Eisenjager didn’t care if the man was ill. What he cared about was that the shop owner had described Jian perfectly. He was on the right road, and they were only a few hours ahead of him.
Sliding behind the wheel, he started the engine and pulled onto the road, accelerating. The woman had known about the invasion taking place. She had asked him if he had seen anything on the roads and whether or not she should close her shop. It never once occurred to her that he might be German himself. She had accepted his polite explanation that he was Danish, traveling through Norway and separated from his companions. His accent was nothing like a Danish accent, but she hadn’t seemed to notice. Funny how people found it easier to accept a lie than to question a small thing like a strange accent.
He waited until he passed through the small town and was back in the countryside before pulling the car to the edge of the road and shutting off the engine. Getting out, he walked to the back and lifted the storage compartment, pulling out a deep, square case. He carried it around to the passenger side and got back in, holding the case on his lap. Lifting the lid to reveal a radio, he pulled out a wire with a special adapter on the end and leaned over to pull the cigarette lighter out of the dash. Inserting the adapter into the lighter opening, he turned the key to restart the engine. As the engine came to life, so did the radio in his lap.
Eisenjager straightened up and lifted out the paddle to begin transmitting a code to the SS unit that had already landed at Trondheim. According to the woman at the filling station, the black Volvo had been going north. The woman who paid for the petrol mentioned trying to reach Trondheim. She obviously had no idea that the Germans had taken it this morning, along with all the other main ports along the western seaboard of Norway. That was all to his own advantage. He had plenty of time to alert the Gestapo and the SD in Trondheim while he pursued them from the south. Once the SD were notified of a British agent trying to escape the invasion, they would work with the SS to ensure that the trio didn’t make it past Trondheim.
And then he would capture the English spy known as Jian.
Chapter Twenty-One
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London
5pm
The hard soles of Bill’s shoes echoed along the corridor in a rapid tattoo as he hurried towards the radio room. Evelyn had finally managed to make contact. They had rung his office just moments before, as he was preparing to go out and grab a bite to eat. Thank God they caught him before he left. After waiting all day, he would have been very annoyed indeed if he had missed her.
“Where is it?” he asked, striding into the small radio room unceremoniously.
“Here, sir.” A young man turned, removing his headset and holding out a piece of paper. “I just finished decoding it.”
“Thank you.”
He took the message and scanned it quickly.
AM IN THE MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF TRONDHEIM WITH ANNA AND NORWEGIAN SOLDIERS SEPARATED FROM THEIR UNITS. GERMANS HAVE TAKEN TRONDHEIM AND ARE ADVANCING THROUGHOUT NORWAY. WON’T MAKE SWEDISH BORDER. AWAITING INSTRUCTION - JIAN.
Relief flooded through him. She was still safe, at least for now. He pursed his lips thoughtfully, then looked at the young man who had handed him the message.
“Can I have some paper?” he asked. “I’ll write out a return message.”
He nodded and passed him a notepad and pencil. Bill took it and moved a few feet away to an empty station. Seating himself, he quickly composed a reply instructing her to stay where she was, glancing at his watch when he was almost finished. He added another line telling her to try to make contact again in two hours, then got up and took it over to the radio operator.
“Send that immediately, please. How long are you manning this station?”
“Until midnight, sir.”
“Good. I’ll be expecting another message in about two hours. As soon as it comes in, I’ll have another message to send. Understood?”
“Yes, sir. Will you be in the building or shall I call you at home?”
“What? Oh no. I’ll be in my office.” He started to turn away, then changed his mind. “Actually, I’ll wait to see if there’s an immediate reply.”
The young man nodded and put on his headset, turning to the radio before him. He set the message Bill had written out on a clipboard and proceeded to tap out the code.
Bill watched him, his lips pressed together. It was just plain bad luck that Evelyn was caught in Norway right now, but it did drive home to him the need to get her fully trained on sending radio transmissions back to London and, more importantly, using the code process that they had in place for agents overseas. The basic code she was using now was sufficient enough to get the job done, but it was far from secure. If the Germans knew what to look for, they would break it in no time.
He just had to hope and pray they weren’t listening for outgoing transmissions yet.
“It’s done, sir.”
Bill nodded and waited. When ten minutes had passed with no reply, he laid a light hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Thank you. Let me know as soon as the message comes in later.”
He nodded and Bill turned to leave the small room. He started down the corridor, then slowed as he changed his mind. Turning, he went in the opposite direction until he reached the stairs. He ran up them lightly, pulling out his identification for the guard at the top.
“Evening, Mr. Buckley,”
