When Tides Turn
Page 21
Dan knifed his hand in the direction of his office. “On my desk. Some of the reports are weeks overdue. Why haven’t your yeomen typed them up?”
Tess’s mouth drew up tight. “They’ve typed every report they’ve received. They work hard, and it isn’t fair—”
“Mr. Avery!” Bill leaped to his feet. “It isn’t the yeomen’s fault. I never gave them those reports.”
He wheeled to Bill and caught a flicker of a smile. Hallelujah! Message received.
Dan worked up some restrained steam. “They’re ready to be typed, the yeomen were waiting for them, and you didn’t pass them along?”
Bill feigned bewilderment well. “But—but, sir. They can only be typed by you.”
“By me? I’m not a yeoman.”
Commander Lewis pushed his chair back. “A strange idea, Mr. Bentley.”
Bill gazed between the two men with innocent blue eyes. “But those were Mr. Randolph’s orders, sir.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Mr. Randolph spluttered. “Why would I give an order like that? You—you must have misunderstood me.”
Bill lowered his head and dropped Dan a surreptitious wink. “Yes, sir. I must have.”
Victory surged in Dan’s chest. He marched to Commander Lewis’s desk. “Sir, do I have your permission to delegate tasks in an appropriate manner as I see fit?”
“Of course.” The commander frowned. “That’s your duty as an officer.”
“Thank you, sir.” He wanted to throw Randolph’s smug smile back in his face, but ignoring him was the higher ground. “Mr. Bentley, let’s get to work.”
Now he had a fighting chance. What a perfect, flawless plan.
Tess stood in the hallway, her face pale and cold.
Uh-oh. The only flaw, but it was a whopper. His mouth opened, but no words came.
“Good day, Mr. Avery. I’ll go to the Rad Lab by myself. I don’t need an escort.” She strode away, tall and proud.
“Miss Beau—”
“No, thank you.” She tossed a wave over her shoulder. “I’d rather not wait for you.”
Dan mashed his lips together and returned to his office. He’d work till midnight Monday through Friday, turn in his work Saturday morning, and sail away. He’d never get another minute alone with Tess, and he deserved no better.
Bill shut the office door behind them. “I guess you didn’t show her the script.”
“No time. At least you figured it out.” He laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “I’ll never forget this. I owe you.”
“You’d do the same for me.” He jerked his head toward the door. “The Rad Lab?”
“I’ll give her a head start so she can avoid me.” Dan picked up the right-hand stack of papers. “Let’s get this ball rolling. Take this to the WAVES. They’ll shriek when they see it.”
“Aye aye, sir.”
While Bill ran his errand, Dan thumbed through the middle stack and plucked out the highest-priority reports for Bill to work on in his absence. When the ensign returned, Dan handed him the papers. “This should keep you busy. I won’t be gone long.” No lingering with Tess, that was for sure.
“Finally have something to do. I’ve been twiddling my thumbs.”
“Unconscionable.” Dan yanked on his overcoat. “Listen, if I ship out on Saturday and you see Tess on Sunday, could you—”
“Tell her you’re sorry you were a jerk? Aye aye, sir.”
“Thanks.” Dan trudged out of the building toward City Square Station.
He passed the stage for the rallies that would take place today at 1200 and 1800. Just yesterday, he and Tess had hung that bunting, hands close, conversation closer. By the end of the day, he’d convinced himself she might be falling for him.
If it were true yesterday, it wasn’t today. He’d blown it. He meant to protect her, but he’d only hurt her. Why did he think he could pursue a woman like Tess? He was nothing but a bulldozer.
The platform at City Square Station was more crowded than usual, and people checked the clock and their watches. The train must have been delayed.
Dan scanned the crowd. Tess stood not too far away, and she hadn’t noticed him. He’d enter a different car to give her space.
Guilt and longing mingled in his chest. Or he could follow her and give her an apology.
Dan eased over, careful to stay out of her sight. In a minute, a train pulled up. Tess slipped into a seat by the window, and Dan plopped next to her.
She gasped, hiked up her chin, and faced the window. “I don’t wish to speak to you, Mr. Avery.”
He didn’t blame her. She held a handkerchief in her lap, and she balled it up in her fist. Oh swell, he’d made her cry.
The train pulled out of the station, and Dan leaned closer. “Tess—”
“Miss Beaumont!”
More than anything, he wanted to fold her in his arms and murmur apologies in her hair until she melted and forgave him. But he didn’t have that right.
“Tess . . .” He drew out her name until it was almost an apology in itself. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”
“I’ll say. You accused me and my girls of dereliction of duty, which isn’t true and you know it.”
“I do, and I apologize. I wish I could have let you know what I was doing, but—”
“Oh, I figured it out.” Golden fire blazed in her eyes. “Mr. Randolph ordered you not to delegate, which is wrong—it is—but what you did was wrong too. You made us take a fall for you, all to protect your precious reputation. You put your career over your friends. Fine, enjoy your career—alone.”
That was untrue and unfair, but he’d hurt her feelings and he couldn’t get defensive. “May I explain?” he asked softly.
“If you can.”
He pulled in a slow breath. “With those orders, Mr. Randolph would have destroyed me. I have piles of work and a Saturday morning deadline. If I can delegate and I work sixteen hours a day, I might finish on time. Might. But if I couldn’t delegate, I was sunk.”
“I’m so glad you’re still floating.” Those prickles could sink any lifeboat.
Dan gripped his hands together. “I’m sorry I turned on you, but I knew you and the WAVES would never get in trouble. They can’t be held responsible for work they never received.”
She thrust up her chin. “What about Bill? He’s such a good friend, and you made him—”
“I didn’t make him. I—” Then he groaned, and his eyes slipped shut. “You’re right. I put him in a tight spot. He didn’t have much of a choice.”
“I’ll say.” A Boston winter held nothing to the chill in her voice.
“I’ll apologize to him too. But just so you know, he isn’t in trouble. It’s in his best interest that the work is completed. It’s in the nation’s best interest. Mr. Randolph . . .” He shook his head hard. “Well, the Nazis don’t need spies with him in their camp. How dare he impede important work?”
The train rattled its way over the Charlestown Bridge, and Tess twisted the hankie in her lap.
Maybe he was getting through to her. “I really am sorry.”
“You didn’t have to be mean to me.” Her voice quivered.
Why did he have to be such a heel? “I was also protecting you.”
“Protecting me? By chewing me out?”
Dan nodded. “Bill told me Mr. Randolph threatened to have you reprimanded and transferred if he suspected anything was happening between you and me.”
The red in her eyes made the green stand out starker. “There’s certainly no danger of that.”
No, there wasn’t. Dan gritted his teeth. “That isn’t the point. If he knew how much . . . how much I care about you, he’d destroy you to hurt me.”
Tess’s face collapsed and darkened, shadowed as the train descended into a subway tunnel. “Oh. I see.”
“Mm-hmm. But the way I chewed you out? That’ll throw him off the trail.”
She tucked in her lips. “It will.”
“And off duty?”
“Depends.” One corner of his mouth puckered. “Can you forgive me?”
“Oh, all right, you big oaf.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “But don’t you ever talk to me like that again.”
“Never.”
By the time they reached MIT, he had her smiling again. His hopes for romance had been smashed to smithereens, but at least he’d salvaged their friendship.
Inside Building 22, they headed to the office where the WAVE yeomen worked. Professor Louis Arnaud strode down the hallway, his nose in a book, muttering to himself.
He almost bumped into Dan, but then he made an abrupt turn into an office—his own office. The professor stopped inside the doorway and dropped the book. “I told you never to come here.”
Dan pulled Tess toward the wall right outside the office and put a finger to his lips.
She nodded and pressed her ear to the wall.
“You can’t keep me away, Louis. We have an agreement.” A woman’s voice, thickened by a central European accent.
Arnaud slammed the door, but it bounced off the latch and floated back open. “You promised not to come here.”
“You promised a lot of things too. Things you never delivered.”
Delivered? Dan’s hand tightened around Tess’s arm, and she covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes enormous.
“I can’t, Helga. It is not as easy as you think.”
“It is as easy as you want it to be. I am beginning to question your loyalty.”
Instinctively, Dan drew Tess closer, and she didn’t resist.
“My loyalty?” The professor let out a harsh laugh. “If I were loyal, I wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“A mess? Is that what you call it? You wanted this as much as I did.”
“I did. I do. Oh, darling, you must never doubt me again.”
“Then do what you promised. You have one week.”
“One week? Please, Helga. I need more time. It is very complicated. Please give me until June.”
A chair scraped along the floor. “You have until June 1. If you break your promise, I will tear you into little pieces. It would not be difficult to convince a jury that you offered to sell me military secrets.”
“You wouldn’t!”
Fear sparked in the giant green pools of Tess’s eyes.
“Oh, my Louis, my treasure. You’ve seen what I’m capable of. Do not test me.”
High heels thumped toward the door.
Dan froze. They had to cover and fast.
He flung his arm up on the wall, arching over Tess’s head, and he leaned close with his best impersonation of a roguish grin. “I’m flirting with you,” he said in a light, low tone. “Can you see? I’m flirting with you and you’d better flirt back.”
Tess batted her eyelashes. “Flirt all you want, sailor boy. I’m not giving you the time of day.”
The door slammed, and a slim redhead stomped down the hall, shooting Dan and Tess a dismissive look.
After she passed, Tess sagged against the wall and her hand fluttered to her mouth. “Oh no.”
Dan guided her down the hall and into the stairwell. When the door shut, he turned her to face him. “Keep your voice low. You know her?”
“No, but I’ve seen her. She was at the Cocoanut Grove. Do you remember? Professor Arnaud left alone, but he fetched two coats. She came out later and joined him in the cab. She’s his mistress.”
“I figured that much.”
“It gets worse.” Tess clutched the lapel of Dan’s coat. “She’s wearing a red beret.”
How could he think with her so close, touching him? “A red beret?”
“The bombing. The woman on the bike wore a red beret. I know, thousands of women in Boston own a red beret, including Yvette, but . . .”
“But this looks bad. This looks like the professor has a German mistress who’s coaxing him to give her military secrets.”
“It could be. Or it could be he has a mistress with a German name, and she wants him to divorce his wife as he promised. That also fits everything they said.”
“Regardless, we can’t take any chances. We’re going straight to the FBI.”
“Now? I—I can’t.” She pressed her hand to her forehead. “The rally. It’s at noon. I’m in charge. I have to be there.”
His cheeks puffed out with air. “Very well. Immediately after the rally we’ll go—”
“We? You can’t go. You have all that work.”
“I’m a witness too. As for my work, if God wants me to finish, he’ll make it happen.”
Her eyes rounded. “I can’t let you do that for me.”
Dan rubbed her upper arm and offered half a smile. “This time, let me choose friends over career, okay?”
“Okay.” But her face reddened and crumpled, and she swayed closer. “Oh, Dan.”
She was asking him to hold her? How could he refuse?
“Come here.” He gathered her close and caressed her back.
She felt so right in his arms, even with the heavy layers of wool between them and her cover preventing him from nuzzling in her curls.
If only she could stay there, but this would be his only chance to hold her.
“Goodness.” She let out a nervous chuckle and backed away. “If Mr. Randolph saw us, it’d all be over, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, it would.” It was all over anyway.
34
Wednesday, April 14, 1943
Tess glanced at her watch—1900. She motioned for Nora and the WAVES from the war bond office to tiptoe closer, then she lightly rapped on the outer door of the ASWU office.
Bill Bentley stepped into the hall and shut the door behind him. “He doesn’t suspect a thing,” he whispered.
“Everyone’s gone?”
“Just me and the WAVES. He’s trying to shoo us out, but we won’t budge.”
“Good. Ready?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned at the women, flung open the door, and burst into the birthday song.
The ladies joined in the song, carrying their burdens inside. The ASWU yeomen came singing down the hall from the other direction.
Dan poked his head out of his office, and his jaw dropped. Then he raised his arm and leaned it against the doorjamb. He’d taken off his jacket and loosened his tie, and his hair stuck up on one side. He’d never looked more befuddled, more rumpled, or more delicious.
When the song ended, Dan stared at his guests. “What’s going on?”
Tess stepped forward. “Lillian told me your birthday is on Friday. You’re turning thirty.”
He raked his hand through his hair on the sticking-up side. “I—I don’t need a party.”
“Yes, you do. Mr. Bentley told me you’d stayed up till midnight both Monday and Tuesday but sent him home at six.”
Dan rolled an annoyed look at his ensign.
Bill spread his palms wide. “Would you rather I lied?”
Tess set down her heavy basket and stretched her fingers. “We know you don’t have time for a fun party, so we’re throwing you a work party.”
“A work—”
“We’re all working late tonight. Everyone volunteered, so don’t fuss. We want to help you. The yeomen here said they have a huge logjam of typing, so three of the yeomen from the bond office came—with typewriters.”
“Where should we go?” Celia Ortega lifted her typewriter case.
“This way.” Betty Jean Miles motioned her toward the workroom. “Thanks for coming. Mr. Avery’s so good to us, always treats us right. We’re all glad to help.”
Nora raised her slide rule. “I’m here to do calculations. Mr. Bentley said you have lots, and I’m speedy with numbers.”
“Thank you, Miss Thurmond.” Bill beckoned. “Mr. Santini said we could use his office this evening and give Mr. Avery peace and quiet.”
That left Tess alone with Dan. �
��I don’t know how useful I’ll be, but I’ll be your Girl Friday. Anything I can help you with, let me know. Oh, and I brought dinner for everyone.”
Dan’s gaze was liquid and unbelieving. “You didn’t have to do this.”
“I wanted to. It’s my birthday gift to you—from all of us, really.”
“It was your idea though.” His lips curved up. “You put it together.”
“It was fun. Anything to get you on the Bogue when she sails.” He couldn’t say when, only that it would be soon.
“Trying to get rid of me, eh?”
“You see right through me.” She winked. “I’ll set up dinner on that big table in the workroom. Come get one of Madame Robillard’s gorgeous sandwiches. Oh, and an almond pastry. Wait until you taste them.”
She turned to leave, but he grasped her arm. “Thank you. This is—this is the best present ever.”
The emotions in his expression—gratitude and guilt, affection and disbelief—all she wanted was to pull him down for a kiss that lasted until his actual birthday.
But that would put her selfish pleasure above his needs. Dan believed romance would hinder his goals, and Tess loved him too much to stand in his way.
She managed a smile. “Give me five minutes to set up, then come get dinner. You can’t work on an empty stomach.”
In the workroom, Tess opened her basket and set the wrapped sandwiches on napkins. Roberta Ingham showed her how to use the coffeemaker, a task Tess could adopt for the evening so the yeomen could type.
For the next few hours, she kept coffee percolating and cups filled. She ran papers from Dan to Bill and from Bill to Dan and from Dan to the yeomen. She ran data to Nora and completed calculations back to Dan. She sorted reports, stapled them, and inserted them in folders.
It was nothing but busywork, but it kept everyone else working hard.
At ten o’clock, Dan handed her a tall stack of signed reports and his empty coffee cup. “Please put these on Mr. Randolph’s desk—they only need his signature. And may I have a refill?”
“Aye aye, sir.” What a lovely sight, all those reports tucked neatly in their folders. Wouldn’t Mr. Randolph be shocked at the quantity?
Tess’s steps slowed. What if he ignored them . . . pretended to lose them? Oh no. She wouldn’t give the man that power.