while his father’s mission statement was to always look ahead, Aligor knew the only way to future peace was to get justice for the atrocities of the past. And during their chance reunion in Jerusalem, he’d found a partner in this quest.
After a series of small but satisfying captures, they hooked their first big fish—Hitler’s private secretary Martin Bormann, who supposedly had died while trying to escape Berlin. Aligor used his many contacts to track him down in the remote, treacherous hills of southern Chile. Bormann’s final words had stuck with him for all these years. And after today’s events, they took on greater meaning.
With over forty years of hindsight, Ben would admit the prudent thing to do would’ve been to keep Bormann alive. If his claims about Himmler were just a con to buy time, as both he and Aligor were convinced they were, then what was the harm of finding out for sure? But there was something about the arrogance in his voice, and how he talked down at them, just like the guards at Terezin did—the animals that killed Esther in cold blood. They snapped, and by the time Ben pulled Aligor from beating Bormann’s bloody body, he’d already been dead for five minutes. They took his head as a souvenir. Ben considered it a symbol of justice.
Over the years, some got justice in a courtroom for the world to see, while others like Mengele, the “Butcher of Auschwitz,” received a more personal brand—they left his stroke-ridden body in the Brazilian surf like floating garbage.
Up ahead he noticed the young boy’s head peeking out of a slow moving car. It was moving toward the exit of the school grounds. Ben walked, slow but steady. He moved under a Career Day banner and toward the car, which had stopped to allow a group of students to cross the street. He moved to the open window of the vehicle and placed the pointed tip of his umbrella at the neck of the driver.
“You’re not going anywhere with that child.”
Chapter 11
In the midst of the chaos, Veronica realized that Jamie was in the clutches of a gun-toting lunatic. This news gave her a surprising sense of peace.
She had sought out Eddie for help, but when he was nowhere to be found, she put two-and-two together. Jamie must have conned Eddie into giving him a joyride in the police cruiser.
She took the lead, running ahead of the group. She asked a few people if they’d seen a police car, and was pointed in the right direction. But what she found was not very comforting.
Youkelstein was about to stab Eddie with … his umbrella?
“You’re making a big mistake, Grandpa,” she heard Eddie roar.
Veronica ran as fast as she could. “Eddie—it’s a misunderstanding!”
But Eddie was tough to cool down once he arrived at a boil. And he must not have gotten the memo on the fragile hips of the elderly, because he got out of the car and shoved Youkelstein to the ground. He knelt down and held his gun to Youkelstein’s mustache.
“You are about to die of natural causes, old man—two shots to the head!” Eddie continued like a crazy man.
“Eddie … no!” she screamed again.
He glanced up and saw Veronica. He must have realized how absurd it looked to be pointing a gun at a ninety-year-old man who attacked him with an umbrella, because he returned the gun to his holster.
Veronica arrived, out of breath. The others slowly formed behind her, her mother coughing up her smoker’s lung.
“We had reports that Jamie was missing,” Veronica stated vaguely, not going into the whole Nazi story. She had no idea how she’d explain to Eddie what Ellen confessed to in the classroom. Either she was lying, a lying Nazi, or had lost her mind. Eddie would accept none of the above.
Before Eddie could question her, Aligor Sterling spoke up, “Lieutenant Peterson—I see you’re doing prep work for our meeting today.”
Eddie actually smiled, noticing Sterling’s presence. “I guess you could say that, Mr. Sterling.”
“Meeting?” Veronica asked.
“It’s nothing,” Eddie deflected.
Sterling disagreed. “By nothing, Lieutenant Peterson means he’s been selected to lead the NYPD security team to protect Jim Kingston tomorrow night when he gives his acceptance speech in New York. It’s a historic occasion, and I’m sure a great honor for Lieutenant Peterson and his fellow NYPD officers.”
Veronica looked proudly at Eddie. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I’m just doing my job—it’s no big deal,” Eddie shrugged it off, as he did with any praise.