“OK, let’s just take it down a notch,” said Nemo. “We’re all on the same side here. Of course we want to steal the gold back from Weiss, if you can call it stealing when Weiss stole it from us and Himmler probably stole it from half the population of Europe. The problem is, she’s got a solid head start, and we don’t know where she’s going.”

“I thought you said you overheard them talking,” said Alex.

“Well they didn’t exactly say, ‘We’re going ninety miles north to hide the loot in the barn with the red swastika on the side,’ ” said Patton.

“They said Fuchsbau,” said Jean softly.

“What was that?” said Alex.

“They said they were going to someplace called the Fuchsbau. It means the Fox’s Den.”

“The Fox’s Den?” said Alex with a wide grin. “Well, why didn’t you say so? We can be there in a couple of hours.”

“You mean you know where it is?” said Patton.

“Of course I know where it is,” said Alex. “What kind of Nazi historian and keeper of conspiracy theories would I be if I didn’t know where the Fox’s Den is?”

“Well, whatever it is, let’s go,” said Patton.

“Does one of you want to ride with me?” said Alex.

But before anyone could answer, an unfamiliar voice said, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Nemo, Patton, Jean, and Alex stepped in front of the van and came face-to-face with three men, whom only Patton knew to be Ted Grosswald, Bob Macmillan, and Franklin Rendell. They each stood in a shooting stance and each held a Beretta M9, just like the one Patton had been forced to leave behind in North Carolina.

“Hello, gentlemen,” said Patton. “It’s been a long time.”

Ingrid Weiss finally laughed. She couldn’t believe she had accomplished the mission her grandfather had laid upon her shoulders. True, she now lived in what amounted to a damp cave with little in the way of modern amenities, but the hundreds of millions of euros in gold sitting in a dump truck in an adjacent chamber would soon put that to right.

“What’s so funny?” said Gottfried. “Because if you’re laughing at the fact that the only place that Dietrich and Eva can sneak off to now is a dank cavern then I am prepared to laugh along with you.”

“You’re forgetting the ever so comfortable cab of that dump truck,” said Ingrid. “But I’m laughing because I’m happy. Happy that we can finally begin the real work of Columbia House.”

“You don’t actually think we’re safe here?” said Gottfried.

“For the time being,” said Ingrid. “We’ll let the authorities jump to the conclusion that the terrorists blew themselves up in Brenner, lay low for a while, then take the gold to Switzerland.”