A Counterfeit Life

By Candy Caine

Emma Daniels discovers several weeks following the death of her beloved grandmother's death secrets that alter her life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Candy Caine
• Release date: Sep 10, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215985151

Candy Caine

Whether she's writing red-hot interracial erotica or less edgy contemporary romance as Candace Gold, Candy Caine believes in living life to its fullest in Arizona with her best friend and husband, Robert.

Book preview

A Counterfeit Life

Candy Caine

Copyright © 2023 Candy Caine

All rights reserved

The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

This book mentions the Holocaust, a horrific event that must never be repeated

and speaks for the millions of voices that had been extinguished during that time.

A Counterfeit Life

Prelude: Berlin, Germany 1941

​Herman Feinberg met his longtime friend, Saul Landau, at Landau’s apartment in Berlin. Landau, having never married, lived alone therefore no one would overhear what they said. Even so, the shades were drawn tightly.

​The two men sat around a small table in Landau’s kitchen sipping on cups of tea. Both had serious expressions on their faces. Landau the younger of the two, was tall with a wiry head of black hair, and sky-blue eyes. Feinberg was more ascetic-looking with his thick black glasses and red hair. He too had blue eyes that sometimes looked grayish-green.

​Landau spoke. Were you able to contact the guy you told me about?

​Yes, and he thinks he’ll have them sometime this afternoon.

​You’re certain he won’t cheat us? Landau asked running his fingers through his hair.

​Stop worrying, Saul. He assured me they’re a good grade and excellent color. Besides, it was the best he could get with the money.

​And because he says so, you believe him?

​Feinberg looked directly at his friend. Have we any other choice? They’re the only portable currency we can sneak out, so yeah, I trust him, he replied with his fingers virtually crossed.

​How many were we able to buy with our funds? Landau asked.

​He said twenty.

​Landau nodded his approval. Good. Easy to divide.

​I await the broker’s call. Then I will go pick them up, Saul.

​Without them, we won’t be able to get into Germany. The Nazi bastards confiscate everything we own.

​God be willing, everything will go smoothly, Feinberg replied.

​Yeah, it’s definitely in his hands.

Eloy, Arizona, USA 2000

Chapter 1

​Emma Daniels moved through the house like a lost soul. It had been nearly two months since her grandmother Edith had passed and yet her restlessness increased along with her loneliness. If anything, time did nothing to ease the emptiness she felt inside. She was alone for the first time in her life and knew she needed to move on, but found she couldn’t. She had been living with her grandmother in this house for as long as she could remember.

​On her sixth birthday, Emma lost her parents in a fatal car accident. She had been asleep in the backseat and was somehow spared. It was her grandparents, Edith and Wilhelm Weidner who raised her. Speaking mainly German, they’d emigrated from Germany in the 40s to the United States. With what money they had, they bought a two- acre plot of land in Eloy, Arizona, and built a small house on it.

​Her grandparents grew vegetables, namely corn, and raised several cows and chickens. In time they developed a small business selling dairy products such as eggs and milk. Her grandmother tried to keep it going after Wilhelm’s death, but the economy had changed, and not in a good way. The cows were sold though the chickens were kept for their own personal use. Emma grew up a happy child speaking German as a second language. And now that she was alone for the first time in her life, she felt so lost.

​Friends at work suggested Emma take a short leave of absence from the hospital where she worked as an RN and travel. It will do you good, they all said. Unfortunately, they overlooked the fact that Emma would be taking her anguish along with her. How the change of scenery could lessen her loss was beyond her. For Emma, work was just the thing she needed right then. Too bad she couldn’t work 24/7 to keep her mind occupied and her loneliness at bay.

​Others suggested Emma get a pet to keep her company. Only her shifts were long, making it unfair for a dog or cat to remain in the house alone for hours on end. No pets, nor travel could replace her grandmother.

​Emma sighed and began to walk from one end of the house to the other. The truth was that she was well aware that she’d have to get on with her life. Her grandmother would want her to. The best way to accomplish that was to give her grandmother’s things to charity. That way she’d be helping those in need as well as herself.

​She made her way to the door of her grandmother’s room and opened it. For the moment, Emma imagined Edith sitting in front of her oval mirror brushing her long snow-white hair that had once been red like Emma’s before age had its way. She loved how Edith’s green eyes twinkled with mirth when she noticed her granddaughter watching her. When Edith was young, she had been strikingly beautiful. People often remarked how Emma resembled her with her green eyes and high cheekbones.

​The sweet memory faded and Emma remained there still reluctant to enter the room. The process of going through her grandmother’s things seemed daunting to her and she decided to postpone it until after dinner. She knew she was being a coward as she retreated to the kitchen, but there was no one there to judge her.

​Emma pulled the last of the meatloaf out of the refrigerator and opened a can of sweet corn. She nuked both in the microwave and sat down with the latest novel she was reading. It was a murder mystery. Emma often wondered how she’d react if she stepped into the shoes of the heroine. Probably not too smart or very brave, she feared. Instead, spineless like some slug.

​Emma finished dinner, washed the dishes, and put them away. She then forced herself to go back to her grandmother’s room. There were no more excuses this time and she went inside. With the big garbage bags, she’d brought with her, she’d sort the clothes and shoes that would go to the clothing drive box located in the supermarket’s parking lot and put the things that should be thrown away in the other bag.

​As Emma approached the bed, suddenly her mind reeled back to the night Edith lay dying. Her grandmother had wanted to die in her own bed and not in some cold and dispassionate hospital. Emma had agreed and promised to be there for her. Only moments before her grandmother passed, she beckoned Emma over to the bed.

​Mein Kind, there is something you need to know. I should have told you… A severe pain wracked Edith’s body forcing her to gasp for breath. However, that breath never came and she died before telling Emma what she had needed to know. Emma had no idea what could be so important, but knowing how fastidious her grandmother was, it could be a bill she had forgotten to pay.

​Wiping away her tears, Emma decided to start on the closet first. After opening a bag, she began pulling dresses off the rack. One of the hangers caught the edge of a box on the shelf above. The box came tumbling down nearly hitting Emma on the head. It crashed to the floor, spilling its contents onto the carpeting. From what she could see, the box contained black and white photographs, letters, and several books.

​ Emma knelt down to collect the photos. They appeared to be quite old and faded, with frayed and bent edges. She brought them over to the bed where she could sit and go through them. One was taken of her grandparents in front of what appeared to be a barn. She dropped the picture quickly as if her fingers had been singed. Her heart fluttered as her dinner rose back toward her throat.

​Her grandfather, a good man respected by all who knew him, was wearing the black uniform of an SS Officer and not the blue uniform of an Air Force pilot as she’d been told. How could this be? Better still, how could her beloved grandmother love a Nazi? Perhaps she misinterpreted the picture somehow.

​Emma went through all the photos, studying each one carefully. It wasn’t a fluke. Her grandfather had been a Nazi during WWII. She wondered if her parents had known this before they died. Probably not, she reasoned. It wasn’t something one went around telling people. To get into the United States during the 1940s, her grandfather would have had to