The 9 by Madalyn Morgan (tools of titans ebook .txt) 📕

Ena dropped her head, giving a faint nod.

‘If you would rather not be involved in this investigation, you must say so now, Miss Dudley, because once you leave this office I shall expect you to see the job through to its conclusion, whatever that is.’

‘I want to carry on. I need to clear my name and the names of the people I work with.’

The commander looked at Ena for a long minute. ‘I need to be a hundred percent certain you are not going to change your mind, Ena. I need to know you are not going to turn around somewhere along the line and say you won’t investigate Mr Silcott, say, if something suspicious happens, or your colleague, Miss King.’ Ena looked at Mr Silcott, nodded that she understood, and he gave her an encouraging smile. ‘You have to be fully committed or you are no good to me, or the job.’

‘I am fully committed, sir,’ Ena said, sitting upright and looking him in the eye.

‘Good. So, to reiterate... Assume everyone you know, especially anyone who has befriended you since your work was sabotaged, is a potential threat to the country and the work we do here at Bletchley. And today, find out all you can about the young American.’ Ena nodded. ‘Listen for contradictions, or inconsistencies in what he tells you.’

‘Yes, sir.’

The commander stood up. ‘Time you left. You don’t want to be late for your appointment. Do you want a car to drive you to the station?’

Ena looked at her wristwatch. ‘No thank you, sir. I have time to walk down. The fresh air will do me good. Goodbye.’ She picked up her coat and turned to her boss. ‘I’ll see you at the station, Mr Silcott.’

‘Five o’clock, or thereabouts.’

Ena could see in his eyes that Mr Silcott was worried.

‘And Ena,’ Commander Dalton said, as she opened the door to leave, ‘Be careful.’

‘I will, sir. Thank you.’

When she was through the main gates, Ena stopped to breathe some fresh air. She was annoyed with the commander for assuming she would allow herself to be picked up by a spy. How would she know someone was a spy? They didn’t exactly go around wearing a badge with spy pinned to their lapel.

She didn’t know anything about spies. She didn’t really know anything about Ben Johnson either. Walking on, Ena went over Commander Dalton’s instructions, reminding herself that, as much as she liked Ben Johnson, she mustn’t lose sight of what someone did to her on the train. Cold perspiration ran down her back. Could Ben have been the second person in the carriage? She strained to recall his voice, his demeanour, anything at all that would give her a clue as to who the other man was. But it was no good. All she could remember was a shadowy figure.

She spotted Ben gazing out of the window as she approached the buffet. Opening the door drew his attention and before she had time to close it, he was on his feet.

‘Hi,’ he waved. ‘I thought you’d changed your mind.’

‘Am I late? It must have taken me longer than I thought to get here from my friend’s house. I’m sorry.’

‘No need to apologise, you’re here now.’ The waitress came to take their order. ‘Would you like tea?’

‘Yes please.’

‘Anything to eat?’

Too nervous to eat anything, Ena said, ‘Thank you, but I’ve already eaten.’ The waitress made a note on her pad and returned to the counter with their order.

‘Wow! You’re even more beautiful without tears running down your cheeks.’

‘I should hope so,’ Ena said. ‘What a fright I must have looked that day in Euston.’

Ben batted the suggestion away. ‘I don’t remember.’ Lowering his hand, he rested it on Ena’s hand and looked into her eyes. Ena felt her cheeks flush. ‘But I’m sure glad I was there.’

‘Two teas!’ Ben sat back and the waitress plonked the tray down with a clatter.’

‘I was glad you were there too. I don’t mind telling you, I was scared. Ending up in Euston on my own. I’d never been to London before.’ Ena bit her bottom lip and laughed. ‘You must think I’m a real baby. I was only a hundred miles from home and you are thousands of miles away from yours. Do you miss your home, your family?’

‘I guess, but my mom died when I was real young and my dad married again.’ Ena didn’t comment, hoping Ben would carry on talking about himself. He did. ‘I resented Grace, my stepmom, at first.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘I gave her a real hard time.’

Ena tried to imagine how she would feel if her mother had died when she was little. She couldn’t. ‘It’s understandable. You must have missed your mother terribly.’

‘I did, and Grace understood that. She treated me like her own kid.’ Ben poured milk into their cups and lifted the teapot. ‘I’m real fond of my stepsister. She writes me every week,’ he said, laughing. ‘She was so cute when she was small. Smart too. She’s grown now, of course. I was six when she was born, so I’m her big brother.’

Commander Dalton’s words, “No one called Benjamin F. Johnson works for the MoD in London” came into her mind. ‘What brings you to England? Are you with the military? Were you sent here after Pearl Harbor?’

‘No, I’ve been here a while.’ Ben took a drink of his tea. ‘When I was at high school there were a couple of rival gangs in our town and I got mixed up with one of them, so before I got into real trouble, Dad sent me over to England to visit with my grandma in Oxford. She’s my mom’s mom.’ A bright smile spread across his face. ‘She spoilt me rotten. She still does,’ he