Vivi was frozen in terror, her mind racing. He must have faked his illness, maybe bitten his own tongue. And with him being apparently unconscious, they had removed his handcuffs to transfer him. She sucked in a breath, trying desperately to remember her training, but he had hold of her in an extremely tight grip. She could scarcely breathe.
Suddenly, he switched to speaking English in her ear. ‘Listen to me, Vivi. This is really, really important. I don’t have long. I am honestly working for SOE as well. I have secretly defected from the German army, but my plane came down when I was travelling back into Paris undercover, to rendezvous with my French Resistance team before I continue my critical work with the Germans. I have to get back directly. If I am missed much longer, it will become evident there was a complication, and they will ask questions. The guards are talking about eventually moving me to jail, but I have a job to do and I have just received some very important news about a fugitive who has information that I have to intercept and deal with.’
Vivi flinched at the realisation of what that could mean exactly.
He continued, ‘Please, Vivi. I know it’s an enormous step for you to trust me. Think about how you felt about me in the first week. That is who I really am. Not this act I have to put on.’
She could hardly breathe as she was listening to him, every kind of emotion overwhelming her.
‘I know it is hard to trust me, but I’m going to ask you to do something. There is one operative in London who knows exactly who I am and about my deep cover. I need you to go to Baker Street. Not just to prove to you who I am, but to also let them know what happened to me. I had expected my commander to find me by now, as I have not checked in, and as I said, he is the one person who knows what I’m doing undercover within the German intelligence. You need to locate him and speak to him in person, to tell him where I am. Do you understand? Since one of the French Resistance circuits was uncovered, we believe there is a mole in SOE and many agents have been killed and captured, so I couldn’t just call him or send a message, it is all 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.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me the truth?’
‘I was under orders never to reveal my real German identity unless it became absolutely necessary and’ – his eyes met hers intensely – ‘it became absolutely necessary.’
‘Why should I trust you?’
He lay back on his pillow and seemed thoughtful, before whispering, ‘Because I have everything to lose and nothing to gain by what I am about to tell you. I am Major Vonstein of the German Army. I joined the army when I was young – before Herr Hitler took over – and I was proud to serve my country. But this war has been horrific, and I also started to see things happening that I knew weren’t right. At first I turned a blind eye, but the rumours started to surface of what was being done in our name, and I was sickened by it, especially the treatment of the Jewish people.’
Vivi was frustrated. ‘So all that you told me about your family was a lie, the vineyard, your brother…’
Marcus slowly shook his head. ‘Not all of it. The story was true except why my brother died.’ His voice started to crack and it took him a minute before he could compose himself.
Vivi sensed his raw emotion and determined either he was an incredible liar or what he was telling her was true.
He got lost in his reminiscence. ‘My sister Amy is older, but my brother and I were just a year apart, grew up together on the winery and it was the best possible life for two boys who had no God-given sense and plenty of ways to find trouble. Fresh air, good food and a mother and father who adored us. We were closer than twins, fought defiantly for each other and against one another when we felt passionately enough about a topic. Marcel really was the bravest and strongest, the best of the best. Everybody loved him. He was the first to help a stranger or a neighbour and had a quiet confidence that I secretly envied. A way of sharing the best of himself in such a way, you thought it was your own.