The Spider and the Sparrow by A. L. Sowards

Author:A. L. Sowards
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781680479935
Publisher: Covenant Communications, Inc.
Published: 2016-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 29

Unable to find Lohr or Simon, Evette went to McDougall’s home to confess her failure. Madame Morel gave her the usual look of disapproval but went to rouse McDougall from his bed. She wished McDougall would tell Madame Morel what his work involved so she would stop assuming the worst.

“Evette?” McDougall turned back briefly. “Thank you, Madam Morel.”

As soon as the housekeeper left, Evette spoke. “I lost him.”

“Well, we know where he lives. I expect he shall return there before long. Hopefully he won’t arrange anything untoward in the meantime.”

“It’s worse than that. He met with Lohr. I crawled through a window and listened to part of their conversation, but I lost them when they left.” Evette looked at the floor, not wanting to see the disappointment in McDougall’s eyes.

“Come into my office.” He placed a gentle hand on her elbow.

When they were seated, Evette forced herself to look up.

McDougall watched her but didn’t seem to condemn her. “So he met with Lohr?”

“Yes. Lohr told him he wants sabotage, lots of it, quickly. And he has at least two sources here in Paris. They didn’t say either name, but one arranges money for the League, and the other is selling them information.” Evette was about to tell McDougall that the second source was with British Intelligence, probably someone McDougall worked with, but would he believe her? What if he included the information in a report and Lohr’s source found it? Or worse, what if McDougall was somehow involved? Evette pushed the thought from her head. She’d worked with McDougall for almost two years. He couldn’t be a double agent. Still, she held that piece of information for later, focusing on the more urgent facts. “Lohr said he was leaving for Germany tomorrow, but he also said he hadn’t learned much of significance. I assume that means he doesn’t know about the mutinies.”

“I can issue an alert with his description and try to stop him at the borders. I don’t know how he’s getting in and out, but I shall see that the appropriate people are watching for him.” McDougall opened a drawer and held out a set of three keys to her. “Skeleton keys, in case you have to follow him inside again. Perhaps he has made it home.”

It was a long, dark walk back to Simon’s flat. A light shone through a crack in the curtains, so she assumed he was inside. Agent Fournier was due to relieve her at midnight, but he never came. She hid from yet another police patrol out looking for anything suspicious and cursed Fournier. Simon had been boring recently, but that wasn’t an excuse to neglect one’s duty.

Dawn found her bleary-eyed and hungry, but a scream and several loud, excited voices drove the sleepiness away. The noise came from farther down the block. As Evette approached, she saw a small crowd forming. In the center of the commotion, she recognized Agent Fournier sprawled on the grass next to the sidewalk, a knife protruding from his back.

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