“I’m working that out.” Actually, Sinclair was working out not much of anything.
He felt like he was stumbling around in the dark, hoping to touch something that felt even vaguely familiar. The calls from Lancaster were the only ones shared by McCauley and Chipiarelli — that was significant. What else? They occurred in the afternoon after the story on the dive boat explosion hit the news. Did that mean anything? Maybe.
If they could find out the identity of the caller, it was possible everything else might fall into place… or not.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Dex, Tommy, and Augie had cleared the town of York and were heading east on US-30. They were less than a half hour from the Bruckner residence. Augie had slipped into a doze while Dex and Tommy tried to anticipate what their pursuers might be doing. While neither of them had become anything close to comfortable with their situation, they had at least accepted it.
“So you gonna do it?” said Tommy when he noticed Dex holding the disposable cell phone and looking at it like it was some kind of artifact.
He and Dex had come to an agreement — they were up against forces and interests who would eventually overwhelm them. Big Bald Guy’s employers had power and access, and even though Dex may have won Round One, he was scared of starting Round Two. They needed to widen the loop, get more people on their side, or they were going to end up like the rest of guys on the Sea Dog—an event Dex would be trying to forget the rest of his life.
“Do what? You mean call up some old friends?”
“Yeah.” Tommy continued to negotiate the traffic which was getting heavier now.
Dex looked at him nodded. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. It’s too big to deal with on our own. We’ve got to trust somebody.”
“You gonna get things rollin’ before we get to Bruckner’s place?”
“I’m going to try. I’ll start with my old C.O. If I can’t trust him, then we can just forget about it.”
“Yeah — what’s his name again.”
“Whitehurst. He came from a military family in Virginia. All Navy all the time.”
“Yeah, there’s fireman families like that.”
“I just hope I can track him down. It’s been years since I even talked to him.” Dex dialed directory assistance and started the byzantine process of finding the right office that could help him track down Captain Parker Whitehurst. Countless numbers, phone carousels, and receptionists later, he discovered the old guy had finally been kicked into a Rear Admiral’s office at the Pentagon. And of course, he was unavailable when Dex finally reached his aide, a Commander Pye Hanson. Dex gave him a cryptic message with a few tantalizing details and buzzwords, and Hanson promised a callback from the Admiral as soon as he returned from lunch.
Dex looked at his watch after disconnecting the call. “Jesus, twenty minutes to get through to somebody — what a joke.”
“What’s the deal?”
Dex shrugged, held up the Trac Fone. “He’s supposed to call me back.”
Tommy cocked an eyebrow, trying to look quizzical. “Think he will?”
“If he gets my message, yeah. Whitehurst knew me a long time — we’ve got history. We respect each other.”
“How much you gonna tell him?”
Dex shrugged. “Well I was thinking of starting with everything.”
Tommy laughed. “Yeah, that oughta do it.”
Dex looked ahead on the highway; they were entering what looked like some smaller farms and suburbs.
“We’re about ten minutes outside of Lancaster,” said Tommy. “This is gonna be somethin’, huh?”
No doubt. Despite the distractions and paranoia, Dex anticipated the meeting with the man who’d written the logbook stashed in his backpack. It was one of those things that didn’t seem possible when you really thought about it.
“Yeah. I guess we should wake Augie, huh. He’s been out like a bad light bulb.”
Dex regarded the little old guy tilted into the corner on the truck’s jump seat, his mouth open, a series of soft snores rippling every breath. When he tapped him lightly, Augie stirred into wakefulness.
“We there yet?” he said. “I could use a candy bar or somethin’.”
“Almost,” said Tommy. “We’re coming to the 283 junction right now.”
Dex went over the directions as they negotiated the streets of the Pennsylvania town, which had an interesting blend of new and old on every corner. It was one of those places with character and instant appeal, and he could see why people would like living here. With each turn and the passage of each block, he felt his pulse getting stronger.
But when Tommy pulled up in front of the archetypical suburban house, Dex laughed out loud — as much to dispel the anxiety that had been stewing in him for the entire trip up I-83 and across Route 30. There was something ironically humorous in going to meet a Nazi U-boat captain in Home-Depot-Ville. Early evening sunlight cast everything in warm shadows, and the neatly landscaped colonial looked prototypically American.
Parking at the curb, Tommy helped Augie down to the sidewalk. Dex walked up to the front door carrying the backpack and knocked. Tommy and Augie stood silent behind him. Almost immediately, the door was opened by a guy who looked around thirty. He was dressed in jeans and a golf shirt and had a nice honest looking face.
“Hey, you must be Mr. McCauley. I’m Jason Bruckner.”
They shook hands.
“Just call me Dex.” He turned and tilted his head toward his friends. “This is Tommy Chipiarelli, and… his Uncle Augie.”
“Nice to meet all of you,” said Jason. “Come on in.”
Jason led them into a living room where a middle-aged couple were both seated on a large couch with floral upholstery. He introduced everyone all around and the three of them sat down with Richard and Peggy Bruckner as if they’d stopped by to have a cup of tea. It was starting to feel a little surreal, and Dex was wondering where the old Captain might be.
“I guess I should tell you,” said Richard. “This is all a really big shock to us.”
Dex just sat there with a half-smile on his face as Richard confessed to knowing nothing of his father’s career in the German U-boat service. The family had always believed Erich’s assertion that he and his friend Manfred Fassbaden came to America in 1947 to work in a mutual friend’s restaurant.
“How much has he told you?” said Dex. “About the U-Boat.”
“Not much. He started to tell me about his last mission,” said Jason. “He said his crew rescued some scientists under the ice in Greenland. But he also said there’s more.”
“That’s why he wanted to see you,” said Jason’s father. “He says he has to tell you the rest of the story.”
“Any idea why?”
Jason shrugged. “He says you might know what to do about it.”
“About what?” said Tommy.
“He didn’t say. He wants to talk to both of you first.”
Dex grinned, trying to hide his impatience. “Well, here we are. Where’s your grandfather?”
Jason looked at his father then back to Dex. “He said he didn’t want to talk about it here at the house. He says he feels more comfortable at Manny’s”
“Okay…” said Dex. He had no idea what or where Manny’s might be, but he was going to find out.
“He’s there now. Come on,” said Jason. “I’ll take all of you over.”
Standing up, Dex looked at Jason’s parents who remained seated. “We’ll be staying here,” said Richard. “My father wants to talk to you alone.”