“Some strange man with an accent tried to warn me last night. He said I was being followed, tracked somehow. He said his name was Helmut.”
“I don’t know him, best to be cautious. They are getting careless. My word, how much do they know?” said Esther, taking a deep breath and shaking her head. “We have to focus. Enough of an old woman’s story. Here is what you really need to know. The first real effort against Management was at the beginning of the last century. The Circle chose a small European country, Armenia that interested no one. They had learned that it was better to go undetected as much as possible. But the Management learned of the effort to undermine them and sent in Turks from the great Ottoman Empire. It took only two years to kill one and a half million men, women and children and wipe Armenia off of the map forever.” Esther stopped for a moment as she let out a deep sigh. Her entire body tensed as she looked down at her lap. “It was meant as a warning but the Circle didn’t listen and tried again. The second attempt ended in a greater Holocaust. Ever since it seems the tug of war between the two sides, well…” She hesitated as if she were trying to figure something out. “Maybe all we accomplished was to play out our part in creating a wasteland across the twentieth century.”
“What are you saying? That Hitler was part of this, what, Management?” said Wallis, almost at a shout.
“He was a clever and twisted part of a vast empire but in the end not welcomed even there. I’ll grant you that there were those within his own organization that regretted ever helping him get elected. It has been the only time so far that Management has ended up warring with itself. It was heartening to see that even Management had its limits but a ruthless opportunity was seized at the same time to wipe out a problem. Millions of people died, many of them had nothing to do with the Circle but they paid as well. Management couldn’t be sure and they weren’t taking any chances. However, not all of the Circle perished.”
“The twenty.”
“Yes, the zwanzig. Twenty young men and women who managed to escape to this country and start anew. By that time they had new allies as well. The Armenian atrocity had enlightened others to the greater good as well, like that uprising in India and Gandhi. But in the end he paid for his efforts as well, didn’t he? Still, there were those who joined together and formed a larger Circle. Management was aware of the possibility of a new threat and as distasteful as they found anyone from that horrible Nazi regime they helped many of them escape as well. Right next door to us in fact, in South America. It was a policy of keep your enemies closer and in this case, I suppose, both elements were suspect.”
“The list in that file. The list someone stole from me today, this Management stole, it was a list of boys’ names, some of them boys I know. What was it? And there were numbers after each name,” said Wallis.
“Some of them are Management’s newest recruits. If that’s all they got from you they must be very disappointed tonight. The numbers are nothing, not to ponder at all,” said Esther, patting her hand.
“Why is Ned in danger?”
“I like that about you, your focus. It will serve you well. Legacies and their ways die very hard and Management has always seen the blood line of the zwanzig as particularly dangerous. It’s as if they believe there is something more powerful about what can be passed through DNA. We have worked hard to protect the lines and keep them a secret as much as possible but something has happened and I’m afraid we aren’t sure exactly what. Some of their number has been thinned.”
“That’s a disgusting word for murder,” said Wallis.
“Yes, it is. But if you are to at least stay alive in this game then you must see things from the same angle as your opponent. And they would see the zwanzig and all of their families as a poisoned herd with only one solution. Do not ever lull yourself into thinking that reasoning will be possible. If they have figured out that Norman is a zwanzig then you and Ned are in grave danger, which is why I don’t believe they know that small fact just yet.” Esther sat back, suddenly looking very tired. “Ray Billings did you no favors.”
“Did he know?”
“I don’t believe he did. He singled you out quite innocently for a completely different reason. He saw you as an honest lawyer,” said Esther, with the beginning of a smile, “and a local girl. You see, it proves my point. Webs are very easy to weave and very difficult to break apart.”
“How do you know so much?” said Wallis.
“Ah, at last, the question just as you have finally figured out the answer, correct? I am a zwanzig as well. The only one of my family to make it to America. I am not exactly Romanian as everyone believes. I am German, through and through.”
Wallis heard the slight change in Esther’s accent.
“Tom, your dear brother in law, is coming to see me. A war has begun and we would like to prevent another slaughter. You, my dear may be key to that.”