vehicle when they had broken in earlier, knowing they would need to return.
Eddie ran out behind her. He’d done a homemade bandage job on his shoulder. “Which way did they go?” he called out.
Veronica just pointed randomly down the driveway, tears streaming down her face.
“The kids will be safe, I promise you,” he said as jumped into his police car and rushed down the driveway, lights flashing.
Suddenly Veronica’s tears dried up in the cold air. Her motherly instincts took over again. She had to get her children back. She got in the Tahoe and raced after them.
Chapter 51
Youkelstein lay still under a blanket.
When Veronica banished him from her home, he’d remained hidden on the property. But after Eddie Peterson arrived, he moved his hiding spot to the back of his squad car. From there, he witnessed the whole thing unfold.
The children appeared to be in imminent danger, but Youkelstein knew they wouldn’t hurt them.
They couldn’t.
When Eddie ran out of the house, Youkelstein scrambled under the blanket and lay on the floor of the backseat. The car burst out of the driveway, jarring his old bones. He was in great pain, but gritted his teeth, knowing this might be his last Nazi hunt, and his most important. Ever since he spotted the man coming out of the prison tonight, he knew they were on a collision course. And as Eddie powered his vehicle after the kidnappers, Youkelstein got the feeling this chase would lead him to the confrontation he sought.
He could hear Eddie talking into a phone. Youkelstein knew that Veronica needed to hear this with her own ears, since she’d understandably lost trust in him. So he twisted and contorted his body the best he could in the tight crevice between the seat and floorboards, and struggled to release his phone from his front pocket. It was like trying to dance in an air conditioning duct.
He somehow removed the phone without alerting Eddie to his presence, and made the call. He used the option that allowed those on the other end to hear what was being said, but muted any response. It was a one-way conversation.
“Do you have them?” Eddie barked into the phone. He briefly waited for a response, before adding, “I better not see a scratch on them—handle them like they’re priceless jewels.”
Eddie listened to another response, then said, “I’m sure they are scared—just tell them to be calm and their Uncle Eddie will be there soon.”
When he didn’t get the answer he wanted, he grew irritated. “Maggie can be such a baby!” He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. “Listen, make something up. Tell her that Veronica is on her way. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Eddie instructed the caller to meet him at Underhill School. And minutes later, they pulled into the dark parking lot of the deserted school. It was quite a different atmosphere from this morning when it was buzzing with parents and children.
He showed off his shoulder-wound to his fellow swine, who had removed their masks. “It hurt like a bitch—but it had to be done to make things look good,” he said.
Maggie was demanding to see her mother as she was put in the back of the police car. Jamie went more willingly—the car was as seductive as ice cream for him.
The scene reminded Youkelstein of his friends being forced on those eastbound trains. He couldn’t allow Eddie to take the children away. If he didn’t act now, they might be lost forever.
After being in such a cramped space, his legs were completely numb. He got about halfway to the captors and collapsed onto the blacktop.
Once Eddie realized who it was, he began laughing like a bully. He approached and gave him a kick in the ribs. Youkelstein curled into the fetal position. It was like he was back at Terezin when the Nazi guards used to beat them. Not just to inflict physical pain, but to humiliate them.
“Did you come to harm the children?” Eddie asked.
Youkelstein remained quiet. He learned at a young age that you couldn’t argue with a monster.
Another kick to the ribs.
He felt the blood fill inside his throat. He doubted he was getting out of this alive. He began hallucinating and swore he was looking at Siegfried Seidl, the brutal dictator of Terezin.
“I will protect these children at any cost—and nobody will ever harm them … do you understand?” Eddie exclaimed.
After all these years, Ben Youkelstein finally understood everything.