Chapters (117)
- Cover
- Title Page
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- The Cast of Characters
- CHAPTER ONE
- The Recruits
- CHAPTER TWO
- CHAPTER THREE
- CHAPTER FOUR
- CHAPTER FIVE
- CHAPTER SIX
- CHAPTER SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINE
- CHAPTER TEN
- CHAPTER ELEVEN
- CHAPTER TWELVE
- CHAPTER THIRTEEN
- CHAPTER FOURTEEN
- CHAPTER FIFTEEN
- CHAPTER SIXTEEN
- The Missions
- CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
- CHAPTER NINETEEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY
- CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
- CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
- CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
- CHAPTER THIRTY
- CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
- CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
- CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
- CHAPTER FORTY
- CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
- CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
- CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
- CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
- CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
- CHAPTER FIFTY
- CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
- CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
- CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
- CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
- CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
- The Game
- CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
- CHAPTER SIXTY
- CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
- CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
- CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
- CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
- CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
- HOME
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
- CHAPTER NINETY
- CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
- CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
- CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
- CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
- CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
- CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
- CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
- CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
- CHAPTER NINETY-NINE
- CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
- CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
- Acknowledgments
- Discover More
- About the Author
- Reading Group Guide
- Discussion Questions
- A Conversation with Leila Meacham
- ALSO BY LEILA MEACHAM
The captain and lieutenant went back to their sausage and eggs, plainly disinterested in what had put a spring in Sergeant Drechsler’s posterior, but it was that sort of mindlessness that had forced Bucky to stalk the front windows waiting for his return that evening. The sooner the man was out of here, the safer for him, his father, the team, and his mission. “Well, monsieur?” he said when he finally appeared.
The sergeant’s scowl told the story. “I’m not going,” he said, his voice sour with disappointment. “It’s too dangerous, too difficult. I’d never make it. I might as well die here where I’m warm and my belly’s full and I’m relatively safe rather than starve and freeze to death trying to make it across the Pyrenees in winter. No thanks. I might think about it again in spring, but for now, I’ll take my chances getting home again after the war is over.”
“Well, what did you think the route would be like, monsieur?” Bucky snapped. “A walk in the park, as you Americans say?”
“I thought we’d go by train.”
Bucky got it then. The team had exploited the sergeant’s weaknesses that Bucky had described to the bird man and used them to dissuade him from making the attempt at escape. Drechsler had been given the full picture of the hardships and danger and deprivation, and he had chickened out, saving his father’s rescue teams the waste of time and effort in hauling Drechsler to the Spanish border—unless, of course, they had meant to put a bullet in him at the start to spare themselves the trouble of dealing with him. But where did that leave Bucky, son of the Black Ghost? He was now even more exposed to the danger of the sergeant’s tongue.
Two days later, Unterfeldwebel Dirk Drechsler, American born and reared, disappeared off the streets of Paris, never to be seen again. There were no German reprisals. A typed letter left on his desk in his Abwehr unit stated that he was on his way back to the United States and declared his absolute loathing for the captain, his lieutenant, the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi Party.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE