War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 179

Chapter 34

L

otte cracked open her eyes and saw blue skies.

Am I dead already

? A familiar voice reached her ear.

So, he’s dead too? That doesn’t make sense.

“Leutnant.” Her vicious interrogator, Kriminalassistent Heller, saluted someone with the utmost respect and a clicking of heels. Fear constricted her heart in a vice grip. “We were just about to execute the traitor; you want to watch?”

About to? You already executed me.

Lotte craned her head, dizziness attacking her.

“This woman is innocent. We found the real spy,” another familiar voice said. One she hadn’t heard in a long time

. Is he dead too? I hope not. And why are they talking about me?

A long silence ensued as the dizziness in Lotte’s head slowly faded. Her arm throbbed in pain and once again she tasted blood in her mouth.

Am I still alive?

“So, we’re not going to shoot this one?” Heller asked, sounding disappointed.

“No. I’ll be taking her with me,” the other man responded, obviously pulling rank on the Gestapo officer.

“Let her be. The Leutnant wants to have her,” Heller yelled at his men. Stomping footfalls indicated the firing squad leaving the backyard.

Lotte made an effort to pull herself upright. Since she apparently wasn’t dead yet, she could at least try to figure out what was happening. She blinked a few times to regain proper vision and then looked directly into Johann’s brown eyes. “You? Here?”

“You owe me an explanation,” he growled, and helped her up. His touch wasn’t gentle the way she remembered it, but he wasn’t manhandling her either. Perhaps a tiny sliver of hope remained in this desolate situation.

“I owe you an explanation? Who the hell do you think you are? The Gestapo just tried to execute me,” Lotte burst out.

“Watch your mouth. For the time being, I’m your direct superior, and you’d better address me as Leutnant Hauser.”

“Aye, Leutnant Hauser,” she pressed out between tightened lips. Where had the gentle, serious man she’d fancied gone? In his place was a hardened, angry man she didn’t recognize.

They arrived at what seemed to be his office and after locking the door behind them, he turned around, his eyes blazing with rage – and something else. “Sit down.”

Lotte obeyed.

“Now, tell me who you really are.”

Lotte looked at him, wondering if this was some elaborate trap devised by the Gestapo to trip her up. “You know who I am. I’m Alexandra Wagner.”

Johann leaned his hands on the arms of her chair and lowered his face to within a few inches of her own. Anger rolled off of him and stalled the breath in her throat. “Don’t lie to me, Alex…” He stepped back and rummaged in his desk, taking out a faded photograph.

Lotte gasped and surged backwards in the chair when she recognized the two people in the picture, her panicked eyes surely giving her secret away.

“Do you know the boy in this photograph?” he asked in a low, threatening voice and answered his own question without waiting for a reaction from her, “Soldat Richard Klausen. And the girl embracing him, do you know her?”

“This is me,” she whispered, her heart hammering against her ribs.

“I can see that,” he answered, “but Richard told me this is his sister Charlotte, called Lotte.”

Lotte tried to control the tremble sneaking up her spine. He had found out her secret. There was no way out, except by telling him the truth. Perhaps not the entire truth, but parts of it. She could only hope that he would understand and not send her right back in front of the firing squad. Seeking any remaining compassion in his brown eyes, she found only fury, disappointment – and hurt.

“It’s true. My real name is Charlotte Klausen,” she said, observing his face for a reaction. But it remained set in stone.

“Do you know why I have this picture? Because Richard wanted me to give it to his family, should anything happen to him. And you know what I found out? Charlotte Klausen is dead!” he yelled, “Dead! She died from typhus last year in the Ravensbrück concentration camp!” His jugular vein pulsated vigorously, his eyes threatening to jump out of his face.

Despite his rage she put a hand on his arm. “I…I’m not really dead.”

“I can see that,” he sneered at her, but at least the yelling had been tempered down to a rude loudness.

“I’m sorry. I never meant to deceive you. It was so hard, but I couldn’t tell you. If you’d known, you’d have had to report me.”

“I still do.” His voice lowered to a measured calm, and she believed she saw a glimmer of compassion in the depths of his eyes.

“Why were you at the camp?” he asked, his voice soft now.

She gave the short version of her story. “I got caught hiding a Jewish girl and her baby sister.”

“Why on earth would you do such a stupid thing?” He tugged at her arm to make her stand up, but she was no longer afraid of him. The rage drained from his body and he looked at her with the same warm gaze she’d come to love during the past months.

“Rachel was a classmate. When she and her baby sister came to seek my help after their parents had been deported, I couldn’t refuse. What would you have done?” She looked at him with wide, pleading eyes.

“They’re Jews,” he sighed. “We’re not supposed to help them.” For a moment his eyes reflected his inner turmoil. She knew he’d grown up believing the Jews were responsible for all the bad things that had happened to Germany, but she also knew he owned a kind heart and didn’t agree with the atrocious things done to them.

“They’re fellow humans. And Rachel was a friend,” Lotte whispered.

“It was still a stupid thing to do,” he said, rubbing a hand across his freshly shaven jaw, before he tucked a stray lock of her fiery red hair behind her ear. “So why did you become a Blitzmädel? Why not stay in hiding somewhere?”

He leaned near enough now for her to sense his warm breath on her skin. It made her knees wobbly, but this time not with fear. She escaped from the sensation by taking half a step back. “Are you sure you want to know?”

Johann tilted his head to the side, a ghost of his usual smile appearing on his lips. “I guess I already know. You really are a spy, aren’t you?”

His declaration stunned Lotte speechless. It took her a while to form her next sentence. “Why did you save me when you know?”

“Because I love you, Alexandra, or whoever you are.” He pulled her into his arms and pressed a passionate kiss on her lips. While she was still confused about her feelings for him, his passionate kiss made her realize she was still alive.

Alive!

And he had rescued her. A deep gratefulness coursed through her body and soul, threatening to sweep her away. She clung to him like they were the only two people on earth.