Page 80 of Whispers At Dawn
Lizzie managed a watery smile. ‘Yes, I remember seeing their lost little faces in the newspapers when they arrived alone in a foreign country without their families. Thank goodness they escaped.’
The figure of a man came into view through the trees, and Jack reached for the gun he kept strapped to his ankle beneath his trousers.
‘Do you know him?’ Lizzie said, her hand over her eyes, squinting in the sunshine.
The man came closer, and Lizzie saw Jack relax his grip and she looked at him expectantly.
‘Look closer,’ he said.
‘Ah, now I recognise him.’
A thin man wearing a cap set at a jaunty angle and braces over his shirt approached them, the ghost of a smile on his face.
Jack stood, brushing leaves from his trousers, and Lizzie jumped to her feet.
‘Lev,’ Jack said, shaking his hand vigorously. ‘Good to see you. Everything alright?’
Lev enquired about the airmen, and told them their contact was on their way to Toulouse.
They walked through the orchard, and Lizzie and Jack updated Lev on the grave condition of the wounded airman and how they planned to evacuate him that night.
‘I see, so it’s a wasted journey for our contact to come all the way here.’
‘I’m afraid so,’ Jack said.
Lizzie said it wouldn’t be a wasted journey if they smuggled the Jewish doctor and his family to the border in place of the airmen. She explained they were waiting for a chance to escape, and Lev said he would pass on the message.
‘Have you met the St. Girons contact before?’ Jack asked.
Lev replied this would be the first time. Marguerite had handled the communications side of things.
‘I’ve requested equipment like we discussed,’ Jack continued.
‘That is good news. If we’re to make our operations more effective, we’re going to need regular supplies.’
They talked about future potential targets and Lev said perhaps it was for the best the agent was coming. ‘Shall I arrange a meeting with you, and we can plan a smoother passage for future escapees? The airman probably wouldn’t have been wounded if we had more safe houses along the way and they hadn’t been forced to rest in someone’s barn.’
Lizzie could see Jack was pondering whether it was wise to meet with another unknown contact. It could be a trap. Undercover work was draining in that one never knew who to trust.
Jack looked at Lizzie. He was her commanding officer, but he often conferred with her. She gave a slight nod.
‘Yes, let’s do it. Anything that will build a strong foundation for the network is worth the risk. What time shall we meet?’
Lev said he would get a message to them if the contact arrived before nightfall, and they agreed he would come back that night to help move the wounded airman to the pickup spot and hide the equipment.
CHAPTER 41
Von Schneider had left for Paris and Armand breathed a sigh of relief at the station. On the drive back to the Legion, he kept turning over the details of his night at the château. The sense that all wasn’t quite what it seemed hit him again after his visit to the turret. The housekeeper racing around outside at night, the young couple who had arrived at the château out of the blue in wartime, and the mysterious key.
What were they up to?
Armand turned over the events in his mind as he drove, and his thoughts predictably circled back to Michel Dubois. Much to his disappointment, he had only seen him briefly that morning. His French was exquisite, and he was Luc’s relative from Brittany, so why did he have the nagging feeling he was missing something?
His preoccupation with Michel Dubois had become an obsession, and he had meant to begin surveillance of the couple, but unfortunately was too busy with official duties to follow them. Now he would begin in earnest. Even if the couple were innocent, the housekeeper was definitely up to no good.
He eased the vehicle into the Legion car park and patted his pocket for the key he had stolen from the turret room. Stolen wassuch an ugly word, he reasoned. Confiscated was more fitting. It was, after all, his duty to be vigilant in all matters concerning potential enemies of the state, and he took the commitment seriously.
Armand raised his head as he walked as if marching in an imaginary honours’ parade, where he would be commended for his service. As he turned the corner and approached the door, he saw a woman hovering outside.
