Ben turned to see Natalie sitting eight rows back, and it annoyed him that she had boarded the flight to New York at the last minute. The more he saw of her, the less he trusted her.
On the other hand, Freddie was ecstatic. ‘Natalie must come with us, maman,’ he had insisted on returning to the apartment after the kidnap attempt.
Alena sat on the couch recounting the attack, and the thought of what might have happened made her tremble. If anything, it had forced her to decide.
Natalie prowled the room, her face tight and troubled.
‘I don’t know, darling,’ Alena had answered. ‘What should we do, Ben?’
The situation was becoming more complicated by the minute. The kidnap had failed, but next time the Nazis would succeed.
‘Please, maman.’ Freddie’s voice took on a wheedling tone. ‘She saved my life.’ To reinforce his argument, he sidled over to his mother and sat down on the sofa and put his head on her shoulder. ‘Natalie will take care of me.’ And he gave her his most appealing smile. ‘Won’t you?’
‘Of course, cheri.’ She came and sat next to Alena with the boy between them. ‘I can help. My contact has great wealth, and the group are very influential in all spheres of American life. He has the power to sort out everything. In Paris, he promised that once in America you’d be under their protection and they’d provide a new home and identities. You’d be out of the Nazis’ reach.’ She smiled as if to back up her point.
Alena had been worried. ‘But it’s as if I’m running away from everything…’
‘We were going to America anyway,’ he said. ‘It’s not secure here. SIS are no longer interested; otherwise, they would have intervened. I’ll do my best, but I can’t protect you from a network of Nazis forever. You’d always be looking over your shoulder and jumping at every shadow. Pickering agreed with me that over there you could disappear.’
Freddie glanced at his mother. ‘And Natalie, too.’
‘I always knew we’d have to go.’ Alena sighed. ‘I’m very grateful to you and Pickering for everything; it’s just…’
As if looking for Nazis, Natalie went over to the window. ‘We got lucky today. They’re out there, and they’ll be back. Next time they will succeed.’
‘Should Natalie come?’ Alena had asked.
‘We can’t stop her getting on the plane.’
Natalie glared at him.
‘The offer seems to be genuine,’ Alena said with an apologetic look at Natalie.
‘Once in New York, you can decide.’
‘Hurrah!’ Freddie jumped off the sofa. ‘Natalie is coming.’ And he grasped her hand.
If she can get a ticket. He stared at her, hoping Natalie might fail.
On take-off, Alena touched his cheek with the back of her hand. ‘Maybe this is the start of a new life.’
He turned his attention away from Natalie. Alena’s smile sparked memories of their first meeting in Paris all those years ago. But nothing had changed. The Nazis were still chasing them.
‘Could be,’ he agreed, holding her hand. ‘I used to wonder if you and Freddie were safe and where you were being hidden and would we ever meet again.’
Her look softened. ‘Many times I tried to get a message out. But they blocked it, saying any contact could expose us to danger.’
He looked along his eyes at her. ‘Pickering always maintained he’d no knowledge of your whereabouts.’ And the shake of his head showed he doubted that.
‘I don’t think he did. It was only Smee. And Magnus and Shona in Shetland had no idea who we were.’
‘But Pickering said something else.’
‘What?’
‘Perhaps I shouldn’t say.’
‘Go on, please.’ Reaching over, she held his hands.
Her flashed smile of encouragement overcame his reluctance. ‘I’m not saying I believe any of this. But Pickering intimated you went AWOL at one time.’
She made to answer, but he held up a hand. ‘Said you’d been planted in the French diplomatic service, a whole lot of things. In effect, they claimed you’re not the person you pretended to be.’
‘I see.’ Her face darkened as she looked out the window. ‘Maybe they were attempting to discourage Pickering.’
‘That sounds as far-fetched as their story.’
She swept her hair back and from her bag extricated a cigarette and delayed lighting it as if needing time to answer. ‘There may be an element of truth in it,’ she admitted.
A dull pain grew in his chest as he waited for her to explain.
Smoke wreathed her face. ‘It’s true, I disappeared once, but there was a good reason. As you know, I’m fluent in English, French, German and Russian, and French Intelligence also trained me.’
As though gathering the remnants of those memories, she glanced at the ceiling and paused. ‘You’ve heard of the Shetland Bus?’
It had been a well-kept secret in the war, but afterwards, the amazing heroics of the islanders leaked out.
‘Shetland used to be part of Norway, and the islands are closer to Scandinavia than they are to mainland Scotland. During the war, more than twenty thousand troops were stationed there because of its strategic importance.’
She broke off to check on Freddie who was flying his model Spitfire in his hand, making it rise and swoop, accompanied by the appropriate sounds. Satisfied he was okay, she continued: ’They put the island’s fishing boats to good use, running a shuttle service to occupied Norway, taking over agents and rescuing people fleeing the Germans. They wanted to persuade a Russian scientist who worked in atomic research to defect. To convince him, they needed a Russian speaker, preferably attractive. It was so top secret no one was to know I’d gone with them, not even my handlers at SIS. They thought I’d fled and when I returned they were livid. But the operation was such a success they gave me permission to take part in more. We saved a lot of lives, but it was dangerous and horrible work. When the Germans discovered we’d helped someone flee, they’d round up the rest of their family and execute them. We killed a Gestapo officer, and they slaughtered a whole village of almost five hundred in retribution.’
The memory forced her to turn away and tears filled her eyes when she faced him again. ‘I felt guilty and still do. I have nightmares every night.’
‘There’s no reason for you to feel guilty.’
For what seemed like minutes, she stared at him. ‘There is, I killed the Gestapo officer.’
He took both her hands.
‘I had no choice,’ she said. ‘It was him or me. He found out about our plans and tried to stop us.’ She took several puffs on her cigarette before continuing. ‘Now do you think I’m a double agent?’
‘Of course not. That’s over, thankfully.’
Hair flowed around her face as she dropped her head. ‘Is it? Or are we headed for something worse? At least in war, you’ve some idea of the enemy. In most cases, you can see them. Now, it’s harder. Our enemies don’t wear uniforms. They dress like us, and many speak the same language and work alongside us. Some could be sitting on this plane.’ She paused to look around. ‘Will America be safer or will we be running for the rest of our lives?’
‘You’ll be okay there,’ he reassured her. ‘This can’t go on forever. One day they’ll lose interest in Freddie and will fade away.’
‘Really?’ she asked without conviction. ‘I have this fear that as long as he’s alive,’ she snatched a glance at Freddie who had drifted into sleep, ‘there will always be a Nazi somewhere out there. And there will never be peace. In my lowest moments, I ask myself if it would be better that he was dead. At least, he’d be free.’
Natalie wondered what the discussion was about. On her second gin and yet another cigarette, she strained to see every gesture. More than once, she got up, determined to walk down the aisle, but the way their heads were close together it was obvious they didn’t want to talk. It was maddening. There would be many more hours of this. Klein wanted her to transport the boy to Buenos Aires, but did they still trust her to carry out the assignment? She crossed and uncrossed her legs and flipped open the top of the gold lighter. To her relief, the next seat was empty. Otherwise, her behaviour might have attracted attention.
The fact no one had come to the boy’s help at Big Ben suggested British Intelligence were no longer interested, making the options easier. There would be no protection in New York. With a smile as grim as the skies outside, she realised they were talking about her. He would poison Alena’s mind. Maybe they planned to slip away after they landed.
Klein surveyed the team at their Earls Court base. The smaller of the two men nursed a bruise. The sergeant was unmarked although he had an injured look about him.
‘It went well, kameraden,’ he said with a wintry smile. ‘You followed orders perfectly. Well done.’
‘But we failed,’ the smaller man queried. ‘We didn’t get the boy.‘
‘Sometimes things are not as they seem. Orders are orders.’
‘She could have killed me,’ the taller man snorted in protest.
‘Thought you’d bought it, man.’ He broke into a Geordie accent. ‘That spike is lethal. You wouldn’t be the first to go that way.’
With a rueful expression, the sergeant rubbed the side of his head.
‘Any damage?’
‘No. My collar protected me.’
‘Good.’
‘What do we do now? Have another go?’
‘Unnecessary. It had the right effect. They’ve left for New York.’
His men were confused that he wasn’t angry.
‘Our people over there will take over,’ he added. ‘This plays into our hands. It’ll be easier to get to the boy in America.’