THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER

THE FÜHRER'S DAUGHTER (Episode 1) - Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

“HIDE!” GRACE WHISPERED, trying to pull him away from the door. “Father won’t let them do anything to me. But you?”

Jaw set, Friedrich wouldn’t yield. He couldn’t let her take the blame for this. “I should’ve never let you in here.”

“Will you please stop arguing?” She pushed him toward the corner of the room. “Under that table—they won’t find you.”

Instead, he stepped toward the middle of the library, his footfalls attracting the attention of the other guards, judging by their accelerated approach.

This is what he got for paying more attention to the Führer’s daughter than was proper. So many pretty girls in the world, why couldn’t he keep his distance? And yet, there was something so special about her. Beyond the opulent mane, the piercing eyes, the adventurous naiveté, she possessed a free spirit he’d not otherwise known.

Without another word, he opened the door and pushed her behind it.

“Corporal!” A lieutenant and a pair of guards entered. The officer narrowed his eyes at Friedrich.

“Corporal Freidrich von Becker, reporting.” He snapped to attention and shot out his right arm in salute. “Heil Drexler.”

“Sieg heil.” The lieutenant returned the salute. “What are you doing in here? This library is restricted to all but the Führer.”

“I was patrolling the floor and thought I heard someone inside. So naturally, I came to investigate.”

“Secure the area,” the lieutenant said to his guards, his voice morbidly calm. They spread out and began searching the room.

After a few moments, one of the guards announced, “Clear!”

“Sir!” the other guard called out. “You’ll want to see this.”

Hands interlocked behind his back, the lieutenant strode methodically to the back of the room, directing Freidrich come with him. There, the papers, photos, and box lay scattered on the floor. “And what is this?”

Friedrich’s throat went dry. “They appear to be documents, Sir.”

“Highly classified documents,” the lieutenant said. “Everything in here is.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Without inclining his head even one degree, the officer looked down at the mess. “Is this your doing, Corporal?”

“No, sir.”

The lieutenant glanced at one of the guards and nodded to the documents.

The guard pulled out a handheld device and shined its beam on the box.

The lieutenant flashed a wicked grin at Friedrich. “If I find your fingerprints…”

“Let me see that again,” Freidrich said. The other guard shoved the pictures at him and turned them over. “Maybe I did see those.”

“What were you really doing back here, Corporal?”

“As I said, I thought I heard someone in here.”

“What part of restricted do you not understand?”

“The door was open and—”

“That will be all, Corporal Becker. Perhaps you will have better luck convincing the Führer.”

His chest tightened at the thought, but Friedrich’s greater concern lay elsewhere. He glanced over the lieutenant’s shoulder to the door.

Good.