Chapter 1 – The Set Up

"Checkmate."

Garrison sighed, knocked his king over and looked over at his opponent. "That's the second game in a row you've won, I'm beginning to wish I'd never started teaching you how to play chess."

Chief leaned back in his chair and smiled. "You let me win that one Warden, you could've castled three moves back 'n got me in four."

"So now you're teaching me how to play?" laughed Garrison as he began to set up the pieces again. "This time I won't go so easy on you."

Chief handed over the pieces he'd captured and retrieved his. "Show me what you got Warden," he looked at his watch. "It's gone one, the guys should be back from the obstacle course soon."

Garrison shook his head and smiled. "You really think those three are running the course? I know you all better than that, I bet you right now they're sitting in The Doves, playing cards and downing their second beer." He winced as he tried to make himself more comfortable on his chair, turned slightly to stretch his plastered leg out and grimaced as it itched like mad. "I'm surprised you're not with them instead of sitting here, you should make the most of your downtime and enjoy yourself."

Chief picked up his queen and turned it around in his fingers. "Who says I ain't enjoyin' myself? This is the first chance we got to play in a couple weeks, I ain't passin' that up." He stretched slowly and rolled his shoulders. "Anyway you were right Warden, I did push myself too hard with the Navajos the other day 'n I'm payin' for it now, I'm better off restin' a while."

Garrison didn't believe a word, Chief would never admit to any weakness and would push himself 'til he dropped. He'd made a remarkable recovery after what had happened at Caen and Garrison and the team had kept a very close eye on his progress, making sure he continued to get better. He smiled as he watched his friend ...no, his Atsilí, set up his side of the board and wondered how he'd let this man get so close he now thought of him as a brother. It was unbelievable how it had happened. A year ago he hadn't known Chief existed, if it hadn't been for the war and his cockamamie plan to use cons to pull off the missions other teams couldn't, they would never have met, Chief would've been long dead, killed fighting in the cage and he would be stuck commanding some platoon of soldiers or even be dead himself without his scout watching his back.

"You gonna take all day decidin' your openin' move?" Garrison broke out of his reverie to see Chief was giving him an amused look. "You were miles away Warden."

Garrison sat up and examined the board. "Just thinking about fate, chance and luck, how they can sometimes get together and come up with something to surprise us."

Chief sat back and watched as his friend's hand hovered over the board. "Thought you didn't believe in any o' that."

Garrison moved a pawn. "Yeah, but recently I've come to realise they believe in me."

The phone rang downstairs in the office, Garrison swore softly as he tried to get up. Chief held up a hand and rose from the table. "Stay there, I'll get it, it's not as if we're gonna be ordered to go on a mission," he paused. "Maybe it's the cops wantin' you to bail the guys outta jail, again."

"Too early for that, give 'em another couple hours," retorted Garrison as Chief strode easily and briskly out the room and down the stairs, giving the lie to his reason for staying with him.

For his part, Chief had been uneasy over the last couple of days, he'd felt eyes watching the mansion from a distance, sounds were out of place or missing especially the birdsong that usually chorused out of the trees surrounding the grounds – something was going on but nothing he could get to the bottom of. Given the suspicions he had about who was behind the betrayals of himself, Garrison and the team and, knowing first-hand what he was capable of doing, he wasn't prepared to leave his friend on his own for one minute more than he had to.

Five minutes later Chief returned. "Richards wants us over in his office, he says it's about whoever's been passin information 'bout our missions to the Krauts."

Garrison's face turned hard as he pushed himself to his feet. "About time. When I get my hands on whoever nearly got you killed they'll wish they'd never been born!"

The vehemence in Garrison's voice stopped Chief dead in his tracks, he'd never heard the Warden talk like that, he picked up Garrison's ebony cane and handed it to him. "If it's the same guy who betrayed us in Norway he nearly got you killed too, that means I get first crack at 'em. Never believed it was that ol' woman who gave us away," he waved at the door. "Come on Warden, I'm drivin'."

GG-GG-GG

"Enter." Major Richards looked up as his office door opened to admit Garrison and Chief. "Thank you for coming over so quickly Lieutenant, Chief."

Chief nodded. "Major."

Garrison stood to attention and saluted. "You have information regarding who's been selling us out Sir?"

Richards regarded the expression on Garrison's face and waved his hand at a couple of chairs. "At ease Lieutenant, you're not on duty. Sit down both of you."

"Thank you Sir." Garrison sat down slowly and carefully, keeping his broken leg from hitting the desk. Richards saw how Chief stood behind Garrison, holding the chair steady without him knowing until he was settled and comfortable before taking his own seat. They both looked expectantly at the English Commando officer.

Richards leaned back in his chair. "First of all Garrison I would like to thank you for allowing the rest of your team to participate in training the Navajos," he smiled. "I'm sure they've passed on some unique and unusual talents that my men will find useful behind enemy lines. I presume that was your idea?"

Garrison nodded. "Yes Sir, I thought it would help the Navajos and keep my men occupied and out of trouble at the same time."

Richards raised an amused eyebrow. "Indeed. You killed two birds with one stone, I knew you'd support the project, well done Lieutenant."

Garrison was momentarily taken aback by the compliment, he glanced quickly at his scout. "Just backing up what Chief and Drummond already had in place, we'd all be happy to help with future intakes."

"Glad to hear it." The Major sat forward and gave both men a serious look. "Now let's get down to business. The reason I called you over is because I think we've found our leak."

Garrison and Chief both leaned forward and rested their arms on the desk, Chief positioned his right arm in front of his left. "Go on Major, we're listenin'."

Richards looked at the leather sheath now visible on Chief's forearm and recalled his words to General Howard. 'Chief standing still is a threat, you don't want to get him angry, that's certain death. Sir, that is the most dangerous man you'll ever meet and he's fiercely loyal to Garrison.' He took a deep breath and continued. "Just over a week ago I sent two separate sets of orders for you and your men to rendezvous with contacts in two different towns in France on the same day. I sent the first set of orders via one office and the second set through another, both sets were false but no-one over here would know that. I sent Navajos 1 and 2 to the locations to observe what happened."

Chief glared at the Major. "You sent in Navajos? What if somethin' happened?"

Richards shook his head. "Chief, you trained those men very well, they've already completed several missions and proven they can handle whatever comes their way. They were under strict orders to observe from a distance and not engage the enemy, I wanted the intel as much as you do. I believe Drummond also warned them that if anyone disobeyed they would be having a close combat session with you to remind them of the importance of following orders. You'll be pleased to know they all came back without incident."

Garrison watched as Chief relaxed slightly, the Navajos were important to him and he cared about the men he'd helped train just as much as Garrison cared for his own team. He turned back to the Major. "Did anything happen Sir?"

Richards took a deep breath and let it out. "Navajo 1 reported nothing at the first rendezvous, but Navajo 2 observed an ambush being set up, they counted over thirty soldiers and Gestapo officers waiting for you to arrive. More than six to one odds, your reputation for fighting your way out of any situation must have reached them!"

Garrison's mouth curled up into a small, crooked smile, he glanced at his scout. "I'll take those odds once Chief and I are a hundred per cent fit." He looked intently at the Major. "So it was someone in the second office, do you have a name?"

Richards nodded. "Yes I do," he looked at Garrison and frowned. "It's Sergeant Gerald O'Connor, we left him alone, kept him under surveillance and found out he was passing information to an American officer, Captain Hardin."

Garrison and Chief looked up sharply as they recognised the name, Garrison's voice was hoarse with shock. "Jack? Jack Hardin? It can't be, are you sure it's him?"

The Major shifted uneasily in his seat, not wanting to pass on bad news. "You know him? I'm sorry to tell you this Lieutenant but the person who's been passing on information about your missions is Captain Hardin. We tracked the records of his previous phone calls and checked his movements, it's definitely him. Do you know why he'd do something like that?"

Garrison felt sick to his stomach, he looked at the Major disconsolately. "He'd been my friend for years, until we fell out recently. He had a mission in Belgium but he didn't want my team on it because of who they are. He and I had a fight over it and then we went ahead and did it anyway. Jack wasn't happy we pulled it off, he must've thought I'd shown him up in front of General Fremont."

Chief gave Garrison a concerned look as he watched him stand up and limp across the office to look out the window visibly upset at the news. "You ok Warden?"

Garrison shook his head. "No, no I'm not," he turned to his friend. "I caused all this, if I'd just accepted that Jack didn't want us on his damned mission in the first place then none of this would've happened. I should never have had a fight with him. I should've let another team go on that mission instead of us, but I wanted to show off and let everyone see what you could do. I'm the one who nearly got you killed."

Chief got up, walked over, stood beside Garrison and put a hand on his shoulder. "No you ain't Warden. Who else could've pulled off that mission 'n blown up that tank besides us? I'm the one who talked you into takin' it on, remember? I'm the one who held a blade to Hardin's throat in that fight. You ain't responsible for anythin' that Hardin did, that's all on him. You carry no blame for what happened to me in Caen, you got me back alive Ánaaí."

"So why do I feel so damn guilty?" Garrison turned to Richards. "Hardin can't have done all this on his own, do you know who he's passing the information on to Major?"

Richards shook his head. "It has to be someone with influence and connections, all we know is Hardin and O'Connor have been calling a number in Washington that leads to an empty office, it's a dead end but we'll keep on investigating. In the meantime you don't need me to tell you and the team to be careful, I honestly don't know if you'd be safer here or behind enemy lines."

Chief's voice was low and determined. "I'll keep a good eye on the Warden 'n the rest of the team, nothin's gonna happen to any of 'em."

The Major nodded. "I know that Chief, but if you need any help call me or Drummond, he and any of the Navajo teams not out in the field will be ready if needed."

Chief flexed his right arm, his blade suddenly appeared in his hand. "Appreciate it, but I can handle Hardin."

Garrison walked back and sat in his chair. "Do we know where Hardin is now Sir?" Chief folded away his knife, followed his friend and sat beside him.

Richards sighed. "No, we don't. He disappeared after he found out we were on to what he was doing. We don't think he's left the country so he must be holed up somewhere, we've just got to come up with a plan to find him."

"Or draw him out." Garrison put his hand to his chin in thought. "Jack will know we got back. The Navajos were watching over us while we were in hospital so he couldn't get to me or Chief there, but now we're out we're fair game. He won't be far away and he'll come for me, after what happened he'll want to get even."

Chief took a deep breath and shook his head. "No Warden, Hardin was your friend, he won't do nothin' to you but we both know he hates me. You said it yourself I'm a con 'n an Indian the two things he hates the most, I had him at knifepoint, I helped stop his plans," he looked at Richards. "I'm the reason he's runnin' Major, it'll be me he wants, use me as bait."

Garrison turned and shook his head. "No Chief, stay away from him. His family have connections, he's got protection, they'll crucify you if you do anything to him, at least I have a chance of not being thrown in jail. I'll think of something to draw him out."

Chief looked Garrison in the eye. "Alright Warden, we'll do it your way but we do it together. You come up with the plan 'n I'll back you all the way." He held out his hand. "Two or none, agreed?"

Garrison took his friend's hand. "Two or none Chief, agreed." He knew what 'two or none' meant, it was the vow that Chief made in Norway to rescue and bring him back or die in the attempt, it meant a lot to both of them.

Major Richards leaned back in his chair, steepled his fingers and regarded the two men, he didn't envy Hardin's fate if those two got to him before his own men could. He'd seen Garrison's concern for his scout when he'd been injured and he was very aware of the depth of Chief's loyalty to his leader – they were a formidable team.