squad of prisoners and whip Connorsâ pride and joy from here to Moscow.â
âI sort of inherited the team,â Jake explained.
âThen you dig up the first whiff of treasureââ
âLike you said,â Servais said to Jake. âNews travels fast in these parts.â
âAnd then proceed to whip his goons a second time.â
âIt came close to being the other way around,â Jake pointed out. âHow did you hear about it?â
âOne of my men was up at Badenburg and caught sight of the Ice Queen laying you two out in front of HQ. So did Colonel Beecham. Colonel Beecham ordered her to tell him what happened, as she wasnât all that eager to have it spread around. My man overheard the story.â Major Hobbs grinned. âMan, I wish Iâd been there to help you guys out.â
âWe could have used it, sir.â
âSkip the sirs, itâs just us turkeys here anyway. You know Connors is scouring the forces stationed around here, trying to dig out all the toughest guys?â
âI guess that news missed us.â
âYeah. Heâs putting together a rough crew. Sort of his own private army. The other MP officers around here canât stand him. They wonât allow Connorsâ boys even to set foot into their territory. Thatâs why he agreed to play touch football with your team. Nobody elseâll touch them with a ten-foot pole.â
âThey were big,â Jake said. âBut they were dumb. It wasnât that hard to out-think them on the field.â
âSo I heard.â The majorâs good cheer clouded over. âWeâre hearing some rumors that theyâve worked over some people. Way outside the line of duty. Nothing proven. Just stuff passed down the road.â
The idea burned a hole in his gut. âI thought the war was over.â
âYeah, thatâs what I heard too.â Major Hobbsâ gaze turned sharp. âIâve even been wondering if there might not be more than bullies at work here.â
âI donât follow you.â
The major focused on Servais. âYouâve been around here for a while, havenât you, Captain?â
âAlmost six months, sir. Since just after VE-day.â
âHad you ever seen a roadblock at that point before?â
Slowly Servais shook his head, knitting his brow inconcentration. âNow that you mention it, nossir. Nowhere near it.â
âStrange place to set one up,â Major Hobbs went on. âOut in the middle of nowhere, forest around on every side, only traffic that time of night probably between the base and headquarters down the hill. Makes you wonder.â
âDo you think they set up an ambush for us?â
âYou said it, not me, soldier.â The major played at casual. âJust the same, Iâd watch my step if I were you.â
âThatâs exactly what Colonel Beecham told us.â
âYeah, thereâs no water on the colonelâs back. If he said something like that to me, Iâd pay attention. Now, what was it I could do for you gents?â
Jake explained his official mission. âWeâd like to ask you to assign men to patrol the border as far as Wissembourg to the north and Rastatt to the south.â
Major Hobbs stood and walked over to the large map on his side wall. After a momentâs inspection, he said, âWeâre talking about a forty-mile stretch, give or take a dogtrot.â
âThatâs about it, yessir.â
âI guess Iâve got no problem with that.â The major came back and sat down. âIâll have to run it by the brass, but I doubt theyâll object. Thereâs a lot of respect for Beecham around these parts. What are we supposed to be on the lookout for, anyway?â
âDisplaced people, escaped POWsââ
âGuys carrying sacks of treasure on their backs,â the major added.
âDoes everybody know