Chapter 1

Late at night, Terry found herself sitting on the hard, cold bench in the gutted belly of a Lancaster bomber. She sat sideways on the seat, hugging her knees. It was cold, even with the jacket she was wearing. There was a frown on her face. The mission wasn't worrying her so much as the getting to the mission was. She was afraid she was going to chicken out. To her that was unacceptable.

She wished it was Joe Gallagher taking them in this time, instead of the RAF. Not that she had anything against the British, just that she would like to be up in the cockpit talking with an old friend.

Craig's men were sitting on the floor playing poker and grumbling about the endless missions. Since the confrontation in England, there had been no more objections to Terry's presence. At least none within her range of hearing. The girl hoped this meant she had been accepted, and not that they were waiting to leave once they had parachuted in.

Actor had not joined the poker game, but was sitting on the bench across from Terry. He reviewed the plan over and over in his mind. He was confident they could pull it off, even without the Lieutenant present. The unknown factor was the girl across from him. He knew she had been given a brief course in espionage training before coming to England, but the bottom line was she had no experience. The best he could hope for was to keep her close and hope she just followed along. He studied her for a minute, sensing she could use some moral support right now. He stood and crossed over to her, sitting in front of her feet on the bench.

"Why don't you join the game?" asked Actor.

"I couldn't concentrate on it," said Terry. She smiled, "I lose enough money to Casino as it is."

Actor laughed, "I can teach you how to play."

"Oh, I play poker very well," said Terry. "He cheats and I don't know how to compensate for that."

"I will help you with that," he offered.

"Well," said the girl, "if we get back from this, I'll let you teach me."

"Not if, Teresa," Actor spoke gently, "when. This will be easy. We just parachute in, take the papers and get out."

Terry looked at him squarely, "Thank you for trying, but if this were so easy, they wouldn't be sending us in now, would they?"

Actor shook his head. For them, the girl's sharpness was an advantage. For her, it was hindrance. He could not instill a false confidence in her about her abilities and the outcome of this assignment. A sudden thought made him look at her with narrowed eyes.

"You have parachuted before?" he asked.

Terry looked uncomfortable. "Uh – no. I jumped off a tower once in Virginia." She didn't tell him she had twisted an ankle on landing.

Chief's eagle ears caught this and he gave the first spontaneous reaction she had seen from him. "She ain't ever jumped?"

This brought startled stares from the other two. Terry wished she had kept her mouth shut.

Predictably, Casino was the verbal one. "Aw, shoot! Wadda they want from us? It's bad enough they make us do this, but now they want we should babysit her and she don't even know nothin'."

Chief sprang up, switchblade out, "Will you leave her alone!"

Casino jumped up and faced him, "You think you can make me, Indian?"

Before Actor could intervene, Terry yelled, "Stop it! Granted this wasn't one of my better ideas, but we're stuck with it."

Chief lowered his knife and put it back in its sheath on his wrist. Casino still glowered angrily. His attitude snapped her already tight nerves.

Terry stepped up to him, "As for you, why don't you save it for what's down there? In other words, shut your trap!"

Casino looked at her, unable to prevent himself from admiring her for her gutsiness. "Lady," he said, "if the Krauts and the jump don't kill you, that mouth of yours will."

"Yeah, well you have to be the authority on mouthiness," shot back Terry.

Actor wondered just what he had done to deserve this trial of his sanity. He would be very glad when Garrison was back on his feet. Until then, he would have to try to keep these two from tearing into each other. After all, they needed Casino to open a safe, and Actor judged, pushed far enough, he doubted Terry would pull her punches. Casino, on the other hand, had an almost gallant respect for women, despite some of his actions. So he stepped between the two.

Terry backed down immediately, but could not resist adding, "Tell you what, Casino, you can show me what to pull and shove me out of the airplane."

"Suits me!"

As it turned out, it didn't really suit Terry. She found herself staring out into the inky blackness with the wind whipping her hair, unable to see the ground. White knuckles gripped the doorframe on either side of her. Casino walked up behind her, grabbed her wrists and jerked her hands down from the door frame, hooked his foot around her ankle and pulled her off-balance so she fell out the door. There was a brief shriek of terror, then silence.

Actor wasn't sure if she was controlling her terror or had passed out. He watched as Casino, with a wickedly delighted grin, jumped out next. Cursing softly under his breath in his native language, Actor followed the safecracker.

Terry had not passed out. She hung onto the straps and tried to remember the brief lesson she had received several months ago. She remained silent for fear of having enemy troops hear her. She was convinced if she survived this, the rest would be easy.

Terry dangled from the tree by her parachute harness. It was a decidedly uncomfortable position. She definitely needed more practice at this. The men had come down in the field. Her, she had to pick a tree. It seemed an awfully long ways down, though it was probably only about eight or ten feet. Actor and Goniff ran silently up to the base of the tree and studied her predicament.

"Are you hurt?" whispered Actor.

"No," replied Terry. "Would you guys kindly get me down from here?"

Terry swore she heard a chuckle as Goniff scampered up the tree. He hung from a tree branch, grinning broadly at her upside-down, and opened her harness. She dropped abruptly with a gasp. Casino had run up by that time. He and Actor were ready. They caught her and set her on her feet. Before she could say anything, Actor handed her a duffle bag.

"Quickly, go change," he whispered a command. His voice held restrained annoyance.

Terry looked around, spotted some bushes and ducked behind them. A minute later, she emerged wearing a peasant blouse and skirt. Thick black stockings encased her legs and heavy shoes covered her feet. Terry wasn't very happy. She preferred her pants and boots. However, to wear those would be advertizing she was American. She tossed the duffle bag with her other clothes back to Actor and began to braid her hair. She wound the braids up on both sides of her head and secured them with pins.

Casino and Chief came running up. There were no signs of the chutes. Casino's gaze grazed her figure.

"She even looks like a Kraut," he said.

Terry graced him with a dirty look. Actually, his remark did more to bolster her confidence. If she could look the part, and she knew she could speak the part, maybe she wouldn't give them away. At no time, had she entertained any doubt in their ability to pull off this mission. She just worried about the handicap her presence presented to them.

With quiet efficiency born of much past experience, a line was formed as the group melted into the woods. Chief led the way, followed by Actor, Terry and Goniff. Casino guarded the rear. Though it was dark, Chief managed to keep them at a good pace. Terry was determined to keep up, but was still thankful for Goniff's steadying hand at her elbow when she stumbled over an unseen obstacle.

Toward dawn, they reached the edge of the town they sought. Keeping to shadowed alleys, they skirted around uniformed soldiers without being spotted, until they reached a certain carpenter's shop. A discreet coded knock on the door by Actor gained them entrance. Terry looked around as they crowded into the room. A middle-aged man in a nightshirt herded them in anxiously.

Actor greeted the man in French. This only brought a tirade of French ending in a question as to where the lieutenant was. Terry answered in French, earning a look of surprise from the men and another spattering from the carpenter. After a brief conversation between the girl and the Frenchman, reassuring him, they were taken to the basement.

As far as comfort was concerned, there was none. It was a storage place for wood and tools. Actor strode up to Terry and glared down at her.

"What you said with fine. But from now on, I want you to stay out of it and keep quiet. Just stay out of the way and do as you are told and we might make it out of here in one piece."

Terry wanted to snap back at the angry man, but held her tongue. He was in charge, and he was probably right.

Goniff had found an empty bit of wall and pulled Terry over to it, hoping to diffuse the situation. He sat down with his back against the wall, tugging on her hand. A little dubiously, Terry sat down beside him. She noted the others were finding their own little corners, except Actor. He seemed to be the one taking first watch.

"Now we try to grab a couple hours of sleep," informed Goniff. In a voice for Terry's ears only, he added slyly, "I got you right away because I wanted to be able to say I was the first to sleep with the Warden's sister."

"Goniff!" hissed Terry in shocked amusement.

The grin on his face told her he was teasing. She smiled and shook her head. "Just so you don't have a bony shoulder."

Goniff grinned and settled her in the crook of his arm. Certain she would be too nervous to sleep, she nevertheless drifted off in a few minutes.

Actor sat on a chair at the table in the middle of the room. His gun lay within easy reach. He doubted there would be any trouble tonight, but he was taking no chances. His gaze swept slowly around the room at the sleeping men and the girl. He realized he was being excessively hard on her, but the stakes were so high. The team had only been working together a few months. They were just starting to act as a team and then the Warden got shot. This was the first time they had gone in without the young Army officer.

Actor did not mind being the second. It was a position he had strived for from the beginning. Leading the group was a whole different story. He was coming to understand the responsibility the Lieutenant had. Used to being responsible for just himself, Actor found himself accountable now for the lives of the three other men and the Warden's sister. It weighed heavily on him.

He glanced again at the sleeping woman, seemingly comfortable on Goniff's shoulder. She was tougher than she appeared. She stood up to Garrison and Casino and he had no doubt she would at some point stand up to him. It had not escaped his notice that she had made the long march from the drop zone to the village without a word of complaint and she had kept up. Her French was fluent Parisian, as was the younger sister's. Like the Warden, Terry had a touch of con in her. She had managed the conversation with their host easily, saying the right things and not giving away any information. Actor's concern with the girl was if something went wrong and something happened to her. Despite the siblings' arguing, Garrison's wrath would know no bounds if his sister were injured or God forbid killed on this mission.