no decisive victor. Her fingernails curled into her bag, loosening the jet beads from their delicate thread. “I’m trying, really I am, but they make it nearly impossible.”
“We have to do the dirty work and the fighting for those who can’t do it themselves.”
“I came here with one purpose: to retrieve my sister. Thinking the war at large was for someone else to fight. But then I see this and it makes me utterly sick. We cannot allow this hatred to spread.”
“We’re not.”
“No, you’re not. I go to parties and sip cocktails while you’re instructing people to fight back. Do you not see how useless that makes me in comparison?”
“We all have our roles, and not one of them is useless.” Slipping an arm around her shoulders, he turned them to face a small painting in the corner. He dropped his mouth to her ear so only she could hear. “I know you’ve no training and this was the last thing you expected to do, but you’re doing a fine job. Most women would’ve crumbled by now, but not you. And as long as I’m next to you, I’ll not let you.”
His warm breath stirred the hairs curled behind her ear. Calm and reassuring as a summer night’s air. It was enough to pick up her heart’s pace.
“Canoodling in the corner, I see.” Ellie’s cheerful voice grated along Kat’s raw nerves.
Barrett swiveled as Ellie and Eric stopped next to them. Eric’s chest heaved up and down as if he could barely contain the joy bursting beneath his medal-bedecked tunic. “What does your artful eye make of the exhibit?”
Kat scrambled for words. “It’s bold.”
He leaned forward, eyebrows raised in expectation, but when no profuse congratulations came, he straightened. “Ja, it is. Just what the people need. An unsheltered view of what the unwanted are doing to our country, families, and land. Wait until you view the last room. A glance at what Germany and eventually the world will look like when it is cleansed of impurities.”
Ellie rolled her eyes. “Now, Eric. I’ve told you that not all of them are like that. Father knows quite a few in the Treasury who are whizzes with money and have advised him on more than one occasion about stocks.”
“I told you never to speak of that in public.” Steel glinted in Eric’s pale eyes, but his hiss did little to ruffle Ellie. “Just because they are competent with money doesn’t mean we should trust them with it. They only use it to their advantage.”
Barrett nodded. “He’s right. Sometimes, lying and evilness are in people’s blood, and you can’t change blood.” He took Kat’s hand, lacing his fingers between hers. “When there’s a sickness, it’s often best to bleed it out until the blood is pure again.”
Disgust tumbled up Kat’s throat, hot and burning to lash out at anyone within striking distance. Her fingers dug into Barrett’s palm as heat swarmed her body. Barrett’s hand curled tight around her fingers, cutting off the blood flow as a silent warning until she swallowed her cry of outrage and managed a small nod. In return, his hand relaxed and offered hers a gentle squeeze. He trusted her to back him up, and she couldn’t falter now.
Kat prayed her words came out with the appropriate tone and not the insults she wished to hurl at him. “Congratulations on your opening, Eric. You’ve really outdone yourself.”
Eric blinked with shock. “Why, thank you, Miss Whitford. Kathleen. That is indeed high praise coming from you, and I shall cherish it all the more as you are Eleanor’s sister.”
“All right. Enough of this before your head explodes. I need it in working order if I’m to introduce you to the colonel of media coverage in Belgium.” Looping her bangled arm through Eric’s, Ellie winked at Kat. “You two have fun. There’s a nice garden just off the east exit if you care to see it. Nice and dark. Bye, now.”
Kat shook her head as the pair disappeared into the crowd. “Subtle as a brick.”
“She seems delighted by our burgeoning romance.”
“It’ll work to our advantage, you mean.”
“Aye, it will, but she also genuinely wants to see you happy. A rare thing in this cynical world we find ourselves in.” Barrett’s eyes glinted with approval.
“Ellie’s always been like that. Wanting to have everyone happy and smiling. It’s why she tries so hard.” She wouldn’t be smiling when she found out their true motives. Kat pressed a hand to her chest as a crack fractured