he told me what he wants. He wants me to use my position inside the British Establishment, by being married to an important diplomat, to keep the Reich Government informed of the probable British reaction to any further German moves in Europe.’
‘What did you tell him?’
‘I refused, of course. I am not a spy.’
‘So . . .’
‘He handed me over to his people, to “convince” me.’
Clive sat beside her, trying desperately to keep looking at her face instead of the superb body within touching distance. ‘Are you convinced?’
‘I could not survive another ordeal like that. But he has other methods. He has also arrested my parents and my sister, and says that if I do not co-operate they will go to a concentration camp, or even be executed. You know about these camps?’
‘There are rumours.’
‘Well, the rumours bear no relation to the truth. The inmates are flogged daily, fed starvation rations, and forced to work until they drop. I know I quarrelled with my parents, but I cannot expose them to such a fate.’ She stared into his eyes. ‘Will you help me, Clive? Can you help me?’
She laid her hand on top of his, and was in his arms.
*
Her flesh was like velvet, her movements like silk. Clive knew he had been bewitched, and tried to convince himself that this could be a necessary part of his investigation of her, and for that reason Belinda would forgive him, while all the time knowing that he was doing what he had dreamed of doing from the moment he had first seen her.
Everything seemed to flow so naturally, but he knew she was in total control. While they kissed, she continued to hold his hand and guide it over her body, from her breasts to between her legs, which parted for him. She seemed to know exactly how much time to allow him, then gave a little sigh, leaned her head on his shoulder for a moment, then stood up, again holding his hand, to lead him into the bedroom.
There she undressed him as quickly and expertly as she had undressed herself, and was naked in his arms. They rolled on the bed, but when he sought an entry she spoke for the first time. ‘Behind,’ she said. ‘Take me from behind. That is how they took me.’
She rolled, still in his arms, and spread her legs. He knelt between them, and she gasped in a mixture of discomfort and ecstasy. But it was what she had wanted, and what she did want. He didn’t know if she had climaxed or not, but when he did her knees gave way and she subsided on to her face, yet continued to move beneath him for several seconds. Then they lay still, bodies glued together, and the bedroom door opened.
Chapter Seven – Turnabout
Clive rolled off Anna and sat up, as did she, turning on her knees.
‘What are you doing here?’ Anna demanded. ‘I told you to take the day off.’
‘You rampant bitch!’ Elsa declared. ‘That man is a British spy.’
‘He is not spying at this moment,’ Anna said. ‘Anyway, as you’re here, you can prepare lunch.’
‘I am going to telephone Colonel Heydrich and put him in the picture. Now he will really burn your ass. And this time I am going to watch it.’
‘No! Elsa!’ Anna got out of bed. ‘It is not what you think. I can explain.’
‘Explain to the colonel,’ Elsa said, and turned back to the door.
Anna acted with amazing speed, crossing the floor in three long but almost noiseless strides. Elsa checked and started to turn back, but Anna was already up to her, and swinging her right arm in a tremendous blow, which started above her head and ended as the edge of her hand crashed into Elsa’s shoulder, precisely where it joined her neck. Elsa went down without a sound, save for the thump of her body striking the carpeted floor.
‘Holy Jesus Christ!’ Clive cried as he too got off the bed.
Anna was panting and rubbing her arm. ‘There was an unarmed combat class at school,’ she explained, not altogether untruthfully.
‘That must have been some school,’ he commented, standing beside her. ‘You’d better do something about her. She looks done in.’
Anna knelt beside Elsa’s body and felt her pulse. ‘She is, as you say, done in.’
‘What?’ He also knelt. ‘With one blow? You can’t be serious.’
‘Feel for yourself.’
There was no question that Elsa was dead. Or that he was kneeling, naked, next to the beautiful naked woman who had just killed her, and with whom he had just had the best sex in his life. He couldn’t be sure whether it was a dream or a nightmare, but had to clutch at reality. ‘They taught you how to do this at school? A girl’s school?’
‘Our Mother Superior was very big on her senior girls being able to defend themselves.’
‘Are you saying this was a convent?’
‘Yes, it was. Nuns can be very severe. Mother Superior brought in an instructor from the army. He said that blow would lay anyone out. He did say that if delivered with too much force, it could kill. But he didn’t think any of us had that much strength.’
‘The idiot hadn’t looked too closely at your muscles. Did you mean to hit her that hard?’
‘I don’t know. It was instinctive. I do know that if she had managed to telephone Heydrich we would both be dead.’
She raised her head to look at him, saw the disbelief in his eyes. ‘That is the truth. These people have no regard for human life. This man you’re looking for, this Friedemann, they have executed him because he told them of your inquiry into my background.’
‘God Almighty! But that was last October.’
‘He disappeared last October, when he was arrested. He was killed only when they knew I was returning to Germany and they had determined to make me work for them. Then they could no longer leave him alive, as he would have been able to denounce me.’
Clive scratched his head. He had had to assimilate so much over the past few hours that his brain was now a mass of conflicting ideas, thoughts, knowledge and emotions, all compounded by the proximity of this naked woman. And by the knowledge that she could kill with a single blow of her hand? He needed desperately to think, but he was not about to abandon her to an unacceptable fate – if what she had told him was true. And he had the evidence of her bruised flesh to convince him of that.
So, first things first. ‘We have to get out of here. Get dressed.’
‘Where do you wish to go?’
‘Well, back to London. We can be there before anyone finds out about this.’
‘But when they find out, they will send behind me.’
‘We’ll protect you.’
‘Then they will execute my parents.’
‘Shit! But aren’t they done for anyway?’
‘Not if you will allow me to handle it. If you will trust me.’
‘How on earth can you handle it?’
‘These people want me to work for them. That is all that matters to them. If I tell them that Elsa somehow found out that I was going to be a German agent and threatened to denounce me to the British,’ she smiled, ‘to you, and therefore I had to kill her, they will accept that. That is how their minds work.’
‘But the risk . . .’
‘That is minimal. Believe me.’
He gazed into her eyes and could do nothing else, especially when she held his hand against her breast. ‘I would like to work with you, Clive.’
‘I’m not sure that’s practical.’
‘Because I have killed someone? Did you not tell me you had had to kill?’
‘I don’t remember doing that.’
She inhaled, and swelled into his hand. ‘You did not deny it when I asked you.’
‘Anyway, that’s not the point. If you stay here and try to sort it out with the Gestapo, you will have to work for them. Then I will have to arrest you.’
‘Even if I am actually working for you? Telling you what the Nazis want? Perhaps giving them what you would like them to have? Pinpointing their agents in England?’
Clive released her breast, stood up, and went to the bathroom. Anna also got up from beside the body and lay on the bed, while Elsa continued to lie in a crumpled heap on the floor.
‘You have some very deep areas in that brain of yours.’
‘Should I not? I have an IQ of a hundred and seventy-three.’
He sat beside her, his thigh against hers. ‘You’re either a gift from the gods, or . . .’ He bit his lip.
Anna smiled. ‘Or from the other place. Believe me, I only want to bring the Nazis down, if I can.’
He gazed at her for several seconds, but while he was doing that he found coherent thought next to impossible. ‘I cannot do a deal like this on my own authority,’ he said. ‘I will have to put it to my superiors.’
A faint frown appeared between her eyes. ‘Can they be trusted?’
‘If they can’t, my life wouldn’t be worth a red cent.’
‘But as you just said, if I am to handle this successfully, I have to agree to work for the SS.’
Clive nodded. ‘I understand that.’
‘And when I get back to England, I cannot do anything that might endanger my parents.’
Again he nodded. ‘If it’s humanly possible, we’ll work something out.’
‘And will I be able to see you again? I would like that more than anything else in the world.’
He kissed her. ‘That’s high on my agenda, too.’ He went to her desk and wrote down a number. ‘You can get me there when you think it may be possible to arrange a meeting. Now, I think we had better get moving.’
‘I know. But, you would not like to . . .?’
‘I would like to, very much. But I don’t think I could right now, in view of the company we’re keeping. So . . .’ He snapped his fingers. ‘The concierge saw me come in with you . . .’
‘I will take care of the concierge.’ She smiled at his expression. ‘Don’t worry. It will not be necessary to kill him.’
She got off the bed, helped him dress, and kissed him at the door. ‘I will be in touch as soon as I am back in London.’
She closed and locked the door, and leaned against it for several seconds while she took deep breaths. Then she had a quick bath, dressed herself, and picked up the telephone.
*
Heydrich himself came, together with Glauber and Gehrig. Anna stood to one side while they wandered around the apartment, carefully stepping over Elsa’s body. Her heart was pounding, but she kept her features under control. If this failed, she and her entire family were dead, and she suspected that death, at least for her, would be a long and painful time coming.
Heydrich stood above Elsa’s body for a few minutes, then returned to the lounge. ‘I think you should sit down, Anna,’ he said. ‘Before you fall down.’
‘It has been quite an experience,’ Anna conceded, and sat on the settee.
‘I am sure it was.’ Heydrich sat beside her. He might never have smiled as he listened to me scream, she thought. ‘I think Anna could do with a drink,’ he said. ‘In fact, we all could. Would you do the honours, please, Gehrig?’
Frau Gehrig went to the bar and poured.
‘Now, Anna,’ Heydrich said. ‘I wish you to repeat what happened, exactly as you said on the phone.’
‘Yes, Herr Colonel. I went for a walk, and encountered the man Bartley watching the apartment windows. As he had seen me, I had to greet him. But I also felt that I had to discover what he was after, so I invited him upstairs for a drink.’
‘According to the concierge, Elsa was still here at that time.’
‘Yes, sir. But I had already given her the morning off, to do some shopping before our return to England. She left immediately after I returned.’
‘She was not concerned at leaving you alone with this man?’
‘She gave no indication of it. She did not know who he was; she had never seen him before.’
‘I see. So you sat and talked with Bartley for . . .’ He looked at Glauber.
‘According to the concierge, it would have been more than two hours. He says Bartley left at a quarter to eleven.’
‘Which was soon after Elsa returned. How soon?’
‘He can’t be sure, sir. As Elsa was a resident, he did not keep a record of the time she left or returned.’
‘It would have been about twenty minutes,’ Anna said, sipping her schnapps.
‘So you sat and talked with Bartley for over two hours. And yet you say you discovered nothing?’
‘I discovered nothing of the least importance. He admitted that he was seeking some information about Friedemann, but he accepted that I had never heard of the man.’
‘Yet he stayed for two hours.’
‘I know. As soon as I realized his visit could not affect my position, in the absence of Friedemann, I tried to get rid of him. But he wouldn’t go. I think he was trying to get some admission out of me to support his theory that I am either a fortune hunter or a German agent, but I told him nothing. And then at last Elsa came home. I was so relieved to see her. Bartley still did not go immediately, but he understood that he was not going to get anything incriminating out of me, especially with Elsa home, so he soon left.’
‘Did you notice anything odd about Elsa when she came home?’
‘No, sir. But I was concentrating more on getting rid of Bartley.’
‘And the moment he was gone, she attacked you. Had she ever done this before?’
‘No, sir.’
‘You had not quarrelled?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Never?’
‘Well, we had our differences of opinion, from time to time. But I would not describe those as quarrels.’
‘Finish your drink, Anna,’ Heydrich recommended. ‘And fill her glass, Gehrig.’
Anna frowned as she obeyed. Gehrig took the glass and refilled it.
‘Now,’ Heydrich said. ‘I would like you to tell us the truth.’
*
Anna could feel her entire body tensing, but she managed to keep her voice low. ‘Sir?’
‘There is no need to be afraid or embarrassed. Frau Gehrig has explained it to me, because, you see, Mayers had confessed the truth to her.’
Anna drank some schnapps.
‘I take full responsibility,’ Gehrig said. ‘Elsa was very upset when we brought you home on Wednesday; she was afraid you might have been scarred for life. She told me how she had always wanted to make love to you, but had been afraid to make advances because of your reputation. And I stupidly suggested that then, when you were clearly feeling traumatized, might be her best chance of getting close to you. I thought it might be good for you, too.’
Lights were flashing in Anna’s brain; they were giving her the most perfect out!
‘So tell us the truth, Anna,’ Heydrich repeated. ‘We are on your side in this matter.’
Anna licked her lips. ‘I did not know she . . . wanted me. And she did nothing until today. I think perhaps she thought I had been having sex with the Englander, and this excited her. He had barely left when she put her arms round me, and began to touch me. I asked her to stop, but she would not. So we wrestled and I got away. But she came after me again, so . . . I hit her. I did not mean to kill her.’
‘Of course you did not. You just did not know your own strength. But tell us, Anna, did you have sex with the Englander?’
‘How could I do that, Herr Colonel? He is my enemy, and an enemy of the Reich. Besides,’ she added coyly, ‘I am a married woman.’
‘Of course you are,’ Heydrich said, somewhat drily. ‘The question was indelicate. But now we must press on with our plans. My people will be here in an hour to remove the body. It is very important that you return to England as arranged next week. Things are going to be very tense over the next few weeks. That idiot Chamberlain has actually given guarantees to Poland and Romania, that Great Britain will go to their aid should they be invaded by the Reich. Can you believe it? How on earth could Great Britain hope to aid two such remote countries when we lie between them? But there it is.’
‘Is the Reich going to invade Poland, or Romania, Herr Colonel?’ Anna asked, with her usual devastating innocence.
‘That is not something for you to worry your pretty little head about. What we need you to do is keep us informed about British public opinion on the prospect of a war with Germany, and what is actually being said and planned in the government, as opposed to bombastic statements.’
‘I will do that, Herr Colonel.’
‘Just remember to use the proper channels. Now, as to this business, you will tell your husband that Elsa has resigned, as she wishes to remain in Germany with her sick mother.’
‘Yes, sir. I will have no trouble finding a new maid.’
‘In England? Oh, Anna, be sensible! You must always have one of my people at your side, to support you and, frankly, to keep you in order. Frau Gehrig will replace Mayers.’
Anna looked at Gehrig in consternation. ‘Commandant? You wish to be my maid?’
‘She has volunteered for the post,’ Heydrich explained. ‘She wishes a spell in the field. And she probably knows you better than anyone else in the world. You will work well together. Will you not, Hannah?’
‘I am sure of it,’ Gehrig said.
*
Baxter filled his pipe, slowly. ‘Forgive me for wondering if you have completely lost the plot, Clive. Are you actually proposing that we work with a self-confessed German spy?’
‘She is not a spy yet,’ Clive argued. ‘She has been coerced into becoming a spy. Now she is offering us her services. She could be very useful to us.’
‘This is assuming that a single word of what she told you was true.’
‘She was certainly beaten. I saw the marks.’
‘Did you now?’
‘Well . . .’ Clive flushed.
‘You said she was caned.’
‘Well . . . yes, I did.’
‘If I recall my schooldays correctly, one is generally caned on the backside. Would I therefore be correct in assuming that you have had the great privilege of inspecting Mrs Bordman’s bottom? Who said our job has no perks? What else did she remove, apart from her knickers?’
