Happy news? Rage flowed through her at the ridiculous notion. The Russian Revolution had already stolen her father. And now the evil Nazi regime had its claws in her mother.
Memories of her dead father swept across her mind, coming stronger than usual tonight. No matter how illogical, she couldn’t stop torturing herself over her failure in Russia.
She’d been too small, too insignificant to challenge the revolutionists. She had prayed, though. Without ceasing. For one full year.
God had remained silent.
By the age of nine, Katia had stopped praying altogether. She hadn’t spoken to her Heavenly Father since.
With the hollowness returning to her stomach, Katia curled her hand into a tight fist. Never again would she count on an absent God who remained silent at her most desperate hours. Katarina Kerensky would do whatever it took to ensure her mother was spared the same fate as her father.
“You’re upset by your mother’s choice of husbands.”
The unexpected softness in Reiter’s voice had Katia shaking her head to keep her mind focused. She could handle his suspicion and distrust. She could even handle his subtle attempts at seduction—those were all part of the game they played—but this…this…understanding? It unnerved her.
“My thoughts on the matter are of no consequence.” She spoke in a detached, unemotional tone. “The choice is hers to make.”
“Nevertheless, you would have chosen differently for her.”
There was that hideous compassion again. Open, honest and very real. Another game? A trap? “We are through with this topic. My mother has nothing to do with our current mission.”
He opened his mouth to speak then shut it again and nodded. “Perhaps you’re right. However, Hermann Schmidt—”
“Is my problem.”
The spy’s expression changed with the speed of a torpedo bearing down on its target. No longer relaxed, eyes hard, he sat coiled like a snake ready to strike. “Let’s talk straight, shall we?”
“And here I thought we were.”
Ignoring the interruption, he rose and moved to tower over her. “I’ve been given the task of stopping a Nazi naval secret weapon. Now pay close attention, Katarina. Imagine my shock when I meet my German contact at the assigned time, and a high-ranking officer in the Kriegsmarine shows up, as well.”
“Mere coincidence, nothing more.”
A dangerous glint flashed in his eyes. Katia tried not to squirm under his scrutiny. She wanted to stand, to move away from his ugly suspicion, but he blocked the path by crouching down in front of her.
“Coincidence?” He contained his energy well, but she knew he could strike at any moment. “There is no such thing.”
She would not show fear. She would not draw away. She would go on the offensive instead. “Aren’t you over-reacting just a bit?”
“I call it being cautious.” He leaned forward, stealing nearly all of the space between them. “Will your mother’s fiancé interfere with our mission?”
She knew he was crowding her on purpose, trying to intimidate her with his superior size.
The game was all about power now. This was a game she knew how to play, and how to win. “Choose whatever you wish to believe. I admit I am unhappy about my mother’s impending marriage, but you must trust that I will handle Hermann Schmidt directly.”
With a snort of disgust, he pushed away from her and returned to the chair he’d occupied a few moments earlier.
She started to explain, to clarify the situation for them both, but he cut her off with a hand in the air. “Is he one of your informants?”
It was an understandable question, one he had every right to ask. One she would answer truthfully.
“No.” She held the pause for effect, gaining control from his surprised expression. “Hermann is simply my mother’s fiancé, a man who hates the Communists as much as she does.”
Reiter slowly sat back and steepled his fingers. “I see.”
Unfortunately, Katia was afraid this man saw far too much. Would he prove more of a problem than Hermann Schmidt? Katia could barely contain a wave of terror at the thought.
But no matter how afraid she was, she would not give in to any outward sign of vulnerability.
Not until she was alone.
Blinking away her emotions, she lifted her chin. “Finish with your questions, Herr Reiter. You’re fortunate. I find I am in an obliging mood, after all.”
A single eyebrow lifted. “How do you plan to ‘handle’ your mother and her fiancé?”
In an attempt to gather her thoughts, she looked at the open window on her left. A light breeze joined in a ghostly waltz with the sheer curtains. The scent of coming snow shivered in the air, promising a thin coat of white by morning.
“I’ll know more when I meet them tomorrow morning.” Some unnamed emotion rose up. She shoved it back with a hard swallow. “They are picking me up at 0900.”
“That’s going to be a problem.”
“Not if—”
“I go the rest of the way alone.” The lethal expression in Reiter’s eyes was enough to make even the bravest woman quiver in fear. She held his stare anyway, knowing that he was waiting to see what impact his declaration would have. She waited to see how long he would wait for her.
Games inside games.
The deceit and smoky undercurrents were growing with every tick of the clock.
Another minute passed.
And then another.
At last, Reiter broke the silence. “Tell me where the blueprints are hidden and I’ll be out of your life forever.”
“That won’t be possible. You need me with you.”
“You won’t be available. You have a future stepfather to entertain.” His voice was very soft. Very dangerous.
“You don’t understand,” she insisted. “You need me.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why you?”
She didn’t move, didn’t breathe, afraid if she did she would break down and blurt out too much information. Keeping her secret to herself kept her and her mother alive. “Since I’m the one with the intelligence, you have no other choice than to rely on me.”
His eyebrows slammed together. “In other words, if I don’t allow you to come along, you won’t tell me where the plans are hidden.”
“That about sums it up.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me, Kerensky?”
“Yes.” But he didn’t need to know why.
“An honest answer at last,” he said, an odd hint of approval in his gaze.
His reaction threw her off balance. Again. What was she supposed to do with him now?
“Go ahead.” He gestured for her to continue speaking. “You might as well tell me the rest, the part you’re intentionally hiding from me.”
She pretended to misunderstand him. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He simply looked at her.
She held perfectly still, dreading the obvious question to come. Was she a Jew?
But he surprised her once again.
“Tell me, Katarina,”