The Romanov Ransom

38

Put the gun away,” Tatiana said to Viktor. “They’re gone.” She glanced down the hill through the trees at the handful of men who were catching their breath after chasing the train.

Wolf Guard.

She would have dismissed them outright if not for Rolfe’s involvement with them. “I’d be interested to know how long they’ve been in Rolfe’s pockets. Every time I turn around, that man surprises me.”

“Speaking of…” Viktor nodded toward their left.

She glanced in that direction and saw Rolfe with a half dozen Guardsmen tromping through the woods. His attention was fixed on the heavy brush where the Fargos had emerged and where a couple of the Guard were trying to extract the body of one of their fallen comrades.

Rolfe said something to the men, then continued on. When he reached her side, he stood next to her, his eyes on the departing train. “Not too bad. We only lost one man,” he said.

“Which would not have happened if you’d done as I asked and not shot at the Fargos. What’d you expect? That they were going to ignore the bullets flying past their heads?”

He gave her a thorough appraisal. “Whose side are you on? Not mine, apparently.”

“When it comes right down to it, mine. However, I’m not the only one searching for this treasure. Which makes it difficult when I have to work with—” She stopped at the look of warning from Viktor. He was right, of course. Making an enemy of Rolfe Wernher at this point wouldn’t be wise. “Let’s just say I’m not used to being the one who isn’t in charge.”

“So I’ve gathered.”

Time to deflect attention away from her. “Are you sure you can trust those men?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t trust anyone.”

“Then why are they working for you?”

“Their ability to gather forces anywhere in Western Europe at a moment’s notice, and their willingness to skirt the law, has been indispensable.” When Leopold and his men reached them, Rolfe gave a benign smile. “Any chance the Fargos found something down there?”

“Unfortunately,” Leopold said, “we believe so.”

“‘Believe’? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“We’ve long suspected the chamber was in one of these tunnels. Until today, we’ve never found it.”

“And the Fargos did?”

“No doubt. What we don’t know is whether or not it was sealed when they entered or if anyone else had been there before them.”

Leopold’s radio crackled as someone called in. He listened, then turned to Rolfe. “The train is headed to Wrocław.”

“Can you get it stopped before it gets there?”

“Possibly.”

“Good. Find them. I want to know everything they have in their possession.”

Leopold walked off, relaying Rolfe’s orders into his radio. Tatiana waited until he was out of earshot, then leveled her gaze on Rolfe, not about to let him skip over what she needed to know. “You were saying…?”

“About what?”

“About what the Fargos found down there. Clearly, it’s not the ransom. All they had was one backpack. So what is it?”

“I really don’t have time—”

“If you want to do business in my country, you’ll make time.”

Rolfe glanced at Viktor, then back at her. “I’ll tell you, but it goes no further.”

She waited.

“Lose your bodyguard.”

A flick of her head, and Viktor walked off. Even then, Rolfe hesitated. She crossed her arms. “I’m waiting.”

“What do you know of the Romanov Ransom?” he asked.

“That it was stolen by the Nazis, stored in the castle at Königsberg, then secreted away at the end of the war.”

“I mean, what it was intended to be used for.”

“I have no idea.”

“To fund Unternehmen Werwolf,” he told her. “To start the war again.”

She hid her surprise over this bit of news. “I’m listening.”

“The sole purpose of the Wolf Guard was to protect the Romanov Ransom so that it could be used to bring back the Third Reich. The plan was so secret that only a few in power knew.” His gaze flicked toward Viktor, and even though he was still out of earshot, Rolfe lowered his voice even more. “They divided the code into three parts so that if any one part was captured, it would be useless. The plane that went down in Marrakesh belonged to a Nazi pilot who was an Allied spy.”

“The pilot knew of the code?” Tatiana asked.

“Possibly. He’d found the first part in Königsberg, which would lead to the second part.”

“In the Project Riese tunnels.” She realized how very little she actually knew about what had happened to the Romanov Ransom after it’d been stolen from the Catherine Palace in Russia. If there was one thing she was good at, though, it was prodding for information. “Are you telling me that there’s more to this than what Durin found in the courier bag on the plane?”

“I am saying that we have nothing until we get all three boxes gathered in one place. Only then will it lead to the location of the Romanov Ransom.”

“Not even an educated guess?”

“I know this much. The war was over, and the Nazis were scurrying like rats to get out. Every treasure they hid was meant for their eventual return. The Romanov Ransom was the exception. It was smuggled out of Königsberg for one purpose only — to bring about Operation Werewolf.”

She glanced over at Leopold and his men, off in the distance. “That doesn’t make sense. They’re part of Operation Werewolf. So where’s the treasure?”

He laughed. “They’re the Wolf Guard, a big difference. Their primary duty is to protect the hidden caches that lead to the Romanov Ransom.”

“How do you know all this?”

“My father, who believed in the Nazi idealism, spent his life researching it.”

“I never would’ve taken you for a Nazi.”

He regarded her with a look of scorn. “I have no desire to resurrect that failed ideology. I’m in it for the money.”

“Do they know that?” she asked, nodding toward Leopold and his men.

“I’ve never pretended to be anything other than a capitalist, but why would I tell them?” he asked. “As long as it continues to be mutually beneficial for both parties, our respective motives and beliefs matter little.” A distant train whistle caught his attention. He picked up his radio, keying the mic. “Why is that train still moving? I don’t care if you have to blast everyone on that thing. Just get me what they took from the tunnels.”

Tatiana waited until he walked off before waving Viktor over.

“What’s your plan?” he asked.

“Find the Fargos and whatever they took from the tunnels before Rolfe does.”