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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

Karl had been speechless. No, the colonel would not have subjected mademoiselle to the treatment that went on in that place, not the woman he deeply admired and had grown extremely fond of—even loved, if Karl’s observations had not deceived him. But rumors were floating around the hotel that she had indeed been taken to Cell Block B. Gruesome sounds of her torture could be heard issuing from the locked room. Karl couldn’t believe it of the man he’d come to know and respect. It was with mixed relief, then, that eventually someone had come with a message from the colonel instructing Karl to go home. He would not be needing him until 0500 hours—five o’clock—Sunday morning. His aide would be spared from laying eyes on his fallen hero until then.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

CHAPTER SEVENTY-NINE

Before dawn broke on Sunday, June 11, 1944, only a few SS and Abwehr personnel were gathered in the Hotel Lutetia to witness in solemn silence as the prisoner in Cell Block B, hands bound behind her, shuffled from her cell through the lobby by two SS men with a grip on each arm. A couple of cleaning women suppressed gasps at the state of her bruised and bloodied face, her chopped-off, sweat-darkened hair, stained clothes, and head lolling forward like a doll with a broken neck. “Take her to the van,” Derrick ordered.

Karl’s jaw sagged when he saw Mademoiselle Colbert dragged through the doors of the hotel. Two SS men had come out to stand by the back doors of the van, which they immediately threw open to hustle the prisoner inside and off the street as quickly as possible. Karl stepped forward with a cry of protest that he could not suppress. “Herr Colonel—”

Derrick raised a hand to stop him. “Enough, Karl.”

Karl stepped back, cognizant of the rank of the man he addressed, and felt his heart shatter. He knew the destination of the van. “As you say, Herr Colonel!”

Floodlights stabbed the fog and darkness. Karl drove Derrick’s staff car behind the van driven by a member of the recently absorbed Abwehr. Besides the broken prisoner, inside the interior were four other members of the former German intelligence agency. Karl recognized them as members of a special military squad who, this morning at first full light at his colonel’s command, would fire their rifles at Mademoiselle Veronique Colbert.

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