“Not with the share-the-work policy,” Erich said.
“Which means what?” Brenner asked.
“A labor pool. Albert has to choose a different crew every morning. It’s for security reasons. The idea is to keep everyone off balance. Make it harder for anyone to plan an escape attempt in advance—like hiding under the truck after a head count,” he said drily.
Albert stood up. “There is a way to switch crew members,” he said as the room went quiet. “Kiril and the Brenners could take the place of Erich, Gunther and our friend Otto Dorf. My foreman expects delivery of new bridge supports the day after tomorrow. But Mueller has to be in Berlin. I promised I’d take up the slack—get the new supports to the bridge early in the morning. Do whatever engineering work comes up until he gets back.” He cracked a smile. “But when we finish work, I won’t leave the truck at the marshalling yard like I usually do. I’ll take it to Otto’s uncle’s warehouse. We’ll build a false wall in the tool cabinet, creating a hidden space about six feet wide by three feet deep to hide all three of you—close enough to the middle of the bridge to make a run for it.”
Kiril knew why Adrienne looked alarmed. Brenner was claustrophobic.
Would he be able to keep from panicking?
Chapter 47
“Let’s run though it one more time,” Albert said as they ate breakfast Tuesday morning. “Today and tonight, the three of you sit tight here. Wednesday, we’ll hide you behind the false wall in the cabinet while I drive the truck to the yard to pick up the bridge supports.”
Brenner’s jaw tightened.
“Once we’re loaded and the crew is on the truck, Erich and Gunther will ride with their backs against the cabinet—”
“Why?” Brenner cut in.
“An excess of caution. We want to be sure no one else goes near it. Not a single member of the crew, and no one else. No one.”
Erich and Gunther nodded.
“Agreed,” Otto chimed in.
“What about the tear gas on the bridge?” Erich wondered out loud.
Brenner paled. “Tear gas? You people must be crazy!”
“Not a problem,” Albert said calmly. “When we get to the bridge, the truck will appear to be empty. Even though the Vopos routinely spray front to back and top to bottom to smoke out anyone who’s hiding, we’ll have already sealed the compartment where the three of you will be standing.”
“Bottom line, Kurt, no gas will seep in,” Adrienne said impatiently.
“So all three of us are on the bridge,” Kiril said. “Then what?”
“We create a diversion. Maybe a fire from the hot rivets. Maybe a fight. Someone could fall into the river.” Albert shrugged. “We’ll figure out something plausible to distract the guards. It’s only about ten yards.”
“That’s one helluva lot of ‘maybes,’” Brenner said frostily. “This brilliant plan has more holes than a slab of Swiss cheese.”
Adrienne could only roll her eyes at Kurt’s unseemly outburst.
As she started to help Frieda Zind scrape remnants of sausage and scrambled eggs from the breakfast plates, she was rewarded with a tentative smile on that ravaged face.
“Level with me,” Kiril said as Albert stood up to leave. “Even if we do escape, aren’t you and your family in jeopardy?”
“We knew the risk when we took you in.”
“I guess what I’m really asking is whether there’s a way we can do this without your being exposed.”
“You know there isn’t. Sure, we might be arrested and interrogated, maybe beat up some. But it’s capitalism that’ll save us.”
Kiril and Adrienne were stunned. Instead of just cracking a smile, Albert actually grinned.
“For years, the East German regime has done a brisk business with West Berlin swapping relatives and friends,” Albert explained. “We don’t have either. What we do have is something that’s in short supply in West Berlin—skilled workers. In our case, a structural engineer and a couple of iron workers.”
“And in return, East Germany gets what?” Kiril asked.
“Consumer goods that are practically unobtainable in this so-called worker’s paradise. Coffee, butter, spare parts, electronic equipment. As for our Soviet comrades taking it out on us for helping you, there’s one thing we can count on. It won’t be a Soviet affair because everything we’re doing takes place here in East Germany. So if you make it out—and I think your chances are excellent—the regime won’t want any publicity about a single defection, let alone three, two of them Americans.”
“So it’s on to the Dorf family’s warehouse,” Albert said cheerfully.
“Hold on a minute,” Kiril said, following Albert and his brothers out the front door. “I just thought of something—”
The door swung shut.
Brenner headed for the stairway leading to the bedrooms.
Adrienne put out a hand to stop him. “You’ve been acting like a snob ever since we got here, Kurt.”
“Don’t lecture me,” he snapped.
“Even Mrs. Zind, who doesn’t speak English, is nervous just being in the same room. Your attitude jumps the language barrier like an Olympic pole vaulter,” she said coldly. “Can’t you show a little gratitude?”
“I thanked the older brother for what they’re all doing.”
“I know the German word for ‘thank you’. You said it once, maybe twice. The point is how you said it. Like a condescending employer to the hired help. And by the way, the older brother has a name. It’s Albert.”
“You’re coming unstrung.”
“And you’re in denial. If the accommodations here are too modest, you can always return to that affluent Brenner hotel suite in East Berlin.”
“You have an irritating sense of humor.”
“And you have a callous side to your nature that’s even worse than I suspected. You can be affable to people in New York who, if you needed them, would slam their collective doors in your face. Yet you’re barely civil to a family who took us in without question and are trying, at great personal risk, to save our lives.”
“I think you’re enjoying this little melodrama, Adrienne,” he said slowly. “It’s just your style. All these people you can feel sorry for and identify with.”
“It’s maddening how your mood shifts. You seemed so different when things fell apart in East Berlin while we listened to Anna—”
“Are you serious? I didn’t defect. So what does she do? Unload on our family history! If it weren’t for her, I’d have been home by now.”
Adrienne plunged ahead. “Maybe not. Aleksei Andreyev had no intention of releasing you. But he was so stunned by Anna’s revelation that he was caught off guard. That gave you and Kiril time to disarm and disable Andreyev and his so-called shadow. The way the two of you worked together in perfect harmony…”
She looked away for a moment. “For the first time,” she said softly, “I sensed—”
“What, that we were brothers? Don’t remind me,” Brenner said with an expression of distaste just as Kiril walked back inside.
“You shouldn’t have come to Kurt’s rescue, Kiril,” Adrienne said. “You sacrificed your freedom for the bastard and he resents you for it.”
“You’re wrong. I don’t believe in sacrifice,” Kiril said evenly. “I did it for Anna. I’d never have taken the risk if I hadn’t thought we had a decent chance of escaping. We still do.”
“And if they catch you now, what will it mean, a labor camp? A firing squad?”
He didn’t answer.
“A firing squad,” she said, closing her eyes in a vain effort to hold back the tears. She reached for him and drew him into her arms.