STOP
PHASE ONE COMPLETE STOP
BEGINNING PHASE TWO OVER
Per standard operating procedures, there would be no response until 1430 Hamburg time. Jack took apart the radio and returned the components to their original hiding places.
He peeled off his sweater, loosened the top button ofhis shirt, and then pulled out the small cardboard box from his pants pocket. Flipping open the top, he studied the impression Kerensky had made of the cabinet key. Clear, precise. She’d done an excellent job.
But what if the plans weren’t in the cabinet anymore? After the mistake she’d made over the change in location of Doenitz’s headquarters, Jack couldn’t trust the woman’s intelligence.
He needed a backup plan. His best possibility would be to make contact with someone on the inside of Doenitz’s staff, preferably someone who worked in the main building of the Kriegsmarine headquarters, a naval officer, someone who…
Schmidt. Of course. The U-boat captain engaged to Kerensky’s mother.
A plan began formulating. When Jack had left Katarina this morning, she’d reminded him that she was to spend the rest of day with her mother and Schmidt. Jack had promised to find her later in the evening, after he’d had the key to Doenitz’s cabinet made. However, now he would make sure they met much sooner.
With just the right amount of maneuvering, Kapitän zur See Schmidt could very well give Jack invaluable intelligence, without ever knowing he’d done so.
The tactic was a long shot, at best. Certainly dangerous, and would probably come to nothing.
But this was war. Jack had to take the risk.
Chapter Eleven
K atia used a heavy hand on her makeup. Not out of vanity, but to cover the consequences of her sleepless night. Friedrich Reiter might have thought she’d dozed during their ride back to Hamburg, but in truth Katia had spent most of the time wondering whether or not to confess her mistake in Admiral Doenitz’s room.
Ultimately, she’d chosen to remain silent on the matter. At this point, what was done could not be undone. Yet, even as she tried to convince herself she’d made the right decision, a stab of guilt snaked through her stomach and she rose from her chair with a feminine growl on her lips.
She should have trusted Reiter with the truth. She knew that now. Nothing could be gained from withholding such an important piece of information. She must tell him the next time they met.
Satisfied with her new decision, she snatched her brush off the dressing table and moved to the closest window on her left. With an uncharacteristic lack of grace, she began yanking at the knots in her hair.
Tugging, tugging, tugging, she stared at the scene in front of her with unblinking eyes.
Sunrise over the rooftops of Hamburg made a magnificent picture, one she usually stopped to appreciate. But as Katia continued brushing her hair, she barely noticed the ribbon of golden light threading between the orange-and-red-tinted spires.
And then, after a painfully hard yank, a wave of despair crested inside her.
She was in too deep.
She wanted out.
But she couldn’t leave. Not with her mother in such obvious danger.
Overwhelmed with too many emotions to sort through all at once, she admitted the truth to herself at last. Katarina Kerensky, a jaded woman who’d long ago lost hope, desperately wanted to believe good would overcome evil in the end.
Even after witnessing her father’s senseless murder, even after accepting that the Nazis were in charge, Katia wanted—no, she needed —to believe that God hadn’t abandoned the German people altogether.
God?
Where had that thought come from? She didn’t believe the Lord cared anymore. Or did she?
My grace is sufficient.
Was it? Could she trust in the Lord again? Was there enough of Vladimir’s daughter still in her to take that leap?
She wasn’t sure. How could she put faith in a God who allowed a man like Hitler to rise to power?
She was just overly tired this morning.
PHASE ONE COMPLETE STOP
BEGINNING PHASE TWO OVER
Per standard operating procedures, there would be no response until 1430 Hamburg time. Jack took apart the radio and returned the components to their original hiding places.
He peeled off his sweater, loosened the top button ofhis shirt, and then pulled out the small cardboard box from his pants pocket. Flipping open the top, he studied the impression Kerensky had made of the cabinet key. Clear, precise. She’d done an excellent job.
But what if the plans weren’t in the cabinet anymore? After the mistake she’d made over the change in location of Doenitz’s headquarters, Jack couldn’t trust the woman’s intelligence.
He needed a backup plan. His best possibility would be to make contact with someone on the inside of Doenitz’s staff, preferably someone who worked in the main building of the Kriegsmarine headquarters, a naval officer, someone who…
Schmidt. Of course. The U-boat captain engaged to Kerensky’s mother.
A plan began formulating. When Jack had left Katarina this morning, she’d reminded him that she was to spend the rest of day with her mother and Schmidt. Jack had promised to find her later in the evening, after he’d had the key to Doenitz’s cabinet made. However, now he would make sure they met much sooner.
With just the right amount of maneuvering, Kapitän zur See Schmidt could very well give Jack invaluable intelligence, without ever knowing he’d done so.
The tactic was a long shot, at best. Certainly dangerous, and would probably come to nothing.
But this was war. Jack had to take the risk.
Chapter Eleven
K atia used a heavy hand on her makeup. Not out of vanity, but to cover the consequences of her sleepless night. Friedrich Reiter might have thought she’d dozed during their ride back to Hamburg, but in truth Katia had spent most of the time wondering whether or not to confess her mistake in Admiral Doenitz’s room.
Ultimately, she’d chosen to remain silent on the matter. At this point, what was done could not be undone. Yet, even as she tried to convince herself she’d made the right decision, a stab of guilt snaked through her stomach and she rose from her chair with a feminine growl on her lips.
She should have trusted Reiter with the truth. She knew that now. Nothing could be gained from withholding such an important piece of information. She must tell him the next time they met.
Satisfied with her new decision, she snatched her brush off the dressing table and moved to the closest window on her left. With an uncharacteristic lack of grace, she began yanking at the knots in her hair.
Tugging, tugging, tugging, she stared at the scene in front of her with unblinking eyes.
Sunrise over the rooftops of Hamburg made a magnificent picture, one she usually stopped to appreciate. But as Katia continued brushing her hair, she barely noticed the ribbon of golden light threading between the orange-and-red-tinted spires.
And then, after a painfully hard yank, a wave of despair crested inside her.
She was in too deep.
She wanted out.
But she couldn’t leave. Not with her mother in such obvious danger.
Overwhelmed with too many emotions to sort through all at once, she admitted the truth to herself at last. Katarina Kerensky, a jaded woman who’d long ago lost hope, desperately wanted to believe good would overcome evil in the end.
Even after witnessing her father’s senseless murder, even after accepting that the Nazis were in charge, Katia wanted—no, she needed —to believe that God hadn’t abandoned the German people altogether.
God?
Where had that thought come from? She didn’t believe the Lord cared anymore. Or did she?
My grace is sufficient.
Was it? Could she trust in the Lord again? Was there enough of Vladimir’s daughter still in her to take that leap?
She wasn’t sure. How could she put faith in a God who allowed a man like Hitler to rise to power?
She was just overly tired this morning.
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