Jonathan Taylor: Meyer-Hofmann AG

If the allies had got their hands on this at the time…

The report ended with their reworked agenda and plans for a Fourth Reich. She had pieced together their influence in leading companies, as well as their broad recruitment of public figures.

Each member of the board had a personal family tree, linking them to their father or grandfather in the Third Reich. It tracked the Meyer-Hofmann children’s journey across the world as well as their indubitable return to the Fatherland.

You have to marvel at human ingenuity, he thought, shaking his head.

Meyer-Hofmann had seen itself as above the law, and its list of offences covered all serious crimes. Rape, murder, bribery, embezzlement, kidnapping, tax evasion, fraud, burglary, obstruction of justice, and, of course, treason at the top of the list.

What greater crime could you commit against your country than these men had committed? Twice!

Britt Petersen had documented them all. It had not taken long after the contents of the USB stick were passed to Interpol for the world to react. Meyer-Hofmann’s assets had been frozen, and their management taken into custody. Many, including Fredrik Petersen, were now being held in prison cells around the globe. He was, however, one of the few board members who would spend any time behind bars. The clean up job had caused the death of many of the others. It had been an amazing feat, to convince and coordinate a response from Governments as diverse as Israel and Iran. The assaults had been simultaneous and global. As the offices of HRH were being searched in New York, the Austrian Army was assaulting Meyer-Hofmann’s headquarters in Ellmau. Iranian forces had taken out all Meyer-Hofmann units on their territory and local militia carried out the clean up in Syria, Egypt, and the Lebanon. Snipers and their spotters were arrested in London, Berlin, Rome, and Paris. Over two hundred politicians had been taken into custody. More than five hundred people in public service would be questioned in the coming weeks and months. The majority lived and worked in Europe, and it was a sad indictment of a proud Europe’s true morality.

The only loose note was the disappearance of Dr Ecker and his son, both of whom had evaded the forces in Austria. Günther was sure that it was only a matter of time before they were captured, but they were an unwanted loose end after an otherwise successful operation.

Their trial will be a doozy, he thought.

Monika Keller entered her boss’s office without knocking. She had two paper cups full of steaming hot coffee.

“Well, Boss, is it over?”

“I am afraid, my dear Monika, our work has just begun. We are still looking for the doctor and his son. They escaped with about ten second-generation clones and the entire third generation.”

“Where do you think they are?”

“Probably still in Austria. I think there is another facility somewhere near Vienna.”

“And then?”

“Wait until we can see what is hidden under the Odeonsplatz buildings. That alone should keep us busy for the rest of our careers.”

“They arrested Steve Walker this morning. It took them five hours to empty his offices of all the paperwork and computers,” Monika added.

“Yes, I know, and don’t forget the mayor’s connections to Meyer-Hofmann. He doesn’t seem to have paid for a meal on his credit card since he came to power!”

They both laughed.

“We shouldn’t laugh, Monika. We both helped to elect him!”

“Not me, I voted for the other guy!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s what they will all say.”

Günther leant back in his chair and took a long slurp of the hot coffee, wincing as it scalded the roof of his mouth.

“You know, it’s sad, Monika,” he said, spluttering. “This country was doing so well, and now we are going to have to spend another fifty years apologising for the same madmen.”

“Do you think so?”

“I am afraid I do.”

Michael and Lisa were back in a Munich hotel room. It was nothing like the Bayerische Hof ; but the Mercure Hotel offered them a clean, homely alternative, as well as a certain amount of anonymity. The brown speckled carpet in the bedroom had seen better days, and there were visible tracks where countless suitcases had been pushed and pulled to their respective beds. Opening the thick burgundy curtains, Michael had to smile at the empty streets that greeted him. It had been a spontaneous decision to switch hotels, moving from the respectable Four Seasons on Maximilian Street to the Mercure Hotel next to Munich’s main train station, but it was not one they had regretted. Despite the worn surfaces, the pair felt safer here than anywhere they had been since arriving in Germany. Hounded by the press and the establishment in equal measure since Michael had left the hospital, there was little they could do but play innocent. Günther Müller had been able to assure them they would not be arrested in the next few days. They were both suspected of being involved in the deaths of the men in Starnberg and Gallery street. He couldn’t give them any guarantees for the future.

Lisa sat on the side of the bed, finishing the crossword in a Times newspaper she had picked up from the station newsstand.

“Darling, don’t you want to sit down?” she asked.

“I have spent enough time sitting down or lying on my back recently.”

“Do you want to talk?”

“What is there to talk about? It feels like a dream to me, Lisa.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just can’t comprehend what happened to me, and I am shit scared that it may start all over again.”

“I thought you said it was over? That you had beaten him? That he couldn’t come back? Michael!”

“I did. I mean, it is. That doesn’t change the fact that I can still remember him. Who he was, what he believed, what he felt. Lisa, I am afraid that I could become more like him.”

“No, darling. Don’t worry, I know you. That is why he failed. You are a good man.”

“Thanks.” Michael’s voice was wistful.

Lisa walked over to the window and stood behind him. There was no great view, just a damp Munich side street and city traffic. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she squeezed him tightly, pressing the side of her face against his back.

“It is going to be all right, Michael. I promise!”

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won’t you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favourite retailer?

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Jonathan Allen Taylor is a Golf Professional living and working in Munich, Germany. After moving to Germany in 1988, he set up a successful Golf Academy working closely with Professor Klaus Schneider from the Institute of Sports Science in Munich. He has published three instructional books “The Move” published by the Albrecht Verlag in 2005 and “Swing Simply” and “Swing Simply 2” published by the Golf Time Verlag in 2009 and 2012. He also writes a regular column in the Golf Magazine “Golf Time". He produced two DVD’s to accompany his books and runs a successful YouTube channel with over 1.8 million views and 3000 subscribers worldwide.

Although no stranger to writing, Meyer-Hofmann AG is Jonathan’s first foray into the world of fiction.

Copyright 2015 Jonathan A. Taylor

Published by Jonathan A. Taylor at Smashwords

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