“No. I had to get out of there for a bit,” answered Nathan. “There’s just too much family going on in there. Let’s go get something to eat.”
“Eat?” exclaimed Wayne. “With all of that food in there?” He looked at Nathan. His eyes were tearing up. Wayne got the message. “Yeah, sure, let’s go get a burger.” They hopped in Wayne’s car and drove off, all the time watching for the car.
It was about 9:30 p.m. when they pulled into the Five Guys on North Miami Avenue. The two sat over in a corner and talked while eating their burgers. There were only four other people eating. Like Nathan said, he needed to get away from all of the stuff going on at the house.
“Man, my relatives are driving me crazy. If it is not the family, it’s the police. I didn’t tell you but before we left I got another call from the FBI. I need to be down there at nine tomorrow morning.”
Wayne reached into the brown bag still full of fries and popped one in his mouth. “They say what they wanted to talk to you about? I mean, specifically?” asked Wayne.
“Not really. They said they wanted to follow up on some of what I told them earlier,” answered Nathan. “It didn’t sound like they had found out anything else or they would have said something; don’t you think?”
Wayne shrugged his shoulders and reached for more fries. “Maybe. You can never tell with those guys.”
“Are you going to tell them everything?” asked Wayne bluntly.
Nathan looked Wayne in the eye. Wayne could see that Nathan was scared to death.
“Dude, talk to me,” pleaded Wayne, putting his burger down. He could see Nathan wanted to tell someone what was going on but was so scared he couldn’t. Nathan took a long drink of his Coke and another bite of his burger. He stared out the window and slowly finished his meal, trying to think through what he was going to do next. Wayne ate his meal quietly. When they both finished their food, they got up and returned to the car.
“Okay. Let’s drive around for a few minutes. I guess I gotta tell somebody about this. It might as well be you.”
Wayne started the car and pulled onto North Miami Avenue.
“You know Dad was a gold trader… ” started Nathan.
“Yeah, that much I do know.”
“Well, I’m afraid there is much more to the story. My grandparents came to the United States back in 1932 when Hitler was beginning his rise in Germany. Dad told me they fled their native land because my grandfather saw the war coming. He wanted to spare my grandmother having to live through that over in Europe. My grandfather worked very closely with the new German regime led by Adolph Hitler. He persuaded the regime to send him and his family to the United States to coordinate support in the States for a new Germany.”
“Okay, anyone in their right mind would have left Germany back then. That was a very nasty situation with the Nazis and all,” said Wayne, trying to support Nathan, thinking he knew where he was going with all of this.
“Yeah, but that’s not the whole truth.”
“What do you mean? I don’t understand,” said Wayne, puzzled.
“Damn… ” Nathan said. “Damn, damn, damn. Man, when I tell you this you gotta believe that I didn’t know.”
“Know what?”
“Wayne, my father was a Nazi,” Nathan said, looking off out the window.
There was one of those unpleasant pauses in a conversation. Wayne drove on. He turned to look at Nathan. Nathan would not look at him.
“Hey, you can’t be sure about that. Just because your grandfather came from Germany does not mean he or your father were Nazis. I don’t believe that.”
“Wayne, he told me so a few days before he died. He wanted to, as he said, clear his soul. I’m almost certain he knew he was going to die,” explained Nathan.
Wayne was stunned. How could Nathan’s father have anything to do with the Nazis responsible for killing millions of people during the war? All this didn’t make sense.
“Wait, wait. This does not make sense. So who killed him?” asked Wayne.
“They did,” said Nathan with a hint of hatred in his eyes. “The Nazis killed him because he told me what was going on. His talking to me got him killed. First to get him out of the way; second, it was a warning to me and anyone else in the scheme. Basically, you talk, you die.”
“Oh, my God, you think that is who is watching you?” asked Wayne.
“Wayne, I’m damned certain of it,” said Nathan.
“Holy crap, man, I had no idea. So what was this scheme that he was involved in?”
“If I tell you, you can’t tell a soul. Just by hearing this, your life may also be in danger.”
“You let me worry about that,” said Wayne.
“Since World War II several groups of Nazis have worked to bring Germany back to power. Not through a war or anything like that but through a plan to destroy the financial markets of the world. They are based in South America, somewhere deep in the Amazon jungle. Remember in school they taught us about how many people thought some of Hitler’s inner circle was able to flee to Brazil? Well, it seems that my grandfather was one of the Germans planted in the United States who helped funnel money and support to the Brazilian Germans. That is the real reason he left Germany. He was sent to the United States under the pretext of fleeing Hitler when it was actually the complete opposite.
“Toward the end of the war, my grandfather was one of Hitler’s confidants paving the way for Hitler’s escape from Berlin. Evidently the Americans and Soviets flooded into Berlin and cut off Hitler’s escape route. But hundreds of loyal Nazis did get out before Germany fell and set up some kind of complex in Brazil. After the war my father was born and he was raised with the notion of the rise of the Fourth Reich. So when he became of age, he was brought into the plan. He spent his whole career buying and selling gold. He made a ton of money for the Nazis. Dad told me that this world-wide group ran everything from their headquarters in South America.”
“Oh, my God! Nathan, have you told the Feds about all of this? Dude, this is really heavy stuff. I mean, you are talking about screwing with banks and shit and causing havoc all over the world.” Wayne was still in disbelief.
“I told them some of what Dad told me but not everything I told you. Wayne, I’m scared to death! I believe my mom and I are next.”
Wayne and Nathan drove down the beach for a few more minutes. Nathan was scared but seemed to feel better that the entire story was off his chest. Wayne’s head, on the other hand, was whirling. This was a major, big time mess.
After a few minutes, Wayne looked at Nathan. “I think the only thing you can do is tell the Feds everything you told me tomorrow morning. They can set up some kind of protection for you and your mother until this is all settled. If you do anything else, these guys are going to hound you for the rest of your life. And I’m sorry to say, I don’t think that life will be very long. Sooner or later they will kill you,” explained Wayne.
“I know, but… ”
“But what, man? You are playing with fire!”
“It’s just that this is going to kill my mother,” sighed Nathan.
“My God, she doesn’t know?” A surprised Wayne sat straight up in his seat.
“No, she doesn’t even have a clue. Dad and Mom were a very traditional family. Dad handled everything except the cooking and cleaning. Since he handled all of the family’s finances, he was able to hide the money he earned. And the trips he took were all under the guise of business trips. The only good thing is Mom and I are very well set with Dad gone.”
“Well, as crass as I may sound, that’s good. At least you won’t starve or have to move.”