CHAPTER THREE
IRON KLAUS, GUARD DOG

The Major was not surprised to find the hospital overrun with casualties of the storm. He did find himself impressed at how organized everything was. He had seen numerous so-called Emergency Plans fall apart when finally put into practical use. Someone had obviously thought this one through. As soon as he arrived, his condition was assessed and he was given a color-coded tag indicating the severity of his injuries.

It turned out his arm wasn’t broken. Just very badly bruised. As he suspected, he had pulled his shoulder and was given something for the pain as well as some antibiotics. Then he was put with a group of others to be taken to the Evac-Center.

The only good point in all this that the Major could see was he was able to procure some halfway decent cigarettes while he was waiting. Another group of volunteers brought food for everyone, and it was only then that Klaus realized how long it had been since he had last eaten.

It was dark by the time the Major arrived at the Evac-Center and he dreaded thinking about how many hours he’d wasted sitting at the hospital. The Sheriff suddenly appeared out of nowhere and pulled him from the group.

“I have some news for you, Major,” the Sheriff said as he steered the officer across the school gymnasium. “Dispatch was able to get hold of your people in Washington, so they know where you are.”

The Major’s eyebrows went up. “Are the phones working?”

“No. They used a radio relay.” The Sheriff gave the Major an appraising look. “They said you’re some kind of security expert.”

The Major gave the man a sideways glance. “I’m an intelligence officer.”

“No shit!” the Sheriff laughed. “Like in the movies?”

Klaus gave a derisive snort. “No. Is your job like in the movies?”

The Sheriff laughed again. “Hell, no! It’s borin’ as all get out.”

“Except today, eh, JT?” a woman injected from behind them.

The Major turned, seeing a woman in her late-forties smiling up at them. She had her gray streaked brown hair pulled back in a short pony tail and was dressed in blue jeans and a sweatshirt that had the sleeves pushed up to her elbows. She looked as though she were ready to do any job that was thrown her way, which, as it turned out, she was.

The Sheriff turned and smiled. “Just the gal I was lookin’ for. Major, meet Martha Thompson, the heart and soul of the Evac-Center.”

“JT…”

“Martha, this is the Major.”

“Major what?” Martha replied with a grin.

“Don’t ask,” the Sheriff said quickly. “His name’s a real mouthful. He just likes ta be called Major.”

“Okie dokie, just Major it is.”

Klaus gave a small sigh and told himself not to lose his temper. He smiled with effort before asking why the Sheriff had dragged him away from the others.

“Ah, yeah, that brings up another point,” the Sheriff said hesitantly. “I was wonderin’, Major, if you wouldn’t mind acting as…well, sort of an unofficial security guard for the Evac-Center?”

The Major’s eyes grew wide. This was the last thing he expected.

“Security guard? You really think that’s necessary, JT?” Obviously, Martha did not think the center required security.

“There’s always someone ready to take advantage of a bad situation,” the Major replied knowingly.

Martha gave a disgusted snort. “Well, I don’t know where you come from, Major, but around here, we look after our neighbors.”

The Sheriff held up his hands. “It’s just till I can get this mess sorted out,” he said quickly. “I’m spread pretty thin tonight.” He turned to the woman glaring up at him. “Get the Major situated, Martha. Then you and I can talk about this, okay?” He waved a hand in the Major’s direction. “They pulled him outta Louise Turner’s place this afternoon and he hasn’t even had a chance t’ get cleaned up yet.”

Martha’s face suddenly lit up. “That was you!” She gave the Sheriff a playful swat on the arm. “JT, why didn’t you say so to begin with?” She turned, waving to the Major to follow. “Come on, we’ll get you fixed up just right.”

Klaus dreaded to speculate what this might mean and was surprised when he was shown into an office that had a cot in it.

“This is the Coach’s office,” Martha explained. “I guess if you’re gonna be our unofficial security, you probably should have some privacy.” She indicated another doorway. “That leads to the boys locker room and showers.” She lowered her voice as if someone might overhear. “If you hurry, you’ll be able to get ‘em to yourself. We won’t be opening ‘em to the public until tomorrow morning.”

The Major looked around the room and nodded approvingly. Spartan yet functional. Just what he required. “Thank you, Ms. Thompson.”

“Oh, aren’t you the gentleman,” Martha laughed. “Martha, please.” She did not wait for a reply and gave his ruined suit and appraising look. “I expect you’ll be needin’ a change of clothes. We have a lot of donated things…”

Klaus was already imagining every communicable disease ever discovered infesting the donated clothing.

“A group of volunteers has been washing clothes most of the day. There’s boxes in the locker room, separated by size. There’re towels on the benches. And there’s supposed to be a box of shaving supplies, but I haven’t had the chance to check on that.” Martha gave the Major another small smile before leaving, closing the door behind herself.

The Major sank into the chair behind the desk and sighed heavily before going on to light a cigarette. “Iron Klaus, unofficial guard dog,” he muttered darkly. “Bloody fucking marvelous.”

* * *

After a shower and change of clothes, Klaus felt a little more human again, although he was not pleased with the number of bruises that covered his body. Notwithstanding his pulled shoulder, he was going to be very stiff and sore for a while. He looked at the painkillers he’d been given at the hospital and then tossed them in the trashcan. He would take the antibiotics, nothing more.

Before showering, he had planned to check every entrance to the locker room to make certain no one would walk in on him while he was…exposed. Instead, he discovered there was a private shower in the Coach’s office that Martha apparently knew nothing about.

He gave the locker room a once over anyway, then looked at the collection of neatly folded clothing, carefully sorting through it. Some of the items were still warm from the dryer and had the smell of fresh linen. He found what looked like a jogging suit, sweat pants and zippered jacket, in his size, and then found a shirt to go under it. He looked over his selections and nodded approvingly. Now he would be able to wear his gun without scaring the hell out of everyone in the building.

When Klaus returned to the gymnasium, he was surprised to see how many people had appeared in the short time he was getting cleaned up. He looked over at Martha, who was having an intense conversation with the woman the Major would soon learn was Louise Turner.

Suddenly the officer found himself the center of attention, which was not a position he enjoyed, especially when the attention was from this many females. Before he could extract himself, Louise Turner said, “Klaus, did you hear anything about your friend?”

There was a titter of amusement from the others in response to this.

“You have a friend! Is he as handsome as you?”

“Oh, hush,” Louise snapped. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”

Martha suddenly seemed to appear out of nowhere. “That’s enough, girls.” She took the Major by the arm. “JT left some papers for you, Major. Right this way,” she said as she steered the stunned officer away from the group.

“Papers?” the dazed Klaus said once he found his voice.

Martha grinned. “I made that up. You looked like you needed rescuing,” she said calmly. “After your day, I reckon you’d just as soon get some sleep.”

The Major nodded. That he would. He could not quite believe it was still the same day. He felt as if he had been on a week-long mission in the space of twenty-four hours. “I’m not sure what the Sheriff expects me to do for you,” he said slowly.

Martha laughed. “I said the same thing. He just wants you to keep the kids from banging each others heads together when they get bored, that’s all.”

“Wonderful.” Iron Klaus, guard dog and babysitter. This was getting worse and worse.

“They won’t get rowdy until they’ve been cooped up for a day or two. And by then, things should be straightened out enough for you not to have to worry about it,” Martha said knowingly. She held up a hand. “Here. The key to the office.”

The Major took the key and pocketed it. “Thank you,” he said dully.

“You get some sleep, Major. You look like you could use it.”

Klaus nodded. That he did. With luck, the phone lines would be repaired the next day and he would be able to find out exactly what he was supposed to do. Remain to carry out a possibly fruitless search for the Earl, or return to Bonn and let the Americans handle it.

* * *