“Very well.”
“And there’s something else,” I say, searching for the words. I need the job, at least a few weeks of the pay, then I’ll be set. “The job, I did, actually, have a look and it, um, might not be so dangerous—”
Her face changes quickly, as if I’d smacked her. The grimace is somewhere between worry and anger. “I can’t do it. I won’t. Every day, waiting, wondering if you’ll come home. I won’t live like that.”
“This is all I have, Helena. I’m not any good at anything else. I don’t know how to do anything else.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. Men start over all the time.”
“And I will, I promise you that. Six weeks, that’s all I need, and I’ll throw in the towel. The war might be done by that time, and they’ll have another team in there, and you’ll be shipping out of here, and I’ll need to… I’ll need money for… making arrangements.”
“Arrangements can be made without money. I’ve got—”
“Out of the question.”
“If you get killed in that mine, I’ll never get over it. Can you live with that?”
“Mining’s a lot less dangerous when people aren’t dropping bombs on you.”
“How about when you’ve got the whole ocean on top of you? The whole Bay of Gibraltar over your head. All that water, constantly pressing on those tunnels. How would they ever pull you from that cave-in? It’s suicide.”
“You can see the sea coming.”
“How?”
“The rock sweats,” I say.
“I’m sorry Patrick, I can’t.” The look in her eyes tells me she means it.
Some decisions are easy. “Then it’s settled. I’ll tell them no.”
We kiss again, and I hug her tight.
David put a hand on Kate’s. “This is what you’ve been reading? World War One-era Gone With the Wind?”
She pushed his hand back. “No! I mean, it hasn’t been like this so far, but… Well, you could probably do with a little romance in your literary diet. Soften that hard soldier heart of yours.”
“We’ll see. Maybe we can just skip the mushy parts, get right to the point where they say the bombs or secret labs are located here.”
“We’re not skipping anything. It could be important.”
“Well, since you’re enjoying it so much, I’ll endure it.” He clasped his hands on his stomach and stared at the ceiling stoically.
Kate smiled. “Always the martyr.”
CHAPTER 84
Clocktower HQ
New Delhi, India
“Sir?”
Dorian looked up at the Immari Security officer lingering nervously in the doorway to his office.
“What?”
“You asked to be kept apprised of the operation—”
“Make your report.”
The man swallowed. “The packages are in position in America and Europe.”
“Drones?”
“They’ve acquired another target.”
CHAPTER 85
Kate thought the buzzing in the distance, the bee searching for them, was getting louder, but she ignored it. David didn’t say anything either.
They sat together in the small alcove overlooking the valley, and Kate continued reading, stopping only for an early lunch and to give David his antibiotics.
August 10th, 1917
The pawnbroker watches me like a bird of prey perched in a tree as I browse the glass cases at the front of the store. They’re full of rings, all sparkling, all beautiful. I assumed there would be three or four to choose from, that it would be rather simple. What to do…
“A young man seeks an engagement ring, nothing more warms my heart, especially in these dark times.” The man stands over the case, smiling a proud, sentimental, smile. I didn’t even hear him move across the room. The man must move like a thief in the night.
“Yes, I… didn’t think there would be this many.” I continue skimming the case, waiting for something to jump out at me.
“There are many rings because there are many widows here in Gibraltar. The Kingdom has been at war for almost four years, and the poor women, the war leaves them with no husband and no source of income. They sell their rings so they can buy bread. Bread in your belly is worth more than a stone on your finger or a memory in your heart. We pay them pennies on the dollar.” He reaches inside the glass case and pulls out a velvet display rack that holds the largest rings. He places the rack on top of the glass case, just a few inches from me, and spreads his hands over them as if he were about to perform a magic trick. “But their misfortune can be your gain, my friend. Just peek at the prices. You will be surprised.”