Chapter 5

At Gestapo Headquarters

Anne-Marie sat impatiently, feeling somewhat frustrated as she faced the Colonel. He was not her direct controller, and she was a little afraid of him, but her unexpected success in recruiting Tony had meant that she was passed up the line, and now she was in the hands of a new man and no longer in the hands of her friendlier controller with no-one coming up with an idea, or with a solution as to what to do with Tony in the immediate near future. They all agreed that it would be madness to ignore him, until they got direct orders from Berlin, so they had to come up with an idea of some sort.

The colonel had the reputation of being very unpredictable, and at times very irrational. He was no fool and he did realise however, that Tony could be a very important person in the Third Reich when the propaganda machine went to work, and he could quite easily become a man of influence in the Nazi party if he made the right decision now ... Therefore he determined to act in a manner which would exonerate him from all future criticism.

He said. "Frau Shuppen you have done extremely well, and no doubt the Fuhrer will ensure that your hard work is properly recognised. It was not envisaged that your operation would succeed this well. You have indeed exceeded all our most optimistic expectations. To convince a hero no less than a VC to defect is a fantastic achievement. I am sure it is much more than Herr Goebells would have anticipated."

She said "Thank you Herr Colonel, but Herr Colonel I have delivered the Commander as I was ordered to do by Herr Goebells. This part of my mission is finished, I do however, care for the man he is a nice man and he is genuine that is all. But we are married, although the Luftwaffe bombed Portsmouth the night before the wedding, and the ceremony had to be postponed. However we managed it in the end at a special ceremony at the Portsmouth Guildhall which became a temporary registry office...

I have delivered him safely as I promised; he can of course live in my apartment for a few days, but I sense that some of the partisans are already a little suspicious. I need to leave him as I do not want my work with the partisans compromised. " The Colonel was getting exasperated with Anne-Marie. "Frau Shuppen, you have done well, but if you do not look after him until I get orders from Berlin, I will have to lock him up. While he is with you, I hope I can trust you to keep him safe."

A man in civilian clothes who Anne-Marie had rightly supposed was a senior Gestapo official replied curtly. "How do we know that he has not been planted to spy on us?" Anne-Marie said quietly. "You don't, but I do, I would not have brought him this far if I was not 100% sure of him."

Anne-Marie seemed exasperated. Colonel I need to start working again, I have been in contact with a new partisan group, and can not be in two places at the same time. I must make contact again with this group soon, or they will become suspicious. I need to infiltrate them quickly if I am to do my work effectively and if possible before the publicity breaks on Herr Nash's defection. When it does I will have to denounce him if I am to stay credible with the partisan groups."

The colonel said." I have just had an idea. Frau Schuppen, what if I arranged for your sister in Law to visit you to stay with you for a few days? Anne-Marie looked utterly confused, but as the Colonel spoke he rang a bell on his desk, within a few moments a tall slim blonde lady had entered the room dressed in Wehrmacht uniform. She came to attention and gave the Nazi salute. "Here Frau Schuppen is Fraulein Helga she can be your Sister in Law who has come to visit you for a few days and also of course to visit her brothers grave."

Anne-Marie smiled. Inside she was hurting, she was jealous she had no illusion about Fraulein Helga Nieumier, her reputation was not a well kept secret, but she dare not show it. The colonel said "Helga here will look after him, she will fuck his brains out if necessary, he will be too tired to be a nuisance or run away, and she can perhaps take him sightseeing." But immediately Ann-Marie suddenly sensed danger.

"But Mein Herr, Fraulein Helga is well known, if he is seen with her in public it will blow our cover and the partisans will soon know that he has defected, and they will assume that I am also a traitor."

The Colonel ignored Anne-Maries comments and went on to say. "Fraulein Helga you will change into civilian clothes, and go with Anne-Marie. You will be Fraulein Schuppen, Anne-Maries sister in law from Wegburg, who has come to visit, and you will keep a close eye on the man she is keeping in her apartment who is her husband. He is vitally important to the Third Reich and he must be kept safe and happy. You can, and must entertain him and keep him safe in any way short of physical abuse, for a few days, until I get orders from Berlin. She gave the Nazi salute and replied "Ja Herr Colonel."

Anne Marie felt very sad as she waited for Helga to change, she knew that her time with Tony was coming to an end, at least for the time being, but they both knew this would have to happen. She had been away from the apartment for nearly five hours and she was worried about him. She knew he was sensible, but she was worried, that some of the partisans could be a little suspicious, and she was sure that she had been followed when she left home earlier that morning.

She was also very worried about the reaction when Tony's defection became public knowledge, and the partisans would surely blame her, because she was married to him. It could destroy her cover story, and she would lose credibility. Previously it had been determined that the story that she would give to the partisans, would be that he had come to help them with communications problems, and when he defected she would publicly denounce him, and even stage a realistic failed attempt to kill him.

She had not even considered the possibility that she would fall in love with him. Being a double agent was full of hidden risks. She realised now that she had no option but to go through with the original story. But she sensed that everything was going wrong, and she had a sense of impending doom.

While she waited for Helga to join her she telephoned her apartment to tell Tony that she would not be too long. She told him that she had just met her Sister in law who had come to stay for a few days. To her dismay she had heard Janine's voice in the background, and she guessed that Janine had probably been 'coming on' to Tony in a big way. She felt a quick surge of hatred for Janine as she waited, but quickly she realised that they knew that they would face a parting of the ways, and if Tony had fucked Janine then he must have had a good reason. They knew that while apart from one another they had to do what they had to do to survive.