Hello fellow readers! Here is the last teaser for Infiltration, which you can now pick up and if you haven’t, make sure you do

Infiltration ©Rachel R. Heil 2023

Ernst never looked forward to his meetings with Bruckmann but now he enjoyed them even less. Since hiring Lina, Bruckmann had been on Ernst like an annoying nit that wouldn’t go away.

“Has she said anything that could link her with the Brotherhood?” Bruckmann’s sweaty face was inches from Ernst, who resisted the urge to smack it away.

“No,” Ernst replied. “She’s being careful, if she is involved.”

“If?” Ulrich looked at his friend, his skin crawling with frustration. “Ernst, she’s involved. You said so yourself.”

“Pardon me,” Ernst rolled his eyes in exasperation. He was beginning to wish he hadn’t come up with the idea in the first place.

No, he didn’t mean that for as much as Ernst knew he had hired Lina to fulfill an investigation he also knew that he was beginning to like her. She was the first person in a long time that Ernst enjoyed seeing. She was kind to him, willing to humor his stupid jokes, and tease with the same ruthlessness he gave out. For the first time in many years, Ernst looked forward to going into work.

“I have Mielke breathing down my neck about this case,” Bruckmann forced his fat body down onto his chair. “Maybe if she worked for me we would be getting somewhere.”

Ernst cringed at the idea of Lina being anywhere near his ugly, obese, lustful superior. She didn’t deserve that. Nobody deserved that.

“These things take time,” Ernst retorted. “She’s playing it safe, gaining my trust. She’ll slip up sooner or later.”

“Better be soon,” Bruckmann sat back in his chair, which made a notable squeaky noise under the mass of his body. “It’s only a matter of time before the Brotherhood gets comfortable again and starts to act up. The political situation isn’t help with that Gorbachev in Moscow apologizing for everything left and right. There’s even talk of him opening up the state archives to the public. Laying out all of the Soviet Union’s dirty laundry.”

“Surely he wouldn’t,” Ulrich rested his arms on the chair’s. “That would be suicide for the Party.”

“He’s destroying everything that makes up the Socialist ideal,” Bruckmann grabbed his handkerchief from his tunic pocket and dabbed his forehead. “Idiot. He’ll be the death of us. He’ll make the entire system weak and do you know what happens when systems become weak?” Bruckmann suddenly jumped straight in his chair and slammed a large hand down on his desk, startling Ulrich but Ernst didn’t flinch. “They attack! And the Brotherhood will be more than happy to serve the Stasi on a silver platter and you,” Bruckmann pointed a finger at Ernst, “better find those people or I swear to God I’ll make sure you are the first one to face the tribunal.”

Ernst resisted the urge to push Bruckmann’s finger away from his face but he did politely remind his superior, “There has been attacks against the Stasi since it was established. We’ve crushed them every time. Besides, we all know the citizens of the regime don’t have the strength and resources to take down the system.”

“But the West does,” Bruckmann snarled.

“The West doesn’t care,” Ernst reminded him. “If they truly did care they would have done something by now.” He shrugged. “But they prefer to put their heads in the sand. You’ve read the reports of how Westerners view the GDR and its people.”

“That is true,” Ulrich supported.

Bruckmann’s stance seemed to soften at the argument.

“Don’t worry, sir,” Ernst smirked, “no one will be coming for you anytime soon.”

Ernst thought about what was said in that meeting as he drove home that night, down the abandoned roads and darkened buildings, careful to avoid the potholes that had been caused by Soviet artillery and never properly patched up. Despite the world the Firm had created and the one many continued to live in one would have to be stupid to not recognize that the outside was changing.

The Party bigwigs in the Soviet Union were dwindling and Gorbachev was proving to be far more difficult that anyone imagined, undoubtedly feeling the pressure from those abroad. There had been enough people who had escaped the Eastern Bloc to share the horrors they witnessed and what their families and friends were still suffering under. People in the West knew about the Stasi and what men like Ernst did. Now the Americans and British had elected themselves leaders who were making it their sole purpose to take down Communism and, if that happened, men like Ernst would be among the first casualties. All the West needed was someone from the inside to bring about that collapse and the Brotherhood would be the ones up for the challenge.

Link: https://mybook.to/InfiltrationHeil