Courage, My Love by Kristin Beck

Author:Kristin Beck [Beck, Kristin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-04-13T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

* * *

It was nearly curfew when she landed in Carlo’s apartment, as planned. She hadn’t seen anyone worrisome when she entered the building; the man and his son were not in the courtyard, but still she’d tensed as if watched. Was it paranoia? She told Carlo upon arrival, and he darkened, muttering, “The kid just joined the Fascist Brigades. We’ll have to start monitoring them.”

“Someone may have been watching me this morning,” she added, standing in his living room and tightening her arms over her chest. “I can’t be sure. But if it has anything to do with your neighbors, we need to be vigilant.”

Carlo nodded. “The new Fascist squadristi are following and pestering people all over Rome, often with little cause. They might not know we’re actually resistance.” He sighed. “I’ll send out some eyes and ears of my own to try to figure out if we’re being watched, sì?”

Francesca nodded, shelving her worries and moving on to the topic that brought her here: Lucia. She took a deep breath, waited for him to meet her gaze, and prepared to say it all at once.

“I didn’t tell you everything about Lucia. After I visited her the first time.”

Carlo’s gaze swung to meet hers. “What do you mean? Did you see her a second time?”

Francesca had reported on her first visit, assuring Carlo that Lucia was safely distant from the Fascists and, in fact, seemed to hate the Nazis. She’d kept the rest to herself, waiting to be sure Lucia was serious about joining the resistance. After yesterday, she was certain. And it was time to tell him.

“I met her a second time in the park, and a third time yesterday, which showed me who she really is, Carlo. We’d planned to meet on the Lungotevere De’ Cenci, near the ghetto, and she saw what was happening there. So we went to warn her friend Lidia and help her hide with her family, though we didn’t find them all . . .” Francesca paused, clearing the pain from her throat before continuing. “Lucia wants to join the resistance, and I think she should. She’s already working on a plan to infiltrate Nazi social circles and listen for information. She’s made a connection with someone named Hauptsturmführer Hans Bergmann.”

Carlo stared at her, speechless, his mouth hanging open. After a long, uncomfortable moment, he spun, rubbing at his unshaven jaw. “You can’t be serious. I never would have thought—”

“She can provide eyes and ears where nobody else can,” Francesca interrupted, staring at him as he slumped down onto a chair. His hands hammocked his head, and he gaped at the floor, silent. “You’re cultivating handfuls of spies for the CLN, Carlo. Rome’s full of eyes reporting back to you. Why can’t she join them?”

“She’s not a spy, Francesca. You were supposed to be doing me a favor, keeping her out of danger, not recruiting her. Dio mio . . .”

“She recruited herself. She wanted to participate before I ever stepped through that door.

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