Page 74 of Summer of Fire
Lizzie made a snap decision. Jack and Pierre would bring the other three Resistance members handpicked for the operation with them. That would be five pairs of hands to rig twenty bombers with explosives. She was supposed to be one of the saboteurs, but she calculated that luring the general away would be more useful.
Jack’s voice rang in her ears. ‘Don’t take any unnecessary chances. Stick to the plan.’
But this was an unexpected opportunity, and she must take advantage of it. She thought he would agree but she couldn’t ask him now.
‘How kind of you to invite me,’ Lizzie said sweetly. ‘I would love to have dinner with you. You are correct, Heir General, it would be more prudent to meet at your hotel. I’m sure you know how difficult some of the local women can be.’
‘Excellent,’ he said, his eyes gleaming, as he watched her greedily through the thin veil of cigarette smoke, like a cat waiting to pounce on a mouse.
‘Seven it is then. I shall look forward to it, mademoiselle.’
Lizzie rose from the chair, not quite believing she had made a date with a Nazi general. Her mother’s face entered her mind, and she pushed it firmly away. There was no time for being Lizzie Beaumont now. She must be Marie LeClair, Nazi sympathiser, and the general’s potential mistress.
Several times during the afternoon, the general emerged from his office and lingered near her desk. Each time, she worried he suspected she was a fraud. Had he made enquiries about her address and realised she was a fake?
Jack had explained that her cover address was unlived in,so if anyone knocked, there would be no reply. For three days, it was the best they could do. There was no time to establish the trail of a new resident in a proper home.
He told her to say as little about it as possible. All she knew was the address was in the city centre, a few minutes from the Royal Hotel, the fanciest hotel in Reims, and there was a row of shops nearby.
Lizzie remembered the area well, and she had visualised it when she was going over her cover story in her mind each night before falling asleep in the secret room.
By 6 p.m., Lizzie was so on edge, she felt sick again. The other staff and the general made no sign of leaving. Lizzie continued with her work, until a shadow fell over her desk, and a hand touched her shoulder. ‘Now I am leaving, mademoiselle. May I give you a ride home?’
Panic streamed through her. She must avoid this at all costs, or he might want to walk her to her door. That would be the door which she had no key to open.
‘Thank you, Herr General, but I find the bicycle ride so invigorating after a day cooped up inside. I hope you understand.’
The general smiled most amenably. ‘Of course, as you wish. No doubt the fresh air will bring a pretty bloom to your cheeks. I shall say farewell, but not goodbye. Until later, then.’ His French was so good, she wondered how many French women he had pressed his interests upon since he arrived in France.
The thought made her seethe inwardly, but she giggled.
Near the window a short while later, she saw the guard open the barricade and the general’s car roll through.
Lizzie released a deep sigh. Her heart was pounding, and she was shaking. The operation hadn’t even begun yet, and she was a bag of nerves. Now she wondered if she had done the right thing agreeing to meet the general. She had nochoice but to go for dinner, or he might come in search of her and that would be far more dangerous than if he had stayed in his office.
It was too late to second guess herself now, so she went to the bathroom and reapplied her red lipstick. Her actions had a dreamlike quality. Looking in the mirror, she straightened her yellow scarf and prayed it would bring them all luck tonight.
Jack would be displeased when he found out she had altered the plan, and she would have to let him know or he would expect her to be waiting. She looked at her watch. It was 6.15 p.m. She must leave now, or she would be late.
By the time Lizzie exited the main door, the front office was deserted. The office manager’s handbag was not near her desk where she usually kept it so she must have left for the day. Lizzie closed the main door behind her and climbed onto her bicycle to ride towards the barricade.
The guards had changed for the evening shift just as expected, and the barricade opened as one of them nodded at her, already used to seeing her leave around the same time.
Lizzie inhaled the fresh air as it rushed into her face, and she gained speed as she pedalled. The physical exercise was indeed invigorating and helped dispel some of her fears as she thought about what she was about to do.
After a few minutes, she looked over her shoulder and swept her eyes around to make sure she wasn’t being followed. The street was empty, and she darted into a lane and went backwards on herself. The wheels of her bicycle bumped over the grassy mounds as she rode around the intermittent clumps of trees.
Jack emerged to greet her. His dark eyes were full of questions.
‘Problem?’ he said. ‘You’re supposed to be waiting inside.’
‘Not a problem as such. A change of plan, though.’
‘Go on.’
She told him she was going to meet the general to make sure he would be out of the way.
Jack stared at her, his eyes narrowing to dangerous slits. ‘I don’t like it.’
