Ultimatum

"Mail is here, sir," a young boy walked in with a large canvas bag hanging heavily over his shoulder. He had a huge pile of envelopes in his hand.

"Place it on my desk. Your tip is there," Landa pointed to a table next to his office door but continued to look out the window that overlooked the commons of the Munich base.

He could envision himself down there surrounded by everyone watching him whip Daniela. If it had been under any other circumstances he would have felt like he was torturing his own flesh and blood, but when he found out everything about the Kohl family that all changed.

The only Kohl he could trust now was Derrick; the young boy had grown into a man, a man greater than his own father could have ever hoped to be.

Landa turned from the window when he heard his door shut after the mail boy left and grabbed the stack of letters off his desk. He separated letters from families proving their Aryan roots to official letters from other German officers.

The one letter he had been waiting for was mingled in between a letter of lost hope and letter addressed to him by a female actress. It was stamped CONFIDENTIAL, and he tore it open with great excitement.

Extracting the letter and unfolding it had been done in record time and he was now scanning its contents. His eyes widened as he continued to read and a smile curled onto his face when he was through.

Landa grabbed the phone from his desk and dialed a number. It rang a few times before someone picked up. "Alert Derrick Kohl that his sister was accepted to camp and tell him to meet me in the jail in ten minutes."

Landa had arrived second, seeing Derrick standing outside the jail waiting for him. He hopped airily out of the convertible when the driver parked at the door.

"Colonel," Derrick said politely, bowing slightly.

"Derrick," Landa nodded, a faint smile on his face.

They entered the jail cell together and reached her cell. Landa noticed immediately that Daniela was not there.

"WHERE IS SHE!?" he turned on the soldier who had stood watch every night.

"Sir, please, let me explain," the soldier begged, hardly making eye contact with the older man.

Landa remained silent, waiting for the solider to begin.

"Last night she began coughing up blood, and she asked me to get a doctor. I ran out to find someone that would be able to help but by the time I returned I found her unconscious and barely breathing," he said quickly.

Landa noticed that this soldier was young, younger than Derrick, maybe around the age of twenty-one.

"The doctor I was able to find told me that those were early signs of heart failure and he ordered that we dispose of her at once," the young solider finished.

"Daniela's dead?" Derrick asked. Landa could tell that he was trying hard to keep his cool.

The solider nodded. "She was practically banging down death's door."

Landa placed one hand on his hip and wiped his brow with the other hand. "Where is the body?"

"The doctor suggested that we throw it in the dump."

"The dump." Landa and Derrick said together.

Landa had ordered Derrick to find the doctor responsible for giving these orders while he and the young guard, whose name was Mikhail, scoured the piles of garbage for Daniela's body.

"Do you remember where you place her?" Landa asked.

"Not too far from her parents," Mikhail pointed in the direction of the Daniela's parents.

Landa found his way over to his best friend and wife's body. He knelt down and surveyed Adele; her prized pearl earrings were still at home in her ears, but he saw that her eyes had been forcefully closed. And on closer inspection Landa saw that her wedding ring was missing.

He quickly moved to Alfred; his eyes had been forced shut also and his wedding ring was gone.

Landa stood slowly, staring down at his best friend's body as he spoke to Mikhail. "Are you sure Daniela was dying when you and the doctor placed her here?"

"Yes, sir. The doctor assured me that she had almost no heartbeat; I even felt it myself."

He turned to the Mikhail. "I hope you know that you just helped an enemy of the state escape. I will have to report you to your commanding officer and he will punish you as he sees fit."

"But, sir.."

"But nothing. As a member of the German army there are things that you are expected to do. You have let down your commanding officers, your fellow soldiers and your country," Landa spoke very calmly as he scolded the young man. "Please, just get out of my sight."

"Have you found anything, Hans?"

Landa looked to see Derrick approaching; and by the looks of it he hadn't been able to find the doctor that Mikhail had been talking about.

Landa hurried to Derrick, eager to get away from Alfred and Adele's bodies before Derrick could see them. Derrick had been informed that his parents had been buried in wooden coffins in unmarked graves.

"Young Mikhail and I could not find your sister," Landa reported.

"So...she's alive?"

Landa nodded. "But, don't worry, we'll find her soon enough and she'll be begging to help us in our mission after only a day in Auschwitz."

Landa parted with Derrick near the dining hall where Derrick said he was meeting with some of his mates for lunch. Landa walked leisurely back to his office with his hands behind his back, formulating a plan in his head.

He knew exactly what he needed to do.

He needed to alert the Fuhrer, although he was much against getting Hitler involved in official missing persons cases. This was different because the only way Landa would be able to find Daniela quickly was if all of Europe knew who she was.

Landa would convince the public that Daniela was Undesirable No. 1.

All of Europe would know her face and those who either were a part of the German army or feared the German army would participate in the search for this girl.

This girl would be in his office within a span of three weeks dead or alive.