Framed Shadows Shadows Landing #6 Kathleen Brooks All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, actual events, locale, or organizations is entirely coincidental. An original work of Kathleen Brooks. Framed Shadows copyright @ 2021 by Kathleen Brooks. Kathleen Brooks® is a registered Trademark of Laurens Publishing, LLC Created with Vellum Bluegrass Series Bluegrass State of Mind Risky Shot Dead Heat Bluegrass Brothers Bluegrass Undercover Rising Storm Secret Santa: A Bluegrass Series Novella Acquiring Trouble Relentless Pursuit Secrets Collide Final Vow Bluegrass Singles All Hung Up Bluegrass Dawn The Perfect Gift The Keeneston Roses Forever Bluegrass Series Forever Entangled Forever Hidden Forever Betrayed Forever Driven Forever Secret Forever Surprised Forever Concealed Forever Devoted Forever Hunted Forever Guarded Forever Notorious Forever Ventured Forever Freed Forever Saved Forever Bold Forever Thrown (coming Aug/Sept 2021) Shadows Landing Series Saving Shadows Sunken Shadows Lasting Shadows Fierce Shadows Broken Shadows Framed Shadows Endless Shadows (coming Oct 2021) Women of Power Series Chosen for Power Built for Power Fashioned for Power Destined for Power Web of Lies Series Whispered Lies Rogue Lies Shattered Lies Moonshine Hollow Series Moonshine & Murder Moonshine & Malice Moonshine & Mayhem Moonshine & Mischief Contents Family Trees for Keeneston Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Epilogue Also by Kathleen Brooks About the Author Family Trees for Keeneston Davies Family Tree Keeneston Friends Family Trees Extended Family Tree for Keeneston and Shadows Landing Prologue Budapest, Hungary, 1944 . . . Dezo Alder’s body was shaking with fear. He knew what was coming as he walked into the local leader’s office. All of his instincts told him to stop wasting time and to run. His palms were sweaty as his longtime friend, Gellert Balogh, gestured to the chair across from his desk. “Thank you for coming, my friend,” he said as Dezo’s heart rate increased. “Is this about the Germans?” Dezo asked as he fought to keep his voice even. Gellert nodded his head slowly. “Our national leaders had been close to Hitler since he took power. They wanted him to get back some of the lands we lost when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up after the Great War. We got our land, but at a price. Since Stalingrad and other battles, we’ve lost tens of thousands of Hungarians. Some of our leaders have been trying to find a way out of our alliance with Germany.” Gellert had been Dezo’s friend since childhood. They’d grown up in the same small neighborhood in Budapest, but the war changed everything. Gellert Balogh rose to power and Dezo Alder had been placed on the Jewish list as Hungary became an Axis Power. Dezo lost his standing in the community and he’d been forced to close the doors to his family’s art gallery. They’d gone from being a prosperous family to a poor one. However, Gellert had saved him more than once. He kept Dezo and his family safe from deportation and forced military service. Dezo’s oldest son, Elek, had been forced into manual labor but at least he was still able to live at home. Dezo hoped Gellert was going to tell him Hungary had changed sides in the war. That they’d negotiated with the Allies. That help was on the way. However, the resignation on Gellert’s face told him that hope was futile. “Hitler found out about our attempts to reach out to the Allies. The Germans are here. Hitler’s troops are moving toward the city as we speak. I’m sorry, dear friend. Your family’s name is on the list of prominent Jews that will be turned over to the SS when they arrive. They’ll be here within the hour. I tried to get your names off of it, but not everyone in my office is sympathetic. I can no longer keep you safe from being transported to Auschwitz. If you don’t escape Budapest, you will most likely be taken away. Take Rozsa and your children, dear Elek and Sandor, and get to Switzerland as fast as you can.” Dezo felt the impact of the words reverberate through his whole body. He stood on wobbly legs as Gellert handed him a thick envelope. “Papers to help with your escape. I don’t know how long you can get away with using them, but I had to try. I’m sorry, dear friend.” Dezo took the envelope and then shook his friend’s hand. “Thank you. I will always remember your kindness.” Dezo tried to walk from the building calmly. He didn’t want to draw any attention to himself even though he wanted to tell all of his people to run for their lives. He heard shouts in the distance. The earth shook as the road was filled with German military vehicles and tanks rolling through the outskirts of town on their way to downtown Budapest just a short distance away. Dezo stopped walking and stared in horror as people on the street clicked their heels together and raised their arms into the air as the troops drove by. Dezo was in grave danger. His family was in danger. His people were in danger. He couldn’t depend on anyone but himself now. He patted the papers in his pocket and picked up his pace. “Papa!” Sandor yelled the second Dezo unlocked the door to their gallery. They’d been forced to sell their house in a well-to-do neighborhood for a small fraction of what it was worth and had moved into the small apartment above his family’s art gallery—a gallery that had been in his family for generations that he was now forced to abandon. Dezo’s throat tightened as his wife and son ran into his arms. “We saw Nazis,” his wife cried into his neck. “Rozsa, where is Elek?” Dezo asked of their fifteen-year-old son. “He’s working down by the river,” his wife responded. “Dezo, what’s going on?” “We’ve fallen to Germany. Gellert can’t protect us. He gave us fake
