So, a sniper then.
He felt a quiver of interest run through him like an electric current. He wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, but deep down, the thought of matching wits and bullets with another sniper excited him.
“What do you think?” Vaccaro asked.
“Doesn’t look good,” Cole said. “They must have spotted the smoke rising from the chimney, or maybe they saw the tracks we made in the snow, leading right to the house. They figure that somebody is in here. They just don’t know who.”
“You don’t suppose the ladies of the house sold us out, do you?” Vaccaro wondered. “Maybe last night was just an act and they’re actually German collaborators — or selling us out for some sausages or something.”
Cole hadn’t considered that possibility, but he quickly dismissed it. “Madame Jouret wasn’t too keen on our German friend here. That wasn’t any act.”
“You’ll think differently if she comes down the stairs this morning and shoots us in the back with that antique shotgun of hers.”
“I don’t buy it,” Cole said. “Plus that girl had the hots for Rupert. That wasn’t any act either.”
Vaccaro grinned. “Yeah, I’m surprised Rupert didn’t sneak upstairs last night to give that girl the business, but there he is, sleeping innocent as a baby.”
“Don’t forget Mama standing guard with her shotgun. He probably didn’t like his chances.”
Vaccaro nodded. “All right, so they’re not collaborators. I thought that was a long shot, anyhow. As for the Krauts out there, maybe they’ll just keep going and leave us the hell alone.”
“When have you ever known the Krauts not to be thorough? If they suspect that there are Americans in here, they’re not just going to ignore us. Hell, we wouldn’t either. You can see them out there, sizing the place up.”
“Maybe poke your rifle out there and pick them off,” Vaccaro suggested.
Cole shook his head. “I wouldn’t be able to get them all before they scattered and got into those trees. Besides, that’s small for a patrol, and there might be more Krauts out there that we can’t see. Also, one of them is a sniper.”
“Are you afraid he’ll shoot back?”
“What I’m saying is, shooting at them might just piss them off if I don’t get them all. Maybe you’re right and they really will just keep going. I sure as hell hope so.”
Cole woke up Bauer and Lieutenant Rupert, informing them of the situation. Rupert peered through the gap in the drapes and immediately looked worried, but Bauer just shrugged and wondered whether he could get some coffee. “Perhaps the ladies of the house have some hidden away?” he suggested.
“You just sit tight and stay out of the way,” Cole told him. The German’s hands were still bound. “Lieutenant, why don’t you go upstairs and look out the back windows to see if there are more Krauts around the back of the house. Better tell Madame Jouret and your new girlfriend not to go outside.”
“She’s not—”
Cole didn’t wait to hear Rupert deny his romantic interests. “Go on, Lieutenant. The last thing we need is for one of the ladies to open the back door because they don’t know what’s going on and let those Germans waltz on in. That would be one hell of a mess that we don’t need right now.”
Rupert ran upstairs, then shortly reported back. “I don’t see anyone,” he reported. “Just those soldiers out front.”
“All right, that much is good news.”
From his position by the window, Vaccaro said, “One of the Krauts is headed for the house.”
“All right, let’s shoot him.”
“Hold on. You won’t believe this, but he’s waving a white flag. What the hell do you think he wants?”
Cole had been about to break the window glass with the muzzle of the rifle to get a good shot at the German. Reluctantly, he took his finger off the trigger. Outlined against the snow, the approaching German soldier made a perfect target. He was either a brave bastard or a fool. “Let’s see what he’s got to say.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Vaccaro said.
Before leaving the room, Cole suggested that Lieutenant Rupert take out his pistol and cover Bauer. “Herr Barnstormer, sit your ass down on that sofa. Lieutenant, shoot him if he tries anything.”
Out in the great hall, Vaccaro asked, “Shouldn’t we send Rupert out to negotiate? He is an officer, after all.”
“You don’t send the hen to talk to the hawk,” Cole pointed out. “You send the meanest rooster you’ve got. You want the hawk to think twice about swooping down on the henhouse.”
Vaccaro had to yank on the front door to get it to open a crack. He peered through. “Here he comes. He looks like a mean bastard. It’s not too late to shoot him.”
“Might as well hear what he’s got to say.”
“How’s your German?”
“If he doesn’t speak English, we’ll get the girl. I think she can Sprechen Sie Deutsch.”
Outside, the German was walking right up to the massive front door. Built of thick oak, it hadn’t been used for some time and wasn’t easy to open, having swollen in the winter damp so that it was stuck in the doorframe. Cole opened it just enough to stick his head out, keeping the rest of his body behind the thick door.
He found himself face-to-face with another German officer. This one had a grimy rag tied to a stick. He said something to them in German, and he seemed angry about it. Seeing that Cole hadn’t understood a word, he switched to English. Though heavily accented, Cole could understand the words well enough.
“I am Hauptmann Messner,” he declared. “I wish you to release Obersturmbannführer Bauer to us.”
“How the hell do you know we’ve got Bauer?” Cole had the fleeting thought that maybe Vaccaro was right and the two women really were collaborators. How else could the Germans possibly know about Bauer?
“We have been tracking him,” the German said. “Give him to us and there will be no need for bloodshed.”
“What do you want with him?”
“He is a traitor. Give him to us and we will let you go.”
“Can’t do that.”
“You do not seem to understand your situation,” the German said.
“My situation?” Cole snorted. He didn’t like the looks of this German officer. Hell, he didn’t like the looks of any German officer. “The way I see it, there’s just three of you, and we are holed up behind these nice thick walls. We ain’t givin’ him up. So come and get him if you want to. But you’d better bring a rifle next time instead of a rag tied to a little stick.”
The German frowned. He didn’t have a good answer for that. He muttered a curse, then dropped the stick with the rag tied to it into the snow.
Too late, Cole realized that dropping the flag of truce was some sort of signal.
In the next instant, a rifle fired from the tree line and a bullet struck the door an inch from Cole’s head. The bullet would have hit him if he hadn’t tilted his head down to look at the flag the German had dropped.
Behind him, Vaccaro slammed the door shut just as another bullet hit. The wood was too thick for the bullets to punch through, the dense grain of the ancient oak making it nearly as good as armor plating.
Cole ran to a window, and through the shutters he saw the officer hightailing it back to cover. He was out of sight before there was a chance for Cole to bring his rifle into play.
“Well now, don’t that beat all,” Cole said, lowering his rifle. “It’s gonna be an interesting day around here.”
“Dammit, that was close,” Vaccaro said.
“That Kraut sniper almost got me,” Cole agreed.
“You can’t trust these damn Krauts. Next time one of them wants to talk, let’s just shoot him.”