Show L ul HE OVID SPY S jl py y SYLVIA TAYLOR u THE STORY SO PAR FAR joan leland secrets secretary ry 10 lo love with handsome karl miller night club owner Is horrified borri fied and disillusioned when hi he shoots hoot his til business partner eric strom and threat en ens to implicate her unless she he continues continue her h er work and remains silent no he con can lessem he h has a wife la in germany and Is 1 apart part ol of a nazi spy ring paul sherman his manager reveals to joan joaa that he really Is paul OMa Uey an FBI gent agent trying to trap the spy ring higher aps ops Ps and joan agrees a g rees to help him joans sister sybil Is mis sing and paul believes karl Is holding her as a hostage pat nines lines a new singer tor for karl li Is really pauls young runaway run away sister pa tricia and the she innocently betrays pauls paul identity to karl who captures paul and joan as they discover incriminating evidence lie he spirits them away on a boat and they find they are in love A submarine appears to pick up bomber plans stolen by karl thomas a victim ol of karls flips a gun to joan who shoots karl as he be Is about to shoot paul they escape in a life boat and land in mexico arthur mulford joans former employer offers his plane tor for a return to the V U S now continue with the story CHAPTER if and you do dont n t you want to go home ome mulford asked joan yes and no I 1 want to leave but not without paul all ah mulford said 1 I see but I 1 will be glad to take all of you I 1 have my own plane my own pilot and I 1 am returning to san francisco tomorrow why not talk it over with him surely he can have no objection to your leaving since it will be absolutely safe joan wavered 1 I go without him but maybe he would be willing to go with us he could get aid in the states and return to mexico and continue the search im not much help to him now and neither is thomas what I 1 really came down here to tell you mr mulford was that what thomas told you i is s the truth he should have his chance to get out 1 I understand and ill take him of course but joan I 1 think you should go too im really shocked at this situation after all you werd were in my shop for almost two years naturally your welfare concerns me she smiled nice of you mr mulford by the way what are you doing in mexico since the war ruined my bustness business and I 1 closed the shop ive been having a vacation I 1 needed one after all those years I 1 worked hard and its good to be away joan rose can I 1 let you know early in the morning about leaving ill have to talk it over with mr of course I 1 do not plan to leave before noon so take your time youre not staying at the hotel no with a friend of mine dr gomez ill give you his number or better yet ill phone you here about ten say that will be fine and thank you very much for eiery everything thing what a lucky break joan thought it all worked out so perfectly if mr mulford had his own plane how could karl possibly check on them she roused the desk clerk and had him ring pauls room please come down paul she begged 1 I must talk with you thomas came in from the veranda what do you thi think rik he asked it sounds fine joan agreed that man is my former employer ive known him for years hes here on a vacation then go too it certainly seems like a good chance but ill have to talk to paul in any case thomas mr mulford has promised to take you thanks miss leland the gratitude in his eyes was unmistakable paul came down almost immedi immediately going on he demanded the most wonderful thing has h as happe happened arthur mulford is herel herd I 1 used to work for him before I 1 got my job with karl helas the man who was trying to locate me through the bartender also the one I 1 saw anthe street today they went out to the patio which was covered by a patchwork of shadows and moonlight thomas had gone upstairs and joan and paul sat down at one of the rustic tables so arthur mulford has offered to take you home besl how did you know very simple deduction darling s paul laughed 1 I read it in your eyes I 1 suppose thomas is at the bottom of all this yes joan admitted ills his keen eyes searched her face you want to go not without you but paul if we all went it might be better we could get help and come back to A bird twittered sleepily and the fragrance of a million flowers flooded the moonlit night paul smiled odayl ill go with you it did not occur to joan that victory had been too easy the following day at noon they left Maz atlan in Mul fords plane it was joans first experience at flying once or twice she tried to look out but it made her so GO dizzy she turned fumed gopaul to Paul saying 1 I guess I 1 baat take it paul smiled placidly much too placidly joan decided eyeing him speculatively this was the first time she had known paul to give in so go easily on any issue but perhaps ove had changed him she said impulsively pul 1 I know youre doing this R 9 i R 0 silently they filed out of the plane and at Mul fords command en a waiting automobile followed by the bewildered thomas for my sake paul and I 1 appreciate it really I 1 do he smiled at her earnestness and said quietly you may as well know now joans peace of mind was shattered now what paul leaned closer 1 I told you I 1 wanted to track down the rest of karls men to find out who was at the head of this remember yes of course but that paul said is exactly what I 1 am doing 1 I dont understand paul what are you talking about you thought I 1 agreed to come with mulford because you wanted me to but there is really another reason her face was white what are you trying to tell me 1 I came because we are at last on the trail were being taken straight to th eheart of the spy ring you mean that mr mulford she could not go on mulford paul said calmly is the head of this whole business ive known it ever since I 1 obtained those papers on the ship and you tell me no I 1 want to frighten you she leaned weakly back in her seat and I 1 thought we were fafel safe I 1 but where are we going paul do you have any idea chave a i ve very i ry dea idea ind and if im wrong its going to be tough on an all of us poor thomasl thomas joan said looking over her shoulder this will be a terrible shock for him mr mulford the head ct cl the spy ringi I 1 cant believe its truel true I 1 hes been working with karl all the time his importing shop was only a blind just as karls club elite is all the time you worked for mulford you were really involved mulford fired you andare and ire fused to give you a reference so you would be forced to take any job that came along the want ad was put in that paper especially for you mulford had decided you would be loyal and really transferred you to karls employ if you fallen in love with karl you might still not have known what was going on shocked at the revelation his words brought joan sat silently listening to the roar of the plane as it wing winged edits its way to their unknown destination 0 4 0 at last the true picture was unfolded to joan paul had made their situation clear as Mul fords plane roared on it seemed incredible that she could have been so blind for almost two years she had worked for arthur mulford regarding him as a kindly but rather tiresome employer she had had no cusp suspicions felons that his importers shop was a blind or that the letters she typed day after day were code messages concerning the subversive activities tivi ties of a spy ring she had wondered at her sudden dismissal but even ev enthen then she had not connected connect id it with the want ad she answered for karl millers secretary how completely she had fallen into their trap and as paul had said it she had not fallen in love with karl she probably would not know mhd truth even now what a fool paul must have thought thou gh t her watching her through th those weeks when she had happily boasted that karl was going to marry her how carelessly she had treated pauls words of warning and sybilla Sy bils bills sybill her sisters name struck fear into her heart paul had told her that when they arrived at the end of their journey he hoped to find sybil if they would only find her alive and what about patricia it was night when theolane the i plane landed and forewarned by paul joan was not surprised to see arthur mulford confronting them with a gun and saying all right now keep your hands up silently they filed out of the plane and at Mul fords command entered a waiting automobile followed by the bewildered thomas it all about mr 0 omal mal ley he begged where are we another of karls atticks tt icks paul explained in an undertone 1 I think were somewhere in now new mexico or possibly arizona the moonlit night showed them little as they drove along the rough country road barren waste land stretched on all sides you mean this guy is one ot of karls men thomas whispered just karls boss paul said wry ly thomas for once was stunned into silence in a short time they arrived at a ranch house it was the first dwelling of any kind they had seen since landing behind the large house was a smaller one and into this paul joan and thomas were led the house was modern though crudely finished there was a fireplace and electric lighting several rooms led into the living room but none of the three was inclined to venture from the fire well thomas said 1 I guess this is all my fault I 1 thought mulford was on the level I 1 know he was connected with karl honestly 11 we know that thomas its ibsan au right it had to be this way ive suspected for some time that mul ford was the chief of lof this outfit 1 joan sat down in an old wicker rocker and drew it closer to the blaze and now what do we do 11 this ranch is a clearing house stolen plans that are not taken from san francisco by boat are here and from here to mexico where they are picked up off the coast by fishing boats thomas rubbed his hands together nervously but why did they want us to i come here why would they have bothered that paul admitted remains to be seen they must think they have some use ilse for us joan argued or they have gone to so much trouble the wind whistled outside the silence of the night held the peculiar loneliness that belongs to the desert joan was so deep in her own thoughts that the sound of footsteps stait startled led her and she leaped from her place by the fire the door opened to admit karl miller his arm was in a sling you quite finish me he said smoothly your aim is really very bad what a pity paul murmured karl turned his cold blue eyes upon him you have caused us is a great deal of trouble mr I 1 believe the time has come now for you to be of use to us 11 paul had risen and the two two men stood facing each other karl said quietly again I 1 offer you the chance to come in with us you could be a valuable asset 01 silence contempt was written on pauls face if you refuse to give us your services services karl said joan oan will have to pay for it he walked over and took her arm twisting it until she cried out with pain paul took a step forward but arthur mulford who had been watching from the door leaped forward with a gun in his hand although karl still held her arm which throbbed with pain joan cried dont pay any attention to him paul im not afraid 1 karl said perhaps you are not afraid for yourself but there la is still your sister to consider sybill where la is she at the moment she Is safe if you can persuade paul to see this situation my way she will continue to be safe if not Is he shrugged karl looked at and smiled 1 I believe you will find that you and your government are playing a losing game of course mr in our country a man does docs not let sentimentality interfere with his job it is unfortunate that you are not constituted the sa same m e way unfortunate for you and extremely lucky for us I 1 am sure cure that being so BO fond of joan you would rather betray your country than permit her to suffer he exchanged glances with mulford and they both left the house 1 I told youl thomas cried devil sl if I 1 can stall them off for a few days paul was saying in a low guarded tone TO HE BE CONTINUED |