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She glanced at the IV drip hanging above him and the bandage on his chest, where the tube keeping his lung inflated had only recently been removed. “Listen, for once.”
“I might if they serve decent food today. What brings you to my lonely hospital room?”
“I just got off the phone with the Fargos. They’re asking help for Gustaw Czarnecki. They want to make sure he’s not in any danger.”
“Help for what?”
“To go back into the tunnels. There’s a broken Enigma machine in the chamber they found that they think might be related to these tins.”
“Enigma machine?” He was quiet a moment. “A code, of course. That sounds easy enough. The man seemed capable to me.”
“I’m sure he is. But they’re worried about this Wolf Guard. I’ve checked with a few of our intelligence agencies. Not one realized they were operating in Russia. They assumed it was strictly a loosely based group within the borders of Germany.”
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?”
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