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“I understand!” she said sharply. “You’re wasting time.” She gave Gabrielle a quick hug, then bent and kissed Franz on the cheek. “Look after each other,” she whispered. “Goodbye for now.”
“Goodbye,” Franz whispered back, then he and his mother went out of the front door, leaving Elena and Aiden alone.
Aiden remained looking at the door for several seconds, then his expression changed, the gentleness vanished. “They may have found Max by now. There’s no time to go back for anything.”
“I’ve got no clothes or—” Elena started, then stopped. No one thought of anything as trivial as clothes when they were running for their lives.
Aiden took her arms and held her hard. “Elena, if you haven’t the nerve to come with me, then you should have gone with Gabrielle.”
“I have!” she said angrily. “I’m just trying to think a step ahead.”
“Have you got money and your passport?” He glanced at her handbag. “And your cameras, of course. And the list?”
“Yes, of course I have the list!”
“Then come on!”
“Gabrielle wouldn’t mind if I borrowed at least some clean underwear,” she argued. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Hurry. I don’t know how far behind us they are, and we can’t go directly to the port. That’s exactly what they expect us to do. We have to go the long way around, inland first, then back on the main thoroughfares, looking like tourists. We can’t hurry. We must stop and look at shop windows. Anyone who runs, or rushes about in any way, or even looks frightened, will draw attention. We can’t afford that.” He gave a small, rueful shrug. “I can’t. Howard won’t be very pleased with you if you get me shot!”
“I won’t get you shot!” she said tartly.
He gripped her arm hard. “The Fatherland Front is all through Austria, but this is the driving unit. If they begin, the rest will follow.”
“Can we—”
He cut her off. “No, I’ve done all I can. We’ve got to get out. They know me, Elena! Don’t argue, just do it!”
“I’ll be two moments.” She pulled away from his grasp and went swiftly into Gabrielle’s bedroom. She opened drawers and found underwear that would do. She did not take the best. She preferred to believe that Gabrielle would come back. She opened the wardrobe and picked out the plainest dress and a heavy woollen jacket. She put the jacket, the dress, and the underwear in a small traveling bag.
Aiden was waiting for her. He looked her up and down. “Right.” He gave a sudden, brilliant smile. “Come on, this is going to be tough. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” she said with certainty. Not because she was sure they would be safe, but because she could not change her mind. She must go with Aiden.
They went out of the door, closed and locked it, then walked into the street. There was no shouting now, no gunfire. Aiden took her arm lightly, just enough to guide her to the left and then across the road to the opposite side. “Keep walking,” he said softly. “Don’t hurry; don’t meet anyone’s eyes.”
“Are they looking for us?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but Ferdie might well be looking for me. He has to get rid of me, because I know too much.”
* * *
—
They walked for a little while, she thought toward the docks, but she knew they were still miles away. They crossed another street. There were very few people out; the gunfire must have kept them inside, perhaps behind locked doors. That’s where Elena would have been, had she the choice.
“Do they know who you are?” she asked quietly.
He glanced at her, then away again. “I think Ferdie does. He knows there’s someone who’s a British spy, because of the number of things that have gone wrong. Process of elimination, really. And our encounter in the nightclub was a bit of a giveaway. Couldn’t last forever.” He said the words as if they were both good and bad.
“Would you have gone earlier, if Max hadn’t been killed?” The moment she put words to it, she wished she had not. Aiden was a very private person, in some ways. He had never told her of his family, his past, even his present feelings. “I’m sorry.”
He looked at her, smiling. “Why? It’s a shame about Max. He was a decent enough man, but it’s the chances of the trade. He knew that.” His lips tightened in a grimace, rueful, philosophical. “I just hope it was quick. I always hope it’s quick. It’s necessary sometimes that people di
e in this business. We’re dealing with the rise and fall of rulers, sometimes of nations. Death is necessary, but cruelty is not.”
“It attracts the people who enjoy cruelty,” she argued. She was not thinking of Austria or Trieste, but of Berlin, of the students dancing around the fires as they burned books, as if they could also burn ideas. She had not talked about it with Aiden. Perhaps he didn’t even know. Was that possible? Later, perhaps, she would tell him; this was not the time.
