Griffin W.E.B. - Honor Bound 01 - Honor Bound

What does he mean by remove? Certainly not "assassinate"?

"Excuse me, Herr Oberst. 'Remove'?"

"There is no civilized way to wage war, and we are fooling ourselves when we think there is," Gr?ner quoted himself, met Peter's eyes for a moment, and then went on. "To that end, in my conversations with Major Habanzo of BIS, I have been advancing the theory that Lieutenant Frade is an OSS agent sent here to violate international law vis-a-vis the actions permitted of belligerent powers resident in a neutral country. I have suggested specifically that young Frade is here in order to cause harm to neutral vessels suspected of supplying German submarines. The BIS knows there was a team of OSS agents here with that mission."

"Was,Herr Oberst?"

"They disappeared. No one seems to know what happened to them. They were not successful."

"And you think that the BIS will arrange for Lieutenant Frade to similarly disappear?"

"That would be the ideal solution," Gr?ner said. "But in my business—in our business, Peter—one seldom finds an ideal solution. No, I don't think that the BIS will cause Lieutenant Frade to disappear. What I am hoping is that Oberst Frade will soon learn from his friends within the BIS that the BIS believes his son is an OSS agent sent here to cause damage to our replenishment vessel."

"I don't think I understand, Herr Oberst."

Gr?ner didn't respond to the question.

"The new replenishment vessel is here," he went on. "At anchor in the Bay of Samboromb?n, within Argentina's territorial waters. It arrived several days ago."

"Herr Oberst, you're moving too fast for me."

"Bear with me. It would be ideal for us if Lieutenant Frade is in fact an OSS agent. As I said, I doubt that is the case. But if he were, he would get on with his mission of trying to cause damage to our U-boat replenishment vessel. That attempt would be doomed to failure. The ship is thirty-odd kilometers offshore; and it is moved five or ten kilometers every day or so. It is armed. It is highly unlikely that Lieutenant Frade could even find it, and no way that he and his men could come close to it."

Peter was now wholly confused.

"Unfortunately, I'm afraid, the impossibility of harming our ship will be evident to him. They already lost one team trying to damage the last one. So he won't try it. And that leaves him in place to do what I believe he is really here for, to influence his father."

"May I ask a question?"

"Certainly."

"Why don't the Americans simply sink our boat with their Navy?"

"Our ship," Gr?ner corrected him. "For propaganda purposes. When the British damaged the Graf Spee, they were very careful not to violate Uruguayan and Argentinean territorial waters or Uruguayan and Argentinean neutrality. This paid off in enormous goodwill for them. We Germans were regarded as the aggressors, the violators of neutrality. The Americans follow the English lead in most things diplomatic; they are not going to ignore that lesson of history."

"I understand," Peter said. "I understand that, Sir. But..."

"How do we remove Lieutenant Frade?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Speaking hypothetically, Peter. Perhaps a tragic auto accident ... Or burglars might kill him in his home ..."

Good God, heis talking about having Clete assassinated!

"Could that be accomplished without causing suspicion?"

"I'm sure it could be," Gr?ner said matter-of-factly. "Argentina has a criminal element who could teach our criminals a lesson or two. And they relish violence. But hypothetically speaking, of course, a lack of public interest in Lieutenant Frade's removal might not be as much in Germany's interest as widespread public attention."

Gr?ner looked at Peter for his reaction, was apparently satisfied with what he saw, and went on: “For example, if on the day after tomorrow—the day after the funeral of his heroic cousin, Hauptmann Duarte—Lieutenant Frade were found in his bed, with his throat cut, with 'death to godless communists and their allies' written in soap on his dresser mirror ..."

You're not just talking assassination, Herr Oberst. Murder. You're talking about brutal, cold-blooded murder!

"... that would certainly get in the newspapers. Even in the Gottverdammte Buenos Aires Herald,” Gr?ner said.

"Oberst Frade won't believe it."

"It doesn't matter if he does or not."

He looked at Peter, and Peter understood that he expected approval, perhaps even enthusiastic approval.

"May I ask two questions, Herr Oberst?"

"Of course."

"Hypothetically, of course."

"Of course."

"If this were to happen, wouldn't Oberst Frade suspect something?"

"He is a very intelligent man. I'm sure he would."

"And, Herr Oberst, wouldn't he hate us for killing his son?"

"Yes, of course he would hate us. And yes, he is a powerful man. But according to my information, he does not at this point absolutely control the G.O.U. And his power would be weakened when the word spread that his son was an OSS agent."

But, goddamn you, you don't know that he is!

What's the difference? The interests of Germany require that Clete be “removed.” This is simply a way of accomplishing that "removal" in the most efficacious way.

"Even though the other members of the G.O.U. would sympathize with Oberst Frade's loss, they would still question whether Frade had a connection with the Americans that he has concealed from them. Oberst Frade has too much invested in the G.O.U. to risk losing his influence there. That means he must minimize his relationship with his son ... and thus with the Americans. Like you and me, Peter, and like Willi, he is a soldier. He knows that one most accept one's losses and get on with the mission."

"Herr Oberst, I'm flattered, but more than a little surprised that you have taken me into your confidence."

"This was just a hypothetical discussion, Peter. And, hypothetically, don't you think that a man in my position can safely trust a man who comes from a distinguished military lineage? Who has risked his life for my son? And who wears the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross as proof of his dedication to Germany?"

"I will try to prove myself worthy of your confidence, Herr Oberst."

I didn't get the goddamned Knight's Cross for cold-blooded murder. And part of my distinguished military heritage includes a concept of honor.

"I'm sure you will, Peter."

“May I infer, Herr Oberst—hypothetically—that Ambassador von Lutzenberger is not aware of your plans?"

"He is not. But he will approve ex post facto. He has nothing to lose."

But my friend Clete does.

"One final hypothetical question, Herr Oberst?"

"One final question."

"Can you trust the people you mentioned to carry out the plan?"

"To carry out my instructions? Absolutely. I pay them well, and they are violent men. Do I trust them? Absolutely not. After they do what they have been hired to do, they will leave Buenos Aires for Paraguay. I have given them the address of a hotel in Encarnacion, a small town just across the border, where they expect to take a holiday until things calm down here in Buenos Aires. In fact, others will meet them there; and that is the last anyone will ever see of them."

Two more murders. Maybe three, or even four. You are a coldblooded bastard, aren't you, Herr Oberst?

"I am really not qualified to judge a plan like this, Herr Oberst," Peter said. "But for what it's worth, it seems to me you have covered every contingency."

[TWO]

Suite 701

The Alvear Palace Hotel

Buenos Aires

0915 19 December 1942

In response to the fifteenth or twentieth ring of the telephone on the table beside his bed, Hauptmann Freiherr Hans-Peter von Wachtstein finally sat up abruptly and answered it.

"Buenos dias, Se?or," an outrageously courteous, infuriatingly cheerful female voice came over the line. "It is nine o'clock, Se?or."