Page 42 of Shadows In Paris
The letter concluded with a chilling summary that the Staff was successfully safeguarding the Rothschild’s art collections and all previously Jewish-owned art and valuables for the Reich.
Safeguarding!
That was one word for it. More accurate words would bestealing, plundering, seizing, and looting.Hannah longed to exchange the word safeguarding for one of those, but her true feelings would be obvious, and her cover blown in one futile act of resistance.
No, she must be patient and play the long game, even if it meant letting her Nazi boss lech over her without kicking him in the crotch. Resistance required patience as well as carefully planned and orchestrated acts of sabotage.
Hannah looked up to see if the major general could see her from his seat, but the door had closed slightly. She took a chance and scribbled as many names onto her handkerchiefas she could. It was a risky way to smuggle information out the building, but even with her excellent memory, she wouldn’t be able to remember the names without some way to record them.
She would ask Jack if they could get her one of those clever mini cameras. She’d seen an actor using one in a new spy film. It had fitted into the palm of his hand. Maybe it wasn’t real, but if it was, she needed one. It would be the perfect way to siphon intelligence out of German High Command.
Lizzie prepared to contact Jack. At her first scheduled attempt, he had not responded.
‘Come on, Raven,’ she said aloud, nerves clawing at her, making her jump at every slight sound from beyond the small window. It was dark, and she still found the attic just as spooky as on her first tour of the house. Lizzie was desperate to get her first Paris to London transmission done. The first time she did something new in the field, was always the most nerve-racking.
Lizzie tapped out her call signal in Morse and waited for a response. Jack had explained to her she wouldn’t always be able to get through and she might need to try several times, but she should always wait for his response before sending a message.
Seconds passed, and it seemed like she was once again out of luck. This was the last opportunity of the day. Lizzie hadn’t realised she was holding her breath until a response came back.
This is Raven. Go ahead, Seagrove.
They had agreed not to share anything personal if he didn’t start the message with his codename. Jack said he would do his best to be there for every potential time, but incase he couldn’t, another radio operator might respond to the message, so they had to be cautious.
Knowing he was there, even though she couldn’t hear his voice, connected to her through this incredible technology, made her feel giddy with joy. Her heart skipped and raced. She longed to tell him how much she missed him, but there was no time for such indulgences now.
There was important information to get across in her message, and she must transmit it as quickly as possible to limit the chances of being detected by the Germans on the airwaves.
Country before self,Val’s voice echoed in her mind.
The Count of Monte Cristosat on the small table where she had positioned the wireless set.
The book lay open on the page of their selected passage. Lizzie carefully tapped out her message using the double transposition cipher.
She listed the supplies Francois requested, and she told Jack they were trying to hide an important scientist the Nazis were searching for.
Lizzie had planned the message before she started transmitting, or it would have taken her too long to figure it all out. She kept it as brief as possible and didn’t mention the scientist and his family were due at the farmhouse this evening. It would only worry Jack and there was nothing he could do even if she told him.
In the training, they had briefed her to only share exactly what the SOE needed to know. That way, if the enemy intercepted the message, not only would they have a hard time cracking the agent’s unique cipher, but even if they did, without context, they would struggle to grasp the meaning.
She completed the message and signed off with their agreed send code. If she didn’t sign off, it was a signal something was wrong.
Lizzie pictured Jack sitting in his office at Baker Street, his glossy black hair falling onto his forehead and him brushing it aside impatiently.
One final quick burst of dots and dashes came through. Lizzie scribbled them down with her pencil.
ATW we will holiday in France.
Lizzie’s heart fluttered at the thought of him tapping in the message, and she knew he missed her just as much as she missed him. In some ways, it was harder when you were left behind, wondering if the other was safe, risking their life undercover in occupied territory.
The thought of holidaying with Jack in France after the war would pull her through the dark days ahead.
CHAPTER 19
Hannah had still not returned, and Lizzie couldn’t sit still for more than a few minutes at a time. She tried to concentrate on an article in a French newspaper, but the German propaganda turned her stomach, so she pushed it away. It was only good for the fire.
Lizzie crossed and uncrossed her legs, tapped her feet on the hard floor and drank a cup of possibly the weakest tea she had ever tasted.
She sat in the kitchen waiting for Hannah and the mysterious contact from the network to turn up. Now the night had turned inky black, and she couldn’t see anything outside, and grew more nervous with every passing second.
