Rising Sun

EPILOGUE

HARRIS TURNED HIS RENTAL CAR ONTO THE LONG, WINDING driveway that led to the compound’s elegant main building. Once the place outside Atlanta had been a farm, but it had been rebuilt a few decades earlier in a style reminiscent of the antebellum South. The people who’d done the renovations hadn’t been able to enjoy them. They’d lost the property in the Depression, and it now had new owners. It reeked of money.

The old man on the rocking chair on the wide porch looked vaguely familiar to Harris. His body was thicker and the hair, what was left of it, had gone gray. Of course, twenty-five years will change a man. It sure as hell changed me, Harris thought. He parked the car and got out awkwardly. He was overweight and having problems with his knees. The doctors said it was arthritis and old age. Screw the doctors.

“What took you so long?” the old man asked.

“I had better things to do.” Harris answered.

“Are you taking me back?”

Harris plunked himself down on a chair beside Krause. “Why the hell would I do that? You didn’t break any laws by running away. We were going to turn you loose anyhow, just not quite so soon.”

“I’m Gunnar Kuess now. I used the ID I had and made myself a new life. I’m from Norway and I became a U.S. citizen a number of years ago. I’m a good American. I even voted for Nixon and Goldwater, and I was devastated when that little piece of vermin killed Kennedy. You may be able to invalidate my citizenship and send me back, but my wife was born here, as were my two children, so they are safe.”

“Guess what? We don’t much care. The government would find it very embarrassing. Besides, a whole lot of people think you’re a hero for turning against Japan and Hitler.”

Krause was puzzled. “Then why are you here?”

“First, I’m hot and would really like a beer, and second, I’m long retired from the FBI. Hoover can go screw himself as far as I am concerned. This is a private job. Did you see the movie The Longest Day?”

“Of course,” Krause said with a laugh. “I’m a big John Wayne fan, and it told me a lot about the invasion of Normandy and what a fool Hitler was. I also read the book. I’ve read quite a number of books about World War II. What a tragedy. How could people get duped by Hitler? And, yes, I am including myself.”

“Good, ’cause we’re coming up on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Battle of the Baja and there’s going to be a movie about it, along with a companion book. The producers and writers want input from all the major participants, including those who took part in the planning of what was referred to as the ‘Immaculate Deception.’ I found Dane and Farris very easily since we exchange Christmas cards. You, however, took a little longer.”

But not much longer, Harris thought. It was almost as if Krause wanted to be found. He’d run from California to Georgia, posed as a refugee, and gotten a job in a gas station. No problem there, since he was too old to be dodging the draft and had papers saying he was from Norway. He was a decent mechanic and proved himself to the owner. After a few years he married the owner’s daughter. Krause was an even better businessman than a mechanic and now owned a chain of quick oil-change shops and was, if his current house was any indication, quite well off.

“What if I don’t want to talk to anyone?”

“You might not have a choice. Look, if an over-the-hill retired FBI agent can find you all by his lonesome, anyone can. And believe me, people will wonder about the man who turned his back on Hitler and helped the United States.”

This was not quite true. Although finding Krause hadn’t been all that difficult, Harris had contacted a lot of friends and called in a lot of markers to do it.

“Besides,” he continued, “most people consider you a hero. You’re the ex-Nazi who found redemption by helping us win the Battle of the Baja, even though it was more likely you were just protecting your own ass. Regardless, your real name is going to be plastered all over the place. I think you’d be a lot better off making the announcement yourself instead of being hunted down and trapped by a horde of reporters. Sooner or later, Krause, it’s going to happen.”

“True enough,” Krause said. “Are the people producing the book and the movie paying you for your efforts?”

“Quite a bit, thank you. Does your family know about your little secret?”

Krause sighed. “My wife knows and my late father-in-law did as well. I think my children suspect that there is more to their old father than meets the eye. They are both adults and not stupid. Not like their old man was.” He smiled.

“Are they here today?”

“Yes, and doubtless wondering who you are and what you want.”

“Want to call them and you can make your announcement? Then we can all talk.”

Krause stood. “I’ll do that right now. No point in waiting.”

“While you’re up, get me that damned beer.”