diplomat in order to gain a meeting with his hero. The Führer was impressed by Petey’s ability to avoid his security, which, combined with his desperate need for English-speaking spies, made him an ideal choice to become a German intelligence officer. It was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Petey might not have been blood German, but his loyalty to the Führer was unmatched, and he was willing to go to any length to prove it when challenged, which the Führer constantly did.
He was assigned to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, who many considered the second most powerful man in Germany, and unquestionably the most ruthless. Petey was sent to Britain, where he enlisted as an agent in the British SIS named Peter Jansen. Mixing trickery with charm, and his debonair nature—he still believed the James Bond character created by Ian Fleming, whom he crossed paths in British intelligence circles, was based on him—he moved quickly up the ladder.
When war broke out in 1939, Peter Jansen was able to pass important strategic information to Himmler, including the British plans to defend Belgium and France. With each piece of classified information he turned over he grew in stature and responsibility.
His signature moment came in May of 1941, although he wouldn’t realize the significance until much later. He was to establish communication between the Duke of Hamilton and his German contacts, to create a secret meeting in which Hitler’s right-hand-man, Rudolf Hess, would travel to Britain as an envoy of peace. Peter Jansen tipped off the SIS about this meeting, allowing the British to capture Hess.
Of course, it wasn’t Hess who had parachuted to what he thought was the Duke of Hamilton’s residence. Nor was the man who spent the rest of his life jailed in Spandau Prison after being convicted as a war criminal at the Nuremberg Trials.
The Führer was so impressed by the Hess operation that he began affectionately referring to Petey as Otto, because he “carried the spirit of the ‘Iron Chancellor’ Otto von Bismarck,” who was credited with the unification of Germany. It also catapulted him into his most trusted inner circle—a group of twelve men and women anointed as the Apostles. The group’s name was a sign of both the Führer’s contrarian side and gargantuan ego. He didn’t lack for either. But its formation showed a pragmatic side that was not normally his strength.
The purpose of the Apostles was to carry on the workings of the Reich if the war effort failed—a fact that all German leaders grasped long before the stubborn Führer. It was a plan that Otto unknowingly set into motion when he helped remove the real Hess from Germany. Hess was accompanied by a child named Josef, who was entrusted with returning the Reich to its rightful place. Hess would serve as the child’s father in their new home, while the plane was flown by a brilliant German intelligence officer, who would play the role of Josef’s mother.
And while the plan was enacted over the next six decades, the chaos of April 30, 1945 in the Führerbunker was a constant reminder to Otto that things don’t always go as planned. It was a day that almost derailed the entire operation before it began. But even with the many bumps in the road, including the many issues concerning Josef, they were now on the threshold of regaining the kingdom in the most glorious fashion.
He looked down again at his shaky hands that held his cell phone. He understood now why they shook. He dreaded making this call.
The Candidate answered on the first ring.
Otto didn’t mince words. “Your grandmother has gone home.”
He could hear the choke in the Candidate’s breathing—he knew how much she meant to him. But like a great leader, he rallied, “She sacrificed her life for future generations.”
“And her sacrifice went beyond what we expected. She did it on her own.”
The Candidate sounded surprised, but relieved. He had argued passionately against silencing Ellen. Like those before him in his family, he was both stubbornly loyal and optimistic to a fault. But he also had the highest of leadership qualities, which Otto had spotted long before the Candidate understood his gift, so it didn’t surprise him that he eventually signed off on what was best for the group.
The Candidate spoke assertively, “Her behavior was erratic at the end. Did she talk to anyone about the Apostles? Are there any other trails that need to be covered?”
“Her only contact was with Maggie, whom she was helping with a