Читать онлайн «Double Vision»

Praise for Body Work

“Body Work is the kind of book that sucks you into the pages and won’t let you go until the end. It’s edgy and different, with a strong hero and heroine who don’t fit the usual mould. ” —Bestselling author Linda Howard

“Brand tells a disturbing, engrossing tale of

murder and madness, adding her own unique

touches of eroticism and humour.

An excellent read. ”

—Romantic Times BOOKreviews

DOUBLE VISION

FIONA BRAND

To Robyn and Don, and Keith and Daphne,

who truly gave me my start in writing.

Thank you for all the years of support and

friendship, the teaching and advice, the cups of tea,

the shared meals and those wonderful weekends

at the Kara School of Writing.

Thank you to Jenny Haddon, a former bank

regulator, for her invaluable advice and her

fascinating insight into the world of international

banking, Eileen Wilks for giving me the inside

running on how to get a driver’s licence in Texas,

and Claire Russell of the Kerikeri medical centre

for help with the medical details. Thank you

also to Miranda Stecyk of MIRA Books for her

editorial expertise and direction, and some really

great ideas that helped make this story sing.

You ladies are fabulous!

Contents

Part 1

Prologue

December 1944, Lubeck, Germany

The steel arm of a crane, pockmarked by rust and salt, swung across the frigid decks of the Nordika. A heavy crate, a swastika and a number stenciled on the side, hung suspended, straining at aging steel hawsers as the freezing northerly gale increased in intensity.

Gaze narrowed against the wind, Erich Reinhardt, captain of the cargo vessel, watched as the delicate process of lowering the crate into the hold commenced. Loading cargo under these conditions was an act of stupidity; putting out to sea was nothing short of madness, but lately, everything about Germany was madness. To the east, Russians were massing along the border. In the west, the British and Americans had launched their offensive. There was no heating, no food; his family was starving and they all lived in fear that British and American bombers would kill them while they slept. For months he had expected to die that way or, failing that, to be torpedoed at sea. Perhaps that was better than a bullet in the brain from a cold-eyed Schutzstaffel.

“How much longer?”