Midnight Hunter

Silence stretches. I picture her glaring at him. But when she speaks there’s despair in her soft, cracked voice. “All right. I’ll tell you everything.”

I ease myself closer to the window and peer inside. The captain’s standing over her, her head hanging in defeat.

But when she raises it her eyes are blazing. “I love Oberstleutnant Reinhardt Volker. He is a loyal citizen of the GDR and is faithful to the Party. I’ve been working with him all this time to expose you as sneaking, undermining idiot who can’t capture two dozen defectors when they’re handed to you on a plate. How does it feel knowing you’ll always be second best, captain? How does it feel knowing that you’ll never measure up to a man like Reinhardt even with all your half-baked schemes?”

He stares at her, the look on his face almost comical.

Evony keeps talking, barely pausing for breath. “You’re pathetic, you’re a fool, and when we get back to East Berlin I’ll tell everyone how you botched this as well and Reinhardt got the better of you yet again. Yes, keep looking at me like that, the memory of your stupid face will keep me warm on all the long nights I’ll spend in Hohenschönhausen. That’s were I’m going and I’m not afraid.”

My heart swells with love and pride. This is my brave girl, who can face a thousand trials, heartbreak, even death, and still hold her head high. I lived half a life before I found her, this young woman who stands on the precipice of death and ruin without flinching.

But she’s taken it too far. Heydrich knows that he’s lost and anger floods his face. He raises his hand to strike her—

I don’t watch any more. I bolt for the door, not caring who might see me. But as I burst into the room the sight that greets me is not the one that I was expecting. Heydrich is yelling, and Evony has her teeth clamped to his thigh. He got too close and she bit him. I barely have time to marvel at the comical sight of Heydrich trying to free himself as the other guards are rushing forwards to help him, none of them noticing me in the doorway. I grab a handgun from one of the guard’s holsters while he’s distracted.

“All of you, stay where you are,” I call in Bulgarian. None of them pay me any attention and I shout again and fire two warning shots into the floor. They turn and look at me in surprise. Heydrich is screaming at them in German but they don’t understand a word he’s saying. There’s a good chance they don’t even know what’s going on. I keep speaking in Bulgarian. “I’m Oberstleutnant Maier of the Staatssicherheit and this man is in violation of East German law. If you comply you will face no disciplinary measures. If you do not I will shoot to kill.”

The clear orders from a superior officer in their own language works. They all turn to me expectantly. I motion to one of them. “You, take her outside. If anything happens to her it will be more than your life is worth.”

He crosses the room to help Evony up. I turn to Heydrich, and I’m greeted by a terrible sight.

He looks like a madman on the verge of a breakdown, his face purple and his eyes wild. He looks between Evony and me and reaches for the gun at his hip, and with dawning horror I see what he means to do. He wants me punished for thwarting him again. He wants me to suffer. And he’s just realized how he can make it happen.

He draws his gun and the barrel swivels toward her head, each microsecond ticking out with excruciating slowness. I’m going to watch her be killed in lingering detail, each moment etched onto my brain as long as I live.

“Nein!” I lunge forward. I’m not going to make it in time. Evony’s staring at me, her eyes wide with confusion, unaware of what’s about to happen but able to see from my face that it’s something terrible. A guard crosses in front of me in an attempt to disarm Heydrich, but he’s too late. A gunshot rings out.

I can’t see anything but I know she’s dead. He’s killed her.

I fight my way forwards, needing to get to her even though it’s too late. I pull the guard out of the way.

Someone takes the gun from Heydrich’s hands. It’s twisted around. Another shot rings out. The report is an explosion in my ears and Heydrich looks down at himself, fumbling with his uniform. A dark bloodstain is spreading down his chest.

Evony’s holding the gun. I don’t understanding what I’m seeing but she seems to be in perfect control as aims the gun and shoots him again, this time right through his heart.

“You bitch,” Heydrich says in wonderment, and falls to the floor, dead.

Evony’s eyes are wide and her face is flecked with Heydrich’s blood. She remembers the gun in her hand, shakily puts the safety on and hands it to one of the bemused guards. Then she stands up and walks slowly toward me, staring as if she’s seen a ghost. She reaches out and touches my uniform jacket, tracing the bloodstains with her fingers.

I pull her to me and hold her close. We both reek of blood and gunpowder.

“Reinhardt,” she gasps in my arms, her eyes filling with tears. “You came back.”

“Always. I’ll always find you.” I stroke the hair back from her face. “He had the gun pointed right at your head. How did he miss?”

She swallows and takes a deep breath. “It was your face. I’ve never seen anyone look so terrified and I suddenly knew what was about to happen. I flung myself forward just in time.” She turns and peers at the wall. There’s a deep bullet hole in the plaster.

I’m staring at it, seeing how close I came to losing her, when Evony reaches out to touch my blood-soaked collar. “Reinhardt. You’re a mess.”

I look down at my uniform and see that she’s right. I start to laugh but black spots fill in my vision. Suddenly I can’t bear the weight of my body with my legs. She tries to hold me up but I’m too heavy for her and we sink to the floor.

The last thing I hear is Evony’s frantic voice. “Quick, call for an ambulance. Doctor. Vrach. No, not with that. The radio’s broken. Please. Isn’t there a telephone somewhere? He needs a doctor.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Evony

There’s a fresh breeze blowing against my cheeks. The scent of gentle sunshine on clean sheets. The casement window is propped open by a chipped and slightly rusted hook. There are no curtains and the fresh sea air is blowing away the faint mildew scent of rooms that have been closed up for too long. The space beside me in the bed is empty.