“They told me where to pick up or leave the documents, and once I had a message asking for the information they needed to make my false papers, but that’s all.” I paused to catch my breath, and Ebner stood. I should’ve watched what he was doing, but I was too shaken, too worried about forgetting the story I’d crafted or letting the truth slip—

Something rattled and clanked when it hit the table; at once, I drew back. Handcuffs.

Dear God, my plan isn’t good enough.

Either Ebner was about to shackle me and send the guards for my family, or he’d placed the cuffs there to scare me; I didn’t know. All I knew was that failure was not an option; betrayal was not an option. I had to stay in control; I had to convince him.

“Who recruited you?”

I fought past the sobs constricting my throat and forced my response out. “A message was lying in the street and I picked it up to see what it was. Someone must have dropped it, so I left a note in the location mentioned, and I told them how to reach me so I could help.”

Ebner grabbed my bruised shoulders, and a strange, gasping sound emerged from my throat while he gave me a swift shake. “Who told you what to do? Give me a fucking name.”

“I can’t. The signature indicated it was from the resistance, but it didn’t include names.”

“Where did you take your documents?”

“To the cobblestones, loose cobblestones at the end of our block. I hid the certificates under them, and that’s where I picked up messages.”

When his lips curled into a cynical sneer, a fresh onslaught of emotion hit me, as merciless and painful as his club.

“It’s the truth, I swear to God—”

A sudden blow to the cheek halted my cries and reopened the cut on my lip. As the fog around my mind lifted, he drew me closer. “Stop sniveling. And if one damn word was a lie . . .”

I shook my head in vehement refusal, but all I managed was one more desperate sob. “Please let me and my family go home.” I choked on more tears and didn’t bother trying to speak further. Ebner released me, and I drew my bare feet onto my chair.

Silence stretched across the room, broken by the typewriter’s taps and the debilitating sobs I couldn’t control. Bawling like an inconsolable child, I pressed my forehead against my knees, trying to obey his command to quiet my weeping. He lit a cigarette and took a long puff, and the horrible smoke invaded my nostrils.

“Well, I’m glad you decided to cooperate, Maria. It’s a shame it took so long.”