Break Point

by Yolanda Wallace

  Meike knocked on the door and stuck her head inside. “Are you ready?”

  “Almost. Let me get my coat.” Helen’s stomach growled in anticipation of yet another fabulous meal while her heart soared at the thought of spending more time with Meike. She placed a book over the report she was writing and climbed off the bed. Then she grabbed her coat and shrugged it on. “Where are we off to tonight, the place with the great currywurst or the one that brews its own beer?”

  “Neither. Tonight, I have something a little different in mind.”

  “How different?”

  “You’ll see.” Meike tied a black kerchief around her head, covering her hair. Paired with a dark brown trench coat, the kerchief made her look almost dowdy. Far from the glamorous figure Helen was used to seeing. “What are you working on so diligently?”

  Helen felt a surge of panic when Meike lifted the book and reached for the handwritten pages underneath the leather-bound tome. “Nothing important.” She plucked the pages from Meike’s hands before Meike had a chance to see her name written on them.

  “If it isn’t important, why won’t you let me see it?”

  Meike reached for the pages, but Helen switched them from one hand to the other, then hid them behind her back. “What I’ve written would only bore you to tears.”

  “Now I truly am curious.”

  Meike took another swipe at the pages, but Helen brought the impromptu game of keep-away to an abrupt end. “If you must know,” she said, stashing the report in her coat pocket, “I’m writing a tennis column for one of the LA papers.”

  Meike’s smile slowly faded. “But we’re amateurs, Helen. We aren’t allowed to make money from tennis-related activities. Bill Tilden has gotten into trouble on multiple occasions for doing something similar. Do you want to get suspended or barred from amateur competition like he did?”

  “No, but I don’t want to starve to death, either. I can’t take appearance fees if I’m not playing, and I can’t take a no-show job if everyone knows I’m not physically able to work. I’ve got to make money somehow. I have bills to pay.”

  Meike’s expression softened. “I understand your dilemma, but you have to be careful, Helen.”

  “I could say the same to you.” Helen was touched by Meike’s obvious concern for her well-being. Which made her feel even worse about bending the truth. “The consequences if I get caught writing a column under a pen name pale in comparison to what could happen to you if you get caught helping Friedrich.”

  “I won’t get caught.”

  “I can’t tell who you’re trying harder to convince, me or yourself. You’ve always done a swell job of proving how independent you are. You want everyone to think you don’t need anyone to help you with anything and that the only person you need is yourself. But I know better. Everyone needs someone sometime. I needed you to help me take my mind off things after I got hurt. Whether you like it or not, you need me, too. Let me help you, Meike.”

  “You can’t possibly comprehend what you’re asking, Helen.”

  “Yes, I do. I’m asking you to trust me. I know trusting someone is a decision you don’t take lightly, but if you take a chance on me, you can rest assured I won’t let you down.”

  Meike’s expression was inscrutable, but her eyes twinkled with amusement. “Now who is the one trying to do the convincing?”

  Helen grinned. “Did it work?”

  Meike regarded her for so long Helen began to wonder if her attempted joke had fallen flat. Finally, Meike said with an enchanting tilt of her head, “How would you like to take a longer walk than usual tonight?”

  “I’m in the mood for dinner, not exercise. How far is the new restaurant you have in mind?”

  “Six miles. One way, that is.” Meike patted the pockets of her coat. “I have bread and sausages in case we get hungry along the way.”

  Helen was rendered momentarily speechless by the import of Meike’s request. Meike wasn’t taking her to dinner. She was asking her to take part in an activity she kept secret from everyone else. “Did you plan to ask me to accompany you tonight even before you came in here?”

  Meike cupped her hand against Helen’s cheek. “Perhaps.”

  By earning Meike’s trust, Helen had fulfilled her mission. She felt relieved that one part of her job was done, but the hardest part was yet to come: betraying what she had worked so hard to gain.

  “Let’s take a walk.” In case they found themselves in a situation they couldn’t talk their way out of, she pulled her pistol from its hiding place and slipped it into her pocket while Meike’s back was turned. Then she followed Meike across the hall.

  In her bedroom, Meike placed her hand on a stone that looked just like all the others. But when she exerted pressure on the stone, a panel next to the fireplace opened inward and a blast of cold air rushed into the room. She pulled a flashlight from her pocket and shined the beam into the passageway. “This way.”

  Helen recoiled from the damp, musty smell that assaulted her senses, but, convinced Meike wouldn’t lead her astray, stepped into the unknown.

  *

  Meike tore off a chunk of bread and unwrapped one of the sausages. “Care to trade?”

  Helen exchanged the flashlight Meike had asked her to hold for the wax paper-wrapped bundle of food. “How far do you think we’ve gone?” she asked between bites.

  Meike shined the flashlight on her watch. She and Helen had been in the tunnel for almost ninety minutes and, provided they kept up the same steady pace, had about another half hour to go before they reached the other side. “Nearly five miles.”

  “We’re almost there.” Helen wolfed down the rest of her sandwich and shoved her hands in the pockets of her overcoat. “And not a minute too soon. I don’t know which is worse, the cold or the tight space.”

  Meike played the flashlight beam over the walls of the tunnel. Cobwebs hung from nearly every available surface. She usually came face-to-face with several each time she made the arduous journey. Tonight was no different. Her kerchief and the shoulders of her coat were so white they seemed to be made of silk.

  “The claustrophobia usually disappears after the first few meters. By the time I reach this point, I’m too numb to feel the cold.”

  “Where do your parents think we are tonight?”

  “Visiting friends. I told them we would be very late and not to expect to see us until the morning.”

  “Do you think they suspect where we are?”

  “I would say no, but I’m not willing to bet against my mother’s maternal instincts.” Meike chuckled. She was normally filled with trepidation when she made this journey. Tonight, she felt uncharacteristically light. She felt stronger having Helen by her side. She felt safe. She hoped to remain that way. She hoped they both would. “Whenever Michael and I hid in the passageways, she always knew exactly where to look.”

  “I envy the close-knit relationship you have with your parents. In my family, there were so many kids I often felt like an afterthought.”

  “But I’m sure your parents are proud of your successes.”

  Helen’s disgusted snort echoed off the stone walls. Meike heard a rat, frightened by their presence, scamper past them in search of safer ground.

  “My parents aren’t as accepting as yours.”

  “Is that why you don’t speak about them?”

  Meike had noticed the obvious void in Helen’s life, but she had never been able to convince her to discuss it. The subject was just too sore. She wouldn’t be where she was without her family’s support. She admired Helen for finding success—and maintaining it—on her own.

  “One of many reasons. They don’t approve of the way I live my life or what I do for a living. As if I had a choice about either. If I had showed them the professional contract that was dangled in front of me a few months ago, things might be different. Seeing all those zeroes would have gotten their attention, that’s for sure. It might have even earned their respect.”

&nb
sp; “If proving yourself to your family is so important to you, why didn’t you become a professional when you had the chance?”

  Helen hesitated. The moment was brief but obvious. And unexpected. The question was straightforward. The response should have been as well, but when it came, it seemed rehearsed rather than honest, raising more questions than it answered.

  “Someone has to bring your winning streak to an end. I want it to be me. I can’t do that if we’re playing on different circuits.”

  “Tell me the truth, Helen.” Meike wanted to turn around so she could see Helen’s face, but the footing was too treacherous for her to be able to take her eyes off the slippery path in front of her and they didn’t have time to stop. Not if they wanted to be in their beds before sunrise. Not if they didn’t want to get caught. “I was honest with you. Why can’t you be the same with me?”

  “You don’t think I want to beat you?”

  “I’m sure you do. Every player worth her salt wants to be able to say she defeated the top-ranked player, but if money is as important to you as you make it seem, defeating me can’t be your primary motivation.”

  “You’re right.” Her touch as gentle as her voice, Helen placed a hand on Meike’s shoulder and compelled her to turn around. “Beating you isn’t the reason I decided not to turn pro. But loving you is. That’s why I didn’t sign the contract. That’s why I’m here now risking life and limb in order to keep you safe. Because I love you, Meike.”

  Meike gasped when Helen’s lips met hers. She was surprised by both the coldness of Helen’s skin and the warmth of her kiss. As the kiss deepened, Helen backed Meike against the tunnel wall and pressed her body against hers. Instead of pushing Helen away as instinct told her to do, Meike buried a hand in her hair and pulled her closer.

  She didn’t just want Helen. She needed her, too. More than she had ever needed anyone else. She needed her light to banish the darkness that surrounded her. If only for a little while.

  “I love you, too, Helen,” she said when their lips finally parted. “God help me, I love you, too.”

  Helen’s hands fumbled at the buttons of Meike’s coat. Helen’s mouth, hot and wet, latched onto the side of her neck. She explored Meike’s mouth with her tongue, taking her breath away.

  “This is crazy.”

  “I know, but I need you, Meike. Now. Forever.” She reached under Meike’s dress and cupped her sex through the thin silk of her underwear. Meike felt herself grow wet long before she heard Helen’s fervent whisper. “Please.”

  Meike released the flashlight and allowed it to clatter to the ground. The beam played on the tunnel walls as the flashlight rolled away. Meike arched her neck, giving in to desire. Giving in to Helen. “Take me. Now. Forever.”

  Helen slipped Meike’s underwear off and slipped one, then two fingers inside her.

  “Yes,” Meike hissed as she began to move against Helen’s hand.

  “Your favorite English word.” Meike could feel Helen’s lips, pressed against her cheek, curl into a smile. “Say it again.”

  “Yes. Yes. Oh, God, yes,” Meike said as Helen continued to stroke her. She wrapped her arms around Helen’s shoulders and held on tight. It had been so long since she had been touched this deeply. So long since she had felt this kind of connection with someone. Others had tried, but only Helen could make her feel this way. Like she was falling. Like she was flying. Like she was part of something bigger than herself.

  The tremors started much too soon, beginning low in her belly then branching out until she thought her body would come apart.

  “Yes. I think that might be my favorite English word, too.” As Meike’s breath came in ragged bursts, Helen kissed her again. Gently. Tenderly. But hinting at the passion Meike could feel bubbling just below the surface. Meike wanted to take Helen on the journey she had just traveled, but Helen wouldn’t let her. “We’d better get going,” Helen said, reminding her of the reason they had entered this dark, dank tunnel. “We don’t want to leave Friedrich waiting. But make no mistake. We have unfinished business, you and I.”

  “Yes?” Meike picked up the flashlight and held it so she could see Helen’s face. The face of the woman she loved.

  “I want to spend the rest of the night making love to you. Then I want to greet the morning with you in my arms.”

  Meike swiped at the cobwebs clinging to Helen’s curls. “Does a long, hot bath factor into your plans somewhere?”

  Helen murmured her assent. “You’d be amazed what I can do with a bar of soap.”

  Meike drew her in for another kiss. “Are you sure you don’t believe in fairy tales?”

  “Believe in them? I think I’m living one.”

  “And, thanks to you, I’ve found my very own happily ever after.”

  But how long could it last?

  *

  Helen saw a light at the end of the tunnel, a dim glow that grew brighter with each step.

  “We’re here,” Meike said just before her flashlight flickered and died. She reached for the spare battery and swapped it for the old one with practiced ease.

  Just as she had for the past two hours, Helen followed in Meike’s footsteps. She didn’t know what to expect. Who would be waiting for them when they exited the tunnel? Who was holding the light glowing in the distance, friend or foe? Meike had traveled this route without incident several times in the preceding weeks, but this time could be different. This time, they could be walking into a trap.

  Meike grew quieter the closer they came to the tunnel’s opening, but Helen could hear her anxious breathing. No matter how many times Meike made this subterranean trip, it obviously never got any easier. In fact, it only got more dangerous. Each trip was like a round of Russian roulette. Helen hoped tonight wasn’t the night the bullet finally found its way into the chamber. She slipped her hand into her pocket to make sure the gun was still there—and prayed she wouldn’t have to use it.

  The light in the mouth of the tunnel flashed three times in rapid succession. Meike used her flashlight to respond in kind. “It is safe,” she said, the words sounding more like a sigh of relief than a statement of fact.

  Meike broke into a run. Helen followed suit. They hustled out of the tunnel and dove into the backseat of a waiting car. Meike lay prone on the leather seat and motioned for Helen to do the same. Helen curled up next to her.

  “You didn’t tell me you were bringing company,” Friedrich said as he covered them with a blanket. “It is good to see you again, Helen.” The blanket muffled the sound of his voice and disguised the timber. Helen couldn’t tell if he sounded excited or anxious. “Drive faster, Hans. We have much catching up to do and not a great deal of time to do it.”

  Despite Friedrich’s request, Hans drove almost as slowly as Helen and Meike had made their way through the tunnel on foot. The trip through the streets of Rorschach, Switzerland, seemed to take hours before they finally reached their destination.

  “Come in.” Friedrich opened the car door and ushered them inside a house that would have made Hansel and Gretel proud. The walls weren’t made of gingerbread, but the overall effect was just as sweet. “The place is small, but it is ours. And most importantly, there are no SS agents breaking down our doors to take it away from us.”

  Hans led everyone to the kitchen, where a big pot of potato soup simmered on the wood-burning stove. “Sit. Eat,” he said after he and Friedrich greeted them with kisses on their cheeks. “But give me your coats first. I’ll try to get them clean as best I can and place them by the fire so they can be nice and warm when you begin your journey home.”

  Helen eagerly stripped off her soiled coat, washed her hands in the sink, and filled a large earthenware bowl with two ladles of soup. The tunnel’s cold had permeated her bones and she desperately needed to get warm. She held the bowl in her hands, inhaled the rising steam, and allowed the warmth to seep into her.

  Meike reached inside the lining of her coat and pulled out a bulging envelope. “Th
is is for you, Fritzi.”

  Friedrich took the envelope from Meike and gave her a hug. “I want to thank you for all you’ve done for me,” he said, his voice breaking, “but the words feel inadequate.”

  Meike patted his damp cheek. “Words have never been necessary between us. They never will be.”

  “But I hope you will manage to find them if you ever need my help.”

  “I will.”

  Friedrich’s eyes gave away his obvious doubts that Meike would ever seek the refuge she had helped him find. Helen had the same concerns. Meike’s life was in Germany and her heart was in Rheinsteifel. No matter how bad things got for her at home, Helen didn’t think Meike would ever leave.

  “Enjoy your meal,” Friedrich said. “I’ll be back after I put this away for safekeeping.”

  Meike prepared herself a bowl of soup and took a seat next to Helen. “Do you want to talk about what happened in the tunnel?”

  “No.” Helen covered Meike’s hand with hers. Even though she had meant everything she had said and done in the tunnel, she had only confessed her feelings to keep from blowing her cover. It felt dishonest somehow. She needed to make things right. She needed to apologize. The only way she knew how. “The time for talking is past. I don’t want to tell you how I feel about you. I want to show you instead.” She leaned over and gave Meike a kiss. “I hope your parents aren’t light sleepers. If they are, they might hear us on their side of the house.”

  “Exactly what do you have in mind?”

  “You’ll see.” Helen was now looking forward to instead of dreading the two-hour return trip through the tunnel. Because when the journey was over, she would get to make love to Meike. Slowly and reverently, not with the desperation she had felt in the tunnel. She had once hoped Meike would never discover what Lanier had asked her to do. If she did uncover the truth, Helen doubted Meike would be able to find it in her heart to forgive her. As long as she played her cards right, she had reasoned, Meike would never know what she’d been up to all these months. And when her job was done, they would both be free. But she could see now that she was wrong for keeping the truth from Meike. If she wanted to be with Meike—and she had never wanted anything or anyone more—she had to be honest. No matter how much it might hurt. “Meike, we need to talk.”