“That’s Dirk all over,” Chris said. “I’ve known him his entire life. Leaps without looking, like the time on a class picnic he tried to impress us with a high dive into a creek without checking its depth and knocked himself out cold. It took our school bus to haul him out.”

The image prompted a brief burst of nervous laughter around the table. “So what are we hearing from you, Lodestar?” Bridgette said to Bucky. “Are you electing to stay?”

“Only if no one disapproves. It’s not just my hide in question here. Should we take a vote?”

“Before we consider that,” Brad said, looking at Chris, “I think we should hear from you, Lapwing. You know the guy. If you were in Lodestar’s situation, would you take the risk that he wouldn’t turn you over?”

“I can’t see him doing it,” Chris said. “Dirk’s one of those guys who, once he loses faith in who he thought you were, it’s over. He was never one to pretend otherwise. If he’s disenchanted with the Nazi setup, he wouldn’t want to throw Lodestar to the wolves, especially if it doesn’t gain him anything he wants and especially if he suspects Lodestar of being an American. I’d say Lodestar is safe taking the risk.”

Bridgette consulted the table. “Is a vote necessary?”

Heads shook no.

Bridgette’s eye lighted on Chris and Brad. “Okay, boys, looks like the mike is yours. Tell us why you believe you’re in the least danger. Aren’t you bound to interface with each other in your capacities for the general?”

“We already have,” Brad answered. “We met today on the way to a luncheon he hosted in his home. I nearly fell off the stoop when I saw Lapwing saunter up, but by the time his aide opened the door, we were just two strangers who’d met as guests and got the introductions over with. The general didn’t suspect a thing.” Brad flashed his slow grin. “His attention was too much on my buxom landlady, who I was escorting, to pay much mind to us anyway.”

Chris added, “We can’t see how our discovery of each other’s cover names and jobs place us in greater jeopardy than we were before. In our simple occupations, we’re not liable to draw the interest of the police organizations. Our danger would come from the general should we rouse his suspicions that we’re not who we say we are, and I don’t believe there’s a danger of that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Victoria asked.

“Because he has no reason to look.”

“In other words, he trusts us,” Brad chimed in. “We’re just two guys who in our separate capacities have become a part of his son’s life. We’re accepted like trusted members of the staff. There’s nothing about us to suspect.”