in and out, I could get into the safe easily enough. Besides, the sooner I did it, the sooner Uncle Mick would be free.
“What are the specifics?” I asked him.
“I’m afraid there isn’t much information I can share with you.”
I didn’t bother to withhold the annoyed sigh that came to my lips. “For pity’s sake. Can’t we dispense with all this hugger-mugger business and get down to facts?”
He looked at me, and I was momentarily distracted from the matter at hand. In the light from the fireplace I suddenly saw that his eyes weren’t merely blue; they were nearly lavender, a violet cast to them that called to mind the most perfect shade of twilight sky. They were stunning.
It took me a moment to remember he was scolding me.
“This may be a game to you, Miss McDonnell, but I can assure you it’s deadly serious.”
I rallied quickly. “The freedom, if not the very lives, of myself and my family rests in your hands, Major Ramsey. I can assure you I understand how serious it is. But if you want me to do a job two days from now, I need to know something about what’s expected of me.”
We frowned at each other for a long moment. I supposed he wasn’t accustomed to being challenged, but I thought he’d better get used to it if he intended to keep ordering me about.
At last, he gave a curt nod. “Fair enough. I can give you the bare details for the time being. Anything else will be on a need-to-know basis.”
“I suppose that will have to do,” I said ungraciously.
“As I told you last night, there is a set of documents we would like you to retrieve. They rest, at present, in the safe of a man who has no idea that we suspect him of possible collusion with the enemy.”
“A German spy?” I asked.
“For the moment, we shall merely call him a man on the fence.”
“And this man on the fence is in possession of some important documents the Germans would like to get their hands on.”
“Yes.”
“How did he come by them?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Won’t,” he amended remorselessly.
“But you’re certain they’re in the safe?”
“We have good reason to believe so, yes. We don’t just want you to remove the documents from the safe, however. We want you to exchange them for another set without the switch being detected.”
I considered this for a moment. “So if he does pass them on, the information the Germans get will be false and you’ll know you’ve caught a traitor.”
“You’ve a quick grasp of the facts, Miss McDonnell,” he said, in the first words from him that might have been a compliment. “Yes. Once we know the truth about him, we can proceed from there.”
“Arrest him or continue using him to feed useless information to the enemy, you mean.”
The barest hint of something like a smile touched his lips. “Brava.”
“But won’t your man notice that the papers have been switched? I mean, isn’t he aware of their contents?”
He paused as if considering how much to tell me. “These are rather technical documents. He isn’t likely to have perused them in depth.”
I was intrigued. I wanted to know just who this man was and what these documents that he possessed were, but I understood the importance of secrecy in wartime and I would just have to learn to live with not knowing. At least for now.
“It all seems straightforward enough,” I said.
He nodded. “Do you think you can do it?”
“Of course.”
“As easy as all that, is it?” He was looking at me closely, trying to gauge where I was on the scale between skill and empty bravado, I supposed.
“I didn’t say it would be easy,” I replied. “But I have great confidence in my abilities.”
He nodded. “Confidence is an asset in work such as ours. One might even say it is a vital necessity.”
If that was the case, no wonder Major Ramsey was succeeding so well, I thought snidely. It was, I realized suddenly, what set me so on edge about him. He somehow managed to be both very on his guard and yet completely at ease at the same time. That sort of supreme confidence was off-putting. I liked a man who could admit that he might not always be right.
“We’ve made sure the house will be empty Friday night. What else will you need to ensure your success?”
“The combination would be ideal,” I said.
Again, a flicker of amusement. “We