Meeting the FBI

Teen Targets is my Young Adult mystery novel co-authored by our granddaughter Audrey Deichmann. James Baker and his sister Natalia, living on the family farm near Charlottesville, discover there are Nazi agents living next door.

… The big agent had a craggy face, a wide chin, and a dominant manner. His eyes pierced my thoughts like spears. What came to mind was He’s the US government. I sure hope our story is going to be important enough for him to help us.

“Miss Smith downstairs indicated your business may be important.” Becker moved his solemn gaze between us. “But let’s hear it in your words.” He looked at me. “You look like you’re in charge, son. Tell me your name and the purpose of your visit.”

At that moment the blonde secretary appeared. She took up a position at the rear corner of the agent’s desk, and gave us a sweet smile. She had a pen and a stenographer’s pad. For a few moments, I looked at her engaging eyes. My cheeks flushed, and at that moment our mission felt overwhelming.

Drawing a deep breath, I stated my name, James Edward Baker. I explained that Otto Herman, our neighbor outside Charlottesville, seemed cheerful enough to neighbors and friends, particularly to those who came to his drinking parties. I knew his background was German, but I said we had never heard him speak German, until recently. Then I covered the afternoon when my sister Nat and I went to his house to deliver two bags of potatoes. When nobody answered the door, we walked around the side of the house. When we heard voices through a side window, we ducked below the ledge. Otto was talking with someone my sister later identified as Derek Miller. At one point Miller declared quite loudly, “Heil, Hitler!”

I turned to Karl. “Why don’t you tell him what you told us yesterday?”

Agent Becker looked him over. “What is your name, young man?”

“I’m Karl Ellis, and I live in New York City.” Taking a deep breath, he tried to smile.

“Why did you travel here to the agency today?”

Karl looked embarrassed, but he continued: “I came with my friends here,” and he glanced at us. “I’m visiting my Uncle Otto Herman, who lives outside Charlottesville for a few weeks from New York City. He is my deceased mother’s brother. My father is a chemistry professor at NYU. Right now he’s on leave, and he’s working as a chemist on a secret government research project in New York, well, actually in Manhattan …”

Becker held up his right hand. “Are you sure the project is in Manhattan, not somewhere else in New York City?”

“Yes, sir,” Karl replied, and I could see his nervous look. “The one time my father did tell me about his work, kind of in a general way, he called it the ‘Manhattan Project.’ I could see in his eyes he made a slip, and right away he told me to forget I ever heard that name. Well, that scared me.”

“Hold on, Mister Ellis.” Becker looked surprised. Frowning, he turned to Miss Brown. She must have been taking notes in shorthand, because her pen was flying over the page. She nodded, and he turned back to Karl.

“What comes next with be off the record.” Miss Brown, raising her eyes, nodded and lifted her pen from the notebook.

Turning to us, Becker said solemnly: “The Manhattan Project is strictly top secret. I know about its existence, but I know none of the details, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did. However, you are no longer innocent teenagers, but you are soldiers on the home front. What is required of you is adult levels of discretion, good judgment, and absolute loyalty.”

All three of us did a collective gulp, and nodded at the agent like our heads were linked together.

Teen Spies can be ordered from bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, from Amazon, and from jimsargentbooks.com