They heard a tap at the door, and Katlin walked in. “Oh, excuse me. I didn’t know you were here, Karl.”

  “No, no,” Rainer replied, “come on in.”

  She walked over to the bed. “You got the bandages off, Gerhard.”

  “The oxygen mask comes off in a couple of days,” he said. “The bad news is the doctor told me I will have to be here for six weeks.”

  “Because of the burn?”

  He nodded. “He said that the biggest danger of burns like this is they get infected.”

  “How does it feel this morning?” she asked.

  “It hurts like nobody’s business,” Gerhard said. “I guess, considering the alternative, I can’t complain.”

  “We were discussing the possibility of allowing him to do some work here at the hospital,” Rainer said. “That would keep him from going crazy.”

  Katlin smirked. “He is already crazy. That’s why I married him.”

  “Thanks,” Gerhard said, “I think.”

  “I will go speak with the doctor,” Rainer said. “I think we can work something out for you. I will come back to your room before I go to the office. If it is all right with Katlin, I want to have a private word with you.”

  “Of course, Karl,” she said. “The Reich’s business goes on regardless.”

  After Rainer left, Katlin leaned over and kissed the exposed part of the cheek not covered by the mask.

  “I will be glad to get this thing off,” Gerhard said. “Although right now, it feels pretty good.”

  “You just need to get well. I’m not sure trying to work from here is a good idea. I’m afraid you will wear yourself out.”

  “Would you like to lay in a bed for six weeks?”

  “You might have a point there,” she giggled. “By the way, I have something to show you.”

  She pulled a folded newspaper out of her bag and handed it to him. He unfolded it, looked at the headline, and scowled. Heroic rescue by party member. Gerhard thought that if the headline did not identify him, his picture on the first page certainly would.

  “Mein Gott,” he exclaimed. “I won’t be able to do undercover work for Karl anymore. Everybody will know who I am.”

  “Oh, you are already more widely known than you realize,” she replied. “And I am proud of you. The party delivered a stack of copies to our apartment. I’m going to send a copy to my parents and to yours. They should know about this.”

  Gerhard groaned. “This just gets worse. Everyone will think that I am a glory hound.”

  She giggled again. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. At least with your friends.”

  “Well, it’s embarrassing.”

  A few minutes later, Rainer entered the room again.

  “There is a VIP suite here at the hospital, and I have arranged for you to be moved there. It already has a desk and a telephone. The phone goes through the hospital switchboard. Plus, it will allow you and Katlin a little more privacy. I’m going to see if the Parteileiter will agree to install a private line for you.”

  “A private line?” Gerhard looked puzzled.

  “It is a dedicated phone line that will connect to the switchboard in the party headquarters,” Rainer explained.

  “I didn’t know you could do something like that. It would certainly be more secure.”

  “I must ask Katrin to wait in the hall while we discuss some things.”

  Gerhard’s wife stood and quietly exited the room as the two men waited.

  Rainer nodded. “While I think keeping you busy will be a good idea, Gerhard. Herr Schloss is bound to insist on the confidentiality of your work. He is also very concerned about the attempt on your life last night.”

  “Is there any further information about this?”

  “No, and that is contributing to the unease. We had hoped that things would settle down after Bormann’s unfortunate demise. Other players are obviously involved.”

  “Do you suppose Herr Daumer is involved?” Gerhard asked.

  Rainer raised an eyebrow. “It is very possible that he is involved. However, he would not be leading it. He’s just not smart enough.”

  “I would be willing to bet that whatever organization is behind this is based in Munich,” Gerhard stated. “You would have a better idea than I would as to who supported Bormann, but it seems like a lot of the trouble we have had over the past year was centered in Munich. The people here in Berlin who supported Bormann are a fatalistic lot. They weren’t happy with what happened to Bormann, but life goes on.”

  “You may very well be right,” Rainer replied. “And I agree with your assessment of Bormann’s people. They may be smarter than the people in Munich, although that is not saying much.”

  “If this is based in Munich, they’ve been smart enough not to get caught so far,” Gerhard said.

  “And I am afraid running this one to ground will be difficult. We are just going to have to stay on our toes. I plan to keep the guards here indefinitely. Now, how much of this does Katlin know?”

  “I didn’t tell her about last night,” Gerhard said, “she was upset enough about what happened yesterday. But she is far from stupid. I’m waiting for her to ask me about the guards.”

  “Very well, Gerhard. I’ll trust you to tell her what you think she needs. She knows how to maintain confidentiality.”

  Rainer held the door open for Katlin to return to her place next to Gerhard.

  “I will probably see you tomorrow, Gerhard and Katlin,” Rainer said. “Do try to get as much rest as you can.”

  “Frau Fenstermacher has little Karl again today,” she said. “I don’t know how often I can take advantage of her generosity.”

  Gerhard had an idea. “Let me ask Karl to allow you to use a telephone in the party headquarters to call your mother to see if she has any suggestions.”

  Katlin touched her lips in thought. “Mutti might be able to come to visit for a few weeks. Do you suppose Karl could arrange for a rail pass for her?”

  “Yes, he probably would, although I would insist on paying for it.”

  “Do you think he would allow you to pay for it?” she grinned.

  “I don’t know about Karl, but Herr Schloss would probably agree.”

  “And Vater would probably insist on paying for it,” she said.

  “And how are you feeling, Liebchen?”

  “As you know, the morning sickness has not been nearly as bad this time. I am queasy in the mornings, but that is about it. And I’m definitely tired at the end of the day.”

  “That’s probably as much from carrying little Karl around as anything.”

  “And just wait until he learns to crawl,” she laughed. “Hopefully, you will be home by then to help me chase him around.”

  “I hope he remembers me after six weeks,” Gerhard said.

  “He keeps looking around. I think he misses you.”

  “I miss him almost as much as I miss you.”

  “But I will be here every day,” Katlin protested.

  “But I miss you when you are gone.”

  At lunchtime, the hospital staff provided a tray for Katlin and Gerhard. He thought the food was decent but not exceptional, and Katlin quickly cleaned her tray. Following the lunch, a procession of nurses and a couple of doctors transferred Gerhard to a gurney and moved him to the VIP suite on the fourth floor.

  After the staff got Gerhard comfortably situated in the bed, Katlin explored the suite. She was thrilled with the room. The four windows along the wall lent an airy atmosphere and the furnishings were obviously of high quality.

  “There’s another bedroom and a bathroom here, Gerhard,” she exclaimed. “And the seating here looks much more comfortable than those wooden chairs in the room downstairs.”

  “Rainer delivers,” Gerhard commented.

  A few minutes later, a party technician arrived with a telephone and connected it to the wiring in the room. After testing it, he turned to Gerhard.

  “All you need to do is pick up the receiver,” the man said. “It will ring into the switchboard at the party headquarters, which, as you know, is manned twenty-four hours a day. Rainer has instructed the operators to connect you with whoever you need to talk to. This is a private line; however, it goes through the punch-down blocks in the basement of this building, so it is not absolutely secure. Please keep that in mind.”

  “I understand,” Gerhard said. And he did understand operational security. Anyone capable of wheeling a carbon monoxide cylinder into the hospital could also tap the phone line.

  Rainer arrived in the middle of the afternoon with a valise full of paperwork. Gerhard’s desire for something to do overcame his horror at the size of the stack.

  “I’ll get right on this, Karl,” he said.

  “There is nothing urgent here. As long as you get through in the next three or four hours.”

  Gerhard looked up quickly to see Rainer trying to hide a smirk.

  “Don’t forget Gerhard needs his rest,” Katlin reminded him.

  “I understand,” Rainer replied. “Gerhard, your number one priority is to recover from your injuries. Once you work through this tomorrow or the next day, call the office. I will have Lieutenant Strang come to pick up the documents and bring more.”

  “I’m sure Erich will appreciate acting as a courier,” Gerhard said.

  “It helps keep his ego in check.”

  After Rainer left, things grew quiet. There was not a lot of traffic in this wing of the hospital other than the guards and the nurses assigned to Wicklein.

  Gerhard was still connected to the oxygen mask. He leaned back to relax and found his eyes growing heavy. He awakened in the late afternoon when the nurses came in to change the bandages on his leg. He looked over to see that Katlin had already left for the day.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  February 8, 1941, 10 AM

  Beelitz-Heilstatten Hospital

  Berlin, Germany

  “Something funny, Gerhard,” the elfin blond lady said as she entered the suite.

  “What would that be, Precious?”

  “I was getting ready to come to the hospital this morning when someone knocked on the door. I thought it would be Frau Fenstermacher.”

  “And I assume it wasn’t?” Gerhard asked.

  “I opened the door, and Frau Kassel stood there.”

  “Our Frau Kassel?”

  “Yes. I was so surprised; I didn’t know what to say. Anyway, she walked right in and told me she would look after little Karl for me and that I should get on my way here to look after you.”

  “She told you that?” he said.

  “Yes. I laughed, and she said that someone needs to keep an eye on you to keep you out of trouble.”

  “The old lady always seems to say what’s on her mind,” Gerhard commented. “Did she say how long she was staying?”

  “I got the idea she is here for the duration. Frau Fenstermacher has been very accommodating, but I’m glad we don’t have to impose upon her quite so much.”

  “How are you doing this morning?” she asked.

  “The doctor and a nurse came in at seven this morning and peeled the bandage off. That was unpleasant.”

  She looked at the wrappings on his leg. “They’ve put the bandages back on again. Was everything okay?”

  “The doc said the burn is healing nicely,” Gerhard replied. “But it hurts all the time. The doc said that was normal.”

  “What’s that on the desk?” she asked, pointing across the room.

  “Rainer sent Erich over with more documents for me to look at. I need to review them to see how much work is needed.”

  “Karl told me Erich was very upset about your injuries,” she said.

  “You wouldn’t have known that from how he acted here this morning.”

  “I can’t believe the way you two torment each other.”

  “As Karl said yesterday, we must keep Erich’s ego in check.”

  “Of course.”

  “But I’m glad he came. He has become a good friend.”

  “I like your friends,” she said. “Erich and Karl are both very good men.”

  “I wish you could get out more and make friends,” Gerhard said. “I know it’s difficult to have moved to a strange city and then be stuck at home with a baby.”

  “It’s not so bad. The apartment is pleasant, and I enjoy spending time with little Karl. Mutti always worried that I didn’t get enough when I lived home. But, really, I don’t need to be around people constantly.”

  “That reminds me of Herr Schloss,” Gerhard said.

  “I understand how he feels. When I worked in the Party offices in Munich, I was always worn out at the end of the day just from being around people.”

  “I get worn out by the end of the day, and I’m just lying in bed.”

  “I worry that you aren’t resting enough,” she said.

  “A burn will heal itself, regardless, I think. And if I lie here with nothing to do, I will go crazy.”

  “You keep saying that,” she chided. “But I want you back home. Little Karl misses you. I miss you. I have to carry the baby to the basement almost every night. Sometimes the bombs fall close.”

  He remembered watching the English airplane fly into the houses and shuddered. It could have easily been his house, and then Katlin and little Karl would be gone.

  “I miss being home with you and little Karl, too,” he said. “And we have to put up with this for another month.”

  “One thing bothers me, Gerhard. Why all the guards?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You have two guards outside your door…”

  “That’s to keep me from escaping,” he interrupted.

  “And somebody is always outside the house,” she continued. “Is there something you haven’t told me?”

  He shrugged. “Karl told me that some people in the party still aren’t happy with me.”

  “Why? What have you done?”

  “Just my job. There are some who resent people who do their jobs well.”

  “Somehow, I think it’s more than that, Gerhard.”

  He shrugged. “We know someone is unhappy. The guards are a precaution.”

  She looked at him carefully. “There’s more than that, isn’t there?”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You have that look when you don’t want to tell me something.”

  “Am I that easy to read, Schatzi?”

  “Not to other people, probably. But I have gotten to know you well enough to read you well.”

  “I don’t know if that’s reassuring or not,” he laughed nervously.

  “We had guards when Herr Schloss was worried about Bormann. Karl wouldn’t use the guards unless things were serious.”

  “It’s just a precaution,” he said. “Beyond that, I can’t talk about it.”

  She studied him carefully and then sat down. “I brought my knitting. I think you have some things to study.”

  He was glad she had decided to drop the argument for the moment, but he worried that she would ambush him at some point and would force him to tell her. He would have to talk to Karl about it.

  He needed to read and review the documents from the office. He would write comments later. He carried the stack of paper over to the bed so he could stretch out his leg. He reluctantly admitted to himself that the doctor was right. His leg felt better when elevated. He had read somewhere that burns were the most painful of wounds and wasn’t prepared to disagree.

  Frau Kassel was another mystery. He wasn’t surprised that she showed up when he thought about it. That had happened when Katlin was in the throes of morning sickness with little Karl. Fortunately, she did a lot better during this pregnancy. But how did the old lady know they needed help? He would have to talk to Karl about that, too.

  § § §

  February 8, 1941, 4 PM

  Parteileiter’s Office

  Nazi Party Headquarters

  Berlin, Germany

  “So, how is Gerhard doing?” Schloss asked.

  “He is anxious to return to work,” Karl Rainer replied.

  “And he is supposed to stay in the hospital for, what, six weeks?”

  “Yes, mein Herr. I have Lieutenant Strang taking work over to him. Your directive to get him into the VIP suite has worked well. He is more comfortable, and the staff is paying closer attention since you spoke to the hospital director.”

  “Amazing what a little suggestion will yield,” Schloss replied with a crooked smile.

  “For once, he didn’t complain about getting special treatment,” Rainer said. “I think the burn hurts much more than he lets on.”

  “And his wife can come and go?”

  “Yes. I have a driver detailed to her.”

  “Good. Now tell me about your investigation into the attack at the hospital.”

  Rainer shook his head. “Nothing to report so far, mein Herr. Whoever it was seemed to appear out of nowhere and disappear likewise. I think we will pick up the trail sooner rather than later.”

  “What is your gut feeling about this?”

  “The Gestapo organization in Munich doesn’t like him. He has managed to embarrass them on several occasions. I wonder if somebody from there is trying to satisfy a grudge.”

  “And you are checking to see what people from Munich have been in Berlin lately.”

  “Correct,” Rainer said. “As soon as we get a whiff of something, we will roll it up.”

  Schloss steepled his hands as he leaned back in his chair. “If this is the Gestapo, we must ask ourselves whether knowledge of these actions rises to Himmler.”

  Rainer rubbed his mouth as he thought. “If something like this was initiated out of Himmler’s office, I’m pretty sure we would know about it. If someone was reporting directly to Himmler about these activities, we would not necessarily hear about it. I think we may have a rogue group within the Gestapo.”

  “I am not that worried about Himmler, Karl. The top-level people watched carefully for Hitler’s reaction when we retired Bormann. They all concluded that the Führer gave tacit approval to the replacement and are watching for footsteps behind them.”

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21