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ownership is intended. Copyright of original text and original characters

belong to ML Breedlove.

Between The Lines

Chapter 8

Gallantly opening the car door, Hegel offered his hand for support. "There you go my dear."

"Danke," Myra answered softly, graciously taking the offered hand. Sliding into the passenger seat, she watched as Hegel suddenly began patting down his pockets. "Is something wrong?"

"I've left my other gun in my desk. I'll have to go back and get it. Wait here. I'll only be a minute."

She studied him admiringly as he walked back inside. He was handsome. There was no doubt about that. She would have to be attentive. Many women would be vying for his affection—married or not. Smiling, she pulled out her compact to powder her nose.

Meanwhile, Hegel reentered his office and picked up the phone. Disguising his voice and panting as if out of breath, he carefully began to spin his lie into the ear on the other end of the line.

"Yes, I want to report that I saw Allied soldiers in the woods just outside of Stalag 13. Perhaps they are trying to help with an escape, I…"

—click—

Hegel pressed his finger down on the receiver, cutting himself off mid-sentence, and then slid his kerchief off of the phone. He had just sent Hochstetter on a wild-goose chase, but one that would lead the head of the Hammelburg Gestapo, closer to the shots that would be fired when he killed Hogan and his men. Hegel smirked. Ironically, Hochstetter would be his insurance that "Papa Bear" did not get away.

If something goes wrong, Major Hochstetter will be there in time to help me make it—right! And if everything goes as planned, Hochstetter will arrive at the barn after Hogan and his men are dead and in time to witness my victory. Hegel grinned at his own evil genius.

It was a win-win scenario.

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Newkirk diligently snipped at the fence, keeping one eye on LeBeau, who was just as diligently scanning the shadows behind them. He'd sure be a lot happier if this were a real escape…or if the gov′nor had let them bring their guns…or knives. He'd even settle for a club!

LeBeau wasn't convinced the Kommandant wouldn't pull a double cross, as he had once or twice before. The Colonel could be wrong. Maybe the Kommandant had joined forces with Hegel and was waiting out there to arrest them. Hegel was good at using people.

Making the last snip, Newkirk sensed his commanding officer's impatience, as he turned to announce, "That should do it, sir."

Hogan nodded and waved everyone closer. "I know none of you are comfortable going out empty-handed, but I'm sure Hegel has already made allowances for the possibility we could come to this meeting armed."

"Then let's not disappoint him, Colonel!" Newkirk grumbled.

Hogan looked intently at his men. "Let me lay it out for you. I think you all know it could go either way tonight. If we die, and Klink ends up having to explain what's been going on in his camp, he'll have a much easier time of implicating Hegel for extortion if Hegel can't claim self defense. So if anyone is having second thoughts and wants to stay in camp, now is the time to say so—there will be no hard feelings."

Newkirk shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably.

No one spoke. No one had to. Their silence said it all.

Nodding his appreciation, Hogan turned and exited through the hole Newkirk had cut in the fence. LeBeau followed immediately.

Before Newkirk knew it, Carter, too, had disappeared. Still clinging to the wire-cutter, his knuckles turned white with indecision. I know the Colonel said to leave these behind, but they sure would pack a wallop!

Looking up, he saw Kinch watching him. Forcing himself to release the wire-cutter, he demonstratively motioned Kinch toward the fence and quickly fell into line behind him, but not before adroitly grabbing the wire snips up again and slipping them under his coat.

I'll gladly take the heat from Klink for not leaving them—if we make it back! Besides, after the war, one more count of insubordination will hardly even be noticed.

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Hegel emerged from his make-shift headquarters just as the guards from Gestapo Headquarters arrived. A young Arian-type soldier sharply saluted, clicking his heels as he did so.

"At ease, Rottenfuhrer. You will find the prisoners in the coal room in the cellar of that building. Here is the key. Take them back to Headquarters and place them in isolation cells. I'll be in to fill out the paper work in a few hours."

"Jawohl, Herr Major!"

Hegel looked at his watch. He had a timeline to follow if everything was to workout as planned. Hurrying back to the car, he joined Myra.

"Is everything all right?" she asked.

Hegel shifted the car into gear and smiled, "It couldn't be better, my dear. It couldn't be better!"

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A short time later Gustoff and Hegel's other detainees found themselves in the back of a transport truck. Little more than faceless shadows, they sat quietly awaiting their fate. Two guards sat with them, guns raised and ready, while the Rottenfuhrer climbed into the vehicle's cab.

Soon, a high-pitched whine followed by a rumble shook the truck to life, further draining its occupants of any hope. Having clung to the prospect of being released, Gustoff finally closed his eyes in despair.

Suddenly, a loud bang broke the silence.

The brakes squealed and the truck lurched, slamming into the building beside it. Gustoff felt himself being propelled off the wooden bench he was seated on. His already battered body hit the floor and was immediately thrown up into the air again, finally coming to rest on the opposite side of the truck. Forcing his pain-filled eyes open, he watched the two guards scrambling out the back. Brief gunfire ensued. And then—nothing.

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Myra swung her legs out of the car and smiled lovingly as she stepped past Hegel.

"Which way?" she asked.

Hegel pointed and Myra began walking, not seeing Hegel pull the gun from his pocket.

It was quick. A single shot in the back of the head. No pain. No scream. Just a sickening pop and a thud as her body hit the ground.

Hegel opened the driver's door on the car and carefully measured the scene. Yes, this is good. It looks like she was ambushed. Hochstetter will assume she was gunned down by the Underground as she exited the car.

Walking to the trunk he hurriedly pulled out the machine gun he had hid there and set it on the roof of the car. His men were stationed not far away. They would have heard the shot and would come to investigate—and he would be ready for them.

Hochstetter will see this as an Underground ambush orchestrated by the notorious "Papa Bear".

Hegel's thoughts were interrupted. Just as he had planned, his men, seeing Myra's body, began to cautiously exit the woods and he called out…

"Over here. It's all right; they've gone. They ran off before I could fire a shot."

Seeing the machine gun on top of the car, his men lowered their weapons, assuming the culprits had fled.

It was a grave error, and before they realized it, the machine gun sprang to life, sending out a burst of bullets in a steady unbroken stream. In a matter of seconds, it was over. An unnatural silence, devoid of any animal or insect sounds, blanketed the area. Time seemed to stop in awe of the evil that had just been committed.

Hegel took a blanket from the trunk of the car and placed the still hot machine gun into it. Grabbing the four corners, he hurried it down the road toward a second car that he had hidden earlier. Throwing the gun into the second cars trunk, he looked at his watch and smiled. His timing was perfect.

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Gustoff held his breath. A pounding of feet grew closer and then stopped. Afraid, he listened to the shuffling just outside the truck. It sounded as if something were being dragged away. And then, finally, a familiar face showed itself over the tailgate.

"Tiger?"

The slender figure climbed in. "Are you all right?" She could see he wasn't. His face was bruised and swollen. The sound of moaning made its way to her ears from the two other men lying on the floor next to Gustoff. Looking around she promised, "We will take you to safety. We'll take you to Stalag 13 and…"

Gustoff laid his hand on Tiger's. "No…"

Tiger tensed. "What…?"

"Hegel knows." Gustoff closed his eyes, fearing what may be happening to Hogan and his men at this very moment.

Tiger felt her heart stop. "Knows what? What are you saying?"

"When Hegel couldn't get any information out of me, he bragged. He knew all about Stalag 13 and he went to put an end to…"

Tiger could not keep the tears from filling her eyes, nor the anguished plea from spilling from her lips. "No…oh, please, no! You are mistaken, Gustoff."

"No, Marie! I am not! Hegel spoke of the tunnel and code names and…" Gustoff put a shaky hand on Marie's shoulder, "…of Colonel Hogan being Papa Bear."

Tiger's jaw hardened as panic threatened to make her abandon her senses. She had to warn him…She had to…find him! Rubbing at the tears escaping down her cheeks she demanded, "Come, we can't stay here. Lutz, Willie and Dirk have taken the bodies into Schiller's bakery and are setting it on fire, along with any other information that Hegel may have stored in there. We've got to get out of here before the fire is seen."

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The signal went down the line to stop and lay low. Hogan motioned LeBeau forward and pointed at the staff car and truck parked at the side of the road not far from camp.

Louis's eyes widened as he whispered, "A trap, mon Colonel?"

"Maybe…or maybe not. Go have a look around."

"Oui!"

Motioning the others forward, Hogan knowingly looked at Newkirk. "Have you got anything you can use to destroy what's under the hood of that staff car and truck?"

"Me, gov'nor? Why I…," Newkirk stammered to a halt as he caught his commanding officer's knowing gaze. "Well I just might have…" Sheepishly pulling the wire-cutter out he blinked in amazement. "Well, how did these…?"

Hogan glared at him. "Never mind! We'll talk about that later. Just get to work!" Looking over his shoulder to Carter he nodded in Newkirk's direction. "Carter, give him a hand."

"Yes, sir!"

Catching the smirk and the perceptive look on Kinch's face, he defended himself. "Some things are just too predictable."

Kinch nodded, "Plus you can truthfully tell Klink, you stated the wire-cutter was to be left behind."

Hogan sheepishly looked away and mumbled, "I didn't say it was an order."

The uncomfortable conversation ended as LeBeau returned. "Hochstetter!"

Hogan clenched his teeth. "Of course it is." Nodding he looked at Kinch. "Who else would Hegel get to back him up?" Looking back to LeBeau he asked, "Where is he?"

LeBeau pointed. "About five hundred yards in that direction. They're walking the fence perimeter. Do you think he knows, mon Colonel?"

"Maybe. Or maybe it's just Hochstetter being Hochstetter."

"It's done, Colonel!" Newkirk announced returning to the group.

Smiling, Carter added, "That car and truck aren't going anywhere in a hurry!"

"Good job." Hogan praised and then added, "LeBeau spotted Hochstetter."

"Blimey! This is shaping up into a right fine mess!"

Hogan sobered. "We're okay. At least we know where Hochstetter is. Let's go find Hegel!"

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"Herr Kommandant, Herr Kommandant!" Schultz called as he banged on Klink's door.

A fully dressed Klink opened the door and motioned Schultz inside.

Schultz surprise at not finding Klink in his nightshirt, began, "Herr Kommandant, the fence has been cut! Do you want me to sound the alarm and start a roll call!"

Klink held out his hand and Schultz looked at it questioningly.

"What do … did I…? Was I supposed to get something for you, Herr Kommandant?"

"The wire cutter you found by the fence. Give it to me."

"Wire cutter, Herr Kommandant?"

Klink's gaze hardened and his voice took on an edge of dread. "Yes, Schultz! The wire-cutter you found by the fence!"

"Herr Kommandant, I…I…"

Klink's nostrils flared. "Get the truck and some guards."

"Jawohl, Herr Kommandant. But don't you want me to do a count so we know who we're looking for?"

"I know who were looking for!" Klink bellowed.

Schultz saluted and turned to go, but was immediately halted by Klink's next order.

"And, Schultz—bring a machine gun!"

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