Chapter 5:
She stood there for the longest time, doing nothing but gaze into Hogan's usually warm, chocolate brown eyes. Eyes that were now flaming with fury and pain. It had dimmed a bit since turning his attention to her, but it was still clearly visible. Kalina opened her mouth a few times, but nothing more than squeaks and the beginning of words escaped from her. Her brain was running a hundred miles a minute, her conscience scrambling and screaming for an answer.
Sensing the poor thing had gone into overdrive and debating over who to remain loyal to, Hogan lay a gentle hand on her shoulder and gave her a kind smile. Her eyes began to moisten, and her body shivered even more. She did not want to lie to him. He could see it in her face, but he sensed they had all made a pact to keep quiet over whatever it was they were keeping so hush hush. He decided to help her step in the right direction.
"Kalina," Hogan began. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"
Her lip began to quiver, but she nodded.
"Even if you think it'll make me mad. I promise I won't be if that's what you're afraid of."
Kalina again nodded.
Hogan's smile widened, and he gently rubbed her shoulder for comfort. "Come on, Kalina. If I can trust anyone it's you."
A large knot formed in Kalina's throat as her heart began to pound against her chest. She could hardly swallow the knot by how much the guilt was building inside her. She tried to speak again, but nothing but squeaks again emerged. She turned to look back at her friends, their faces begging her to stay silent, then she looked at Hogan again. He was still smiling at her, his warm eyes returning.
Kalina's eyes began to burn and blur, and she closed her eyes in attempts to fight back. Unfortunately, she was losing her battle quickly. Tears began streaming down her face, and she began to whimper by how bad she wanted to tell Hogan everything...but what kind of friend would she be if she turned against the guys after making a pact?
"Kalina," Newkirk warned, knowing that she was about to crack.
"You squeal, and I will never make you mac and cheese ever again," LeBeau said.
Kalina shook her head and began to break down and cry. It was over. The guilty conscience inside her had won. "I can't lie…" She sobbed as Hogan took her in his arms and held her close, gently hushing her every now and then.
"You don't have to, hon," the colonel told her. "You don't need to lie. Just tell me what's going on, Kalina. I promise I won't get mad at you."
As he watched his little friend stand there and cry, Carter licked his dry lips while debating his own guilty conscience. And as Kalina broke even more from the lie eating away at her, he knew what he had to do. He was not gonna let the little teenager get the blow back from the group, so he would take the bullet for her. "Someone ordered us to kill you!" He blurted out.
"CARTER!" Newkirk, Kinch, and LeBeau yelled, turning in the technical sergeant's direction.
"Gee, if you think I'm gonna stand here and watch little Kalina get yelled at for cracking, I'd much rather crack myself than watch her get chewed up," Carter answered defensively.
Hogan stood there with dilated eyes, his jaw hanging from his hinges. He had heard Carter so well that his brain momentarily froze, unable to comprehend what he was hearing. Someone gave orders for him to die? But who? Why? What had he done? This is the big secret that everyone's been so lock-jawed about? "Wh, wh w...what?" He finally gasped. "Someone ordered you guys to...kill me?"
"We were hoping to have the problem solved before you found out, Gov," Newkirk said, with a long frown.
"Someone claiming to be London called two nights ago ordering for you to be dispatched on a strange frequency. I radioed General Berkman the following morning for confirmation, and he said the frequency doesn't exist either in Headquarters or Secret Intelligence. Someone managed to hack into our radio channel and sent a phony order." Kinch explained.
Hogan nodded, his dark expression returning. "Great. That's just great, our entire radio frequency's been compromised."
"Not anymore, Colonel. We uh...kind of uh...blew up the radio on General Berkman's orders," Carter admitted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.
"YOU WHAT?!" Hogan hollered.
"Don't panic, we went into town earlier to get parts for a new one, and Baker already has it set up and ready to go. Sent the confirmation code to London and the underground saying we have a new frequency to message us on. Whoever sent that order will have to search high and low for our new signal," Kinch said, hoping to unruffle some of his commander's feathers.
"We were scared you would become in more danger if we told you, Colonel, so we made a pact to not tell you about it until the threat was found and dealt with." LeBeau added.
"We're sorry, Colonel," Newkirk said sincerely.
"We just wanted to keep you safe." Carter chimed in, hanging his head in shame.
Hogan remained quiet for a brief moment before speaking again. "For what?"
"I beg your pardon," Newkirk answered, befuddled.
"What did this person order me to be killed for? Murder? Breach of command? Conspiracy?"
LeBeau swallowed a knot in his throat. "Being a double agent, Colonel."
The colonel's expression showed complete shock, but also appeared like his feelings had just been broken into a million pieces. And with that, nothing but silence temporarily filled the barracks. Hogan was trying to digest what he had just learned, and his friends were not sure how to make any of it sound any better or less brutal.
Hogan swallowed a lump down and hesitated with his next question. "Do you...do you believe any of it?"
Kalina hugged Hogan as tight as she could while burying her face into his belly. "Never ever ever," she answered, shaking her head.
"There's not enough power in this world for us to believe that's true, Colonel," Kinch said, crossing his arms.
"You being a double agent would be like Colonel Crittendon putting on a long red dress and getting up on stage to sing Italian opera." LeBeau added, causing the radioman to turn to him with a glare.
"Again, thank you for the nightmares I'll be having tonight," he remarked.
A beaming smile slowly came to Hogan's face, his eyes twinkling in the light. He was truly touched by the fierce loyalty the five before him had for him. Not even some order claimed to be from London could suede his friends to think otherwise. They were stuck to him like glue no matter what, and it was moments like these that made his heart glow. He could not have asked for a better team and even better friends. Truly the best team he had ever been in command of. "Thanks, guys," he finally spoke softly, trying not to get all choked up.
Hogan's men stood at attention and gave the colonel a firm salute in response, making him lightly chuckle and salute back. He then turned his eyes down at the little teenager hugging him tight. He gently rubbed the back of Kalina's head and kissed the top of it, causing her to snuggle her head against him more.
With an arm still wrapped around Kalina, Hogan turned to the fake bunk and slapped the side of it to close the tunnel entrance. He made his gaze back to everyone and let out a soft breath of air. "Looks like I'm not going to a meeting tonight," he said, sitting down at the table. "Never heard of a Brown Eyes either, come to think of it."
"Well, the cat's out of the bag. Now how the bloody hell do we find this guy?" Newkirk asked, taking a drag on a cigarette.
Something seemed to have suddenly hit Kalina in realization, because the minute Newkirk asked the question it dawned on her. Her eyes widened to the size of saucers, her skin had drained of color, and she gulped a large knot down her throat. "Williams," she croaked.
"What did you say?" Carter asked, dumbfounded.
"Sergeant Williams," Kalina said, a bit louder this time. "He has brown eyes. He knows Morse, and he's had it against Colonel Hogan since we captured him and sent him to London for treason...What if he escaped somehow and is back here in Germany?" Kalina shuddered in fear at her final question. "What if he sent that message?"
Everyone's mortified eyes met one another's, all exchanging the same realization Kalina had just been slammed with. For a long moment, no one spoke a single word. They couldn't speak a single word. It was the most logical, most reasonable, most horrific suspect they could imagine. Williams had a strong motive behind him for wanting Hogan dead, but what he planned on doing if he succeeded was something none of them wanted to find out the answer to. And since he had assisted Hogan on a few assignments while captured at Stalag 13, he had access in and out of camp, too.
"My God, that's it." Newkirk gasped.
"Sacré chats." LeBeau muttered.
"You don't think he...you don't suppose...you don't...would he?" Carter sputtered with anxiety.
"Kinch, get London on the line now. Use the emergency frequency and call for a code red," Hogan ordered, as Kalina wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against the side of his. "Tell them to do a wide range check at the holding center for Williams and the surrounding area. If he's not there, I'll have to call for a nationwide search through the underground for him. If he's here in Germany, especially in this area, there's no telling when he'll try to strike."
"On it, Colonel," Kinch said, sprinting for the fake bunk. He banged it to reveal the secret tunnel entrance, and he all but jumped down to the tunnel floor.
"Gee, why didn't I think of Williams for a suspect?" Carter asked. "He's got the perfect motive for wanting Colonel dead."
"I don't want Colonel Hogan dead!" Kalina squealed, holding onto Hogan tighter.
"Easy there, hon, easy," Hogan answered, gently taking her arms off his neck and squeezing her hands tight. He smiled. "I'm not going anywhere. No one's gonna hurt me. Not even Williams, I promise. And I keep my promises, don't I."
Kalina sniffled as she nodded, but she wore a disgusted look on her face, then shook her head in disapproval. "I knew he was a filthy Dreckskerl," she sneered. (1)
Hogan chuckled in response. "He was a rotten apple, that's without a doubt," he said.
"What do we do, Colonel?" Carter questioned, his tone filled with concern.
"Wait for London to get back to us?" Hogan replied.
"And if that filthy bosche is here in Germany?" LeBeau prodded, his arms crossed.
The colonel let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to call the only logical order to get rid of him...Sure hate to do it to one of our guys, though."
"You don't mean…" Hogan cut Kalina off with a sad nod.
"I'm afraid so, hon," he said, then let out another sigh. "Sergeant Williams needs to be liquidated...before I am."
The next morning after roll call, LeBeau wandered around the compound to cool off his mind. He was fuming knowing Williams was probably the man they were after. He remembered the arrogant sleazebag as if it were yesterday. The sergeant had been kicked out of every barracks in camp before getting assigned to barracks two. And after a fight broke out between him and Newkirk in a card game, he had been sent to the cooler and almost sold out Hogan and his operation to the Krauts in exchange for his freedom. He had been captured and sent to London for treason while Klink was 'sent away' on a business call.
Just the image of the man in his mind made LeBeau want to blow up and cuss someone out in French. The idea that the man had escaped somehow and returned to Germany with the plot to kill Hogan was the icing on the cake. And by how much Williams knew about Stalag 13 and Hogan's operation, he was more of a threat than Hochstetter was. If Williams managed to be successful in his plan and Hogan was murdered...the little French corporal was not even sure if he wanted to know what would happen to all of them. Arrested and killed by the Gestapo for sabotage? Williams returning to camp and taking over control as Senior POW Officer? Take over command of the operation and make it a bloodbath? The more he thought about it, the more it caused LeBeau to shiver in his boots. He had to be stopped. He had to be found and killed before Hogan was...but how?
He continued wandering around the compound, when he spotted something underneath the bench outside of barracks two. Curious, he approached the right end of the building, bent over, and picked up the folded piece of paper. He carefully unfolded it to examine it further, when he caught sight of the message written in black marker and felt the air be sucked out of his lungs.
KILL HOGAN NOW, OR I'LL DO IT MYSELF.
A sharp chill ran throughout LeBeau's body, and he could hardly get himself to breathe again. Once the paralyzing shock had worn off and slowly regained the ability to breathe, LeBeau shot his eyes in the direction of the barracks entrance. "Colonel!" He screamed, and began sprinting at full speed. "Colonel! Colonel, he's here!"
(1) Dreckskerl - Pig/bastard