Page 30 of Echoes of Betrayal

Lizzie shuddered. Jack had set up her emergency escape details with her, and she knew what to do if she were blown. He warned her again that the more she went undercover, the higher the risk someone would recognise her. He joked that fortunately she and Hannah had eliminated most of their enemies, but they must remember there were still a few at large.

Lizzie had poked Jack in the ribs when he teased her, and she laughed, but she couldn’t argue with his logic. She and Hannah had taken out several high-ranking Nazis who had caught them in action, and Jack had also disposed of the enemy, but there must be some who could identify her if they were to meet again. It was best not to dwell on those incidents, or she would never sleep at night, but their faces still haunted her, and she had to remind herself of the evil deeds they had committed. They were not the victims of their deadly regime, and they got what was coming to them. Their deaths meant they couldn’t continue to implement Hitler’s plan.

Lizzie walked over to the cipher room in search of Tom. Why hadn’t she thought of it before? The solution was obvious now, and she hoped he was on site, or she would have to delay.

Tapping on the door with the coded knock they had agreed on got her the result she was hoping for. Tom appeared in the doorway and ushered her in, locking the door behind her.

‘Good to see you. Everything alright?’ he said.

Lizzie thought he really was a good man, and she trusted him more as the weeks rolled by.

‘Yes, all’s fine. And you?’

‘Perfect timing!’ Tom said he was just wrapping something up and he was about to call her to see if she was available for a shift.

‘Of course. I’ll just tidy up my desk and be back in ten minutes if that works for you?’ Tom nodded. Lowering her voice to a whisper, she raised the subject on her mind. ‘I need a favour from you.’

‘Oh, yes? That sounds intriguing. Another despatch for the pouch? It may be some time before another is due, but I can let you know when.’

‘Yes, to that, please, but no, it’s something rather more immediate. And time sensitive.’

‘I’m all ears,’ Tom said.

Lizzie moved further into the room and signalled for Tom to turn the wireless on. Under the cover of the background noise, she explained what she wanted, and Tom looked excited.

‘Finally, something of real use I can help you with,’ he said.

‘Thank you, Tom. It’s better if I don’t share the contents with you for obvious reasons, but if you can pull it off, you will be doing something that London will thank you for. And when I’m back there, I’ll make sure you get suitable credit.’

Tom brushed the offer aside with a proud smile. ‘That’s very kind of you, but I’m not in this for the credit. I’m in it to beat those Nazi bastards and get our future back.’

Lizzie settled at the desk and prepared herself to work on the pile of encrypted messages Tom had prepared. She locked the door behind him after giving him explicit instructions. It was good he was so keen to help because she couldn’t do it alone. She’d even considered leaving a message for Hildegard but had decided that wasn’t a sensible move. After Hildegard’s commitment during the Berlin mission, Lizzie trusted her implicitly, but she couldn’t jeopardise her cover. It was likely she would be in Berlin now, anyway.

Lizzie finished the pile of messages, but Tom had not returned yet. She calculated it was no cause for concern, and she must be patient. It would take him time to get there and back, particularly as he would employ various spycraft ruses to throw off potential shadows.

Alone in the secure cipher room with access to Tom’s radio, it occurred to her that this was the perfect opportunity to message London. Retrieving her poem codebook from where Tom kept it for her, she fired off a message to Jack.

It would reach him via courier, and she pictured him at Bletchley Park, immersed in the secret world of clever codebreakers. She was pleased he was busy because losing his brother Henry had been a terrible blow from which he hadn’t recovered. The thought of him stewing in his grief alone made her sad, and she hoped he was staying upbeat. But how could one ever recover from such a loss?

It was for the best that he was doing what he loved most—solving intelligence conundrums and doing all he could to save the world from further Nazi tyranny. Just as she finished messaging, Tom’s coded knock on the door rang out and she rushed to open it.

CHAPTER 29

Val had only responded to Jack’s message with a few words:

Nothing from our spies in lavender yet.

Jack had been hoping that by now Hannah had sent a message to London, or Val had located her through their contacts in Languedoc. As the length of the silence grew, Jack’s natural optimism faded, and he thought again about going into Toulouse. It was officially occupied by Germany now, and the Free Zone was no more.

The pretence that the French Vichy regime was in charge had collapsed, revealing its true face of collaboration with Nazi Germany. Jack hadn’t been back to Toulouse since he and Lizzie went undercover as a married couple and operated out of his Uncle Luc’s château in the summer of 1941. He often thought of Uncle Luc, who was his mother’s brother, and hoped he was keeping well. During their mission, he had been formidable and given them his unreserved backing despite the risk to himself and his historic home. He and Lizzie talked of visiting him again, but it was only wishful thinking. Baker Street always had other plans for them, and besides, they couldn’t waltz into the Nazi-occupied city on a nostalgic whim.

Jack sighed and lit a cigarette. He missed his days undercover in France, but Val kept him chained to his desk in London, running operations at home. Even Lizzie had been essentially grounded from going behind enemy lines. The British Legation in Switzerland wasn’t much different from working in London, aside from keeping them apart, of course. He blew smoke rings over his head and watched as they merged with the cold air.

Fletcher entered the hut and passed him an envelope. ‘Urgent from London, sir.’

At last, he was getting a proper response from Val. As he opened the slim envelope, careful not to damage the contents, his heart quickened as he saw it was a radio communication that had gone to Val and she had then forwarded to him. She’d added a handwritten note at the top of the slip of paper:

Good news on one front. Not so good on the other.