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Back The Guardian of Lies Save as PDF
Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. ‘The Survivors’ Ad
  54. ‘The Betrayal’ Ad
  55. ‘The Liberation’ Ad
  56. Copyright

‘That’s true.’ She sat very still as the road unwound ahead of them. ‘You tell me he has been asking about me in Serriac and . . .’ she exhaled slowly, as if it hurt, ‘I received a death-threat note when I was in town.’

‘What?’

‘It was a note tucked under my car wiper.’

‘Why didn’t you bring it to me at once?’

But she offered no explanation, and when he looked across at her he could see even in the darkness that her eyes were closed.

‘What did it say?’ The policeman in him was taking control.

‘That I would be killed if I didn’t go back to Paris.’

‘Do you still have it?’

‘Yes, of course. It’s at home. I’ll bring it to you in Serriac tomorrow.’

She talked as if they were discussing a book he wanted to borrow.

‘André warned me,’ she said, her dark eyes flicking open and flying to his, ‘that this man is dangerous.’

Léon took one hand off the wheel and wrapped it tight around hers. ‘The question is, can we believe what André says?’

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

I lay in bed. I couldn’t unclench my teeth. I couldn’t close my ears. The sound of the crutches marching back and forth across the wooden floor of André’s room was relentless.

I couldn’t confront him, not yet. If I burst in there now I might tear his lying tongue out. I turned everything over in my mind all night and I asked myself the same questions again and again. They raged and gnawed at me and curdled in the pit of my stomach.

Why is André spending time with a Soviet MGB agent in secret?

Why did he warn me off Gilles Bertin, saying he was too dangerous to approach?

Why did he say he didn’t know where Bertin was?

If the MGB were still trying to finish off the job of killing my brother, why didn’t Bertin do so? André was in no state to defend himself.

Was he still in danger?

Was I in danger?

Or Papa?

I stood at the window and wanted to rip my skin off. It was too tight. Too hot. The stink of the burned stables still hung in my nostrils after I’d checked on Cosette’s wound. We’d make a good pair, the two of us, with our matching scars. I stared up at the moon, bloated in the grave-black night, and I was frightened for Léon. I was fearful that while investigating the stable fire he would run slap into the brute fist of the MGB.

Thak, thak thak.

The sound of the crutches ate into my mind.

*

Silence.