The Iron Storm by CW Browning (best fiction novels to read .txt) 📗

the spread of this new National Socialist Party, or whatever they call themselves now. I know what they do. I had friends in Czechoslovakia, good men, who lost everything when the Nazis moved in. To remain neutral is to condone what they are doing, making us just as liable for the damage they inflict.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I was only able to pass on a few pieces here and there, you understand. Security is very tight, and I didn’t want to arouse suspicion. But I was sending along some good information, I think, even though it wasn’t a lot. In the past week, however, I’ve been able to gather a large amount information, much more than I’ve ever managed before. I was going to send it along via the courier I’ve been using, but then the Germans invaded.”

“And you were left with all this information and no way to get it here,” Evelyn finished for him.

He nodded. “Yes. I realized that I had to come to France myself. It was too dangerous to trust anyone else with it, and the courier fled in the early hours of the invasion. There was only one problem.”

“You’ve never been to France.” Evelyn smiled, shaking her head. “So you thought of me.”

“I thought it would be better to be with someone who knew their way around Paris,” he said ruefully. “And now here we are. I contacted the agent this morning and told him I was in France, on my way to Paris. He responded to say that he wasn’t in Paris, but in Marle.”

“And you thought he was in Paris?” Josephine asked, her brows furrowed. “Why?”

“Well, it was never mentioned where he was, so I just assumed he was in the capital.”

“Not many of us are,” she said with a smile. “What’s his name? Perhaps I know him.”

“I only know him as Asp.”

Josephine straightened, the smile wiped from her face. “Asp?”

Evelyn frowned at the look on her friend’s face. “What’s the matter?” she asked. “Do you know him?”

“No, but I know of him. So does Marc. It’s believed that he’s been passing information about the networks here to the SS.”

“The SS!” Evelyn gasped, her mouth dropping open.

“What?” Jens exclaimed at the same time.

Josephine nodded grimly. “Yes. Several agents are convinced of it, but no one has been able to catch him, or prove anything.”

“But why would they think that?” Evelyn asked with a frown.

“Agents have been going missing when they travel beyond the borders. Two went into Switzerland last month and never returned. One was found when his body washed up in Meillerie. The other is still missing.” Josephine shook her head. “The number of agents disappearing is increasing, and it can’t all be due to men and women getting cold feet in the face of war, which is what some people say is happening. And several of our associates across Holland and Belgian have also been compromised. Some people say that the only thing all these agents had in common was Asp. He was the contact for many of them.”

Jens let out a low curse. “And this is the man I’ve been sending State secrets to,” he muttered.

“You say that’s what many people think,” Evelyn said slowly, glancing at the horrified look on Jens’ face. “What do you think?”

“I won’t rush to hang a man,” Josephine replied, “but I don’t think there can be that much smoke without a fire. I wouldn’t trust him, and I won’t have anything to do with him. If there’s even the slightest possibility that any of it is true...” She shrugged as her voice trailed off.

“What does Marc think?”

“For the love of God, don’t mention it to him,” she warned. “He believes all of it, and it’s only the war and the fact that we’ve been very busy that stops him from hunting the bastard down.”

Evelyn looked at her, surprised. “Why would he do that?”

“The agent that floated up in Meillerie was his brother.”

Evelyn swallowed and nodded, looking at Jens. “No mention of Asp, then,” she agreed quickly. “Understood.”

“His brother is dead and he’s still working?” Jens asked in a low voice.

“He said that there was all the more reason to continue now. He doesn’t want his brother’s death to be in vain, so he continues.”

They were all silent for a long moment, then Jens exhaled, blowing his cheeks out.

“What do I do now? I won’t take this information to Asp, but I want to get it to someone who can do something with it,” he said. “I’ve come all this way and risked so much just to get the information in the first place, not to mention getting it out of the country.”

“I can’t take it,” Josephine said. “I can’t leave Maubeuge until we’re forced to do so. We’ve been instructed to stay here until further notice, or until the Nazis come.”

She fell silent again, her brow furrowed in thought. Evelyn wondered what, exactly, was in the information that Jens had taken from the State Security. If it was something the French could use, then it was something her own government could use. But Jens had no idea who or what she was, and so she remained silent. It wasn’t worth the risk to expose herself unless there was a very good reason to do so, especially with the Germans advancing as quickly as they were.

“I have an idea,” Josephine announced suddenly. “I didn’t know Asp was in Marle. I’m positive Marc doesn’t know either, or he would never have suggested his uncle’s property there. But I do know someone in Marle who you can trust. I can’t believe I didn’t think of him sooner! He’s an old friend of Luc’s, and he works in Paris most of the year. Right now he’s in Marle. Luc spoke to him on the telephone just the other day to arrange for supplies.”

“Who is he?” Jens asked.

“He goes by the name Marcel, and he’s quite high up in the organization. That’s probably why I