THE COLONEL'S WIFE
A KRIMINALINSPEKTOR WOLFGANG VOGEL MYSTERY
J. ROBERT KENNEDY
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BOOKS BY J. ROBERT KENNEDY
The Templar Detective Thrillers
The Templar Detective
The Templar Detective and the Parisian Adulteress
The Templar Detective and the Sergeant's Secret
The Templar Detective and the Unholy Exorcist
The Templar Detective and the Code Breaker
The James Acton Thrillers
The Protocol
Brass Monkey
Broken Dove
The Templar’s Relic
Flags of Sin
The Arab Fall
The Circle of Eight
The Venice Code
Pompeii’s Ghosts
Amazon Burning
The Riddle
Blood Relics
Sins of the Titanic
Saint Peter’s Soldiers
The Thirteenth Legion
Raging Sun
Wages of Sin
Wrath of the Gods
The Templar’s Revenge
The Nazi’s Engineer
Atlantis Lost
The Cylon Curse
The Viking Deception
Keepers of the Lost Ark
The Tomb of Genghis Khan
The Special Agent Dylan Kane Thrillers
Rogue Operator
Containment Failure
Cold Warriors
Death to America
Black Widow
The Agenda
Retribution
State Sanctioned
The Delta Force Unleashed Thrillers
Payback
Infidels
The Lazarus Moment
Kill Chain
Forgotten
The Detective Shakespeare Mysteries
Depraved Difference
Tick Tock
The Redeemer
The Kriminalinspektor Wolfgang Vogel Mysteries
The Colonel’s Wife
Zander Varga, Vampire Detective Series
The Turned
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents
The Novel
Author's Note
Preface
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Acknowledgments
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About the Author
Also by the Author
For the millions.
“Only a member of the race can be a citizen. A member of the race can only be one who is of German blood, without consideration of creed. Consequently, no Jew can be a member of the race.”
Point #4 of the 25-Point Program of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party
“I swear: I will be faithful and obedient to the leader of the German Reich and people, Adolf Hitler, to observe the law, and to conscientiously fulfill my official duties, so help me God.”
Civil Service Oath, Nazi Germany, 1934-1945
AUTHOR'S NOTE
While German ranks are given for each soldier initially, their Allied equivalent is then used. For example, Unterscharführer is meaningless to most people, however corporal is universally understood. This is done for the sake of clarity so you, the reader, can enjoy the book without trying to determine if an Unterscharführer outranks a Standartenführer.
PREFACE
While membership in the Nazi Party in Germany was not mandatory, it was encouraged as it showed loyalty to the ruling order. In some professions, however, there was no option—membership was mandatory if one wanted to keep their job.
Policing was one of these professions. In September 1939, the Reichskriminalpolizeiamt (Reich Criminal Police Department) absorbed the Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police) as part of a consolidation of all police and investigative forces under one command led by Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (SS) Heinrich Himmler. This effectively placed all civilian police, including detectives, under the command of the SS (literal translation “Protection Squadron”). All who wished to remain in their posts were required to join the Nazi Party and swear an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler.
Whether they believed in the Nazis’ policies or not.
To refuse, to resign in protest, could mean death, as it would show one was disloyal and couldn’t be trusted. And with the iron fist of Hitler everywhere, under the guise of the police, the SS, the Gestapo, and more, one didn’t dare stand out by refusing the regime’s demands.
Including police detectives, with families, whose only desire was to serve and protect the public, as they always had, before the madness had taken over.
1 |
Konrad Residence Berlin, Nazi Germany 1941
Unterscharführer Klaus Griese stood in front of the bedchambers of his commanding officer, Standartenführer Rudolf Konrad, and drew a breath before staring at his boots, cursing at the scuff mark on the toe of his left foot. He knew exactly when it had occurred. Not five minutes ago at the foot of the steps leading into the large house, now the home to the colonel, his wife, and their two children.
A home that had only months ago belonged to a wealthy Jewish family that had wisely decided to leave Berlin, though he was certain the story he had overheard Colonel Konrad tell was false.
Jews were rarely given options these days.
In fact, he could honestly say he didn’t know a single Jew. He had growing up, though his parents hadn’t allowed him to befriend any. They were staunch supporters of Adolf Hitler and his philosophies, as was he, he supposed.
He was only nineteen. He had been in the Hitler Youth for as long as he could remember, and without the book smarts for a h
igher education, had enlisted after graduating under his father’s urgings. The very concept of fighting terrified him. He had always been a soft boy, never one for confrontation, never one to argue or challenge another. There wasn’t a trace of the alpha male in him that the Fatherland prized so much these days.
He was a follower.
And hoped to never be more than the corporal he now was.
This was the perfect assignment. Nowhere near the front, nowhere near the fighting, though the enemy had started infrequent bombing of the capital. It was something he never would have imagined. Berlin. Bombed. It was terrifying, and had shaken the population, as it had him. He had believed his commanders who had assured the enlisted men that the war would never reach Berlin, that life would go on as normal while victory after victory would be celebrated.
And that had been true until August 25, 1940.
Then everything had changed, and seemed to only be getting worse.
He had seen the footage of Warsaw and other cities that had fallen to the mighty Wehrmacht, and the rubble-strewn streets were disturbing. It hadn’t yet come to that, though Griese wondered how long it would be before it was.
He snapped to attention as the colonel’s eldest son, Joachim, only a few years younger than him, strode past in his Hitler Youth uniform, no hint of a smile, the fanaticism pure within him. Harsh words were snapped, aimed at the younger brother, who emerged from his bedroom, his own uniform in slight disarray. Joachim admonished Maximilian as he corrected the flaws, then the two of them marched toward the stairs, ready to greet the houseguests about to arrive.
He straightened himself then knocked on the door to Colonel Konrad’s bedchambers, listening for a response.
Nothing.
His heart rate picked up slightly, uncertain as to what to do. The colonel’s orders were clear.
“The guests are about to arrive. Get my wife.”
It would be a great embarrassment if the Colonel’s wife were not downstairs when the first guests arrived. In Germany, punctuality was praised, especially among the military elite. The cars bringing the guests would be lining up outside within minutes, and the hostess would be expected at her post, alongside her husband and their children.
He checked his watch.
There’s no time!
He knocked again, slightly harder.
And again nothing.
He bit down on his cheek, chewing on it for a moment as sweat dampened his upper lip.
Should I open the door?
“Get my wife.”
He opened his eyes and gripped the doorknob, exhaling loudly as he pressed down on it and pushed the door open, slightly. He poked his head inside.
“Mrs. Konrad?”
Still nothing.
Though that wasn’t entirely true. He could hear music playing in the adjoining room. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him, then tentatively made his way toward the sound, the door ahead of him slightly ajar. He peered through the opening, spotting her sitting at a small table in the corner, her back to him.
Then gasped at what she held, his eyes shooting wide.
Her head darted up and she stared in the mirror in front of her as he jerked back and out of sight. He rushed for the outer door as his heart pounded in his ears. He grabbed the handle, opening it and stepping back into the hall as quickly as he could, closing the door behind him. He checked in both directions, ducking his head as one of the housekeepers crossed from one room to the next, glancing in his direction. He walked as rapidly as he could toward the stairs without looking suspicious, then turned the corner, risking one last glance behind him at Konrad’s bedchambers.
A head emerged from the now open door, peering out, in the opposite direction. He darted down the stairs and ran headlong into Colonel Konrad.
He nearly soiled himself.
“Sir, I’m sorry.”
“What’s with you, Corporal? You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Sorry, sir, just, umm…”
“If you ever hope to be promoted, you’re going to have to be quicker on your feet.” Konrad pushed him gently aside. “Now, where’s my wife?”
“I-I tried knocking, but there was no answer.”
“Did you go in?”
The blood rushed from Griese’s face. If he were caught in a lie, he could be court-martialed. Yet what he had seen was unbelievable, unfathomable, and the truth would come out the moment Konrad spoke to his wife.
Unless she didn’t see me.
He brightened slightly. It was a possibility.
“I did, sir, just to poke my head in. I called her name but heard nothing. I didn’t want to intrude any further.”
Konrad patted him on the shoulder. “A wise move. If you had caught her in a compromising position, she’d insist I have you shot!”
Griese’s eyes widened, his jaw dropping, the humor lost on him in his state of panic.
Konrad chuckled, smacking him on the shoulder. “We’re going to need to work on that sense of humor, Corporal, if you’re going to work for me.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
“Now, to your post. Our guests will be arriving shortly. I’ll get my wife myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
Griese rushed down the stairs and out into the cool evening air, the sweat that soaked his body giving him shivers. In the distance, the narrow slits of headlights approached, and a quick check of his watch confirmed the guests were about to arrive exactly on time. He forced himself to stare ahead, to focus on his duties, but his stomach was already churning from fear at the turn his promising life had taken moments ago.
A life that was over if she had seen him.
2 |
Konrad Residence Berlin, Nazi Germany
“Renata, do you have any idea of the time?”
Konrad held up his wrist, tapping the watch given him by Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler himself upon his promotion last year. It had been one of his proudest moments, meeting the great man, shaking his hand, and having his salute accepted. He once had ambitions, and if things were different, he might have pursued them vigorously like in his youth. Now, however, he had to remain cautious about overreaching. He no longer sought the power thrust upon him, yet to refuse would be unthinkable, and to not do his job to his utmost ability a dishonor he couldn’t fathom.
He was trapped by circumstance.
Circumstances beyond his control.
He stared at his wife as she rose from her vanity and turned toward him.
He frowned.
Her face was pale, her eyes darting about the room, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, stepping closer, taking her trembling hands in his.
She stared at his boots. “N-nothing.”
He tipped her chin up toward him and stared into her glistening eyes. “What is it?”
She shook her head, drawing a breath then patting his chest. “It’s nothing. We’ll discuss it after the guests have left.”
He pursed his lips, debating whether to pursue the matter. The sound of a car engine decided for him and he let go of her hands then headed out on the balcony overlooking the front of the house. Cars were approaching in the distance. There was no more time to discuss it whether she desired to or not.
He glanced down to see Griese preparing to greet the first arrival, and thought of what the young man had said. She hadn’t answered his knock, nor his call when he opened the door. That meant whatever was bothering her must have taken place before he had sent the young corporal to fetch her.
What could possibly have her so upset?
He returned inside to find Renata at the outer door to their bedchambers, a smile on her face, looking as radiant as the day he had married her. She never ceased to take his breath away, his love for her growing with
every moment they spent together.
He just hated they had to live a lie.
She held out her hand. “Are you ready to face them, my love?”
He smiled, his eyes threatening to betray him. “With you by my side, I could face the entire Russian Army.”
She took his arm and drew him closer. “Then the war would be over, and all would be lost.”
3 |
Konrad Residence Berlin, Nazi Germany
The first car pulled up and Corporal Griese stepped forward, opening the rear door and offering a gloved hand to the young woman climbing out, her brilliant red dress with its long train undoubtedly from one of the finest designers in the recently conquered Paris. He stepped back, stealing a glance at her breathtaking figure when her escort emerged, requiring no assistance, his crisp black uniform adorned with the logo of the SS on his collar, the skull and crossbones on the band of his hat as he fit it in place, but it wasn’t the insignia that had shivers rushing up and down Griese’s spine.
It was the blank, emotionless expression on the man’s face, as if all that surrounded him were of no concern, as if he wouldn’t give a second thought to erasing them all from existence should he so choose.
Griese snapped to attention and said nothing, his eyes directed forward. When an SS general was in one’s presence, one made oneself slightly less obvious.
And much to his horror, the young woman yelped and stumbled up the steps. Griese’s jaw dropped as he rushed forward to catch her, his eye spotting the general’s boot planted firmly on the train of his escort’s dress.
Griese caught the woman’s arm, his steadying hand preventing any catastrophe, and the general stepped off the dress before grabbing Griese by the shoulder.