Part 36 (2/2)
Franz's smile was fleeting. ”No. It is too dangerous. I cannot allow it.”
”And I will not allow Joey's death to have been in vain.” Sunny put her hands on her hips. ”I must do this, Franz.”
Sunny had never worn this much makeup before. Her face was caked in powder, lipstick and rouge, and her hair tied in a constricting bun. She could feel her skin tighten every time she moved her lips. She felt as if she could have almost pa.s.sed for one of the wild pheasants on the dock. Even though she barely recognized herself in the mirror, she still felt vulnerable. What if he recognizes me from Ernst's flat?
As she walked through Germantown, she imagined running into Ernst or Simon in this getup. She could picture Ernst's look of horror, and almost hear Simon's laughter. It calmed her to think of her friends.
The further she ventured into Germantown, the more uniformed men she encountered. She forced herself to sashay theatrically down the street, drawing both scowls and leers from the men she pa.s.sed.
Von Puttkamer's building was the grandest on his block. A sign out front of the ground-floor office advertised itself as the German Information Bureau. A bell tinkled as Sunny opened the door and entered the office.
The baron's Korean bodyguard stepped out from behind a desk to meet her. ”Haben Sie sich verlaufen?” he grumbled.
She pretended not to understand German.
”Are you lost?” he asked sharply in English.
Sunny dug into her coat and produced the envelope Franz had given her. ”My come to see Baron. I bring chit.”
The man extended his hand. ”Leave it with me.”
”I supposed to give baron.”
”The baron is not here,” the man snapped.
”Jewish doctor say give only baron.”
”Give it to me now!”
A door behind the desk opened and von Puttkamer entered the room, impeccable in a grey three-piece suit. He smiled disarmingly at Sunny without so much as a glimmer of recognition. ”Good afternoon, young lady,” he said in smooth English. ”Do I understand that you are carrying a letter for me?”
Sunny squinted and shook her head in mock confusion.
”The envelope, Fraulein.” He touched his chest. ”I am Baron von Puttkamer. Is that for me?”
Sunny thrust her hand out. ”Yes, good Mr. Baron, yes.”
”Thank you.” Von Puttkamer bowed his head. When Sunny showed no sign of leaving, he shooed her away. ”Go now. You can tell your master I have received his letter.”
”Jewish doctor, he say wait for answer.”
”Answer?” Von Puttkamer grimaced. He tore open the envelope and pulled out what was inside. A photograph fell out from the folded page and fluttered to the ground, landing face up.
Even in black and white, it was still ghoulish. The dead n.a.z.i lay with his throat slashed against snow that was stained with his own blood. The bomb was visible above his head, eerily resembling a tombstone.
Von Puttkamer read Franz's note. After a long tense moment, he reached for the photograph. When he looked again at Sunny, his face was tight and his cheeks flushed. ”Tell that Jewish doctor of yours that I will be there.”
CHAPTER 50.
Esther and Hannah exchanged worried looks but remained grimly silent as Sunny stepped inside the flat. Only after Sunny had scrubbed off her makeup and changed into regular clothes did Hannah speak up. ”What did he say, Sunny?”
There was no point in trying to shelter Hannah. She was already aware of the bomb plot and her father's role in averting that disaster-it was the talk of the ghetto. ”He will meet your father,” Sunny said quietly.
”Got hilf im.” Esther reverted to Yiddish and laid a protective hand on Jakob, who slept on the couch beside her. ”Who knows what the madman will try.”
”Von Puttkamer will not try anything,” Sunny said. ”At least not in such a public setting.”
”But he won't just forget, will he?” Hannah said.
”No,” Sunny conceded. ”That is why your father has to speak to him.”
”To talk some sense into him?” Hannah scoffed. ”To make him see the errors of his n.a.z.i ways?”
”Hannah!” Esther cautioned.
Sunny understood that behind her angry words, Hannah was terrified for her father's safety. ”Your papa knows what he is doing, Hannah. What he must do, to discourage the n.a.z.is from striking again.”
Hannah's confident expression gave way to one of sheer anxiety. ”How can he possibly know that?”
Sunny was weighing how to answer when someone knocked lightly at the door. She glanced over at Esther, who just shook her head.
Sunny crept over and cracked open the door. It took her a moment to recognize Wen-Cheng. Typically fastidious about his appearance, Wen-Cheng was a mess: his hair was dishevelled and a patchy beard spotted his cheeks. She could smell unwashed hair and clothes, rather than his usual cologne.
She yanked the door open and moved to hug him, but he shrank from her. ”Where have you been all this time?” she demanded.
”We must speak,” he said in a hush.
Sensing his urgency, Sunny didn't bother to invite him in. Instead, she grabbed her coat and followed him outside.
They walked a few blocks in silence. Looking anything but calm, Wen-Cheng reminded Sunny of how jittery Jia-Li used to become during her episodes of opium withdrawal, but she doubted drugs were to blame. Wen-Cheng suddenly ducked down a narrow lane and Sunny followed. He halted after about ten paces and surveyed the homes on either side of them. ”I have very little time,” he muttered.
”We were so worried, Wen-Cheng. Where have you been these past months?”
”Everywhere. Nowhere.”
”The old man from the Underground and the others-you heard that the j.a.panese caught them?”
He nodded, his eyes refused to meet hers.
”Did they come for you, too?”
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