Sabine entered the exclusive bakery and glanced around, finding Lily sitting at a small table near one of the windows. Or more to the point, what was left of the windows. As in most buildings, the glass had been shattered and replaced with fabric, cardboard or wood.
She made her way through the other patrons and took a seat, trying to find a smile for the woman who had turned her world upside down.
“There you are,” Lily said with a definite attitude. “I was afraid you’d stand me up.”
“Sorry I’m late. I didn’t realize how long it would take me to get here from across town.” Sabine eyed the Franzbrötchen, a sweet bun, on Lily’s plate, next to a cup of brown liquid. Ersatzkaffee was a detestable liquid and Sabine had long given up coffee in favor of herbal tea. But the scent that now wafted toward her nostrils was…unmistakably…real delicious coffee. Her mouth watered and she involuntarily inhaled deeply.
Lily saw the wistful expression on Sabine’s face and snapped her fingers. Moments later the waitress appeared beside her table. “What can I bring you?”
“Another coffee, with sugar, please.”
Sugar? Even bakeries were constantly short of sugar and had resorted to adapting their recipes to include less of the prized white substance. Usually to the detriment of flavor.
Sabine settled onto the chair across from Lily, her hand shooting up to control her hairdo. If nothing else remained stable in her world, she could at least hold on to looking the part.
“Do you have information for me?” Lily asked, taking a sip from her coffee.
“I’m afraid not much…Frau Klausen is very tight-lipped,” Sabine said, omitting the confession Ursula had made in the bunker.
Lily shook her head, putting a cigarette into the long holder. “You still don’t get it, do you?”
“Get what?”
“This…what we’re doing…it is a big deal.”
“A big deal?” Sabine asked confused.
“Yes, we’re helping the Führer to rid the Reich of our enemies. Subversives, traitors, undesirables. We’re of invaluable service to our country. You should be proud they’ve chosen you for this work.”
Sabine didn’t feel proud at all. Aghast would be a better word to describe her emotions. Ever since the day she’d agreed to Kriminalkommissar Becker’s requests, she’d been loathing herself. Herself, her task, and her willingness to doom other people to save her husband’s skin.
Raised as a Roman Catholic, Christian notions of altruism had quickly fled her life when the war – and with it, the struggle for survival – had started. Killing others and believing in Jesus didn’t go hand in hand – at least in Sabine’s world.
But looking the other way was one thing, betraying people to the Gestapo entirely different. A wave of nausea hit her and she asked, “Don’t you ever feel bad for the people you turn in?”
Lily rolled her eyes. “Of course not. They’re traitors.”
“Not all of them. What about the innocents who get caught up in your little game? Like my husband? He didn’t do anything wrong and was still arrested.”
“Werner is an unfortunate accidental victim,” Lily leaned forward and whispered, “I’m sorry about him, because he’s a nice man. But – it’s all your fault. Nothing would have happened to him if you had been cooperative.”
Sabine quickly took a sip from her coffee to keep herself from saying something stupid. A burning sensation struck her tongue and she winced. She set down the cup in as ladylike a fashion as she could and bestowed a smile on Lily – the very woman she’d started to hate with every fiber of her soul. Shudders rolled down her back as she remembered what had happened the last time she’d given Lily a piece of her mind. Although – what else could the Gestapo take from her? Since they’d already taken her husband and her home, there wasn’t much left.
They can take your life.
Lily was even more shallow and self-centered than she looked with her immaculate make-up, the flower in her hair and the elegant cigarette holder between her manicured fingers. The only goal Sabine had in mind at this point was ending this meeting as soon as possible, while doing everything to keep her husband alive.
Sabine swallowed her disgust and said, “Frau Klausen is as tight-lipped as ever, but I’m starting to build a relationship with her daughter Ursula. A few nights ago in the bunker, she was so upset that she confided in me that she sometimes hides people.”
“Well, that is a start!” Lily clapped her hands, only to bestow charming smiles upon two officers sitting at a table nearby. She lowered her voice and continued, “It’s nothing we don’t already know, but it shows you’re gaining her trust. Which is good, very good. Work harder to secure Ursula’s trust. Get her to include you in her resistance activities. Get her to introduce you to others.”
Sabine’s stomach churned at the thought of deceiving the kind woman in such a way. “I don’t know if that’s the best approach…”
Lily gave her a hard look. “It’s the only approach that will yield the required information. For God’s sake forget your uncalled-for scruples and do as I say. Never forget, your husband is languishing somewhere while you debate the morality of turning traitors in for their rightful punishment.”
Sabine stared at Lily as the truth of the evil woman’s words struck her like jagged stones. She had to stick by her choice. It was either her conscience or Werner’s life. Sometimes sacrifices must be made, and her conscience was one of them.