The Librarian Spy(98)



Would it even be possible to find James?

She’d never been to the embassy before and had no idea if she could request him from the guard positioned out front. But as she hurried toward the high gate, a familiar face made his way toward her.

“Alfie,” she cried out.

He regarded her with a wide smile. “Did you hear? We’re finally going on the offensive in this war. I can’t chat now though, unfortunately. I have a meeting.” He looked at his watch and grimaced. “That started five minutes ago.”

“Will you tell James to come find me after?”

Alfie frowned as he patted at his pockets. “After what?” He snapped open his leather briefcase and rummaged about, his cheeks flushing beneath the guard’s impatient stare.

“After the meeting,” Ava replied.

“Oh, he’s not in the meeting with me.” Alfie flashed an apologetic look to the guard and plucked out a small wallet that he flicked through. “It’s only for ASLIB.”

Ava froze. “Isn’t James in the British Association of Special Libraries and Information Bureau with you?”

Alfie pulled a badge from his wallet and held it up triumphantly. His victory was short-lived, and he blinked rapidly as he turned to Ava, his reddened cheeks going pale. “I beg your pardon?”

“If James isn’t with ASLIB, what sector is he with?” Ava asked.

Alfie swallowed audibly. “Forgive me, but I... I’m very late, you see. I... I have to go.” With that, he clicked his briefcase shut, showed his badge to the guard, and scurried off.

What he divulged had clearly not been intentional.

Ava shifted her attention to the guard, her pulse thundering in her ears. “Please have James MacKinnon contact Ava Harper.” By some miracle, her voice managed to remain calm. “The matter is urgent.”

The wait to hear back from James was interminable. Ava paced her small apartment, worry building around her like snowballs rolling down a steep hill. First and foremost was Daniel and his safety surviving the beaches of Normandy. Then there was the need to obtain tickets for safe passage to New York for Sarah and Noah. And also, whatever it was that James did for the British government and why he had lied.

A sharp buzzer interrupted her thoughts and her heart leaped. She went outside to find James standing by the doorway, absent his formal jacket, his button-down shirt rolled halfway up his forearms. His breath panted as though he had run there. He held up his hand before she could speak. “Let us discuss this inside, and I’ll answer whatever it is you want to know.”

She folded her arms over her chest and locked away her barrage of questions. He would receive them in full force in only a moment’s time. She shifted back a step in silent invitation for him to enter the building and followed him up to her apartment.

When he entered, he went first to the windows, which stood open, and looked back at Ava. “May I close these?”

She eyed him warily, not expecting the nature of his confessions to be so clandestine. The work she and Mike did as well as that of their British counterparts was not entirely so covert that it required that measure of tight security.

“You may.” She strode toward her bedroom. “I’ll close the others.”

When she returned, a towel was rolled beneath the door to her apartment as well.

“What is this?” she asked. “Does this have to do with that night at Monserrate Palace?”

“Somewhat.” James settled onto the small brown sofa, one elbow casually draped over the arm.

Ava sat on the chair beside the couch, her body stiff. “Who do you work for?”

“The British government,” he answered in a quiet tone despite the precautions. “But I am not ASLIB.”

She pulled in a breath. “I know.”

“Please forgive the lie of omission.” He gave her an earnest look, his eyes warm and soft in a way she used to find endearing. “I am part of a highly trained special operatives unit.”

She shook her head, not understanding. “A spy?”

He nodded. “I was sent to Lisbon to gather intelligence to assist with the attack in Normandy that happened this morning.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “My purpose here was to gather details. This was implemented long before the plan began to take shape, to see if such a thing would even be possible.”

His face was open and honest as he spoke, but then if he truly was a spy who had received solid training, he could make anything convincing, couldn’t he?

“Why did you mislead me?” she asked, regarding him with scrutiny in an effort to find something amiss, a tell that someone who didn’t know him as well as she did might not be able to catch. Something she would certainly note. Or, at least, she hoped.

There was a long pause before he finally answered. “Because you inadvertently became involved.”

“What? How?” Her hand clapped over her mouth as a name struck her. “Diogo Silva.” The man who lived next door, who had been taken away by the PVDE after she spoke with Lukas.

“No,” James said with conviction. “Though I did not impart the entire truth about him as I didn’t want you digging around.”

Ava opened her lips to argue that she would not have, and James lifted a brow. She stifled her protest. They both knew she would have continued to hunt for details if she’d caught a trace of a scent.

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