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23

Lizzie

Huntsville,Alabama

1950

Calvin was leaning against the kitchen door, looking up at the ceiling, as if he were praying for patience. This conversation was one I could not afford for my brother to overhear, so I waited until Henry was in bed before I confronted Calvin about Gail’s suspicions.

“So? Is it true?” I asked. “Was Jürgen Rhodes in the SS?”

“Lizzie, sweetheart, you knowI can’t talk to you about this,” Cal said, but he avoided my eyes as he spoke.

“My God,” I whispered, my mouth going dry. “He lives on Sauerkraut Hill with the rest of them, doesn’t he? There’s an SS officer living two blocks away from us? Free in our community?”

“Even I don’t know for sure,” Calvin said flatly. “But yes, when Newsome admitted he’d seen evidence a senior scientist was in the SS, it was Jürgen he was referring to.”

“This is anoutrage!”

“Lizzie. Don’t fly off the handle.”

“Even you said in the beginning that it wasn’t right—”

“I should never have said anything to you about any of this! It just never occurred to me that we’d end up living in the same community as these men,” Calvin said.

“Because you knew it was dangerous!”

“I was nervous in the beginning, yes. But when it comes to Jürgen, I’m certain that the good he can do for this country far outweighs any risk he might have posed.”

“Calvin, you have an SS officer working withAmerican Jews!” I gasped. “Do you really think he’s suddenly decided they are worthy of drawing breath after all?”

“Jürgen works closely with Eli Klein and I’ve never seen him speak to that man with anything but the utmost respect. Trust me when I say that man has no interest at all in anything outside of rocketry and his family.”

“Men like that don’t change, Calvin,” I whispered. My voice thickened with emotion as confused tears sprang to my eyes. Calvin gently touched my upper arm, his gaze steady.

“War is brutal, Lizzie. Even if the rumors are true, there’s possibly a whole background and context we can never understand.”

“War is brutalbecauseof men like that. This war didn’t start itself—Nazis started it. Nazis perpetuated it. Nazis murdered millions of innocent people. There isno doubt at all who the villains are here.”

We both heard movement in the hallway then. Cal and I stared at one another in alarm. Then he spun and pulled the door open. Henry was standing there, frowning.

“I thought you went to bed,” I blurted. I could not have sounded guiltier if I tried.

“I just wanted a glass of milk,” Henry said defensively. He moved slowly, opening the refrigerator, pouring the milk, putting the bottle back into the fridge. As he was leaving the room, he shot me a pointed look.

“Good night,” I said weakly.

“Night, Henry,” Cal added.

“Hmm,” Henry said, frowning. We watched until he disappeared out the back door, back to his apartment above the garage.

“Do you think he heard?” Cal said.

“No,” I said, heart rate already settling. “He wouldn’t have been so calm if he had.”

“Henry can’t know what we just talked about, Lizzie. Not just because no one is supposed to know. In Henry’s case, it wouldn’t be good for him to know.”

“My first concern is always Henry’s welfare,” I snapped.