Emerald by James Baddock

Author:James Baddock
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller, Espionage, Action, Adventure, World War II, Murder, Conspiracy, Deception, Spies, Guns, Violence, Undercover, Intrigue, Betrayal, Counter-Intelligence, Nazis, Gestapo
ISBN: 9781782346142
Publisher: Andrews UK limited 2013
Published: 2013-02-06T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Sunday, April 29th: Morning

Dawn found them taking refuge in an isolated barn fifteen miles north west of Berlin, near the village of Pausin. Once they had reached the outskirts of Berlin, they had run into a constant stream of refugees pouring out of the beleaguered city; the congested roads had been in marked contrast to the almost eerie emptiness in the city itself, where the inhabitants who had decided to stay put had been hiding amongst the ruins. More than once, Cormack had bellowed at the refugees to get out of the damned way - couldn’t they see he was on vital Gestapo business? A few had turned helpless, apathetic faces at the car as it had gone past, but most had not bothered to look up as they trudged wearily onward... straight towards the Russian troops they were trying to escape. And so they had driven past the seemingly endless line of people, with Cormack deliberately closing his mind to their plight, telling himself that there was nothing they could do to help anyway...

Woodward turned the car off the road when the sky began to lighten and drove up a farm track until they found the barn. They covered the car with straw, just in case anybody should look through the door, before they clambered up a rickety ladder to the upper level. As Marianne and Woodward sank down, exhausted, Cormack went over to the shuttered window above the door and opened it a fraction, looking out to see what sort of a vantage point it was; he nodded in satisfaction and turned to the others. “Right,” he said quietly. “I’m going to pull rank for once.” He came over to them and sat down, leaning his back gratefully against the wall; for the first time, Marianne saw how lined and drawn his face was. “You take first watch, Tony. Keep a lookout through that window - if anyone comes, it’ll be along that track. Wake me in four hours.” He closed his eyes and, within moments, seemed to be fast asleep.

Woodward glanced at Marianne and shrugged theatrically. “Better do as the man says, I suppose.” He went over to the window; after a moment or so, Marianne joined him. She nodded over at Cormack.

“Is he really as unconcerned as he looks?”

Woodward shook his head gently. “He wouldn’t thank me for telling you, Marianne. That’s something you’ll have to find out for yourself.”

“He seems to know what he’s about, though.”

“Oh, he does that. One of the best, so I’m told - I’m certainly not going to argue about that.”

“You two seem to make a pretty good team.”

Woodward looked surprised. “Do we? I suppose we do, actually.”

“But you seem so different.”

“What, because he didn’t go to public school, you mean? Because his accent isn’t what one would expect to hear in an officers’ mess? To tell you the truth, I couldn’t stand him the first time I met him and the feeling was mutual. But - well, at the risk of sounding melodramatic, I’d trust him with my life.

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