The Iron Storm by CW Browning (classic literature books TXT) 📕

also heard that the SS has one of their best officers trying to retrieve it. If that is true, the agent is very grave danger.”

Her mouth went dry and Evelyn felt her stomach lurch. “An SS officer? In France?”

His eyes bore into hers. “Be very careful, mademoiselle. There are many who will help him willingly.”

She swallowed and nodded, forcing a smile. “Thank you,” she whispered.

“There is no need to thank me. We are on the same side, you and I. We must take care of each other.”

With those words, Marcel went back to the desk, gathering the sheets of papers into two stacks before picking them up. Jens came back into the room as he was turning away from the desk with a stack in either hand.

“I’ll go downstairs and type up the packet to take to Asp,” he said. “I won’t be long. Please make yourself at home. Go into the kitchen and get yourselves some wine. Please. I insist.”

Evelyn nodded and looked at Jens. “Come on. Let’s go have a drink. Something tells me we’ll be glad we did.”

Jens looked at her and nodded, picking up his coat from the couch. They followed Marcel out of the parlor, and as Evelyn went down the corridor to the kitchen, she was grateful for the dim lighting to hide her pale cheeks. The SS was looking for a woman carrying a package containing stolen plans for munitions factories. She had no idea if they had a description, a name, or anything to go on, but she had to assume they had all three. It would be foolish not to. And as Marcel had pointed out, the Germans did have their sympathizers, and there were always people willing to assist them.

And she was about to go see a man who was a double agent for them!

Eisenjager sat in the darkness behind the wheel of his car, his head back against the head rest and his eyes fixed on the house half way down the street. He was parked in the shadows of an ancient yew tree on the corner, watching Asp’s house. Voss, he knew, had stationed himself in the alleyway across from the house. He had a much closer view, but Eisenjager could see the whole street from his vantage point. Not only would he see if anyone approached the house, but he would also see where they came from and where they went. He had no reason to be right on top of the house. His job would be done elsewhere, once the targets had left.

Shifting in the seat, he adjusted his long legs with a grimace of discomfort. He’d been sitting in this position for the better part of two hours, and he yet to see any sign of either the Belgian or the woman. A lone boy on a bicycle had arrived half an hour ago to deliver a wrapped package, but no signals were made from the house and so he continued to wait. While he was sure Voss was getting impatient, he himself was in no rush. If Ash was Bernard’s contact, then he would show up eventually.

Setting his head back again, Eisenjager thought of Voss standing in the alley, waiting for the woman to appear. In his opinion, the woman was a fool if she did. She’s brought the package all this way already. Why not take it to Paris herself? Why risk bringing it here? She must know that the SS were on her trail.

He hadn’t given the woman much thought before now. Who was she? Did she work for the French? Or was she one of MI6’s agents? Voss called her a courier, which would suggest that she was working for the French. As far as Eisenjager was aware, MI6 had no couriers in Europe anymore. They’d lost them all in that ridiculous Venlo affair. He frowned. He didn’t like not knowing anything about a target, but his orders were clear. Allow Voss to retrieve the package, then move in and eliminate both the Belgian and the woman.

It was strange, that. First they wanted him to bring the target in to Berlin without harming him, and now they’d changed their mind. He was no longer a person of interest to them. Obviously whatever they wanted from him was already obtained, or they found someone else who get them what they needed. And as for the woman, well, that was more a matter of expediency. They didn’t want any witnesses to Voss’s presence in France before the army had crossed the border.

Eisenjager pursed his lips thoughtfully. They had also been quite clear about not allowing Voss to interrogate the Belgian. Now why was that? What could he possibly know that they wouldn’t want to fall into the hands of the SD? The whole thing was very odd, to say the least. Then again, he reflected, anytime the SS was involved, things were never normal. They were ever the dramatic ones, the SS. That’s what came of being born out of the ashes of the thugs who won the Führer the chancellorship. Nothing short of blood and pain ever gave them a sense of accomplishment. And whenever there was senseless violence, things ceased to be clear and straight-forward. Just as this operation had ceased to be a simple operation.

Stifling a sigh, he rubbed his eyes. No. That wasn’t quite fair. It was still a simple operation. All he had to do was execute both targets as soon as they had what they needed from them. Nothing complicated about that. It was only Voss that stood to make it complicated.

And Eisenjager had absolutely no doubt that the Obersturmbannführer would manage to find a way to do so.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Evelyn walked beside Jens, her hands in her coat pockets, and the breeze stirring her hair under the brim of her hat. It was dark, and the small town felt very hostile and unfamiliar to her as she walked, making her glad of Jens’ comforting presence