Read Thy Kingdom Come: Book One in the Sam Thorpe series for Free Online

Oliver. All I said was that I didn’t know what mission he has planned for us. Do you?”
    “No, I don’t, but we must be prepared to do whatever is necessary.”
    “Look,” Sam replied, “we’re supposed to be on the same team. Let’s not cross one another, at least in front of the men. If you have problems with what I say, we can talk it over in private.”
    The two glared at one another. Sam wouldn’t be the first to blink in this game of eyeball chicken.
    “Let me handle situations like my face-down with Buster. I need to establish my authority. Your piping in doesn’t help.”
    Popeye sat down in his swivel-tilter armchair. He leaned forward with his elbows on the scarred executive-style desk. “Please sit.” He motioned with his left arm toward a wooden chair in the corner.
    Sam pulled the chair up to the desk.
    “A great deal is riding on the successful accomplishment of our mission. I just want to make sure the general’s plan works.” Popeye ran his fingers through his unruly white hair. “Fuckers have crucified us. I for one ain’t gonna take it anymore.”
    “What are you talking about?” Sam asked.
    “Do you know what it means to get crapped on by your government after you’ve given them your best?”
    Sam shook his head.
    “My grandfather was an SS colonel in the German Army.”
    He said it with such pride.
    “The Jews destroyed my country. After we were so close to victory. The glorious Third Reich brought to its knees. All because of the Jews.”
    Sam nodded, not trusting himself to say anything. His best friend in the military school had been Jewish. His friend’s grandmother had spent two years in Auschwitz—watching her parents spirited off to the gas chamber, being starved and beaten, then somehow managing to stay on her feet during the death march to the next camp near the end of the war. She was one of the few who survived and the only one in her family.
    “Ever hear of ODESSA?” Popeye’s voice pulled Sam back to the present. His eyes shone. A smile curled up his lips under the drooping moustache.
    It took all of Sam’s patience to sit there and listen. “The name sounds familiar.”
    “The ODESSA was formed by the CIA after the war to take care of high-ranking German officers. The intelligence bastards knew the enemy had become the Russians. The U.S. needed the German intelligence apparatus if they were to have a chance against the Communist horde.” He smiled again. “They were smart enough to recognize the skills of the German officers and planned to take advantage of them.”
    “I hadn’t heard that.”
    “Not many people have. My grandfather befriended the bishop in Vienna during the war. The bishop knew what heroes the German officers were. He helped hundreds of SS officers escape by obtaining Red Cross passports, then visas to Syria. He gave them tickets for a ship and money to tide them over.”
    “The Catholic Church did that?” Bile rose in Sam’s throat. Very little surprised him anymore, but this did.
    Popeye ignored Sam’s comment. “My grandfather arrived in Syria with his family. That’s where he met the CIA representatives. They told my grandfather they valued his skills and would protect him. He believed the liars. Our family, along with a number of other SS officers and their families, left Syria and settled in Argentina.”
    “Why Argentina?”
    “Can’t tell you.” Popeye lit a cigar and drew on it. “I was born in Argentina.”
    Sam waited.
    “My grandfather’s mission was to meet with Arab groups. He helped them form cells that would rid the world of the Jews and their supporters once and for all.”
    Sam exhaled. “How long did this go on?”
    “It was a grand plan. One of my grandfather’s friends, Otto Skorzeny, helped install Nasser as president of Egypt.”
    Sam raised his eyebrows.
    “That’s right, Thorpe: this was a big deal.” He smiled. “A very big deal. Skorzeny brought together groups of top SS soldiers to help him