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

as he shone the light around the cold interior. The ceiling was low, and the floor was dirt, hard-packed over time until it resembled rough laid cement. There were no furnishings or boxes, nowhere for them to hide. The large, square space was empty, save for a wooden staircase leading to a door in the far corner.

Hans crossed the basement and went up the stairs, trying the door quietly. It opened easily when he turned the knob and he pushed it open, wincing at the loud creak the old hinges made as the door swung wide. Tightening his grip on the gun, Hans stepped into a narrow corridor that smelled strongly of must and damp. Playing his light up and down the corridor, he saw nothing but old, peeling wallpaper and dirt. Not only was the house empty, but it hadn’t been lived in in quite some time. He nodded and moved down the corridor towards a room at the end. They had to be hiding in here somewhere.

All he had to do was find them.

Eisenjager knocked on the back door of the house with lights streaming from all the windows and brushed his hair back into place with a quick movement of his hand. As much as he didn’t want to be seen, he wanted to find the couple more. If that meant speaking to a resident, so be it.

It was a few minutes and a second knock later that he finally heard the lock clicking. The door opened a second later and a man dressed in an old smoking jacket over gray trousers peered out, a pipe hanging out of his mouth. He blinked at the sight of Eisenjager standing on his back step and pulled the pipe out.

“Yes?”

“I apologize for disturbing you so late,” Eisenjager said in French. “I’m passing through the village on my way to Paris and was stopped on the street looking at a map when I saw two people run down the alley between your house and the one next to you. They seemed to me to be acting suspiciously, so I got out to follow them. It appears that they may have broken into the house next to you.”

“Oh my!” The man exclaimed, his face creased in concern. “That’s alarming.”

“I thought so, which is why I thought I’d warn you. Have you heard anything or seen anything?”

“No. I’ve been in the front room reading and listening to the radio.” The man sucked on his pipe and shook his head. “I would have heard something if they’d tried to come in here, I’m sure. They must be next door. That house is empty, you know. It has been for years. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened, I suppose.”

“It was a couple,” Eisenjager said after a moment of thought. “I suppose if the house has been empty for a long time, they could have gone in there for...well, a rendezvous.”

The man with the pipe grinned and nodded. “More than likely,” he agreed. “They still shouldn’t be trespassing, though. Someone really should go for the police.”

His tone was one of suggestion, and he made no indication that he was prepared to do so himself. Eisenjager chuckled and rubbed his neck in a seemingly embarrassed gesture.

“Oh, I’m sure that’s not necessary for a couple trying to find some privacy,” he said. “Perhaps I was being overly cautious. I was concerned that they might be trying to rob you, you see, but if you haven’t heard or seen anything, I’m sure I was mistaken.”

“Well, you can always set your mind at ease and go next door,” the man said, nodding in that direction. “The basement door is open. The lock was broken months ago and it won’t stay closed now. I’m sure that’s where they went.”

Eisenjager nodded and touched his hat. “I’ll do that. I’m sorry to have disturbed you.”

He turned away from the door as the man nodded and closed it, locking it again. Anger, hot and furious, rolled through him as he went around the corner of the house and into the narrow alley. They were gone. He knew it in his gut. He’d lost not only the Belgian, but also the woman. Another wave of fury went over him.

It was unacceptable! This was only the second time in his career that he’d lost his target, and the woman was involved both times! He’d recognized her in the alley outside Asp’s house. When she had turned to look behind her, the face of the English spy he’d lost in Norway had looked back at him. He’d been shocked, giving her the few seconds she needed to grab her companion’s hand and begin running. Those few seconds were all it took to ensure that he didn’t have a clean shot to either of them, even with his longer range, high-powered pistol.

And then Voss had compounded matters by driving his car right down the road towards them, alerting them to the fact that there were two people following them. If it hadn’t been for Voss and his black sedan, they would have tried for the field, and then he could have followed. As it was, they had wisely decided not to race a car, and now they’d disappeared. He’d have to start all over again.

If he’d known Jian was Voss’s courier, he would have approached this entire thing differently. Voss would never have been given the opportunity to interfere. The Englishwoman was the responsibility of the Abwehr alone, and they had assigned her elimination to him. If he’d known she was here, Voss would have been ordered back to Berlin, and he would have both targets neutralized by now. Instead, he was facing an empty alley. Fury washed over him once more, and Eisenjager clenched his jaw.

Light emerged from the base of a stone stair and Voss came up from the open door of the empty house. The look on his face was grim and when he saw Eisenjager, he