“Yes. They believe an invasion is imminent. They’ve begun mining the waters off the coast to try to prevent German ships from getting too close to the shores.” Daniel looked up. “You’d better go make some tea. I’ll contact London with this latest message from Berlin and we’ll see if anything new is known.”
“Yes, sir.” The young man turned to leave the office, but paused inside the door. “Should I call in Anna?”
“No. She’s not in Oslo. She’s gone down to the coast.” Daniel shook his head. “This is a hell of a time to have someone from London in. Send a car round to the Kolstad’s house first thing in the morning. I’ll write out a message for Jian. She should at least be aware of this latest report.”
“I’ll tell the driver to be ready in the morning,” the assistant said. “If you write out the message, I’ll take it personally.”
A smile cracked Daniel’s face. “Thank you, Peterson. I don’t deserve you. Now go get that tea and let’s get to work, shall we?”
Peterson nodded with a grin and left the office. As soon as the door closed behind him, Daniel leaned forward and picked up the message again. It had come from Berlin, from an assistant to the Danish delegation there. It was a source he had cultivated on his last visit to Copenhagen, and so far the information he’d sent to Daniel had been accurate. Daniel stared at the date typed in the message: April 9th.
Four days from now.
He dropped the paper on the desk again and stared across the room, his lips pressed together. This was the third time the 9th had been mentioned. Was Hitler sending his forces against Norway in four days? Or was this just another red herring?
And if it wasn’t, how the hell was he going to get Jian out of Norway in the midst of it all?
Chapter Twelve
––––––––
Oslo, Norway
April 6
Evelyn looked up when Josef entered the dining room where she was sipping her morning coffee. She had finished eating her light breakfast of toast with cheese and fresh fruit, and was enjoying her coffee while she turned the pages of a newspaper.
“This came for you just now,” he told her, holding out an envelope. “The car was from the embassy. I didn’t recognize the man who brought this. He looked young.”
Evelyn couldn’t hide her smile at the disgruntled note in Josef’s voice. He sounded almost affronted.
“He can’t be very young if he’s working for the embassy,” she said with a grin, taking the envelope. “They don’t hire children.”
“Don’t they?” Josef snorted and turned to leave the room. “You could have fooled me.”
Evelyn laughed and tore open the envelope, pulling out the single sheet of paper. None of the other guests had come down yet and she had the dining room to herself this morning. Scanning the message from Daniel, her smile faded and her brows came together sharply. After reading it twice, she swallowed the rest of her coffee and pushed her chair back quickly. Carrying it with her, she crossed the room and went out into the hall, glancing at the front door. It was closed. The messenger hadn’t waited for a reply.
Evelyn turned and went down the short hallway to the kitchen door and poked her head inside. An older woman with dark hair beginning to streak with gray was standing at the large island chopping vegetables. When Evelyn stuck her head in, she looked up in surprise.
“Marlene! God morgen,” she greeted her, her face breaking into a smile. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, thank you, Else. Everything was delicious,” Evelyn said, stepping into the kitchen. “I wonder if I can use your telephone?”
“Yes, of course. It’s in the front parlor. I’ll show you.” Else put down her knife and wiped her hands on her apron before moving around the island towards the door. “How was your trip to Drammen yesterday? Did you enjoy yourself?”
Evelyn smiled. “It was very nice. The scenery on the way down was wonderful. Norway is a beautiful country.”
“Parts of it are, indeed,” Else said, leading her out of the kitchen and back down the hallway towards the front room. “If you really want to see something, go north. That’s where our real beauty lies.”
“I don’t know if that will be possible this time, but I’ll remember it for next time. I’m on a rather tight time schedule this trip.” Especially now, she added to herself silently, glancing down at the folded paper in her hand.
“Josef’s people are from Trondheim. Beautiful country there, but of course that’s in the central part of the country. I call it the north because I was born here in Oslo. He gets annoyed, but to me anything in that direction is north.”
“Trondheim? Isn’t that where Anna’s brother is stationed?”
“Yes, that’s right. There’s an army base not far from there.” She went into the front room and motioned to the desk on the other side. “There it is. I’ll close the door so you can have some privacy.”
“Thank you.”
Evelyn waited until Else had closed the door behind her, then crossed over to sit in the chair before the desk. Picking up the heavy handset, she listened for a dial tone and then dialed the number to Anna’s flat. A moment later, she was listening to the telephone ring on the other end. After several rings, she picked up.
“Hallo?”
“Anna, is that you?” Evelyn asked, frowning at the muffled voice coming through the handset. “Good heavens, I can barely make you out!”
“I’m sorry,” Anna said, suddenly much louder and clearer. “I had a towel wrapped around my head. I just finished washing my hair. Is that better?”
“Much! Would you like to meet for coffee? Say, in an hour?”
There was a short pause on the line. “All right. I’ll see you in an hour.”
Evelyn hung up and opened the paper in her hand, rereading the message swiftly. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen reports of Germany
