Page 176 of Valor

“Here.” Suddenly, Mother stood next to him. She gave him a flour sack. When he looked in, there was half a loaf of bread and a hunk of cheese. “Give them that and find out what their plans are.”

“Let’s see.” Father snatched it out of his grasp. He shoved his hand in and pulled out the cheese. “We are not that rich.” He tossed it to Mother, then pushed the bag at Fred.

“Tell Dr. Weiss I want to speak with him. Just us, men.”

“Okay,” Fred clutched the burlap to his chest. Hopefully, Dr. Weiss knew someone who would take his family across the mountains, not to Poland, but to Slovakia. He had heard whispers of the resistance fighters, the partisans, living in the hills since the Nazi government declared the new Slovak State. He looked at Father and prayed there was more to that man than greed and anger.

CHAPTERFIVE

Northern Moravia, 2025

“Hi, sorry to keep you waiting,”she said as Oliver opened the passenger door for her.

“No problem.” He smiled.

The scent of his aftershave tingled her nose. His shirt stretched over his biceps.

What are the chances that he is single?

She glanced at his left hand. No ring. Meghan settled in and clicked her seatbelt.

“How far is the store?”

“Half an hour, give or take. I’ll take you to a supermarket since you may need a few things that the village corner store might not have.”

“That would be great.”

He shut her door and walked to his side. His strides were confident as if he was in charge of much more than a high school history class. When he pressed the ignition button, the jazz station came on. Oliver peeled away from the curb.

“How was your first night?”

“Too short,” she suppressed a yawn. “Honestly, after I finished talking to my mom, letting her know I made it without being kidnapped, I just fell asleep on the sofa.”

He chuckled.

“Don’t laugh.” Meghan tried to sound stern. “She is slightly concerned about you, probably trying to figure out how to get Interpol to vet you.”

“It’s good to have people who care.”

“Sometimes it gets to be a bit much,” she checked her phone. “She could call any time. Let me text her.”

Meghan typed the message and then looked out the window. Heavy gray clouds covered the sky. “Do you think it’s going to rain?”

“It had been raining for the past three days. We could use some sunshine.”

“How are the roads around here?”

“The roads?”

“I have some stuff to take care of and don’t want to get stuck somewhere.”

They passed the sign with the village name crossed out with a red line. Where were they going? Tall streetlights lined the two-lane road, so they were not leaving civilization, yet anxiety built up in her chest. She glanced at the phone.

“What’s the name of the store we are going to?” Why had she not asked that right away?

“Atlas.”

She typed it into Google Maps. Twenty-three minutes away. They were on the correct road. Meghan let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding.

---