One wrong move and I would be shot.
Paralyzed by fear, I wondered who or what it was that attacked me. The thing pressed to my temple was, as far as I could tell, a Schmeisser: the first mass-produced submachine gun. I could see—in the outer periphery of my vision—a finger on the trigger, a sharp nail, and in the background, a fuzzy impression of a mustache, centered above someone’s lip, Hitler style.
“Hände hoch!” barked the officer.
In a blink I raised my hands over my head, without having to consult a German-English dictionary.
“Höher,” he ordered, and for extra emphasis used the muzzle of his weapon, first to indicate an upward direction, then to shove me against the wall. “Higher!”
There I stood, nose pressed against the huge Nazi propaganda poster. What a strange feeling it was, finding myself right under the black-and-white gaze of the woman I loved.
Her beret, which was tilted over the forehead, cast a shadow over her eyes. Quite eerily, she seemed to be looking at me. This isn’t real, I reminded myself. It’s just print. Nothing but paper and ink.
I prayed, oh how I prayed! Please, please let this be a mistake. God, let it not be her in that image. She does not belong among others who are wanted dead-or-alive. No, not Natasha!
With another push at my back, the officer knocked me down to my knees and demanded to know my name. For lack of a better plan I said nothing.
Thanks to Madame Vion, the clothes I was wearing were civilian. They did not betray who I was, but my American accent would, which might make him execute me on the spot. So, better he should think me an idiot instead of a spy.
From USA Today Bestselling Author, Uvi Poznansky, comes a captivating WWII Spy Thriller:After D-Day, her photograph appears on the most-wanted Nazi propaganda posters. Who is the girl with the red beret? She reminds him of Natasha, but no, that cannot be. Why does Rochelle step into his life when he is led by SS soldiers to the gallows? At the risk of being found out as a French Resistance fighter, what makes her propose marriage to a condemned man?
★★★★★ ”The story of how they survived such horrors is extraordinary. Also extraordinary is the author's deep and gorgeous writing.”
