White Chocolate 23, Lemon-Lime Sorbet 7 [Divide and Rule]
Title: Double Cross
Author: lost_spook
Story: Heroes of the Revolution (Divide & Rule)
Flavor(s): White Chocolate #23 (exasperation); Lemon-Lime Sorbet #7 (fun with food or props)
Toppings/Extras: Chopped Nuts
Rating: PG
Word Count: 4367
Notes: early 1946, continues directly from Second Time, Worse Than the First
Summary: Julia’s having nothing but trouble with men - her brother seems to be in danger and Mr Iveson’s trying to buy her off with sandwiches…
***
There was such a long time between Mr Iveson leaving and anything else happening, let alone Rudy turning up, that Julia began to wonder if Mr Iveson had lied to her after all, and what she could do to help Rudy if he had. The next knock at the door, however, proved to be Rudy and after a second or two to take it in, she flung herself at him, not waiting for him to step inside. It had been over eight years since they’d seen each other, and her brother had then been not yet thirteen, but Julia would have known him anywhere.
“Ju,” he said, eventually, trying to pull out of her hold, “let me breathe! I won’t disappear, I promise.”
She gave a shaky laugh and let go, finding herself close to tears and putting up a hand to wipe her eyes.
“Oh, God, don’t cry,” said Rudy, stepping inside and eyeing her with misgivings. “You’re supposed to be pleased to see me.”
She punched his arm lightly. “I am, of course I am! It’s only -”
“I know,” he said, interrupting her with a hug. “I know. Let’s not - let’s just not.”
“No,” Julia agreed with a short nod as she moved away. “How about some tea instead?”
Rudy screwed up his face, but said, “All right, then.”
“I can manage coffee if you’d rather,” said Julia. “Rudy?”
He followed her into the kitchen. “No. Tea’s fine. I wouldn’t mind something to eat if you’ve got it. I got pulled in by a bunch of government security people. They didn’t do anything, but they kept me there all night and asked me questions and I’m still starving. I bought some chips on the way here, but it wasn’t really enough, you know.”
“Soup?” offered Julia, pulling out a tin. “I don’t think there is much else, I’m afraid. Rationing, you know, and I work, so I don’t always have time to queue for everything.”
Rudy nodded. “It’s been worse over there.”
“Yes,” said Julia, and knew he was right; that neither of them wanted to talk about the years that had kept them apart. She tipped the contents of the tin into a slightly battered small saucepan and found a match to light the gas ring before turning to look at him. “Now, what is it you’ve got yourself involved in?”
“Nothing!”
Julia gave him a hard look. “Oh, so you were dragged off by these people for no reason at all, and I was pulled out of that horrible place last night by some - some -” She stopped, not being at all sure what Mr Iveson was or how best to describe him. “Anyway, you’d better spill the beans or I won’t let you have any soup. Or houseroom. And if you were really taken away by mistake, then I’d better ring this number that Mr Iveson left me and protest, hadn’t I? Or maybe I should tell them to arrest you properly!”
“Pax, pax,” said Rudy, holding up his hands. “You haven’t changed, have you? It’s nothing, though, I promise. I don’t know why they’re making such a fuss about it. We just want to stop all the fighting. I suppose people like that can’t understand other people having ideals.”
Julia stirred the tomato soup, and gave him a more careful look, trying to see if he was lying. How could she tell after all this time? She bit back a slight sigh, but still felt inclined to believe that he was telling the truth - at least, the truth as he saw it.
“Honestly, Ju,” he said, looking hurt at her hesitation.
She poured half of the soup into a bowl for him and cut a slice of bread, before carrying them both into the living room and setting them down on the table for him. He took his seat, and she sat opposite, watching him. “Are you sure? The man who was here - Mr Iveson - seemed to think that your group had a cuckoo in the nest - someone who wasn’t as well intentioned as the rest of you. He said you were in danger.”
“Oh,” said Rudy, setting to work on the soup. “Well, that’s what he would say, isn’t it? He’s one of them. Even if he’s all right, he’ll have been told that by his people. They want to undermine us, I expect. Think we’re all secretly Communists or something. I don’t see what anyone would even want with us, especially not me.”
Julia would have felt happier if he had been prepared to consider the possibility before dismissing it. But then, she thought, trying to be fair, he’d already had all these other people asking him about it for hours. Still, she had to try. “Rudy -”
“Don’t fuss, Ju,” he said. “I’m just sorry you had to get dragged into it, that’s all.” Then he broke into a grin, a familiar teasing light in his blue eyes that she’d missed all these years. “I think you made a hit with the fellow. There’s a joke if you like.”
Julia frowned at him. “Eat your soup and don’t be ridiculous.”
“No, really,” he said, in between mouthfuls. “You should have heard him: ‘Think of your sister, young man!’ Or pretty much that. I ask you.”
Julia stole half of his slice of bread by way of retaliation. “Well, that sounds perfectly reasonable to me - you should think of me, thank you. I didn’t ask to be involved in any of this.” Then she hesitated, but she couldn’t treat this lightly, even if he could. “Rudy, the last thing I want is for anything to happen to you. Please, please - be careful.”
He didn’t protest this time, merely looking up from his soup, his expression slightly sheepish, and then he stretched out his hand to squeeze hers across the table.
A day and a half later, Julia left her workplace in search of a bench on which to spend her lunch hour. It wasn’t very warm, but if the weather was solidly grey and chilly, it was at least dry and she always found it a relief to get outside if she could. She worked in the head office of a stationery company, mostly doing the typing, and the place was too cramped and smoky for her liking. It was also a way to avoid some of her colleagues. She didn’t want people asking questions, she certainly didn’t want idiots flirting with her, and she didn’t care for being disapproved of by Miss Britton, either.
Today, she was even more grateful, since she only had a couple of biscuits and she certainly didn’t want anyone asking why. She supposed she could explain it away if she’d had to, but it was safer not to in the circumstances. Having Rudy around wasn’t easy, especially when too many strange people seemed to be interested in him.
She had just settled on a bench in one of the tiny squares that dotted this area of London, when someone sat on the other end of it. She didn’t look, only broke off a crumb of biscuit and threw it at the pigeons. It didn’t seem worth begrudging them any.
“Miss Graves,” said a now-familiar voice from one side of her, and she turned sharply to see Mr Iveson sitting there. She glared at him, but he gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I wanted to talk to you unofficially, that’s all.”
Julia clenched her fist on her lap. Oh, she thought, and was staying the night in her flat and having breakfast with her official, then? She would have got up and walked away, except for the fact that nothing Rudy had said or done since he’d arrived had quietened her anxiety over what he’d got himself into. “How did you find me?” she asked. “Were you following me?”
“Your place of work was on the file,” he said, with a glance up at the building, the top of which was visible past the trees at the edge of the square. “I merely waited over there for you in the hope you’d emerge during the dinner hour. Sorry. Now, what do you say we call a truce for the moment? I’ve brought a peace offering.” He handed her a small brown paper packet with a smile.
“Are you attempting to buy me off with sandwiches?” she asked, taking it and turning it over in her hands, not opening it. “That’s rather insulting. I must be worth more than that, surely?”
“I owe you for the toast, not to mention the fright I must have given you. And they’re ham, you know. I saw my family recently, and they live over in a village in Kent, so -”
Julia didn’t argue any further, merely unwrapping them. Arguing with a gift of ham was the sort of luxury she could only indulge when not trying to make her rations stretch to cover two. “Peace offering accepted, then.”
“And,” he added, “I did think it might be awkward, with your brother staying.”
She turned to look at him again. “That’s either very thoughtful of you, or terribly devious and underhand.”
“Since we don’t like each other, it’ll be much easier if you assume the latter,” he said, but while he kept his face solemn as he spoke, she could see a gleam of amusement in his eyes.
Julia had to stifle an unreasonable sense of annoyance at the idea that he might not like her. The other way around was perfectly explicable, of course.
“Your brother hasn’t been back in touch with us yet,” he said.
Julia felt herself stiffen immediately into the defensive. “Well, what did you expect?” she said. “And I’m not spying on him for you, you know. You haven’t given me proof of anything. Even if you had, I couldn’t ever betray Rudy.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said, leaning forwards. “I want to help, that’s all. My people would rather nothing happened to your brother, but if he won’t co-operate then they’ll only shrug if it does and remind themselves that they did try to warn him. But the thing is - do you remember the first time we met?”
She met his gaze. “Oh, you mean the time you were so obnoxious to me at a party?”
“I’m sorry about that,” said Mr Iveson. “I believe I said so at the time. But that’s not the point. I said then that our families used to know each other. I can remember your mother quite well - and I’m sure I’ve seen your brother before when he was nothing but a small child. If I can put this in such a selfish way, I don’t have any desire for my days with the service to end with his death. Can you accept that as a motive and at least hear me out?”
Julia privately admitted that she could, but she wasn’t prepared to give him even that much yet. “What I don’t see is what you can do,” she said. “If your people didn’t have any luck with Rudy, and if I haven’t - what do you think you can achieve?”
He stared ahead briefly, as if contemplating the question. “Oh, nothing, that’s probably true,” he said, half under his breath. “But I thought you could ask him to meet me again, and we can have a talk somewhere under his own terms. Between you and me, I think certain people felt he’d be easily scared by that performance, but of course, it only put his back up.”
“Well, I can ask him that,” Julia said. “I might even twist his arm to try and make him agree.” She looked away again then, screwing up the brown paper in her hands and wishing that she knew for certain she could trust him. Since Rudy was being far too optimistic and naïve in her opinion, it would be nice to think that she had an ally.
“Are you all right?” he asked, watching her. She nodded hastily, unable to help feeling treacherously touched by the concern in his voice. She’d been alone for much too long, she thought, if she leapt at such scraps of comfort like the pigeons around them who’d rushed for any stray breadcrumbs that fell from her lap.
Julia got to her feet and smiled back at him, brushing her coat down. “Of course I am,” she said brightly, and marched away from him without looking back.
Julia explained Mr Iveson’s proposal to Rudy over tea. “I don’t see why you shouldn’t agree,” she said. “After all, these people already know where you are. If they wanted to do something dreadful, they wouldn’t need to wait for an invitation.”
“I know,” said Rudy. “I’ve been looking out the window and there’s a man in a car who keeps spending an awful lot of time parked opposite. Which is a thought.” He had an expression on his face that she recognised all too well from their childhood.
She pushed her plate away. “What is it now?”
“Well, if he’s here, they don’t need anyone outside - so, if he comes, you can keep him busy - distract him, you know - and it’ll be a good chance for me to - well, you don’t need to know the details, but then it’ll all be over and everything will be all right.”
Julia leant her elbows on the table, and gave Rudy a hard stare. “I’m sorry - if I can distract him? What are you proposing?”
“Well, you know,” said Rudy airily. “I told you. He likes you. He must do if he gives you ham sandwiches. Which, you know, some sisters would have shared with their poor, starving brothers.”
Julia drew back. “Oh, honestly, Rudy! What do you think I should do? And, anyway, he doesn’t like me. He said so. It’s probably because I threw up over him the other day. Men can be so unreasonable.” And none more so than younger brothers, she added to herself, wondering what on earth she was going to do with hers. It seemed, she thought, with a sigh, that even if Rudy wasn’t as bad as Christy had been, that both of her brothers had inherited their mother’s eternally misplaced optimism and she’d been the one lumbered with her father’s more realistic common and business sense. It felt terribly unfair somehow.
“No, no,” said Rudy. “You wouldn’t have to do anything - of course not. You see, I’ve got this.” He pulled out a tiny square packet of paper, presumably containing a powder. “So, you put that in the tea or whatever and keep him talking -”
Julia took it from him. “I’m not Mata Hari, thank you. And what is this? Do I dare ask?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Rudy. “I think they said, but I don’t remember. I was given it for - well, for something else, but I didn’t need it. So that’s worked out for the best, really. Oh, don’t look at me like that, Ju. It’s not anything dangerous - and what else can we do if they keep watching us like this?”
Julia tightened her hold on the packet and bit back the instinct to beat her brother about the head with a rolled up newspaper until he saw sense. “I shall think about it. Look, Rudy, can’t you try hearing what it is that he has to say instead?”
“Oh, you don’t understand, either,” he said. “Once it’s finished they won’t care any more - and it’s all such a fuss over nothing! Let’s teach them a lesson.”
She wondered what he’d come up with if she refused to contemplate his idea and decided that she didn’t want to take that risk. “I’ll think about it,” she said. She’d have to agree later, she thought, but she’d do it with her fingers crossed behind her back. “I still think that you should talk to Mr Iveson, though.”
“That,” said Rudy, “is only because you’re a greedy-guts who’s hoping for more ham sandwiches.”
Julia forced a smile. “Ha,” she said, her heart not in their usual banter. She should trust Rudy, she thought, rather than some sinister government agent who she didn’t really know at all, but the opposite seemed to be the case.
“Well?” said Mr Iveson, sitting down on the bench next to her for the second time in as many days. If anyone was watching, they’d think she had an admirer.
Julia turned to look at him. “I should let you know straight away that I’m only here because I was hoping you might bring me lunch again. I shall go away again if not.”
“I can’t run to ham today,” he said, with a small smile and passed her another packet of sandwiches. “Only salmon paste, I’m afraid, but I didn’t forget.”
Julia felt her cheeks burn, despite the winter temperatures. “I was joking,” she said, and stifled ridiculous pangs of guilt. “You shouldn’t have.”
“But I did,” he said. “Will your brother meet me?”
Julia nodded, unwrapping the sandwiches, and taking a bite. It would be so much easier to be moral again once rationing was over, she thought. “At my flat, this evening. Seven-thirty. You do promise you aren’t going to try anything?”
“I wouldn’t tell you if I was,” he said, inclining his head slightly to one side, amused. “What would I be trying to accomplish by asking you first, anyway? Now, if I were trying to lure you away for your safety, perhaps -”
Julia stared down at the bread in her hand. “I’d feel happier if you’d - I don’t know - can’t you swear on your mother’s grave or something?”
He gave a slight flinch. “She’s not dead.”
“I’m sorry,” said Julia, although she noted for her own possible future interests that she’d touched a nerve with that comment.
Mr Iveson gave a short cough, covering his own embarrassment perhaps, and merely said, “Seven-thirty it is, then, Miss Graves. And I promise I don’t mean either of you any harm - hand on my heart.”
“Thank you,” said Julia. “And, you know, I really don’t think he’d do anything, but I can’t vouch for Rudy feeling the same, so you’d better be careful.”
“I still don’t have anything to say to you people,” said Rudy. “If you’re not here to apologise, I think Julia should call the police, except I suppose that won’t do much good, will it?”
Mr Iveson glanced up from stirring his coffee. “I can apologise, if you like. I don’t think the department have behaved well, and I could certainly have done better. However, this is all thoroughly unofficial and -”
“So you say.”
“Yes, true,” he murmured, giving a momentary blank look ahead of him, before turning his attention back to Rudy. “Nevertheless, it is, and it would be much less tiresome if you could stop pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Julia stared down at her own coffee, wondering what she’d hoped this would accomplish. She also wanted to avoid meeting Rudy’s gaze, as he kept shooting her meaningful looks, no doubt wanting to know if she’d done as she’d promised, which she most certainly hadn’t. If she lived in a badly written detective novel, she might start putting unknown drugs in visitor’s drinks, but not under any other circumstances.
“I don’t,” said Rudy. “I’m here to visit my sister for the first time in years and you all keep pestering us. It’s not on, you know.”
Mr Iveson gave a brief nod. “I suppose I understand your position,” he said. “Very well. Let me tell you: I know about the group you’re working with in Berlin. We’re not especially interested in them or you, but some of our people were keeping tabs on a Communist cell over there and they seem to have an agent within your organisation. We intercepted coded messages and while we don’t know who the agent is, the conclusion is unavoidable.”
Rudy was still looking between her and Mr Iveson, Julia noted as she raised her head again. “You don’t know who because all this is just a fairy story.”
“I’m going to show you copies of two of the messages,” said Mr Iveson. “I’m not supposed to have them and I’m certainly not supposed to be sharing them with you, but I don’t blame anyone for wanting evidence before they believe something. You can’t keep them and I’m only going to give you a couple of minutes, but here we are.”
Rudy leant forward across the table as Mr Iveson produced the two sheets of paper from the inside of his jacket. “I still don’t see -”
“It’s in code, of course,” said Mr Iveson, “but I thought there was a chance you might recognise the handwriting. Of course, it could be you, but the department don’t think that’s very likely - and I would prefer to believe they’re right.”
Rudy did at least look at the notes, Julia was relieved to see. He’d gone very quiet, but he only shook his head and said that he didn’t have a clue who might have written them.
“The other thing I’d suggest,” said Mr Iveson, putting the papers away again, “is that you make sure you know what it is you’re carrying for them. Examine it as best as you can, but if you have any doubts, don’t open it. Call us. Your sister has the number - and I expect someone gave it to you the other day, too.”
Rudy shrugged, but glanced across at Julia, who was still drinking her coffee and keeping out of it. She couldn’t honestly weigh in on Rudy’s side, except to agree that Mr Iveson and his department, whoever they were, hadn’t behaved well, and it wouldn’t help either of them if she sided with Mr Iveson. Rudy stared at her again and she glared back, wishing he wouldn’t.
“One moment,” said Mr Iveson suddenly, getting to his feet. Julia looked up at once, finding him unnervingly tall from this angle. He stopped beside Rudy. “A word in the kitchen, if you don’t mind, Mr Graves.”
Rudy opened his mouth to argue, and then stopped, much to Julia’s surprise. He nodded and got up, following Mr Iveson out of the room.
“Don’t mind me,” said Julia to the empty living room, for want of anything better to do, set about finishing her coffee in peace.
~o~
Edward shut the door behind him, reminding himself that it wouldn’t help to lose his temper now. “I saw what you did,” he said quietly. “So I swapped the cups around.”
Rudy started and some of the colour faded out of his face.
“No, don’t worry,” said Edward, and he didn’t quite manage to keep the contempt out of his voice this time. “I’d imagine you wouldn’t need me to tell you by now if that was what I’d done. Perhaps you hadn’t noticed, but I refrained from drinking any of mine. Now, how about you tell me why?”
Rudy shrugged, backing up against the worktop, defensively mulish; probably he knew that he had no justification for his actions. “It was supposed to be you, but I didn’t think Julia was going to go through with it. She said she would, but I knew she was probably just humouring me - but I couldn’t, because what if I was wrong? I don’t want to hurt anyone, whatever you think; that’s the point.”
“And what was it?” asked Edward, just about managing to disentangle Rudy’s not entirely coherent explanation in his mind. “Purely out of interest, you know.”
Rudy only shrugged again.
“My God!” said Edward, forgetting the need to keep his voice down in his exasperation. “Well, you ought to be thankful I stopped you! What had your sister done to deserve you being that cavalier with her welfare?”
Rudy glared back. “Now, look, it was harmless! We don’t go round killing people!”
“I expect it was,” said Edward. “No one would trust you with anything lethal - what a liability! But you don’t seem to see - you young idiot, ‘harmless’ is a relative term with these things -”
The door opened behind Edward and he turned to face Julia.
“I can hear you, you know,” she said. “This place isn’t all that soundproof. Rudy -”
“It wasn’t dangerous,” said Rudy. “I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t ever do that. It was just - I needed to get away, and I thought if you collapsed that would do just as well. He couldn’t have ignored you, and I’d have had my chance.”
Edward raised an eyebrow. “Given the sort of person you think me, that was amazingly optimistic of you.”
“Rudy,” said Julia, ignoring Edward and looking at her brother, “is it true? You had another packet of that powder and you put it in my drink?”
“Well, yes - but he’s just making it sound worse!”
Julia took a step back. “Oh, God. You two carry on. I shall be out here, deciding if I ever want to talk to you again!”
“Ju!” said Rudy, as she slammed the door, painfully close to Edward. “Now look what you’ve done!”
Edward managed to rein in his temper. “Yes, you can thank me for it later. Now, let’s get back to the business in hand - do you know what you’re carrying? And if not, I suggest you find out. You don’t have to trust me. Just make sure you know what you’re doing.”
Rudy looked down, as if he was considering it, but then made a sudden move, heading for the door. Edward grabbed for him, only catching at the edge of his jacket and slipping on the lino, was overbalanced further by Rudy violently pulling away from him. He fell awkwardly, his head hitting the sharp corner of the skirting board before he landed on the floor.
He lay there for a moment, stunned. Hearing Rudy run, he made himself try to get up again, refusing to let everything fall to pieces now, and angry at himself for such clumsiness when it counted. The movement seemed to be too much, however: semi-consciousness met a sharp pain and faded into full unconsciousness.
***
Author: lost_spook
Story: Heroes of the Revolution (Divide & Rule)
Flavor(s): White Chocolate #23 (exasperation); Lemon-Lime Sorbet #7 (fun with food or props)
Toppings/Extras: Chopped Nuts
Rating: PG
Word Count: 4367
Notes: early 1946, continues directly from Second Time, Worse Than the First
Summary: Julia’s having nothing but trouble with men - her brother seems to be in danger and Mr Iveson’s trying to buy her off with sandwiches…
***
There was such a long time between Mr Iveson leaving and anything else happening, let alone Rudy turning up, that Julia began to wonder if Mr Iveson had lied to her after all, and what she could do to help Rudy if he had. The next knock at the door, however, proved to be Rudy and after a second or two to take it in, she flung herself at him, not waiting for him to step inside. It had been over eight years since they’d seen each other, and her brother had then been not yet thirteen, but Julia would have known him anywhere.
“Ju,” he said, eventually, trying to pull out of her hold, “let me breathe! I won’t disappear, I promise.”
She gave a shaky laugh and let go, finding herself close to tears and putting up a hand to wipe her eyes.
“Oh, God, don’t cry,” said Rudy, stepping inside and eyeing her with misgivings. “You’re supposed to be pleased to see me.”
She punched his arm lightly. “I am, of course I am! It’s only -”
“I know,” he said, interrupting her with a hug. “I know. Let’s not - let’s just not.”
“No,” Julia agreed with a short nod as she moved away. “How about some tea instead?”
Rudy screwed up his face, but said, “All right, then.”
“I can manage coffee if you’d rather,” said Julia. “Rudy?”
He followed her into the kitchen. “No. Tea’s fine. I wouldn’t mind something to eat if you’ve got it. I got pulled in by a bunch of government security people. They didn’t do anything, but they kept me there all night and asked me questions and I’m still starving. I bought some chips on the way here, but it wasn’t really enough, you know.”
“Soup?” offered Julia, pulling out a tin. “I don’t think there is much else, I’m afraid. Rationing, you know, and I work, so I don’t always have time to queue for everything.”
Rudy nodded. “It’s been worse over there.”
“Yes,” said Julia, and knew he was right; that neither of them wanted to talk about the years that had kept them apart. She tipped the contents of the tin into a slightly battered small saucepan and found a match to light the gas ring before turning to look at him. “Now, what is it you’ve got yourself involved in?”
“Nothing!”
Julia gave him a hard look. “Oh, so you were dragged off by these people for no reason at all, and I was pulled out of that horrible place last night by some - some -” She stopped, not being at all sure what Mr Iveson was or how best to describe him. “Anyway, you’d better spill the beans or I won’t let you have any soup. Or houseroom. And if you were really taken away by mistake, then I’d better ring this number that Mr Iveson left me and protest, hadn’t I? Or maybe I should tell them to arrest you properly!”
“Pax, pax,” said Rudy, holding up his hands. “You haven’t changed, have you? It’s nothing, though, I promise. I don’t know why they’re making such a fuss about it. We just want to stop all the fighting. I suppose people like that can’t understand other people having ideals.”
Julia stirred the tomato soup, and gave him a more careful look, trying to see if he was lying. How could she tell after all this time? She bit back a slight sigh, but still felt inclined to believe that he was telling the truth - at least, the truth as he saw it.
“Honestly, Ju,” he said, looking hurt at her hesitation.
She poured half of the soup into a bowl for him and cut a slice of bread, before carrying them both into the living room and setting them down on the table for him. He took his seat, and she sat opposite, watching him. “Are you sure? The man who was here - Mr Iveson - seemed to think that your group had a cuckoo in the nest - someone who wasn’t as well intentioned as the rest of you. He said you were in danger.”
“Oh,” said Rudy, setting to work on the soup. “Well, that’s what he would say, isn’t it? He’s one of them. Even if he’s all right, he’ll have been told that by his people. They want to undermine us, I expect. Think we’re all secretly Communists or something. I don’t see what anyone would even want with us, especially not me.”
Julia would have felt happier if he had been prepared to consider the possibility before dismissing it. But then, she thought, trying to be fair, he’d already had all these other people asking him about it for hours. Still, she had to try. “Rudy -”
“Don’t fuss, Ju,” he said. “I’m just sorry you had to get dragged into it, that’s all.” Then he broke into a grin, a familiar teasing light in his blue eyes that she’d missed all these years. “I think you made a hit with the fellow. There’s a joke if you like.”
Julia frowned at him. “Eat your soup and don’t be ridiculous.”
“No, really,” he said, in between mouthfuls. “You should have heard him: ‘Think of your sister, young man!’ Or pretty much that. I ask you.”
Julia stole half of his slice of bread by way of retaliation. “Well, that sounds perfectly reasonable to me - you should think of me, thank you. I didn’t ask to be involved in any of this.” Then she hesitated, but she couldn’t treat this lightly, even if he could. “Rudy, the last thing I want is for anything to happen to you. Please, please - be careful.”
He didn’t protest this time, merely looking up from his soup, his expression slightly sheepish, and then he stretched out his hand to squeeze hers across the table.
A day and a half later, Julia left her workplace in search of a bench on which to spend her lunch hour. It wasn’t very warm, but if the weather was solidly grey and chilly, it was at least dry and she always found it a relief to get outside if she could. She worked in the head office of a stationery company, mostly doing the typing, and the place was too cramped and smoky for her liking. It was also a way to avoid some of her colleagues. She didn’t want people asking questions, she certainly didn’t want idiots flirting with her, and she didn’t care for being disapproved of by Miss Britton, either.
Today, she was even more grateful, since she only had a couple of biscuits and she certainly didn’t want anyone asking why. She supposed she could explain it away if she’d had to, but it was safer not to in the circumstances. Having Rudy around wasn’t easy, especially when too many strange people seemed to be interested in him.
She had just settled on a bench in one of the tiny squares that dotted this area of London, when someone sat on the other end of it. She didn’t look, only broke off a crumb of biscuit and threw it at the pigeons. It didn’t seem worth begrudging them any.
“Miss Graves,” said a now-familiar voice from one side of her, and she turned sharply to see Mr Iveson sitting there. She glared at him, but he gave her an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. I wanted to talk to you unofficially, that’s all.”
Julia clenched her fist on her lap. Oh, she thought, and was staying the night in her flat and having breakfast with her official, then? She would have got up and walked away, except for the fact that nothing Rudy had said or done since he’d arrived had quietened her anxiety over what he’d got himself into. “How did you find me?” she asked. “Were you following me?”
“Your place of work was on the file,” he said, with a glance up at the building, the top of which was visible past the trees at the edge of the square. “I merely waited over there for you in the hope you’d emerge during the dinner hour. Sorry. Now, what do you say we call a truce for the moment? I’ve brought a peace offering.” He handed her a small brown paper packet with a smile.
“Are you attempting to buy me off with sandwiches?” she asked, taking it and turning it over in her hands, not opening it. “That’s rather insulting. I must be worth more than that, surely?”
“I owe you for the toast, not to mention the fright I must have given you. And they’re ham, you know. I saw my family recently, and they live over in a village in Kent, so -”
Julia didn’t argue any further, merely unwrapping them. Arguing with a gift of ham was the sort of luxury she could only indulge when not trying to make her rations stretch to cover two. “Peace offering accepted, then.”
“And,” he added, “I did think it might be awkward, with your brother staying.”
She turned to look at him again. “That’s either very thoughtful of you, or terribly devious and underhand.”
“Since we don’t like each other, it’ll be much easier if you assume the latter,” he said, but while he kept his face solemn as he spoke, she could see a gleam of amusement in his eyes.
Julia had to stifle an unreasonable sense of annoyance at the idea that he might not like her. The other way around was perfectly explicable, of course.
“Your brother hasn’t been back in touch with us yet,” he said.
Julia felt herself stiffen immediately into the defensive. “Well, what did you expect?” she said. “And I’m not spying on him for you, you know. You haven’t given me proof of anything. Even if you had, I couldn’t ever betray Rudy.”
“I’m not asking you to,” he said, leaning forwards. “I want to help, that’s all. My people would rather nothing happened to your brother, but if he won’t co-operate then they’ll only shrug if it does and remind themselves that they did try to warn him. But the thing is - do you remember the first time we met?”
She met his gaze. “Oh, you mean the time you were so obnoxious to me at a party?”
“I’m sorry about that,” said Mr Iveson. “I believe I said so at the time. But that’s not the point. I said then that our families used to know each other. I can remember your mother quite well - and I’m sure I’ve seen your brother before when he was nothing but a small child. If I can put this in such a selfish way, I don’t have any desire for my days with the service to end with his death. Can you accept that as a motive and at least hear me out?”
Julia privately admitted that she could, but she wasn’t prepared to give him even that much yet. “What I don’t see is what you can do,” she said. “If your people didn’t have any luck with Rudy, and if I haven’t - what do you think you can achieve?”
He stared ahead briefly, as if contemplating the question. “Oh, nothing, that’s probably true,” he said, half under his breath. “But I thought you could ask him to meet me again, and we can have a talk somewhere under his own terms. Between you and me, I think certain people felt he’d be easily scared by that performance, but of course, it only put his back up.”
“Well, I can ask him that,” Julia said. “I might even twist his arm to try and make him agree.” She looked away again then, screwing up the brown paper in her hands and wishing that she knew for certain she could trust him. Since Rudy was being far too optimistic and naïve in her opinion, it would be nice to think that she had an ally.
“Are you all right?” he asked, watching her. She nodded hastily, unable to help feeling treacherously touched by the concern in his voice. She’d been alone for much too long, she thought, if she leapt at such scraps of comfort like the pigeons around them who’d rushed for any stray breadcrumbs that fell from her lap.
Julia got to her feet and smiled back at him, brushing her coat down. “Of course I am,” she said brightly, and marched away from him without looking back.
Julia explained Mr Iveson’s proposal to Rudy over tea. “I don’t see why you shouldn’t agree,” she said. “After all, these people already know where you are. If they wanted to do something dreadful, they wouldn’t need to wait for an invitation.”
“I know,” said Rudy. “I’ve been looking out the window and there’s a man in a car who keeps spending an awful lot of time parked opposite. Which is a thought.” He had an expression on his face that she recognised all too well from their childhood.
She pushed her plate away. “What is it now?”
“Well, if he’s here, they don’t need anyone outside - so, if he comes, you can keep him busy - distract him, you know - and it’ll be a good chance for me to - well, you don’t need to know the details, but then it’ll all be over and everything will be all right.”
Julia leant her elbows on the table, and gave Rudy a hard stare. “I’m sorry - if I can distract him? What are you proposing?”
“Well, you know,” said Rudy airily. “I told you. He likes you. He must do if he gives you ham sandwiches. Which, you know, some sisters would have shared with their poor, starving brothers.”
Julia drew back. “Oh, honestly, Rudy! What do you think I should do? And, anyway, he doesn’t like me. He said so. It’s probably because I threw up over him the other day. Men can be so unreasonable.” And none more so than younger brothers, she added to herself, wondering what on earth she was going to do with hers. It seemed, she thought, with a sigh, that even if Rudy wasn’t as bad as Christy had been, that both of her brothers had inherited their mother’s eternally misplaced optimism and she’d been the one lumbered with her father’s more realistic common and business sense. It felt terribly unfair somehow.
“No, no,” said Rudy. “You wouldn’t have to do anything - of course not. You see, I’ve got this.” He pulled out a tiny square packet of paper, presumably containing a powder. “So, you put that in the tea or whatever and keep him talking -”
Julia took it from him. “I’m not Mata Hari, thank you. And what is this? Do I dare ask?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Rudy. “I think they said, but I don’t remember. I was given it for - well, for something else, but I didn’t need it. So that’s worked out for the best, really. Oh, don’t look at me like that, Ju. It’s not anything dangerous - and what else can we do if they keep watching us like this?”
Julia tightened her hold on the packet and bit back the instinct to beat her brother about the head with a rolled up newspaper until he saw sense. “I shall think about it. Look, Rudy, can’t you try hearing what it is that he has to say instead?”
“Oh, you don’t understand, either,” he said. “Once it’s finished they won’t care any more - and it’s all such a fuss over nothing! Let’s teach them a lesson.”
She wondered what he’d come up with if she refused to contemplate his idea and decided that she didn’t want to take that risk. “I’ll think about it,” she said. She’d have to agree later, she thought, but she’d do it with her fingers crossed behind her back. “I still think that you should talk to Mr Iveson, though.”
“That,” said Rudy, “is only because you’re a greedy-guts who’s hoping for more ham sandwiches.”
Julia forced a smile. “Ha,” she said, her heart not in their usual banter. She should trust Rudy, she thought, rather than some sinister government agent who she didn’t really know at all, but the opposite seemed to be the case.
“Well?” said Mr Iveson, sitting down on the bench next to her for the second time in as many days. If anyone was watching, they’d think she had an admirer.
Julia turned to look at him. “I should let you know straight away that I’m only here because I was hoping you might bring me lunch again. I shall go away again if not.”
“I can’t run to ham today,” he said, with a small smile and passed her another packet of sandwiches. “Only salmon paste, I’m afraid, but I didn’t forget.”
Julia felt her cheeks burn, despite the winter temperatures. “I was joking,” she said, and stifled ridiculous pangs of guilt. “You shouldn’t have.”
“But I did,” he said. “Will your brother meet me?”
Julia nodded, unwrapping the sandwiches, and taking a bite. It would be so much easier to be moral again once rationing was over, she thought. “At my flat, this evening. Seven-thirty. You do promise you aren’t going to try anything?”
“I wouldn’t tell you if I was,” he said, inclining his head slightly to one side, amused. “What would I be trying to accomplish by asking you first, anyway? Now, if I were trying to lure you away for your safety, perhaps -”
Julia stared down at the bread in her hand. “I’d feel happier if you’d - I don’t know - can’t you swear on your mother’s grave or something?”
He gave a slight flinch. “She’s not dead.”
“I’m sorry,” said Julia, although she noted for her own possible future interests that she’d touched a nerve with that comment.
Mr Iveson gave a short cough, covering his own embarrassment perhaps, and merely said, “Seven-thirty it is, then, Miss Graves. And I promise I don’t mean either of you any harm - hand on my heart.”
“Thank you,” said Julia. “And, you know, I really don’t think he’d do anything, but I can’t vouch for Rudy feeling the same, so you’d better be careful.”
“I still don’t have anything to say to you people,” said Rudy. “If you’re not here to apologise, I think Julia should call the police, except I suppose that won’t do much good, will it?”
Mr Iveson glanced up from stirring his coffee. “I can apologise, if you like. I don’t think the department have behaved well, and I could certainly have done better. However, this is all thoroughly unofficial and -”
“So you say.”
“Yes, true,” he murmured, giving a momentary blank look ahead of him, before turning his attention back to Rudy. “Nevertheless, it is, and it would be much less tiresome if you could stop pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Julia stared down at her own coffee, wondering what she’d hoped this would accomplish. She also wanted to avoid meeting Rudy’s gaze, as he kept shooting her meaningful looks, no doubt wanting to know if she’d done as she’d promised, which she most certainly hadn’t. If she lived in a badly written detective novel, she might start putting unknown drugs in visitor’s drinks, but not under any other circumstances.
“I don’t,” said Rudy. “I’m here to visit my sister for the first time in years and you all keep pestering us. It’s not on, you know.”
Mr Iveson gave a brief nod. “I suppose I understand your position,” he said. “Very well. Let me tell you: I know about the group you’re working with in Berlin. We’re not especially interested in them or you, but some of our people were keeping tabs on a Communist cell over there and they seem to have an agent within your organisation. We intercepted coded messages and while we don’t know who the agent is, the conclusion is unavoidable.”
Rudy was still looking between her and Mr Iveson, Julia noted as she raised her head again. “You don’t know who because all this is just a fairy story.”
“I’m going to show you copies of two of the messages,” said Mr Iveson. “I’m not supposed to have them and I’m certainly not supposed to be sharing them with you, but I don’t blame anyone for wanting evidence before they believe something. You can’t keep them and I’m only going to give you a couple of minutes, but here we are.”
Rudy leant forward across the table as Mr Iveson produced the two sheets of paper from the inside of his jacket. “I still don’t see -”
“It’s in code, of course,” said Mr Iveson, “but I thought there was a chance you might recognise the handwriting. Of course, it could be you, but the department don’t think that’s very likely - and I would prefer to believe they’re right.”
Rudy did at least look at the notes, Julia was relieved to see. He’d gone very quiet, but he only shook his head and said that he didn’t have a clue who might have written them.
“The other thing I’d suggest,” said Mr Iveson, putting the papers away again, “is that you make sure you know what it is you’re carrying for them. Examine it as best as you can, but if you have any doubts, don’t open it. Call us. Your sister has the number - and I expect someone gave it to you the other day, too.”
Rudy shrugged, but glanced across at Julia, who was still drinking her coffee and keeping out of it. She couldn’t honestly weigh in on Rudy’s side, except to agree that Mr Iveson and his department, whoever they were, hadn’t behaved well, and it wouldn’t help either of them if she sided with Mr Iveson. Rudy stared at her again and she glared back, wishing he wouldn’t.
“One moment,” said Mr Iveson suddenly, getting to his feet. Julia looked up at once, finding him unnervingly tall from this angle. He stopped beside Rudy. “A word in the kitchen, if you don’t mind, Mr Graves.”
Rudy opened his mouth to argue, and then stopped, much to Julia’s surprise. He nodded and got up, following Mr Iveson out of the room.
“Don’t mind me,” said Julia to the empty living room, for want of anything better to do, set about finishing her coffee in peace.
~o~
Edward shut the door behind him, reminding himself that it wouldn’t help to lose his temper now. “I saw what you did,” he said quietly. “So I swapped the cups around.”
Rudy started and some of the colour faded out of his face.
“No, don’t worry,” said Edward, and he didn’t quite manage to keep the contempt out of his voice this time. “I’d imagine you wouldn’t need me to tell you by now if that was what I’d done. Perhaps you hadn’t noticed, but I refrained from drinking any of mine. Now, how about you tell me why?”
Rudy shrugged, backing up against the worktop, defensively mulish; probably he knew that he had no justification for his actions. “It was supposed to be you, but I didn’t think Julia was going to go through with it. She said she would, but I knew she was probably just humouring me - but I couldn’t, because what if I was wrong? I don’t want to hurt anyone, whatever you think; that’s the point.”
“And what was it?” asked Edward, just about managing to disentangle Rudy’s not entirely coherent explanation in his mind. “Purely out of interest, you know.”
Rudy only shrugged again.
“My God!” said Edward, forgetting the need to keep his voice down in his exasperation. “Well, you ought to be thankful I stopped you! What had your sister done to deserve you being that cavalier with her welfare?”
Rudy glared back. “Now, look, it was harmless! We don’t go round killing people!”
“I expect it was,” said Edward. “No one would trust you with anything lethal - what a liability! But you don’t seem to see - you young idiot, ‘harmless’ is a relative term with these things -”
The door opened behind Edward and he turned to face Julia.
“I can hear you, you know,” she said. “This place isn’t all that soundproof. Rudy -”
“It wasn’t dangerous,” said Rudy. “I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t ever do that. It was just - I needed to get away, and I thought if you collapsed that would do just as well. He couldn’t have ignored you, and I’d have had my chance.”
Edward raised an eyebrow. “Given the sort of person you think me, that was amazingly optimistic of you.”
“Rudy,” said Julia, ignoring Edward and looking at her brother, “is it true? You had another packet of that powder and you put it in my drink?”
“Well, yes - but he’s just making it sound worse!”
Julia took a step back. “Oh, God. You two carry on. I shall be out here, deciding if I ever want to talk to you again!”
“Ju!” said Rudy, as she slammed the door, painfully close to Edward. “Now look what you’ve done!”
Edward managed to rein in his temper. “Yes, you can thank me for it later. Now, let’s get back to the business in hand - do you know what you’re carrying? And if not, I suggest you find out. You don’t have to trust me. Just make sure you know what you’re doing.”
Rudy looked down, as if he was considering it, but then made a sudden move, heading for the door. Edward grabbed for him, only catching at the edge of his jacket and slipping on the lino, was overbalanced further by Rudy violently pulling away from him. He fell awkwardly, his head hitting the sharp corner of the skirting board before he landed on the floor.
He lay there for a moment, stunned. Hearing Rudy run, he made himself try to get up again, refusing to let everything fall to pieces now, and angry at himself for such clumsiness when it counted. The movement seemed to be too much, however: semi-consciousness met a sharp pain and faded into full unconsciousness.
***