Page 43 of The Secret Librarian
‘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 backlooking 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 ofDer 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,Völkischer 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, andDer Stürmerhe has on subscription? Don’t you want to be the only one sending back such valuable material?’
Avery didn’t know whether to be grateful to Camille or annoyed by her. Or perhaps she just wasn’t used to another woman having such a direct manner.
The bell to the shop jingled then, and Avery knew she didn’t have long to make a decision or ask Camille any questions. Avery stood for a moment and watched as Camille greeted her new customers, and she realised then that she had no choice. She’d go home, and so long as Tom wasn’t there to snoop on her, she’d be back with her camera and film within the hour. This was too good an opportunity to pass up, no matter how dangerous it might be.
When the other customers had left, she spoke to Camille again. ‘The other thing you asked me to do? I need to know more about it, about what my role would be. About how it would work.’ She’d thought she was all in, but standing in front of Camille, imagining that she could be involved in something that meant risking her own life, it suddenly felt overwhelming.
