The Virtuosic Spy 01 - Deceptive Cadence by Kathryn Guare Read Free Book Online

it would have been fairly easy to get away.”
    He couldn’t resist the dig at the Special Branch officer, whose hostility seemed excessive since he’d already taken his revenge. Shelton did not acknowledge the remark but slapped his cup and saucer onto the table and got to his feet.
    “I’ve got work to do if I’m to take him to Gosport today,” he grumbled. “What time do you want him there?”
    “It doesn’t matter,” Frank said. “There’s nothing planned for today. Try to get a few hours’ sleep first, Lawrence. It will improve your mood.”
    Without responding, Shelton lifted his raincoat from the back of a chair and moved to the door with a step that seemed unusually light in comparison with his bulk. Before leaving, he swung back toward Conor with a baleful glance. “Be out front at two thirty, packed and ready to travel. Don’t make me wait.” Conor expected the door to close with a punctuating crash, but instead it slid shut without a sound, which somehow felt more menacing.
    “Looks like I’ve made a friend,” he said, hoping the remark sounded more rakish than he felt.
    Frank laughed. “Don’t take it personally. Lawrence is the quintessential misanthrope. He despises everyone.”
    “And you’re expecting me to get in a car with him and ride to Gosport?”
    Frank tapped the tips of his fingers together and gazed at him without expression. “It would be more accurate to say I require it of you. This is part of the bargain you agreed to, and you bloody well need to understand it from the beginning. You are nothing so melodramatic as a prisoner, but you are not entirely free. There are plans in place for this operation that involve others besides you. At some point, lives may depend on your capacity to take direction when it is given. We cannot continue having this conversation.”
    Conor placed his head back against the plush upholstery of the chair. He opened his mouth and this time consciously sought the tender spot where his lip was swollen and split. When he found it, he pressed against it until his eyes smarted and he tasted a warm trickle of blood running over his tongue. “What’s in Gosport?” he asked, staring up at the ceiling.
    “Everything you need to know.”
    He briefly lowered his gaze to glare at Frank but let the cryptic remark pass without challenge. “How long will I be there?”
    “Ten weeks.”
    He allowed the news to sink in, his fingers tightening on the arm of the chair. “After that, I go to India?”
    “Correct,” Frank said, and then continued in a softer tone. “I know that personal circumstances make this difficult for you, Conor, and I regret it. Of course, you’ll want to let your mother know you’ll be away, and . . . out of contact, for some time. We can’t allow you to share specifics, however. It’s for the best—for her safety as well as yours.”
    Lifting his head from the chair, Conor nodded and retrieved the towel from the ice bucket. He would make the call, naturally, but the information would be redundant.
    I’m afraid it will be a long journey for you, my little love.
    She’d known it already on the day he left, and even after all he’d learned in the past two days, he expected that on some level, she still knew more than he did.

    W HEN S HELTON APPEARED at two thirty, Conor was encouraged to see the officer had apparently taken Frank’s advice. It would be a stretch to say his attitude was friendly, but he looked rested and refreshed and less inclined to violence.
    With more than two hours of driving before them, he thought it was worth another try with the Special Branch officer.
    “Can you tell me at all what I’ll be doing in Gosport, Lawr . . . er, Officer—”
    “Shelton. Just call me Shelton.”
    “Right. Shelton. And you can call me—”
    “Whatever the hell I please,” Shelton snapped. “Look, it’s not a little trip to get to know each other, is it? We’re not going to be chatting all the way down to the