The second meeting with Krueger

“So this is the spot?” Hobbs asks.

“It’s a little further up.” Clarke answers. “But I don’t want to go all the way up there just yet. Somebody could be watching for us.”

“You don’t trust Krueger?”

“I don’t know. I think I do, I mean, I like him, but you never know. Especially in this line of work.”

“So what is plan?” I ask them.

“I want to talk to him first, alone. Just in case it’s a trap.” Clarke tells us, then points to Hobbs. “I’ll wave for you to come.”

“I’ll come from over there, so I don’t give their position away.” Hobbs suggests.

“That’s good thinking.” Clarke tells him.

“What about us?” I ask.

“I want you and your sergeant to stay here and watch over us. Stay hidden. He should be here any minute.”

“I understand.” I tell Clarke, then explain the plan to Dadonov as the two of them sneak off into their positions.

“Here.” Dadonov says, offering me his binoculars. I take them from him and look about the road and the surrounding areas.

After a wait that feels much longer than it really is, a gray German car with an open top pulls to the side of the road. I train the binoculars over it. An officer steps out and starts into the brush. Once he comes a bit closer I can tell that it’s Krueger.

He approaches Clarke, and the two shake hands. They talk for a time, even sharing a few laughs. Eventually, Clarke turns and waves, and I watch Hobbs approach the pair of them from the other side. They go through their introductions, shaking hands and talking amongst themselves.

Their posture becomes a bit more serious, and I can see Clarke talking with a lot of hand gestures. Eventually, the trio returns to banter, shaking each other’s hands and patting each other’s shoulders. Krueger nods his head, speaks, and waves goodbye to the two of them, before returning to the car. He pretends to be fixing his pants when he emerges from the forest, then sits down in the car, starts the engine, and drives away.

“How did meeting go?” I ask the two of them when they return to Dadonov and I.

“I think it went well.” Clarke says. “But we have a test that will tell us a lot more in the coming days.”

“What test?”

“We asked him for security information regarding the stone bridge. Now we sit back, and we watch, and we see if anything changes.”