CHAPTER TEN
DREXLER SWALLOWED HARD as the Kaiser’s stern countenance appeared on the screen. He poured himself a glass of water and braced to hear what an incompetent fool Klaus Hitler thought he was.
“I hear we are having some problems, Hans.”
“Sire, there have been a few…challenges as of late.”
“Challenges?”
Drexler shifted in his chair and leaned forward toward the videoconference camera. “Not to worry, our best men are on it.”
“A breach of the archives is a failure which reflects poorly on the empire’s security.”
“Sire—”
“It was your daughter, correct?”
“That, we are still investigating. Nothing is certain as of yet.”
“What did she take?”
“Nothing that we can identify yet. All the files appear to be present and accounted for.” Except for the damning photos, which never should have survived the incinerator, years ago. With a shrug, Drexler forced the lie out with an anxious laugh. “Merely the curiosity of a child. Teenagers…”
“You consider the daughter of the American Führer—the future regent—running off with an Infekt palace servant a matter of teenage curiosity?”
“She has nothing.”
“You have nothing. No prisoners to interrogate, no leads to follow. Only the best-trained secret police in the world as your disposal—and you have all been outwitted by a girl and an African servant!”
Drexler took a deep breath. “Sire, I assure you, we will find them.”
“Indeed you shall, or I will raise this issue at the next council assembly, where I’ll have no choice but to make an example of you.”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Get her under control!”
Click.
Drexler stabbed the button to end the transmission and retract the monitor. He stood, poured himself yet another drink, and paced around the office.
I’m surrounded by incompetence.
His was a lifetime term, as Führer. And in all that time, he’d never once perceived a threat to his status or power. Now, it was all unraveling because the people he trusted most had betrayed him.
He paged his assistant. “Get me Schroeder again.”
“Yes, sir.”
Within minutes, his phone buzzed and Schroder’s voice greeted him.
“That was rather quick,” Schroder said. “I trust the Kaiser is not too upset?”
“Listen carefully, Herr Direktor. Finding Miles Beaty and my daughter is of the utmost importance now—your highest priority. Do I make myself clear?”
Schroder scoffed.
“You find this amusing?”
“I find you amusing.”
“I would be careful, if I were you.”
“You cannot keep your daughter from the archives, and then she escapes. Now, you wish to blame everyone else for your inability to control her. Why, you can’t even run your own house, how do you expect to run a nation?”
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THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER
Mystery / ThrillerNew York Times and USA Today bestselling author Joshua Graham teams up with bestselling author Jack Patterson for an alternate history saga that will rock your mind. "A clever, imaginative tale of what if, rooted in secrets, believable and evocative...
