London Pass Part 5
Terry took a deep breath before entering the Mucky Duck. She was wearing her skirt and blouse. At the Fox or the Doves she was comfortable now going in wearing her pants and boots, but this was London. She moved past the blackout curtains and stepped to the side along the wall to survey the interior. It was smoky and noisy, just Casino's type of place. Unfortunately she could not find Casino or Goniff in the crowd of young bucks, obviously loose women, and rough working class men. It wasn't the Doves and it most definitely wasn't the Fox.
Actor's words echoed in her head. "If they are not there, you get out of there immediately." Well, they weren't here. A brief tightening of her throat was forced down to be replaced by gritty determination. She had been in worse bars in Montana and was no stranger to a bar fight either. She would give the boys a few minutes, then she would leave.
That thought in mind, she pushed her way to the bar. The red haired bar tender gave her a once over before asking what she would have.
"A half of mild, please," Terry replied placing her money on the bar.
She picked up the glass of ale and took a tentative sip. It was warm and strong. She wondered if she would ever get used to British beer. Turning sideways to the bar, she watched the door and slowly sipped her drink. The most she figured she could stretch the glass of ale out would be a half hour. By the time she was getting down to the bottom of the glass there was still no Casino or Goniff.
A head came up too close to hers from behind and whiskey breath assaulted her nose. A voice spoke softly and coaxingly in her ear, "I have a place down the road. Wot say we go have our own little party, eh Love?"
"I'm not interested," said Terry. "Please leave me alone."
"Aw, now, I'm askin' real nice like."
"And I'm telling you to bugger off," said Terry firmly. She felt anything but firm. She was in a quandary. If she stayed, the guy would continue to annoy her. If she left, alone, chances were he'd follow her. A hand grasp her shoulder none too gently.
"That's no way to be." It was said with a touch of anger.
"Get . . . your . . . hand off of me." She hoped the tremor was not in her voice.
Casino and Goniff walked into the bar. Some instinct he couldn't name caused the safecracker's eyes to pivot to the bar. He saw Terry and the look of not quite fear on her face. He immediately took in the man behind her with his fat paw on her.
"Aw, shit," he groaned.
"Wot?" asked Goniff. The blond man followed his friend's gaze. "Bloody 'ell."
"I'll get her," said Casino. "You find us a table."
The safecracker strode up to the bar. The look of relief on Terry's face made him angrier at the man who was bothering her. "Get your hand offa her."
The slightly older man sneered at the American. "Wot's it to you?"
Casino wasn't ready for the reaction from Terry.
"He's my husband." She held her left hand up that still had the wedding ring on her third finger.
Casino glared at the man, waiting for the first excuse for a fight. Again he wasn't expecting it when Terry slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard on the mouth. Just because he wasn't expecting it didn't mean he wasn't ready to respond to it. Damn, the woman could kiss. She broke the kiss first and leaned her head back to give him an overly wide smile.
"Come on, Babe," said Casino, guiding her away.
They moved through the crowd toward Goniff's waving hand. The pickpocket had somehow found them a table. Casino kept an arm around Terry's back, hand possessively on her hip. She leaned into him.
"Thank you," she said softly.
"Oh, any time, Baby," he replied sincerely. For that kiss, he'd have been happy to take on the entire bar. He held out a chair for her at the table.
Goniff waited until she was seated to lean over and ask, "You all right there, Love?"
"Fine," replied Terry with a smile. Somehow neither man believed that. "So how's the food here?"
"They 'ave a steak and kidney pie that actually 'as a bit o' meat in it," said Goniff.
"Yeah, if yuh like kidneys," groused Casino. "I'd rather have the bangers and mash."
"You are a meat and potatoes kinda guy," teased Terry. "I'll have the bangers and mash too."
Casino eyed her. She seemed to have recovered from her little encounter. He just couldn't get the sight of the apprehension on her face out of his mind. Now he knew for sure she hadn't gotten over the attempted rape. The rest of the evening went uneventfully. The safecracker kept an eye on the woman beside him. She had settled herself and was enjoying the food and the sometimes raucous bantering of the two men.
They had been there about three hours when Casino suggested a change in venue. The women they had been with the night before were planning on returning to the Golden Goose. Goniff was all for that. They left the noisy pub behind for the quiet sidewalk. Terry pulled her coat closer around herself.
"Well, Boys, I think I'm going to take my leave of you," she said. "There's a bubble bath calling me and Actor won't be there to complain about the hot water."
"Hey, that's right on our way," popped up Goniff brightly. "We'll walk with you."
"Uh, yeah," said Casino, catching on a tad slowly. "We'll drop you off." By the look on the girl's face, Terry knew going by way of the Windsor was not the short way to the Golden Goose. He reached for her hand. "Come on, Babe," he said. "You can keep us company."
Terry smiled. "Be happy to." She reached for Goniff's hand.
The three ambled down the street, generally joking and cutting up amongst themselves. Terry left the men at the door to the Windsor, giving both a hug and thanking them for a good time. They stayed and watched through the revolving glass door until Terry had disappeared from sight before going back the way they had come.
GGGGG
Chief was acutely aware of the young woman beside him, an unexpected tightness in his chest left him a bit breathless. He wanted to touch her, but was afraid that might not be welcome. But some of his tension eased when she tucked her hand snugly in his, as they strolled down the sidewalk. She had a smile on her lips, accented by a faint touch of lipstick. This was the first time he had seen her with her hair pinned up and that added to his tension. He was used to the dark tresses falling straight down her back. It still amazed him that she had never shown any sign of fear when with him. She must know his history. Surely Terry had told her and that certainty increased his anxiety. Crystal just seemed to take him at face value and appeared to like whatever it was she saw in him. That mystified him, adding to his inner turmoil.
They reached the restaurant, waiting for another couple to exit before Chief held the door for Chris. She seemed to hesitate slightly when she looked around at the candlelit tables and white linen tablecloths. The maitre d' approached with a welcoming smile.
"Mr. Sands, your table is ready," he said.
"Thank you," said Chief. Damn, Actor knew how to set things up.
The maitre d' led the young couple to the small room with the single table where Chief had dined the night before. The Indian wondered if this was the Italian's table too. Remembering his lessons from the previous night, he seated Chris before taking the seat across from her where he could enjoy watching her. They accepted the menus and were left to make their choices.
Chief pretended to be looking at the menu, instead mentally reviewing what he needed to remember to do – and not to do. He knew he was no good at small talk, but had rehearsed some things to say. All he needed to do was make sure that he didn't say them at the wrong time.
After a second, Chris peeked over the top of her menu. "Uh, Rainey, can you read this?"
"No," he admitted, "but I know what I want."
The woman seemed to accept that and went back to her perusal of the menu. When the waiter came, Chief nodded for Chris to give the man her order. No way was he going to attempt to speak the French words. The girl fluently ordered the onion soup, the fish, and a glass of white wine. Chief then ordered the soup, the veal and changed the glass of wine to a carafe. He remembered Actor's lesson on wine.
After the waiter left, Chief looked at Chris with curiosity. "No escargot?"
Chris shook her head. "I have to be in the mood for snails. Besides, I like French Onion Soup. Terry's the snail eater."
They both chuckled. The bread came promptly, warm and without sawdust. Chief noted with some amusement the butter was in the usual ration amount. He did not take offense at that, just thinking with admiration how Actor always managed to get special favors.
The two made it through the bread and soup on talk about London and the parks Chief frequented. Chris asked about the deer at the estate and Chief gave her details of what he had seen of them. When the entrees arrived, Chris asked him to tell her about the area he had grown up in.
"Did you live on a res?" she asked casually. He hesitated before answering so she inserted quickly, "Our ranch is half on the Blackfoot res."
"Yeah," he replied. "Ours probably wasn't as nice as yours."
"I don't know," said Chris, taking a sip of wine. "I don't think any of them are that great. The Blackfoot reservation is flat grassland up to the foothills of the Rockies. Some of the older folk still live in teepees. The rest live in whatever they can make."
"Some of our old people still live in guughas." He described what a guugha looked like and went on to tell her about the rugged, rocky, arroyo-laced land where he had grown up.
Crystal grinned at him. "I bet you hated the Indian school. Monty did."
"It was bad," admitted Chief. "They tried to take the Indian out of us."
"That's what Monty said," replied Chris. "He ran away a lot. That's how we got him."
"I did too." The girl was easy to talk to. She was so matter-of-fact about everything and she seemed to know what she was talking about. That had to be Monty's influence. He found himself relaxing, enjoying the conversation.
"You should have run away up by us." Chris had finished eating and was sipping at the wine.
"I did," said Chief. "They caught me. I was in Montana, tryin' to get to Canada."
Christine's eyebrows rose at that, but before she could ask anymore about it, the waiter came and removed their plates while another waiter offered a plate of pastries. She glanced at Chief.
"Do you think we could split one?" she asked. "I don't want to eat a whole one."
"Sure," replied Chief. "You pick it out."
She chose a napoleon and watched it being delicately divided in half and placed on separate plates. The two ate in silence, but kept exchanging grins.
After the bill was paid, Chief was surprised to see he had money left over. He wondered what he could do to prolong the evening. He was enjoying the girl's company and she seemed to be enjoying his.
He helped her into her coat and escorted her out. Once on the sidewalk, they looked in both directions.
"Uh, you need to get back or anything?" asked Chief.
Chris shook her head. "Not really. The boys have a poker game going on. Noisy and a lot of beer."
Inwardly pleased, Chief nodded in the direction away from the hotel. Chris tucked her hand back in his and they slowly strolled away.
"I bet London was nice before the war," mused the girl. "The parks were probably lit and we could have walked through them."
"I still do," admitted Chief. "But it's too dangerous to take you there at night."
They walked a couple more blocks and spotted a movie theater. There was still a line of people waiting to go in.
"You want to go see a movie?" asked Chief.
"Okay," Chris nodded, enthusiasm in her voice. They joined the line and as it moved forward she asked. "Do you know what the movie is?"
"No," replied Chief. He started to step away to run up and find out, but his sleeve was caught by the young woman's hand.
"Wait, Rainey," said Chris, pulling on his sleeve. Almost shyly, she said, "It really doesn't matter what the movie is." Her mouth curved up in a smile, the moonlight showing the radiance in her eyes. The warmth of her expression made him catch his breath and reassured him that everything was going to be all right. He half-smiled back at her, unaware she could see the matching warmth in his eyes.
"Guess it'll have to be a surprise," he said.
Chief paid for their tickets and escorted Chris into the dim movie theater. She led him over to the left side near the back. Choosing a row of empty seats, she pulled his hand and went to the last seats next to the wall. He helped her out of her coat, but when he would have arranged it behind her; she took it and laid it across her lap.
They sat through the newsreels and the propaganda cartoons and finally Casablanca came on. Chief had to admit, Chris knew how to pick a seat. There was no one in front of them or behind them and one older woman on the other end of their row. Nice and private. Primly, they watched the movie. The theater was cold and eventually Chris opened her coat and spread it across both of them
"A little chilly," she whispered.
"Yeah," he agreed.
Should he? Would she object? Slowly he picked up his arm and put it around her shoulders along the back of the seats. She leaned into his shoulder and tucked the coat up under their necks.
"That's better," she whispered. "Thank you."
"Sure."
His fingers moved lightly back and forth over the soft skin of her upper arm as she snuggled in with her head next to his chin. A faint scent of a light woodsy perfume teased his nose. Chief tried to turn his attention back to the movie, but the girl beside him held his interest. It must have been mutual because before long her cheek burrowed against his shoulder at an angle that was not conducive to watching the screen. He wanted so bad to kiss her, but she was the Warden's little sister and the man would do more than scalp him if he did. After a while, Crystal's head turned back to watch the movie again. So much for that chance, thought Chief.
They stayed that way through almost the entire movie. At the last scene, Chris turned her head back into Chief's shoulder. He tilted his head to look at her.
"I know how it ends," she whispered, tilting her head back.
They were practically nose to nose. Chief looked at her face in the dim light from the movie screen. Her eyes were on him and her lips were barely parted. The temptation was too great. He moved in a little closer . . . and stopped. They watched each other. Suddenly, Chris darted in for a quick kiss. She pulled back a little and looked at him. Now he leaned in for a brief soft kiss. They pulled back and both grinned.
The lights came on and most of the audience stood while someone played "God Save the King".
Chief leaned back, eyes still on the girl. Christine's cheeks were pink above an impish grin, but her eyes were unrepentant.
"Come on," he said, not quite able to suppress a happy smile. "We better get you home."
"Good idea," she agreed.
They took a taxi to her flat. This time there was a bit more space between them, but their hands were clasped. Chief walked her to the door and paused.
She smiled up at him. "Thank you, Rainey. I really enjoyed the evening."
"So did I," he replied. This time he gave her a real kiss, soft and gentle, which she returned. Pulling back, he said quietly, "You better go in."
Chris nodded and with a smile let herself into the foyer. Chief turned and walked back to the taxi, a smile on his face.
When he entered the suite, there was still light coming from under Terry's door. It was too quiet for Casino and Goniff to be there.
"Chief?"
"Yeah," he called back.
"You have a good time?" asked Terry.
"Yeah, it was good." He tried to keep his voice nonchalant.
"What did you guys do after dinner?" It was said in a conversational, not accusatory manner.
"We went to a movie."
"Good. What was playing?"
"Casablanca." Chief headed for his bedroom.
"At least it had a happy ending."
"Yeah."
It was a good thing he couldn't see Terry's face. She pressed her fist to her mouth to stop herself from snorting with laughter as she thought of how she was going to tease Crystal about the happy ending of 'Casablanca'. She fell back on the pillow, smiling broadly, happy for the two of them.
GGGGG
Actor sat back in his chair at the linen covered table in the River Restaurant. It was a shame the blackout curtains must hide the view of the Thames. The brief glimpses from the moon would have sent diamond sparkles glittering across the water. However, the view across the table from him was more inviting. The blonde woman, with hair perfectly coiffed, was as elegant and sophisticated as he was. She was wearing a deep sapphire blue cocktail dress that set off her sparkling blue eyes. A sapphire pendant graced her aristocratic neck, flanked above by diamond teardrop-shaped earrings. The sapphire and diamond ring on her right ring finger glittered in the candlelight as she delicately sliced tiny bites from her baisers de Vierge with her spoon and sensually slipped them from the spoon into her mouth with her pink lips. Teresa would have had the ice cream, meringue and crystallized rose petals and violets devoured in a heartbeat. Actor stopped that vision in his mind. Why had thoughts of Teresa entered his mind? Possibly because he had brought her here on occasion? He dismissed thoughts of the younger woman and concentrated on the more mature, sophisticated, and sexually adventurous one in his company.
His liaison with Elizabeth was so uncomplicated. They were two of a kind and as such, understood each other well. Elizabeth, widowed, had a fortune of her own before the untimely demise of her wealthy husband. With no need to marry and restrict herself to one man, she enjoyed the company of several men, always careful to keep them apart, but adamant that each was aware from the start he wasn't her sole companion. Her requirements were dinner in a high class restaurant and an occasional evening at the opera or some other artistic affair. Her lovers were chosen for their culture and sophistication, but primarily they knew how to please a woman and were well equipped for that activity.
This would be Actor's third encounter with Elizabeth. By the end of their first, they realized theirs would be a lasting, though uncommitted, relationship. Actor had been impressed on his second visit to find a decanter of his cognac and a supply of his pipe tobacco. No demands were made of him other than she be given the pleasure of watching him disrobe. She made it clear in a subtle fashion that she greatly admired his physique and his talents and attributes.
At thirty-nine, she still had all the right curves in all the right places. The woman took great care in keeping her skin soft and her body inviting. Thoughts of what he would be doing later to that inviting body sent a flush of warmth through the man's core. He kept his desire in check, knowing the fulfillment of that desire would then be all the sweeter.
The ride back to Elizabeth's flat proved to be too long and at the same time not long enough. In the darkened interior of the taxi, Actor felt a feminine hand slide across the top of his leg and fingertips lightly glide back and forth over the fabric covering his inner thigh. A single raised eyebrow and a wry smile sent the hand slowly caressing its way back as a knowing smile answered his.
At the flat, Actor removed Elizabeth's fur wrap, carefully draping it over the back of a chair. As he removed his overcoat, she poured him a small cognac in a snifter. He accepted it and a kiss before settling in a wing-backed chair while she disappeared down the hall. Savoring the smooth spirits, he smiled in anticipation of what would be coming.
The flat was tastefully decorated with fairly good quality furniture that was well maintained and surprisingly comfortable. Elizabeth spent most of her time at her country home, away from the bombings. Vases of fresh flowers from her garden there were stationed on various tables throughout the room, accentuating the expanses of wood and plush fabric rather than giving it a frilly look. The woman had style.
"Vittorio Dear, are you coming to bed?" a seductive voice questioned from a room down the hall.
"Of course, Darling," he replied.
He rose and left the empty glass on the sideboard before strolling slowly down the hall, making her wait now; a crooked smile on his face. He entered her boudoir and paused to watch her. She was sitting at the dressing table in her negligee with her back to him. Her hands reached up to unpin her hair and then took a silver-backed hair brush and began brushing it from roots to tip, slowly and seductively. He waited until she looked at him in the mirror before pulling off his white silk scarf and letting it fall with deliberate carelessness on the foot of the bed. With her eyes still on him, he very slowly pulled undone his black tie. They smiled at each other gently through the mirror, each knowing they were dancing a dance as old as life itself.
GGGGG
While Actor was exercising a few of his many talents in a warm soft bed, Lt. Craig Garrison sat alone on a hard metal bench in the area off the mess in the cold stark belly of a sardine can. Normally, he would be up with the captain, watching the workings of the sub with interest. Tonight he was in no mood to be around anyone. He had been yanked away from Jenny because his men's expertise was needed, leaving his partner and girlfriend on her own. That was not saying Jenny wasn't capable, but he didn't like her being alone undercover. They had barely had time to hold hands and share a quick, unfulfilling kiss during the short time they had been together this trip before he had been ordered back to England.
Damn, the men were on leave in London; probably he thought with a derisive snort getting the restorative recreation he needed so badly himself. Most certainly Actor would be enjoying himself. Maybe not Chief or Goniff. Casino seemed to have no trouble in that area, though his style was very different from the suave Italian's. Craig figured he would have no trouble rounding up the Indian and the Englishman. If Casino wasn't around, Goniff would surely know where he was. Actor was going to be a different story. The con man was very secretive about the women he had dalliances with. As secretive as he was with the men, he was just as secretive with his women. No one knew what alias he used when he was squiring a prospective bedmate. Finding him was going to be a problem. All Garrison knew about the mission was that all of his men were required. And even if Actor wasn't key to the up-coming mission, the man's presence did lend some degree of comfort to Craig's leadership of the group.
Forgoing the stimulation of British navy coffee, Garrison leaned his head back against a bulkhead and tried to will himself to sleep. There would be little enough of that in the next few days. Sleep was not to come, his mind too wound up with the stress of maintaining two separate teams, one not aware of the other. He had told Jenny about his men, but had no intentions of telling his men about Jenny. He would have to go and learn to speak Norwegian, he thought with disgust. But if he hadn't, he would never have met Jenny.
Jennifer Grayson. She worked for SOE, at first as a translator and now as a spy. She knew more languages than he did. Intelligent, beautiful, strong; all the qualities he liked in a woman. Jenny. Tall, slim, and athletic, with chestnut hair and eyes the color of the sea. She passed herself off as being the daughter of a Scandinavian mother and Southern Irish father, though she was really British. She spoke flawless Norwegian and fluent Gaelic. That was what had landed her in the deep cover she was in. The Allies had needed someone who spoke Norwegian, understood German and would appear to be sympathetic to the Axis cause and could go in and out of the 'bedrooms' without drawing attention or be in danger of attack. Garrison could affect a Nordic look, speak both languages and was tough enough to take care of himself.
He hated the game they were forced to play. He hated every time he had to leave her behind. She was a chambermaid in what could only be called a cathouse, only not the kind of bordello he had been accustomed to in his youth in Rome. No, this place catered to high ranking German officers and anybody with a lot of money and a deviant nature. Strangely, she was relatively safe there. It was he who had to watch his back . . . literally. As her husband, he had a hand in black market goods. This proved to be advantageous for her employer and for certain German officers with expensive tastes. He would be gone for weeks at a time, supposedly arranging shipments and high-jacking goods. The goods he could deliver, courtesy of the SOE and Allied Command. This put him on very friendly terms with the officers, who tended to become loose with information discussed amongst themselves within the hearing of the trusted young man with the excellent German. Craig not only brought out information, but imparted what the Allies wanted the enemy to know, in the guise of observing it or hearing it in his 'travels'. Norway, being somewhat removed from Berlin, was a safer haven for the German officers who had a penchant for their own sex. Still, the penalties for being caught were usually terminal or worse. This made some of the officers ripe for blackmail or turning.
Craig and Jenny shared a tiny studio apartment several blocks from the 'club'. It was close enough to walk to work, but far enough to be on the outskirts of the notorious district the club was in. The two agents had been instructed by their handlers not to fraternize, which was a little difficult when they shared a single room and small double bed. That lack of fraternization had lasted half of one restless night as each found themselves very attracted to the other. As much as they hated the business they were dealing in, the two looked forward to Craig's arrival, to the time it brought them to be together. For a brief time, at night, they could pretend to forget the war and the sordid games it required them to play and take comfort in each other.
Craig had only been there a day when he was pulled out and returned to England for a mission with his men, not enough time for restorative recreation. With grim humor, he wondered what his men thought about his personal preferences. He avoided other women and showed no interest in joining his men when they invited him along on their forays after 'skirts'. At least now, they'd quit asking. Actor was too discrete and guarded to comment openly on Garrison's proclivities, but Casino wouldn't be above shooting his mouth off behind Craig's back to the others. Maybe they thought he preferred the type of business he dealt with in Norway. What a thought.
On the rare occasions Jenny was brought back to London, Craig tried to meet her in another studio-type flat he had paid dearly to obtain and rent in another name for the two of them. He had been afraid the men would somehow find out about his secret stays in London. It had not occurred to him it would be his little sister who would discover them. He thought they had been careful, but obviously they had not been careful enough. Now both sisters knew.
A cynical snort of laughter escaped him as he contemplated his middle sister. Poor Terry. He had done her a great disservice, accusing her of sleeping with his con man, when he knew in his heart she hadn't. Still Actor was a very clever and dangerous con and attracted women like flies. Terry wasn't just Garrison's sister, she was also a woman. Until Jenny, Craig could not understand how she could flaunt convention and live in sin with Jake. Christine he could understand because she had been young and innocent and easily taken in. Now he knew how it was to be in love with a person and be unable to marry them, but still have to be with them. He had treated his sister like a slut, but in no way could he ever consider his sweet Jenny in that light. Maybe he had been younger and more naïve than his sisters. Maybe it was his catholic upbringing. He was finding out you didn't have to be married to be in a committed relationship, and you didn't have to be committed to someone to marry them.
His musings had only increased the frustration he felt from being so close to Jenny and having to leave her, and kept him in a state of irritation. The thought of having to deal with his men's annoyance at having their leave cancelled did not improve matters any. Casino was sure to be volatile and loud. Craig wondered what kind of screwed up mission they were going on this time. He glanced at his watch. In another four hours he was going to find out.