The Darkest Hour(46)

My mind whirls. But could I have trusted him?

I brace my hand against Harken’s desk. Everything I’ve known for three months has been yanked apart and turned upside down. If I had some time to think or breathe—

“Dear God, what happened?”

A new voice rips through my ears, and my head snaps toward the door. My first thought is that the Nazis have found us, that they heard the gunshots and now we’re done for. But I don’t find a soldier in the doorway.

“Tilly?” I choke out. Major Harken said that she was following behind him, but I never even heard her come in. She must’ve made her way into headquarters while the rest of us were too busy screaming at one another.

Tilly doesn’t answer me. Her entire being is transfixed upon Harken’s body. “Major?” she whispers. Her face is a pale moon, and she stumbles toward his body, but I block her path by wrapping my arms around her. “What happened? Why is he—”

“He’s gone,” I whisper. “He’s dead.”

She pushes me away and falls to the floor next to him, her hands shaking as they cover her mouth. Then she grabs him by the collar. “Major Harken!”

“Tilly—”

Her eyes are wild when she looks up at me. “How did this happen?”

I point a trembling finger toward Sabine. “She shot him.”

Tilly’s head whips the other way. “You … shot Major Harken?”

“He was a double agent!” Sabine explodes, tossing both arms in the air. “Lucie and I learned that there was a traitor among us, with the initials T.J.H.”

Tilly’s lips split apart. “Who told you that?”

“Dorner.”

“The Nazi you were sent to find? You believed him over Major Harken?”

“That isn’t all,” Sabine is quick to say. “I heard a transmission over the radio—a message from the Nazis to Harken, promising payment for betraying Covert Ops. Tell her, Lucie.”

“Don’t you drag me into this!” I say. “Harken could still be alive if you hadn’t waved that gun at him.”

Sabine shakes her head in disgust. “Why do you insist on protecting a traitor?”

“There wasn’t definitive proof of that!” I reply. “There should’ve been an investigation.”

Sabine snorts. “Harken could’ve escaped by the time that happened. Very well, if you want more proof, then listen to the radio yourself.” She carries the suitcase holding the radio out of Major Harken’s office and drags us both up to the main floor of the bookstore, ignoring Tilly’s tears that splash onto the floor. I don’t tell Sabine to stop. It may be risky to use the radio at a time like this—who knows if the Nazis will be listening for our signal—but I need to hear this message. I need to know if Harken has died in vain or not.

If he has, Sabine will have to pay for that.

Sabine warms up the radio while the three of us gather just beyond the open hatch. She fumbles with the dials, searching for the correct frequency, until her eyes alight. “It’s here!” She thrusts the earpiece at me. “Listen.”

I shove the device into my ear, and the tapping of Morse begins immediately. I struggle to keep up with the symphony of dashes and dots.

“Is it the message to Harken?” Tilly says, her voice breaking. “What does it say?”

I’m too busy translating the message to give her an answer. Tuileries …

Sabine’s head bobs up. “Did you hear that?”

I shush her. Garden …

“There! A truck,” Sabine whispers. She pokes her head beyond the false door and peers out the closest window. “We need to get back downstairs!”

“I need another minute!” I say. Tuileries Garden …

“Those headlights are turning back around. We need to move!” Sabine practically pushes Tilly down the ladder before she reaches for the radio to stow it back in its case.

I bat her hand away. “I need more time!”

“We don’t have any to spare!” With that said, Sabine yanks the earpiece from my ear and closes the suitcase. “Don’t stand there, Lucienne. Move!”

She has to physically pull me into the hatch, however, because the last word that I deciphered still clangs in my ears, tuning out everything else surrounding me.

Usual …

Sabine was telling the truth about the Nazi message. I may have heard a snippet, but it was word-for-word as she had translated.

My head goes dizzy. Sabine is telling me something, but my ears are full of cotton. Even as Harken lay dying in my arms, I couldn’t believe the accusations. Not him, of all people.

“You were right,” I whisper to her.

She pauses. There’s no smug look on her face. No triumph. “I didn’t want to be,” she says, helping me onto the ladder and passing me the radio. Her head remains above the hatch, watching, listening, waiting. She swears. “It’s them! Go, go!”

I stumble down the rungs, missing the last two completely and tumbling onto my backside. While Tilly helps me up, Sabine shuts the hatch and locks it tight.

“The Nazis are outside!” Sabine says. “They must’ve picked up our signal.”

“What do we do? Major Harken always told us …” Tilly stops midsentence, and I give her a quick squeeze on the arm.