Now that George was in on the secret he was able to admire the immense acting skill that Annabel possessed. He was also now able to see when it was that she was poking fun at people under the guise of her own stupidity. George could imagine it was the only thing that kept her sane, he knew he would go crazy if he had to act like a fool all the time. Occasionally George wondered if Annabel remembered that she had asked for his help or if she had decided she didn't need him after all. He need not have worried, she was simply biding her time and she approached him again just as he started to think that she never would. George, in all of his frustration, concluded that her soul purpose in life was to confuse and surprise him.
“Sorry, I wanted to make sure that you were actually okay, I started having my doubts about hiring someone without their history looked into. I sent back to England and they sent back the answer today, nothing to worry about, you're hired, and going to get paid by both the army and the department that hires me.”
“Why doesn't the army just put me back on the serving list and give me full pay, I'd be happy with just that,” George protested. It seemed dishonest to get paid by someone other then the army while he was still enlisted.
“The army keeps records that can be looked at and that would be too dangerous. If you had a full pay status and no active duties listed that would scream to the whole world that you were a spy and we can't afford that. Besides, this way you get paid better for your work and I assure you if you are feeling guilty about the amount you will be earning, the work you will be doing will be earning every penny of it,” Annabel said. George smiled, amused that she had figured out his thoughts so easily. He didn't even bother to ask how she had gotten a message from England when there had been no post that day. A woman was allowed her secrets and he wasn't that interested in prying into onces that she didn't tell him flat out. He had been hired to be her assistant, not to question her, and years and years in the army had taught him not to question the bosses.
“Any conditions to me working with you? Anything to make sure that I don't betray your trust?” George asked, he had a vague idea that it should be harder to become a spy then it seemed to be. There was no way for him to know the combing through ever piece of correspondence he had ever written and the investigation of every person he had ever talked to that had occurred back in England.
“No, nothing like that. They did say that you shouldn't mention this work to anyone, ever, even long after the fact. No one really trusts a spy and it would be in your own best interest that you never get labeled as one even if you have nothing to lose.”
“You don't have to tell me that,” George said, smiling. “I know how spies get treated in the army at least and I assume that it is the same everywhere. I like my friends and I would like to keep them if I can.”
Having reached an agreement the pieces of their work started to fall into place for George. There was a building that they were going to have to enter and Annabel had been trying to figure out how to do it alone, when it was clearly a two person job, when she had noticed George watching her and realized that he had seen her when she had gone to look at the building the first time. George asked several times what the building was but Annabel evaded the question and George finally decided that this was another one of the secrets she was to be allowed.
To be continued...
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