Execution [Book 2 of The English Lion]

XLVII. James

Over the next week, several incidents happened where Alexander had thrown himself back to work the day before the Altmark Incident, making dresses and whatnot. In the early afternoon of the 17th, the day after the Altmark Incident, when I walked to Alexander's room, with a confidential envelope in hand. I bumped into Hugo.

"Good morning, sir," I stated and gave him the envelope, "This is for the Director-General, sir."

Hugo nodded as he took it.

"How is he?" I asked, sounding slightly worried for Alexander, and Hugo sighed almost immediately.

"Not well, I believe. He needs his own space," Hugo replied before changing the topic, "How is our dear friend, Monsieur Hitler?"

"Well, there had been plans being presented for the invasion of France through the Ardennes," I replied, "And the envelope in your hands contains the very documents that Manstein had presented Hitler about the invasion."

Hugo nodded before he cleared his throat.

"I better get this to Alexander and check up on him," Hugo stated and I nodded, "Absconditus Custos needs to continuously keep an eye on Hitler and the rest of the Axis powers."

"Already on it since we landed in D.C. Absconditus Custos has been closely monitoring them 24/7, sir. There are hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly reports in regards to them," I stated and Hugo nodded. Hugo then left and I did a curt nod before I left.

I then make my way down to the entrance of the hotel, arriving there a few minutes later. I exit the hotel, making my way to my car. I enter it and start the engine before I start driving. Just absentmindedly driving until I found myself at the headquarters.

I parked the car, turned the engine off and got out of the car. I closed the door behind me before I made my way into the headquarters. With a foot barely into the ground floor of the headquarters, I was immediately bombarded by a couple of Verrat agents. I spent the rest of the day dealing with that, as well as receiving reports in regard to those on the red list.

So, four days later, I received a note from a Absconditus Custos agent in regards to the upcoming German invasion of Norway. 'Interesting choice,' I thought as I looked at the name. I immediately set an order out for Regius Obligatus to get every single bit of information in regards to this general, alongside another order for Absconditus Custos about putting him on surveillance, and to make copies of his letters to be sent to headquarters and here in order to see what he is planning.

It was roughly 6 PM in the evening where I received a dossier on General Nikolaus von Falkenhorst. I immediately pack my things before wearing my outer jacket. I glanced at my winter jacket, debating a bit whether or not I should wear it. I immediately shrugged it off before leaving the room, but not before I checked if the needed dossier was in my briefcase or not. It was a few moments later that I entered the outside world. I immediately waved for a cab. I waited for another few moments, breathing out hot air. Although it is quite chilly, winter is slowly giving its way to spring.

I waited for a cab, and a few minutes later, I got into the cab. I told the driver where my destination is and I spent the rest of the cab journey back to the hotel in silence. After the cab dropped me off at the hotel, I immediately made my way to Alexander's room.

I knocked and waited for a few moments, shuffling my feet in nervousness.

"Come in!" I heard Alexander's voice called out. I opened the door and walked in, seeing that Hugo and Alexander on the floor, talking as Alexander worked on the base of the dress. I closed the door behind me and took off my jacket, setting it on the nearby chair of the coffee table. I walked over to him, as I took the dossier on Falkenhorst and gave it to Alexander. I cleared my throat to get his attention.

Alexander turned to me and took the dossier, slightly curious.

"The dossier on Falkenhorst, sir," I notified him, "The one who is now in charge of the German invasion of Norway."

Alexander nodded as he opened it, skimming the dossier before giving it to Hugo.

"I'll come back tomorrow with the full plans of the invasion if possible," I stated and headed out, not waiting for an answer, really. The next day, it would be just like what I said, getting the full plans and reporting back to both Alexander and Hugo, as well as discussing our next steps.