Shell Shocked (16 page)

“So, you're seventeen?” my mother said—she was sticking to Jack's cover story, that he was sixteen.

“That's right,” Daphne said.

That could mean only one thing—Jack had told her his real age … or I guess his real cover-story age … or something. This was so confusing. I wondered what else he had told her. I shot Jack a look, but he had his head down and he was fidgeting nervously with the crease in his pants.

“You look older than seventeen,” my mother said.

“Well, I've always looked grown-up for my age.”

“Excuse me,” I said. “I'll bring the tea in, but then I think I'll go out and see … my friend.”

“That would be fine, dear,” my mother agreed. “It will give us girls a chance to get to know each other better.”

Could anyone else hear the edge in her voice? I almost felt sorry for Daphne—she was like a mouse that had been caught by a cagey old cat!

“Oh, no, George!” Daphne said. “Surely you don't want to go out there in the storm! It's terribly cold and windy!”

“He won't be going very far,” my mother answered.

“But I hardly
ever
get to see George,” Daphne said. “I really think he should stay.”

Unexpectedly, Daphne got to her feet and moved to the door so that she was practically blocking me from leaving.

“It seems so rude for him to leave when I've just arrived,” she said.

“He's not trying to be rude, and he really must go,” my mother said forcefully. “He'll be back shortly.”

“And I must insist that he not leave at all,” Daphne said.

And that's when she pulled a pistol out of her purse and aimed it right at us.

WE ALL STARED
, stunned, mouths wide open, not moving, not breathing, not believing what we were seeing with our own eyes. This could not be real. That couldn't be a real gun.

“All of you, please sit down,” Daphne said politely.

I stood frozen in place.

“Daphne, I don't know what sort of joke you're playing, but this isn't funny,” Jack said. He got to his feet.

“It wasn't meant to be funny. This is no joke. Sit down. I really don't want to shoot you. I don't want to shoot any of you, but I will if I have to.”

“I'm not doing anything until you explain what's gotten into you,” Jack said. He had the serious look I knew so well. He wasn't about to back down.

“Please, Jack, sit down. I really want to explain, and I don't want to hurt anybody. Especially not you.”

Her voice and expression had softened so that she sounded and looked friendly. I noticed the gun was still aimed at his chest, though. She held it out in front of her and it was shaking … her hand was shaking. She was the one holding the gun but she was afraid, too.

“Boys, please sit,” my mother said.

I sat down on the chesterfield. Jack still hadn't moved. I reached up and took him by the hand and pulled him down beside me.

“You must all be feeling a bit confused,” she said.

“You got that right!” Jack snapped.

“I am not who I have pretended to be,” she said. “But then, neither are any of you. I know about your family. I know about how you foiled an attack on Camp X and thwarted an escape from Camp 30.”

For a second I thought that Jack must have told her, but judging from the look on his face he was equally shocked.

“I know everything. You boys are not the only people in the intelligence business.”

“You mean … you're … you're …?”

“A German agent.”

I heard the words and I knew what they meant, but how could it be true?

“Judging from the looks on your faces, you did not suspect a thing,” she said. “And as part of my work I had to pretend to be your girlfriend.”

Jack now looked hurt.

“I had to pretend that I cared for you,” she said, “although, to be honest, I have grown fond of you. You are a fine boy.”

“Boy?” Jack asked.

“Yes, a fine fifteen-year-old boy. I felt bad about deceiving you. Who knows, if the circumstances had been different and if I'd been much younger, we might have become girlfriend and boyfriend for real.”

“Oh yeah? Do you think I'd be friends with a stinking Nazi traitor?” Jack snarled.

“I am no traitor. I am loyal to my country. Germany.”

“You can't be German,” Jack said. “You don't have an accent.”

“I am German, although I moved to Canada when I was only two. My father was employed by the German embassy in Ottawa and I was raised in this country. He was recalled to Germany when the embassy was closed, when war was declared between our two countries.”

“How old are you really?” Jack asked.

“I turned twenty-two shortly before we met. I pretended to be seventeen, the same way you pretended to be sixteen.”

“Is Daphne your real name?”

She shook her head. “Liesl is my name. I am sorry that I was forced to deceive you in such a manner. In fact,
when they told me that I was to get to know you better I thought it was a waste of my time. After all, what could a fifteen-year-old boy and his younger brother know about our operation?” She paused. “And then there was today,” she said, looking at me. “You shouldn't have gone to the steam plant.”

“That's why you're here tonight, isn't it?” I said.

“That, and the trip you made to try to see Mr. Granger.”

I nodded my head. “And you knew about that because Juliette is another agent.”

She didn't answer, but I could tell by her expression that I was right.

“There's no point trying to deny it,” I said. “I know everything.”

“Do you? Do you know we have agents throughout the facility? On the lines, at the steam plant, even at the gatehouse? Perhaps you don't know as much as you think.”

“I do know that whatever is going to happen is going to happen tonight,” I said.

She didn't answer, but her smug look faded.

“And I know it's going to happen around midnight, at the change of shift.”

Now she looked shocked. “How could you know that?”

“I know lots of things.” I didn't really
know
it, but I figured that anyone planning an attack would want to do
it at a shift change when people were coming and going, to take advantage of the confusion.

“We were fortunate that Juliette was able to convince you that Mr. Granger wasn't in his office.”

“What?”

“He was right behind that door, and because she was able to persuade you to leave, you weren't able to tell him of your suspicions. You weren't able to tell anybody. And I'm here to make sure you stay silent.”

“Are you … are you going to kill us?” I gasped.

“I'm not a killer,” she said. “I was ordered to simply detain you until after midnight, after the explosion.”

“And what then?” Jack asked. “You're going to say goodnight and sashay out of here?”

“I will be receiving orders as to what is to happen next,” she said. “Perhaps you will be tied up and left. In the confusion and turmoil that this will produce, we should be able to simply slip away. We'll be out of the country before anybody thinks to look for you, or us.”

“If the whole plant goes up, they're going to be looking for all of us … or at least
parts
of all of us,” I said.

She looked as though she didn't understand what I meant.

“We're only one street away from the plant. If it goes up, then this whole house is going to be blown away with it,” I told her.

“No, we'll be safe here.”

“You go ahead and believe that if you want. But maybe it's not only us your boss wants out of the way. Maybe he's trying to tie up some other loose ends, as well … like you.”

She laughed, but it wasn't very convincing. “I won't listen to anything that you have to say.”

“Suit yourself. Are you cold?” I asked.

“No.”

“Oh, it's just that your hands are shaking … I thought that was because of the cold.”

She looked down at her hand on the gun and realized I was right. “Maybe I'm still a little cold.”

“Do you want a cup of the tea that I made?” I asked.

She looked confused about why I was making the offer.

“We could all use a cup of tea to settle our nerves,” I said. “Don't worry, you'll still have the gun. It's not like I'm going to hit you over the head with a sugar cube.”

She didn't answer.

“Look, it's only about seven o'clock. We can't just sit here staring at each other for the next five hours, right? A cup of tea would be nice … it would calm everybody's nerves.”

She seemed to be thinking. I had to keep talking, try to sway her decision.

“If you stand right there,” I said, pointing to the doorway between the kitchen and the living room, “you can keep an eye on all of us … okay?”

She nodded her head and I got up. I wasn't sure what good this was going to do but at least I was up and moving. Maybe if she drank enough tea she'd have to go to the washroom and … great, my escape plan hinged on her having to pee.

I walked slowly to the kitchen, taking care not to make any sudden moves. She trailed behind me, and I was unnerved to see the gun aimed at me, her hand still shaking. I liked her being scared and unsure. I didn't like her being that way with the pistol pointed at me.

“Bring it back in here,” she said. “The tea, the cups, everything.”

“Sure.”

I pulled out a tray and placed it on the counter. I put the teapot onto the tray. Next, beside it, I put the little dish holding the sugar cubes. I pulled some spoons out of the drawer, placing them on the tray as well. Then I opened the fridge and took out the milk. I poured some of it into a little creamer, put that on the tray and returned the rest to the refrigerator. All I needed now were the cups.

“Mom!” I called out. “Do you want me to use the good china cups? After all, we do have company.”

I looked at Liesl. Her expression was one of complete and utter bewilderment. I smiled at her. I remembered something that Little Bill had told me once—always be friendly, always smile, when you plan to kill somebody. Not that I was going to be killing her—I still only had sugar cubes and a spoon—but I wanted to act like nothing was wrong, like everything was fine and friendly. I needed to lull her into a false sense of safety.

“Well?” I called out again.

“Use whatever cups you like,” my mother answered.

“Thanks.”

I went to the cupboard where the good china cups were kept—and there, right beside them, was my mother's envelope full of sleeping powder! I had a rush of inspiration. If I could put that into her tea, it would knock her out … but how could I get it into her drink and nobody else's? How could I even get it into
her
tea? It wasn't like I could convince her it was sugar or—

“What are you doing in that cupboard?” Daphne demanded.

“Nothing … I'm trying to decide which cups to use.”

“Just take any old cups,” she said.

“Sure.” I took out two cups and saucers, turned around and placed them on the tray. Liesl was looking right at me. There was no way I could do anything with her watching me that closely. I had to get her to focus somewhere else.

“Liesl, did you ever really like my brother at all?”

“Yeah,” Jack called out from the other room.

She turned to face the living room—
away
from me.

“I did—I
do
like you, Jack,” she said.

I turned back to the cupboard. I chose another cup and placed the envelope of powder inside it, and then grabbed one more and put them both on the tray. This time I had my back to her, blocking her view.

“I didn't mean to hurt you in any way, Jack,” she went on. “I thought that you'd never discover the truth.”

What now? I couldn't put the powder into only one of the cups. Everyone would see the powder dissolving—and even if it wasn't noticeable, how could I be sure she'd take the right cup? Instead, I took the top from the teapot and tipped the envelope into it. How much should I pour? Better too much than too little—I dumped it all in. Then I took the empty envelope, folded it over and slipped it into my pocket.

It would be simple enough for me to pretend to drink, but I didn't know how I could warn my brother and mother—I
couldn't
, not without running the risk of tipping off Liesl. I'd have to knock them all out. Better to put everybody out than have Liesl find out what I was doing.

I picked up the tray and turned around. Liesl was still talking to Jack and paying very little attention to me.

“Excuse me,” I said.

She started slightly, turned the pistol toward me and then moved out of the doorway and into the living room. She took a seat on the chair farthest away from the chesterfield. I walked in and placed the tray on the coffee table.

“I'll pour,” I said.

I had to make a quick decision—was it best to serve Daphne first, so she could drink first, or was it better to wait for the powder to dissolve more? I'd put her in the middle.

“Mom, you want sugar and milk, right?”

“Yes, please.”

I poured the milk in first. I was counting on it to hide any cloudiness that the powder might produce. Then I poured the tea into the cup. It was steamy and I couldn't see any trace of the powder. Either it had completely dissolved or it was still sitting in the bottom of the teapot. I used the tongs to take one cube and put it in the cup, stirred it, and then handed my mother the cup and saucer.

“Thank you.”

“Liesl, how would you like your—?”

“Lots of milk and three sugars,” Jack said. “Unless you
lied
about that, too!”

She actually looked hurt by his words.