Bright headlights blinded his vision. In the distance, he could make out the shadows of a blockade and two large military vehicles.
A new checkpoint was blocking their path to freedom.
Oh, Lord, please help us.The plan had been to cross where there wasn’t one, so he hadn’t prepared the kids. This could be disastrous.
Rick looked at his passengers in the rearview mirror. “All of you, listen to me. There is a checkpoint here. They are going to ask us questions and want to see papers. I have the papers Miss Melanie gave us and will talk to the officers. I need you all to pretend like you are asleep.” He licked his lips and took a deep breath, trying to keep any hint of fear from his voice. “If they talk loud or touch you, act like you’re waking up from a deep sleep. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” the kids responded in unison.
“Good. Do not talk to them unless I tell you to. I’ll call you by name if you need to respond.” Rick tapped his finger on the steering wheel and slowed. “I’m approaching now. Let’s ask the Lord to give us wisdom.”
The kids all bowed their heads and prayed.
The teens settled and Rick rolled toward the checkpoint, stopping just short of the German officer in front of Rick’s vehicle.
A young man came to the driver’s door and tapped the window. “Heil Hitler. Show me your papers.”
Rick leaned over and opened the glove box. He grabbed the envelope with the papers. The children had falsified passports and names, but after much debate, the group decided to keep his papers the same for this trip.
He handed the envelope to the soldier, who pulled them out, the envelope fluttering away in the breeze. He took his time, reading each passport, each document with care. After an eternity, he folded the papers and passed them back to Rick.
“Why are you going to the Netherlands at this time of night?” His eyes looked black in the shadows.
Rick lowered his voice. “Please, keep your voice low. The children are sleeping. We are driving home from Berlin. The children have lost their parents, and I am driving them to their grandmother. We have been traveling all day.”
The soldier looked across Rick at the boy and then glanced to the back seat. He said nothing, but his gaze was relentless. Rick knew the tactic well. Glare. Say nothing. Make your mark nervous. Most civilians couldn’t stand the silence and would begin blabbering.
Rick stayed calm. He began to tap a rhythm on the steering wheel. “Is there a problem?”
The light caught the young man’s eyes, and Rick suppressed a shudder. They were the coldest eyes he’d encountered in a long while.
They narrowed as they locked on his face. “Do I know you?”
Had his cover been blown? He affected a lazy shrug. “I don’t know. I do get that a lot. Must be a common face.” Rick let out a chuckle.
“No.” The word hung between them. “What is this uniform you are wearing?” His torch beamed into the car, up and down Rick’s clothing. “You are a chauffeur.”
He said it like Rick had a disease.
“I am.”
The soldier stepped back. “Out of the vehicle. Now.”
Rick clenched his jaw and turned off the car. Slowly he eased out of the auto, feeling the press of his firearm against the small of his back. The last thing he wanted was to have to use it. These children deserved more than a Nazi hospital of horrors or listening to a shootout in the middle of nowhere. Though considering what had happened to some of their friends, he knew they’d already experienced some of the terrors of the impending war.
But he would do everything in his power not to add to it.
“Now. Tell me again why you are traveling to the Netherlands at night.” The man couldn’t have been more than twenty-one years old, but he was the epitome of a Nazi soldier. Fit. Strong. Unyielding.
Rick held his hands up, palms facing his interrogator. “I am driving these children to their grandmother. Their parents passed away just a few days ago. I—”
“Christoph! Have you finished? We are needed at—” The soldier skidded to a stop beside the other young man, his eyes wide. “Hey. Aren’t you with that pianist? I saw you in Berlin. Aren’t you her bodyguard?”
Rick tamped down the surprise that shot through him. “I am her chauffeur. But tonight, I am doing a personal favor for her while she plays for the Führer. As I was telling your fellow guard here, these children are being delivered to their grandmother. They’ve just lost their parents. Miss Frappier has asked me to see to this matter.Personally.”
The soldier named Christoph looked at Rick. “Ah. You workfor Germany’s pride. The pianist. Why did you not say so in the beginning?”
His comrade shoved his shoulder, stopping any response Rick might have made. “Christoph, leave him be, and let him pass. The general needs you now. We are being sent back to Berlin. Trouble is brewing.”
