The Spy by Marc Eden Read Free Book Online

thing—and now that we have a slight foothold in the country, the help and knowledge of the French would be invaluable.”
    â€œYes, of course,” the girl replied.
    â€œIn spite of large German forces being held at Calais, the plans found on a dead British officer—we washed up one of our own, you see, on a Spanish beach—indicated the main invasion would come just there, at Calais. To throw off von Rundstedt, hmmm?” He had unrolled the map—“Put that inkwell on it, will you? Thanks. The Germans are piled up here”—he pointed—“consequently, the American, Omar Bradley, and his divisions at Omaha and Utah beaches have not yet been able to move inland and capture Cherbourg”—pointer, sweeping north—“Montgomery, in command of the British and Canadians, had much better luck at these beaches, managed to move inland but they have been stalled near Caen for over two weeks.”
    â€œThat’s a long time, sir.”
    â€œIndeed! But we had an overlap, you see. During those first six days, ‘the Fairway’—that’s the path of entry for the ships—closed at 1630 hours, before dark. Gave our chaps a chance to get home before the nightly U-boat activity. Supply and deployment got bottled up, and they are still trying to sort it out. Monty tells us the Germans are blocking the advance with tanks, artillery, anything that can be mustered.”
    â€œI have been of the opinion that General Montgomery is very cautious,” said Valerie, quoting Carrington, “and will not risk getting his men killed if the odds are too great.”
    â€œThat’s your observation, is it? You should hear Eisenhower’s. Now then, one of the things we need to know—and fast—is how much time do we have? How much longer will the German 15th Army be fooled into thinking our main invasion, under Patton, will come at Calais?”
    It was Operation BODYGUARD. She knew that Operation OVERLORD was Normandy. When Hamilton had asked her, she had lied....
    â€œI have no idea,’ she murmured.
    â€œOf course not, of course you don’t my dear. But these issues must be addressed. Even more important, is to find out where the launching platforms are located for their flying bombs.”
    â€œThe V1’s, sir?”
    â€œExactly,” Hamilton said. “We know they intend to go all out with it, to launch against us en masse, in an effort to finally destroy our cities. The V1’s are already falling, and you can imagine the uproar, should the public find out that even deadlier ones may be on the way. So you see, we must take care of the matter at once.”
    â€œAt once...of course, sir.”
    â€œHowever, there’s a bit more to it than that.” His tone had changed, the room seemed to have grown quiet. Valerie was aware that it was difficult for the Commander to speak. Like all good Operatives, it was hardest for him to share what he most needed to reveal. “We suspect—” he took a deep breath—“a weapon even more ominous—not necessarily this atomic thing that Einstein and his people are tinkering with—but something more immediate, and awesome, in terms of Britain. A weapon that, if deployed, will render us absolutely defenseless against it.”
    â€œYou mean, worse than Coventry, sir?”
    â€œYes, perhaps so.” Hamilton cocked his head. “Yes, if deployed, most certainly...worse than Coventry.”
    Fifty thousand homes destroyed, four thousand victims...
    Valerie felt her blood run cold.
    She looked up at him, as if for assurance, and his eyes were grey and calm. He held death in his mind, where truth was; and she could not know it. By the eve of Coventry, MI.5 had cracked the German Enigma Code. Informed of Berlin’s plan to destroy the city, Churchill had opted to sit tight, rather than tip the Luftwaffe . Withheld from the public, this