Read The Helsinki Pact for Free Online Page B

seconds
earlier and I'd have bumped into her. Jesus! Or she might have seen
me going in there with the dirt. Shit! We left it unlocked, didn’t
we? What if she notices that? Opens the door? We’re
finished!”
    “That corridor’s where her own
basement room is.” Kai said. “She’s just putting something away or
collecting something. I’ll sneak out and if she’s not about I’ll
fix the padlock And if she is, well, she knows me anyway, knows I
do stuff down here, maybe I can ask her about something, get her
upstairs again and one of you guys can lock it.”
    He slid back the bolt but just as
he was about to ease open the door he heard soft footsteps
approaching so he tapped the bolt silently back into place instead.
Scarcely breathing the three men stood in the intense silence as
the footsteps halted outside. The door handle turned and the door
flexed slightly and gave a creak before the handle moved back
again. After another period of silence the footsteps moved away and
became fainter. In a moment there was the familiar creak of the
door at the foot of the basement stairs opening and then closing
again. They looked at each other and Kai shook his head slightly
and put his finger to his mouth. Five minutes later the stair door
creaked again, this time with a longer pause before the closing
creak and the slight noise of footsteps followed.
    “That’s what she does, opens the
door and then closes it again and if you go out you’ll find her
still snooping around." He shivered. "But I think she’s really gone
up now. I’d better go and check.” He put his finger to his lips.
"Not a sound."
    In a few moments he returned.
“She’s gone. I put the other padlock back on. Let’s hope she didn’t
notice anything. There’s a fair bit of dirt in the corridor,
though. She’ll wonder about that so I’d better think up some story
in case she says anything. Best get digging!stop for today.” He
turned on the music.
    “Look, guys. I can’t take this
any more.” Klaus looked at Kai and then at Bernhard. “I’m sorry, I
just can’t. You know I’ve been leery about it for the past week or
so. And then I keep thinking of Ingrid and how I’ll feel if she’s
still here and I’m over there. I want to get out. Of course I do.
But I want it to be with her. I want to be with her and with all
this stuff going on we’re going to get caught, I’m sure of it. If
that happens I’ll be dead or in jail and I’ll never see her again.
I’m sorry to let you down, guys, but I’m out of here.” He looked
warily at Bernhard. “And I promise, I’m going to forget everything
we’ve done or you’re doing. Don’t worry about that. I promise you.
I wish I could come with you - but I just can’t.” He held out his
hand and after a moment’s hesitation Bernhard took it and they
embraced, Kai following.
     
     

Chapter 4
    Thursday September 14
1989
    ON the next Thursday Thomas
crossed early and got to the German History Museum well before it
closed for the day. He’d no intention of looking round - he’d
visited it once, shortly after arriving in Berlin, and once was
more than enough for these sorts of turgid fairytales, he thought -
but he wanted to make sure that Bettina didn’t leave early before
he arrived. He sat on a low wall across the street where he could
keep both the main entrance, and more particularly the side
entrance, in view.
    The weather had changed and an
icy cold wind blew in from the east. A dense blanket of cloud
covered the sky. In a nearby garden someone had lit a bonfire and
the smell of apple wood and leaves reminded him of his parents’
house in Frankfurt in autumn weekends when his father was alive.
Although he was well wrapped up in a thick coat and scarf the wind
still got to him and periodically he rose to stamp his feet and
walk about a little on the pavement. Since they’d met nearly a week
earlier he hadn’t been able to get Bettina out of his mind. He'd
spent the wait till he could