Page 38 of The Berlin Sisters
‘Unless you have access to the personal papers of Joseph Goebbels, you can’t help me with this.’
‘That would be a death sentence for her and you know it. They would figure out it was her immediately if she relayed personalinformation!’ She glared at him. ‘I won’t allow it. You need to find another way.’
‘If you don’t arrange the meeting, then I’ll find someone else to introduce us.’ He paused, his gaze steely as he stared at her. ‘It’s up to you. But Iwillfind a way to meet your sister, whether you help me or not.’
Hanna watched him and knew that he wasn’t calling her bluff. Noah was notorious for his ruthlessness, for using whoever he had to in order to get what he wanted. If he wanted to contact Ava, she had little doubt that he’d find a way, just like she knew that whatever he was planning wouldn’t be abandoned, no matter the risk.
‘Fine. Meet us at the Café Kranzler tomorrow, at midday,’ she finally said, choosing a coffee house they could easily walk to, just as he was turning to walk away. ‘I’ll make sure she’s there.’
Noah nodded, smiling as he met her gaze again. ‘Sit at the table beside me, and don’t greet me. We will talk and drink coffee without looking at one another, so no one thinks we’re there to meet.’
She nodded. ‘I understand, we’ll be discreet. But Noah, you do know who her fiancé is, don’t you? That he’s back in Berlin? You know how dangerous it is for her to be part of this? What he’d do to you if he thought you’d involved her?’ Hanna stared hard at him. ‘Even being seen with you when she’s engaged to a man like Heinrich could be a death sentence, for you as much as her.’
‘I already know everything there is to know about your sister, Hanna. And don’t forget, we are all playing a cat-and-mouse game here, it’s dangerous for all of us. But if this works? Then it might be over, once and for all, and perhaps we can go back to the lives we had before.’ He gave her an intense kind of look that scared her, before speaking again. ‘Hanna, is your father unwell?’
She swallowed, doing her best to keep her face impassive. ‘Why would you ask such a thing?’
‘I’ve heard rumours, that’s all.’
She dug her nails into her palms again, forcing a smile. ‘My father is fine, but thank you for your concern.’
With that, Noah turned on his heel and walked away, and Hanna watched him go, finally letting go of the breath she’d been holding. How could anyone possibly know about her father? Unless she hadn’t acted quickly enough at the dinner party, and one of the guests had noticed. She prayed that Ava hadn’t been foolish enough to tell Heinrich, but then chastised herself for thinking such a thing. Ava knew who Heinrich was now, and there was no way she would do anything to jeopardise their father.
Hanna walked briskly back to the apartment, fretting as much about Ava as their father, for she knew how easy it would be for Ava to be drawn into Noah’s web, only to be discarded when she was no longer of use, or to end up dead because something went wrong.
Noah had orchestrated the transport of Jewish children out of Berlin since the night of broken glass, and he’d come to her soon after her husband and son were killed, as if sensing that she was the perfect candidate to assist the cause, crossing paths with her regularly until one day he’d finally asked her outright. He’d recruited her by playing on her conscience, by knowing precisely how to manipulate her, and she’d been a willing participant, especially when he’d confessed to her that his family had been executed by the SS for housing his Jewish girlfriend and her family. But since then, he’d moved on to bigger things, being bolder in what they were doing to try to disrupt the Führer, which told her just how dangerous it was to be associated with him.
She only hoped that whatever he wanted with her sister wasn’t part of that bigger plan, because then she’d never forgive herself for being the one to introduce them, for not being more forthright in protecting her. Losing her husband and son had broken her in a way that she doubted she could ever heal from, but losing her sister as well? Hanna shuddered as she walked briskly all the way around the block until she was outside her apartment again. Losing Ava was notsomething she could survive, which meant that she had only one option available to her.
Hanna was going to have to tell their father about Noah coming to her, and let him decide how to deal with the situation. Noah would be furious with her, but Ava was her sister and she had a duty to protect her, no matter what. If her father thought it was worth the risk, then so be it, but this wasn’t something she was prepared to accept without consulting him first.
Chapter Fourteen
AVA
Ava was nervous as she walked with Hanna to the Café Kranzler for coffee. She didn’t often go out at lunchtime, and when she’d been told there was someone to see her, her stomach had flipped with worry that it might be Heinrich, but thankfully he’d been too busy to call on her over the past few days. Every day that passed without seeing him was a relief, although she knew that she’d have to make time to visit both him and his family soon.
‘Are you going to tell me anything about this man?’ she asked her sister as they walked.
‘He’s someone I never wanted you to meet, put it that way,’ Hanna said. ‘I initially refused, but I thought it was best that I was there, rather than him approach you in a different way.’
‘And you’re opposed to my meeting him because...’
Hanna stopped walking, folding her arms across her chest. ‘Because he’s dangerous, Ava, that’s why. He’s dangerous because he will stop at nothing to change what’s happening in our country.’
‘So he’s a revolutionary then?’ Ava asked, laughing when Hanna threw her hands up in the air, clearly in despair.
‘Ava, please! This is not a game, none of it is a game.’
Ava sighed and they began to walk again, falling into step beside each other as she whispered to her sister. ‘I am very much aware this isn’t a game, Hanna. I worry myself sick all day at my desk, certain that someone will read my mind or the SS will come for me because I’ve passed some piece of information on that only I could have been privy to,’ she said. ‘So I know how careful we have to be.’
‘It’s good that you’re scared,’ Hanna said. ‘The moment we stop being scared is the moment we become complacent, and that’s when we’ll do something without being careful enough. That’s when we’ll be caught.’
‘I also have the added problem of having a fanatical Nazi for a fiancé,’ Ava said. ‘Thankfully he’s stopped talking about us getting married soon. Papa must have said something to convince him we were best to wait, because I swear Heinrich would have us married next week if he could.’
‘Or perhaps Papa simply convinced him that no daughter of his would be living within a stone’s throw from one of the most wretched concentration camps?’ Hanna said, before taking Ava’s arm and whispering in her ear. ‘Look, there he is. Sitting alone at the table, at the café across the road. Don’t stare.’
Ava followed her gaze, being careful not to look at him for too long. But she couldn’t help but notice that he was particularly handsome; similar to Heinrich in a way, but with skin that was more tanned, as if he were used to enjoying the sun over the summer. And when they moved closer, she noticed that he had warm brown eyes, not blue.
