‘You know about it?’
‘It’s my job to know everything.’
‘Hannah Rothstein’s name is on the Neuruppin list.’
Max’s shoulders tensed. ‘I know.’
‘You know?’ Clara’s voice rose slightly. ‘Then you’re going to help her. You’ve already warned her, haven’t you? Please tell me you have.’
‘Keep your voice down.’ Max glanced around the church before looking back at Clara. ‘When is she being taken?’
‘I don’t know. I was hoping you’d tell me that. But it’s irrelevant. We need to get her out. Now. Tonight.’
‘We can’t.’
‘What do you mean you can’t?’ She fought to keep her voice to a whisper.
‘We have protocols. Priorities. We can’t just charge in and rescue one person because we know them.’
Clara gripped the pew in front of her. ‘She’s pregnant. She’s being sent to Neuruppin. How is that not a priority?’
‘She’s one woman. There are fifteen other names on that list.’ Max’s jaw tightened. ‘We don’t have the resources to save them all. We save who we can.’
‘You’re talking about a woman who is about to give birth any week now. You do know what happens at Neuruppin, don’t you?’
‘Look, Clara, I’m talking about survival. Do you think I want to make these choices?’ He breathed out a long breath. ‘Every name on that list is someone’s mother, someone’s daughter. But if we try to save everyone, we save no one. We will be exposed. You will be exposed.’
‘But Hannah – I helped her when the Charité turned her away. I’ve visited her at home. I promised myself I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.’
Max shook his head. ‘You shouldn’t ever promise anything right now. Not even to yourself.’ He let out another sigh. ‘We can’t pick and choose based on personal connections. That’s not how it works.’
Clara sank back in the pew, fighting back the tears of frustration and anger. ‘That’s fine. I’ll do it myself. I should have just done so in the first place.’
‘What? You can’t. You will risk ruining the whole operation.’
‘You don’t know that. She will just be someone who wasn’t where they were expecting to find her.’
‘And what exactly are you going to do once you’ve rescued her?’ Max emphasised the world ‘rescued’.
Clara hadn’t thought that far ahead. ‘I’ll work that out myself.’
‘But will you? No. You’ll need help. My help and that could jeopardise the rescue of five other women. Are you prepared to sacrifice five women and their babies for one pregnant woman? Do you think that is right? That we have favourites in all this.’
‘I can’t let them take her away,’ said Clara. ‘They took my neighbour away and I did nothing. I stood there and watched from the comfort of my apartment, protected by my German officer husband.’ Her eyes burned with tears. ‘I won’t stand by and do nothing again.’
The chapel was silent. Max studied her before speaking. ‘It’s too late. She’s already gone.’
‘What? She’s been rescued already .?.?.’ Her words faded as she saw the grim look on Max’s face. She shook her head slowly. ‘No. No.’
‘I’m sorry, Clara. They came yesterday. They came a day earlier than normal. I was under arrest. There was nothing we could do.’
A wave of dizziness overcame Clara, and she gripped the edge of the seat to steady herself, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them and looked up at Max, any hope she had that it wasn’t true vanished. ‘Oh, God,’ she whispered, a tear tracking its way down her face. ‘Oh no. Not Hannah too.’ She held her head in her hands. The anger welled up inside her, engulfing the feeling of dread and helplessness. The whole situation was outrageous. Unfair. She didn’t care what Max said. She was going to fight this, even if she had to do it on her own. She sat up and brushed the tears from her face. ‘In that case, I’m going to Neuruppin to rescue her.’
Max stared at her. Then he laughed – quiet but incredulous. He glanced around the empty chapel. ‘You seriously think you’re going to walk into Neuruppin and ask for Hannah Rothstein. And they will just hand her over. Then what? You’ll both just stroll back to Berlin?’
‘Like I said, I’ll work it out.’ She went to get to her feet, but Max caught her wrist in his grasp.
‘Sit down, Clara.’
