Page 28 of Wild Oblivion

He didn’t respond. Not so much as a blink.

“Mr. Strauss, I’m Deputy Wild with the Coconut County Sheriff’s Office. This is my partner, Jack Donovan.”

Nothing.

“We just have a few questions for you.”

I waited for a reply that didn’t come.

“Two gentlemen came to visit you the other day. Do you remember that?”

Again, nothing.

I displayed the old picture of the trio on my phone and held it in front of his face. “That’s your father, isn’t it?”

Silence.

“Those other two are Rudolph Heissler and Klaus Von Markov.”

His eye twitched a little.

I didn’t want to read too much into it.

“Rudolph was shot yesterday by Jürgen Stahl. Does that name ring a bell?”

Still nothing.

“You want to tell me about Projekt Zeitspiegel?”

Henrik finally looked at me, then glanced at the open door. In a whisper, he said in a thick German accent, “You should stop asking questions.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s best for all of us.”

I shared a look with JD, then addressed Henrik again. “You want to tell me why guys thought to have been dead since the Second World War are walking around Coconut Key, paying you a visit?”

“I want no part of it.”

“Part of what?”

“What they want is impossible anyway.”

“What do they want?”

Henrik gave me a dumb look. “What do you think?”

“This whole thing is a little out of the ordinary. I’m not really sure what to think.”

Henrik looked to the hallway again, then whispered, “They want to go back.”

“To the past?”

“They want to change the outcome of the war. Just think of it. All the knowledge of the present day at their fingertips. Catastrophic.”

I still had my doubts, but rolled with it for now. “Why come to you?”

He hesitated. “Because I have what they need.”