didn’t come, he might have to wait until next month. The thought was unbearable.
She was not the only one who missed him; Julian’s absence left a void in the circuit. She could sense it from the messages the couriers brought for her to transmit, fewer now, less certain in tone. He was their leader and they couldn’t fully function without him. Julian’s absence wasn’t the only problem either. Things were getting worse throughout northern France. There were rumors, whispered by the agents who brought her instructions: another arrest in Auvergne. A courier who had not turned up. Little pieces that, when put together, suggested that things were getting worse, the Sicherheitsdienst drawing closer, noose tightening. And all this right as they were about to undertake their most dangerous mission to date: blowing up the bridge.
There was a clattering below. Marie stood, her eyes darting across the flat to make sure everything was hidden, and that the radio was inverted into the gramophone, in case the police had come. She opened the door to find the corridor empty.
A moment later, Will’s head appeared over the railing. She was surprised to see him; he hadn’t come personally since the morning he had retrieved Julian for the flight. He stepped into the flat uninvited now and closed the door. His expression was unusually solemn and she held her breath, bracing for bad news. Was it about Julian or something else? “There’s a personnel drop expected tonight,” he announced without greeting. His brown eyes were solemn.
She jumped up with a surge of anticipation. But there had been nothing on the radio about a delivery. “How do you know?”
“Word was couriered over from the Acolyte circuit.”
It seemed odd that the message had come from a network of agents to the east and not through her wireless. “Is it Julian?”
Will’s brow furrowed with uncertainty. “They said the message was garbled, but he’s the only one expected. It must be him. If I was flying him back myself, I would know.”
“You asked to fly him?”
“Of course. Repeatedly. My request was denied.” Will scowled. Perhaps that explained his dark mood. “They said I was needed here on the ground while Julian is in London,” he added. Will had evolved somehow into a second-in-command, a leader while his cousin was away. He was normally a lone wolf, and it was not a role he wore comfortably.
“Well, Julian will be back tonight and you can get back to flying,” she said brightly.
But his face remained grave. “Marie, there’s something else.” His voice was somber. “You know about the railway bridge?”
She nodded. “Of course.” Everything they had done, including her life-threatening trip back from Montmartre with the TNT, had led up to this.
“The detonation is scheduled for tomorrow night.”
“So soon?”
“We’ve received word that a large German convoy is to cross it the day after next. So we had to move it up.”
“But Julian said not to proceed without him.”
“We won’t be. We will lay the charge and then retrieve him from the landing site before it explodes. It shouldn’t be a problem.”
She did not understand why his tone was so grave. “Then what’s the matter?”
He hesitated. “The agent who was to lay the charge at the bridge tomorrow, she’s gone missing.”
She. There was only one woman in the network capable of undertaking such a task. Marie sank to the edge of the bed, praying that she had heard him wrong. “Will,” she said slowly, “who is it?”
“Josie is missing,” he confirmed bluntly, sitting down beside her. “She and Albert and one of the partisans, Marcin, were delivering guns to the Maquis when they went dark four days ago. We don’t actually know if they were arrested,” he added quickly. “They could just be lying low.”
“Or injured or dead,” Marie said, the awful possibilities flowing from her. “Have they checked the location of her last transmission? What about the town where she was last seen? We must send word to headquarters...” If Julian knew, he could make inquiries in London.
“We have. And a reconnaissance team is doing everything they can.” Marie knew from the sound of his voice that it was futile. If Josie was all right, she would have found a way to get back or at least to be in touch. No, the only one thing that would have kept Josie from completing the mission was if she had been arrested—or killed.
She saw Josie at Arisaig House, so strong and defiant. Tears filled Marie’s eyes as she turned to Will.