The Target

Chapter 43

Two days later Reel and a young woman boarded a Delta flight that would take them to Atlanta. The plane landed about an hour and forty minutes later. They had a brief layover and then boarded a turboprop for the short flight to Tuscaloosa, home to the University of Alabama. From there they took a Greyhound bus another fifty miles in a southwesterly direction and got off in a town that had one street and a handful of stores. In the parking lot next to a grocery store was a rusted-out Plymouth Fury with the keys on the front seat and a map in the glove compartment.

Following the directions on the map, they drove another hour to a crossroads where a black van was waiting, its engine idling.

The two women climbed out of the Plymouth carrying small knapsacks. As soon as they did the rear doors of the van opened and five men climbed out. Weapons were pointed at Reel’s and the other woman’s heads.

They were ordered into the back of the van, which had a cargo area but no seats. Their knapsacks were gone through and then discarded. They were stripped down and searched.

Sewn into the lining of the other woman’s shirt was a thin metal wire with a sharpened end. One of the men pulled it free and held it up for her to see. With a smile he threw it out of the van.

Their clothes were thrown away and they were given orange jumpsuits and tennis shoes to wear. The scrunchie that Reel had in her hair was taken off and examined before being thrown back at her.

One of the men ran a handheld wand over them. It started clicking when it reached Reel’s watch. The man smiled, ripped it off her, dropped it to the floor, and crushed it with his foot.

“Not good enough,” he said.

Reel could not hide her unhappiness at this as she put her hair up and retied it with the scrunchie. She glanced balefully at the other woman.

“Did you think we were hicks who can’t be professional?” said the largest of their captors. “You’re about to find out just how good we are,” he added menacingly.

Reel and the other woman were bound with plasti-cuffs and forced to lie in the back of the van. Before the doors thunked closed Reel could see the headlights of two other vehicles come on and she heard their engines start. The van was apparently part of a motorcade.

They got back on the road and the van picked up speed. The roads were not in good shape, and Reel and her companion were bounced all over the place. The men sitting next to them took the opportunity to kick and punch them as their bodies collided with them.

“Know your place, bitches,” yelled one of them as his friends laughed. “Groveling in the dirt.”

Reel calculated that they drove for about an hour before the van began to slow. There had been many turns involved, so she assumed the driver had been backtracking so as to make it nearly impossible for anyone to follow without being seen.

She heard the roar of what sounded like a group of motorcycles pass by them. Horns blared, and it seemed that a biker gang was saying hello to their Nazi buddies. Another minute passed and she heard the roar of a semi as it blasted past them, its wake buffeting the van.

Ten minutes later the van pulled off and eventually came to a stop after bouncing over what seemed to be a series of potholes. The doors were jerked open and they were pulled to their feet. They stumbled out.

Reel kicked at one man who grabbed her butt. He pushed her away and with her hands bound she lost her balance and fell. The man laughed and pulled her up by her ponytail. He stopped laughing when her knee found his crotch, and he dropped to the dirt, his face turning gray.

Another of the men pulled his gun and pointed it at Reel’s head.

“Enough,” called out the voice.

Reel looked over to see Leon Dikes staring at her.

He was dressed in his full black SS uniform, nearly invisible in the darkness. His red armbands stood out, though, making it seem like both his arms had been gashed open.

“Bring our guests in,” said Dikes.

As Reel was led past him, he smiled.

“It is good to see you, Sally.”

And then he looked at the other woman.

“And is this Eva?”

“Laura,” barked Reel.

“Is it? I wonder?” asked Dikes. “Still, it can always be confirmed. With absolute certainty.”

They were led into a small room and the door closed behind them. A man came forward holding something. Reel’s and the other woman’s mouths were forced open and swabs taken from inside their cheeks.

Dikes held up a small glass tube with a cap on it. “My DNA sample has already been collected,” he said as the man with the cotton swabs put the sample from Reel and the woman in similar glass tubes and capped them. “In twenty-four hours we will know with absolute certainty. Is she mine or not?”

He drew close and gripped Reel by the shoulder. “Is she my child or isn’t she? That is the question. If she is, wonderful.” Dikes slid his hand along the other woman’s cheek. She pulled back but his men forced her to her original position.

“If she is not,” continued Dikes, “then you die, Sally. And this imposter becomes my concubine. And Julie will become the mother of my child. It really is a win-win.”

“And if she is your child?” snapped Reel.

“Then I still win. Because you will die, as horribly as I can make you. I have my child here, who will provide me other children. And I will have Julie as a replacement when I grow bored with this one.”

Dikes gave the woman a little slap on her cheek. “And I easily grow bored. You could never command my attention, Sally. Never. It was one of your chief weaknesses.”

“So your word means nothing?” yelled Reel.

“No, my word is inviolate. When I give it to people who are my equals. You are not and will never be my equal. You are nothing. You might as well be a Jew. Or a Negro. Or heaven help us, a Mexican.”

“Well, you’re right about one thing, you’re not my equal,” said Reel. “Now, where is Julie?”

“Why should I let you see her?”

“Because you can. Because you want me to see her. You want me to know you have her and me in your power. Just admit it and get it over with.”

Dikes smiled. “You’re not stupid, I’ll give you that.”

He nodded at two of his men, who pulled Reel and the other woman from the room. They were led down a hall, another door was unlocked, and they were pushed inside so roughly that they both fell to the floor.

“Jessica?” Julie raced over to help them up.

“Julie, are you okay?” said Reel, looking at the girl’s puffy face.

“I’m okay,” she said quickly, staring at the other woman.

“Julie, this…this is my daughter, Laura.”

“Oh my God,” said Julie. “I….I…Jessica, why are you here? They’re going to kill you.”

“It’ll be okay,” said Reel as her eyes searched the walls for a listening device and found two of them within twenty seconds. “We’ll be okay.”

Julie said, “Hi, Laura, I’m Julie Getty.”

Laura tried to smile but she was clearly afraid.

Julie looked at Reel reproachfully. “Why did you bring her here?”

“I had to, Julie, otherwise they would have killed you.”

“So now they kill all three of us?”

“They won’t kill you two. Just me.”

“Correct.”

Dikes was standing in the doorway. He held out his hand. “But now it is time to get to know you.”

“No,” snapped Reel, stepping in front of Laura.

“I wasn’t talking about her,” said Dikes, smiling. “I was talking about you, Sally. Perhaps I should have said get reacquainted with you.”