Holland 1943. Mieke de Jong is tasked to lure German officers to their deaths. She changes her identity. Infiltrates the enemy. She must lie to live. Fight for her freedom. Be ready to kill. Be ready to die. But love and lust in times of war, is not...
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'How did it go with Lotte?'
Elek lowered his gaze and shook his head, 'He's dead.'
'You mean—'
'Kloet,' he confirmed.
I felt my jaw drop. 'Tell me about it,' I sat him down beside me on the bed. 'How did you do it?'
Elek explained how they had gone to Kloet's apartment, 'Lotte pretended to not have known that anything had gone purposively wrong and he still let us inside. He let us sit in the lounge and they talked calmly. She asked if his wife was home and he answered that she was visiting relatives out of town. Then she suddenly asked if he knew that her father had been arrested.'
'Lotte's father?'
'Yes, her father. The woodworker. Kloet was one of his clients before the war, they were considered friends.'
'But I thought—'
'This isn't about Christopher,' Elek explained. 'Lotte's father... he was hiding someone in his shop.'
'My God,' I exclaimed.
'At first her family thought one of their recent customers had heard something during the day and reported Mr. Vos, but after what happened to us – Luuk, Jacobus, Christopher and Niels – she started to suspect it was Kloet. She asked him if he knew that her father had been arrested and he replied that this was news to him,' Elek shook his head in disgust. 'Filthy liar is what I thought – you could see it in his eyes that he was being untruthful. Lotte was getting frustrated at this point, she showed him her gun and he began to panic. He told us to get out of his house or he would call the police. He kept denying that he had any involvement then... Lotte shoved the barrel of her gun in his mouth. There was a moment when his face washed blank with confusion, his eyes widened as though his brain was trying to take in what was happening to him and then utter shock registered on his face. I didn't want to watch further so I left the room and stood by the front door. She must have removed the gun from his mouth because they argued further and her voice was getting louder. I wanted to tell her that she needed to keep it down otherwise the neighbours would hear. I heard the gun go off, then there was silence. A few seconds later Lotte appeared, her face was bloodshot red and the only words she said to me was he's guilty. And I believed her. We said nothing more until we parted ways.'
'Oh my God,' I said, because I did not know what to say or how to react.
'Let's not talk about it anymore,' he digs his right hand into his coat pocket and hands me a tin.
I read the label. 'Hot chocolate?' I say surprised.
'There's only little left. It was all I could get my hands on.'
'How did you—'
'Happy birthday,' he kissed my cheeks. 'Don't ask questions,' he grinned.
I felt my cheeks blush. 'Thank you. I'll make it now,' I jumped up from my seat and made my way to the kitchen.
