The Oslo Affair (Shadows of War, #2) by CW Browning (read after .txt) 📗

woman was rattling on in Spanish, her voice increasing in volume with each word. When she paused for breath, her companion murmured something unintelligible that only seemed to enrage her further.

“Bah!” she exclaimed in disgust, turning to continue across the lobby with swift, angry strides. “Eres una idiota!”

The hotel manager appeared then, moving across the tiled floor to intercept them smoothly, and the man with the paper felt a wave of amusement wash over him. Ah. Here was the manager to try to diffuse the situation and quiet her down. The scene, as diverting as it was, would be over in a minute.

Every eye in the lobby was on the trio in the middle of the floor, midway between the entrance and the lift. The man imagined that if someone pulled out a pistol and fired it, no one would take any notice. Everyone was straining to hear what the manager was saying in a low, quiet voice.

“I am Senora Damita Huerta Lucero,” the woman responded to his low tone in heavily accented English that carried to every ear in the lobby. “I have come to see the Condesa de Carilla for tea. She is expecting me.”

The manager nodded and said something again in a low voice at which the dark-haired woman seemed to calm slightly.

“Thank you. This is my secretary. She will be accompanying me, although I should not allow her anywhere near the Condesa. Her incompetence is outstanding.” The woman turned to continue towards the lift, the manager beside her. “I should discharge her but it is very difficult to find good help in my country since the civil war.”

The man watched as the trio moved towards the lift, the secretary trailing behind. Just when it appeared that the excitement was over, the dark-haired woman turned her head and snapped at the other woman.

“¡Darse prisa! ¡Te mueves como una cerda preñada!”

The man had no idea what the woman had said, but a snicker came from the direction of the front desk. The manager shot a look over his shoulder and the guilty party flushed and promptly lowered his head to become suddenly engrossed in paperwork.

“Do you see what I must deal with?” the woman demanded of the manager, drawing his attention back to her. “Just look at her dawdling! If she had her way, we would miss tea altogether! She does it on purpose, you know. Her family is socialist. They fought with the Republicans and she doesn’t approve of the aristocracy. I notice it doesn’t stop her from taking her salary from us, though.”

The lift attendant had the door open before the trio even reached it and the manager handed her into the cage quickly, saying something in a low voice to the attendant. A moment later, the gate was closed and the lift churned into action, carrying the woman and her hapless companion out of sight.

Shaking his head, the man in the chair glanced once more at the entrance and raised his newspaper again. That was the most interesting thing to happen so far today. If the Englishwoman didn’t show up soon, he was going to fall asleep in this chair.

Stifling another yawn, he looked at his watch. Herr Renner would be down in half an hour to relieve him. He just had to make it another half hour. With any luck, the Englishwoman would return before then and the tedious wait would be over. He was growing weary of doing nothing but watch the door. The sooner she came and they got to work, the better for all of them.

Chapter Twenty-Three

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As soon as the lift began its ponderous upward journey, Evelyn exhaled silently and glanced at Anna. The woman really did look the part of a harassed and weary personal secretary. Her glasses had slipped to the end of her nose and her hat had tilted sideways sometime in their walk from the entrance to the lift. She kept her gaze downcast and Evelyn really was impressed. She hadn’t been sure that Anna would be able to pull off her small part, but no one had suspected that she was anything other than what she appeared to be. Even the man with the newspaper hadn’t looked twice at either of them until Evelyn started her performance.

When they entered the lobby, he was the first one she noticed. Despite holding a newspaper, he’d been more interested in the entrance of the hotel than what was typed on the pages before him. She had recognized the cut of the dark suit as soon as she saw it. It was undoubtedly German, as was the hat on the chair next to him.

There was no sign of Herr Renner, but she knew that he would appear eventually. When he did, she wanted to be nowhere in sight. While she had obviously been able to get past everyone else in the lobby just now, Evelyn wasn’t so sure that Renner would be as easily fooled. He had eyes that seemed to see everything, and he had an uncanny way of appearing just when she was least expecting him.

She looked at the back of the attendant’s head and then looked at Anna again. Meeting her gaze, she smiled faintly. Then, tossing her head, she began speaking rapidly in Spanish once again. The attendant started at the harsh tone but, to his credit, failed to turn and stare. Instead, he stood stoically with his face turned forward while Evelyn proceeded to reprimand her ‘secretary’ once again, alternating between Spanish and English.

“Nunca he tenido una empleada tan estúpida!” she exclaimed, waving her hands. “And now, now we are late to tea. Es inaceptable! Your very presence offends me! Informaré a la condesa que es tu culpa. Siempre es tu culpa. I’m not putting up with it! I refuse to stay in your company one more minuto!”

Evelyn turned her attention to the attendant.

“Stop the lift,” she commanded imperiously.

The attendant turned to look at her, startled. He rattled something off in Swedish