The Heritage Paper

Chapter 63



Youkelstein continued to stare at the Nazi Last Supper in disbelief. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pad in which he had scribbled down the Apostle names during yesterday’s trip to Rhinebeck. He mentally filled them in. He now had a complete list from Peter to Thaddeus.

“I must disagree with you on Himmler, Ben, calling him the devil would be insulting to Satan himself. We never wanted him or Bormann to be involved, but he always had the Führer on his marionette string.

“He was a brilliant planner and economist, and while it pains me to admit it, the Apostles never would’ve survived to see this day if he wasn’t at the forefront of our formative years. Our first step was to build a wealth worthy of a great empire. Nobody was better skilled at these tasks than Himmler.

“He also knew the best way to engage the enemy was to become the enemy. And by posing as Jacob Sterling, he became a beacon of the Jewish community.”

“Why did you bring me into this? Nothing you did was without calculation.”

“It was like a miracle when I ran into you at the Eichman trial. And certainly not planned. All the Jews there were so bloodthirsty, but you even more than most. I realized if I hunted down these vilified Nazis, then the Apostles’ infiltration into the enemy would be complete.”

“You used me.”

“I gave you a platform for your revenge and you bit into it like a slobbering shark! And often we were on the same team. For instance, we both wanted Bormann dead.”

“He was about to talk before you killed him. He had no idea he was speaking to an Apostle—he never knew the true identity of Otto, only a select few were privy to it. I thought your rage overtook you, but killing him was about revenge … because he murdered your mentor.”

“If not for the Führer, Bormann’s own men would’ve killed him ten times over. He sent more people to death then imaginable, and whored himself to whoever was the most powerful man in the room. And yes, he did betray the Führer by joining forces with Himmler, and I vowed to get justice.”

“You were surprised Himmler had devious plans? Killing Hitler might be his one redeeming quality.”

Aligor glared at him—he’d hit a nerve. “Himmler’s ego wouldn’t allow him to play second fiddle. His plans were so grandiose and delusional that he actually sought a meeting with Joe Kennedy in early 1960, seeking to be his son’s choice for Supreme Court Justice if he won the presidency. Jacob Sterling on the US Supreme Court, can you imagine it, Ben?”

Youkelstein shuddered with thoughts of the damage that Himmler could have caused from that powerful seat. But also saw how his craving for the spotlight had threatened the secrecy of the Apostles.

“When he was told there were no openings, he created one. In 1962, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter was forced to retire from the court after suffering a sudden stroke, but President Kennedy nominated Arthur Joseph Goldberg to fill the Jew seat vacated by Frankfurter. So Himmler declared war on the President and his family. He was clearly out of control at this point and putting the group at risk. And when we discovered that he’d murdered such a great leader, we had to act.”

“You are saying Himmler was responsible for the Kennedy assassination?”

“I said nothing of the sort! The great leader I speak of is the Führer. To even compare his legacy to a lightweight like John Kennedy is blasphemy! And we both know the communists were behind that day in Dallas, Ben.”

“So tell me how you killed the devil. After all the help I’ve provided you over the years, I think I deserve one last joy before my death.”

“I will defer to the US Coast Guard on the official cause of Jacob Sterling’s death, which they declared an accidental drowning,” he said with a smirk.

“With all the time you spent around Himmler, I see you picked up his opportunistic traits. When he went overboard, it boosted you into a position of power.”

“I always preferred to work behind the scenes, but with Jacob’s death, and the age and health issues of the others, I was forced to take on a leadership position. And I thought it would just be temporary, until Josef was ready to take his rightful place.”

“But the chosen one didn’t turn out as planned.”

“That would be an understatement—and it set us back a generation. Unfortunately, he became Americanized—the drugs, the women, and his overall reckless behavior. We all believed, or at least hoped, that marriage, along with the responsibility of his own child, would set him on the right path. But the decline continued, culminating with his affair with that CIA operative from his father’s case, which resulted in another member of the bloodline.”

“Flavia. Daughter of Josef and Olivia Conte.”

“And thanks to Josef’s loose lips—often fueled by alcohol—Olivia learned too much about our operation. And it was just a matter of time before she acted on what she learned. It was a messy situation. Eliminating a CIA member was a great risk, but we felt we had no other choice.”

“Did Ellen know you had her son killed?”

Aligor’s eyes shifted. Youkelstein could tell he wanted to avoid that issue. “While it was very clear that Josef would not live up to expectation, we found hope in his son. But we worried that Josef would drag Jim down with him, and we couldn’t afford that. He was our final chance.”

“I think ‘final solution’ would be a more appropriate term. By killing his father in front of him, and in doing so, painting the Jews as his killer … you created a monster! Or more accurately, re-created one.”

“That’s humorous coming from the man who believes in nature over nurture. You know as well as I do that Jim Kingston is a product of the bloodline. All I did was clear the path for him to accept his destiny.”

Aligor stood and walked to the window. He stared through the thick bulletproof glass out at the energized crowd that had gathered just beyond the gates of the Kingston Estate. He cleared his throat and said, “And destiny has arrived, Ben.”