Maas ordered his henchmen to monitor the three but not contact any of them. He left his lair deep within the fortress and returned to Grimme’s office.
“All three captives have been severely beaten. Pain is their companion now,” he said with a sick grin.
“Very good,” she hissed as she smiled broadly. A sadist in her own right, everything was going according to her plan. She would leave them alone for a few more days to let their pain and suffering weaken their resistance. Then she would find out what she wanted to know. Above all their secret location and plans must be guarded at all cost.
“I trust you beat them severely as I ordered?” She asked.
“Yes. My guards have bloodied them but they are in no real danger. All of them were beaten as you ordered,” Maas said proudly. “They will be ready for questioning in a few days.”
“Very well. Watch them closely,” she ordered as she slowly walked around from behind her desk. “I want them to suffer but not die. My father always used this most effective way of questioning people. His first step was to beat them into submission without saying a word. The beating shows that they are not safe nor are they in control of their own fate. That sets the stage for the second step. We will use one of the captives as an example while the remaining captives are forced to watch, but again no questions yet. Finally, the questioning begins and everyone talks or they die one at a time in front of each other. The killing is gruesome and brutal. Before it is all over, everyone talks… or dies.”
“I understand, Mein Führer,” said Maas smiling. “I look forward to serving you. As you know, inflicting pain is my passion.”
Grimme smiled and let out a laugh. “Ah, yes. I knew I selected the man I needed for my work,” smirked Grimme, relishing the thought of what was to come.
“Tomorrow night at midnight,” she said. “That’s when we will begin step two. Make certain everything is ready. I will accompany you for the next session,” she said, changing her thoughts to her more pressing duties. “I have much work to do before then.”
“Yes, Mein Führer,” snapped Maas as he nodded his head in agreement and turned and walked out of her office. He was pleased.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Kaete Grimme looked around her office. Even though it was eight levels below the Amazon jungle, no one would have known. The room was beautifully appointed. The fine Brazilian wood paneling gave the room warmth of home. A working fireplace adorned the far wall. The furniture was French and richly adorned with beautifully elegant fabrics. She was literally standing within a French chateau.
Her library adjoined the office. It too was as exquisite as those in the finest castles of Europe. At full two stories, the library held thousands of books, art and rare papers brought from Europe after the Second World War. Most were gleaned from the European museums, castles and homes by the Germans as they marched across Poland, Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Many priceless art treasures were lost to the Allies before they could be brought for safekeeping in Brazil. Even so, many of the volumes in the library were priceless first editions. The artwork included many works by the masters long thought to be lost during the war. They were not lost. They were very well kept in Brazil; stolen from museums and various private collections in countries that fell to the German onslaught. The collection of art alone made this complex one of the finest unknown museums of art in the world.
The plan was for Hitler himself to be whisked away from Berlin and brought to Fortress Alpha but his stubbornness in leaving Berlin before the Russian army cut off his exit sealed his fate.
This fortress and industrial complex was to be Hitler’s new beginning. Building had begun in 1942 as a future stronghold for the new German front in South America. The German High Command wanted to create a utopia in Brazil. It would be used as a jumping-off point to take over South America and then march across Central America into Mexico and on to the United States. Built in a remote area for secrecy, the facility quickly became Germany’s safe outpost for the many spoils of war.
Kaete recalled pictures of the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina back in the United States. As a young woman her father had brought in many books for her to study when she was being personally tutored by him or one of his scientists. She loved the French chateau built in the North Carolina Mountains by George Vanderbilt. Although she never visited the exquisite home, she visited through her studies. She could recite its history and walk through the house and its gardens in her mind. Privately she yearned for such a palace but knew it was not possible. But her position here was extremely important. It was the linchpin for the future of the dreams of her grandfather and father as well as all good Germans throughout the world. If she wanted to maintain her father and grandfather’s quarters, so be it.
She dealt with threats to this dream ruthlessly and completely. Over the years, very few jungle treks stumbled upon this isolated fortress. All were swiftly and completely eradicated with no trace remaining. The uninvited visit by the Finleys was merely another group to be “handled”. But first she needed to know what they were there for and what, if anything, they knew of their location. The existence of the group’s sophisticated GPS was the difference, the reason they were still alive. It pinpointed their location. One thing she had learned from her father and grandfather was that the secrecy of this complex was paramount. It must not be compromised in any way. That included reaching out anywhere in the world to protect their interests. She thought of Klaus Nader back in Miami and his fate. His death was due to his asking too many questions regarding the gold he brokered through Mr. Jackson and his group. Nader became a threat, ever so slight but still a threat. A threat of any kind or size was taken very seriously and eliminated quickly; thus Mr. Nader’s unfortunate demise.
Kaete Grimme ruled this complex. She also ruled the entire program spread throughout the world, Miami, Hong Kong, Brussels and Moscow. Gold was their tender. Gold was man’s weakness. Gold was Kaete Grimme’s power. Kaete relished her power and loved to wield it when she could. She also loved to use part of her treasures to bring comforts here to Brazil that she would have normally had in Europe. Thus her tastes were exquisite and expensive.
While she was unable to travel throughout the world as she would have liked, when she did travel she traveled well. Several times a year she left the arms of her life in Brazil to visit her minions who dealt gold for her Reich building goals. Her grandfather and father built a massive but specifically targeted gold business to broker their holdings across the world. She inherited that business and was determined to ensure its growth.
A new Germany was her goal. When she thought of what the world did to her Fatherland, she bristled. The Americans, British and Soviets in particular pounded the Third Reich into the ground. They humiliated the proud German people and made their lives hard. Only within the past few decades had Germany begun to flourish again.
Under her leadership, Germany is poised to regain its rightful status and rule the world. She and her group would not make the same mistakes as Hitler. Rather than taking the world by force, their plan is to regain power by taking over the financial world and easing into world dominance.