Cold Lonely Courage (Madeleine toche Series Book 2) by Soren Petrek Page B

intelligence reports. Do your own surveillance before you do anything else.”
    “You know, I don’t even know what you did before the war,” Madeleine said.
    “I was an attorney in Wiesbaden, but my practice is on hold right now,” he said with a faint grin.
    “Of course,” Madeleine replied.
    Madeleine got up. “I’d better leave. Thank you for everything you’ve done,” Madeleine said, walking to the stairs, wondering if she would ever see him again.
    “Goodbye, Madeleine. We’ll meet again.”
    As she reached the street, she thought that Hartmann’s final words were both a comfort and a sentence. He gave her hope that she would be successful and help to defeat the enemy. But he told her she would be completely alone, facing the terrors that would always be there until her job was done or she was killed. Remembering her faith, she resolved not to be alone as she stepped into the shadows and towards the war.

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    CHAPTER SIXTEEN
    The night air was alive around her as Madeleine placed a powerful explosive charge under a railroad track, pushing rocks and debris around it. It was primed and hidden, one of two that when detonated would derail the train headed in her direction. A silenced pistol lay near her hand, an extension of her consciousness.
    She looked down the track, seeing Teach working silently, placing another bomb. Their target was a munitions train, coming directly from the factory. Teach looked up and flashed her a quick thumbs up of encouragement. I wonder how many times he’s done this, she thought, excited but nervous on her first assignment. She rechecked the bomb’s wiring to make sure it would trigger with a slight delay once the train traveled over it.
    Only two days had gone by since her last meeting with Hartmann. Madeleine was put into action immediately. Hours before she and Teach were flown to a nearby pasture, landing in a light plane. A low altitude parachute drop was too risky. The tiny Lysander airplane could fly under the coastal radar and take off and land over short distances.
    Madeleine stood, aware of everything around her. The night had its own pulse and being. She smelled the dampness from the light rain that had fallen earlier, leaving a mist through which there was only a hint of a town in the distance. The train would pick up speed here and most of it would be over the blast zone when it arrived. At least I’m back in France, she thought, happy to see the familiar road signs marking the meandering roads. She was not in her native Provence, but she was home.
    “Charges set and timed?” Teach whispered, motioning her into the shadows along the side of the track. His face was close to hers and she felt his alert ease and confidence.
    “Charges are set, Captain. Everything is on schedule,” Madeleine whispered, glancing at the luminous dial of her watch. Just as she did so the darkness was split as a match was struck, a short distance down the rail bed. A German sentry extended the match as a second leaned in to light his cigarette.
    “Danke,” the soldier said quietly as he moved away from the match.
    The two soldiers separated and began walking towards Madeleine, Teach, and the explosives. They seemed to be paying particular attention to the ground in front of them, glancing around repeatedly as they moved forward. They aren’t green recruits, Madeleine thought. These men had walked point in combat, probably many times. They’ll find the explosives.
    Teach made eye contact with Madeleine, pointed to himself and the guard on the far side of the track. Madeleine then touched herself and pointed to the other. Teach nodded firmly and slid farther back into the shadows. Madeleine moved back and to her right, slowly raising her pistol, training it on her soldier. She saw the other sentry in her mind but everything else went away as she concentrated. As the solider passed, she silently stood, taking measured steps towards the track and fired into the middle of his back. Two