Page 37 of The Last Safe Place
“Admiral Canaris has been summoned there for tomorrow morning. It’s about Operation Pastorius.” Bernd had very little desire to face Hitler, who was probably seething with fury at the mission’s disastrous outcome. “You can’t imagine how much I’m looking forward to it.”
“Perhaps you’ll get lucky and he’ll cancel.” Hitler was well known for cancelling carefully planned meetings at short notice, postponing them or even devoting them to a completely different topic.
“Or I’ll be stuck there for the next few days.”
“Why are you accompanying the admiral, instead of Krenze? Pastorius was his responsibility.”
Bernd shrugged. “What do I know? Though I imagine it’s less about getting a factual report on the operation and more about finding a scapegoat. You know Krenze, he’s got a knack for wriggling out of awkward situations.”
Knut was silent while the radio played music requests from listeners. After a while, he said, “Maybe we can use this fiasco for our own ends.”
“How on earth should we do that?” Bernd frowned.
“At the very least, it strengthens the position of Operation Seven. Since the arrest of the Pastorius agents, we urgently need replacements.”
“Except our seven are due to go to South America, not the USA.”
“You don’t have to mention that explicitly, if you’re not asked about it.”
“Not a bad idea,” Bernd agreed. “If the opportunity arises, I’ll also bring up that the Gestapo is refusing to issue exit permits to our much-needed agents.”
“You see? Something good might come of it after all. Now let’s talk about something else.” Knut leaned in to kiss him. A warm tingle spread through Bernd’s body.
“I wish we could move in together. This feels like our last safe place.” Bernd mused.
“Don’t dream of impossible things.” Knut’s voice sounded defeated.
“Who knows what will happen? I for my part strongly believe there will be a better future after the war.”
“Better definitely, because we won’t have to deal with the crazy Führer anymore.” Knut leaned back, staring into the void for a while, before he added, “Do you think our situation will change, though?”
Bernd had asked himself the same question many times over. Usually he didn’t allow himself to dream of life together with Knut in the open as partners. “Hard to say. Every one of the Allies has laws against homosexuality, except for France.”
“Until the Vichy Government implemented that new law just a couple months ago.”
“Right, I forgot.” Bernd scratched his head. “We need to be more careful. I think your nosy neighbor suspects something. She seems to shoot out of nowhere every time I come to visit.”
Knut bit his lower lip. “Are you suggesting we shouldn’t see each other for a while?”
“Not at all!” Bernd squeezed his partner’s hand. “We just need to come up with a better excuse for my frequent visits.”
“Or a different place.”
“A conspiratorial meeting place? I’m all in.” Knut grinned, poking him in the ribs. “We’ll think of something. For now, let’s go to bed. You have to get upveryearly in the morning.”
“As do you. Unless you’d rather sleep on the couch, so I won’t wake you.” Bernd smirked and got up to walk to the bathroom. When he entered the bedroom, Knut was already waiting for him.
The next morning, the alarm tore him out of a deep sleep. He left his suitcase with Knut and packed a change of clothes in his briefcase, in case the meeting was postponed and he unexpectedly had to spend the night at the Wolf’s Lair.
Once the plane carrying him and Admiral Canaris landed, they reported to the adjutant’s office, where they were told that Hitler was in a briefing and they would have to wait.
“It would have been unlike him to keep to the schedule,” muttered Bernd.
Instead, they first reported to Field Marshal Keitel, the head of Wehrmacht High Command about the unfortunate outcome of Operation Pastorius. Bernd and the admiral then spent several tense hours walking to and fro outside Hitler’s bunker.
“He’s going to blow his top, isn’t he?” asked Bernd nervously.
Canaris looked at him unperturbed. “It won’t be the first outburst from the Führer to crash over me and it certainly won’t be the last.”