Chapter 21
Fri. Sept. 21, 1987 McGraw Kaserne Military Base
"Here are your night vision goggles and MREs, first aid and fire kits, space sleeping bag, extra socks and a flash light," Major Spiels explained to Lee. He then continued, "I'll fill out a form for you to get whatever you need from the quartermaster.
"Thank you sir," Lee replied standing at attention.
"Do you have a plan for getting into East Germany, Scarecrow?"
"Getting in is not the problem, Sir, it's getting out."
"You've been here before so there's nothing new. I remember a few hair brained stunts you've pulled off over the years," the major replied while filling out the paper work on Lee's arrival.
"It's been a few years, Sir, and now I have a wife and two sons to go home to," Lee said with pleasure in his voice.
This admission brought the major's head up and a slow grin started to spread across his face. He stood and stuck out his hand while saying, "Congratulations are in order. I can't believe that someone could make the old Scarecrow settle down. Why I remember when the two of us…"
Lee quickly cut Major Spiels off with a look, "We don't need to bring up old stories. Those days are behind me."
"Okay, Okay! But, I insist on dinner in the Officer's Club and you telling me all about this woman, who has tamed your heart," the major said with a hearty laugh.
"You can plan on it! Name the time!"
"After you have everything for your mission, how about you meet me back here?"
"Okay, see you in a bit!"
Sat. Sept. 29, 1987 East Germany
Lee had been in East Germany for a week now and getting in had been easy. He had found a desolate border crossing station with a lone guard in it. He figured the guard had woken with a massive headache, but with no memory of who had hit him.
He had made good time by getting to the vicinity of the hospital in three days' time and had found his contact to make his check in. From the hospital he worked south twenty-five miles with no luck of getting a lead on Birol. He had made his track back to the hospital area and made his next check in.
He was now currently headed west and he was about thirteen miles out. He was hoping to find a place to hunker down for the night. Scanning the area he saw a clump of three bushes to his left. Smiling he headed in that direction to make camp for the night.
Sun. Sept. 30, 1987 Von Eiger's Chalet, Munich
Birol laughed softly to himself as he stealthily made his way through the empty hallow feeling chalet. Although it was full of antiques, valuable vases, and other collectables it felt more like a museum than a home. He made his way to Von Eiger's sitting room where he sat in a high back winged chair reading a novel and drinking brandy.
Von Eiger looked up sharply and gasped in surprise at the intruder, "Who are you? How did…"
Von Eiger was cut off by Birol's menacing laugh. He stepped closer to the Baron and sneered, "You wanted out of the game, my friend. I have come to take you personally and permanently out!"
Von Eiger rose towering over the smaller man, "What is the means of this invasion of my home?"
"I believe you had a job to carry out for me. You failed in your mission! Now you have to pay for your failure!"
"I couldn't…I couldn't…" Von Eiger stammered. Even though he was taller than Birol, Von Eiger was very scared of him. He got a hold of himself and continued, "Mrs. King wouldn't tell me anything. She has been trained well since I last met her. Her cover while here in Munich was very convincing. I thought she would be easy, but I was wrong!" Since Birol had the look of murder in his eye, Von Eiger kept backing away. What have I gotten myself into this time! Von Eiger wondered to himself.
Birol lunged at Von Eiger taking him by surprise and knocking him to the floor. Birol proceeded to pull a piece of wire from his pocket. He deftly wound the wire around the Baron's neck and pulled hard cutting off his air supply. After a couple of minutes, Birol let go of one end of his wire, pulled it free from the Baron's neck, wound it up and put it back in his pocket. Knowing the Baron was only unconscious Birol pulled his knife from his pants pocket and slit the Baron's throat, while he spoke to the soon to be dead man, "Don't worry Von Eiger the games over for you!" Birol then left the way he came in.
Mon. Oct. 1, 1987 Agency, Q-Bureau
Amanda sighed and dropped her head to her hands. She had awoken with a queasy stomach this morning and every smell seemed to intensify the pitch and roll of it. I should have brought some crackers from home, she thought. "Maybe I'll walk down to the store and get crackers and ginger ale at lunch," she muttered. Just great! Just what we need the stomach bug to go through the family!" she thought.
She looked up and glanced at her husband's empty desk, which seemed to echo the emptiness her soul felt too. At least he's made all his check-ins, she thought. Every three days Billy had come to expect, like clockwork, that she would check to make sure her husband had made his contacts. Being behind the Iron Curtain was dangerous and she worried because he didn't have anyone covering his back, but she comforted herself in knowing that he was one of the best!
She sighed again looking around at the office which had piles of folders stacked all around the room. Her assignment was to purge files which were older than five years and decide if they were available for declassification; which consisted of perusing the file, seeing if all ends of the case were tied up, cataloging the file and case number, and loading them in boxes to be archived at the State Department. After almost two weeks, she was only through the letter C. This time she glanced at Lee's desk and scowled, "I know you had something to do with this, Stetson!"
"Resorting to talking to yourself, Amanda?" Francine asked in a highly amused voice.
"Oh Francine! Don't you know how to knock?" she snapped in frustration.
"Well, well. I do see after two weeks and no husband we are a little on the cranky side," Francine said in a snarky voice.
"Is there something I can help you with?" Amanda tried to politely ask, but all of a sudden her stomach decided that all the extra saliva she had been swallowing, and the little bit of toast she had for breakfast was no longer welcomed. Jumping to her feet, she pushed past Francine and ran to the bathroom down the hall. She made it just in time as her stomach got rid of its unwanted contents.
She wondered if she waited long enough if Francine would decide to leave, but then she heard a soft knock and Francine asking in a concerned voice, "Amanda, are you okay? I'm sorry about what I said. I know it must be hard having Lee gone with contact zero!"
Amanda couldn't believe that this was the same Francine so she unlocked the door and slowly opened it, "I feel a little better now, thanks."
Francine thought, she may feel better, but she doesn't look any better. To Amanda she said, "Maybe you should go home and get some rest!"
"No, I'll be fine. I think I will go for a walk, the fresh air will probably do me good. Was there something you needed?"
"It was a file, but I found it. See you later and hope you feel better!"
"Thanks Francine."
Mon. Oct. 1, 1987 St. Joseph's Orphanage, East Germany
Lee stood on the stoop of an East German orphanage waiting for his knock to be answered. He glanced around the yard and admitted to himself that this orphanage was in better up keep than most he had ever seen. Finally the door slowly opened, and a nun asked in German, "May I help you?"
Lee flashed her one of his smiles and returned in German, "Sister, I'm looking for a man." Lee stopped as he fished a picture of Birol out of his pocket, but continued as he handed it to the Sister to look at, "Have you seen this man before?"
Lee was watching the Sister's face closely, and he saw her eyes slightly widen in recognition while her lips pursed together in contemplation. She looked back at Lee and replied, "I'm sorry I have not seen this man! If you'll excuse me I need to get back to my work, and she started to shut the door.
Lee stuck a booted foot in the door and smirked, "Ah, Sister your face told me a different story. You recognize this man. Please let me come in and explain."
While Lee was trying to get the nun to let him in to talk, Father Freitag came into the room and asked, "Sister Margit, who is it?" Sister Margit sighed and opened the door for him to enter.
Lee took the picture from Sister Margit and handed it to the Father, "I am looking for this man. Have you seen him?"
Father Freitag looked at the picture and said, "Olaf! Yes this is Olaf!"
"Olaf?" Lee questioned. He assumed Birol had deceived these people by going under another name.
Sister Margit quickly spoke up, "Father Freitag, this man could be the Stasi! Don't give away any more!"
Lee turned to the sister and explained, "I'm not the Stasi, Sister, I'm an American and it is important you tell me all you know about this man!"
Father Freitage stepped in and suggested, "How about we take this to my office. Sister, Herr…"
"Stedman," Lee supplied.
"Ah yes, Sister and Herr Stedman, this way," Lee followed the nun and the Father to a back room and stepped into the small classroom slash office. Lee smiled as he took in the fact that the Father was the teacher for the boys of the orphanage. "Have a seat, Herr Stedman," the Father instructed. Lee and the sister obediently sat. "Now," the Father spoke to Lee as he moved to sit behind his desk, "Why are you looking for Olaf? Why would an American be looking for an East German peasant? A peasant; who had his whole family murdered by the Stasi."
Lee glanced at Sister Margit and saw her nervously twisting her hands, and he thought to himself, probably wondering what her penitence will be for lying. I wonder how Birol charmed her. This seems to be out of character for him, but then the man will use anybody to help himself. Looking back to the Father, Lee explained, "Father, this man is not a German peasant named Olaf, but an Arab terrorist named Addi Birol. You and your orphanage are lucky he needed you because this man is highly dangerous. He has killed thousands of innocent people for his beliefs."
Lee was cut off when the sister angrily bit out, "How do we know you are telling the truth?"
"Sister Margit, that is enough!" Father Freitag had risen from his seat and looked sternly at Sister Margit as he would one of his unruly students. Turning to Lee, he instructed, "Continue Herr Stedman."
Lee removed his Federal ID and flashed it at the Father, "Actually it's Federal Agent Lee Stetson, and I'm with the United States Government." He produced several more photos of Birol and continued, "Last year our government along with several other countries' government formed a coalition to capture Birol. In our last operation, the one where we finally captured him, he kidnapped my wife…" Lee stopped here and swallowed hard, closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He looked back at the Father and continued in a soft voice, "and committed unsavory acts toward her. When we recently found out he had escaped prison her nightmares came back with a vengeance."
"So you are looking for Olaf to get revenge!" Sister Margit found herself saying because she was finding it hard to believe this man sitting next to her. She also knew she would be in trouble with Father Freitag for her continued out bursts.
"No Sister, I am not here on revenge, but on behalf of my government. The terrorist group which Birol was or still is the head of has taken responsibility for several bombings, one of which was in West Germany; so if Birol happens to get his comeuppance trust me, Sister, I won't be sorry!"
"Obliviously, you know by now, Herr Stetson, that yes we have seen this man. I am sorry to say that he is no longer in the area or in our country." Father Freitag's admission caused Lee to sigh and run his hand through his hair in frustration.
"Do you happen to know…"Lee was cut off by a commotion outside the window.
"It's Father Mathias from our sister orphanage in West Germany. Come he may have more news for you Herr Stetson."
The trio made their way back through the orphanage and out the front door where everyone had gathered around the cart and driver, who had made their way into the yard. Father Freitag, stopped short and asked with concern, "Where is Father Mathias? He is not sick I hope."
"I am Father Sauer. Father Mathias is dead, sir!"
"Dead! How?"
"Murdered, last month on his way back from your orphanage. The horses and cart returned with Father Mathias, who had his throat slit. We do not know who would have done this!"
Sister Margit upon hearing of Father Mathias' fate let out a loud gasp and fainted with a thud to the floor. Father Freitag looked to Lee and quickly explained, "Father Mathias smuggled the man you are looking for into West Germany. Go, find him, and bring justice!"
Lee somberly replied, "I'm sorry, Father, for your loss. Thanks for the tip and I hope to be able to bring him to justice." Lee left the sad scene behind him as he made up a plan to get back into West Germany.
Tues. Oct. 2, 1987 Agency, Billy's Office
Amanda and Francine had been summoned to Billy's office after the mornings briefing. They were sitting in front of his desk as Billy sat on the front edge. Picking up the report Billy re-read it and said, "Our Munich Agent got information that Baron Von Eiger has been murdered. It was pre-suffocation by a wire around his neck and death by a slit throat. Sounds like Birol's MO, but we don't have positive proof."
"If we think its Birol then we need to get word to Lee. At least he would be out from behind the Iron Curtain. He checks in tomorrow. We could get word to one of his contacts…" Amanda started.
Before she could get a full ramble started, Billy stopped her, "It's too dangerous Amanda!"
"But sir…" She tried again.
"Amanda we don't know Lee's contacts and if we did we wouldn't know which ones he would use. It could be too dangerous for the contact or Lee if the information got into the wrong hands." Francine amazingly said in a gentle and patient manner.
"I'm sorry Amanda, Francine's right on this. I'm sure Lee will figure out soon where Birol is."
Amanda let out a long sigh and rose from her chair and asked, "Was there anything else, sir?"
"No, I just wanted to share what we found out about Von Eiger."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be in the Q-Bureau working on those declassifications.
Fri. Oct. 5, 1987 St. Casper's Parish
Lee sat in the confessional with a curtain separating him from the Priest in the next booth. He started, "Forgive me Father…"
"Ah, Herr Stetson…What can I do for you?" Father Hirsch asked.
"Taped under your seat is a picture. Do you recognize this man?"
Father Hirsch reached under his seat, pulled the picture free, and studied it for a moment. He finally replied, "I have heard that this man is Birol, head of Karbala, who arranged the bombing at the Glockenspiel."
Lee was getting excited that maybe another lead was going to come and he asked, "Has he been seen in Munich or this area?"
"There has been rumor, but nothing definite. Sorry that I don't have more concrete information."
"No, No! This is great…thanks a lot my friend."
"You are welcome and be careful, Scarecrow!"
He left the confessional and made his way to the front of the massive Cathedral to perform his "penance rites." Leaving the Parish, Lee tried to think where to start his search. First of all, I'm going to get a hotel room and shower, eat a good hot meal and sleep, he thought.
Sat. Oct. 6, 1987 Stetson Household
"Hi Fellas!" Dotty called as she walked into the living room, after coming over from her apartment.
"Hi Grandma!" both Philip and Jamie said from the couch.
"Your mom is letting you play video games this early in the day?"
"She hasn't gotten up yet."
"Huh…" Dotty was a little concerned, "I think I'll go up and check on her."
She made her way up to her daughter's room and when she cracked the door she noticed that Amanda wasn't in bed. Then she heard what sounded like Amanda being sick, "Amanda?" She called in a concerned voice.
"Mother, you probably don't want to be around me. I've got a stomach bug."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Listen darling don't worry about the boys, I'll take care of everything."
Amanda walked out of the bathroom, "Really mother they are both old enough to fend for themselves."
"All the same, don't worry just get your rest!"
"Thanks," Amanda muttered as she climbed back into bed.