Shadows In Paris (Seagrove & Raven #2)

Chapter 42

CHAPTER 42

L izzie opened her eyes as light trickled through the blinds. Jack’s arm lay across her stomach, and she was snuggled into his warm body.

This. This was what she had missed. The closeness of him next to her in bed. Knowing she could reach out and touch him anytime, which she did now.

He stirred and opened his eyes. ‘Seagrove,’ he said, his voice husky.

‘Raven,’ she whispered. ‘How did you sleep?’

‘Like a baby. You?’

Lizzie purred, ‘I haven’t slept that well since I arrived in Paris.’

‘Me neither! And today is the day we’re going home. I can’t tell you how much I missed you. I’ve never missed anyone in my whole life like I miss you when you go away. It’s as if there’s a gaping hole in my heart and I can’t function properly. Sounds sappy, but it’s true.’

Lizzie beamed at Jack’s effusive words of love and ran her fingers over the dark stubble on his chin. ‘I feel the same, but you put it so much more eloquently than I ever could. It’s not at all sappy. It’s lovely.’

Jack lifted her on top of him in one fluid movement. His lips claimed hers and soon they were lost in each other again and forgot all about sleep.

Lizzie’s brunette locks tickled his skin as she propped her head on his chest and they lay in bed, not wanting their time alone to end.

‘I’d better go before Hannah twigs what we’re up to,’ he said after a while, climbing out of bed and pulling on his trousers.

‘I don’t think you need to worry about that. She knows.’

Jack’s dark eyebrow shot up as he studied her face. ‘Knows what?’

‘Knows about us.’

‘You told her?’

‘No, I didn’t have to. She said she guessed from how I talked about you, and how you look at me.’

‘It was difficult to contain my excitement at seeing you yesterday, but I thought I did a stellar job. So much for being a master of intelligence.’

‘Me too,’ Lizzie laughed.

‘It’s lucky everyone isn’t as astute as her or they’d all be on to us back home.’

The day crawled by as they waited for evening. They passed the time by going to find the milk truck and sure enough, Hannah was correct. The grey truck was visible now the snow had melted, and one wheel was stuck in a rut at the side of the lane where they’d left it in a snowdrift.

Jack jumped in and tried to start it, but the engine coughed, spluttered to life for a few seconds, and then petered out.

‘Shall we push you?’ Lizzie asked.

Jack turned the ignition again, and the girls pushed. They got some traction, and the truck lurched forward, but then its wheels spun in the thick sludge, and it slid back into the rut. They tried again and again, once with Hannah in the truck and Jack pushing, but it just wouldn’t budge.

‘It’s no good. We’ll have to leave it and hope no patrols spot it before tonight.’

At the cottage, Jack warmed up the rest of the broth and they sat at the table as night fell, thick and heavy. They took it in turns to keep watch, with Jack striding out to the edge of the woods now and then.

‘Thank goodness the snowstorm stopped, or we might have been stuck here for days. It’s tricky enough landing in woodland, never mind in thick snow.

Have you decided what to do? It’s almost time,’ Jack told Hannah when he joined her where she stood alone in front of the cottage.

‘That’s a Wolf Moon,’ Hannah said, pointing to the sky.

Jack gazed up at the glowing yellow moon that hung like a giant chunk of yellow cheese amidst the tiny twinkling stars. ‘It is such a beautiful night,’ Jack said. ‘A great night for the pickup. Just as well I didn’t arrange it for yesterday.’

The snow-covered branches on the trees glittered in the moonlight like Christmas decorations and his warm breath misted in the cold air.

‘Did you make up your mind?’ he asked after they stood in silence, soaking up the picture-perfect scene.

She turned to him. ‘Yes, I’m coming with you. It would be stupid not to see Henry when he’s on leave. Who knows when we’ll get the chance again?’

Jack released a quiet whoop and looked at his watch. ‘That’s the best news. Let’s go in and tell Lizzie. The plane should be here soon.’

They went and gathered their few belongings and prepared to leave. The pickup was in a clearing near the edge of the woods, so they had to trudge over snowy ground, and it was slow going.

Lizzie whispered. ‘It’s a stunning night but gosh, it’s cold. My nose feels like an icicle!’

‘We’re nearly there,’ Jack said. ‘Not long now.’

‘How will they see where to land in the woods?’ asked Lizzie.

‘We used this spot before,’ Hannah said. ‘There’s a windmill that serves as a landmark, as I recall.’

‘That’s right,’ Jack said, bending to move some fallen branches, laden with snow, out of their path.

A short while later, he halted. ‘There it is, on the hill ahead. See it?’

Lizzie saw the pretty windmill illuminated by the light of the moon.

They entered the clearing, and Jack checked his watch again. ‘Should be here in the next five or ten minutes.’ He produced three torches from his pockets and gave the girls one each, ready to shine, when they heard the plane approaching.

‘That is the perfect safe house,’ Lizzie said. ‘There’s no one within miles to see us, especially during a snowstorm.’ She kept her next thoughts to herself, but the night they spent together in the little cottage in the snowy woods was one of the most romantic she could imagine. Sometimes things just worked out better than you could ever predict. One day she was sleeping in the basement in a spooky farmhouse, terrified the Gestapo would bang on the door, and soon after she was wrapped in Jack’s arms.

‘I think that’s the plane,’ Hannah said, cocking her head to one side as she listened.

‘Yes, that sounds like it in the distance,’ Jack agreed, switching on his torch.

The others followed suit, and they formed a signalling pattern for the pilot to see where to land. Hannah moved to one side and Lizzie and Jack spaced out for the torch beams. The sound of the engine grew louder, and Jack caught Lizzie’s hand in his and raised it to his lips, planting a kiss on her cold skin. ‘We’ll be home soon, darling.’

Lizzie blew him a kiss and joy surged through her. Soon she would see her family and Hannah was coming with them, too. What fun they would have together in London, dancing away the heaviness of war for a few hours. Another successful mission was complete, and she was profoundly grateful.

The plane’s engine whirred, and they stepped back as the small aircraft landed bumpily on the uneven ground. Lizzie felt Jack’s hand on the small of her back, gently guiding her towards the Lysander. She boarded, smiling at the navigator, who welcomed her.

Lizzie took a seat and was settling in for the journey home when she heard a loud cracking noise. The navigator turned and looked out the hatch.

‘The bloody Boche have arrived,’ he hissed, reaching for his gun, and Lizzie pulled hers out of her pocket.

She peered outside to see Jack half carrying, half dragging Hannah to the plane, as a gunshot whistled past their heads. ‘Wheels up,’ he gasped as he hauled Hannah inside with Lizzie’s help.

A barrage of bullets flew past the hatch, and one hit the fuselage with a high-pitched whine. Lizzie and the navigator fired at the lights of the vehicle on the edge of the snowy clearing.

‘I can only see one truck. Did we get them?’ Lizzie asked.

The navigator fired again. ‘I don’t know, but there will be more on the way.’

Hannah leaned heavily on Jack like a drunken sailor. There was blood on her arm, spreading over her man’s coat sleeve.

‘My God, she’s badly wounded,’ Lizzie said.

The hatch closed and Jack sank onto the floor of the plane on his knees, panting as he propped Hannah up on the seat, her head sagging against the side. ‘Get out now!’ he shouted to the pilot.

The small plane was already off the ground and shots pinged and bounced off one wing as they heard loud voices. Jack peered out of the window as trucks screeched into the clearing and soldiers stared up at the escaping plane.

‘That was close. A few minutes later, they’d have caught us. Fire on them again,’ Jack ordered the navigator, who was now in the cockpit.

‘This will buy us a few minutes,’ the navigator shouted, and a fierce round of gunfire ripped into the ground near the cluster of Germans, as the plane rose shakily into the sky. They gained height and soon they were out of the range of fire.

‘Hell! That was too blooming close,’ Lizzie said, breathing again, her heart slamming against her chest.

‘Nice job!’ Jack shouted. ‘Where’s the first aid kit?’

The navigator brought it to him, and Jack signalled for Lizzie to help him pull off Hannah’s coat.

‘Ow,’ Hannah said. Her lips were dry and her skin pale and clammy.

‘She’s in pain. Can we give her something?’ Lizzie asked.

Jack rummaged through the kit. ‘Here’s some morphine,’ he said. ‘This should do the trick until we get her home.’

Hannah swallowed the vial of morphine and closed her eyes with a sigh.

Lizzie brought her a cushion for her head and Jack examined her arm. ‘It’s still bleeding, so we must stop the flow. We’ll have to get her to a hospital. ’

Jack cleaned and bound the wound with Lizzie’s help as the plane swooped through the moonlit skies of occupied France and scrammed for home over the choppy English Channel. When Hannah drifted off, Lizzie looked out of the window and saw the chalky glow of the White Cliffs of Dover. She remembered how moved she had been when she first saw the cliffs and knew she was almost home.

Jack said, ‘Someone must have reported seeing the milk truck. The entire city was locked down searching for Hannah, don’t forget. They put two and two together and searched the area.’

‘I was so sure we were all alone,’ Lizzie said, shaking her head. ‘You never know what to expect, do you?’

‘We were lucky the Jerries only arrived at the last moment. Never let your guard down. The minute you think you’re safe is the minute you’re most vulnerable.’

‘Poor Hannah. We convinced her to come with us, thinking she’d be safer!’

‘Don’t worry. We’ll get her patched up,’ Jack said. ‘If she’d stayed there, the chances are they would have caught her.’