Marlene shrugged. Her friend might be on to something. Not that she’d ever admit it. But Werner obviously knew her well enough to suspect that she’d never have listened to him. “It still wasn’t the right thing to do.”
“You’re furious because he saved your life?” Bruni asked, tossing her blond hair behind her shoulder.
“Yes, I am. He doesn’t love me, he just slept with me to save my life. How cruel is this?”
Bruni couldn’t hold back her laughter and giggled, “Personally I think that’s a great reason to sleep with someone.” Then her expression sobered and she added, “Why on earth did you become a student leader? No, don’t tell me, you were pushed into it and couldn’t say no.”
“Yes, that’s about it. You know me too well,” Marlene answered with a subdued voice.
“You do realize you’re in a lot of trouble, right? We should visit the military administration and clear your name, since you can’t be on the run indefinitely.”
“No, I can’t. What if they’re still looking for me?” Marlene gasped.
“Be glad that you have me,” Bruni smiled. “Major Dengin owes me a favor. Now first, I want you to write a letter.” She sat Marlene down at a table with paper and a pen and began to dictate…
True to her word, Bruni accompanied Marlene into the Russian sector and called on Major Dengin who attended to them immediately.
“Fräulein von Sinnen, it’s always a pleasure to see you, but what brings you here?” He said with a questioning look at Marlene.
“My dearest Major, this is my friend Fräulein Kupfer and she’s got herself into some trouble through no fault of her own,” Bruni explained, batting her eyelashes.
“Hmm.. what kind of trouble exactly?” he gave Marlene the once over, making her skin crawl.
“A terrible misunderstanding, dorogoi. My friend has such a good heart, she couldn’t say no when she was coaxed into the student board several months ago. But as soon as she heard of the disrespectful things planned, she wrote her resignation last week already, because she doesn’t want to have any part in any activities disrespecting our Soviet friends and benefactors.”
Marlene watched the two of them with eagle eyes. The major didn’t seem convinced, but he obviously was no match for the cunning Bruni.
“Look at her, Anatoly. Does she look like a troublemaker to you?” Bruni said and Marlene mustered her most innocent smile.
“I know about the awful happenings,” he said, leaving it unclear whether he meant the demands of the students or the abductions last night. “It won’t be easy to clear her name. There will be a lot of red tape involved.” He looked expectantly at Bruni and shook his head with a sad expression. “And right now, where my mother is so sick…”
Bruni picked up on his demand instantly, leaving Marlene gawking at the well-rehearsed performance unfolding in front of her.
“Your poor mother! How could I forget, Anatoly? You’re taking such great care of her, all the while being thousands of miles away here in Berlin.” Bruni produced a small brown-paper bag from her handbag and laid it on his desk. “After hearing about her latest bout of sickness, I arranged for this.”
He peaked into the bag, his eyes springing open. The bag disappeared into his uniform pocket faster than a lightning flash. Then he took up the phone and barked orders in Russian into the headset. When he returned his gaze to Bruni, he looked very satisfied. “Dearest Fräulein von Sinnen, your friend should be exonerated. But could you leave a copy of her resignation letter with me, just in case?”
“Certainly, dear Major Dengin.” Bruni gave him a charming smile, retrieved the letter she and Marlene had prepared earlier, and handed it over to him. “Anything else you might need?”
“If I do, I’ll come and see you at the club,” he said, folding his thick fingers across his considerable stomach. Then the huge imposing man got up, his medals clinking as he walked them to the door. Marlene thought she would faint before she got out of the building and Bruni linked her arm to steady her.
“I’m going to look like death warmed over tonight after missing my beauty sleep,” Bruni complained.
“I’m sorry,” Marlene said. “I’m so grateful for all…”
“That’s what friends are for,” Bruni laughed. “Just stay out of trouble for a while. Not that I anticipate trouble after the major has sorted things out, but one can never be too careful.”
That night Marlene was plagued with nightmares, expecting a knock on the door at any moment, but none came. In the morning she felt like she’d been run over by a tank and dragged herself to university, where everything went on as if nothing had happened. Nobody even whispered about the ghastly events from two nights ago, but Marlene felt as if the empty spaces of the taken students stared at her, accusing her of cowardice and betrayal.
After class, Lotte sidled up to her with a surprised look. “You here?”
“I can’t stop my life, just because of this,” Marlene said and then recounted what Bruni had done for her.
“But aren’t you afraid?” Lotte closed her oversized shoulderbag, ready to return home.
“I’m terrified. Last night I barely closed an eye, afraid to hear a knock on the door.” Even in the streaming sunlight, Marlene felt the ice clog in her veins as images of NKVD police dragging her away stormed her brain.
“Can’t you move out of the Soviet sector, at least for a while?” Lotte asked, bringing her back to the present.
It was a tempting idea. Because if she was horrified in plain daylight, how much worse would it be each night? And for how long? She shook her head. “I don’t have any place to go…”
Lotte grinned at her with that cheeky smile only Lotte could pull off and said, “Move in with me.”
“With you? What about your sisters?”
“Ursula just moved out after marrying Tom and Anna and her family won’t mind.” Lotte looked at her and added, “And we sure could need someone to share the rent now that Ursula isn’t here anymore.”
Marlene laughed. Even before considering her parents’ reaction, she decided the lure of feeling safe at night was too much to resist. “Okay, then.”
Lotte hugged her, jumping up and down. “Let’s go and get your things right now.”
“Are you afraid, I’ll change my mind?”
“One can never be too sure,” Lotte said and Marlene nodded.
Chapter 28
While it didn’t come as a huge surprise, when the call came to summon him to the SMAD in Karlshorst Werner was visibly shaken.
As the vehicle stopped in front of the building, he stepped out with trepidation. Werner had been here many times and always found the building impressive, but today it looked dark and threatening. He suppressed a shudder and walked inside, where he was told to wait.
Several minutes later, a soldier came and said, “General Sokolov is ready to see you.”
Sokolov sat at his monumental desk, looking down the table with six chairs in front of him. Five chairs were already occupied: chief-of-police Markgraf, SED head Gentner, two men from the NKVD and Kurt Lang, Werner’s successor at the education department.
An acute awareness took hold of Werner and he felt his pulse ratcheting up. The setup promised a rather unpleasant meeting.
Sokolov cut right to the chase, “I must congratulate Comrades Markgraf, Gentner and Lang for the efficient and swift handling of a problem that might have blown out of proportion should we have let these misguided students continue on their path.”
Werner’s breath stuck in his lungs and he dared not breathe. His name hadn’t been mentioned. That was a bad sign and he could already hear the rattling wheels of the train destined for banishment.