Winter's Bullet by William Osborne

outside one of the offices. The words ‘Accounts Dept’ were painted on the door.
    â€˜Inside.’
    Tygo stepped in, the door slamming behind him. Willa looked up from the cot bed she had been lying on, and sprang to her feet.
    â€˜Tygo!’ she exclaimed. ‘You’re alive.’
    â€˜Alive and kicking,’ Tygo said. She was pleased to see him, it seemed, and he realized he was pleased to see her again too. ‘Are you all right?’
    â€˜I’m fine, they’ve treated me well – food, drink – I just don’t understand what’s going on. Where have you been all this time?’
    Tygo realized it had been nearly a whole day since they had seen each other.
    â€˜Barcelona. I’ve been to Barcelona.’
    â€˜What?’ Willa stared at him, unbelieving. ‘You mean in Spain?’
    â€˜I know it’s incredible, but I promise you it’s really true. There’s something really big and secret going on at the moment. We went in this special plane to a hotel in Barcelona, where Krüger gave some sort of . . . money, I think it was, to a woman, a very important woman called Eva Duarte. She must have been from Argentina – I heardher say Buenos Aires.’
    â€˜I’ve heard of her.’ Willa was frowning.
    â€˜On the way back we got attacked and I shot down a plane.’
    â€˜I don’t believe that .’ Willa punched him playfully on the arm.
    â€˜Ow!’ Tygo yelped. ‘See? I even got shot!’ He slipped off his coat and showed Willa his bandaged arm.
    â€˜Really? Does it hurt?’
    â€˜Yes, it does.’
    Willa looked at him. ‘What’s happening, Tygo?’
    Tygo sat down on the bed. What was happening? He tried to make sense of everything.
    â€˜It’s complicated, Willa,’ he said at last, ‘but I’m pretty sure there’s some big plan happening with Krüger, something to do with . . .’ he lowered his voice, ‘Adolf Hitler and a general called Müller. He’s head of the Gestapo. I heard him say the words “Operation Black Sun” and tomorrow’s date. Krüger needs to find the Red Queen by then, or he’s in big trouble. He’s sent me to find you – he’s convinced you know where it might be.’
    Willa shook her head. ‘For the last time, I don’t know.’
    â€˜Are you sure? Anything . . . some little thing your mother may have mentioned, a place she used to go? If I can get him the stone I know he will set me free, and we can get away from the city together; we’ll find a way and two’s better than one. Do you trust me?’
    But before she could answer, the door swung open and a heavily built man in his twenties with a scruffy beard marched in. He was smoking the stub of a thick cigar andhad a Colt .45 tucked in his belt. He was wearing a red velvet shirt with a white silk scarf tied around his neck. Tygo thought he looked like the Laughing Cavalier from the famous portrait by Frans Hals.
    â€˜Ah, how touching – the Nazi ferret comes to save his girlfriend.’
    Tygo got up. ‘For the last time, she’s not my girlfriend!’
    The man drove his fist into Tygo’s stomach, and he pitched backwards. ‘That’s enough from a stinking stooge. I do the talking here.’
    Tygo tottered to his feet, winded. ‘Who are you?’ he said, rubbing his stomach.
    â€˜Who am I ?’ boomed the man. ‘Who are you ?’
    â€˜You know who I am.’
    â€˜Do I? Are you some Nazi-loving collaborator who seeks to save his own skin by helping the Gestapo rob and plunder? Is that who you are?’
    â€˜You know I have no choice! It’s that or get shot!’
    â€˜We all have a choice, Tygo Winter.’
    â€˜Let us go,’ said Tygo.
    â€˜Let you go?’ laughed the man. ‘Why on earth should I do that? And don’t worry, I wouldn’t waste a