Peking & The Tulip Affair (4 page)

"Because you say so?"

"Let's drop it," he begged.

"Because you are losing the argument."

It was the same old story, Nick was thinking. Never argue with a woman. A man can't win. Women were the same all over the world. They were always right, no matter what.

There was only one way to shut her up. He closed her mouth with his and drew her down. He felt her arms around his neck and her body squirmed under his.

Their motions were slow, graceful, like the flow of mercury. Her sighs and gasps inflamed him.

When it was over she said: "The sounds the couple in the street made excited you. There was nothing wrong in that."

He groaned. "Lotus, you're crazy. Absolutely crazy."

She caressed his shoulders and back. "Americans are basically shy. The truth shames them so they hide from it.

"Philosophy at a time like this." He tilted his head and decided to kid her. "My dear child, you are absolutely right. I had a very strict upbringing. In fact, I was a virgin till this very night."

She lightly slapped his face. "You are mocking me."

"In a very nice sort of way."

She suddenly became serious. "Have you killed many men?"

He told her that was a very strange question. He wanted to know why she asked.

"I was curious."

"I've lost count," he said. And he wasn't being mendacious.

"The man who is their leader. He is the one responsible for my father's death, isn't he?"

"I imagine so," Nick said. "Why?"

"I would like to kill him with my own hands."

Nick saw the hate in her eyes. "That's a tall order, Lotus. He's probably one of the most dangerous men in the world. And believe me, he's hard to kill. I've tried."

"I must try," she insisted. "I must get the chance. I loved my father, and now he is dead."

"Don't fall to pieces on me, Lotus. That won't help matters."

"I'm sorry."

"If you're a good girl," he said. "I'll let you go to the window and listen to the young couple downstairs."

She laughed.

Back in his hotel room, Nick thought about what Lotus had told him. The man with the frozen face. The man who was the leader. The man whose followers feared him.

It had to be Bormann.

But what was the thing with the frozen face? Was Bormann wearing a mask? No, that wasn't the answer. Anyone could spot a mask. There would be no guesswork. Lotus would have said if it was a mask. That meant just one thing. Plastic surgery. Bormann had had plastic surgery done.

And who was Captain Stryker? That was a new name for Nick's memory bank. There was never a shortage of henchmen for Bormann.

Nick strode to the window and looked down at the street teeming with people. It was early morning, and the streets were mobbed. The sun was climbing slowly, already a hot yellow ball. He had a whole day to kill Part of it would be spent sleeping.

He stripped and lay back on the bed. He absentmindedly fingered a scar somewhere on his body and tried to remember where and when he had won that souvenir. His trained mind remembered and he chuckled. It would have been funny if he couldn't remember something like that. He thought of all the places he had been and all the places he
hadn't
been. The former far outweighed the latter.

He realized he was thinking too much, and that wouldn't do. He turned on his side and went to sleep.

Captain Gunther Stryker hated his uniform. It was too plain. He missed the little swastika and the wide leather belt and the shiny boots. The uniform he was forced to wear now was so damn plain and ordinary. But orders were orders.

He laid his uniform out on his bed and took off his pajamas. He looked at his inside wrist and saw the liver spot where once there had been two small bolts of lightning. The mark of the SS. The sign of his fraternity had been scraped off and pig skin grafted on. Many of his comrades had gone through it because the Americans were particularly looking for SS men.

Captain Stryker had been one of the first German soldiers of his generation to see action. Not in any of the bloody invasions but with the Blue Division in Spain. Hitler's personal contribution to Franco. He had killed and he had loved it. It became second nature to him.

The defeat of Germany had been a bitter pill to swallow. But there had been promises of revenge, and he had bided his time with many of his comrades. He had spent many years in Switzerland and Portugal, keeping in touch, and finally the word came.

He was fifty-three and still fit. His belly was lean and hard without any fat. He ate the proper foods and did the proper exercises. It was funny how the Leader insisted on doing the Canadian Air Force exercises. But that didn't bother Stryker. The only thing that bothered him now was inaction.

He put on the plain uniform that he despised and went to see the Leader. He walked down the hall, stopped at the wooden door and knocked.
"Eintreten,"
he heard the familiar voice call out. He turned the knob and walked in. He almost saluted in the old Nazi style but caught himself. The Chinese hosts frowned on such displays. And the Leader was eager to please their hosts — till the proper time.

The Leader was already dressed. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No. I had just awakened when your message arrived."

"We'll have breakfast together. But first we must talk. Do sit down. Captain Stryker."

Captain Stryker sat down on a plain wooden chair and watched the bulky figure pace up and down. He saw the face that wasn't a face. He saw the black gloves and knew what was inside those gloves. It was remarkable how the Leader used those claws. He could even shoot with them. Yet there was something about him that frightened him. He was the same man who was so close to Hitler during those wonderfully productive years. And yet there was a decided change in Martin Bormann. He could feel all that hate emanate from the pacing man.

"Lum Fen
is
dead."

Stryker was startled at the news. Lum Fen was one of the best assassins working for the ChiComs. It was Stryker who had discovered the contact who was feeding the Americans information. It was Stryker who had persuaded Bormann to let Lum Fen assassinate the contact man. Now Lum Fen was dead.

"The man he went up against was weak and middle-aged," Stryker said. "How could he have failed?"

"But he didn't fail," Bormann pointed out He stopped pacing and looked down at his henchman with hollow eyes. The contact is dead. Shot twice. Lum Fen did his job well. But it seems someone else came along and did our man in."

Stryker stared up at the rigid face and shuddered inwardly. "But who? The contact was working alone."

"Perhaps another agent to take the place of the man we caught in the Palace. An agent from AXE. It would be nice if that were so and the man turned out to be Nick Carter. I owe him so much. I would like to meet him once again." The voice was silky smooth, almost oily. "Yes. That would be pleasant. Sometimes I think Carter and I were both born in hell. He is as ruthless as I am."

"Verdammen?
Stryker swore. "What could he be after?"

"Only one thing " Bormann intoned. "Agent Z." Captain Stryker got to his feet. "What shall we do?" "Nothing we
can
do, my dear captain. Our friend, whoever he is, must make the next move." Bormann put an arm around Stryker s shoulders. "Come. Let us go to the
Speisezimmer
and have breakfast"

Nick tried on the black costume Lotus had made for him. There were two breast pockets and two side pockets. It was a one-piece outfit, easy to slip on, easy to slip off.

Lotus watched him take off the outfit. "Do you approve of my sewing?" she asked.

"Betsy Ross couldn't have done better." Nick put on his own clothes. He knew how he was going to slip into the Imperial Palace. He didn't like it. But Lotus was right. It was the only way.

Lotus had on a very tight dress that showed her small, firm curves to advantage. The dress was red, the color of passion. She smoothed her hands over her hips. "Do you like the dress?"

"Yes. You look beautiful in it. Too bad it has to be wasted on a guard."

"Don't carry on so. I have forgotten the number of men I have been with." She patted his cheek, stood on tip-toe, and pressed her lips to his. Her body felt warm and soft.

His hands caressed her back, feeling the flesh under the material of her dress. She was naked under the red garment.

"Are you excited?" she whispered.

"Very much."

"We have time, do we not?"

"I can control myself," he said with a grin. "Can't you?"

She stepped back, her face and eyes sad. "I want you to make love to me now. I want to remember it while I'm with him."

His hand caressed her cheek. "I understand."

Her hands lifted the dress, pulled it off her head. She stood naked and unashamed. Her body was slim and perfect, with firm curves. She saw him looking at her with eager eyes, and her own eyes glowed.

His name was Lee Dan and he had been in the army for four years, since he was twenty. He came from a village in the province of Hunan where his father had been the mayor. He could have stayed in the village, working in the fields, but he had found that too dull, so he enlisted. Now he was nothing but a guard for the Germans. The two years he had spent in Manchuria had been profitable, enjoyable, and rather exciting. He had looted with his comrades, encouraged by his officers. He didn't think the people he had shot and stolen from were simple farmers like the people from his own village. He was a soldier and he obeyed orders. These people were against Mao Tse-tung and they had to be punished.

Then he had spent a year near the Indian border. There was talk of an invasion, and he was eager for some action. The invasion never came. It was never explained just who was going to do the invading.

Now, after all that, he had been assigned to guard the wing of the Imperial Palace where the Germans lived.

He and his comrades didn't like the Germans. They acted so superior. They were outcast Germans. Pariahs. They wore plain-looking uniforms and they looked ridiculous. Yet they marched and drilled as if preparing for a great war. What war?

Lee Dan looked up at the moon and shifted his rifle. It was a big, fat, romantic moon. He wished he had a woman.

There was a girl member of the Red Guards who interested him. She had flashing black eyes. He had taken her out twice but could never make any headway. Once she had allowed him to touch her as if she was giving him something precious. He made up his mind that if he took her out again he would demand she go to bed with him or he would never see her again.

A twig snapped and his mind cleared of his thoughts. "Who is that?" he demanded sharply.

"It is only I," a voice came from the shadows. "Lotus."

Lotus. He knew her. She was a prostitute who catered to the Germans. The Germans had all the luck. Lotus was very beautiful. He supposed that she was here to enter the wing where the Germans lived. Well, he wasn't going to let her through. Even if he could, he wouldn't. Just for spite. A Chinese girl going to bed with white men. And Germans.

He saw her in the moonlight, walking toward him. That dress. So tight. Her sharp breasts moved slightly as she walked. He felt like cracking her skull with his rifle butt.

No, he didn't. He didn't feel like that at all.

His body churned with desire. Yes, damn it. He wanted her. What man in his right mind wouldn't want such a beautiful creature. He managed a scowl.

"What do you want?" He made his voice stern.

Lotus stood just a foot away from him. "I think I am lost"

"You can't fool me- You know the Germans live here. You're looking for a German lover for tonight Well, you can t get through. So be off, Chinese slut."

Lotus stiffened. "Raper of women, killer of babies. Watch your tongue or I'll cause you to lose it."

"Just be off. I have my orders."

"I am not looking for Germans." Her voice became soft. "I was lonely. Have you ever been lonely?"

He couldn't believe his ears. Was Lotus making herself available to him? He wasn't that lucky. Then a thought struck him. Yes, of course. It was a matter of money. Perhaps she couldn't find any customers this night so she decided to try the guards. "I have six yuan in my pockets. That is all the money I have."

"I do not wish money, my friend." She laughed lightly.

"What do you wish, then?"

"An hour of your time. If you can spare it?" He looked about him. If he was caught off his post he would be brought up on charges. His superiors were very strict about that And he was under the immediate supervision of the Germans. There was no telling what they would do.

Lee Dan shook his head with much regret. "I am sorry, Lotus. I am on duty. Another night, perhaps?" Curse the luck. After he had wished for such an opportunity Lotus had shown herself but he had to turn down her sweet and generous offer.

"Behind me is thick woods," Lotus reminded him. "A bed of soft grass and we will be comfortable. Nothing happens here. You will be safe. Come." She took his arm.

He shook his head rapidly. "I can't. It is so tempting. But I can't. If I leave my post…"

Lotus raised her skirt slowly. Her slim legs, her slim sleek thighs appeared. Then she took off the dress and she was naked in the moonlight. She passed her hand over her breasts. "I will not offer myself to you again. If you do not come with me you will always regret it. You will dream of me and curse yourself for acting like a child, afraid of nothing. And what if something does happen? Who will know you left your post? No one will know. Unless you tell them. And you are not that foolish, Lee Dan."