Page 53 of The Berlin Sisters
She saw the shiver that ran through her sister’s body. ‘I hope not. If that man turns on us, if he finds out anything that would point to us being traitors...’
Hanna didn’t need to finish her sentence for Ava to imagine what would happen. But when her sister cleared her throat, she realised she had more to say.
‘Ava, that night you discovered the Goldmans in our attic, you asked me whether I was hiding anything else from you,’ Hanna said, her eyes wide as she met Ava’s. ‘I didn’t tell you the truth.’
Ava waited, holding her breath as her sister’s eyes filled with tears. She watched as she blinked them away, wondering what other secret there could possibly be.
‘The car that killed Hugo and Michael...’ Hanna began, her voice faltering until Ava put an arm around her, knowing how hard it was for her to talk about her son and husband. ‘Goebbels was there. It was his driver, him and another party official, and they drove away as if they’d hit a stray dog in the street. I watched as he inspected the scene and then left.’
Ava’s heart ached as her sister cried, and she held her, wishing she’d known but also understanding how much pain Hanna was in by recounting that day.
‘Mama and Papa know the truth?’ she asked. ‘You’ve told them.’
Hanna nodded. ‘I’m sorry. They felt it was better than we keep it a secret, but I can see now that it was a mistake to keep it from you.’
Ava refused to be hurt. So much had changed over the past few months; she was a different woman to the one she’d been then. ‘Does he know? That it was your family that day?’
Hanna shrugged. ‘Honestly? I don’t know. Sometimes I think that he does know, almost as if he’s taunting me with it, waitingfor me to say something when I see him. But in truth I think that’s my imagination.’
‘Thank you for telling me,’ Ava said, as Hanna held her hand. ‘No more secrets though. From now on, we tell each other everything.’
Hanna squeezed her fingers, blinking away fresh tears. ‘No more secrets. I promise.’
Chapter Eighteen
ELIANA
Eliana knew something was wrong when Ethan stayed behind the counter long after the shelves were bare and the store had emptied of people. She crossed the shop to the front door and turned the sign to closed, locking it and pulling down the blinds – all things that Ethan would usually do himself.
‘Tell me what’s wrong,’ she said, looking around to make certain that they were the only ones there.
Ethan’s face was pale, his skin devoid of all colour as he came out from behind the counter towards her.
‘Come with me,’ he said, taking her hand and hurrying her out to the storeroom where she usually worked.
‘Do I need to get the typewriter out?’ she asked, breathless from his dragging her along at such a fast pace. ‘Is there an urgent message we need to transmit?’
He closed the door behind them, which gave her an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Not because she didn’t trust him alone with her in such confined quarters, but because he’d never done it before. Which meant he had something important, or secret, to tell her.
‘I was given a message today,’ he said, his hand shaking as he passed it to her. ‘At first, I didn’t believe it.’
She quickly opened it.
Happening tomorrow. Be ready.
‘What does this even mean?’
‘It means there is to be an assassination attempt on Hitler’s life tomorrow,’ he whispered. ‘We have to be prepared to spread the information as soon as we have word.’
‘An assassination?’ she repeated. ‘You’re certain that’s what this note is referring to?’
He nodded. ‘Yes, I’m certain, they’ve been planning it for some time. The conspirators aren’t who you’d expect, either, but officers close to the Führer, politicians, German nationalists who know we will be defeated in this war and want to save our country. Perhaps some of them simply want to preserve our morality while they still can. Either way, they all seem to want the same thing, and they no longer believe we’ll be victorious without overthrowing the party.’
An unfamiliar warmth spread through Eliana, but she couldn’t understand why Ethan looked so nervous.
‘What is it? You must be thrilled that this could happen before you’re to report for duty on Monday?’ She reached for his hand and took it, threading her fingers through his. She’d thought of little else other than his leaving since he’d told her.
‘Eliana, if this doesn’t work, if it’s not a success...’
