Chapter Twenty-Two

As it turned out, Georg couldn't let it go. It kept him up all night. Maria fell asleep in his arms, the baby kicking and flipping under his hands as he held her, but sleep would not find him.

Georg hoped his wife would sleep peacefully that night now that her mind was not trying to force the truth to the surface, but he still wasn't sure. When he slipped out of bed to go to study for a whiskey, he left the door slightly ajar hoping if Maria called out to him he would hear even downstairs.

The light in the study was on when Georg got down there, and for a minute he wondered if they remembered to shut it off after they went to bed. When he pushed the door opened Max was sitting in the leatherbound chair enjoying a brandy and cigar, his suit still on after a late night meeting in town.

Georg noticed there was another drink on the end table, his brand of whiskey. "How did you know?" Georg asked as he moved to sit across from his old friend.

"I guessed," Max replied. "I heard some of what the two of you were discussing earlier when I was taking a phone call though as soon as I heard Maria say she remembered I made myself scarce. Did she?"

Georg took a sip of his drink. "Yes."

"But she doesn't know his name?" Max pressed. He knew his friend; he knew that if they knew who the assailant was there would be a body count about now.

"She does," Georg admitted. "She made me promise her before she would tell me anything that I wouldn't lay a hand on him. I was going to see him about it earlier, but I felt like I needed to be here. It's probably for the best, I can't betray her trust Max, I just can't. I…I just can't sit on it and I know myself, I know if I got within ten feet of this piece of garbage it would end with my hands on his throat!"

Max nodded and sat back. He knew Georg had to work this out in his head. Georg kept pacing, "Knowing that he is out there living his best life, that evil scum of the earth, and my Maria is…It's unthinkable, but if I go against my word to Maria, any trust we've built between us will be shattered."

"I see," Max sighed. "I take it then you know the man or at least you know of him? And it wasn't Mueller?"

"No," Georg confirmed. "In fact, Mueller was the one to rescue her from this animal the first time around. He approached her at the party, Maria said she didn't like how he smelled, that he made her feel uncomfortable. That's what got me so angry, she didn't even tell me so much as a word about it when they got home that night. If she had…"

"If she had, Georg, you'd have gone off half-cocked like you always do when someone is bothering someone you love and with the political climate now God knows if that would have helped or hurt her worse," Max comforted. "That's why she made you promise now, she needs you to be here for her, to be here for the baby. Do you think that's going to be easy on her? To possibly have to look into the face of her rapist for the rest of her life?"

"I know it won't be," Georg sighed. "I pray every day this baby is a girl that looks just like her mother, and not because I'm so entranced by Maria's beauty, and I am, but so we can both go to that place where we pretend until we forget."

"You already got to that place," Max replied with certainty. "But for Maria…now that she remembers who it was. Who was it, Georg? You said she met him before."

"Jakob Braun," Georg replied saying the name as if it were a curse. "He's always had a reputation of being a totally rotten human being. His family spoiled him and got him out of so many scrapes over the years with their money. The thought he'll get away with doing this makes me sick to my stomach, Max, but I agree with you, Maria's welfare is paramount."

"You know you can't touch him then," Max confirmed.

"I know," Georg sighed finishing off his whiskey. "But he'll hear about it. He needs to know I know, and I swear to God, Max, if I see him near her again or God forbid it a thousand times, one of my girls…"

"Then what are we sitting around here for?" Max asked. "I saw that sorry piece of crap tonight and I bet he's still at the cabaret he likes in town."

"All the same Max, I'd rather see him on my own," Georg interjected.

"I know," Max replied. "And if you do you'll end up killing him and not only ruin your life but nine others besides. If I go with you, I can stop you from crossing the line. If you don't do this now, you'll lose your temper and go off and do it in haste. Remember what Captain Mueller always said about haste."

"She's sleeping peacefully so far tonight; I just wish I could fall asleep and we can start things over tomorrow like nothing ever happened other than the two of us falling in love."

Max drained his glass, "Well you can't, and if you don't get this off your chest, you never will be able to move on."

Georg thought for only a minute. "She's sleeping peacefully, we could take an hour and…get this done."

Max poured another glass of whiskey for them both, "One more for the road."

It was cold at night and Georg could see his own breath as they waited for Braun to leave the cabaret. "You're sure he's here?" Georg clarified.

"The concert let out, he's here," Max replied. "They close in a few minutes. That's his car over there, but we'll probably smell him before we see him."

"That's what Maria said made her remember," Georg replied. "The stench when he got close to her today jogged her memory."

"Now, remember you promised your wife you won't put a hand on him," Max said as the city clock struck 1am.

It wasn't long before the sweet odor of Braun's cologne filled the air. Georg and Max both stood straight and observed as he cut out the side door, the VIP area so to speak, and headed for his car.

"Braun!" Georg called out in his best officer's tone.

Braun automatically turned and was about to walk away when Max stepped up and in one swift move shoved him back into the side of the building. "Don't shout or move, you hear me?"

Georg stepped over to back Max up if he needed to do it, but kept his hands in his pockets. "Nothing to say, Jakob? Nothing to do? What is it, you only batter women? Or was it just my wife? I'm sure there have been others, and I'm sure if I let it be known in the right circles the fathers and husbands of the other women won't be a gracious as Max and me."

Braun tried to shove Max off, but while he appeared to be just an accessory, he was a skilled former naval man himself and knew how to fight.

"I don't know if you are stalking my wife, or if you were just in town on business and thought you'd take another shot at tormenting her, but it stops now. You raped my wife, and I don't take kindly to that, but you see, my Maria, she is probably the sweetest person in the world. When she told me who you were, when she finally told me what you did it her, well, she asked me to be nice to you. My wife is better than you will ever be and she means more to me than getting revenge on your sorry, pathetic ass," Georg growled. "I promised her I wouldn't lay a hand on you, and I keep my promises, so know that, if you ever go near Maria again, if you think about Maria, talk about her…well, there won't be anything she can say or do that will stop me from ripping your gonads off your body and shoving them down your throat!"

Georg got closer to Braun as Max continued to hold the man against the wall by the neck. The move was so swift that it was felt before it was detected. Georg slammed his knee into Braun's groin with all the strength and rage he had in him, causing the man to double over.

Max looked over at Georg who sheepishly shrugged his shoulders. "I promised I wouldn't lay a hand on him."

Georg started to walk away as Max let Braun go. Braun hadn't learned his lesson though and took a swing at Max which Max dodged and then landed a firm upper cut to Braun's nose breaking it swiftly.

This time Braun slid down along the wall unconscious from the force of the knee to the groin and the hand to the nose. "You think we should drop him off at Dr. Kretzer's?" Max asked.

"Leave him there," Georg replied. "Maybe someone will come along and use him for a game of kick the can. Let's go home, if Maria needs me…"

Max smiled, Georg's devotion was deeply touching.

A/N: Georg and Max had to get a little creative to help keep Georg's promise, but that's what friends are for. This was a shorter chapter, but the pacing wasn't alllowing for me to break anywhere else. Three more to go!