I'm a Profiteer in Cold War Germany

Chapter 175: Chapter 85: Playing with Fire

"Now?"

"Yes. The usual place, ten o’clock."

"Alright."

After hanging up, Werner glanced at his watch—9:40. He quickened his pace, heading toward Alexanderplatz.

***********

When Werner arrived, Anna was already sitting in a booth in the corner of the café.

She wore a dark trench coat, her hair casually tied back, and her face was a little pale. A glass of red wine, with only a sip taken, sat on the table.

"What’s so urgent that you had to see me this late?" Anna cut straight to the chase.

Werner sat down and poured himself a beer. "Lainer gave me a job."

"What kind of job?"

Werner slid the list over to her.

Anna glanced at it, her brow furrowing. "He wants you to surveil these people?"

"Not just surveil. He wants arrests," Werner said. "He’s looking to score points."

Anna returned the list to him and took a slow sip of her wine. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I need to know which of these people are actually guilty and which are innocent."

Anna was silent for a moment. "Werner, you’re playing with fire."

"I know."

"Lainer is a rising star right now. It’s not wise to cross him."

"I don’t plan on crossing him." Werner lit a cigarette. "I’ll give him what he wants, but I won’t harm innocent people."

Anna looked at him, her expression complicated. "Since when did you become so principled?"

"I’ve always had principles," Werner said. "It’s just that when my principles don’t conflict with business, I choose business. Now that they do, I have to find a way to balance them."

Anna laughed, a mocking edge to her smile. "Balance? In this country, there is no balance. You can only pick a side."

"Then I pick my own side."

Anna stared at Werner for several seconds, then sighed. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Of these five people, who is actually in contact with West Germany? Who is really planning to defect?"

Anna mulled it over for a moment. "Lucas Becker has a publisher in West Germany, and they’ve been in frequent contact recently, probably preparing a new book. Father Marcus Wolf has indeed helped some people escape, but it’s all small-scale, not organized. The other three—" She paused. "Are just your average dissidents, doing nothing more than complaining."

"What about Peter Weber?"

"The philosophy lecturer from Humboldt University?" Anna shook her head. "He’s just an idealistic fool. Reads forbidden books, discusses existentialism. He’s no threat."

Werner breathed a sigh of relief. "Then Lucas and Marcus—"

"You want to hand them over to complete your assignment?" Anna cut him off.

"I have no other choice."

Anna took another sip of wine and said slowly, "Regarding Marcus, I have something on him. Last month, he helped a political prisoner’s family member escape through the sewers, but it failed. The family member was caught and confessed to Marcus’s involvement, but Marcus denied it, claiming the person planned it themselves. The evidence was insufficient, so the case was shelved."

"And if it were reopened?"

"It could be, with new evidence." Anna looked at Werner. "Can you get evidence?"

Werner thought for a moment. "Give me three days."

"And what about Lucas?"

"I’ll make contact with him and see what the situation is."

Anna put down her glass and leaned forward. "Werner, I have to remind you. Lainer isn’t a fool. If you give him two people, he might be satisfied, or he might think you’re just going through the motions."

"Then I’ll make sure he’s satisfied," Werner said. "I’ll package these two as a major case."

Anna smiled. "You really are..." She couldn’t find the right word.

"Cunning?" Werner supplied for her.

"I was going to say clever." Anna stood up and put on her trench coat. "What are you going to do about the others on the list?"

"Warn them. Tell them to be careful."

"And if they don’t listen?"

"Then I’ll find a way to get them out."

Anna stared at Werner, finally speaking after a long moment. "You’ll get yourself implicated."

"Maybe." Werner stood up as well. "But it’s better than watching them get arrested."

"Why?" Anna asked suddenly. "Why help these people? You don’t know them, and they’re of no use to you."

Werner was silent for a few seconds before lighting another cigarette. "Anna, do you believe that in twenty years, this country will be completely different?"

Anna was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"I’m speaking hypothetically," Werner said slowly. "Suppose one day the Berlin Wall falls, and East and West Germany are reunified. What will become of these so-called ’dissidents’ being arrested now?"

"That’s impossible—"

"I said suppose," Werner cut her off. "When that time comes, these people will become heroes. The books they wrote, the things they said, will be in history textbooks. And the people who arrested them will be pilloried."

Anna fell silent.

"Have you thought about it?" Werner continued. "How will the things we’re doing now be judged in the future? Lainer arrests these people to score points, but in the future, he might be written off as an ’accomplice in the persecution of intellectuals.’ And me—"

He paused. "If I help them, at least people won’t be spitting at my name in the future."

"So you’re paving the way for your future?" Anna laughed sarcastically, but her smile held an indescribable complexity.

"Maybe," Werner admitted. "But more importantly, I don’t want to look back on this day in the future and think of myself as a complete and utter bastard."

Anna looked at him, her expression complex. "Werner, sometimes you really don’t seem like you’re from around here."

"That’s because I’ve seen a bigger world," Werner said, the words carrying a double meaning.

Anna nodded thoughtfully, not pressing him further.

She sat down again and poured herself another glass of wine. "That hypothesis of yours—it’s absurd, but not entirely impossible."

"You think so too?"

"I’ve worked for the Stasi for so many years, I’ve seen too many cases," Anna said in a low voice. "The reasons many people are arrested seem laughable now. Writing a poem, telling a joke, listening to a West German radio station—what kind of crimes are those?"

Werner didn’t speak, just listened quietly.

"But back then, they were crimes," Anna continued. "Sometimes I wonder, if that day really comes and these files are made public, how many lives will have been ruined? How many families will have been shattered by a single informant?"

She looked up at Werner. "So I understand you. You don’t want to be one of those people."

"You don’t either, do you?" Werner asked.

Anna gave a bitter smile. "I already am. I work for the Stasi. I organize those files. I know the ins and outs of those cases. I know better than anyone what we’re doing."

"But you still told me all this."

"Because you’re right." Anna finished the wine in her glass. "Maybe there will be a day of reckoning in the future. When that happens, I can at least say I helped some people."

They were both silent for a while.

"Alright, enough of this," Anna said, standing up again and reverting to her usual business-like tone. "I think I understand your plan. You’ll hand over Lucas and Marcus to Lainer, and you’ll find a way to protect the others."

"That’s right."

"What do you need from me?"

"The case file for Marcus, can you get it?"

"I can, but it’ll be risky."

"How much?"

Anna shook her head. "No charge. Let’s just call it..." She paused. "Let’s call it storing up good karma for the future."

Werner smiled. "Thank you."

The two of them walked out of the tavern. It had started to snow outside, tiny flakes dancing in the light of the streetlamps.

"Werner," Anna called out to him suddenly.

"Hm?"

"That hypothesis you mentioned, about the Berlin Wall falling—" She wrapped her trench coat tighter. "If that day really comes, what will you do?"

Werner watched the swirling snow. "I’ll find a place where the sun shines, have a drink, and settle my old accounts."

He paused, a confident smile touching the corners of his mouth. "Then, I might buy a boat, find a quiet bay, and make a clean break with the past."

Anna watched the swirling snow. "I’ll find a place that can be washed completely clean by a downpour." She smiled, a genuine smile this time. "Then, I’ll quietly wait for the fog to lift and see the distant shoreline clearly."

She turned to leave, but looked back after a few steps. "See you in three days. Usual place. I’ll bring the file."

"Alright."

Anna’s figure quickly vanished into the snowy night.

Werner stood there, watching the falling snow, and recalled the discussions he’d overheard tonight at Humboldt University.

Sisyphus pushes his boulder up the mountain, endlessly.

But Camus said we must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Werner lit a cigarette and started walking back slowly through the snow.

He didn’t know if Sisyphus was happy, but he knew that tomorrow, he would have to keep pushing that same boulder.

Only this time, he had decided to push it his own way—managing Lainer while also protecting the innocent.

It would be difficult, and very dangerous.

But at least he wouldn’t be one of the ones pilloried by history.