He gave her a slight smile. “I see a medal in your future for exposing them.”
“I’m serious.” She glanced out to the hallway and even though it was still empty, she closed the door, then moved to his bedside. “They had someone at Königsberg castle, right under your nose. And don’t forget about what happened in Poland. They stole that map before we’d even realized where they were. And the night I was kidnapped…”
As much as she wanted to forget what happened, she couldn’t. The steady beep of the heart monitor had a calming effect as she tried not to think about the terror of that night, not knowing if Viktor was alive and certain she was going to be killed.
“Tatiana…?”
“I’m fine,” she said.
“No, you’re not.”
He was right, of course. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the Guard. Rolfe might believe he’s running the show, but I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Leopold is far more dangerous. This organization of his is…”
“Is what?”
“Far more widespread than any of us realized. It has to be.”
“I agree. But what does this have to do with the miner?”
“What if the Guard gets wind of what he’s doing? If the Fargos are correct, that this Enigma machine they found in the tunnel relates to the code they’re looking for, it’s imperative that they get this information. As long as the Guard is out there, we need to ensure that Gustaw is protected while he’s trying to get it.”
“True.”
“We’re close enough that Felix and I can drive up, meet him, and make sure he safely gets in and out.”
“I’d think you’d want to keep yourself free to run the investigation. What if you get word of where Rolfe is hiding? Wouldn’t it be better to have Nika with Felix?”
“In this case, I don’t know… I was thinking about giving her some time off.”
“Why?”
“If you saw how emotional she’s been, jumping at every little thing, you’d agree with me.”
“I haven’t seen her since I landed in here. But she seemed fine while we were waiting for the ambulance. Her usual stubborn self.”
“She was a mess last night. And no better this morning. Felix said it started here at the hospital. The only thing I can think is that both my kidnapping and your shooting have affected her even more than any of us realized.”
“Maybe putting her to work is exactly what she needs.”
“Maybe…”
“Send her. It’s an easy assignment. Standing guard over a tunnel. What can go wrong?”
63
What could go wrong? Viktor’s question echoed through Tatiana’s mind long after she assigned Felix and Nika to accompany Gustaw out to the tunnels to recover the Enigma machine. The Guard could go wrong, she thought, recalling how easily they’d followed the Fargos, breaking into their hotel and putting the couple in danger.
They were everywhere.
This last thought worried her the most, and she called Felix. “Just checking to see how you’re both doing,” she said when he answered.
“We’re fine. The map to his cabin is straightforward. Gustaw said he’d meet us where the pavement ends.”
“Do me a favor. Wait for me. I want to go with you.”
“Are you sure? It’s nothing we can’t handle.”
“We shouldn’t underestimate the Guard. You know what happened in Kaliningrad. They’re even more prevalent where you are. Why take chances?”
“No argument there,” Felix said. “We’ll see you in a while.”
Tatiana quietly observed Nika on the ride up to Gustaw’s property. Other than the dark circles under her blue eyes, she seemed fine, and Tatiana hoped that the young woman had merely been suffering from a mild case of post-traumatic stress brought on by Viktor’s shooting.
At Gustaw’s cabin, the three got out of the car. As Felix walked up to greet the miner, Tatiana turned to Nika. “How are you?”
“Fine,” Nika said. “Why?”
“A lot has happened. You’ve seemed… upset.”
Nika glanced toward Felix, then back. “I’d think you’d be more upset. You were the one kidnapped, after all.”
Tatiana studied her a moment. Same brusqueness Nika usually showed. Still…
“Thought there were only two of you,” Gustaw remarked.
“My apologies,” Tatiana said. “I decided to come at the last minute.”
“And you are…?”
“Tatiana Petrov. We spoke on the phone.”
Gustaw nodded.
“With the threat of the Guard, I thought it a good idea to bring more help.”
“Lucky for us, I haven’t seen any signs they’re back in any large numbers. Let’s hope it stays that way.” He had two packs on the porch, handing one to Felix, then shouldering the other himself. “The sooner we get started, the sooner we can get the photos to the Fargos.”
The four hiked through the woods until they reached the entrance to the tunnel. A half hour later, he was leading them into the hidden cavern where they had found the Enigma machine. “There it is,” he said, pointing.
Tatiana drew her gaze from the mummified Nazi on her right to the smashed box on the floor near the desk. Just as Sam Fargo had described, someone had tried to destroy the machine. “I’ll get the photos,” she said, pulling the camera from her pocket. She took pictures from every angle, some with the flash, some without, paying particular attention to the plugs and wiring.
Felix picked up the rotors on the floor beside the machine, placing them on the desk. As she took photos of the rotors, Nika crouched beside the Enigma, her back to them. Tatiana glanced over, noticing Nika holding her phone over the machine. “What are you doing?” Tatiana asked.
“Good idea to have backup, don’t you think?”
“Definitely.” Tatiana took one last look around. “This should do it. Unless there’s something else we need here?”
Gustaw suggested they take the machine and rotors with them just in case, and once they gathered the pieces and placed it into his pack, they headed back to the entrance, where Gustaw climbed out first in order to pull them up with the harness system he’d rigged. As he assisted Tatiana, she’d convinced herself that her worry for Nika was more in her mind than anything else — until she glanced down into the tunnel and saw Nika holding her phone, the screen lighting up.
Waiting until everyone was out, she turned to Nika, saying, “What were you doing on your phone?”
“I thought I received a text. It was nothing.”
“Let me see it.”
Nika’s face paled. “I swear, I wasn’t doing anything.”
Tatiana held out her hand. “Your phone. Now.” Nika unlocked the screen, then handed it over. Tatiana looked over the text and attached photo, hoping to come up with a logical explanation for what she was seeing. There was none, and the look of guilt on Nika’s face confirmed her worst fears.
64
Sam and Remi were landing in Berlin, on their way to see Karl and Brand, when Tatiana emailed the photos of the Enigma machine to them. Sam immediately forwarded the photos to Selma. A moment later, Tatiana called. “I have bad news,” she said when Sam answered.
“What’s wrong?”
“The photos…”
“They came through fine. We sent them to Lazlo the moment we got them.”
“It’s not that. It’s Nika. The Guard got to her.”
“Hold on,” he said, “I’m placing you on speaker so Remi can hear.” He pressed the button. “What happened?”