A Spy in the Shadows (Spy Noir Series Book 1) by Randy Grigsby Read Free Book Online Page A

paradise, an incredible wonderland for a small girl.  She remembered an old aunt, and a vast, ancient house that always smelled of bread.  Gardens along the Isar River where she sailed toy boats in mirrored lakes.  Another glance out the window and she recognized that they were along the Marienplatz, an expanse of open cafes, then down a side street, and Rosen-str, a tangle of narrow streets and lanes.  The Mercedes stopped in front of an open café shaded with large chestnut trees.  Catherine stepped out and was immediately greeted by a tall, well-suited man with penetrating eyes.
    “The colonel is waiting,” he told Catherine and turned on his heels.  “This way, please.”
    She followed him across a stone street.  Richter?  Why would he need her in such a quick manner?  She noticed several other men stationed at the perimeters.
    Richter sat at the table reading a newspaper.  “Ah, my sweet, Catherine,” he said, taking her hand.  “I hope you found your son’s health improving.”
    “At least it appears the physicians know what we’re fighting,” she said.  “He’s a very sick boy.”
    “Then at least some good news.”
    “That’s why I’m late.  Meeting with the new physicians, of which I’m grateful,” she said.  “How could I ever thank you enough?”
    “It was the least I could do,” Richter said.  He stood and stepped out of the shade and into the brilliant morning sun.  His skin was sallow, plowed with wrinkles.  “Shall we take a walk, Catherine?”  Richter nodded and one of his men brought two Schipperkes on leashes and the intelligence chief took the leather strap.  She fell in place behind as they strolled down the hill.
    They had gone perhaps twenty meters when Richter stopped.
    “I have read your request to resign,” he said, “and I can’t say I blame you.  I have no family and so it wasn’t hard for me to choose a life of dedication to the Fatherland.  On the other hand, you have Georgi.  I can understand your motivations, especially during his illness.”
    “It means everything to me.”
    “As it should.”
    “But…” she said, waiting.
    “Yes, there is a matter that concerns me greatly,” he said.  “Iran.”  Over the next twenty minutes he discussed the importance of that region.  The rich oilfields, access to the ocean, all reasons why the allies would desire to control that land. 
    As he told her this, Catherine froze on the inside.  Richter wasn’t going to let her go, and she should have been prepared for that.  “What is it you need for me to do?”
    “We’re prepared to send you to Czechoslovakia, Catherine, arranged through a series of circumstances I believe hold a high level of success.  It will eventually allow your way into the heart of British Intelligence in Tehran.”
    Catherine held an unbreakable loyalty toward this man standing with her, but to leave her son when he needed her most?
    “I know it’s much I’m asking, Catherine,” Richter said as if reading her mind.  “But I give you my word this is your last operation.  And—while you are away only the best physicians will care for your son.  Upon your return you and Georgi will live out the rest of your lives in a cottage prepared for you in the forest north of the city.”
    “My last operation?”
    “The last and the most important,” he said.
    If he needed her for one more operation, then he would have it.  Catherine owed him as much.  “Then this shall be my last,” she said.
    Richter smiled.  “When we return to the café, I’ll give you a file on the events we’ve set in motion.  I think you’ll be impressed.”
    “Then you knew I would accept?” she said.
    The Schipperkes ran up and playfully nipped at Richter’s pant cuffs.  The spymaster reached down and gave each dog a gentle pat on the head apologizing for ignoring them.  He turned up to her.  “I know you, Catherine.”
    ----
    Within five weeks she was in Prague posing as a