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

Jasper asked, motioning her to the other chair before the desk. “Please, have a seat.”

Evelyn thanked him and sank down into the chair opposite Bill. Once she had, the other two took their seats.

“And how are you and your family doing? Is there anything you need?” Jasper asked, sitting back in his chair behind the desk. “I know this must be a difficult time.”

“Thank you. It is, but we will be fine.”

“I knew your father well. He was a great man.” Jasper shook his head sadly. “He spoke very highly of you. I wish we didn’t have to meet for the first time under these circumstances.”

Evelyn looked from one man to the other.

“With all due respect,” she said slowly, “why are we meeting today?”

Jasper glanced at Bill with a faint smile.

“You were right,” he said dryly. “She isn’t much for chit-chat.”

“No, she isn’t,” Evelyn said a bit more sharply than she intended. “Not when I’ve come some distance to a meeting with a man who says he worked with my father, but whom I’d never heard of it until yesterday.”

To her surprise, Jasper chuckled.

“Quite right, my dear. My apologies for that.” He opened a drawer and pulled out a folder, setting it on the desk before him. “I understand you’ve been training in Scotland? Bill here has only good things to say about your progress.”

Evelyn looked at Bill, startled, and he nodded reassuringly.

“It’s quite all right,” he told her. “Jasper knows everything.”

“Yes, yes, I know all about you,” Jasper said, glancing up from the folder before him. “Do you really speak seven languages fluently?”

“Yes.”

“And they are?”

“French, German, Italian, Cantonese, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.” Evelyn smiled faintly. “Although, I’m fairly certain they’re probably listed in that folder.”

Another chuckle emanated from Jasper. “Yes, they are. It’s quite an impressive list. Are there any others in which you are not fluent?”

“I’m learning Japanese, but it’s very slow. I haven’t had much time lately to concentrate on it as I’d like,” she admitted.

Jasper looked at Bill.

“She’s learning Japanese,” he said dryly. “Just as casual as you please. As if the Cantonese and Russian weren’t enough.”

Bill grinned. “I did tell you she was something special.”

“You know, your father told me you were very talented, but I’m afraid I wrote it off as the doting of a fond parent. It seems he wasn’t exaggerating.” Jaspers shook his head and bent it back over the folder on the desk. “I see here that you’ve almost finished the MI6 training. High scores all around. Good.” He looked up sharply. “How about Norwegian? Do you speak that at all?”

Evelyn shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

“Pity.”

He went back to the file and continued reading, falling silent. Evelyn looked at Bill with a frown and he shrugged. He was either as much in the dark is she was regarding why they were here, or he was content to allow Jasper to get to it in his own good time. What on earth was she doing here? That Jasper Montclair was someone fairly high up in the MI6 organization was clear, especially given Bill’s deference to him, but who was he, exactly? And what did he want with her? And why did she have to come the day immediately following her father’s funeral?

The questions were still rolling through her mind when he looked up a few moments later.

“Well, I suppose you’re wondering what this is all about,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “Tell me what you know about your father’s work.”

Evelyn stared at him.

“Not much,” she finally said. “I know he worked with the foreign office, and they relied on him to maintain precarious relationships between ambassadors and foreign dignitaries.”

“And when he unfortunately passed away?”

Evelyn flinched. “We were told he had a massive heart attack, most likely brought on from the stress of fleeing Poland ahead of the Germans. He died in his hotel room in Bern.”

“And that’s all you know?”

“That’s it, I’m afraid. Dad was very close about his work and rarely spoke about it. The circumstances of his death were no different. We were told only what someone determined we should be told.”

“You sound as if you question the cause of your father’s death,” Jasper stated rather than asked. “Do you doubt that he had a heart attack?”

Evelyn shook her head. “No. As far as I can understand, the medical report was conclusive. What has me confused is that he was at the Bellevue Palace Hotel, in Bern. But when I saw him in London before his trip, he told me he would be staying in Zürich. I’m not sure why he would have changed cities, but I suppose he had his reasons.”

“And what did he tell you about this last trip?”

She frowned.

“Only that he was going to Warsaw for a few days. He mentioned the possibility of stopping in Vienna on his way back, but he was unsure if that would be possible. Of course, then Hitler decided to invade Poland, making a stop in Vienna impossible.”

“Tell me, did Robert ever mention to you what the purpose of these trips were?”

“Never. As I said, he rarely spoke about his work.”

Jasper studied her pensively for a moment, then glanced at Bill. As if coming to a decision, he nodded and sat forward in his seat.

“What I’m going to say cannot leave this room. The moment you walked through that door, you became bound by the Official Secrets Act. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You’re mostly correct about your father. Robert was invaluable to the foreign office. However, what you don’t know, is that he was also invaluable to us. His loss is a great blow to MI6. He had made contacts all over Europe and in the Far East, and was able to funnel an inordinately large amount of information to us through them.”

Evelyn felt as though the floor was dropping out from under her and she gripped the arms of her chair as she stared speechlessly at Jasper. He stared back stoically, waiting for her to respond.

“I...I don’t understand,”