Page 105 of Winter’s End

He frowned.

“I am fine, Kurt. We handled it…And you? How are you managing?

“As well as can be. It is hardest on the children…”

“Oh, how they love your stories.”

He smiled in a way that sent shivers down her spine. “For as long as we are safe here…ya.”

MILA

The mid-day sun was more brilliant than Mila had seen it for months, creating shadows on the landscape as she peered through the dense boughs in front of her. But it carried little warmth to her perch in the crook of the sturdy pine.

Her vantage point gave her a fair view of de Boer’s house and grounds – good enough to follow the routine of de Boer’s police guards who, she noted, checked the rear of the house every thirty minutes. But with the shades drawn, it was impossible to tell where de Boer himself might be resting – or whether the bastard was ambulatory or bedridden.

Shifting position, she reached into her bag and pulled out one of the apples. The first taste of it, sour and sweet, was a taste of heaven.. She wiped her chin with a corner of her sleeve and chewed.

She finished the apple, and tossed the core into her bag, watching as one of guards circled the grounds and returned. She looked at her watch. Twelve-fifteen. On time to the minute.

She ate a chunk of bread. In thirty minutes, the other guard made his circuit.

Her back hurt, and her legs began to numb. but there was little she could do to change position. Before the sentry made his next circuit, however, she felt a surge of excitement. A window shade was pulled up inside the house, likely to let in a bit of the afternoon sun.

Through her binoculars, she saw the receding figure of a buxom uniformed nurse – and behind her, a figure propped up on pillows in bed.

De Boer!

It was impossible to know for certain if she could pull off a kill shot from her distance. She estimated she was the best part of thirty meters away. She would have to be extra careful to control the recoil – and the curve of the trajectory.

But it was possible.

The street was quiet, a stray cat here and there, an occasional dog-walker.

She ate the second apple, eyes on her target, watching the scene through the bedroom window as though she were watching a movie. The nurse left the room again and Mila sat straighter.

Minutes later, the nurse reappeared with a tray, which she laid on a bedside table. The figure in the bed looked up and waved her away.

By the time a sentry passed by next, the afternoon sun was waning. It would not be long before the shade was pulled, and with it, the window of opportunity.

Mila sat tall, dug her thighs into the tree trunk.It’s a chance worth taking,she toldherself.

Slowly, deliberately, she reached into her bag and wrapped her fingers around the Luger. She felt its familiar heft in her grip, eased her forefinger against the trigger. Sighting, calculating, she took aim at her target.One…two…squeeze!

As the shot rang out, she felt herself jerked backward, two strong arms wrapped around her. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand reached up and clamped itself around her mouth.

EVI

“We saw tulips from the train window on our way back from Enschede,” Evi said, carefully drying a soup bowl. “Red and yellow tulips poking up from the soil.”

“It’s a wonder there are tulips left to bloom,” saidMevrouw, drying her hands on her apron. “How many bulbs have filled Dutch stomachs this winter?”

“Nevertheless, we saw them,” Evi winced as she reached to put the bowls on a shelf.

“Your shoulder hurts,ja?”

Only a little. It is better now, without the sling.”

“We can bring a doctor here…”