far too dangerous right now and my work is imperative to the war effort. It has taken me a long time to make the Nazis trust me, and I’m under clear orders never to break cover. I would go myself if it was possible, but I am trapped here. You are my only hope and now the time has become critical. I was hoping if they believed I was French Resistance I would have been released from here once my body had healed, so I could go to London myself about this. Then I would never have had to tell you any of this so we could keep the real work I was doing a secret. But right now I have no other alternative than to trust you with this information.
‘Come back later and I will give you all the details. My only hope, Vivi, is the fact you too were SOE and know how important our work is, so you might feel compelled to help me.’
Vivi realised she would be able to find out as soon as she went to SOE in London and called his bluff if indeed he was a Nazi. But what if this was some sort of elaborate plan to somehow keep him out of jail?
Abruptly, there was a rattling at the door. Vonstein let go of Vivi and hopped back into bed. She remained frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do, but when she turned, she noticed he had put his hand back into the handcuffs and locked them. Why wouldn’t he have just used her as a hostage to get away? In her gut, Vivi had a feeling this man was good, but could she trust it like before? She thought about how her fear had let her down in Paris, and how that whole family had suffered because of it.
As the doctor came into the room, he asked Vivi for an update, and in a shaky voice, she told him about Vonstein’s medical episode. He examined the patient as the last words Vonstein had said echoed in her mind.
Vivi left the room as the doctor asked her to get specific equipment and her whole body was shaking. She didn’t know who to trust, but she still had to work. And she had to admit, he intrigued her. As the doctor finished his rounds, around three o’clock in the morning, she slipped back into Vonstein’s room. His eyes flashed open.
‘Shut the door behind you,’ he hissed in French.
She came to the side of his bed, but not close enough where he could grab her again.
‘How do I know you’re telling the truth?’
‘You don’t,’ he said. ‘Which is why I need you to go to London. I need you to trust me. Vivi, you’re the only person who can, and you need to go to London before they transfer me to prison. I have prolonged this as long as I could, but I have to get back to my work in Europe.’
‘Your leg is still mending. You cannot go back yet anyway.’
‘I’m afraid I have to. The work I have to do is too valuable. Ask for the Rook. When you go into his office, tell him, that I, the Hawk, my code name, am here. And give him the word “fortitude”. This will make sense to him. Vivi, understand this is of the utmost secrecy. You cannot share this with anybody else but the Rook. No one. There are concerns about a mole over there, which is why virtually no one knows about my mission. So tell no one else. Do you understand? Not even your boyfriend, or your husband.’
‘You’re fortunate I have neither,’ she informed him with a smirk.
A look of relief washed across his face for a moment. How odd, she thought. He’d been so detached with her since she had assumed he was a German, and yet for a moment, he looked like a man. Not an agent, or a patient, but just a man.
‘Vivi, you need to go tomorrow. Can you do that before they talk about transferring me?’
She stood at a distance with her arms folded. ‘First, you have to tell me everything and I mean everything!’
He nodded. ‘I know.’
‘Is your name Marcus Vonstein, or François?’
He smiled. ‘Both. I am Marcus François Vonstein. The unfortunate pairing of a German father and a French mother. Which is why I also speak both languages.’