49. The Expendable One
Chapter 1
The sound of jackboots running on the marble floor grew louder. Actor and Garrison, both in civilian clothes, headed for the window at the end of the hall. When Garrison paused, the Italian gave him a shove forward.
"Go!" he urged in a low voice. "I will hold them off until you get clear."
"They'll kill you," said Garrison. "Come on!"
"Go!" Actor was watching the corner of the hall now, gun drawn. "You have the intel. Go!"
Garrison did not like it, but knew Actor was right. He raced to the window and opened it, climbing partway out. Again he paused and looked back. The first of the soldiers rounded the corner to be taken out by Actor's gun. More kept coming. Garrison fired off a couple shots around the con man.
"Go!" yelled Actor, just before being hit and spinning around to fall to the floor.
Garrison flung himself out of the window and ran through the darkness. Shots were fired in his direction but he was able to make it to the woods before the lights came on to illuminate him. Craig ran through the trees; brush and branches tearing at his clothes. He burst out of the woods and dove into the front seat of the waiting car.
"Drive!" he shouted at Chief.
The Indian shoved the car into gear and spun tires leaving.
"Wot about Actor?" asked Goniff, pulling the back door closed.
"He's not coming," was all Garrison could say.
Casino and Goniff exchanged worried looks in the back seat. Was the con man dead?
"Safe house?" asked Chief.
There was a moment's pause before Garrison answered. "Yes."
Craig tried to remember the last thing he had seen. Actor had spun around and hit the floor. His tan shirt had been heavily stained red. Was he dead? God, he couldn't be. Captured was a certainty.
"What happened?" demanded Casino.
"We got caught," said Garrison, the vagueness of his voice showing he was having trouble dealing with what had happened. "Actor tried to hold them off. I was half out the window when he was hit. He went down."
"But he's alive?" asked the safecracker.
"I don't know," replied Craig. There was another slight pause. "I just don't know."
"We gotta go back for him!" exclaimed Casino with certainty.
"We need to find out where he is," said Garrison, pulling himself together. "They won't leave him there. They'll take him somewhere. A hospital most likely. We'll have to get the resistance to find out where he is first."
"Then wot?" Goniff found his voice.
"Then we case it and we get him out," said Garrison.
"What about the sub, Warden?" asked Chief.
"It'll come back again tomorrow night," replied Craig. "That gives us twenty-four hours to find him and get him out."
GGG
Actor was roughly rolled onto his back, the pain in his chest from the gunshot wound almost enough to make him pass out. Two soldiers flanked him, schmeissers aimed at him. A Leutnant walked up and looked down at him dispassionately before pointing a Luger at his forehead. Actor looked into the round bore of the gun barrel and knew he was going to die. The only consolation was Garrison had gotten away. He waited for the flash that would end his life.
"Nein!"
A colonel walked up and motioned the man to put the gun away. The expression on the leutnant's face showed how unhappy he was with that, but did as ordered.
The colonel looked down at Actor with curiosity. "Sprechen Sie Deutsch?"
Trusting instinct, Actor replied, "Ja." His voice was tight with pain.
The colonel pondered the supine man for a moment. "Get an ambulance," he said to the Leutnant. "He may be of some use to us."
Based on his pain and difficulty breathing, Actor figured he would not last long enough to be interrogated. Actor was loaded on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance with two attendants; both armed. The con man tried to keep the pain at bay, but it was too difficult bouncing over rough roads and he moved in and out of consciousness. Only able to stare at the ceiling, he could not tell where they were going. The drive became immeasurably long, leading Actor to believe they had left the city. So where were they going? Was he to bleed to death?
GGG
Back at the safe house, Garrison informed Emilie of what had happened and asked for his help. The Frenchman immediately went out and contacted his people. From then it was a long wait for Garrison and his men. It was not a quiet wait. For someone who teased the confidence man and slugged him on occasion, Casino was the most vocal about trying to rescue Actor. They waited through the rest of the night and most of the next day.
"There is no sign of him, Lieutenant," said Emilie. "He has not been taken to a hospital or Gestapo headquarters. They probably shot him as a spy and dumped the body somewhere outside the city."
Garrison took a breath and let it out. No, not Actor. Of all of them, he was the one with the best chance of surviving. Craig would not believe the con man was dead.
"Warden?" Chief was the first to speak.
"Yeah, Warden, what are we gonna do?" demanded Casino.
"We can't just leave 'im now, can we?" asked Goniff.
Garrison looked around at the worried faces of his men. He did not want to leave, but the microfilm needed to get back to G-2. The military in him had to win over the emotional part of him.
"We go back to England with the intel. Then we come back." He turned to Emilie. "Will you keep looking for him?"
"Yes," said the resistance man, "but I don't have much hope."
"That's it?" demanded Casino. "Yer just gonna leave him? He saved your life. You're just gonna walk away?"
Garrison hardened himself. "We are going back to England. We can't help Actor if we don't know where he is."
GGGGG
Garrison handed the microfilm to Col. Yates. The colonel did not seem as interested in the material as the lieutenant thought he should be.
"We left a man behind," said Garrison. "It's Actor, our confidence man. Request permission to return and bring him out, Sir."
"Permission denied," said Yates, sitting down in his chair and flipping through some papers on his desk.
"Sir, he is a valuable member of my team." Garrison could not get any more out.
Yates looked up sharply. "I said permission denied. You and your men are expendable. Another confidence man will be assigned to you."
"Sir," persisted Garrison, trying to control his anger. "I do not want another confidence man. I have the best in the business and I want to go get him."
"Garrison," said Yates, rising from his chair and glaring at the lieutenant. "I don't care what you want. The man is expendable. You'll get another confidence man, unless, of course, you would rather disband and the remainder of your men be returned to the prisons they should never have been taken from. Am I making myself clear, Lieutenant?"
"Perfectly, Sir," said Craig.
"Then you are dismissed."
"Thank you, Sir," said Garrison. For nothing, he thought.
Craig turned and left the office, motioning his men to follow from the anteroom. There were looks of question on the men's faces. This was not the place to discuss it. Garrison waited until they were outside and in the Packard.
"All right," said Casino harshly. "We going back for Actor?"
"No," said Garrison, starting the car. "Permission denied. Actor is expendable to Col. Yates. He's going to provide us with a new con man."
"Bloody 'ell, Warden? That ain't flamin' right!"
"Warden, you can't let him get away with that!" said Chief.
"Oh, I'm not done yet, by any means," said Garrison.
He put the car in gear and drove the long distance home from London. The air was hostile, but the complaining was not all aimed at him. Garrison wasn't looking forward to the next bit of business, telling his sister her friend and partner was not coming back. He got a small reprieve as Terry wasn't at the mansion when they arrived.
Garrison went in his office and shut the door, locking it. He immediately picked up the telephone and started making calls. Major Richards said he would try to help and see what he could find out. Gen. Abrams sounded sympathetic, but would not override Col. Yates. Craig placed a few more phone calls and called in some favors throughout the Army.
Terry came in the front door and looked at the men in the common room. They were watching her too. She noticed Actor wasn't there, but Craig's door was shut so she figured the con man was in with her brother.
"You guys are late," she remarked. "Anybody hurt?"
"Ask your brother," snapped Casino.
That put the girl on alert. "Where's Actor?'
"He aint' here," said Chief.
"Where is he?" asked Terry worriedly.
Garrison's door opened. "Terry, in my office."
"Where's Actor?" she demanded.
"In my office!"
"Craig . . ."
"Now!"
Terry stormed past her brother, worry now etched on her face. When Garrison closed the door, she rounded on him.
"What happened? Where is Actor?"
"He was shot covering my back," said Craig, going behind his desk and taking a seat.
"How bad?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? Where is he?"
"We don't know that either," said Garrison. "He was taken somewhere. We couldn't find where."
"You left him?" asked his sister is disbelief. "What happened to nobody gets left behind?"
Craig took a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lit it, blowing smoke away to give himself time to gather himself before he answered. "Resistance could not locate him. He wasn't in any hospitals or German headquarters. They took him somewhere, but we don't know where."
"Well, we're going back and getting him," said Terry. "When do we leave?"
"We're not going back," said Garrison with resignation. "He's been listed as expendable."
"By who?" demanded the girl.
"Col. Yates." Said Craig. "We were told that from the beginning. He's just playing it by the book."
"Craig William Garrison, don't you dare defend that piece of horse manure!"
Garrison shook his head. "I'm working on finding where Actor was taken. If we can find out where he is located, we'll do something about it."
"Terrific," said Terry. "So he's probably getting interrogated somewhere and nobody can help him?"
"Not right now," said Craig. "Resistance is looking for him. Major Richards is trying to see what he can find out. And I have other people working on it."
Terry seemed to sink into herself. "You think he's dead?" she had to ask.
"It's a strong possibility," said Garrison, wishing it wasn't true.
Terry let that digest. No tears were forthcoming, but she was obviously devastated. Her face hardened.
"Metz?" she asked.
Garrison nodded. He watched her turn, stride out of his door and slam out of the front door. He rose and slowly walked to his door. Chief was watching out the window. Goniff and Casino watched the lieutenant. The roar of the MG's race engine penetrated to them.
"Where's she goin', Warden?" asked Goniff.
"I don't know, but I hope she has better luck than I'm having."
Garrison went back in his office and locked the door. He had another phone call to make. Christine had connections in SOE, Free French, and probably some people in OSS. He didn't know who Terry had connections with, but right now he wasn't above using the girls to locate Actor.
GGGGG
Days passed without any news. It was as if the confidence man had disappeared completely. Garrison was afraid the man was indeed dead, but like his sister, he would not give up hope. With Actor's skills, he had the strongest chance of getting through alive of any of them.
On the fourth day, Chief straightened at his window perch and called for Garrison. Craig came to his door and the others also turned their attention to the Indian.
"MP prisoner truck comin'," said Chief.
"They comin' for us?" asked Casino.
"Not that I've been told," said Garrison. "Maybe the replacement. Any other vehicles?" He was worried the army would surround the place and take the men. Col. Yates could not be trusted.
Casino and Goniff rose to their feet with a quick look at Garrison. The officer nodded. If it looked bad, he had no qualms now about letting the men 'scarper' as Goniff put it. Chief backed behind the curtain and watched.
"They got some guy in shackles," said the Indian. "Two guards and a driver." After a moment, he added, "They're comin' up the steps."
The front door was opened by an armed guard who entered, followed by a blond man in chains and another armed guard with a duffle bag. The three stood just inside the door. The bag was dropped on the floor.
"Lt. Garrison?" asked the first guard.
"Yes," replied Garrison. "What is this, Sergeant?"
The man stepped forward, pulling an envelope from the inside of his jacket and holding it out to the lieutenant. Craig took the envelope and opened it. He kept one eye on the shackled man. Quickly reading the paper, he suppressed a sigh. Taking a pen from his uniform pocket, Garrison signed the bottom of the paper and handed it back to the guard.
"He's all yours, Sir." The guard saluted.
Garrison gave a salute in return and watched the shackles being removed from the prisoner. The other guard saluted and the two army men left.
The blond kept a noncommittal face, but took a careful inventory of the men in the room. His attention finally focused on the officer.
"I'm Lt. Craig Garrison. This is Casino, Goniff, and the one in the window is Chief."
"John Carter," said the blond amicably enough. "I go by Carter."
"Con man?" asked Chief.
"Was until I ended up in stir," he said. He turned back to Garrison. "So I understand I'll be working with your group. The duration and 6 months."
There was a snort from Casino. "Yeah, unless you get killed or left to the Krauts."
"That's enough, Casino," warned Garrison.
"Just tellin' him the truth, Warden."
"Warden?" asked the blond with a hint of a smile.
"We're not exactly regular army here," said Craig. "Come into my office." He turned to his men. "Casino, track down Terry and get her here."
"Yeah, right, Warden. This oughta be fun."
Garrison escorted Carter into his office and shut the door, leaving the three cons to exchange looks. Somehow the arrival of a replacement made it sink home Actor was not coming back. Casino went to the phone and dialed the number to the Fox.
"Blue Fox." Terry answered.
"Hey, you need to come here now. Warden wants you," said Casino.
"Why? What's happened?" She sounded concerned.
"It ain't Beautiful," said the safecracker. "I'll let the Warden tell you."
"Casino . . ."
He hung up without answering.
Twenty minutes later, Terry walked in. She shot a frustrated look at Casino. He just nodded to the closed door of Garrison's office. The other two men kept silent. This did not bode well. Without knocking, the girl walked into her brother's office and shut the door behind her.
Garrison looked up at her entrance; saw her take in the other occupant of the room and stop, eyes wary. Carter looked at her expectantly.
"This is my sister, Teresa Garrison. She goes by Terry. Terry, this is John Carter. He goes by Carter. He's our new confidence man."
Terry's eyes jerked to her brother.
"A pleasure," said Carter.
Terry looked back at him and said nothing.
Garrison addressed Carter. "Terry works cons with us as needed."
"Excuse me," said Carter. "You said sister?" He looked back at the closed faced girl. "You're army?"
"Independent contractor," said Terry, offering nothing more.
This wasn't going well, but not as badly as Garrison had been afraid of. "Terry, you'll be working with Carter now. Can you do that?"
The girl's eyes swiveled to his and shot daggers at him. Her voice was steely. "I was trained by the very best," she said. "I can do it." She glared at Craig. "If you will excuse me, I was in the middle of something at my other place of employment." She turned to go.
"Kit will have to handle it," said Garrison. "I need you here."
For a minute he thought she was going to refuse. Her eyes dripped icicles.
"Fine."
Terry turned on her heels and strode out of the office.
"She was partnered pretty tight with you previous confidence man?" asked Carter.
"Yes. She's not usually that inhospitable."
"Understandable under the circumstances." Carter gave a patent smile.
It was going to be a long war, thought both men.