way of informing them of our plans. By the time they get it all sorted we’ll be long gone.”
“Oh.” Ellie nodded before turning and running back in the direction of the kitchen. “Just a minute. I have to leave a note for Sylvie so she’s not worried.”
“Unnecessary, schatz. That little Jewess is more concerned with other things from now on.”
A sledgehammer of fear whacked Kat square in the middle of her back as a lamp sprang to life from the couch-side table. The light filtered around the room, marking the furniture in ghoulish shadow. Eric sat in the corner of the couch, one booted foot propped atop the opposite knee while his arm stretched along the back of the low couch. The faint smell of red wine hovered in the air.
Eric’s gaze drifted down to the suitcases then back up. “Going somewhere?”
“On holiday. The city has gotten a bit crowded of late. Too many wives.” Ellie’s chin notched up. “Where is Sylvie?”
“The same place as that butler, where they can no longer contaminate society. I’ve been on to them for some time as possible links to one of the underground Resistance movements. Placing them here under my constant eye was a stroke of genius, and eventually my patience paid off.” His eyes drifted to Kat. Cold and motionless, they froze straight through her. “I suppose I have you to thank for that.”
Kat gripped her suitcase handle tighter to keep the blood from pounding out of control in her head. “How did I help?”
“Tsk, tsk. I told you this past week was for rest and contemplation, but you couldn’t help writing to your boyfriend, using that little maid as your go-between. Or at least she would have been a go-between if the letters had ever reached him.” He sighed and held out a slim hand to examine a fingernail. “Baffles me the information people are willing to offer with the right amount of persuasion. She was much easier to induce than that butler.”
“You mean threaten.” The words of the brief notes Kat had scribbled out for Barrett raced through her mind. She’d kept them clean of any kind of incriminating messages and only sought to reassure him that he would see her again after a few days. She didn’t dare ask how those innocent letters connected Sylvie to the Resistance lest it circle back to Barrett. Sorrow crushed her heart for Sylvie and Pierre. “You monster.”
He shrugged, barely creasing the shoulders of his uniform. “Don’t take it too hard. We’d have found out sooner or later. We always do.”
The suitcase handle creaked in her twisting hand, ready to splinter. “Where are they?”
“Waiting for a train to take them to their final destination at a camp in Poland. Oh, don’t worry. They’re traveling with their families. We left no one behind. Now, back to this business of your holiday.”
Ellie stood ramrod straight with white fingers curled around the handle of her own suitcase. “We’re off to Switzerland just like Kat planned before. I need a break, Eric.”
One slender blond eyebrow spiked. “A break from me?”
“And your wife.”
If she wasn’t standing perfectly still for restraint, Kat would have rushed across the room and thrown her arms around Ellie out of pride. Why hadn’t that backbone come in sooner?
“I see.” The eyebrow dropped back into place over his emotionless eyes. Steepling his fingers, he rested his chin atop them. “It’s out of the question. Things are much too dangerous for me to allow you to wander around without my protection.”
“I’m not asking for your allowance.”
Darkness flickered in his eyes. “The contract states that you do not leave the city without my permission.”
“I never signed any contract.” Ellie’s chin trembled. “And I don’t intend to. Ever.”
“That’s unacceptable to me.”
“Learn to live with the disappointment, as I will. Come on, Kat.”
Kat saw the red spots creeping up Ellie’s neck as she brushed past her to the front door. She was on the verge of losing control if they didn’t get out of there fast.
Eric rose from the couch. Unhurried, he tugged at the bottom of his tunic to straighten the wrinkles. The scent of wine grew stronger. “Where do you plan to go? Do you think any train station in Paris will let you on without my go-ahead? If you do manage to make it out, stop to consider that your name is at this very moment being wired to every guard station in the country. You’d never make it past the border. You’d be escorted