matter of national importance. I can tell you no more than that at present.” He said this very gravely.
“You’re spies, you mean.”
He met my gaze. “Something like that.”
It wasn’t entirely surprising, now that I considered it. After all, we’d been told often enough to be careful of German agents in our midst. “Careless talk costs lives” and all that. Surely there must be some of our own fellows wandering about, working to intercept them.
But, for that matter, how did I know this man wasn’t a German spy himself, enlisting the aid of criminals to steal important documents? A house in Belgravia and an army officer’s uniform weren’t proof of anything.
“Can you offer me any evidence you are who you say you are?” I asked.
“I haven’t said who I am,” he replied.
I let out an irritated breath. “We can go on like this all night, or you can give me proof that you’re working for the government.”
He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a folded document, which he slid across the table to me.
I picked it up and opened it, noting first the Metropolitan Police Service stationery on which it had been written.
To Whom It May Concern:
The bearer of this letter is entitled to take into custody any housebreakers detained in the month of August in the year 1940. Officers of the Metropolitan Police are hereby ordered to stand down.
It was signed by the commissioner himself.
That seemed legitimate enough, I supposed. Whoever this man was, he had enough clout that he carried around in his pocket an order for the police to stay out of his way.
“Satisfied?” he asked.
I wordlessly returned the letter to him, and he tucked it back into his jacket.
“Now that we’ve cleared that up, what do you say?” he asked.
It was on the tip of my tongue to accept, to take this chance that was offered to us, but something stopped me. I needed to know more. After all, if they were willing to take a chance on criminals, there must surely be some risk involved.
“What sort of documents will we be retrieving?”
“The classified sort,” he answered flatly.
“Where is this house?” I tried again.
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that at the moment.”
“Is there anything you can tell me?” I demanded.
“Only that, in addition to the benefit you’ll derive from this by keeping out of prison, you’ll be doing a great service for your country and, perhaps, for the free world as we know it.”
He was laying it on a bit thick, but the idea had merit. It was an appealing thought, using our skills to help fight the enemy, even if we were being blackmailed into it.
Still, something held me back. I considered myself an independent woman, but I wished I could see Uncle Mick, that we could confer over what was happening. Of course, that was likely why they had kept us apart.
No doubt Uncle Mick had been given the same pretty speech. I wondered if he had told them they would need to talk to me.
“I’m not sure what to say…” I glanced at the insignia on his uniform, guessed at his rank, and then purposefully demoted him. “Lieutenant.”
“Major,” he said, without a blink. “Major Ramsey.”
“Well, Major Ramsey,” I said, recrossing my arms, “before I commit to anything, I want to talk to my uncle. Alone.”
* * *
After another half hour or so of waiting, one of the men who had arrested us—or perhaps abducted was more accurate, now that we knew they weren’t police—let Uncle Mick into my room and closed the door behind him.
I was surprised at the weight that lifted off my shoulders at the sight of him. He looked tired, gray stubble bristling his face and shadows beneath his eyes, but he grinned as he slid into the seat across from me, and I saw that whatever tactics they had tried on him had not dimmed his spirit.
“Are you all right?” I asked, placing my hand over his on the table. It was warm beneath my own chilled skin.
“I’m right as rain, Ellie girl. It’ll take more than a night of questions to shake your old Uncle Mick.”
I knew it was true, but I still didn’t like the thought of it.
“Did you speak to that dreadful major?” I asked, hoping the man was listening.
He grinned. “Got under your skin, did he? I figured he might. Not the most charming of fellows, perhaps, but no doubt he’s clever and capable.”
“He certainly orchestrated our kidnapping cleverly enough,” I