Page 27 of The Secret Librarian

Chapter Thirteen

Avery

Avery wandered into the bookshop as she did almost every other morning.

Even if Camille didn’t have anything for her, calling in and saying hello had become a favourite part of her daily routine.

And she’d also been thinking a lot about what Camille had proposed – and whether she would be capable of helping her or not.

‘Good morning!’ she called out.

Only her voice died in her throat when she realised Camille wasn’t alone.

Usually there would be maybe one customer late morning – it was often busier in the afternoons – but today Camille’s German friend was in the shop.

When he turned, a shiver ran the length of Avery’s spine, and she immediately wished she could retrace her steps and come back later.

But she knew that such a move would make her look more than a little suspicious, and so instead she fixed her smile and nodded to him.

She was relieved when he turned his attention back to Camille.

‘Oh, good morning, Avery!’ Camille said, a little too brightly. ‘I have your book waiting for you out the back.’

‘My b—’ she began. ‘Oh, thank you, I didn’t expect it to be in so soon.’

Avery smiled again at the man, who was looking at her. It was most unsettling.

‘Avery, I’d like you to officially meet Kiefer. Kiefer, this is one of my very good customers, Avery.’

Kiefer’s smile was cool but polite, and he folded his hands behind his back as he greeted her. She was surprised he didn’t offer to shake her hand.

‘Pleased to meet you, Avery,’ he said.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, too,’ she replied. ‘Are you here for business or pleasure?’

Avery cringed and immediately wished she’d kept her mouth shut when he didn’t answer. She hadn’t meant it to sound like that, and she quickly tried to correct herself.

‘I often call in to say hello, but then I always end up buying something. It’s impossible not to with such a wonderful selection of books to choose from.’ Avery knew she was prattling, as she often did when she was nervous, but she couldn’t seem to help it.

‘Avery, would you like to browse the store while I dash out the back to get your book?’ Camille suggested, saving her from having to talk to Kiefer, who was proving to be most unsettling.

She nodded and moved away, feeling as if her every move was being scrutinised. Without a doubt, this was the closest she’d ever knowingly been to a Nazi. She had no idea how Camille could be around him so easily.

‘Here we go,’ Camille said within a few minutes, passing Avery a book that she’d never heard of before and pressing it into her hands, giving her a strange look that she had no hope of deciphering.

Nevertheless, Avery followed her to the counter and paid, her hands trembling ever so slightly as she continued to feel Kiefer’s gaze on her.

‘I’ll see you again soon, Avery,’ Camille said brightly, and Avery found herself saying goodbye and walking straight back out the door.

When she looked down at the book, she had the strangest notion that Camille had been trying to tell her something.

Was she scared? Did she need help? Was there a message in the title?

But it was Gone with the Wind ; what message could there possibly be?

Unless Camille was indicating that she should be gone with the wind and flee, which she certainly hoped wasn’t the case.

It wasn’t until she opened the book and flicked through a few pages that a note fell out, hastily written and on paper torn from a large notepad. Avery bent to collect it from where it had fluttered to the ground.

Come back when he’s long gone. Need to see you. Make sure no one’s following you.

If Avery had been nervous before, now she was downright scared.

Follow her? Why would anyone be following her, unless Kiefer was suspicious about their friendship for some reason?

And why would Camille need to see her so urgently that she’d gone to the effort of writing a note and hiding it in a book?

Avery started to walk away, the book tucked under her arm, and glanced over her shoulder every few steps, more nervous than she’d ever been. In fact, she was so nervous that her feet walked her all the way to the square by James’s hotel, but she didn’t let herself go in.

You came here because you wanted to be taken seriously. If you run to him at the first roadblock, you may as well give up and go home.

So she started to walk again, counting down the minutes until she felt it was safe to go back to the shop without Kiefer knowing she’d returned.

And knowing that when she did, she was going to tell Camille that she would do whatever she needed her to do.

It might be dangerous, but the sight of all those families huddled together in the square when she’d last been there was imprinted in her mind now, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t do something to help them.

‘You came back.’

‘Of course I came back! After that cryptic message you gave me, I’ve been pacing the streets waiting until I could come back! Why the ruse?’

‘Look, I know we don’t talk about the work you do, Avery, but I have something that might be of interest to you.’

Avery leaned forward to see what Camille had under the counter, surprised to see three maps.

‘What are they?’

‘Maps that I’ve been asked to copy and bind into a book,’ she said. ‘It has to be ready tomorrow, so I don’t have much time.’

Avery wasn’t certain she understood what Camille was trying to tell her. ‘So it’s not for sale? You didn’t ask me back because you knew I’d buy it?’ She swallowed and lowered her voice. ‘Your German friend left this here?’

Camille moved a little closer to her. There was one other person in the store, near the front, and she spoke in a low whisper.

‘He did. And you can photograph it here, in my office, before I bind it.’

Avery hesitated, relieved when the customer had left the store and they were alone. ‘You want me to bring my camera here? I can’t do it at my apartment?’

‘Yes. You would need to set up here, in my office in the backroom. You can’t take them off-site, because if he came back looking for them .

..’ Camille shivered, and Avery realised it was the first time she’d seen her look truly rattled.

‘I’m certain you can understand what would happen if he knew I’d broken his trust.’

Avery glanced down at the maps again, wondering what they were or whether they were worth risking so much for.

‘The man I met before?’ Avery asked. ‘Is he your ...’ Lover. That’s what she wanted to say, but the word simply didn’t come out.

‘Yes,’ Camille said, holding Avery’s gaze as if to challenge her to ask more.

‘He was terrifying,’ Avery said. ‘I don’t know how you can stand to be romantically linked with him.’

‘I told you, it’s a means to an end and nothing more,’ Camille said, looking cross. ‘I don’t want to have to pretend with you, Avery. I have my reasons for seeing him, information I seek that only someone like him can give me, but what I do with him—’

‘I’m sorry, you don’t have to explain yourself to me,’ Avery said, gently, seeing how upset Camille was.

‘And I would love to see the map and photograph it, but it has to be our secret. No one can know that I’m working here, because if my roommate found out, I’d be on the next plane back to America.

It could compromise everything I’ve worked so hard for. ’

‘I have as much to lose as you do, Avery. I won’t be breathing a word, especially not to Kiefer. He’d have my head and I’m not exaggerating.’

‘What are these?’ Avery asked, picking up one of two newspapers that had been placed beside the maps.

‘They’re German papers, two copies of Der Stürmer , in fact.

’ Camille came around to stand beside her.

‘They’re Kiefer’s as well. He has a subscription, so they arrive every week like clockwork and I keep them here for him.

And he’s just ordered a subscription to the daily Nazi Party paper, Volkischer Beobachter , too, so there’s a couple of them waiting as well. ’

‘He doesn’t come straight around to get them? That wasn’t why he was here earlier?’

Camille’s smile was coy. ‘He comes to get them when I say they’re here, but sometimes he’s away. If you want to photograph them, you can do it tonight, and you can keep doing it here, too. I’ll tell him they arrived first thing in the morning tomorrow to give you the time you need.’

‘Why?’ Avery suddenly asked. ‘Why are you doing this for me?’

‘Because we both want the Allies to win the war, Avery, and if sharing information helps us to do that, then I’ll do anything I can to help you. Besides, you know my secrets now, so I have nothing left to hide.’

‘I’d be breaking protocol if I did this,’ Avery said. ‘I’d lose my job if anyone found out that I wasn’t completing the photography at the apartment.’

‘Who’s going to find out?’ Camille asked.

‘I live with another IDC agent!’ Avery said, before clamping her hand over her mouth.

She’d never told Camille who she specifically worked for before, and now she’d done more than break protocol.

‘Erase that from your mind, pretend I didn’t say it.

But you must know that I can’t fool him, he’s going to realise if I’m not microfilming in my room, in our apartment. ’

Camille gave her a curious look, and Avery found herself breathing hard, as if she’d just run to the bookshop.

‘Photograph it or don’t, it’s your choice, but I’m giving you an opportunity to send back something to your people that might actually help them.

These are maps that Kiefer, a German spy, wants bound for some reason, and that tells me they might be a lot more important than some old book written years ago, and Der Stürmer he has on subscription?

Don’t you want to be the only one sending back such valuable material? ’