Strawberry Red

Chapter 33

Haussmann was about to lift her corpse when Ruby reached for his gun. What he didn't notice was that she had started to breathe again after he had stood up. He was too focused on his glory and victory to notice. She had pretended to be dead to avoid being killed. She knew he'd let go of her once she stopped breathing. Then, she seized her chance to free herself from him

"On your knees, now!" Ruby had put the gun to his head, glaring at him. "You cannot kill me this easily."

"I underestimated you. But do you have it in you to kill me? It's a lot harder to pull the trigger than just hold a gun to someone's head. I'm speaking from experience," said Haussmann. He had crossed his hands behind his head while waiting on his knees for Ruby's decision.

"Who says I'll kill you?" asked Ruby. "The Germans will do for me once they find out what you did."

"What I did? I didn't do anything."

"But you did. You freed me, the greatest spy like you said. And you conspired against the Nazi regime by doing so. You'll be dead before you can flee." Ruby took the handcuffs off his belt and cuffed his hands behind his back. "You won't be able to talk yourself out of this one. They won't believe you because the evidence I'm going to plant will speak against you."

Ruby leaned down and whispered in his ear. "It's karma, isn't it? You're going to die just like all the people you mercilessly killed. And when you do, the world will remember you as nothing more than a traitor."

"You can't do this. Ruby, I'm begging you," said Haussmann and started to panic.

"I can and I will." Ruby got him to stand up and led him quietly back into his office where she started to plant evidence against him. She made up letters and papers for the Germans to discover.

"I'll be far more valuable to you alive," begged Haussmann. "You cannot let me die. I know a lot of stuff. I can help the Allies."

"You mean stuff like this?" asked Ruby and took out a big folder he had hid in a drawer. She opened it and skimmed through the pages. "Looks like you carefully documented everything the Allies need to know."

Haussmann's face fell and all blood drained from it. He looked ghost-like when he realized that his end was near. He started to sweat and ramble. He was begging Ruby to let him go and let him live. But she wouldn't bulge. She continued to plant evidence.

"I need your help," said Ruby when she got on the phone with Hans, a high-ranking officer. Hans had more power than Haussmann ever had which made it easy for her plan to work out. Hans would help her achieving her goal of getting rid of Haussmann. "And you're going to help me otherwise I'll rat you out."

"It's good to hear from you too," answered Hans the phone, obviously annoyed. "What can I do for you?"

"You need to send a few officers to Haussmann's office in Berlin to arrest him for high treason against the regime." Ruby was impatiently waiting for the call to be over. She wanted to run away as quickly as she could. Even though she now had the power, she was still in danger. If any of the officers decided to check the cellar and she wasn't there, she'd be discovered planting evidence in Haussmann's office. And then they'd shoot her on the spot.

"Haussmann and treason? That's unlikely. What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything, he did it himself. Listen, it's not your place to question it. You just need to make sure he what he deserves," demanded Ruby. "If you don't, you know what'll happen."

"Fine," huffed Hans on the other end of the line. "When should the officers arrest him?"

"In ten minutes," answered Ruby. Then she hung up the phone. She took a couple of Haussmann's folders and stuffed them into a bag. After, she went to the door.