"1942, Washington DC. Young widow Louise Pearlie is now a chief file clerk at the legendary OSS, the precursor to the CIA. Despite the privations of wartime life, she is enjoying being an independent, working woman and is determined never to go back to Wilmington, North Carolina, to live with her parents. But a casual friendship threatens to change everything. Louise knows little about Alessa di Luca, other than that she is a war refugee--and she doesn't ask. One night, though, Alessa shocks Louise by revealing that she knows exactly where Louise works--and hands Louise an envelope to give to her superiors. Soon Louise is sucked into a dangerous game of mafia bosses, Nazi spies, banished royalty and Sicilian aristocracy--which threatens to place first her job, and then her life itself, in jeopardy..."--P. [4] of cover.