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
Stunned at the suddenness of his departure from her life, her chest swelling with a pain beyond her understanding, Victoria watched speechlessly as he collected his hat and gloves and, with a nod and a last glance at her, stepped through the doorway and was gone.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHTY-SEVEN
Alistair was at his desk, June 19, when one of the staff handed him a transmission from a woman who managed a safe house in Barcelona. LODESTAR HAS ARRIVED AND IS READY FOR PICKUP, the code message read.
Shocked, disbelieving, Alistair shot up from his chair so suddenly, his head swam. “Oh, my God,” he said and fell back down on the seat, too woozy to stand.
He was at the airfield when a Swiss Red Cross plane delivered Bucky to the tarmac. Alistair’s eyes filled when the long-limbed Oklahoman stepped down the flight ramp. As they embraced, he noticed a sprinkling of gray in the boy’s brown hair and the lines across his forehead and around the eyes that had not been there before. He had just turned twenty-five.
In the airfield office Bucky described the horror of Liverwort’s execution and recited the astonishing events that had delivered him and Lapwing and Limpet from suffering the same treatment and death. Alistair’s heart swelled. What of Labrador? Bucky wanted to know. Alistair had to tell him that she’d been taken by the French Gestapo shortly after their arrest. There had been no word of her since.
“You think she’s dead?”
“I have no hope for her.”
Bucky looked away, eyes watering. “Damn!”
“I have something for you, Sam,” Alistair said, and deposited a box on the table. “Madame Dupree, thinking you were dead, sent a few of your personal effects to me to see that they got to your parents.”
The boy’s disconsolate face flashed surprise as he opened the box, and Alistair discerned why. The box contained a pair of military cadet epaulettes. It didn’t take much speculation to guess they belonged to his illustrious father, the Black Ghost. How they came to be in Sam’s possession, Alistair would never ask. He would allow his agent’s personal agenda for joining the OSS to remain his private affair. The important thing was that his quest had been successful.
“Welcome back, Sam,” Alistair said, his eyes misting again. “After a full debriefing, we’ll get you on the first plane to Oklahoma.”