Authors: Vic Robbie
I
t might have been
the whisky or his disturbed night in the cell at the Fort, but Ben fell asleep trying to unravel the mystery surrounding his mission. And he didn’t wake until he felt a hand shaking his shoulder.
‘You need to come with me,’ Ronnie whispered, a frown on her face.
‘What time is it,’ he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
‘Just after 2 am,’ she whispered.
It was still dark and the tree frogs were in full voice and he wasn’t in a mood to listen to their mating music as Ronnie drove her small car out of the parking lot. There was no sign of the Citroen and its two occupants. When he asked Ronnie where she was taking him, all she said was: ‘You’ll find out soon enough.’
Thick cloud had turned the night as black as coal. In the car’s headlamps, he could see only the winding road lined by foliage as they climbed high into the hills behind Fort-de-France. She turned and smiled in the darkness and all he saw was the whiteness of her teeth and the sparkle in her eyes. ‘I was more successful than I’d hoped,’ she said.
If she were taking him to meet Raymond, he wondered what he could say to the Resistance leader that would convince him to risk all to save Natalie. Was what he was doing just a futile gesture to salve his conscience? He was going round in circles so he gave up torturing himself, deciding there was no point in second-guessing Raymond. They turned off the main road and bumped down a farm track for several minutes before coming upon a farmhouse surrounded by the bustle of people preparing for some type of operation. There were local men loading materiel onto the backs of trucks and he saw several Americans, whose accents were definitely from the New York area. Most of the men, locals and the Americans, were dressed similarly in camouflaged combat gear and some of them had bandoliers of ammunition over their shoulders or around their chests.
‘What’s going on here?’ he asked.
Ronnie shrugged her innocence unconvincingly. ‘Follow me into the farmhouse,’ she ordered.
She opened a large oak door and stepped into the darkness and as he followed her in two large men emerged from the shadows. They took hold of an arm each, patted him down, and removed his gun and the map of the Fort.
‘Come,’ another man ordered and they dragged him deeper into the farmhouse, going down a long corridor before it opened out into a farmhouse kitchen with two men sitting at a massive table. Raymond looked up immediately and the other got to his feet with a hand outstretched. ‘Hey, you dumbfuck, what are you up to, eh?’ Paradiso patted him on the back and ushered him into a chair alongside Raymond, who just sat and stared at him with suspicion.
‘You know this guy?’ Raymond asked.
‘We’re old friends,’ Paradiso said and turned back to Ben. ‘Okay, I know we’re both on the same side so I guess I can trust you. What are you doin here, eh?’
‘I want to get Natalie out of the Fort before that bastard Nazi kills her,’ he said turning to Raymond.
‘Jeez,’ Paradiso interrupted. ‘The dancer from the club. You into her as well as the other broad, eh? What have you got, man, eh?’
Raymond ignored him. ‘You were naïve if you thought I’d mount a rescue operation for just one woman.’
He felt as if the ground had been pulled from beneath him and there was nausea in the pit of his stomach. ‘If you can’t help, give me back my gun and I’ll go in myself.’
Raymond shook his head as if he were an imbecile.
‘Even if it’s just to put her out of her misery…’
‘You dumbfuck,’ Paradiso chimed in, ‘you tryin to get your fuckin head blown off, eh?’
‘You wouldn’t get near her,’ Raymond added, ‘and in the circumstances we can’t let you have access to any firearms.’
He slammed a fist on the table in frustration and two of the guards stepped forward, carbines at the ready, but Raymond waved them away. ‘I can tell you this. We’re about to mount an operation at the Fort. If there’s an opportunity to save Natalie we’ll take it. I can’t promise anything more.’
‘What’s happening?’ He was beginning to see a glimmer of hope.
‘We know you’re an American agent, but we don’t know who you’re working for?’ The Resistance leader showed a spasm of irritation.
‘Whoah,’ Paradiso broke in, ‘are you sayin this dumbfuck is a US agent, eh?’
‘No doubt about it.’
‘For Christsakes, is he FBI, eh?’
‘Doubt it,’ Raymond answered. ‘They’re not allowed to use agents outside of America? And in the present situation if it was discovered there was an American agent here in Martinique heads would roll in Washington.’
‘So who, eh?’
‘It could be any one of several agencies all with their own agendas…’
‘I could screw the truth outa this dumbfuck.’ He grabbed Ben by the collar.
‘We haven’t time now. We need to be ready to move within thirty minutes.’
‘If he’s one of those isolationists who don’t want America in the war he could fuck up the whole operation.’
‘What the hell are you two talking about?’ He tried to sound calm, but inside his guts were in turmoil as he thought of Natalie.
‘Are you workin for that dumbfuck, Durant, eh?’
‘No, no, I only met him once.’
‘Perhaps,’ Raymond said. ‘Although radio traffic from New York suggested there’s an American agent on the island whose mission is to assassinate Admiral Robert. We can’t allow that to happen. It would mean the Germans bringing in more troops and, as you know, they’re very successful at putting down the locals.’
‘Look, I’m not here to kill anyone. I just want to rescue Natalie, and she doesn’t have much time.’
‘I’m intrigued.’ Raymond moved closer and clasped his large hands together on the table. ‘The Nazis know you’re an American agent and, according to my sources inside the Fort, you were about to be executed by a firing squad. So why did they set you free?’
He studied Raymond’s face as he formulated an answer. His father had told him when in doubt tell the truth. ‘I said I’d met you and I believed you trusted me and I would contact you for help to free Natalie.’
‘I see,’ Raymond said and unclasped his hands. ‘So what do they expect in return?’
‘I said I would set up a meeting with you and lead them to you.’
Raymond seemed unsurprised and nodded slowly as if he had expected that answer. ‘So you put the woman before me and my people?’
‘No, I just want to free her.’
‘I understand, but the needs of an individual have to be sacrificed for the greater good,’ Raymond continued, getting to his feet.
‘I should warn you there were two of their men following me.’
‘Really, we’ve been following you since you left the Fort, too.’
‘Don’t worry about them,’ Paradiso snorted. ‘They’ve been taken care of.’
‘What about Natalie?’ he persisted.
‘In due course,’ Raymond said. ‘In due course.’
‘The fact you’ve agreed to see me must mean you considered helping?’
‘Not really.’ Raymond winced. ‘If you’re a rogue American agent we can’t afford to have you running about free.’
He understood his reasoning and was beginning to accept any hope for Natalie was disappearing fast.
‘You’re coming with us and if you step out of line Paradiso or one of his men will shoot you.’
Paradiso gave him one of his biggest smiles, suggesting they were still old buddies. ‘Don’t worry we’ll look after you, and if we have to kill you, we’ll do it clean.’
‘Why are you going to the Fort?’
Raymond shook his head. ‘You’ll see when we get there.’
‘Oh, what the fuck,’ Paradiso said. ‘It can’t do any harm now. We’re goin to settle some scores with those Nazis.’ He took out his Colt and placed it on the table.
‘Then–’
Raymond answered Ben’s question. ‘Once we’ve done what we need to do we’ll look for the woman if she’s still alive.’
T
hey set
off for Fort Desaix at ten-minute intervals so there would be no suggestion of a convoy of vehicles that would attract attention. Ben rode with Raymond and Paradiso in one car and they didn’t speak, so focused were they on the task ahead. The fort had two main entrances – the heavily guarded main gate through which all vehicular traffic passed and rear access near the National Gendarmerie at Marchal LeClerc. Less well known was a side entrance close by Hopital Clarac. Soldiers often used this gate, which was for pedestrians only, to slip in and out, bringing in alcohol and women to while away the tedium of guard duty on long, hot nights. Usually, two guards manned the gate, but on this night they were deployed elsewhere.
When they neared the fort, with the headlamps off they drove downhill alongside its walls and pulled off to the right and then up a slight incline until the gates blocked their way. ‘Pull over here,’ Raymond ordered his driver, turning around in the front seat to speak to both of them. ‘Here we’ll meet our guide who knows the layout intimately.’
Although the fort was above them and surrounded by high walls and trees, they could see the tops of some buildings and Tricolours flying from the roofs caught in the beam of sweeping searchlights. To Ben, it looked like a zoo or an animal park although inside there were creatures far meaner than wild animals. He reckoned he had a good idea of the layout from studying the map and his previous visits, and if necessary he could lead them to where Natalie was being held. He wished now he had the gun she’d given him. If they were going to be involved in a firefight, he would be happier with something to defend himself.
Raymond told them to get out of the car and Paradiso wandered off and lit up a Lucky.
He hadn’t seen the figure in the shadows under a tree. Raymond called to it and beckoned it over. Dressed in combat gear like the others, Ronnie stepped forward and smiled apologetically at Ben, and he felt as though he’d been hit in the stomach with a hammer.
Paradiso rejoined them and Raymond made the introductions. ‘This is Ronnie. She knows every twist and turn of the Fort and will lead us to where we need to go.’
He felt cheated and he stared at her, wondering how someone apparently so sweet and innocent had been able to deceive him. His disappointment soon gave way to a rising anger that he had allowed himself to be taken in by her. It was obvious by the way Raymond spoke to her she wasn’t just a guide to the Fort. When his mind flashed back over recent days, he began to piece together the jigsaw of deception, and he kicked himself for being naive. She saw the distrust in his eyes and looked away. ‘My father was a soldier here. When he was on duty, I often came to visit him, using this gate.’
She had used him just like the others and he reckoned she’d been keeping watch on him all the time and even led him knowingly into his abduction at the cafe. It left a bitter taste in his mouth and he spat on the ground in an attempt to rid himself of it.
Beckoning them to kneel down in the dirt, Raymond spread out a map of the fort and illuminated it with the flame from his cigarette lighter that flickered in a light breeze. ‘This is where we are,’ he said, pointing out their present location. ‘Some of my men have already entered through this gate and have made contact with the officers who are friendly to us. They’ll radio my people and yours’– he looked at Paradiso – ‘waiting at the main gate to alert them as to when they can enter. Remember, French soldiers mustn’t be involved, unless it’s a case of returning fire. They’ll keep out of our way and, anyway, there’s only a skeleton force on duty tonight so we shouldn’t have any problems. The Nazis are a different problem. They are quartered here’ – again he jabbed a finger at the map – ‘and your men, Paradiso, will need to neutralise them, but not until we’re ready. We have to synchronise our attacks so the General and his Gestapo henchmen aren’t alerted or it’ll cause major problems for us. Clear?’
A relaxed Paradiso grunted. ‘No problem. Benny and Joey and the rest of my men will take care of the Krauts. Let’s get moving, I’m looking forward to meeting this Nazi general.’
Ronnie led the way up an embankment followed by Raymond, Ben and Paradiso, accompanied by a radio operator and four Resistance fighters carrying sub-machine guns. The moon, which had come out from behind the clouds, illuminated their path. But it also made them more visible when they crossed the open areas of the Fort where any of the guards might spot them and raise the alarm. When they reached the top, Raymond ordered them to take shelter under trees before going over to the radio operator and speaking into the mouthpiece.
‘Why didn’t you tell me you were involved in this?’ Ben grabbed Ronnie’s arm and pulled her away from the others.
‘I can lie, too.’ She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her feet like a child being reprimanded. ‘You didn’t tell me you were an American agent.’
He shook her arm a little harder than he meant to and she pulled away from him. ‘I couldn’t tell you. We’re all sworn to secrecy. Talk can cost lives.’
‘I thought we were on the same side.’
‘Perhaps. It’s difficult to tell who is on what side and what their aims are. Even you Americans are not all on the same side.’
‘But you and I had an understanding.’
‘Don’t you see?’ She laid a hand on his arm and her eyes widened. ‘I was trying to protect you. The more you knew, the more danger you’d be in.’
He ignored that. ‘Don’t you think I can look after myself?’
‘It’s not that. I’m committed to our cause to make Martinique free again. I want to avenge my father. I’ll do anything to achieve it and I’ll not allow anyone to stop me. Not even you, although you’re the last person I wanted to lie to. Despite what you might think, I have real feelings for you.’
Raymond interrupted their conversation. ‘Our men at the main gate have been allowed to enter unhindered as planned and they’re making their way to the barracks where the Nazi soldiers are based. Now, Ronnie, show us where the German general is located.’
Paradiso and Raymond drew their pistols and Ben felt surprisingly naked. She slipped in and out of the shadows and they followed her in single file, Raymond first, Paradiso, then Ben, and the four Resistance fighters with the radio operator bringing up the rear. With a considerable amount of open ground between them and the General’s residence, they had to keep as invisible as possible. They couldn’t afford to be sighted by any of the Nazis who might have stepped out for a cigarette or to gaze at the stars. It was a circuitous route and it took them within fifty yards of the large residence without raising any alarms. Even though it was in the early hours, lights still showed through the residence’s shuttered windows on both the ground and first floors.
‘Don’t like the look of this,’ Raymond whispered. ‘They should all be asleep at this time.’
‘So who’s in the house?’ Paradiso asked.
‘Tonight it’s just the General, his Gestapo sidekick, Horst, and two of his men,’ Ronnie said. ‘The General has a butler, cook and a couple of maids, but they’re usually only there during the day. So it should be four we have to take care of.’
‘Where’s Admiral Robert?’ he asked.
‘His residence is on the other side,’ Raymond answered. And he pointed away into the darkness. ‘Some of the officers are leading our men there. It’s unguarded as it is within the confines of the Fort so we won’t have any trouble in placing the Admiral under arrest.’
‘The General is a different case altogether,’ Ben said. ‘His henchmen are armed to the teeth, and if they’re not all in the same room, it’s going to make things a bit messy.’
Raymond sneered, thinking he was stating the obvious. ‘The General is likely to be on his own. He’s not the kind to share time with his men. At best, he could be discussing plans with Horst–’
‘Where, eh?’ hissed Paradiso.
Raymond pointed to a large window on the left of the building on the ground floor.
‘And the two henchmen, eh?’
‘They have bedrooms upstairs at the back of the house.’
Ben glanced over to where Natalie was being held and wondered if she could still be alive.
Deep in thought, Paradiso appeared to be calculating his next move. The only sounds were the incessant chatter of the tree frogs, the flapping of the Tricolours in the breeze, and the rhythmic breathing of the men around them. As hard as he listened, Ben could hear nothing else. Were the Resistance fighters and Paradiso’s mercenaries in place to make their strike on the Nazis?
A guttural German voice carried in the night air ‘Halt, who is there?’ And then a single shot that Ben presumed was from someone in the invading party who had silenced the Nazi. Seconds later a fusillade of carbine and machine gun fire illuminated the night in flashes of blue.
‘The dumbfucks; it’s too soon,’ Paradiso said and turned as the double doors of the General’s house swung open. No one came out. They held their breath and lay prostrate on the lawn damp with dew and watched as a pistol followed by an arm then the full body of a man emerged from the house. Gaining in confidence, the Nazi slid to the side of the house so he wouldn’t be silhouetted in the light coming from the door. When he saw no danger, he waved for his partner to join him. The second man slipped out the door and stood on the other side and peered into the night. Now there were only the sounds of sporadic firing which he guessed were the Resistance fighters and the Mafia finishing off any remaining Nazis. And down by the bay there were more shots as the Resistance took out the submariners at Fort St Louis. He felt a hand on his shoulder forcing him to keep down.
Paradiso moved slowly until he was poised on one knee and holding his Colt with both hands. ‘Hey, you Krauts,’ he shouted.
The Germans squinted, accustoming their eyes to the dark as they attempted to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. As one, they lifted their pistols to shoulder height and scanned the area in front of them.
‘I’ve got something for you, you dumbfucks,’ Paradiso shouted and he was laughing. He fired two shots in quick succession and the Germans flopped to the ground, each with a bullet hole in the middle of their foreheads. ‘Two down, two to go.’ He turned to Ben: ‘Let’s go.’
‘We’ve got to get into the house.’ Raymond shouted at the Resistance fighters: ‘You men stay here. Don’t let anyone in.’ And he was already on his feet leading the sprint through the doors and then turning left into the main sitting-room and sweeping his gun around.
‘Ah, there you are. I have been expecting you.’ The General sat in an armchair facing the door. He had changed into his uniform and he wasn’t alone. Smoke spiralled up to the ceiling from another chair in front of him and Ben couldn’t see who was sitting in it because of its high wings.
‘Quite a show you have put on for us tonight.’ Von Bayerstein silently clapped his hands together. ‘And I must congratulate Peters for bringing Raymond, the famous Resistance leader, to me as promised.’
Raymond and Paradiso moved closer to the General and both turned to see the other person sitting in the chair and then stared at Ben in disbelief.
‘Now, let me put on a show of my own,’ the General said and barked an order. There was a click as floodlights lit up the lawns in front of the house in bright white light, freezing Raymond’s five men. After a pause of only seconds, a machine gun opened up and the men fell almost in slow motion. And, although they died instantly, salvoes of bullets continued to tear into their bodies flinging them around like rag dolls.
As the firing stopped acrid smoke wafted through the house. ‘Very satisfactory.’ Von Bayerstein smiled smugly.
The execution of his men appeared to stun Raymond, but Paradiso was shouting: ‘You bastard, I’ll make you pay.’
‘Oh, no, I do not think you will,’ von Bayerstein said and looked past them towards the door. ‘Good work, why do you not come and join us?’ Horst stood there with his lopsided sneer, covering them with a still-smoking 9mm MP40 Schmeisser machine pistol.
‘I suggest you put down your guns before Horst does some real damage,’ he said and turned to Ben. ‘As you can see, I am a man of my word, Peters.’
He gestured for Ben to come forward and when he drew level with the chair, he turned to see who was sitting there.
Immediately, he sensed a mixture of elation and suspicion in equal measure. She was sitting there in a long blue dress complementing the violet of her eyes. Her legs were crossed and she held a cigarette in an ebony holder. Her black hair gleamed in the low lights and her face showed no effects of the earlier ordeal. And as if attempting to anticipate the reflexes of an unpredictable animal, her eyes never left his.
Natalie had never looked better.