The Wolf's Den

“I’m sorry, Krause. It’s best to stay out of his affairs. Yes, his problems could throw this mission in danger, but we can’t pull him out of Germany yet until our government is satisfied. I understand you want to help but doing that would only make things worse.” Krause stares up into the ceiling. He sees a peculiar brown stain on it. Likely the previous occupants who were labeled undesirables by the Nazis. Shot in their own home during one of their raids. Looks like they tried to paint over it. But the stain is still there, like it refuses to let the evidence of their atrocities be destroyed.

The man says, “You have to push hard to get as many sweet lil’ secrets as you can. That’s the only thing you should worry about. Is that clear, Krause?” Krause continues to look at the stain. He wonders if the potential bloodstain belonged to a woman like Marlene? Or any other people that got murdered by those bastards. He can’t tell his wife he did absolutely nothing. It makes Krause feel like nothing. The man yells, “Krause! Did you hear me?”

Krause turns his eyes back to him and says, “I hear you, sir. Do you know if there’s any progress on the reports we’ve been sending through?” The man replies, “No, the information is classified. That’s all they tell me and that’s good enough for me. We just have to do our part in making sure it gets there. That is our true purpose.” Krause looks back up at the stain. Funny how some people don’t see things like this. Just take the tunnel vision approach. “Of course, sir.”

Liking what he hears, the man gleefully springs up and says, “Good. I’ll be expecting great things from you. Bring me something I can use; we don’t have a lot of time. I’ll see you around and avoid trouble as much as you can. We can’t screw this up, baby!” The man grabs his coat and hits the road. As Krause continues to look at the peculiar stain, he ponders if they’re going to make it even more difficult. The U.S. government. He may as well say to hell with it and do what's best. That’s what he’s been doing and will keep doing, baby.