Eden's Gate by David Hagberg Page A

have use for this.”

    â€œThanks. I was wondering when I’d get it back.” Lane said. He checked the action and then the load, before stuffing it in his belt at the small of his back.
    â€œHave you ever heard of this Russian?” Speyer asked. “Lukashin?”
    â€œIt’s a new name to me.”
    â€œHe’s supposed to be one tough son of a bitch, and he’ll almost certainly not come to the meeting alone.”
    â€œIs that where I come in?” Lane asked.
    Speyer nodded. “Just keep in the background, and keep your mouth shut. But if the need should arise, kill him.”
    â€œI had a silencer in my luggage.”
    Speyer took it out of his pocket and handed it to him. “We’re meeting with them at the Lincoln Memorial at ten o’clock, and it could go either way.”
    â€œI’ll be ready,” Lane said. “But it would be helpful if I knew what the hell I’m putting my life on the line for.”
    â€œMoney,” Speyer replied coolly.
    â€œThere’s money, and then there’s money, if you catch my meaning.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Speyer said after a slight hesitation. “You’re either going to walk away from this operation a rich man, or you’re going to end up dead. So you might as well know what you’re in for.”
    â€œThat’s fair enough,” Lane said. “What’s at the bottom of a flooded Nazi bunker that has you interested enough to hire me and to talk to the Russians? Gold?”
    â€œThe bunker was one of Hitler’s research centers for Wunder-waffen. ”
    â€œRockets?”
    â€œSomething better than that.”
    â€œNukes?”
    Speyer shook his head. “That part’s not important. They were using a special catalyst for their experiments, and they drained nearly all the Third Reich’s entire supply—most of which came from Jews gassed in the concentration camps.”
    â€œIf it’s not gold, what then? What’s worth all this effort? Platinum? But that would be too heavy.”
    â€œDiamonds,” Speyer said. “From engagement rings, heirloom jewelry, that sort of thing. A lot of those Jews were rich. There’s
maybe three hundred million dollars’ worth down there stored in a safe in the main research laboratory.”
    â€œWhy hasn’t anyone gone after them before now?”
    â€œIn the first place, those records came into our hands in East Germany, and were buried until I came across them. And secondly, it would be impossible to get down there unless you had the engineering diagrams of the bunker system. There was an explosion right after the war, probably a booby trap, and the entire place is filled with water, and no way to drain it or pump it out. The Russians capped the entrances with a few hundred tons of concrete and marked it as a mass grave.”
    â€œBut they really didn’t cap it.”
    â€œNot that one, nor did they completely seal a dozen others. It’s those records I want, and I know the four men who have access to them. Lukashin’s the key.”
    â€œWhat’s the connection to German television all about?”
    â€œWe’re going to do a documentary. That’s how we’re going to get inside without attracting any government attention.”
    â€œOkay, I’m with you so far. But what about the Russians, do they know what’s there?”
    â€œI destroyed that part of the record.”
    Something wasn’t adding up for Lane. The German Federal Police were interested in what Speyer was going after, and the Russians knew the layout of the bunker and how to get into it. Why hadn’t something been done by now? “What do the Russians think is there?”
    â€œA bunch of dead Jews.”
    â€œBesides that,” Lane insisted. “They’ll want to know why you want to get down there. What are you going to tell them?”
    Speyer gave him a