Elke moved toward the door cautiously. "Who is it?"
"Russki," a man's voice answered through the wood. "I have message."
My blood turned to ice. Elke turned wide, terrified eyes on me. I shook my head; the words, "Don't open—" came out automatically, but I stopped myself. The Russians were the ones who, according to Axel, had taken Klaus. So if they were at Elke's door now, here… they had to know about Klaus. I stepped forward with my heart pulsing in my throat. "I'll take it."
The door creaked open just enough for a Russian soldier to stand in the gap. He was older than most, uniform rumpled, eyes sharp and unreadable. He held out a folded piece of paper.
"For you," he said in heavily accented German. "Inga Weber."
Every breath in my body stopped. I took the paper with trembling fingers. It was dirty around the edges, like it had been carried for hours. My name was written on the outside in a handwriting I hadn't seen in… God. Years. A lifetime ago.
My father's handwriting.
No.
No, it couldn't be.
I unfolded it with numb fingers.
Daughter,
I know this must be a shock, but I'm alive and safe. Do not listen to anyone. They lied to us for years.
I need you to trust me and follow the man who brings this letter. He'll take you to me. And Klaus.
We can finally be a family again.
Vati
The room spun. My throat closed, and my vision blurred.
"He… he's alive?" I whispered, hardly hearing my own voice. "My father—alive? And he has Klaus?"
Elke snatched the letter from my hands. Her eyes flew across the page, then she looked up at me sharply.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, Inga. Don't believe this. This is what they do. Russians lie. They lure women. They lure?—"
"I don't have a choice," I whispered. Because it was true. I didn't. I had to take the chance.
If my father was alive…
"Klaus," I forced out. "He has Klaus. I have to go."
Elke grabbed my wrist, panic rising. "Inga, you don't know this man! You don't knowanything?—"
"I know my father's handwriting," I argued stubbornly, but my voice trembled. "I have to go. I have to see them. Even if it's a lie. Even if it's a trap. I have to know."
Elke stared, helpless and horrified. I reached into my coat pocket and pressed the money Gideon had given me—money I'd never even dreamed of touching—into her palm.
Her eyes went wide. "Inga, what is this?"
"Take care of the children," I whispered. "Please. Feed them. Keep them safe."
"Inga, don't do this," she begged. "Don't go. What about Gideon? What about?—"
Pain ripped through my chest.
"I'll come back," I promised.
