Chapter Fifteen
After placing the sniffing, sneezing twins on the exam table, Emma motioned to the woman to take a seat in the only chair in the exam room. “Frau Obergruppenführer—”
“Call me Eva. It is the name I was given when I joined the American SS, a symbol of my rebirth in the movement.”
“Eva.” What a disgusting homage. Was her maiden name Braun? “Why do you think this is a measles outbreak?”
“Did you see the kids? Before I joined the SS, I was a registered nurse, worked at St. Vic’s in Billings. Textbook signs and symptoms.”
“Okay, I agree it looks like measles.” She glanced at Bronco. “Any idea where these kids would get it? It looks like none have been immunized, is that correct?”
Eva nodded. “Yes, Jack was quite adamant. Said it caused autism. I tried to argue with him.” She shook her head. “That’s the day I learned not to disagree with him. Fortunately, he only broke my arm. I was able to set it myself, get it to heal properly, a little awkward given I was pregnant with the twins.”
Sickened, Emma checked to see if she heard correctly. “He beat you while you were pregnant?”
Face blazing, Eva stared at the floor and whispered, “Yes.”
Emma took her hand. “That’s classic domestic violence. You know that, right?”
Eva looked up, and a tear trickled down her cheek. “I was such a fool. Two years ago I met Jack at a political rally for a local candidate. I didn’t care about politics, I was there working the first aid tent, earning some extra cash. Jack and a couple of other men brought in an older man who fainted. It was hot as blazes, so no surprise.”
Emma squeezed her hand.
“He was so handsome, so caring to that elderly man, so charming to me.” Eva shook her head. “Fool that I am, I fell for him. He asked me to come here. I quit my job, sold everything, gave him all my money.” She shook her head and the trickle of tears became a flood. “His men watch me like hawks. He uses the boys as pawns, threatens to take them away from me if I even look like I’m thinking of disobeying him. Please don’t say anything. If he knows I told you all this—he’ll kill me.”
Seething inside at the abuse this woman had endured, Emma vowed to free Eva as soon as she could. “What you tell me is confidential.”
Eva flicked the tears off her face and took a deep breath. “Thank you.”
Emma kept a poker face. “So, no immunizations for the kids. What about the adults?”
“They’ve come from all over the country, so my guess is they had vaccinations. This is the only outbreak we’ve had in ten years.”
“How many adults are in this community?”
“Aryans?”
“Yes.” Emma bit her tongue.
Eva looked to the left, a good sign she was telling the truth. “About five hundred. But the compound is built to hold two-thousand. With the Internet, they’ve been able to increase recruitment efforts, so Jack anticipates more coming.” She frowned. “Like you.”
“Other than us—who are immunized, by the way—any other new people in the community?”
Eva frowned. “Asians—slaves Jack brought in to do the dirty work on the compound.”
“Um-hmm.” Now they were getting somewhere. “What kind of work?”
“They clean the houses, watch the children at daycare, take care of the horses, and serve food in the dining hall—that sort of thing.” She glanced back and forth between Emma and Bronco. “Why?”
“How did they come here, if I may ask?”
“I’m not sure how they got here from Asia. They came in the trucks from Canada.”
“Did anyone check to see if they had been immunized before they got off the trucks and began to work?” Disease didn’t respect global boundaries or political beliefs. Most likely the trafficked victims brought measles with them when they got on the boat and headed to Canada.
Eva shrugged. “Jack never tells me anything that’s not related to my assignments. My job is to work on the Internet, keep our website up to date, help recruit members, and keep the money coming in.”
Emma weighed her words with care. “Frau Obergruppenführer—Eva—I need your help. I have no cell service here, I need you to get me on your computer so I can contact the appropriate medical personnel for help.” The satellite phone in the truck was not appropriate at this time. She needed to co-opt Eva, get the woman to do her bidding.
Panic crossed her face, and Eva opened her mouth to protest, but Emma continued.
“You’re a nurse. You know what happens after the runny nose, fever, and rash. Next comes respiratory distress and ultimately, brain infections which can lead to brain damage. Without proper medical care, kids can die from this.” She pointed at the twins. “Do you really want to see your babies suffocate to death or have seizures and die in your arms?”
Tears filled the blonde’s big blue eyes. “But Jack―”
“Are you prepared to go out there and tell every desperate mother standing in line that they must sacrifice their child for the SS?” Struggling to keep her emotions in check, Emma took a deep breath.
“He can be so mean. I used to love him, but he’s gotten worse, crazier since I had the twins. I’m afraid he’ll really hurt me this time—or the boys.”
“Do you love your children?”
“Yes.” Tears streamed down Eva’s cheeks. “Very much. That’s why I’m here today, to help them.”
“What children will the Obergruppenführer have for the new world order if they go untreated? Some will survive. But many will die or be brain damaged. Will you be able to live with yourself knowing you could have done something?”
The blonde put her face in her hands and sobbed. “What do you want me to do?”
“Let me have access to the Internet. I will do everything I can to keep public officials away from the compound. They can tell us what to do and drop supplies at the front gate. Please, allow me to help you, that’s why I’m here.”
“Okay, but not now. It will have to be later, when all these people are gone.” She gripped Emma’s hand again. “Jack has eyes everywhere. Snitches like Leroy get rewarded.”
“Allow me.” Emma opened the exam room door and stepped out in the waiting room. Rocking their sick children, the mothers looked up expectantly. “Listen up, please,” she said in a loud clear voice. “We have a measles outbreak.”
A collective gasp filled the room and anxious, chirping voices sent the message down the line.
“First, you must all go home and keep your children isolated from other children. No one, and I mean no one is to go in or out of your home unless they have been vaccinated against measles.” She took a deep breath. “This is a highly contagious disease. When your child coughs, the droplets are left floating in the room and are infectious for up to two hours.”
She turned to Leroy, whose eyes were bugging out of his head. “Two hours?”
“Were you vaccinated against measles, Leroy?”
“I dunno. I don’t think so.”
“Then you can catch it, too.”
His face drained of color. “I’m feeling a little feverish, now that you mention it.” The rifle slipped out of his hand, and he fell to the floor in a dead faint.
Well, that was easy.
“Go home. Isolate your children. Give them lots of fluids. If you have children’s acetaminophen, use it. If not, I will be coming house to house and bring medicines to you. I repeat, go home and isolate your children.”
The orderly line, which had bunched up around the porch to hear her announcement, was now an unhappy, unruly crowd. A heavy set woman shouted at her, “Why should we believe you? You’re not Aryan.”
“Please, you need to listen to me. Your children’s lives, your lives depend on taking these measures.”
The women exchanged uneasy glances, but the mouthy one didn’t relent. “On whose say so?”
Gaucho padded onto the porch and sat by her feet. The pack moved back two steps. Bronco came up behind her and murmured, “Eva is right behind you.”
“Frau Obergruppenführer, would you like to say a few words?” Emma stepped aside for the woman to come through with her babies.
“My husband foresaw Emma Bearkiller’s arrival. She is a powerful medicine woman. If you disobey her, I will report you to my husband. Now, do as she says. Go home, isolate your children and take care of them.” She clicked her heels, gave a Nazi salute, and said, “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children. Sieg heil!”
Heels clicked, arms saluted, and a chorus of Sieg heils responded to Eva’s shout.
Emma thought she would never live to see this on the land of her ancestors. It was all she could do not to vomit as she joined the chorus and saluted.
Eva turned and spoke rapidly, peeking over their shoulders, eyes on Leroy’s inert figure. “Until they figure out how Bronco fits in, you’ll be put up in the VIP visitors’ quarters, not far from my house. The computer is in the office, on the other side of the compound, away from housing. Nothing is locked. There is one night sentry at the office, Greg. He’s loyal to me. Hated it when Jack broke my arm. I’ll tell him to let you in.” She paused and swallowed hard. “My life is over. Save my children. Please.”
Leroy groaned. “What happened?”
“You fainted. I think you might have a fever. You need to go home and rest.”
Bronco offered the man a hand to stand up, but Leroy swatted it away. “I’m fine.”
Shrugging, Bronco said, “Yes, I see that. Would you like Emma to put a bandage on the gash on your forehead?”
Leroy put his hand up, and his fingers came away covered in blood. “I guess so.”
“Good man.”
Emma touched Eva’s shoulder. “Hang in there. Your children need you.”
Children did need their mothers—even when they were Nazis.
****
Despite the gash on his forehead and his fever, Leroy insisted on escorting them to their quarters. After a wobbly dismount from his ATV, the man demanded their car keys.
“This truck and this bike are now the property of the American SS. You can take your clothes and personal items, but that’s all.”
Bronco reached into the cab and flirted with the idea of stuffing the satellite phone into a pile of clothes—but Leroy came up behind him.
“Well, looky here,” he chortled. “You brought a phone—we’ve been needing another one of these.”
So much for that idea, Bronco thought. He hoped Emma’s psychic link with her brother was a strong one. Otherwise their last connection to the outside world had just been confiscated.
Leroy led them to a private cabin five doors down from the Obergruppenführer’s residence, which he pointed out with pride. While not showy in the way of McMansions that dotted suburban landscapes, this house was twice the size of the others and had his name on a sign out front. A stone walkway led up to the stairs of a porch where four rockers sat behind a split log railing. Bronco doubted Beautiful would enjoy rocking on that porch.
Leroy opened the door to the cabin and pointed out the nice arrangements. A galley kitchen with a microwave, coffee pot and mini-fridge, a bedroom with a king-sized platform bed. A bathroom with a vanity and shower. A sitting room with a couch, loveseat, and recliner. On the coffee table sat a copy of Mein Kampf, along with American SS literature.
Gaucho strolled in, looked around, and hopped up on the loveseat. He promptly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. The cat sent images of small metal buttons he’d spotted under the furniture as he padded around the cabin. Listening devices! Bronco sent him a mental thank you.
“This is beautiful, my brother.”
Leroy stiffened. “Fellow Citizen, not brother.”
“My apology, I meant no offense. In my biker club, we call everyone brother.”
“Which club?” Leroy relaxed a bit.
“Mongols, of course. One percenters.”
Leroy frowned. “Thought they had a lot of mixed breeds?”
“That’s why I left. The Mongol Club in Germany has a Muslim leader, can you believe that?” He shook his head. “I had to get out. So my old lady and I, we turned our back on them.”
“She was a Mongol?” Disbelief filled Leroy’s face. “You’re lying.”
“Honey, show them your tats.” He jerked his thumb at Emma’s chest.
Leroy grinned. “Tits are good, too.”
Emma rolled her eyes, pulled the neck of her shirt down and pointed to the tattooed scar. “Mongols Forever. I took a bullet for my club.” She shook her head. “And then they let in people I don’t want to be near, much less in the same club.”
Leroy’s eyes shone with admiration. “Wow. A medicine woman and a bad ass.”
“Ha.” Bronco guffawed. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” He made a twirling motion with his index finger. “Turn around, Babe. Show him your back.”
Emma glared at Bronco. “You know I don’t like that.”
“Bitch.” Bronco raised a hand. “You’ll do as I say.” Emma flinched and turned around. Bronco lifted her shirt and pointed to the hashtag of scars from her neck down to her waist. “Now that is badass. My old lady killed a grizzly with nothing but her knife.”
Gulping, Leroy whispered, “Did she really kill a bear? Or are you making that up?”
Emma snatched her hunting knife out of the holder on her leg and whirled. Before the guard could swallow, she had the sharp tip at his throat. “Yes, I killed a bear and I’ve killed a man, too. So if you’re done ogling my tits and ass, you can put your eyes back in your head.”
The man put his hands up in surrender. “I wish all our women were like you.” He shook his head. “Lunch is at noon in the mess hall. Just go down the path and you’ll see a big building opposite the horse barns.” Clicking his heels and snapping off a Nazi salute, Leroy ran down the steps, apparently no longer feeling ill. Bronco was pretty sure the snitch of the SS was going to go straight to the Obergruppenführer and tell him all about the new arrivals. Good, that was exactly what he wanted. Now it was time to wait.
“Emma, my love.” Bronco put his finger to his ear and pointed around the room. “We’re on our honeymoon. Why don’t we do what newlyweds are supposed to do?”
Eyes flashing, she looked as if she wanted to punch him in the nose, but played along. “Oh, baby,” she cooed. “I thought you’d never ask. Let’s go test drive this big bed.”
Boots clumping with extra effort, they threw themselves on the bed, which squeaked like a giant mouse.
Bronco whispered in her ear. “Gaucho spotted bugs everywhere. I sent him a message to remove the bugs from the bedroom. While he’s doing that, we’ll give someone an old radio show, complete with sound effects.”
She grinned, mischief dancing in her eyes. “Oh, baby, I want it rough,” she yelled. “I’ve been a bad girl. Spank me.”
He nearly choked laughing. “You’re right. You didn’t polish my shoes.” His open palm landed on his thigh.
“Ow, that hurt!” she shouted and gave him the thumbs up.
“And you haven’t cleaned that truck in a week.” Another smack to his thigh, this one stung.
“Ohmigod, you’re really hurting me. Do it again, you’re making me hot.”
He slammed his hand on his other thigh and winced.
“Oh, oh, oh, I’m gonna come!”
“No you don’t, not unless I say so,” he commanded. Pulling his belt out, the leather whistled in the air and slapped the bed. “Now, you can come.”
“Ah ah ah! Omigod, Omigod. Baby, you’re the best, you give me what I need.” She wrapped her arms around herself and kissed her biceps. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, baby, my turn now.” He whispered into her ear. “Gaucho cleared the bedroom of bugs. It’s just us.” Exhausted from the drive and the tension of play acting to the unknown listeners, he flopped onto his back.
To his surprise she whispered, “Yes, it is your turn.” With that she peeled off her T-shirt and jeans, pulled his pants down to his ankles and stroked him. Reaching into his wallet, she extracted a foil packet and deftly unrolled the sheath over his pillar of an erection. Climbing onto him, she brushed his face with her long hair, and kissed his cheeks, neck, and chest. At last, she brought her lips to his in a searing kiss, breaking the connection only to whisper, “Welcome back.”