The Time In Between (Sira Quiroga, #1)

by María Dueñas

“These are the hands of a working woman, Ignacio. I can guess what it is you think I am, and what you think I do, but I want you to be absolutely clear that these aren’t the hands of a woman who’s being kept by anybody.

“I may be just a conformist, nothing special, a puppy-dog servant of a revanchist state,” he went on, looking me straight in the eye, “but you’re no one to tell me whether or not you like the man I’ve become. You can’t give me moral lectures, Sira, because if I’m bad, you’re even worse. At least I still have a drop of compassion left in my soul; I don’t think you have even that. You’re nothing but an egotist who lives in a massive house where all you can see is loneliness wherever you look; a woman without any roots, who denies her origins and is incapable of thinking of anyone but herself.”

He really didn’t know anything

“Urgent meeting. Consult Doctor Rico. Caracas, 29. 11 a.m. Extreme caution.” Alongside the box of candies was a glass I’d poured some hours earlier. Untouched. As Ignacio himself had said, none of us were the people we used to be. But even though life had turned us all around, he still didn’t drink.

the Álvarez-Vicuña sisters,

I gave him detailed information about the former; the latter, meanwhile, I didn’t even mention. Perhaps I should have, but something stopped me: modesty, insecurity, perhaps fear. I was aware that Ignacio’s presence was the result of my carelessness: I should have informed the naval attaché the moment I suspected I was being followed. Perhaps if I had, I would have avoided having

representative of the Governance Ministry break into my

house with no trouble at all, to sit and wait for me ...

he appeared as neutral as on the day I met him, but his interest in absorbing every last detail about the colonel’s visit made me suspect that his embassy was unsettled and confused at the news of the dismissal.

recalled the night with Beigbeder second by second, trying hard not to forget the slightest details. I related everything I’d heard from him, described his condition with minute precision, answered dozens of questions, and finally handed over his letters to Rosalinda intact. My

And take care with any suspicious presences around you, especially close to your home: don’t rule out the possibility that you may be being watched.” “I won’t, don’t worry.” I guessed that he might have suspected something about Ignacio following me, but I preferred not to ask.

Over the months that followed I worked accordingly: I minimized the risks I took, tried to appear in public as little as possible, and focused on my work with all my energy.

remained constantly alert and focused, bearing in mind everything that was happening around me. And as a result I did notice some things change in those days, little details that might have been a result of the new situation, or that were perhaps just mere chance.

Hendaya. I read as well about the tripartite pact between Germany, Italy, and Japan; about the invasion of Greece; about the thousand movements occurring at vertiginous speed during those tempestuous times.

wondered how many of the people walking about so apparently relaxed were in fact, like me, informers and stool pigeons. Several, I guessed, and decided to trust no one and keep my eyes peeled;

And there indeed he was, Gonzalo Alvarado, my father.

The very first moment our eyes met I knew he was well aware of who I was. The second moment, I guessed that my invitation to that party had been his idea.

Though, upon consideration, I wondered if perhaps it was his perceptiveness and good memory that outweighed any paternal instinct.

presume you’d rather I didn’t reveal your real name to Marita, or my relationship to you,” he said once we’d managed to withdraw from the hubbub. “As I’ve said, she’s a good girl, but she loves gossip, and discretion isn’t exactly her strong suit.” “I’d be grateful if you wouldn’t say anything to anyone. I do want you to understand, in any case, that my new name is official and my Moroccan passport is real.”

“Naturally. I gain an air of exoticism in the eyes of my clientele, and at the same time I avoid the pursuit of the police over the charges your son is pressing against me.”

Enrique.

“I’m a widower.

foreigners. German, English, American, Italian, Japanese—a whole potpourri of countries at war, in between a tangle of respectable, wealthy local citizens, all of them, for just a few hours, far away from the savage shredding of Europe and the squalor of a devastated people about to say good riddance to one of the most savage years in their history.

The animated conversations, the laughs and clinking of glasses seemed suspended in the air, about to touch the dark winter sky. From the street, meanwhile, like a hoarse roaring, rose the sound of the voices of the unfortunate masses, those whom bad luck had doomed to remain out on the streets, sharing some cheap wine or a bottle of harsh liquor.

He was witty and a fine conversationalist, and between the two of us there grew a special relationship that we didn’t intend as a compensation for his absence over all those years of my childhood and youth, but as a starting

from scratch by way of a friendship between adults.

Germany was ready to dominate the planet, and they wanted to make this known to their good friends in Spain.

British Institute

apparently it was at its core an undercover British propaganda operation that was much more sophisticated than the German one.

We went on talking at such length that he didn’t have time to warn me that we would be meeting anyone else that afternoon. It wasn’t till we arrived at our seats that I realized that by attending that apparently innocent event, I’d just stepped of my own free will directly into the very jaws of the wolf.

The privileged few who occupied the reserved boxes floated about in an altogether different dimension: untroubled, removed from the shouting, sitting in proper chairs rather than on cement steps, and being attended to by waiters in spotless jackets ready to provide diligent service.

Every duke and earl and peer is here…

How to fly from them like the plague, for example. Hillgarth’s words in the American legation in Tangiers were still echoing in my ears—absolutely no contact with the English.

My gaze seemed to be fixed on the track, but my thoughts were trotting along far from the horses’ hooves. I sensed that the Germans must have been filling up their box and guessed at Hillgarth’s unease as he tried to find some way to handle the setback that we were just about to face.

hand side of the stand, the side farthest from the Germans. And I calculated the perfect moment: a few seconds after the first race had come to an end, when hubbub filled the stands and shouts of enthusiasm mingled with noisy expressions of disappointment. At that exact moment, I collapsed. With a premeditated movement I turned my head and made sure my hair would cover my face once I was on the ground, in case any curious glances from the adjacent box might make it through the pairs of legs that surrounded me.

“I’ll go with you,” I heard Hillgarth say. “If we need to, we can call the doctor from the embassy.” “Thank you, Alan,” replied my father. “I don’t think it’ll be anything serious, she’s just fainted. Let’s take her to the infirmary, then we’ll see.”

Her father knows him aaaaahhhh!

“You’re fine, aren’t you?” Hillgarth asked, eyeing me severely. I could have said no, that I was still feeling weak and disoriented, I could have pretended that I still hadn’t recovered from the effects of the apparent faint. But I knew he wouldn’t believe me. And rightly so. “Perfectly,” I replied. “Does he know anything?” he asked, referring to my father’s awareness of my collaboration with the English. “Not a thing.” “Keep it that way. And don’t even think of allowing yourself to be seen with your face uncovered on the way out,” he commanded. “Lie down on the back seat of the car and remain covered up the whole time. When you get home, make sure that no one has followed you.” “That’s fine. Anything else?” “Come and see me tomorrow. Same time, same place.”

“Last week we learned that there is an active group of Spanish informers cooperating with the Germans to develop files on local Germanophiles and supporters of the Allies.

“We don’t think it, we know it with absolute certainty,” he said, fixing his eyes on mine. “We have collaborators who have infiltrated them and they’ve told us that you’re there among the Germanophiles. Right now you’re still uncompromised, as we might have suspected: you have copious clients related to the Nazi high command, they visit you in your workshop, you sew beautiful clothes for them, and in exchange they don’t just pay you, they also confide in you, so much so that when they’re in your house they speak absolutely freely about things they shouldn’t speak about and that you pass straight on to us.” “And Alvarado, what does he have to do with all this?” “He’s also in their files. But he’s on the opposite side, on the roster of citizens supportive of the British.

he isn’t an undercover agent, merely a good friend to the English people who doesn’t disguise his sympathies toward us. Which is why if you allow yourself to be seen with him too much, it might look suspicious, given that you appear in opposing files. There’s actually already been a rumor about it.”

“Arish Agoriuq has become a very well-known figure among the German women living in Madrid, but if they start to see some wavering in your position as was almost the case yesterday, you could find yourself implicated in highly undesirable situations. And that’s no good. Neither for you, nor for us.”

have no doubt of your ability to adapt when the time comes. But under no circumstances do we want to lose you, especially not now when we need you somewhere new.”

“Where do I tell them I’m going to be?”

“There’s no need to lie, just tell them the truth: that you have some business to attend to in Lisbon.”

To leave it all, and go back to normality: yes, that was undoubtedly the better option. The problem was, I didn’t know where to find

it.

That night I fell asleep without having found it.

Normality was simply whatever my own will, my commitment, and my word accepted as such, which was why it would always be with me. To look for it somewhere else or to try to retrieve it from yesterday made no sense at all.

Lisbon fascinated me—it was a city neither at peace nor at war. Nervous, agitated, throbbing.

I’d been warned to expect it—the picturesque Lisbon that I’d just been looking at out of my car window and the Estoril where I’d be arriving in a few minutes were full of spies.

He isn’t an agent, but he has an excellent relationship with our diplomatic staff in Lisbon and he’s involved in various deals with British firms. There are indications, however, that he’s beginning to establish parallel relationships with the Germans.”

Silk from Macao, the Portuguese colony in Asia, for example. One of the sectors in which our suspect has thriving commercial interests is in textile import and export. Normally he works on a large scale, only dealing with wholesalers and not with private buyers, but we’ve managed to arrange for him to meet you personally.”