Eva turned in his embrace with a smile on her face. "You mean we are to leave this hell-hole?"
"Yes." Reinhardt nodded. "Does that please you?"
"Yes. Where are we going?"
"Thessaloniki We will try and stop the Americans there with General Rhimes."
Eva nodded and turned back to the men below. Reinhardt watched the back of Eva’s head for a moment. "Where is Zoe?"
"She went to get my two dresses from the dressmaker. When are we leaving?"
"You will be leaving sooner than everyone else," Reinhardt replied cryptically, which made Eva turn around to face him.
Reinhardt sat at the end of the sofa with all the control he could muster and regarded his fiancée. "I know what you have done."
"What do you mean?"
"You had me fooled, Fraulein, you are a very good actress." Reinhardt slow clapped his fiancée. "You fooled Nurse Edith, you fooled Dr. Baer, and you fooled me. You never fooled your father."
Eva shook her head and smiled. "You really think I would be with a child like Zoe?"
"Who said anything about Zoe?" Reinhardt rose and came towards Eva, who took several steps back. "I didn’t mention Zoe."
"You’ve been lied to."
"Really?" Reinhardt stopped and regarded Eva. "What lie is that? The lie that you loved me? The lie that you wanted to marry me? Have I been lied to? Yes." Reinhardt spat out and grabbed the front of Eva’s shirt, "Which lie?"
"I—"
"Shut the fuck up," he yelled and backhanded Eva, who lost her footing and fell to the floor. "You are a deviant and a lying bitch."
Eva looked up in shock with a hand to her cheek where she’d been struck.
Reinhardt snarled, "Get up! You’re going to write a note to your whore. You will tell her you need to meet her at Athena’s Bluff, at the cabin." He was yelling the orders at Eva as he grabbed her arm painfully and yanked her to her feet.
Eva stood unsteadily, still reeling with shock, before being jerked toward her desk by the hand still tightly gripping her arm. She was shoved into her chair and a gun was waved in her face. "I said, do it!" Reinhardt screamed at her.
Her hands shaking, Eva picked up her pen and began to write the note. When she finished, Reinhardt grabbed it and folded it in half, setting it before her again. "Write ‘Zoe’ on it in big letters!" He demanded and then he set it on the front of her desk, prominently displaying the name to get Zoe’s attention.
"Get up. You give me any trouble now and I swear, I will have that whore of yours begging me to kill her. Now move!" Reinhardt took Eva by the arm again and half dragged her downstairs. He poked his head into the kitchen where Despina was cooking.
"Despina! Fraulein Muller and I will be at Athena’s Bluff. Make sure Zoe knows where we are and tell her to meet us there," he instructed and then left without waiting for a response.
***
Despina frowned. "That man has the manners of a pig," she spat out. A few minutes later, the kitchen door opened and a curly-topped young man entered. "Leftheri, what are you doing here?"
"Kiria Despina, I have to get you out of here!" Leftheri said and took the older woman by the arm, turning to drag her out of the house. Despina stood her ground and he fell backwards to land with a thump on the kitchen floor.
"What is going on here?"
Leftheri sighed and got up from the floor. "Look, the house is going to get bombed! Now please, can we get the hell out of here?"
"Well, why didn’t you just say so?" Despina groused. She took off her apron and followed Leftheri out of the door.
They walked outside, calmly crossing the street and heading down the sidewalk toward the alleyway. It appeared they were just out for a stroll, the young man politely assisting the old woman.
The guards watched them and one of them recognized Despina. He shrugged and shifted his attention elsewhere, unconcerned. After a moment longer, the other guard did the same. Despina and Leftheri had just managed to turn the corner into the alley when the building exploded, sending debris flying everywhere causing the building to catch on fire.
Leftheri peeked around the side of the wall and grinned. "Boom, boom!" He said. He and Despina watched, staying hidden in the shadows, as the remaining soldiers ran to the burning building to try and put the fire out and look for survivors.
They never got the chance.
As the soldiers reached the front of the burning building and waited for orders, the remaining Resistance fighters began their assault from hidden positions. A gun battle quickly ensued, but the German soldiers rapidly found themselves on the losing end, many of them having foolishly left their weapons behind in the panic that immediately followed the explosion.
Leftheri, watching the battle, felt his shirt being tugged and Despina urgently calling his name. He looked at her to see her pointing in the other direction and crying, "Look! Isn’t that Zoe?"
Looking down the street in the direction she was indicating, he saw a figure running awkwardly toward them. After a second, he recognized the figure as Zoe, a pained and panicked expression on her face.
"Zoe!" Leftheri yelled to get her attention, without any effect. Before Zoe reached the alley, Leftheri jumped out in front of her. He couldn’t let her run right into a raging gun battle.
When Zoe still appeared to ignore him and tried to hobble past, Leftheri quickly grabbed her around the waist and carried the struggling woman into the alley.
"Eva!" Zoe screamed, seeing the remains of the building, and realizing she had been too late to save her lover.
Zoe fought against Leftheri’s hold and he gripped her even tighter, enduring her blows and kicks. As she tried to twist and squirm away, he finally lost his balance, collapsing against the alley wall, still desperately hanging on to the screaming and sobbing Zoe. They slid down into a heap, Leftheri finally able to wrap his legs around hers and grab her wrists to hold her still.
Zoe was reduced to an inconsolable sobbing mass. The long run and then the struggles to get free had sapped her remaining strength. "Eva...oh, Eva..." She was half sobbing, half wailing the name.
Despina waited as Leftheri finally got the distraught woman under control and was instantly at Zoe’s side, holding her and stroking her hair, trying to help Leftheri calm her feeble hysterics. "Shhh...there, there, little one." She gently tilted Zoe’s face, wet with tears, so she could look at her. "You could have been hurt if Leftheri hadn’t stopped you! Didn’t you see the soldiers and hear the guns?" She asked, concerned.
"B-but the building...Eva...oh God...I tried to get to her!" Zoe stumbled over the words in between sobs.
"Eva wasn’t there, sweet child," Despina said with a soft smile as she started drying Zoe’s face with a small kerchief. "She wasn’t in the building. She left a short time earlier with Captain Reinhardt." She gave Zoe a small kiss on her forehead, seeing her calming at her words.
Leftheri finally released Zoe and helped her to her feet, noticing that she was favoring one leg a bit. He helped brush her off, and then brushed off his own clothes as Zoe and Despina hugged each other.
"But," Zoe was saying, "she really wasn’t there? You saw her leave?"
Despina nodded. "Eva has gone to Athena’s Bluff. She and Captain Reinhardt said you were to meet them there."
Zoe looked at Despina and frowned. "Why would Eva go with Reinhardt? Unless…" The blood drained from her face as she realized that Muller must have found out about her and Eva. "Oh, dear God!" She turned to Leftheri and grabbed his arms. "Can you run and get Thanasi? Tell him Eva is in danger and Reinhardt has her. We have to save her. Tell him to meet me at Thieri’s cabin. You show him the way!"
Leftheri looked at her, confused. Zoe shook him gently, her eyes pleading with him. "Leftheri, please? Please, don’t let her die! Eva has been working with the Resistance! You must find Thanasi, quickly!" She released him when he nodded at her, then started painfully running towards the bluff as Leftheri went to find the Resistance leader.
&n
bsp; No soon had Zoe dispatched Leftheri, Henry came around the corner and collided with her. He barely had time to grab hold of her before she fell over.
"Henry! Eva is in trouble."
"Where? The house is on fire," Henry yelled as she started to remove his shirt to go to the fire. Zoe stopped him.
"She’s not there, Henry. Reinhardt found out about us."
"Oh, no."
"He’s gone to Athena’s Bluff with Eva. I’ve sent Leftheri to round up some of the men. We need to rescue Eva. Did you tell them?"
"NO! Why would I betray her?" Henry yelled in response. "It must have been Kurt! That bastard, I’m going to kill him."
They started running towards Athena’s Bluff until Zoe stopped when she got entangled in some washing which had come down from the line. She disentangled herself and looked up at Henry. "Take off your uniform," she said and threw him a large shirt and pants. "I would rather you didn’t get shot."
Henry took the clothes and without any shred of shyness, he stripped off his uniform and threw it away. Seconds later, Zoe tapped him on the shoulder and they started running away from the burning building and the ensuing mayhem.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Eva’s head was spinning and she felt her blood run down the side of her face from where Reinhardt had slammed her head into the wall as soon as they entered the cabin. The blows to her head and body were sickening. She tried to stay conscious. If only to see Zoe for one last time.
One of the guards who had accompanied them had tied her arms and legs tightly to the chair and placed the chair in the center of the room. Reinhardt sat across from her holding his gun across his lap.
"Does this give you pleasure?" Eva said hoarsely, trying to focus on Reinhardt. She hoped Zoe wouldn’t see the note they had left on the desk.
"What a stupid thing to say!" Reinhardt sprang up from his chair and backhanded her with his pistol. Eva cried out as blood seeped into her mouth. She spat it out at Reinhardt’s feet.
"This doesn’t give me pleasure. I loved you and you betrayed me! You lied to me." Reinhardt grabbed Eva’s hair and yanked her head back. "I gave you a chance to be an officer’s wife," he said, inches from her now swollen and bloodied face. "You, worthless bitch." He spat and slapped her again.
Reinhardt sat back on his seat and wiped the blood from his hands on Eva’s skirt. "You know, Eva, I did so enjoy watching Greta being pushed onto the train with those Jewish swine. I wish you could have been there to see it," he said with a grin. "She didn’t look all that healthy to me."
"You bastard."
"You know, your father wanted me to kill you. Did you know that? He said that you weren’t his daughter anymore." Reinhardt wanted the denunciation to hurt Eva.
"Doesn’t...surprise me." Eva sighed. Her father would have killed her back in Germany if he had thought he could get away with it. But in the Fuhrer’s regime, he would have appeared weak and useless if it got out. A man who couldn’t even control his own daughter wouldn’t be worth much to the Fatherland.
Reinhardt laughed. "Ah, yes, I suppose it doesn’t surprise you. You know, I would have enjoyed watching the beating you took. It would have made up for all the times you refused my advances. You’re worthless and so ugly that no man would touch you now."
Reinhardt sighed and checked his gun before looking at his watch. "You’re going to die in a backwater shitty town. I’m going to hang you for the birds to feast on you, but before that happens, you’ll see that Greek slut of yours die." He chuckled and the guards joined him. "Was she a virgin when you perverted her, Eva? Maybe little Zoe didn’t have a good man around to show her how it’s done." He sneered.
Eva was sickened by the thought of what they had in mind for Zoe when she arrived. She prayed for Zoe to be delayed, that the explosion they heard after they were outside of town would have distracted her, or that Despina would have sent her on an errand — just something, anything to keep her from seeing that note on her desk.
Eva could not focus and Reinhardt became a blur; she blinked trying to stay conscious. For a brief moment she saw her beloved mother. "Mutti," she whispered.
"You know, I have one more secret," Reinhardt told her. He took out a cigarette, lit it, and watched the smoke drift up. "One more secret. Your mother was killed on orders from your father," he said and watched Eva’s face go from indifference to absolute shock. He smiled.
"He found out your mutti knew you were a deviant and she hadn’t told him. She lied for you. So it’s your fault she was killed."
No physical blows could come close to the absolute devastation Eva felt at that very moment. She closed her eyes and bowed her head, unwilling to give Reinhardt the satisfaction of watching her cry.
Reinhardt smiled. "My parting gift to you before I kill you. We have to wait for Zoe. It would be quite rude to start without the guest of honor. I really liked that kid, smart mouth and all. It’s too bad she’s been corrupted and I have to kill her." He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Tell me, how did you seduce the poor girl? Such a sweet innocent child. Has she seen your ugliness?"
Eva’s head slumped forward and she remained mute.
"You see, it is our duty to root out perversion and destroy it," Reinhardt continued. "And you; you are a freak, a perversion."
"You are a pervert," Eva managed to say, although it sounded like garbled mush to her ears.
The blow came quickly as Reinhardt punched her. It threw her head back and the pain exploded behind her eyes. She looked up at Reinhardt, who was standing over her.
Reinhart was furious. His face had turned red and the veins in his neck were visible. He backhanded her again with the hand that held his gun, the butt of the pistol striking her in the side of the head, and laying the skin open above her eyebrow. The chair fell sideways and she lay on the floor, her blood starting to pool beneath her head.
"You dare call me perverted? The Reich is my father and my mother. That is no perversion." Reinhardt bent down to yell at Eva as she lay bleeding on the floor. "You were with me in the Hitler Youth. You were touched by the Fuhrer. He stood right there in front of us and shook our hands. Didn’t you feel like you were in the presence of Christ himself?"
"Didn’t...wash for months," Eva retorted weakly, knowing that would infuriate Reinhardt further.
"You filthy whore! How dare you speak of our great leader like that! Oh, I am going to take great pleasure in killing you."
Reinhardt kicked Eva several times in the ribs and then sent a kick to her head. "You bitch," he spat out and prepared to kick her again when his corporal distracted him.
"Sir?" The man timidly said.
"What?"
"Sir, perhaps we should wait for the other girl," the young soldier said.
Reinhardt paused, and then nodded. The soldier was right. He straightened his jacket, which was splattered with Eva’s blood, and went over to sit back down. "It’s not going to work, bitch. You’ll still see her die before your eyes."
Eva struggled to breathe. Her world was rapidly spinning out of control and she was close to blacking out. She was sure he had broken her ribs. She could taste the blood and the sickly smell made her want to throw up. She lay on the floor trying to get her bearings. Reinhardt signaled to the guards to haul her back up. She stifled a groan as she and the chair were roughly handled and set upright.
Reinhardt glared at her. "I’ve got something much better planned. Something I will enjoy a lot more," he said as he controlled his temper.
The door to the cabin opened and all eyes went to it. Eva sighed in relief when she saw Barkow walk in. Reinhardt sighed in frustration.
Barkow entered and saluted his commanding officer. He avoided looking at Eva, who had hours ago been his charge. "Sir, that explosion we heard—"
"What now?" Reinhardt asked, glaring at Eva.
"The Resistance has bombed Major Muller’s residence," Barkow blurted out, looking at the captain and then at his fellow soldiers.
> "What?"
"Resistance forces have attacked the soldiers at the building after the explosion. Also, we got word that the American tanks are hours away from here."
"The Americans are not important. Are you sure Major Muller is dead?"
"The house was blown up and it’s engulfed in flames."
Reinhardt glared at Eva for a moment.
"Corporal, have the men prepare to move out. Commandeer every available truck. We will fall back to Thessaloniki. Go!" Reinhardt ordered. He watched as the guards who were with him ran out of the cabin. He looked at Eva, his eyes filling with hate. He turned to Barkow and tossed him the rope.
"Find the tallest tree and prepare the noose," Reinhardt ordered. "I didn’t want us to part this quickly, Eva, but I have other pressing matters."
Reinhardt pointed the pistol at Eva and fired. She didn’t hear the gun fire, but she felt the bullet hit her in the chest. Her body reacted, causing the chair to fall over backwards. She hit the floor, still tightly bound in the chair. "Zoe," she whispered before blackness overtook her.
***
"Where are they?" Zoe muttered as she huddled behind a fallen tree with Henry. They had managed to come up the pass through the dense bush and away from the often-used track. Zoe’s knowledge of the surrounding bush land came in useful as soldiers ran up the track to the cabin.
Zoe spun around when she heard the Resistance team coming up the same route. Thanasi was in the lead followed by three more Resistance members.
"Patience, Zoe," Thanasi counseled.
"You’re here!" Zoe greeted Thanasi man with a hug before they turned their attention to the cabin. Thanasi sent one of the men to look inside through the side of the building that was the least exposed.
"They haven’t killed her yet. The guards are still there," Thanasi said. He watched the scout running back, carefully dodging behind cover to hide his movement.
"They have her and there are six soldiers plus Reinhardt," the scout whispered, and then looked at Zoe. "She doesn’t look good. They’ve beaten her quite badly. They’re not doing anything now, just standing around like they’re waiting for something."
In The Blood Of The Greeks (Intertwined Souls Series Book 1) Page 29
