The Oslo Affair (Shadows of War, #2) CW Browning (sci fi books to read TXT) 📖

He pressed his lips together and watched as the Englishwoman turned to say something to the man. He answered and held out his hand. Watching the Englishwoman shake it and turn to walk away, Grigori felt a surge of anger. There could be no doubt that Comrade Risto Niva had been meeting with the British agent.

They had found their intelligence leak.

He watched as the Englishwoman walked back the way she had come and Comrade Niva turned to walk in the opposite direction. With a final glance at the Englishwoman, Grigori stepped out of the alleyway and turned to his right. He strode to the end of the block, where Comrade Yakov lurked in the shadows.

“Where is Lyakhov?” he demanded shortly.

“I followed him as far as the bridge. I lost him when he came into this neighborhood.”

“I want you to follow Comrade Niva,” Grigori told him. “Leave Lyakhov for now.”

Yakov nodded and prepared to head in the opposite direction. After a few steps, he paused and turned back.

“And the girl?”

“Don't worry about her. She’ll head back to the hotel and I’ll apprehend her there. By the end of the day, we’ll know everything we need to know about the Englishwoman and Comrade Niva. Don’t lose him. I’ll take care of him when I’m finished with her.”

Yakov nodded and turned away to go after Niva. Turning, Grigori continued up the street. He could still see the Englishwoman ahead, moving through the crowds quickly as she headed out of Gamla Stan.

While he hadn’t wanted to believe that Lyakhov was, in fact, a traitor, he was still surprised at who the leak was. Niva was based in Finland, of all places. How on earth had the British got to him? As far as he knew, the British had no presence in Finland outside Helsinki. Yet clearly they had managed to get to Comrade Niva.

The frown on his face grew. And what about Oslo? Niva had never been there. He remained firmly in Finland, with occasional forays into Stockholm. After thinking for a moment, Comrade Grigori pressed his lips together thoughtfully. Niva didn’t have to be in Oslo. The Germans were in Oslo. What if the Englishwoman was there for the Germans, then she moved on to Stockholm? There was nothing to stop an agent from pursuing two contacts in the same trip. He’d done it himself many times. And if that was the case, it was only pure luck that he was able to track down her meeting with Niva today.

But Comrade Grigori didn’t believe in luck. In a bizarre twist of convictions, he actually did believe in fate. Many of his successes could only be attributed to that very thing.

It was fate that had brought him to Oslo, he decided as he walked through the old streets of Gamla Stan. Just as it was fate that led him to Stockholm. He looked at the woman ahead of him thoughtfully.

It could be that it was fate that brought the Englishwoman into his sphere. Comrade Niva spoke only Russian, Finnish and Swedish, so she had to speak one of those three languages. The fact that she was traveling with an obvious translator indicated that the language she had in common with Niva was Russian or Finnish. Personally, his wager was on Russian, and if the Englishwoman spoke Russian well enough to be understood, that was no small feat. In fact, it made her a rarity as far as British agents went.

And that made her a perfect target to be turned as a double agent.

Herr Renner looked up as the door to his room opened. He set down his pen and sat back, watching as the shorter man closed the door and turned to cross the sitting room.

“Well?”

“No one is in the room. The other woman must have left sometime after the Englishwoman.” The man seated himself in one of the chairs and crossed his legs comfortably. “I went through the rooms. I found nothing that could be of use to us.”

Renner frowned. “Nothing at all?”

The man shook his head. “No. All that’s there is clothing and some magazines.”

“What about the telegram that was delivered?”

“There was no sign of it.”

Renner cursed. “The other woman must have taken it with her. Do we know for certain it was meant for the Englishwoman?”

“Oh yes. I spoke with the boy who hand delivered it myself. It was for Miss Margaret Richardson.”

Getting to his feet, Renner walked over to the window overlooking the harbor and stared out silently for a moment.

“Any idea who it was from?” he asked over his shoulder.

“Her editor in London, or so I was told.”

Renner nodded. That made sense. The British Secret Service would hardly send instructions from their own agency. They would use something in line with their agents cover story.

“There is one thing that might help us,” the man said slowly from the chair. “She will have to contact the British embassy if she suspects that she’s been compromised. We have a man there already. If she sends anything to Mr. Manchester, we’ll know about it.”

Renner turned from the window. “I don’t see how that helps us. If she suspects she’s been compromised, she won’t come back to the hotel. Especially if there’s nothing in her room worth saving.”

“There isn’t.”

Silence fell over the sitting room and the man in the chair leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling while Renner paced before the window.

“I don’t think it will come to any of that,” he finally said, breaking the silence. “She doesn’t know we’re here. You arrived after she left, so she hasn’t seen you. The woman with her is nobody, just a Norwegian girl from what the concierge said. She’s probably here to translate for her, so she knows nothing. There’s no reason for either of them to suspect anything.”

Herr Renner looked at him consideringly. The other man was right. He’d been careful not to be seen by Maggie Richardson. She had no idea