Hallum: A historical mm romance spy thriller (Of Shadows & Secrets Book 3) by Casey Morales

Author:Casey Morales [Morales, Casey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: 3Aussies Press
Published: 2024-01-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-one

Will

“Nothing is accidental in history. Every current, every phenomenon, every person, appears at a certain time, through certain events, in a way that shapes the future …”

“The Fall of Mussolini,” Het Parool, underground Dutch newspaper, 1943

Dr. Kuiper proved as competent as he was swift, cleaning the wound on Fons’s side, stitching it back up, then administering a more comprehensive round of antibiotics and painkillers.

“I wish your father were still with us,” the doctor said as he inserted a needle in Fons’s arm. They spoke in German for our benefit, but I still had to translate for James. “He had far more contacts than I do. After our strike failed1, most of us were too afraid to resist openly and returned to simply caring for the ill and injured. Your father, bless his soul, refused to let fear grip his soul.”

“You knew him well?” Fons asked, a small boy yearning for the closeness of one lost.

Kuiper glanced up, as if examining Fons for the first time, then nodded slowly. “Quite well. He came to me when there were … how do I say it … special requirements. On occasion, when someone was injured, I would receive visitors at my home. Sound familiar?”

The doctor’s easy smile belied the deathly serious events of which he spoke.

“He was a good man, Fons,” he said, patting the officer on the shoulder. “As are you. I was never sure where you stood, being a policeman, but I know your father would be proud to see you helping those who would win back our freedom.”

Fons lowered his head, lost in his own memories.

“Now,” Kuiper said, turning toward me. “Let me have a look at that foot of yours.”

By the time the rest of the town was rising to start their day, we were packed into a truck and two cars and headed west. The only delay came when we had to double back to our pre-planned rally point east of town to meet up with Sikes and Sparrow. They’d driven through some of the outer farm roads to avoid spending time in the more densely populated town where the risk of exposure was greater.

James, Thomas, and Fons rode in the sedan, Sikes and Sparrow continued playing the farming couple, while I rode in Dr. Kuiper’s car. Spreading out made for a less conspicuous, more comfortable ride, but I missed feeling Thomas pressed against me in the back seat. It had been too long since I’d held him, felt the caress of his skin, enjoyed the simple thrill of his lips brushing against mine. In the rush of our escape, there had been no time for such things. In fact, we hadn’t had a single moment alone, a single moment when we weren’t pretending to be brothers.

We were a million miles from home, fighting on foreign soil, and still we had to hide.

Staring out the doctor’s car window, watching the sprawling fields of Holland drift by, I wondered if it would ever be so.

“You know your mission is a death wish, yes?” Kuiper’s voice startled me out of my thoughts.

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