Page 52 of The Berlin Sisters
‘I was waiting for you,’ she said. ‘Papa has gone to bed, he wasn’t feeling well, but—’
‘What happened? Did the morphine work like last time?’
‘It did, but I don’t know how long it will keep working for, or how long we can keep hiding what’s wrong. He needs to see a doctor.’
She moved closer to Ava, seeing how worried she looked.
‘Ava, he was angry about the work you’re doing with Noah. He wouldn’t tell me what was going on, but he said Noah had asked too much of you, that you shouldn’t have—’
‘When he asked me to join you all, to change sides and support the work you were all doing, he never said there would be a limit to my involvement.’
‘Maybe not, but he expected the chain of command to be followed. He expected to be in control of whatever you were being asked to do.’ Hanna sighed. ‘Please can you tell me what you’re involved in? Father wouldn’t tell me, and I can only guess that it’s something big.’
The last thing that Ava wanted was to argue with her sister, especially after the night she’d had.
‘I honestly don’t know, Noah never told me. He said it was better if I didn’t know, but I’m starting to wonder...’
Hanna grabbed her hand. ‘Wonder what? Ava, tell me!’
She took a long, slow breath. ‘I think they could be planning to assassinate the Führer,’ she whispered into Hanna’s ear. ‘I don’t know for certain, but everything Noah said, the information he wanted on where Hitler would be, it all points to that.’
‘How many other people have access to the diary?’ Hanna asked, standing now. ‘How many others, with the exception of you, will be questioned if whatever is planned goes wrong? You truly believe that’s what they could be planning?’
Ava nodded.
‘What if Papa can’t take the fall for you on this?’
Ava took a deep breath. ‘I don’t want him to take the fall for me,’ she said. ‘I knew what I was doing, I—’
‘But did you? Know what you were doing?’ Hanna asked, sounding exasperated. ‘Did Noah truly explain to you how dangerous whatever all this was, did he truly—’
Ava couldn’t hold back her emotions any longer. She burst into tears, turning away from Hanna, embarrassed that she’d broken down in front of her.
‘Ava!’ Hanna’s arms were around her, holding her, loving her as her sister’s legs threatened to give way. Ava clung to her sister, needing her now more than ever despite how much she’d tried to push her away. ‘What’s wrong? Tell me why you’re crying.’
‘It’s over between me and Noah.’
Hanna was quiet for a while, but her hands kept moving in circles on Ava’s back.
‘I have every reason to believe he cared for you very much, Ava,’ Hanna eventually said. ‘But Noah is complicated. Sometimes men like him, who are so focused on the work they’re doing, they don’t have the ability to commit themselves or fall in love.’
‘I can’t even hate him,’ Ava said. ‘How can I hate a man who’s trying to put an end to such evil?’
‘Would you have done it if our father had asked you to?’
Ava nodded. ‘Of course. Without question.’
‘Then that’s what you need to remind yourself. You did this because you believe in the cause, because you’ve chosen to be part of this. It didn’t matter whether Noah asked you, or Papa, or someone else. And eventually, you might even remember your time with him fondly, when it doesn’t hurt so much.’
She nodded. Hanna was right. The fact that Noah had broken her heart had nothing to do with what she’d been part of; she needed to grieve him without losing sight of how influential she’d been in helping the resistance.
‘I’m still angry with you,’ Hanna whispered, pulling her close again and hugging her. ‘But I’m proud of you, too.’
‘Will Papa forgive me?’ she asked, when Hanna finally let her go.
‘I think he’s incredibly proud of everything you’ve done,’ she said. ‘He only wishes that you weren’t so involved. I think he regrets ever asking you to help.’ Hanna stared at her for a long moment.
‘Hanna, I keep thinking about the way Heinrich asked Papa the other night whether he was well,’ she said. ‘You don’t think he knows Papa’s sick, do you? Do you think he suspects something, or that he’s trying to find out more about Eliana?’
