Enemies and Traitors: The Norsemen's War: Book One - Teigen and Selby (The Hansen Series 1)

by Kris Tualla

An expanding opening in the crowd put Selby face to face with Fritz. At least it would have if she was looking anywhere but her feet.

  “Did you have something to do with this?” Fritz barked.

  Selby shook her head violently and grunted, “Uh uh.”

  “Look at me when I speak to you, boy.” Fritz grabbed Selby’s jaw and jerked her face upwards. “Show due respect to your—you?”

  The lieutenant stared at Selby’s face in disbelief. His free hand yanked the cap from her head. “What the hell!”

  Selby shot visual daggers at Fritz but said nothing.

  “You little bitch!” he bellowed as the once-protective crowd faded from her range of vision. “Did you set that bomb?”

  “No,” Selby ground out with her jaw still painfully held in Walder’s tightening grip. “But I wish I had.”

  The lieutenant’s fist dove into her midsection taking every last bit of her breath with it.

  *****

  Teigen edged closer to Walder and Selby, trying to figure out how to rescue her before the Nazi killed her.

  The enraged officer pummeled the petite actress over and over, until Teigen coiled to jump in and intervene.

  “No.” Hands attached to the sotto voice gripped him from behind. “You’ll make it worse.”

  Selby lay senseless on the ground while Walder shouted his spitting vitriol at the actress, Selby Sunde, and landed a few extra kicks.

  God help her.

  Now.

  Another officer stepped to Walder’s side and grabbed his arm, pulling the man’s attention from his victim. The officer said something that Teigen couldn’t hear into Walder’s ear.

  Walder nodded.

  He looked down and spat at the unconscious Selby before following the other man back into the smoking building.

  *****

  Teigen leapt forward and quickly gathered the actress in his arms. He asked the crowd, “Where can I take her?”

  “There’s a Norwegian doctor two blocks that way on the left, next to the grocer,” said a man about Teigen’s age. “He’s a good doctor.”

  A young boy of ten or eleven bolted in that direction, leading the way.

  “Thanks.” Teigen followed, running as fast as he could without jarring his precious cargo too roughly. He understood the man’s designation of good meant that the Norwegian doctor held no loyalty to their brutal occupiers.

  Teigen pushed through the door to the medical office. “Help!”

  A nurse motioned to him from an interior door while the boy panted in a corner, his eyes wide. “This way.”

  “Thank you,” Teigen said to both the nurse and the boy.

  When he laid Selby on the examination table he was gratified that she squirmed a little and moaned. He leaned down and spoke soothingly in her ear.

  “You’re with a doctor. He’s going to help you.”

  “Hurts…”

  “Shhh.” Teigen pushed her cropped hair off her swollen and bruising face. “You’re going to be fine.”

  Please God. Please please please.

  “The boy says she was beaten.” The doctor’s clipped words as he entered the exam room were spoken without wasting time on pleasantries. He jammed the earpieces of his stethoscope into place and pushed the chestpiece under Selby’s shirt.

  Teigen nodded, his regard fixed on the doctor’s face. “A Nazi officer recognized her.”

  The doctor frowned and moved the chestpiece, still listening. “Recognized?”

  “This is Selby Sunde. The lead actress with the Royal Shakespearean Acting Troupe.”

  The doctor’s gaze jumped to Teigen’s. “Is that why he hit her face so often?”

  Teigen looked at Selby. Her nose was definitely broken. Both eyes were swelling shut and turning a vivid shade of reddish purple as was her jaw.

  “Is her jaw broken?”

  The doctor moved it slowly. “I don’t think so, but I’ll need x-rays to be sure.”

  Selby moaned again. Tears leaked from her swollen eyes.

  “Can you hear me, Miss Sunde?” the doctor asked.

  “Uh huh.”

  “Good.” He shot Teigen a reassuring glance. “I’m going to have you transported to a safe hospital. Do you understand me?”

  Pause. “Uh huh.”

  This time the doctor hesitated. “You’re going to be fine.”

  Teigen’s chest constricted when the doctor straightened and met his gaze with a severe one of his own. “I’ll get the car.”

  *****

  That evening Teigen sat beside Selby’s hospital bed and watched the chest of the woman he loved more than anyone else on this planet rise and fall in shallow but thankfully regular breaths.

  X-rays proved three cracked ribs on her left side—thankfully still in place and not puncturing her lung. But there was fluid in both of her lungs and she was put on penicillin to keep it from turning into pneumonia.

  Her jaw was cracked as well, but only a painful hairline fracture which could be treated with rest and soft foods.

  The doctor saw internal bleeding in the x-ray of her abdomen so nurses came in and examined her every hour to see if it had worsened. So far, it had not.

  Teigen passed the time by mentally flaying Lieutenant Fritz Walder in the slowest and most painful way he could imagine.

  I will retaliate, Teigen resolved. The vile man would pay for hurting this woman, no matter how long it took.

  A movement in his peripheral vision drew Teigen’s attention to the door. “Dahl. Come on in.”

  The actor was good, but not good enough to hide the horror that claimed him when he saw Selby. “Oh, God.”

  “She’s going to be fine, Dahl,” Teigen reassured. “As long as the internal bleeding stops.”

  Dahl sank into the other chair by the bed. “Internal bleeding?”

  “Yeah. Walder didn’t hold back.” Fuck the bastard. “She’s got three cracked ribs and a cracked jaw.”

  “Shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  The men sat in silence until the nurse came in to examine Selby’s abdomen and left again.

  “Her face…” Dahl began. “Looks like her nose is broken.”

  “It is.”

  “I hate to mention this, but—”

  “What’s she going to look like now?” Teigen guessed.

  Dahl looked appalled at his own words. “She’s our lead actress.”

  “No. Not anymore,” Teigen stated.

  Dahl’s jaw dropped. “She’s not going to be that much changed!”

  “Not for that reason!” Teigen felt his face heating with embarrassment at what Dahl thought he meant. “I meant because she has been exposed.”

  Dahl’s face paled. “How badly?”

  “That asshole Walder shouted her name to the crowd—and she was in her urchin disguise at the time.”

  “But that’s not too—”

  Teigen lifted one hand to stop him. “And he asked her if she set the bomb.”

  Dahl’s shoulders fell. He closed his eyes and tipped his head back. “Oh, Lord. What’d she say?”

  “No, but I wish I had,” Teigen quoted.

  “Damn.”

  “She’s done, Dahl. And if she comes back even to visit the troupe you’ll all be done.” He didn’t say we’ll for a reason, and wondered if Dahl caught it. Teigen was not going to leave Selby’s side ever again for any reason.

  Dahl looked like the light had gone out of his life. “We’ll have to issue a public statement of some sort.”

  “Agreed.”

  The men were quiet again until Dahl spoke. “I’ll say she had nothing to do with the bomb, and was working on a disguise for a future role when she was recognized.”

  “Dahl—”

  Now Dahl lifted a silencing hand. “Hear me out, Hansen. We’ll say that this is the second time that Lieutenant Walder has attacked her for absolutely no reason, and because of that she has left the troupe temporarily for rest and recuperation.”

&nb
sp; Teigen frowned. “Temporarily?”

  “If we say it’s permanent, she looks guilty.”

  Teigen heaved a sigh. “Damn it. You’re right.”

  “And that way,” Dahl seemed to be thinking out loud, “if she wants to come back in a different capacity, or even the same one, she can.”

  “After everything blows over?”

  Or Walder is dead.

  Dahl shrugged. “Yep. That’s what I’m thinking.”

  It was a workable plan, Teigen had to admit. “I can agree to that.”

  Dahl looked at the sleeping woman. His surprising expression reflected deep loss and Teigen wondered what had really happened yesterday between Dahl and Selby.

  “The Shetland Bus leaves from Ålesund,” Dahl broke into Teigen’s musings with the stunning suggestion. “That’s the closest boat.”

  “Leave Norway?” he clarified.

  Dahl nodded. “For now.”

  “I’ll take her,” Teigen declared. “How do we get there? Should we take the Hurtigruten?”

  “It’s just under two hundred miles by land. That might be safer. Milorg can get you a car.”

  “Alright.”

  Dahl stood. “Are you coming back to the hotel?”

  “Not yet.” Teigen looked at the woman who seemed so small and fragile in the stark hospital bed. “I’ll be there later to pack.”

  “I’ll have Karolina pack Selby’s things and put them in your room under Ben’s guard.” Dahl shot him a rueful smile. “And I’ll tell her to practice Selby’s lines.”

  Teigen stood and held out his hand. “Thank you, Dahl. For everything.”

  Dahl swallowed visibly. “You love her. Don’t you.”

  Teigen’s first impulse was to deny it, but the haunted look on the actor’s face cut through any façade he might have hidden behind.

  “More than I care to admit,” he conceded.

  “Good. She deserves it.” Dahl bounced a determined nod and swallowed again. “She has no interest in me, by the way. In case you thought she did.”

  Teigen didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing; but now he knew how totally wrong his assumption was yesterday. No wonder Selby was so angry at him.

  She had a right to be.

  “Anyway, I wish you luck.” Dahl walked to the door of the ward. “She’s a tough nut.”

  Teigen allowed a relieved smile, careful not to gloat visibly over this unexpected turn. “So am I. We might be doomed.”

  Chapter

  Thirty Three

  November 1, 1943

  Ålesund, Norway

  Pain.

  Sometimes it dragged her from sleep and wild dreams with the intensity of a sledgehammer. And then, after a while, it would fade to the background, still throbbing, but at least she could breathe.

  She couldn’t think clearly. Something had happened to her… the bomb. The bomb exploded. That was good.

  But afterwards something bad had happened.

  If only her brain wasn’t so fuzzy she might be able to put the pieces together.

  Sometimes she awoke lying in the back seat of a car, jostling over rough roads. Other times she was lying on a cot, rocking with the movement of waves. Then she was in a car again.

  Where am I?

  What happened to me?

  She was being lifted from the car’s bench. Lifted gently in strong arms. She tried to open her eyes but she couldn’t manage more than a slit.

  Teigen? Teigen was carrying her?

  What happened?

  “You can put her in here.” A woman’s voice. Soft and kind.

  “Thank you.” Teigen.

  “The boat’s due the day after tomorrow.” The woman again. “In the meantime, what can I get you?”

  She felt herself being lowered onto a bed. The softness of it soothed the pains which seemed to claim every inch of her frame. She hummed a moan of relief.

  “Selby? Are you awake?” Teigen’s unshaven face moved into her slice of vision. “Do you need more pain medicine?”

  Pain medicine. Opiates.

  That explained the dreams and fuzzy-headed fog.

  She pried her tongue from the roof of her mouth and grunted, “No.”

  “Water?” Teigen offered. “Maybe some broth?”

  “Uh huh.”

  His arms slid behind her shoulders and sat her up, causing her head to pound and sending daggers through her left side. A straw prodded her lips.

  Selby latched onto the straw and sucked the cold liquid, relishing the feel of it sliding down her parched throat. With each swallow she felt more alert.

  When she pulled her mouth away from the straw, Teigen leaned her back, now against a stack of pillows that elevated her from the waist up.

  The woman must have done that.

  “I’ll go make some broth,” she said. “And something a bit more substantial for you.”

  Teigen said, “Thank you.”

  “Wha…”

  “Don’t try to talk, Selby. Just rest. I’ll be right back.”

  When Teigen reappeared at her side, he laid cold cloths over her eyes and nose as he spoke to her.

  “Do you remember what happened?”

  “No. Some.” Her voice sounded like an old lady.

  “Do you want me to tell you now? Or later?”

  Selby didn’t need to think about that. “Now.”

  Teigen began to comb her short hair. “All right. I’ll start at the beginning of that day.” He set the comb aside and slipped his hand under hers. “If you have a question, or want me to stop, squeeze my hand.”

  She squeezed it to show him she understood.

  Teigen drew a deep breath. “We had delivered the desk with the bomb to Lieutenant Walder’s office the day before. That morning, I went to your hotel room to see if you wanted to have breakfast with me, but you weren’t there. And when I went down to the dining room, you weren’t there either. That’s when I knew you had gone to Nazi headquarters.”

  Yes. I did. I remember.

  She left the hotel at dawn. Dressed like a boy.

  “By the time I reached the building, the bomb had just exploded. I couldn’t see you in the crowd at first. But I did see Walder come out the door through the smoke, still alive.”

  Yes.

  That was the bad thing. Fritz Walder wasn’t dead.

  “I saw you then, trying to make your escape through the crowd.” Teigen paused and cleared his throat. “Do you remember that?”

  Vague images spurred by panic flooded her mind. “Uh huh.”

  “Do you remember what happened next?”

  She remembered looking into the lieutenant’s eyes and telling him she wished she had planted the bomb.

  After that, nothing.

  “No.”

  Teigen removed the cold cloths from her eyes, rinsed them, and replaced them. He did the same with the cloth across her nose. The fresh chill was soothing.

  His hesitation was not.

  Selby squeezed his hand.

  Teigen’s voice was low and calm. “He beat you, Selby. Badly. Right there in the street.”

  Stinging hot tears filled her eyes and rewet the underside of the damp cloths. She felt the tears leaking out the sides of her eyes and rolling down her temples.

  Teigen lifted the cloths and refreshed them. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “Yes,” she managed. “More.”

  “More?” He sounded puzzled. “More cold cloths?”

  “No.” Why did it hurt to talk? “How… bad?”

  “Your injuries?” His tone screamed his reluctance to answer.

  She squeezed his hand as hard as she could. “Every… one.”

  As Teigen listed the damage—concussion, broken nose, cracked ribs, fractured jaw, internal bleeding, and deep bruising over her whole body—Selby’s tears flowed continuously. She didn’t remember the pummeling, and was thankful for that mercy.

  Someday, however she would claim her revenge.

/>   “You were in the hospital for three days, waiting for the internal bleeding to stop, which it did on the second day,” Teigen continued. “Milorg found me a car and sent word here, in Ålesund, that we would need passage on the Shetland Bus. It took two days of driving and ferries to get us here. And the boat sails the day after tomorrow.”

  She frowned, though doubted Teigen could see that. “Why?”

  “Why are we leaving Norway?”

  She squeezed his hand again.

  “Because he called you out by name—Selby Sunde. Everyone there saw you with your short hair and boy clothes.” Teigen cleared his throat again. “Dahl will make a formal statement that you had nothing to do with the bomb and were testing a disguise for a future role.”

  Dahl. Always looking out for her.

  Fresh tears.

  “He’s going to tell everyone that this is the second time that Walder’s attacked you for absolutely no reason.”

  Fucking bastard.

  “That’s why you’ve left the troupe temporarily—to rest and recuperate.”

  Selby squeezed his hand. “Go back?”

  “If you want to go back to the troupe you can. But no more dating Nazis.”

  She was fine with that. “When?”

  Teigen chuckled a little. “You’ve got at least two months of healing before we even start to talk about it.”

  Footsteps and the quiet rattle of a tray being set down nearby halted their conversation. “Here’s the broth. I hope it’s not too hot.”

  “Name?” Selby croaked.

  “Call me Anna.”

  A common woman’s name, probably a pseudonym, and no surname. Always striving to be safe.

  “Thanks, Anna.”

  When Anna’s footsteps faded away, Teigen asked Selby if she wanted the straw for the broth, or would she rather he feed her with a spoon.

  Selby chose the less humiliating path. “Straw.”

  The broth was delicious. The rich flavor of the bone marrow was salted just enough and the warmth of the soup relaxed her.

  The conversation, however, seemed to have drained all of her strength.

  When she pushed the bowl away, Teigen said, “You sleep now. I’ll get settled and check in on you later.”

  Selby had one more question first. “Why you?”

  “Why me?” Through the slit in her swollen eyes, Selby saw his surprise as well as heard it. “Do you mean why am I the one taking you to safety?”