The Darkest Hour(12)

Though maybe we can change that.

I look up at Harken. “We need to go to Reims, sir. I know it’s against protocol, but we can’t leave Delphine to the Nazis. She knows too much.”

“Lucie’s right,” Tilly jumps in. I glance at her to find iron in her eyes instead of tears. “We can be ready to leave in half an hour.”

Sabine crosses her arms. “If you go to Reims, you’ll be walking into your own murder. The Germans will have dozens of soldiers guarding Delphine’s cell.”

“Then what do you propose?” I say. “That we sit here and do nothing?”

“That’s not what I said. I was merely pointing out that we shouldn’t act in haste, as you’ve done tonight with Monsieur Travert.” Her gaze cuts me like the knife in my rosary, but it softens when she turns to Tilly. “I’m sorry, Matilda, but we must be realistic. I very much respect Delphine, but if the Nazis have captured her, then the question must be asked: What if she is already dead?”

I wish I could yank out Sabine’s tongue. “We can’t assume that!”

“And you shouldn’t assume that she’s alive,” Sabine replies.

“Enough of this!” Harken roars, making all of us jump. “Are you two finished flapping your lips yet? Or shall I wait?”

The heat cools from Sabine’s eyes, but not by much. “My apologies, Major.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble through clenched teeth.

“What are we going to do about Delphine?” Tilly says at last. “Can we reach out to Betty and Virginia? How about Georgiana or Germaine?” she asks, referring to the other agents of Covert Ops. “We could recall them and have them help us.”

“You could send them a coded radio message,” I add, pointing at the Type 3 Mark II transceiver tucked in the corner that we use to contact our agents as well as our OSS colleagues stationed in London. Only Harken knows how to use the device, but he has been teaching Sabine how to operate it, too.

“They’re all embedded too deeply,” Major Harken mutters. “I need them in the field right now. Betty is making headway in Zurich, and Virginia is too valuable to take out of Brussels. The same with Georgiana and Germaine. It has taken months to get everyone in place, and I can’t get most of them out without jeopardizing their covers.” He takes in a long breath and slowly releases it. “That leaves it to us to find Delphine.”

My head snaps to his, as do Tilly’s and Sabine’s.

“We’ll be outnumbered—” Sabine starts, but Major Harken raises his hand to quiet her.

“Like Blaise said, Delphine knows too much. We can’t risk the Germans finding out about OSS or Covert Ops. If she tells them what she knows, it would put everything we’ve done in danger. It’s not only our lives on the line—it’s the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers who need us to cut the Nazis’ feet from under them.”

“Delphine wouldn’t break,” says Tilly.

“Everyone can break,” Major Harken says darkly. “That’s the truth.”

“There’s the suicide pill, though,” says Sabine.

“She would’ve used it by now. The Nazis must have found it and disposed of it,” Harken replies. “So that’s that. We’re going to Reims. We have to determine if she gave up anything during interrogation and if we’re now compromised. If we can rescue her, too, all the better.”

“I’ll get my things straightaway,” Tilly says in a rush, but Harken raises his hand again.

“We’re not leaving tonight. There aren’t any trains running and we don’t exactly have a car at our disposal. We’ll leave in the morning. Once we reach the city, we’ll ascertain the situation first. If there’s an opening to free Delphine, we’ll take it.” He glances at Tilly. “If not, we’ll bring enough powder to blow the jail entirely.”

Tilly freezes. “Sir—”

“It’ll be our last option. If it does come to that, I’ll be the one to light the fuse.”

The thought of taking out one of our own—even if it’s mercy to give her a quick death instead of the one the Nazis have in store for her—sickens my stomach, but we joined Covert Ops knowing what we were signing up for. If we were in Delphine’s shoes, we’d choose a bomb, too, over the Nazis’ little games.

“When do we depart?” Sabine says.

“We’ll take the noon train to Reims. Make sure you’re packed well before then.”

I sit up straight. He had said we, hadn’t he? Or was that a slip of the tongue?

Major Harken seems to sense the question I want to ask him. “You won’t be coming with us, Blaise. You’ll stay here at headquarters to keep watch.”

That’s another punch to my gut. “But—”

“The decision is made, especially considering what happened tonight. You may have topped your class, Blaise, but you’re not living in a training exercise anymore.”

My throat grows tight with shame, and I look down at my hands that failed me tonight with Travert. I don’t reply to Harken. What would I say to him? One botched mission is forgivable, perhaps it’s even expected, but two? This isn’t something my instructors had prepared me for.