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Chapters (117)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. The Cast of Characters
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. The Recruits
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  23. The Missions
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  57. CHAPTER FIFTY
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  59. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  60. CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
  61. CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
  62. CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
  63. CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
  64. CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
  66. The Game
  67. CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
  68. CHAPTER SIXTY
  69. CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
  70. CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
  71. CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
  72. CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
  73. CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
  74. CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
  75. CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
  76. CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
  77. CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
  78. CHAPTER SEVENTY
  79. CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
  80. CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO
  81. CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE
  82. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR
  83. CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
  84. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SIX
  85. CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
  86. CHAPTER SEVENTY-EIGHT
  87. CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE
  88. CHAPTER EIGHTY
  89. CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE
  90. CHAPTER EIGHTY-TWO
  91. CHAPTER EIGHTY-THREE
  92. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FOUR
  93. HOME
  94. CHAPTER EIGHTY-FIVE
  95. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX
  96. CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
  97. CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
  98. CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
  99. CHAPTER NINETY
  100. CHAPTER NINETY-ONE
  101. CHAPTER NINETY-TWO
  102. CHAPTER NINETY-THREE
  103. CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
  104. CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE
  105. CHAPTER NINETY-SIX
  106. CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN
  107. CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT
  108. CHAPTER NINETY-NINE
  109. CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED
  110. CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED ONE
  111. Acknowledgments
  112. Discover More
  113. About the Author
  114. Reading Group Guide
  115. Discussion Questions
  116. A Conversation with Leila Meacham
  117. ALSO BY LEILA MEACHAM

“So you’ll be sure to inform us of the time and place,” the major persisted. “It will be so good for my men to witness the results of their labor.”

Flinty-eyed, Derrick said, “You will be informed, Major. Now have your men release the prisoners into the custody of the SS.”

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

Assisting the German Gestapo in Paris was an auxiliary police organization called the Carlingue but contemptuously and fearfully referred to as the “French Gestapo.” Its members had been recruited from the belly of France’s criminal underground and wore the same black military uniform with modifications as special units of the SS. Anytime one of these men strolled into a civilian establishment, hearts seized and breaths stopped. So it was that Madame Jeanne Boucher, formidable couturier of the House of Boucher, met the pair of uniformed men from the Carlingue as they entered the fitting room where garments on half-dressed models were in the last stages of preparation for the fashion show scheduled for the following Saturday, June 17. Such interruptions as the Allied invasion of France offered no reason for Madame Boucher to cancel a fall showing that had been in the planning stage for a year.

Despite the gallop of her heart, the couturier marched up to the men in black and spoke directly into their faces, successfully obstructing their goggle-eyed attention on the underwear-clad mannequins, and demanded the cause of the intrusion. The pair were of the lowest grade in their organization—boys, really, barely out of the pimple stage. Jeanne Boucher recognized them as hardened criminals no less dangerous for their youth, but obviously unsure of themselves in a place of such intimidating opulence.

The lance corporal, the older of the pair, answered in a voice that had to be cleared by a nervous cough. “We are here to see Mademoiselle Bernadette Dufor,” he said. “She is to come with us.”

“By whose authority?”

“Ours,” the younger and bolder one growled, not to be put off by madame’s haughty manner and the grand surroundings.

“I am afraid that will not do. Let me see your papers authorizing your orders. Mademoiselle Dufor is the designer for your superior’s wife. She is due for a fitting today. Madame will not be pleased if her designer is not here.” Jeanne’s pointed eyebrow allowed the obvious to speak for itself. She had no idea of the name of the boys’ superior. Her pronouncement was a lie to stall the little thugs long enough for Bernadette Dufor to slip from the room and take off.

Bridgette inched toward the door, and the lance colonel, looking uncertain, said curtly, “Very well. We’ll be back with the proper papers and Mademoiselle Dufor better be here.”

They had turned to leave when one of the designers pointed at Bridgette and said, “She’s right there.”