“I already have papers, too, thanks to him.” Hania barely contained her delight as she turned to me. “He said you wrote to your friends about my sons. It’s all right if we go home tomorrow to see what they’ve found, isn’t it?”

Tomorrow. I’d promised myself I wouldn’t return to Warsaw until I’d found Fritzsch, but I’d made a promise to Hania, too. It would have been cruel to make her wait any longer, but I wasn’t ready. Not until I’d heard from Mateusz’s connections.

“Of course. It’s time we went home,” Irena said before I could reply. She led the way toward the farmhouse without waiting for a reaction.

Franz watched her go, then started after her, saying something about telling his parents they’d have another guest for the evening.

As we caught up to Irena, I took a deep, calming breath. Mateusz would contact me as soon as he heard from his connections. We’d go to Warsaw tomorrow and see what Mother Matylda and Mrs. Sienkiewicz had discovered about Hania’s children, then I’d refocus on Fritzsch. The order of my plan was changing, that was all.

I inserted myself between Irena and Hania and wrapped my arms around their waists. The two friends I loved most in the world, both with me, alive and well. It had been a long time since I’d had this feeling, a feeling I might have described as akin to true, unbridled happiness.

As I released them to follow everyone inside, a familiar grasp caught my hand and pulled me to a stop. I turned to face Mateusz, expecting news of Fritzsch until his sober expression told me otherwise.

“There’s no sense in me trying to come up with another way to tell you this,” he said with a half smile once the door closed behind our friends. “I’ll be attending an American university in the fall. In the United States, to be exact. My uncle lives in New York, so I’m staying with him.”

America. I blinked, letting the idea roll around inside my head, before voicing the first thing I could think to say. “You don’t speak English.”

He chuckled. “I’ve started learning. I leave next month.”

Even though I smiled and told him how happy I was for him, I couldn’t help feeling as I had when he’d moved to Pszczyna. Once again, I was losing my friend and my aide in my mission against Fritzsch. Staying in touch from Warsaw would have been challenging enough, but America added a new level of complication. My plan couldn’t be ruined now. Not when I was so close.