Page 2 of The Bachelor Spy
“Italy, then?”
“Nein,” Stein answered simply. “A place much closer to your front door, mein Herr.”
England? A convalescent hospital in England?
“Perfect,” the Englishman murmured. “Wounded officers talk too freely around nurses they think are angels of mercy.”
“Clever, no?” Stein’s voice held a note of pride. “No one suspects the nurses. They’re invisible, really. Moving between stations, tending to generals and privates alike. She’s already proven invaluable.”
“This is excellent information, Stein.” A pause. “And you’ve given it so freely. Too freely, I’m afraid.”
Blake froze. He knew that tone—the shift from curiosity to finality. The Englishman was finished with Stein. The German had served his purpose, been found wanting, and now … had become a liability.
He couldn’t wait any longer. Stein had to be taken alive—had to be questioned, catalogued, and wrung dry of every detail about the Midnight Angel and her network before—
He drew his revolver and pushed through the door.
The scene materialized in a horrifying instant.
Stein stood near a narrow desk, documents scattered before him. And holding a gun already drawn, already aimed at Stein’s head with casual confidence, stood Evan Montgomery.
Blake’s breath squeezed closed in his throat.
Montgomery?His colleague. His friend. The man he’d trained with in Scotland, shared terrible army rations with in the trenches, trusted with his life on half a dozen missions across the Channel. The man whose sister Blake had been half in love with for six months but was far too professional to mention. The man who was, apparently, a traitor.
Well. That complicated things.
“Blake.” Montgomery didn’t flinch, didn’t lower the weapon. Something cold and calculating flickered in his eyes. “I was wondering when you’d make your entrance. Always did have impeccable timing.”
“What are you—?” Blake’s own gun came up, but his mind struggled to reconcile what he was seeing. This was rather like discovering one’s vicar running a smuggling operation. Unexpected and deeply unnerving. “Put the weapon down. We can sort this—”
“I’m afraid we’re past sorting things, old man.” Montgomery’s finger tightened on the trigger. “Some secrets are worth killing for. Surely you understand that.”
Stein’s eyes widened.
“Wait—”
The gunshot cracked through the tiny cabin.
Stein jerked backward, a bloom of crimson appearing at his temple. Papers fluttered around him as he quietly crumpled, dead before he struck the floor.
“No!“ Blake lunged forward, but it was too late. He trained his revolver on Montgomery again. “What have youdone?”
“What was necessary.” Montgomery lowered his gun with infuriating calm, as if he’d just completed routine target practice. “The question is, Blake, what areyougoing to do about it? Shoot me? Your friend? Your teammate?” His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “That will look splendid in the report.”
“Why?” Blake’s attention kept alert, despite the incomprehensibility of it all. “We … we are on the same team.”
“Were,” Montgomery corrected, shrugging a shoulder with remarkable nonchalance for a man who’d just committed murder. “Sometimes one must follow the most lucrative option.”
No. Montgomery was helping the enemy? Blake’s entire understanding of reality was rapidly requiring revision.
Inconvenient, that.
Before Blake could respond, footsteps pounded in the corridor outside.
“Evan?” A woman’s voice, breathless. “I heard a shot—”
Evie Montgomery, Evan’s twin, burst through the door. Her revolver was drawn with the skill of someone who’d been doing this long before most women were allowed anywhere near intelligence work. A family trait passed from father to children.
