To Catch a King by Jack Higgins Read Free Book Online

should that be?”
    Heydrich hesitated, then leaned forward to check that the glass panel which divided them from the driving compartment was firmly closed.
    “This is in confidence—total confidence, Walter, but the truth is, I have my doubts about Sea Lion.”
    “You mean you don't think the invasion of England will take place?”
    “I have a nasty feeling the moment has already passed. To be frank, the Führer's decision to halt the Panzers on the Aa Canal in Belgium, and thus allow the remnants of the British Expeditionary Force to escape from Dunkirk, was a military error of the first magnitude.”
    “And now?”
    “Russia. I think that is the way his mind is increasingly turning. I have reason to believe he already has a contingency plan in mind.”
    “And you don't think it such a good idea?”
    “Do you?”
    Schellenberg shrugged. “Happily, I don't have to make that kind of decision. If you want my opinion, I'd say that the trouble with a Russian campaign is not particularly the Russian Army. It's the limitless distances, supply lines thousands of miles long, ferocious winter weather. Look what happened to Napoleon.”
    “I know,” Heydrich said. “I have nightmares about that.” They were traveling along the Kurfürstendamm now and he wound down the window and peered out. “Not what it was in the old days—nothing is. I was at the Gloriapalast Theater for the premier of Blue Angel in nineteen-thirty. What a sensation, and when Dietrich appeared onstage the crowd went wild. Believe me, Walter, those legs of hers were the eighth wonder of the world.”
    “I can imagine,” Schellenberg said.
    “You've no idea what this town was like. There was the Ring Club which only allowed membership to those who'd served at least three years in jail. The Silhouette, the Always Faithful, and the Paradise which was filled with the most glorious transvestites in gorgeous dresses, high heels, lipstick. Not that my own tastes ever ran in that direction.”
    Schellenberg said nothing, simply lit another cigarette and let him ramble on.
    Heydrich said, “One can only hope this Garden Room and your Hannah Winter can supply us with a decent evening's entertainment. It would make a nice change.”
    Hannah had already changed, ready for the first show, and went in search of Uncle Max, whom she had not seen since the previous evening. She found him in his office doing the books.
    She kissed him on top of the head. “Had a good day?”
    “Not too bad. And you?”
    “I stayed in bed most of the morning. Did some shopping this afternoon.”
    He took both her hands in his. “What we talked about last night, Liebchen? You'll do as I say? Leave with Connie and the boys on Monday.”
    “And you?”
    “I'll follow as soon as I can.”
    “Uncle Max, you're a Jew in a city where Jews are treated as badly as at any time in the last two thousand years. I don't even understand why you came back when any Jew with sense was trying to get out.”
    “I'm American, Liebchen. And so are you. They don't want trouble with Uncle Sam—they've got enough on their plate, so they treat us a little differently. I don't say they like it, but that's how it is.”
    She shook her head. “There's more to this than meets the eye. Much more.”
    “Twenty minutes to show time,” he said. “Make us some coffee, like a good girl.”
    She went out into the small kitchen off his office, leaving the door ajar. She lit the gas and filled the coffeepot with water, then lit a cigarette and sat on a high kitchen stool and waited for the water to boil.
    There was a knock on the office door; it opened, then closed again violently. She heard her uncle say in German, “Irene, for God's sake! Haven't I told you never to come here?”
    “I'd no choice, Max. Something happened today that was rather special.”
    Hannah stood up and moved so that she could see through the partially open door into the office. Irene Neumann unbuttoned her coat, raised her skirt and