Chapter 2

Giving the driver his destination, Lee settled back to enjoy the view. The town of Bitburg was very picturesque and full of old-fashioned charm. There wasn't much traffic now on the road, only two or three cars including the black SUV behind them. One couldn't evade that type of vehicle no matter where you were.

He was happy he could bring comfort to his friend, even though he didn't believe much of what the professor had told him. Admiral Johnson had relayed what the doctor had said, and Lee had observed moments when von Kempner appeared to lose track of their conversation. The crooked picture and moved objects were probably imagined or simply caused by someone bumping against the wall. It would cost Lee nothing but some of his time to travel to Frankfurt and send the manuscript back to Washington. Let the paper pushers enjoy themselves reading through it. When he returned he would ask for a copy, he had promised to read it while drinking the professor's Riesling.

Lee was jolted out of his thoughts when the SUV appeared alongside the taxi, forcing it down a darkened alleyway, blocking the entrance as the taxi stopped. Lee barely had time to open his door when two armed men yanked him out of the vehicle, slamming him against the hood and frisked him. They grabbed his passport, hotel key card and wallet, and then removed his cell phone making sure it was turned off. Lee was hustled into the back of the larger car and roughly handcuffed with his arms behind his back. Still not satisfied, the men secured Lee's ankles with manacles bolted to the floor.

"We were warned about your talents for escaping Commander Crane, we're not taking any chances," the bigger of the two men growled. "Have Heinrich return to the hotel and check out our passenger. Make sure he dresses up in a business suit and say Mr. Crane was called home because of an emergency. With the key card he shouldn't have any trouble getting Crane's stuff. Here, use the money from the commander's wallet, a generous tip for their troubles will ensure no awkward questions."

"What's going on? You've got my wallet; I don't have anything else of value on me."

Ignoring the protests, the kidnapper made sure his comrade left to instruct the cabbie, and then turned his attention back to Lee. He ripped open the wrapped package he had taken from the taxi's backseat. "What do we have here?"

Lee didn't answer, and was rewarded by a vicious backhanded slap across the face. The heavy ring on the man's hand caused Lee's bottom lip to split, dripping blood down his chin.

The driver, who had just returned, jerked his head around and yelled, "Lay off him, Karl, you know the orders were no rough stuff." He tossed back a small pack of tissues from the glove box. "Here, uses this to clean up the blood."

With a not too gentle touch, Karl wiped the blood off Lee's chin and pressed against the open cut. Lee tried not to wince at the discomfort, knowing it would give satisfaction.

"Here Johann, catch," Karl said, tossing the Kleenex back to the driver. The SUV backed out of the alleyway and drove away, careful not to attract any attention.

"There, all nice and clean. Now, I asked you a question, Crane. What is so vital it necessitates a late night visit to your consulate? Wondering how we knew, well, the taxi is wired. We've used it in the past for special people. Now, what's so important about this bundle of papers?"

"It's nothing, I promised to send an old friend's manuscript to a publisher I know."

"From the US Consulate in Frankfurt – I don't think so. Never mind, Commander. I have my instructions. Sit back and relax because you're going to see another old acquaintance. He was surprised to hear you're in Germany, let alone Bitburg. Since you were so close, he wanted to invite you to his place for a little reunion."

"I don't know anyone else in this country. Your employer must have mistaken me for someone else. Let me go, and I won't call the police - this is just a little misunderstanding, no one has been seriously hurt."

"Please don't insult my intelligence. We know who you are and my employer, as you call him, is quite anxious to find out why you are here. You think it over while you are enjoying the ride."

Lee tested the handcuffs but they were very sturdy as were the leg restraints. During the silent drive, he racked his brain over who could have engineered his capture. It was quite professional and boded no good that his guards weren't worried about showing their faces. A sign they weren't afraid he would be alive to identify them. Admiral Johnson had assured him there was no activity in the area; it appeared once more ONI Intel was faulty.

Even though he didn't have his watch, Lee's sense of timing told him they had traveled approximate fifteen minutes on the high-speed freeway, when the SUV turned off the autobahn. He attempted to read the road signs to determine where they were headed.

"Sorry, Crane, it's lights out for you." A cloth hood was placed over his head preventing him from seeing anything further.

After a while, he could feel the car starting to climb. The car came to a stop and by the sound of it, two more men met them. Lee was willing to bet that both were heavily armed. After freeing his ankles, Lee was pulled from the SUV and propelled towards the building followed closely by all four men. Once inside his hood was torn off his head, the light causing him to blink a couple times. A barrel chested man with an impressive mustache greeted him and Lee could see the muscular arms straining at the jacket seams. It looked like he was going to have difficulty escaping from any of these men. The chill Lee felt running through his body had nothing to do with the drafty cold room he was in.

"Please follow me, there's a fire in the other room."

Having no choice Lee followed the henchman into the welcoming warmth of the larger room, and then heard the heavy door close behind him. He couldn't help but look around appreciating the grandeur of the room. Large tapestries hung from the stone walls while heavy metal standing oil lamps provided most of the light. Besides a couch, there were several large chairs with sturdy arms, just the type to be firmly bound to for questioning. He wondered if there were other rooms with modern day conveniences, or if the castle was a tourist attraction.

The metal-banded ancient wooden doors opened once again, and five men entered. Four were his kidnappers. The fifth, who had paused at the open door as if he expected applause, was William Decker. Lee went cold inside.

William Decker was tall and aristocratic looking. His slicked back, blonde hair was thick and well-cared for, the ends curling up slightly at the neck, just touching the top of his Italian silk shirt. He was very slim, probably around six feet tall, well proportioned under the designer suit. He stood straight, settled on his feet, calmly looking at Lee with a half-smile on his face, the lips full and sensuous. Long lashes and arching brows framed dark eyes. The eyes were as Lee remembered them, round and dark and bottomless. No light entered or emanated from them, and Lee knew they reflected the evil inside the man, the depravity hidden inside that no amount of expensive clothing could hide. Decker had demonstrated his malevolency before; Lee was well aware of the man's capacity for causing terror and fear.

"Well, well what do we have here? Commander Crane, captain of the great Seaview and ONI agent extraordinaire."

"Decker! What the hell are you doing in Germany?" Lee blurted out the name in shock, and then his training kicked in enabling him to control his facial expressions. That instant, flashbacks from his treatment by the psychopath entered his head as he fought to keep his breathing normal. However, nothing could stop the feeling of dread that came over him; of all his enemies to be in the clutches of, Decker was the worst.

"Your ONI doesn't know everything. Sorry I can't give you the grand tour of the Moselle Valley. I'm sure you'd enjoy their wine. Speaking of that, where's my manners." He made an elegant gesture. "Please bring our guest a goblet of wine, he looks thirsty. You will be sure to enjoy it, it is one of our best Spatburgunder, our Pinot Noir."

When the butler presented the tray, Lee shrugged his shoulders. "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage Decker, it appears my hands are tied."

"My, my how forgetful of me. Please remove the handcuffs from our honored guest, Frederick. The least we can do is make him comfortable during our little chat. Now Lee - I can call you Lee, can't I? We have such an interesting past together I feel we should be on a first name basis. I mean, what's a few million dollars that you have cost me, between friends."

Lee picked up one of the wineglasses and without drinking, held it up to toast the other man. "My pleasure, Decker. Next time I hope to send you to hell."

Decker raised his to answer the toast. "I'm sorry my friend, this time it's you that will be going to the fires of hell." With that, he emptied his glass, smashing it in to the flames.

Lee calmly drained his drink. "Always a little dramatic, aren't you, Decker? Why have you brought me here?"

"It's very simple Lee, I get paid for information and I think you have something that will bring me money. One of my men saw you deplane. I was immediately curious as to why you're here and ordered you be followed. You showed up at Professor von Kempner's house with what looked like a bottle of wine, and left with a large flat package. Care to tell me what it is? Or do I have to become unpleasant, not that I would really mind."

"I told your goons, it's simply an autobiography written by a dying man. I promised I would try to get it published for him. No big espionage mission, just trying to do one last favor for a friend."

Decker shook his head in mock disapproval. "My dear boy, I'm disappointed in your refusal to cooperate. I had hoped to keep this civilized." Decker signaled to the four guards. "See if you can persuade the commander to change his mind. You can find me in my study reading some of the professor's memoirs if he decides to oblige you. Suddenly I'm interested to see what the old man has to say."

Before Decker could make it completely out of the room, the men started in on Lee. They did it the old-fashioned way - with their fists. While one held Lee's arms tightly behind his back, the others took turns working him over, mostly with blows to the stomach and ribs. After several minutes, Johann sharply brought up his knee between Lee's legs.

Groaning, he dropped to the stone floor when the man suddenly released his hold. Carefully taking shallow breaths in and out, knowing his ribs would protest anything deeper, Lee hoped for a brief rest. The pain from his other injuries washed over him as he tried to keep his mind clear, looking for any chance to escape.

Frederick brought in steins of beer, and stayed to join in on the fun. As the others finished their drinks, the manservant struck the first blow, yelling at Lee to stand up.

He gingerly rolled himself up to his knees, placing his palms on the cold floor to aid him in rising. The heavy boot made a solid connection with Lee's already bruised ribs, causing him to cry out from the sudden attack. He curled into a ball holding his right arm over his injured side and raised his left arm over his head realizing what was coming. The kicks delivered several blows to his back and to the rest of his body. Surprisingly, the only place not being attacked was his head, although he now had a bloody nose and a huge bruise on his cheek from an awkward blow.

As swiftly as the kicking started, it stopped. Two of the men hauled Lee to his feet and shoved him into one of the solidly built chairs. Karl took delight in backhanding Lee numerous times, causing a larger split in his lip sending blood flowing down his chin.

"Care to tell me about those papers? We can keep this up all night, Commander."

"I keep telling you, there's nothing in the manuscript that the world doesn't know already."

Lee figured he knew what to expect, having dealt with Decker twice before. The first meeting was in Australia when he had the misfortune of being captured by the sadistic mercenary. After several hours of questioning and beatings by two of Decker's men, he spent 24 hours in a cell without food or drink. The pattern repeated itself for several days with increasing viciousness until one of the guards got careless and Lee escaped. In his weakened state, it took some time before he was able to reach the authorities, and Decker managed to escape, but without the plans for the invention Lee had hidden. The second meeting was in Russia, where Lee rescued two scientists. He was successful, but only to a degree. The two men were so brutalized by Decker interrogation methods they were never able to work again. He was sure if he had gotten to the chemists a day or two later, they would have given the mercenary the formula they had perfected.

He had never taken Decker to be German, in fact, all Intel pointed to a Russian or Slavic background. Even his speech had a slight Russian accent, which now Lee knew to be bogus. He should have recognized the Aryan features that pointed towards a Germanic heritage. Lee had tried over the past couple years to locate his center of operations without success. One thing he did know: the man had never operated in Western Europe. Now Lee knew the reason; Decker needed to protect his home base.

He hoped he could withstand what was coming; he feared the sadist would soon be demanding information about Seaview's weapons and capabilities. That information would bring a high price on the open market.

With more beating and harsh treatment coming, his weakened condition would make any breakout difficult. His best hope would be to try not to tense up and roll with the punches to avoid as much damage as possible and take advantage of any openings. Hoping people would already be looking for him, he just had to tough it out until help came or he could affect an escape on his own.

In his study, William Decker enjoyed a martini, stirred not shaken like the fictional British spy. He glanced at his watch, his men would soon be finished warming up his prisoner. Decker knew Crane would not give out any information from a simple beating, but he relished the idea of the pain the American was experiencing. The guards had specific instructions beforehand of no blows to the head. He wanted his prisoner fully aware of what was happening, free from any disorientating concussion.

The last two meetings with Crane had ended badly for him, both times narrowly escaping capture. His business dealings had suffered, losing him millions in fees from clients. His reputation had also suffered from the failure to fulfill his part of the bargain.

Now he was determined to get his revenge. He had the means at hand, thanks to the work of a scientist he'd dealt with before. Acquiring the research material from another project the man had worked on, Decker had sold it to the highest bidder. The compound he'd appropriated and kept for his own use had proven effective in a past interrogation. Decker was anticipating using it on the smug ONI operator in the next room. For once, he didn't care if he was successful in obtaining any information. His desire was to break Lee Crane, and ruining him so he would never be able to command even a toy submarine. He didn't want Crane dead, that would be too easy, too quick, but to suffer the rest of his life with no one willing to entrust even the simplest job to a half-crazed man.

His agent in Washington, DC had travelled to Santa Barbara and to obtain the needed information for part of Crane's programming. The drugs and the electrical equipment were on hand. Those items in combination with the chemical compound would be all that he needed to accomplish his revenge. In two weeks, Commander Lee Crane would be a hollow shell of himself.

Finishing his drink with a final check to his watch, Decker left his study. The first beating would just be the start of his foe's downfall.