Chapter 1

Casino moved irritably in his cramped position behind the bushes. A twig stabbed him persistently in the back of the neck. Finally losing patience, he batted it. An elbow jabbed him in the ribs and he looked up into Actor's angry face. The Italian silently mouthed a warning. Casino shrugged it off.

An armed guard in a Nazi uniform passed ten feet from them. They crouched lower and held their breaths until he was passed. Actor relaxed a bit and looked around, a frown coming to his face.

"Where is Goniff?" he whispered to Casino.

"Where else do you find a monkey?" returned Casino, "up a tree." He nodded to the left.

Actor looked into the tree branches and found the Englishman's impish face grinning through the leaves. Actor sighed. There were times when he could understand the Lieutenant's exasperation with his men.

This time Casino jabbed him. Actor looked quickly toward the distant building. A dark haired woman in a nurse's uniform had emerged and was walking towards them. They drew back as the girl hurried down the path past them.

Casino leapt up, grabbing her from behind, clamping a hand over her mouth to prevent her screaming. Goniff dropped from the tree to land in front of her. He leveled a pistol at her. They hurried her down the path, out of sight of the returning guard.

Finally, they stopped. Cautiously, Casino removed his hand from the girl's mouth. She did not scream or struggle, but regarded them warily with large green eyes. She looked almost too young to be a nurse, but was handling herself well.

Actor asked her name in French, to which she replied Marie. He continued in French saying that one of their comrades was injured and needed medical attention. The girl said nothing, but eyed the SS colonel uniform he was wearing. Actor noticed this and explained that they were not German. She relaxed a little. Taking a breath, she said she was willing to help. Preliminaries aside, they set off down the trail. They still kept a gun trained on the nurse.

A half mile further, they reached a small clearing. Chief was sitting on his heels beside the still figure of Lt. Garrison. He casually returned the switchblade in his hand to its wrist sheath.

Marie stepped slowly forward. Chief backed away allowing her to kneel beside Garrison. When she saw his face, she almost gasped. She reached out to remove the bloody bandage from Garrison's head with shaking fingers, hoping the men would think it was nerves.

The four men stood away discussing the situation in quiet voices. Chief continued to watch the girl.

"Where did you find her?" he asked.

"At that hospital," replied Actor. "She just happened to be walking in the right direction. She can look after the Warden until we reach that plane tomorrow. It will not come back again."

"What are we going to do with the girl?" asked Goniff.

"Let's take her back with us," offered Casino. "Schaeffer can worry about her then."

Actor nodded in agreement. For once the safecracker had a reasonable idea. "We can't let her go and I for one would find it distasteful to have to kill such a pretty thing."

Actor came grimly down the stairs and surveyed the group in the common room. Chief had remained upstairs with Garrison. Casino was keeping a close eye on the French girl, who looked very nervous under his scrutiny. He and Goniff got up and joined Actor at the foot of the stairs.

"The Lieutenant needs medical attention," said Actor.

Goniff looked worried, "So why don't we take 'im to a 'ospital?"

"You dumb Limey," growled Casino. "With the Warden out of the way, where do you think we'd end up? Schaeffer would have us back in stir in a second."

"So what do we do?" asked the Englishman.

Actor sighed. "I think I will find Teresa. She used to be a nurse. And the Lieutenant told me before that she can speak French. She can look after him and the French girl. Under the circumstances, Teresa might come back."

Casino grunted, "After the way the Warden treated her, if I was her, I wouldn't."

Wryly, Actor said, "Luckily, she is not you."

He drove into Brandonshire and went straight to the Blue Fox. Boldly, he walked up to the bar where Kit was polishing some glasses. Kit eyed him suspiciously. The ground rule for their not coming into the Fox still stood.
"Ah, Miss Gallagher," smiled Actor. "May I say you are looking especially lovely today?"

Kit regarded him coldly, "Can it Actor. Say what you have to and get out."

Actor dropped the pretense without anger. "I'm looking for Teresa. There has been a difficulty concerning her brother. It is necessary I speak with her."

Kit silently studied him a second and then went into the backroom. A minute later, she returned to say Terry was on her way. She was further surprised that when she offered him a drink, he turned it down.

A few minutes later, Terry walked in. She gave a small smile, "Hello, Actor. What prompted you to look me up?"

Actor watched the girl's reaction as he said, "We have just returned from the mission. The Warden was injured. He needs your attention."

Terry's face froze in apprehension. "How bad is it?"

"Head injury," replied Actor. "He has not regained consciousness in the past twenty-four hours."

"Let's go."

On the way to the mansion, Actor briefed her on what had happened. Her reaction to hearing that the French girl was at the house was a sigh of resignation.

Terry walked unhesitatingly into the mansion followed closely by Actor. She froze as she caught sight of the girl, Actor almost tripping over her. The two women stared at each other a long minute, then Marie rose. Casino pushed her back down.

"Casino!" The anger in Terry's voice caught the safecracker by surprise. "Lay a finger on her and I'll break your neck." She glared at the other girl and spoke in French. "I'll deal with you later."

Terry bounded up the stairs to Craig's room. Her brother was lying on the bed, unconscious, with his head bandaged. Terry cautiously sat on one side of the bed and Actor on the other. Terry frowned. She lifted an eyelid, not liking what she saw.

"Did you give him something?" she asked.

"No," replied Actor. "I was busy trying to get us out of there. I let the nurse take care of him."

Terry shook her head. "She's not a nurse."

Actor looked at her sharply. Terry got up and went to the top of the stairs. The girl looked at her, trying to maintain an innocent face.

"Get up here," demanded Terry, shortly.

The girl trotted up the stairs and followed Terry into Craig's room. Terry resumed her seat and the girl pulled a chair up close.

"All right, what did you do to him?" asked Terry in English.

"Are we going to do this in front of him?" asked the girl, pointing at Actor.

Terry glared at her. "He's Craig's second, which means right now he is in command." Actor eyed her at that as she continued. "So yes we are going to do this in front of him. Now what did you do to Craig?"

"I kept him snowed with morphine so he wouldn't recognize me."

"What!" exclaimed the two who were sitting on the bed.

"Are you out of your mind giving that to him with a head injury? You could have killed him!"

The girl winced under Terry's anger. "You're the medicine woman, not me."

"What is going on here?" demanded Actor.

Terry looked at the Italian and explained. "This is our sister, Christine. The one I've been trying to find."

"She's a Garrison." It was more of a statement.

"She's a Garrison," confirmed Terry.

"And how many more of you are out there?" he asked sarcastically.

"One." Terry turned to Chris. "Where's Kelly?"

"I'm not sure," said Chris. "I went on this caper. He went on a different one."

"What was your mission?" asked Terry.

"I was after a set of papers that listed known O.S.S. operatives. I didn't get them."

"That is because we did," said Actor. He inclined his head toward a chair on his side.

Terry noted the neatly folded stack of Craig's clothes with the packet on top. She held her hand out. Actor wordlessly placed the packet in her hand. Terry opened it and read it. She sighed.

"Kelly's in Russia," she said. "Your name is on it too," she said to Chris.

Chief was standing silently in the corner of the room, watching. Terry turned to him and asked if he could get her water and bandages. He nodded and slipped out of the room.

"I'm going to try and wake him up," said Terry to Chris. "You might want to make yourself scarce. He isn't in the best of moods without a headache and he should have a good one with this."

Chris got up, "Where's there a phone?"

"Craig's office," said Terry. "You going to try to find Kelly?" Chris nodded. "Casino or Goniff can show you where it is."

Christine passed Chief in the hall. The two exchanged silent looks. Chris raised her eyebrows after they passed. She found him interesting.

Terry turned her attention to her brother. She lifted his head with Actor's help and removed the old dressings. Craig's eyes opened and he tried to focus on her.

"Hardheaded jackass," said Terry, gently. "When are you going to learn to duck?" Sometimes I wonder how come you've made it this far through the war. Let's see your head." She smoothed back his blond hair.

Chief brought the water and the first aid kit. He stood back and watched her clean the wound.

Craig tried to clear his foggy mind. "Why did you come back?"

"Quit asking stupid questions," replied Terry, "or I'll think you've addled your brain. Just because you are a jerk doesn't stop you from being my brother."

"I must have been delirious for awhile," said Craig. I thought I heard Chris talking in French."

"You did," replied Terry. "I don't know what's going on, but she came back with you. Actor will have to tell you."

"Kelly?"

"He's not with her."

Garrison closed his eyes and seemed to be asleep. Terry sat still, watching him with a worried expression. She almost jumped when a hand lightly touched her shoulder.

"He will be all right," assured Actor.

"Yeah, but not anytime soon," said Terry.

Actor helped her redress the wound. Craig roused enough to talk again.

"Have to put off Schaeffer," he mumbled. "He's going to know we're back."

"Don't worry," reassured Terry. "We'll come up with something. Go back to sleep." She very gently ruffled his hair and then smoothed it back. His eyes closed and his breathing slowed in sleep.

Terry and the two men stepped out into the hall. Terry leaned against the wall and looked at Actor. "What's the routine when you guys come back from a mission?"

"If we don't go directly to Schaeffer's office, the Lieutenant writes a report and takes it in to him in the morning."

"So conceivably we have until tomorrow morning to come up with something."

"That would be correct."

Terry looked at him hopefully. "Do you have a plan?"

"Not yet," answered Actor.

"Good," said Terry. "Anybody want breakfast?"

"Sure," said Chief.

Terry scrounged in the kitchen and came up with the usual British bacon and disgusting powdered eggs. Chris sat at the table and watched her older sister prepare breakfast.

"Do you have any clothes I can borrow?" she asked.

Terry eyed the uniform and grinned, "Why? I think what you've got on is cute."

"Yeah, real cute."

Terry laughed. "I don't have any clothes here anymore. I got kicked out of the house by Brother Dear. Not that the guys gave me trouble."

"They're an odd bunch," remarked Chris.

"How so?" asked Terry, whipping up the eggs.

"I know what their background is. You hear these things. Yet they're very loyal to Craig. While I was there, the one called Casino did some grumbling about their rotten luck. But no one ever said anything about not bringing him back. You'd have thought they would hightail it as far away as possible."

Terry paused to digest this piece of information. She gave a brief raise of her eyebrows to Chris and poured the eggs into a fry pan. She didn't quite understand Craig's men, but she wasn't afraid of them. One thing she did know, she could never turn them in to the War Department to be returned to prison. Right now her problem was Chris.

"What are you going to do now?" asked Terry.

"I'm going back to London and shed the O.S.S.," Christine's voice held a tinge of anger. "I was sent in to get the papers Craig was sent after."

"Lovely people you work for. You going home now?"

"No," said Chris defiantly. "I'm in this war now. I'm not pulling out." She frowned. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"I was sent to bring you home and rat on Craig's men. Neither of which I'm doing."

A movement at the door drew her glance. Actor stood there eying her was mix of curiosity and caution.

Terry met his eye. "I wish you'd make a noise when you walk up."

"I hear more this way."

They stared at each other. Chris felt the tension and rested her hand carefully near the butcher knife on the table.

Terry finally spoke. "You either trust me, Actor, or you don't. I'll tell you truthfully, I'm not holding this over your heads."

"I believe you," replied Actor. "You are not trying to con me. You are good, Teresa, but you are not good enough – yet." He smiled studying her assessingly. "With help you could be very good."

"When I'm ready to learn I'll let you know."

Actor laughed, "It will be a pleasure."

Chris waited until he had disappeared into the common room before relaxing and fixing her sister with a quizzical look. "What did you get yourself into?"

"I'm still finding out," chuckled Terry. "This may be a long war, but it's going to be an interesting one."

Breakfast was a quiet affair. The men were tired and depressed. It seemed their luck had gone sour. The missions were getting too close together. Too much tension for too long and mistakes were being made. Their injury rate was jumping. And now Garrison had almost been killed. They needed the missions to survive, but it was getting harder to survive the missions.

After the meal had been consumed, the men disappeared to get some much needed sleep. Terry cleared the table and started water into the sink for dishes. She turned to Chris and gave her explicit instruction on how to get to her flat in Brandonshire. She tossed the keys to the flat to her.

"Why don't you get some sleep there where it's quiet and then come back here with my clothes?" She gave a cynical laughter, "Look's like I may be here awhile."

Chris nodded and left. Terry washed the dishes up and headed upstairs to check on her brother. Terry slipped silently back into Craig's room. Actor was sprawled on a chair at the side of the bed. He was still wearing part of a German uniform. He also looked exhausted. Terry stepped in front of him. His eyes moved up to her face. He said nothing, waiting for her to make the first move.

"I sent Chris into Brandonshire to my flat," said Terry quietly. "She'll come back later with my clothes. Any objection if I stay here until he's up on his feet again?"

"None at all," said Actor. He sucked in a cheek. "We have no intentions of harming you or your sister."

"I know that," assured Terry. "Craig can't seem to grasp that concept. I'll work on him." She looked him in the eye. "Thank you for bringing him back."

"We may talk about going to Switzerland," said Actor. "But we seem to have given up on that plan."

Terry continued to study the man. "I'll watch Craig. Go get some sleep."

Actor nodded. "Wake me in a couple hours."

"I'll wake you if I need you," said Terry. "We'll probably need you with a sharp mind later on. We're going to need a con and I hear you're the one who can give us one."

Actor got up and walked to the door. Terry watched him from behind. She surprised herself admiring the jodhpur and boot encased long muscular legs. After he had left the room, Terry mentally shook herself. Of all the men, Actor was probably the most dangerous. Craig had written once in a letter that he was never truly sure if the man's words and actions were real or a con.

Terry turned to check on Craig. He was breathing peacefully, his face relaxed. The bandage around his head was dry. She adjusted his blanket before taking the seat Actor had just vacated. Terry sat with him for hours while he slept.

Chris returned in the late afternoon, after a few hours of sleep. She had all of Terry's clothes which she put away in the room Terry had indicated was hers. Chris checked on Craig and left her sister there, going back to the kitchen to see what she could throw together for the hungry men.

After a bit, Actor returned to the room. He was wearing brown pants, a black turtleneck sweater, and a purple smoking jacket. He was masculine enough to carry off wearing purple. Terry wondered who his tailor was. She would never have dressed him in that color. The Italian sat down on the opposite side of the bed. Craig opened his eyes and looked back and forth between the two. He frowned.

"I have to get that report written," said Craig, worriedly.

"You can't even sit up," said Terry. "How do you expect to write a report? My understanding is you were unconscious for half of the trip anyway. So can he," she pointed at Actor, "write the report?"

Craig looked at Actor. The con man raised one eyebrow and shrugged. "If you have an old copy for me to follow. I don't know the format."

Terry grinned at him. "I know the format. You dictate, I'll write."

"You know the format," repeated Craig skeptically.

Terry looked askance at him. "Craig, I have been writing Dad's reports for him. I've also been reading the intelligence reports, including yours."

"We need to sit down and talk one of these days," said Craig wearily.

"Trust me, Lieutenant, you probably don't want to know."

"What about Schaeffer?" asked Actor. "If you wish, I will try to do the debriefing."

Craig shook his head. "You know what our situation is. I don't want to hand you over to him. I need to keep the group together."

"All right," said Terry, "here's what we'll do." To Craig she said, "You tell me everything you remember. Actor and I will write the report. I will go debrief with Schaeffer."

Actor gave a cynical chuckle, earning himself a sour look from the girl. She ignored him and looked to her brother instead. "I've been handling grouchy two and three star generals, I figure I can handle a twit of a major."

"I guess it's worth a try," said Craig.

Chris brought up a plate of food. Garrison was only able to eat a few bites. He closed his eyes, lay back, and started talking. Terry listened carefully. The story was concise and to the point until he reached the part where he had been shot. Terry squeezed his hand. "Okay, I'll go get started," she said.

Terry picked up her brother's barely touched plate of food. She and Actor went downstairs. While Actor went to the dining room to eat, Terry took the plate of food into Craig's office. Terry sat down in the chair at Craig's desk. Picking at the food on the plate, she pulled the front drawer open and perused the contents. There were the assorted pens and pencils, rulers and compasses, a knife, a set of handcuffs with key, and a pistol, fully loaded, and an opened pack of cigarettes. She stuck one in her mouth, but couldn't find a match. She moved the plate out of the way. The bottom right file drawer was unlocked. She grinned at the contents. She had found Craig's bottle of whiskey and a couple shot glasses. She left them there. Using his key, she opened the other drawers. A file drawer on the bottom left held various military papers and the dossiers on all the men. Terry grinned deviously. That would make for some good late night reading. Now that she had met the men, she wanted to re-read their files.

She located and removed the file with the papers for the last mission. The information was brief, with pictures of German officers and buildings. There were no instructions on how the mission was to be carried out, so she assumed her brother planned the details.

Actor walked in and took a seat with one hip on the corner of the desk. He noted the unlit cigarette hanging from Terry's mouth, reached in his pocket and brought forth a silver lighter, flicking it to flame. He held it to the girl's cigarette. She looked up in surprise and accepted the light. "Grazie."

They spent the next two hours with Actor giving the details of the mission and Terry taking notes. She didn't speak other than to ask pertinent questions about specific details. Actor was impressed in spite of himself. He left her to type up the report.

An hour later, Terry walked into the common room and perched on the arm of Actor's chair, handing him the typed report and a pen. "Make corrections and I'll finalize it," she said.

He read the whole thing carefully, all the while puffing on his pipe. Terry stayed on the arm of chair, enjoying the smell of the pipe tobacco. Actor looked up at her with raised eyebrows when he was finished. "This is very good. Very accurate and well detailed. Unless the Warden has anything to add, I think this is final." He eyed her curiously. "Why did you leave out any mention of your sister?"

Terry raised an eyebrow. "You want to explain kidnapping a general's daughter to the Army?"

"It would be an easy way to get rid of us," suggested Actor. He waited for her response.

The girl looked at him and said in a challenging tone, "Who said I wanted to get rid of you?"

She got up and went back into Craig's office. She felt the Italian's eyes on her back. Once inside the room, she grinned.