War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 84

Chapter 29

T

he next morning Anna woke up with the feeling that something awful had happened. She sat up and was rubbing the sleep from her eyes, when the memories came rushing back.

I killed a man.

“Peter?” she yelped in a high-pitched voice.

“Good morning, sweetheart.” He entered the room with a towel slung around his hips, his full chest hair still damp from the shower he’d just exited. But Anna had no eyes for the perfect body of the man she loved so much.

“I need…we need…what will…” The words tumbled out in the same mishmash as the thoughts whirling in her head.

“Shush.” He placed a kiss on her lips, and his presence slowed down the train of her thoughts. “This is what I want you to do. First, you stop by your apartment and freshen up before reporting to work.”

“Work? How can I show up at work today? After…” Anna swallowed, but the panic refused to go down.

“You need to act normal. Go through your routines like every other day. Pretend you haven’t seen

him

since the day of the celebration in the auditorium.”

“Act normal?” she asked, wondering what that even looked like.

I executed a man with my own hands last night. How does a cold-blooded killer behave?

Peter pulled her from the bed and hugged her for a long moment, saying, “Now get dressed and go. Don’t forget to look as impeccable as you always do.” Then he swatted her backside to make her move. Her clothes were covered in blood, but Anna put them on, moving like a puppet on strings. So focused was she on her acting-normal charade, she forgot to say goodbye to Peter as she exited his apartment.

Thankfully, it was still early and she didn’t encounter a soul on the short walk over to her own place, where she stepped beneath the shower, fully clothed. She scrubbed her clothes and herself, and washed her hair, until all traces of the doctor’s blood had gone. But looking around her, she saw red spots everywhere. She knew it was an illusion, her tortured mind playing tricks on her, because there couldn’t be blood in her apartment. Or on her hands…

Plastering a smile on her face, she left her place and reported to work. Nothing happened and nobody seemed to miss Doctor Tretter. By the time she went to the canteen for lunch, she had relaxed a bit and even managed to laugh at the silly jokes of one of her colleagues.

Then Professor Scherer asked all the team leaders to meet in his office with two men in civilian suits flanking him, Anna’s heart stopped beating.

“Ladies and gentlemen, there may have been a crime at the Charité,” the professor said in a shaken voice. He raised a tapered finger, and pointed at the two men in gray. “These gentlemen are from the Gestapo, and need to question every single one of you and your team members about the disappearance of Doctor Tretter.”

A murmur went through the room, and Anna’s palms became damp with cold sweat.

They’re going to see right through me. They’re going to torture me, and force me to confess. They’re going to execute me.

They know I killed him.

“But, Professor Scherer, wasn’t the new professor due to arrive two weeks from now?” one of the older doctors asked.

“Unfortunately…” One of the Gestapo officers took a step forward, and pierced one after another of the dozen people in the room with his steel-blue eyes. The murmuring faded away, and Anna was sure she wasn’t the only one on pins and needles. The Gestapo had the ability to chill even the most innocent child to the bone, making him rack his brain trying to remember what he might have done wrong.

Strangely enough, this knowledge filled Anna with confidence. In her childhood, she had honed the skill of making anyone believe in her innocence. Play-acting that had worked on her mother would work on the Gestapo lads as well. It must. Or she’d be executed and tossed aside as if she’d meant nothing. Along with Peter. And God knows who else.

“…Doctor Tretter arrived at the Charité last night. He parked his automobile in the lot, and picked up a key to his assigned apartment from the security guards. Since then he hasn’t been seen,” the Gestapo officer said, letting his eyes rake over the gathered crowd, no doubt seeking for telltale body language.

Anna channeled her best acting skills, and slipped into the role of Fräulein Klausen, the head of bacterial research who only lived for her work, relaxing the tension from her muscles, but adopting a sorrowful expression. Anna, the cold-blooded killer, remained temporarily locked deep down along with her memories of the pivotal moment where her life went off the rails.

One by one, the team leaders and later on the team members were led into a room and questioned by the two Gestapo officers.

“Did Doctor Tretter contact you last night?” the man with the steel-blue eyes asked.

“No, Officer.”

“Why not?” the other one said.

Anna blinked in confusion.

That’s part of their game

. “He had no reason to contact me. I didn’t even know he was coming to Berlin.” The second sentence was true.

“So you’re denying that you and Doctor Tretter were having an affair?” the first man said with a voice sharp as a knife.

She blushed and cast her eyes downward.

“Look at me when you answer.” The command came and she whipped up her head.

“I…” she whispered, widening her eyes as she held the officer’s gaze before continuing, “When I was working at Ravensbrück…I admired the Doctor’s work and…” She blushed more, biting her lips. “…we engaged in a short affair.” She smoothed her skirt. “But it ended when I was transferred back to Berlin. It actually was a relief for both of us, because we knew it was wrong. He was my superior.” She shed a few tears for dramatic effect.

“So you haven’t seen Doctor Tretter since?” the officer asked, his voice slightly less hostile.

“No.” She dabbed at her eyes. “I was as surprised as anyone when Professor Scherer announced him as recipient of the professorship in internal medicine a week ago.”

“Did you speak to him on that day?” he insisted.

Anna barely suppressed a shiver and instead faked a smile. “Only a few minutes. He was so happy. This was such an accomplishment; you can’t imagine how hard he worked to be worthy of this position.”

“And did he ask you to sleep with him again?”

The question took her by surprise. “Officer! It would have been very improper, and neither of us wanted to endanger our future work relationship with the complications of an illicit affair. We both wanted to pour all our energy into the war effort.”

The officer raised a brow. “Is that so?”

“Yes. Professor Scherer always says that we have to make sacrifices for the greater good.” Anna held the officer’s glance until she felt his determination soften.

The two officers exchanged a look and then he said, “Well. That will be enough for now.”

“Thank you.” Anna stood and walked towards the door. On an impulse she turned and looked at them. “I hope you find him.”

“We will, Fräulein, we will.”

Anna prayed they were wrong.