Where Shadows Linger (Intertwined Souls Series Book 2) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Epilogue

  READ ABOUT BOOK 3: HIDDEN TRUTHS

  ABOUT MARY

  Mary D. Brooks

  Where

  Shadows Linger

  Intertwined Souls Series Book 2

  AUSXIP Publishing

  Sydney, Australia

  INTERTWINED SOULS SERIES

  Book 1 – In The Blood of the Greeks

  Book 2 – Where Shadows Linger

  Book 3 – Hidden Truths

  Book 4 – Awakenings

  Book 5 - No Good Deed

  Copyright © 2015

  Mary D. Brooks

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

  or transmitted in any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Cover by:

  Jazzy “Aiglon” Trafikowska

  Illustrations by:

  Lucia Nobrega

  Photography by:

  KT Jorgensen and Mary D. Brooks

  Models:

  Kat Cavanaugh (Eva Muller)

  Penny Cavanaugh (Zoe Lambros)

  AUSXIP Publishing

  Sydney, Australia

  www.ausxippublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  To all my mates – there are no words adequate enough

  to express how grateful I am for you being in my life.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Rosa Alonso – Muchas Gracias, ευχαριστώ, danke, thanks mate…above and beyond.

  Jazzy Trafikowska – You continue to be a genius of the highest order.

  Joy Scavo – a pleasure. Warm and funny.

  Penny Cavanaugh – thank you my friend for being you.

  Kat Cavanaugh – I’m forever grateful. Thank you

  Dr Patricia Saunders, Licensed Clinical Psychologist – Thank you Dr Patty for your INVALUABLE help in researching Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Eva’s PTSD struggles are real and having you on hand to ask the questions that needed to be asked was priceless. Your generosity touched me greatly.

  Prologue

  March 1947

  It was hot. Hot and humid. It was unbearable and there was nothing Eva Muller could do about it. The windows and door of the migrant hostel were open to allow the slightest hint of a breeze to enter into the wooden cabin.

  Eva lay on her bunk and sighed deeply while she fanned herself with a magazine. The magazine was highly ineffective as a fan although it had given Zoe hours of enjoyment. It was the Australian Woman’s Weekly and a textbook all rolled into thirty pages of articles and advertisements. Her partner, Zoe Lambros, thumbed through that magazine every night learning to read English. There were far easier ways of learning a language, but Zoe was determined to learn English the way Australians spoke.

  Eva found it easier than Zoe to learn the language—she had a gift for languages and spoke Greek, Italian, French, and her mother tongue of German. She understood English and spoke it, albeit with a thick German accent.

  Zoe had decided to traverse the length of the quadrant of cabins to talk on the telephone to her friend Elena Mannheim. Elena had moved out of the migrant hostel and into an apartment with two other women. She had become Zoe’s new friend on the refugee ship they had sailed on from Egypt. Both women were eighteen years old and they seemed to bond quickly. A friendship had formed that made Eva feel a little envious of the easy way Zoe could make friends. It was harder for Eva, who was naturally more reserved than her extroverted partner—Zoe talked a mile a minute and moved just as fast.

  Eva smiled as she lowered the magazine and let it rest on her chest. She crossed her legs at the ankles and put her hands behind her head. Zoe was her savior; the diminutive Greek with the fiery red hair and matching temperament with stunning sea green colored eyes had captured her heart. It took a while for their hatred for each other to turn to friendship and then love. Eva wasn’t sure if she would survive the war, and was even more unsure if she would survive Zoe, but she managed to scrape through—dented but intact. The only thing she had lost that was worth anything was her heart.

  Losing her step-father, Major Hans Muller, the German commander of Larissa, was not something Eva spent a lot of time mourning. He had made her life a torment in every sense of the word-her recovery from his brutality was ongoing. She did miss the father she knew and loved but not the man who brutalized her and the monster he had become.

  That was the past and this was her future, a very hot and humid future.

  Footsteps running towards the cabin made Eva turn her head towards the door. She knew who the runner was long before Zoe darkened the doorway. She sat up in preparation for the hurricane which was about to hit her.

  The sunlight hit Zoe’s hair, causing a halo of red-gold to appear momentarily in the doorway. The effect didn’t last very long as Zoe raced inside and dropped to her knees in front of Eva.

  “You’re going to get sunstroke the way you’re running around in this heat.” Eva gently cupped Zoe’s flushed face.

  “Oh, no, I’m fine!” Zoe placed her hand onto Eva’s and smiled. Eva watched Zoe as she glanced around her for a moment to see if they were indeed alone and there wasn’t anyone lurking behind the door. She turned back and quickly kissed Eva on the lips. “Elena called.”

  “I know. Isn’t that why you went racing out of here?”

  “It was a telephone call, Evy!”

  Eva couldn’t help the grin that creased her face at Zoe’s exuberance. Zoe had gone through her own version of hell in order to survive the war but she still managed to re
tain her inquisitive nature and found everything to be an adventure. Zoe did everything at full pace.

  “Why are you smiling at me like that?”

  “I love you, and you just make me smile. What did Elena say?”

  Zoe tilted her head and grinned broadly. “You just have to say those three words and you make me want to kiss you.” She leaned forward and stopped. Eva wondered why Zoe had stopped and then heard the footsteps coming their way. Moments later the two women that shared their cabin returned making Zoe close her eyes and groan quietly.

  “What did Elena say?” Eva asked, knowing Zoe’s frustration with their living arrangements was ready to explode. Zoe’s bed was the furthest away from Eva’s as she could get. The woman closest to Eva wouldn’t move, which frustrated Zoe. That was one of the many things Zoe was aggravated about. Eva didn’t like sleeping in a cabin with other women. The lack of privacy was uncomfortable, but she had been in worse situations and this wasn’t going to last long.

  “Remember how Elena found that…what do Australians call it?” Zoe stopped for a moment and then smiled. “Elena said that the flat next to her is vacant and she talked to the landlady and she said that we can come and have a look. It’s not expensive and Elena says that it’s perfect for us. If you stand on the balcony you can see the water but she says the bedrooms have views of the city and—”

  “Zoe, take a breath.”

  “We have to go now or else the apartment will be rented out by this afternoon. Elena said she heard the landlady telling someone on the telephone that they could come by in the afternoon to see it.”

  “Well, we’ll have to go and see it, won’t we?” Eva replied as she tried to roll her right stocking up her leg. Her hands were gently pulled away when Zoe got down on her knees and pulled the stocking up. “You know you don’t have to do that. I can do it on my own now.”

  Zoe looked up at Eva and nodded. “I know, but I want to help you,” she whispered. Her hand disappeared under Eva’s skirt to find the garter belt to hook up the stocking. Eva sucked her lower lip and tried not to think of the warmth of Zoe’s hand, which rested on her inner thigh.

  “I don’t know why you continue to wear these blasted stockings in the middle of summer, and this summer is pure hell. I’m so hot, I’ve got sweat where sweat was not meant to be,” Zoe rambled as she took her time in securing the other stocking.

  Eva leaned in and whispered into Zoe’s ear. “I wear them because you get to put them on me, and I like it.” She wanted to laugh at the blush that travelled up Zoe’s neck and face. They often flirted with each other, since flirting, and the occasional kiss, was about the extent that Eva could manage. Eva lowered her head and took a deep breath when a bout of nausea struck. She could withstand the nausea and the headache that followed just to feel Zoe’s touch.

  “You look ready to throw up. I’ll stop doing that.”

  “No, don’t stop. It’s just a touch, and the headache will pass.”

  Zoe nodded and patted her knee. “I don’t want to hurt you—”

  “Zoe.” Eva put her hand on Zoe’s shoulder and smiled. “I’ll tell you if I’m in trouble, alright?”

  “Alright.” Zoe got up from where she was kneeling. She gave her bunkmates a smile as she went to find her handbag.

  “I think we better go see about this apartment.”

  “Flat. Why do they call it a flat when it’s an apartment?”

  “I don’t know. The Australians are an odd people.”

  “They have very hot weather.” Zoe offered her hand to Eva, who took it and rose from the bed. Stretching her six foot, two inch frame out of the comfortable position she was in was now uncomfortable. She put her hand on her back and winced.

  “How bad is it today?”

  “It’s getting better, although today I should have walked around a little,” Eva replied quietly as she found her handbag. “We can go for a walk in the evening.”

  “The apartment is on the first floor.”

  “Oh, good, I like stairs,” Eva replied and then grinned when Zoe chuckled. They left the cabin in search for the nearest bus to take them into town.

  ***

  The bus ride to the apartment block was uneventful, although Eva decided not to speak in her native German and changed it to Greek when she was talking to Zoe. She had found the Australians reacted negatively to her accent. It didn’t happen with Zoe, who had a very distinct Greek accent. Men took an instant liking to her. Eva was certain it was because of Zoe’s beauty and her diminutive stature. Zoe stood five feet four inches and was slim, and she turned heads everywhere they went. Her curly, long, red-gold hair made her stand out even more. Not that it bothered Zoe in the slightest. Eva, on the other hand, wanted to disappear when in a large group.

  They finally arrived at their destination and walked up the very quiet street towards the apartment block. Elena was waiting for them. She waved on seeing them and came towards them.

  “I’m so glad you took the early bus!” Elena hugged Zoe tightly and smiled up at Eva. “Oh, you cut your hair!”

  Eva smiled as she instinctively touched her hair which was cut in a bob. “The hot weather was a little too much,” she added.

  “It suits you,” Elena responded. “You don’t like it?” she asked on seeing Eva indicate to Zoe who was looking less than enthused.

  “I like it but Zoe doesn’t. She likes my hair long.”

  “Let’s not get into that right now because I could count all the reasons why I don’t like it and it would take a long time.” Zoe said to both women and shook her head. “Can we go and speak to Mrs. Jenkins before she rents out the apartment?”

  “Alright, let’s go and speak to Mrs. Jenkins.”

  They walked towards the apartment block and rounded the corner. Their soon-to-be landlady was watering the garden, and she smiled when she saw the trio. She put down the hose and dried her hands on her apron as she came forward.

  “Ah, you must be the girls Elena told me about.”

  “My name is Zoe Lambros,” Zoe introduced herself in English. She looked up at Eva with a hesitant smile. Eva was proud of the way Zoe’s English had improved since they arrived in Australia and indicated for Zoe to continue the introductions. “This is Eva Muller.”

  “Welcome! I’m Mrs. Jenkins. Pleased to meet you,” Mrs. Jenkins introduced herself warmly. “Now, let’s have a look at this flat.”

  They followed Mrs. Jenkins up the steps and down a dimly lit corridor. Eva looked around dubiously. It wasn’t what she imagined and then, she wasn’t sure what she was expecting. Zoe had told her about the apartment building while they were on the bus. The small apartment had once been part of a multi-story mansion. Elegant in its day, the mansion had been neglected until it was turned into several small apartments. The end of the war also brought about a demand for housing since more refugees were arriving from war torn Europe.

  The main door opened into a lounge, from which two French doors led out onto a long balcony with a distant view of Botany Bay. Much to Eva’s surprise, there was a fireplace. That was the last thing she was expecting to find in Sydney. She didn’t think it got that cold in their adopted home.

  “This is such a nice flat and I’ve had several offers this morning for it. I’m sure you girls will love it. Did you meet on the ship?”

  “We’re sisters,” Zoe quickly replied taking Eva by surprise. They did have a story in mind on how to respond if anyone asked them. The ‘sisters’ angle was not the response.

  “You’re sisters? Goodness, you don’t look alike at all, and you have different Christian names as well?”

  Eva quickly glanced at Zoe as she turned away from the landlady. She mentally rolled her eyes and said, “Different fathers; it’s a long story,” she said and tried not to laugh at the absurdity of it all.

  “Oh, my goodness, isn’t that wonderful that you found each other?” Mrs. Jenkins laughed. “The War did something nice instead of all the killing.”

 
“Yes,” Eva replied hoping Mrs. Jenkins would just leave it alone.

  “Well, that’s great news for two single girls like you. There’s a dance at the Council Hall every Friday. Do you like to dance?”

  Eva sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was go to a dance, but she plastered a smile on her face instead and nodded. She wasn’t going to go to the dance, but keeping their landlady happy was going to make life easier for them.

  “That’s wonderful news, Miss Muller. I would love to introduce you to my nephew. He’s a tall fellow so you will get along just nicely.”

  “I would love that,” Eva replied sweetly and tried not to look at Zoe.

  “Have a look around the flat and see if you like it. Rent is five shillings. Can you girls afford that?” Mrs. Jenkins said. Eva and Zoe looked at each other and nodded. “Why don’t you have a look around and let me know?” Mrs. Jenkins suggested and then left them alone.

  “Sisters?” Eva asked incredulously. “We couldn’t be just friends, you had to choose sisters? What happened to our story?”

  “Of different fathers.” Zoe giggled. “I don’t know. It’s the first thing that popped into my head. I know we told everyone on the ship we were friends but that went right out of my head.”

  “We have to stick to this story now, Zo.”

  “Well, I couldn’t tell her we were lesbians, now could I? Does that mean you are going out on a date with her nephew?”

  “No! That’s the last thing I want to do.” Eva shook her head at the absurdity of her potential blind date. “Now what are we going to do about the apartment?”

  “I have the job at the restaurant. We can afford this. I’m getting paid one pound at the restaurant and that is more than enough to pay for the rent.”

  “I don’t want you to work. I want you to go to art school.”

  Zoe’s face softened. “I know you do, but we can’t afford for me to go to school.”