Hogan watched as the car drove out of the main gates. Carter, smelling faintly of gasoline, stepped up to him.

"They won't get that far, boy – I mean, sir. I siphoned off about half of the petrol before they got her into the car."

"And my little buddy is in the trunk, Colonel," Newkirk said, soothingly. "He'll be able to get word to us about where they'll stop."

"Once we know, I'll get reinforcements from the Underground. We'll be able to get her out then," Kinch added. "You don't need to worry, Colonel. He won't get a chance to hurt her."

Hogan clapped Carter on the shoulder. "Quick thinking, all of you. Carter, if you had to guess…?"

"Maybe Dusseldorf, Colonel. No further than that."

Newkirk looked the floor. "Sir, if I could make a personal comment?"

Hogan glanced at the Englishman, eyebrows raised. He wasn't usually hesitant to say what was on his mind. "What is it, Newkirk?"

"Your mum's really something, guv'nor. I mean that."

"Yeah," Carter said. "Never saw anybody ever shut you up so quickly, boy." At Hogan's quick stare, he corrected, "I mean, sir."

"They're right, Colonel," Kinch concurred. "She's really amazing."

Hogan's wry laugh was tinged with anxiety. "Thanks, fellas. I'll tell her you said so."

HH-HH-HH

An hour later, LeBeau called in. "We ran out of gas just before we got to Dusseldorf, Colonel. This being the middle of the night, they had no choice but to walk into town. No gas stations open now, of course. I followed them – no, no one saw me."

"So where are you now?" Hogan asked.

"At the Kaiserhoff. Listen, I managed to sneak in and heard the major order some coffee. Lola, from the Underground, is on the front desk tonight. So I stole some sleeping pills from the dispensary in the lobby and told her to pop them inside the coffee pot. He was in a foul mood and spent a lot of the walk grumbling at how this was all her fault, so with luck, he won't offer any to your maman. But he should sleep for hours."

"Great work, LeBeau! We're on our way."

HH-HH-HH

Hogan, dressed in a Gestapo captain's uniform, discovered from Lola that Hochstetter was in Room 34. He walked in, moving confidently past the drowsing guard as though he belonged there, to see the major sprawled on the bed, snoring; his mother secured to a wood chair by handcuffs.

"What are you wearing?" she burst out.

Alarmed, he took a swift glance toward the sleeping figure on the bed.

She laughed. "I think he got drugged, somehow. I tried yelling at him and he didn't stir."

"LeBeau dropped sleeping pills into the coffee," Hogan told her.

"How in the world…?"

"He climbed in the car's trunk before Hochstetter took off. Look, I'll explain all this later. Let's get you out of here."

Hogan stepped outside. "Guard!" he ordered. "My aide is downstairs. Get him! Mach schnell!"

The guard hustled off, bringing Newkirk back with him.

"We'll take charge of the prisoner," Hogan told him. "You can go off to bed."

"But the major…."

Hogan straightened up, stepping toward the guard menacingly. "Are you disobeying a direct command, corporal?"

The corporal swallowed hard. "No, sir. Thank you sir." He practically ran down the hallway.

"That's him sorted," Newkirk chortled, striding into the room. "Ah, what have we here? I'll have you out of those cuffs in a tick, Mrs. Hogan." Pulling a small pick from an inner pocket, he quickly jimmied open the handcuffs.

"Ah!" she said, gratefully rubbing her sore wrists.

"Let's go," Hogan said. He led her out into the hall.

"Rob, that uniform," she persisted. "It really doesn't suit you. It's going to take me awhile to get over the shock of seeing you walk into the room, wearing it."

Newkirk laughed. "You should see Carter in a Field Marshall's get-up, Mrs. Hogan."

"We wear what we need to wear to get the job done," Hogan said, distractedly. His face had turned hard. He turned to Newkirk, snapping, "Take her down to the car. I'll be right there."

Turning back to Room 34, he pulled his pistol out of a side holster.