Ava refused to allow her overinflated sense of guilt to plague her. Anger exploded inside her skull. “Yet you were talking to a Nazi at dinner. Sharing Allied secrets with him.”
“I was not.”
“I heard what you said to that man with the swastika cuff links.” She put her hand on the door handle, ready to jerk it open and be free from the enclosed space with James. There wasn’t enough room for them both inside that small cab.
“It isn’t what you think, Ava.”
“Were you sharing Allied secrets, James?” she demanded. “My brother is out there somewhere. Along with other brothers and fathers and husbands.”
“My brother is too,” he said sharply.
Ava quieted, stunned. In all their times speaking to one another, he had never mentioned having a sibling.
“It isn’t something I care to discuss.” James cut the engine and silence fell over them. “It’s better that I don’t think of him out there, worrying that he might be cold or hungry or in danger.” His level gaze found hers. “I would never jeopardize his life.”
She turned her attention to where her shoes peeked from beneath the glossy hem of her gown, now on the correct feet. As much as she hated to admit it, she could understand not wanting to think about one’s brother in battle. If her mother had been alive and corresponded with Daniel, would Ava even have done so at all?
An ache in her chest gave her the answer she already knew. But then, if her parents hadn’t died, she and Daniel would never have been close, especially with him living in DC and them being in Chicago.
“What did you tell the German?” She looked up at him once more.
James sighed. “I’d rather not say.”
“Because, apparently, I’m not supposed to know?” The bitterness of her hurt found its target. “I heard that too. When you were behind the door with Artemis and Orion.”
“How did you know they were Artemis and Orion?”
“The hunting bows,” she said distractedly. “I heard you in there, James.”
Church bells tolled in the distance.
James’s lips pulled downward. “It’s dangerous.”
“That was said as well.”
He regarded her for a long moment, as if considering whether to tell her or not. “Misinformation,” he said finally.
“What?”
James ran a hand through his thick, dark hair. “I fed him misinformation. Something he thinks is true but is actually a falsehood. It was the actual purpose for my being at the dinner party. The last time I went, I was alone and thought doing so again would call attention.”
She considered him, weighing the words to determine his candor and trying to quell the rise of her own anger so she could think properly.
“It’s quite common,” he continued. “The spread of false information. Rather than tell many, you only tell one and it is like a flame to dry tinder.”
“If that’s true,” she said softly, “you used me as your cover.”
“I personally did not mind.” He offered a hesitant smile. “I hope you did not.”
“I would have preferred to know beforehand.” Certainly, a forewarning would have avoided the ugliness in which they were now embroiled.
If he was even telling the truth. The events all crowded together, making it impossible to decipher between what might be true and what might be a lie.
“I was not sure how you would act around everyone if you knew.” His mouth thinned in a hard line. “But there’s more to it than that. Ava, it is not safe to meddle with spies. If you didn’t know, you wouldn’t be in danger.”