The Cairo Code Read Online Free Page B

sent by Hitler to kill the U.S. president? It beggars belief.”
    Weaver put down his Scotch. “And probably the best American president that ever lived, come to that. Halder’s mission was meant to change the tide of the war for the Nazis. And there was much more at stake than when Kennedy was targeted in Dallas. The future of the entire free world, no less. And it happened while Roosevelt and Churchill were attending the Cairo Conference in November 1943, one of the most vital Allied conferences of the war.
    â€œAmong other things, the president and prime minister were in Cairo to agree on top-secret plans for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe. Had Hitler got his way, and had them assassinated, the Allies would have been thrown into chaos, the invasion would never have gone ahead, and Germany would have won the war.” Weaver put up his thumb and forefinger, held them the barest fraction apart. “Believe me, Carney, it came this close to succeeding. It still frightens me to think about it.”
    I was overwhelmed. “You’re serious, aren’t you? It really happened.”
    Weaver said firmly, “Oh, it happened all right, don’t you doubt it. And it was my job to stop Halder and kill him. But it wasn’t something that ever got a mention in the history books; it was far too sensitive a matter for that.”
    I looked at him eagerly. “But I don’t understand. Even assuming Halder survived, why would you still want to find him after all these years? So he could be branded a traitor? It’s pretty late for that, surely?”
    There was a rather sad look in his eyes. He glanced out towards the Nile, before looking back. “No, the reasons are far more private,” he said quietly.
    And then I was aware of a sudden powerful emotion in his voice. “But make no mistake about one thing, Carney. Halder really did help to change the course of world history.”
    â€œYou mind telling me how?”
    Weaver must have noticed the confusion on my face, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he looked out beyond the window and his eyes glazed over, as if he were trying to see into the past. The howling sandstorm had almost died away, lifting the veil off the ancient city, and all of a sudden you could see the majestic Nile, the houseboats out on the river, the pungent dark alleyways and soaring minarets, the ghostly outline of the Giza pyramids in the far distance. I could easily imagine how it must have been during wartime, decades ago, a city full of mystery and intrigue.
    When Weaver turned back there was a look on his face that was hard to fathom. Grief perhaps, or pain—I couldn’t tell which.
    â€œMaybe I had better start at the beginning. You see, I knew Jack Halder long before the war. We were childhood friends. You might even say we were like brothers.”

THE PAST
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PART ONE
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SEPTEMBER 1939

2
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CAIRO
    Once, they had all been together.
    They were young and the place was called Sakkara. An archeological team had discovered the entrance to a secret funeral chamber close to the Step pyramid of Pharaoh Zoser, near the site of the ancient city of Memphis, almost thirty kilometers south of Cairo. The international group that arrived in early spring to help with the dig was composed mostly of young people in their twenties, from France, Germany, Britain, and America. There were almost a hundred. Some were archeologists and Egyptologists, others were engineers or eager adventurers, and they all worked hard together under a boiling desert sun, intent and happy in their work and determined to enjoy themselves, despite the gathering winds of war.
    For two of the young men, Harry Weaver and Jack Halder, the Sakkara dig was an arranged reunion. The son of a beautiful New York socialite mother and a wealthy Prussian father with a renowned passion for ancient Egypt, Jack Halder was an adventurer by nature.
    At twenty-four, he was a year older than