Chapters (51)
- Cover
- Books by Elizabeth Camden
- Title Page
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Historical Note
- Questions for Discussion
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- About the Author
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She tried not to flinch, but it was hard. As if too restless to sit, Gray stood and wandered closer to the pond, hands stuffed into his pockets as he stared into the water. His face was drawn and sober as he spoke in a low voice. “I think Otis betrayed us.”
She recoiled, so stunned by the unexpected statement that it took a moment to process the words. “What do you mean?”
“Luke said that his codebook was discovered. It was hidden in the raccoon shed out at Windover Landing. Otis had a key to that shed. He had access to everything. I think he’s probably the one who turned Luke in.”
Her mouth went dry, and it was hard to breathe. What a fool she’d been to imagine that if she escaped Gray’s detection, he wouldn’t find someone else to blame.
But she couldn’t let him blame Otis.
She didn’t know how she was going to survive the next few minutes, for every instinct urged her to run away and never look back, but she stood on legs that felt like water to face him. There was no easy way to do this, and no point in delaying.
“It wasn’t Otis,” she said quietly.
He turned to gape at her. “What? How do you know that?”
“It was me.”
There was no change in his expression. Her heart pounded so hard that she heard it in her ears, and he seemed to gape at her forever. Why didn’t he say something? She had to get this over with.
“I found the codebook and the maps,” she said. “I’d been told someone in your house was spying, so I was on the lookout, and I immediately recognized it for what it was. American lives depended on stopping the insurgency. I didn’t know what else to do.”
He still hadn’t moved, still stared with that blank, uncomprehending look. “Who told you someone in my house was spying?”
“Someone from the army.”
The breath left him in a rush, and it looked like he was about to topple over, but he braced a hand against the trunk of a tree. He drew several breaths and gazed around in dumbfounded anguish. Finally he straightened and looked at her.
“You didn’t suspect me, did you?”
She hadn’t thought this could get any worse, but it did as heat flushed her face and Gray’s mouth turned hard. His stunned look faded as he narrowed his eyes.
“How much of it was a lie?” he demanded. “When did you start coming to my house to prowl for secrets and papers? Was it from the very beginning?”
“No,” she whispered.