The Shadowers Read Free Page B

If I have to marry one of them, I’ll take this one.” She turned away and bent over a worn briefcase on one of the theater seats, took out a small black book and handed it to me. It was Capablanca’s Chess Fundamentals. “You’d better study that, Mr. Corcoran,” she said. “It will give us something to do on our honeymoon. Good-bye, Mr. McRae. I’ll leave the arrangements to you. Just let me know what you want me to do.”
    We watched her walk out with her briefcase. Mac didn’t speak and neither did I. I won’t say I couldn’t. I just didn’t try.

3
    Down inside the big ship where we were—wherever that was—there wasn’t a thing to be heard except the steady, everpresent rumble of the heavy propulsion machinery. All the planes in the world could have been landing overhead or none at all. There was no way of telling.
    Mac laughed shortly. “Apparently my instinct was correct. I hadn’t really considered you for the job because I wanted you to have the full leave you’d been promised, but when you called last night I had a hunch you were just the man we needed here. We’ve been having a good deal of difficulty in persuading the lady to cooperate. She gave us an indignant refusal at first, and even after she suddenly changed her mind for reasons that aren’t entirely clear—I didn’t venture to cross-examine her— she proved very hard to suit in the matter of a working partner.” He studied me thoughtfully and spoke without expression. “I suppose it was that intriguingly sinister, ruthless, yet somehow intellectual look that overcame her spinster scruples, where a straightforward display of masculine charm and virility merely offended her. Or maybe she just thought you looked old enough to be reasonably safe.”
    “Go to hell,” I said, “sir.”
    “Well, you seem to have won the beauty contest, Eric,” he said, using my code name to remind me gently that this was an official conversation, and that while many liberties were permitted, there was only one boss. “Matrimony is an essential part of the assignment, you understand. Dr. Mariassy is valuable government property. You can judge how valuable by the caliber of the visitors who came on board today to confer with her and her colleagues. We have obtained permission to use her for bait, but you have to be close enough to her, day and night, not only to watch her but to protect her as well. You can only do that in the character of a lover or husband.”
    “Sure,” I said. “But with two choices, why do we have to pick the legal one?”
    “Aside from the fact that she is hardly the type for an illicit love affair, the lady has a career to think of. Neither she nor the government department for which she works wants a scandal attached to her name. After the job is finished, of course, steps will be taken to dissolve the blessed union at no cost to either party. But it must be a genuine marriage while it lasts.”
    I said, “Well, if she can stand it, I guess I can.”
    “You will have to,” Mac said dryly. “And you will have to be very diplomatic, in private. The rude and arrogant manner she affected today would seem to indicate that she is frightened.”
    “You think she might panic and pull out, sir? I’ll try not to scare her.”
    “On the other hand,” he said, “your performance must carry conviction—both performances. There must be no hint of fakery.” He paused. “It’s a Taussig operation, Eric. You know what that means. We’re not up against amateurs. We can’t be too careful.”
    I frowned. “Taussig? Hell, I thought the old maestro was through. I thought he’d been put out to grass after that Budapest fiasco in fifty-four—well, to a desk in Moscow.”
    “That was our understanding until quite recently, but apparently it was wrong.” Mac glanced at me. “Do you remember the details of what he did in Budapest? I mean, what he almost did in Budapest?”
    “Yes, sir,” I said. “I wasn’t in on it myself,