to smile.
Because the soldiers filing backstage deserved it.
A gentle tap on her shoulder startled her.
“Signorina,” a woman said softly. It was the redheaded partisan from the other night. She was dressed in a uniform similar to the one Vi usually wore, only without any patches or pins, her hair pulled into a smooth twist. “It is time.”
Vi glanced anxiously toward Sue and then Mr. Stuart. They were already meeting the first of the soldiers and paying her no attention. In fact, in a stroke of good fortune, the entire cast was similarly engaged.
As unobtrusively as possible, she eased back toward the dressing rooms. The partisan stuck close, and once they were beyond prying eyes, she handed Vi a satchel. “I hope this will fit. I had to guess your size.”
Vi hurriedly opened the satchel, and a gorgeous, sleek sheath of a dress in rich gold silk fell out. She held it up and all but purred at the deep vee in the back and the single chain of rhinestones at the top to hold the shoulders together.
Sr. Conti would never know what hit him.
“It was my sister’s,” the redhead said. “She sang at Riccardo’s nightclub before the war. She was very good.”
Vi paused, catching the use of past tense. “Your sister is . . . ?”
“Not dead.” A deep sadness shadowed the partisan’s light-brown eyes. “But not alive, either. She was raped by German soldiers. Many times. So she lives, but doesn’t. She used to sing but now doesn’t even talk.”
“I’m so sorry!”
The partisan shrugged. “It’s the way of war, yes? Before I had no politics. Now I live only to see the Nazis driven from Italy.”
“I can’t even imagine . . .” If Fern had been brutally raped to the point of no longer speaking, Vi would be consumed with thoughts of revenge. No, not just thoughts . . . acts of revenge.
Vi reached out to the partisan and hesitantly took the woman’s hand. “Thank you for loaning me her dress. I won’t fail you, or her. I promise.”
The woman took a deep breath. “Grazie, but you must hurry. Sr. Conti is waiting for you, and he is not a patient man.”
Catching the hint, Vi quickly peeled out of her dance outfit and hung it up with care, on the off chance she would be back. No, that was defeatist talk. She would be back. To think otherwise would have her sobbing, and she couldn’t afford the waste of time or energy. Not now.
Sternly telling herself to stay on task, she slipped the cool silk dress over her head.
Thankfully, Vi and the partisan’s sister were not far off in size. It was a tad snug over her bust and hips but not as bad as it could’ve been.
Appreciation lit the redhead’s eyes when Vi turned around. “Very nice. Sora would approve. You look like what Americans say, ‘a hundred bucks.’”
Vi smoothed the fabric over her hips and felt another twinge of nerves. “While a hundred bucks is swell, I’d rather look like that ton of gold.”
“Or at least a map leading to it.” The partisan handed Vi a pair of earrings, the paste emeralds set off by diamond rhinestones.
Putting the earrings on, Vi eyed the rest of her ensemble in the mirror. It wasn’t perfect—her dance shoes weren’t nearly fancy enough—but it would do. As long as Sr. Conti had a pulse, she would succeed.
Together they sneaked out of the dressing room and through the door leading to the alley behind the theater.
“Riccardo will drop you off at Sr. Conti’s. There, Minta, who is also one of us, will take you upstairs,” the woman said as they picked their way past puddles and trash. “After Sr. Conti greets you, please ask for dinner. He may be reluctant, so please insist.”
They had reached the end of the alley, and the partisan peered down the dark street. “When Minta brings the food, Sr. Conti will be distracted, and that will be your chance to fix his drink. You will have forty-five minutes, complete, to find the map. Then Riccardo will take you back to the hotel.”
“Why only forty-five minutes?” Vi asked, inwardly calculating how much time would be eaten up waiting for the drops to take effect. “I might need more if the map isn’t on him.”
The woman glanced at Vi, her expression unreadable in the dark. “We were asked not to keep you out past midnight. Signorina Rossi will distract your superiors until then, but longer than that, she could