Chapter Two

Ace Up Your Sleeve

A hidden or secret advantage or resource.

*

It was a very boring security tape, Eroica decided. It was the main lobby of NATO's Bonn headquarters. He'd been there himself countless times over the past twenty odd years. Several times over the three days in question, the Major came and went. Each time, he passed through security with his usual air of indifference.

"You believe he started removing things over the weekend?" Eroica asked as he rewound the tape.

"Saturday."

Eroica shook his head. "He was already working things out Friday, possibly sooner, but that's on another tape I should imagine. That's probably when he got his Alphabet lined up for this...mission as well."

The General and the Chief exchanged an astonished look as the Earl fast-forwarded the tape to the point where the Major left the building on, according to the date stamp, Friday afternoon, presumably for lunch.

"Look how he's carrying himself here," Eroica said, pointing at the screen, letting it play through.

The Chief shook his head. "He looks just the same."

Eroica gave him a look that sent a chill down his spine. "Look again. And this time, look at his left arm."

"He's holding a cigarette. He's always holding a cigarette. Filthy habit."

"He is also holding his arm very firmly against his body," Eroica said, pausing the tape and tapping the screen with his finger. "He's holding something in place under his suit coat. Look how he keeps his arm in place, even when he takes his gun out." He slowly shuttled the tape forward. "I'll bet my eye teeth he's using his shoulder holster to keep papers or files in place. He'd've set the metal detector off with anything else."

"Good...God..." the General breathed, watching as the Major returned his gun to his holster after passing through the metal detector. "He's right. He just...walked right out with it."

Eroica gave them a patient look and turned back to the screen. They watched as the Major came and went over the following two days, entering the building empty handed and leaving with something tucked under his arm. On Sunday, the suitcase from the Schloss arrived and was set behind the Reception area. A few minutes later, someone in a janitor's uniform came with a hand-truck and took it away. Eroica smirked as he watched this. Several minutes later, the man returned with the suitcase and a set of car keys in his hand. He had a brief word with the guard behind the desk, waved a hand in the direction of the parking area, and then left the building, returning a few minutes later.

"Oh, Major, you were paying attention," Eroica said admiringly. He turned to the baffled men beside him. "Obviously, you gentlemen weren't."

"Dammit, Eroica, don't talk in riddles!" the Chief snapped, having forgotten the CIA man's identity beneath the familiar foppish exterior.

Eroica grinned at him. "You just sat there and watched the Major remove everything from NATO, and you didn't even notice, did you?"

"What?" the General thundered.

Eroica rewound the tape, walking them through the entire process. "The suitcase from the Schloss arrives here." He pointed as it was placed behind the Reception desk after being checked by security.

"Yes, and someone from maintenance took it away," the Chief snapped impatiently.

Eroica gave him an innocent look. "Chief, when did the maintenance workers in your building start working Sundays?" he asked mildly, receiving a startled look in reply. He turned back to the screen. "A few minutes later he returns, apparently from the fifth floor. But did either of you notice that, in the interim, the suitcase has got larger?"

The Earl's wrapped audience leaned closer to the screen. "Christ," the Chief moaned, sitting back in his seat. "He's right."

"And he doesn't take it through the metal detector, either. He talks to the guard, probably to complain about that asshole Major making him take his suitcase to his car, and then goes around the metal detection arch, out the door, probably taking every hard drive from the fifth floor with him."

"And he walks back in, cool as a cucumber," the General added as he, too, sat back in his chair.

"He's Iron Klaus," Eroica said admiringly. "He finished whatever he needed to do, and then left for the last time." He punctuated his statement by pausing the tape just as the Major glanced up at the security camera as he headed for the front door. He had the same sly look on his face that had caused many a KGB agent to lose their nerve, and sent Alphabets home to pack for Alaska.

"Smug bastard," the Chief muttered.

Eroica turned off the tape and got to his feet. "Good luck finding him."

* * *

"No."

"Eroica."

"No."

"Lord Gloria."

"You can call me every name in my personnel folder, the answer is still no!" Eroica stood with his arms folded, a determined look on his face. "I'm done. With my assignment, NATO, and especially Iron Klaus. I'm supposed to be being debriefed, not looking for your rogue agent and his merry men."

"You're the only one who can possibly get close to him," the Chief said as forcefully as he could manage.

"Surely you are joking?"

"I watched the tape from the interview room, Agent Marshall. Something happened between you two, didn't it? Eroica finally got to him. He's actually in love with you, isn't he?"

Eroica snorted. "Don't delude yourself. He hates me. He's always hated me."

"I don't think so."

The smug look on the Chief's face set off an alarm in the Earl's head and his eyes narrowed. "You threatened to out him, didn't you?"

"That would be against--"

"You fucking bastard! You did! No wonder he went over the edge!"

The General broke in before this confrontation could go any further. "For whatever reasons, you've been closer to Major von dem Eberbach than anyone, even his own family. And you've just proven you know him better than his own superiors." He received a dark look from the Chief.

"So?" Eroica said acidly.

"So...your mission has been amended."

Please, don't tell me what I think you're going to tell me.

"You have one more man to catch before Eroica can retire." General Ralston picked up a folder from a pile and held it out. "Iron Klaus."

Bloody fucking marvelous. "General, I'm CIA not NATO."

The General smiled and the Earl was reminded of the Major. Was that evil smile part of NATO training? "You've been a part of NATO since you helped stop the assassination attempt on one of my predecessors," he said calmly.

Eroica gave a snort. "That was in 1979, General, and had nothing to do with General Haig and everything to do with my orders to get close to Major von dem Eberbach."

"Who is--was--a NATO operative," Ralston added, still holding out the folder.

"Who could have been the source of the information leak," Eroica rejoined.

"And who is now a considerably more dangerous threat."

Good come back, dammit. Eroica heaved an exasperated sigh before reluctantly taking the folder from the man's hand. "If you tell me you want him ‘Dead or Alive,' General, I'm leaving, orders or no."

The General did not reply, merely smiling back.

Eroica sat down, opened the folder, glanced at its contents, and closed it again, looking up. "Tell me everything you can about his movements after he left headquarters Sunday."

* * *

Agent Marshall had expected it to be difficult to return to the persona of Eroica after revealing his true identity to so many, but he slipped back into character like slipping into his favorite pair of tight-fitting jeans. The Earl's flashy nature was such a part of himself now, he could no longer tell where John Robert Marshall ended and Dorian Red Gloria began. This was good for his cover, but would probably be a bitch to deal with when he was finally debriefed and reassigned.

Reassigned! Fuck that. After twenty-five years, I'm retiring.

Not surprisingly, James had not been happy when informed about the extension to their mission.

When Eroica returned from Brussels, he found a portion of the staff already packed and ready for new orders. It was only then that the Earl discovered that only a handful of his band were actually government agents.

Eroica informed his people that there was a delay in an operation he had been planning and that orders would be forthcoming when he returned. After that, he had Bonham and John Paul contacting everyone they knew amongst their underworld contacts to see if they could track down the Major and his Alphabet.

* * *