me on the beach. I was too busy clutching my head in my hands and clenching my teeth to keep from being sick.
The major gently pulled my hands away from my face and held them so that I was forced to look at him. His eyes looked silver in the darkness, and I focused on them for a moment, trying to clear my head. I was still breathing very hard, a mixture of exertion, fear, and having had the wind knocked out of me only moments ago.
“It’s all right,” he said, his voice the softest I had ever heard it. “Everything’s all right.”
I looked over my shoulder to see Oscar lying very still in the sand.
“He’s dead,” Major Ramsey said.
I nodded, my gaze still on the lifeless body. The knife was still gripped in his hand. He had been so very close to killing me.
“Electra, look at me.” I turned my gaze back to him, and he squeezed my hands. “You don’t have to worry about him. Focus on me. Take a deep breath. That’s right. Now another.”
I did as he said, taking comfort in the warm calmness of his presence beside me, though I wasn’t really in as much of a state as he seemed to think I was. I was dizzy, a bit breathless from having the wind knocked out of me, and shaking hard from an excess of adrenaline, but my mind was clear enough.
A moment later, there was the sound of voices, and I turned to see Colm and Kimble making their way down the cliff path. Felix stood at the top, looking down. He couldn’t manage the terrain.
I removed one of my hands from the major’s and waved to Felix, to let him know I was all right.
The major followed the direction of my wave and then turned back to me. Rising, he helped me up with the hand that was still in his. I found my legs were a bit shaky, but I was none the worse for wear. Not physically anyway.
“Are you all right, love?” Colm asked as he reached me.
“Yes. I’m fine.”
He grasped my upper arms and held me firm, studying me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Quite sure. There’s no need for you to wring your hands over me like Nacy.”
He grinned at the others. “She’s well enough if she can scold me,” he said, but he couldn’t hide the relief on his face.
I smiled at him before I turned to the major. It wasn’t over yet. “Oscar was signaling and I saw a return signal. The German agent is coming. What do we do now?”
The major considered for just a moment.
“Kimble. McDonnell. Take the body and hide it somewhere, farther down the beach if necessary. And quickly.”
“But the shot…” I said.
“If they’re far enough out that we can’t see them, it’s likely that they didn’t hear it over the noise of the waves. If they ask, I’ll make up a convincing story about it.”
I glanced at him. He was so very calm. He didn’t seem at all affected by the fact that he had just taken a man’s life, his own cousin’s life at that.
I couldn’t know, of course, what was happening in his mind. Perhaps he would mourn his cousin later, in his own way. At the moment, however, he had a job to do, and emotion could not be a part of it.
“He’ll have the papers in his pocket, I assume,” Major Ramsey said, moving to the body. He didn’t waste any time in retrospection, instead patting down Oscar’s pockets. The packet of papers was there, and he pulled it out.
“With luck,” he said, “Lacey can create our forgery before the agent arrives.”
I glanced out at the sea. There was still no sign of the boat. Perhaps, just perhaps, we might still be able to pull this off.
“But…” I said, suddenly worried. “The Germans are expecting Oscar.”
“I doubt the agent has ever seen the contact; if I have the papers and the letter from Jocelyn, it should be enough.”
“He told me he speaks … spoke German,” I said, my head still spinning a bit. “They’re likely expecting a German speaker.”
He gave me a little smile. “Then it’s a good thing I speak German, too. Come along. We haven’t time to spare.”
He took my arm and led me back toward the cliff. I knew he was purposefully turning me away from the sight of Kimble and Colm moving Oscar’s limp body down the beach, but that was all right. I had