A Gathering of Spies - Excerpt

Then she vanished into the darkness somewhere beyond a stack of crates on the dock.

Catherine stared after her. I won’t follow her, she thought. It’s late and it’s cold and my coat only has one button, and besides, I’m not like Katarina. I don’t enjoy adventures on dark, deserted docks late at night.

Besides, she was starting a new job the next day. She wanted to make a good impression on her new employer—be in passable shape, at least, when he first saw her coming off the train. Not that she was hoping for anything to develop in that direction, of course. He was a widower, true enough, but she had no illusions about her own attractiveness. No, she didn’t harbor even a tiny little hope. Still, a solid night’s sleep seemed like a good idea. She wanted to be as presentable as possible when he first laid eyes on her.

She stepped onto the dock, hesitated for a moment, then took another step forward. God only knew who was lurking around out there at this time of night. She held her beaded purse more tightly to her body. A freezing sea spray leapt up from nowhere, turning her coat damp. She shivered again.

Where had Katarina gone?

“Katarina,” she said, “I’ve got to get home.”

“Just come look at this, Cat, and I’ll walk back with you.”

“Look at what?”

No answer.

Catherine stayed where she was for another moment, still holding the coat together with one hand. A flicker of some odd, foreign emotion was moving through her. After an instant, she recognized it as anger. Why was Katarina dragging her out onto this deserted dock the night before she started a new job? Katarina was jealous, that was why. Katarina had to keep working at Owen and Dunn, getting pawed by old George Gardner every time she turned around, while Catherine got to go off to the country and live in a nice house with a respectable man. Katarina wanted to ruin it for her.…

That’s ridiculous, she thought. She came to see you off. She’s your friend.

She took another few steps forward, moving around the crate.

“Katarina?” she said.

It had been two years since the last time.

But it went perfectly. Her body took the responsibility itself, without waiting for instructions from her mind. She watched from a polite distance as