Rasmus’s action figures were still standing in the same pattern in the hall, which his father had learned not to stumble over, and surprisingly the stairs didn’t squeak even once on his way up—maybe this endless heat had sapped the energy to whine out of the wood, too. Piet Hoffmann stopped at the door to Hugo’s and Rasmus’s rooms, two boys deep asleep. He couldn’t see Luiza behind the drapery that separated her room from the upper hall, nor through the pile of teddy bears Rasmus had ordered to stand guard outside her crib. But he could hear her calm and steady breathing. Zofia lay with her back to the doorway, and he gazed at his wife’s naked body entangled in a thin sheet. He sank down on his knees at the edge of the bed, shook her shoulder gently, whispered.

“Zo?”

She shifted anxiously.

“Zo? Love?”

Then she woke up and turned around. Piet Hoffmann could see the terror in her eyes. He laid his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.

“Zo—it’s me. Piet.”

She tried to scream again. He pressed harder.

“Listen, Zo. It is me. Me. It’s me who’s about to kiss you twice on the forehead like I always do. And when I do, I’m gonna take my hand away and kiss you twice on your mouth.”

He leaned close, and she tried to push him away. His lips touched her warm forehead, then he removed his hand and kissed her twice on the mouth, then put the hand back again.

Maybe she relaxed a little.

Maybe she just wanted him to think she had.

“Zo?”

He loosened his grip, a little bit at a time.

“I’ll explain everything to you when this is over. But right now, Zo, you have to promise to just listen and trust me.”

He waited, trying to make eye contact.

She didn’t scream.

“My voice. My face. But we have to get out of here, now, tonight. So we don’t have time to talk about it yet, Zo. Not you and me. Not with the kids. Okay?”

She looked at him.

Perhaps unsure if she was awake or still dreaming.

Then she nodded.

•   •   •

Zofia held Hugo and Rasmus by the hand. Drowsy. Tired. While Luiza slept in his arms. Their boys didn’t trust the man who was leading them down into the basement. But they trusted Zofia who said this was what they had to do now. Don’t turn on any lights. And be very quiet. Only when they finally reached the basement and were heading into the office did Hugo protest.

“That’s Dad’s room. We’re not supposed to go in there. He’s not supposed to go in there.”

Piet Hoffmann wanted to hug his son. Say how proud he was. But instead he said: