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J ack turned to Lizzie as the navigator waved again. ‘We can’t make them wait any longer.’

‘You’re injured and need treatment,’ Lizzie said. ‘Please go with them.’

‘I’m not leaving you here,’ Jack replied, his tone resolute.

‘But if I leave with you, who will clean up this mess? There are too many loose ends that point to Luc.’

Lev and Hannah reappeared and walked towards them. ‘We’ve searched the area, and it’s all clear. He must have acted as a lone wolf.’

Hannah pointed to the blood on Jack’s shirt. ‘How are you holding up, Raven?’

Jack said he was fine, but his skin had a sickly pallor, and Lizzie’s panic grew as she studied his face.

‘He should leave on the plane and get treatment. He’s been hit in the shoulder,’ she said.

Hannah nodded and exchanged a meaningful look with Lev.

Lev said, ‘You two have done what you needed to do. Get out whilst you can, and we’ll finish up here.’

Lizzie said, ‘I will stay, but Raven must leave.’

The sound of the Lysander’s engine whirred louder and Lizzie knew time was running out. They must decide now.

‘Let’s both go. They can clean up without us if we give them proper instructions,’ Jack said.

Lizzie considered leaving with him. What he said about the network made sense. Hannah was there and they could handle it, but she wasn’t certain she could get Jack to leave if she didn’t go too. She nodded.

Jack stepped forward and clapped Lev on the back with his good arm. ‘We will both leave. You are the leader of the network and you’re right. Our time is up here.’

They agreed on the steps they must take immediately to keep Luc and the chateau residents safe. Lev, Hannah, and Marguerite nodded as Jack listed what they had to do.

Lizzie said, ‘There’s also a radio set hidden in a secret compartment in the floor of the turret room at the chateau. Tell Luc we said you should take it. Oh, and please give him our love.’

Lizzie and Hannah hugged fiercely, and their eyes were wet as they parted. The familiar scent of lavender pervaded the cool night air as they all said goodbye and wished each other good luck, knowing they may never see one another again.

Lev said, ‘Thank you for all you’ve done. And to think I nearly didn’t trust you.’

Emotion bubbled in Lizzie’s chest when she saw Lev was deeply moved.

Jack said, ‘We all had to take a chance on each other. And thank goodness we did.’ He patted Lev on the shoulder. ‘Message as soon as it’s done.’

‘We will,’ Lev said.

As the plane took off, bouncing across the grass, Lizzie waved to the members of the Lavender Network until they disappeared from view.

Then she doused Jack’s wound with alcohol and bandaged his shoulder with firm movements.

He winced. ‘Ouch. That hurts like hell.’

‘Oh, don’t be a baby,’ Lizzie scolded. ‘It’s better than bleeding to death.’

‘I can’t argue with that, but your bedside manner could do with some work,’ he said, raising one eyebrow.

Lizzie laughed and relief spiralled through her. If Jack had that much attitude, he couldn’t be in too bad a state.

‘Looks like your scarf has seen its last outing. That blood won’t come out,’ Jack said. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘Never mind. That’s what lucky scarves are for.’

They sat in silence as the plane climbed higher into French skies and only when they crossed the Channel did Lizzie relax.

Jack said, ‘If there was more space, we could have brought the driver’s body with us and disposed of the evidence that way.’

It was a tight squeeze already, with the airman’s body wrapped in the blanket on a shelf at the rear and the other airman perched next to him like a guardian angel. Lizzie and Jack were wedged on the hard bench.

‘There literally isn’t room for another soul!’ Lizzie said. ‘How will they hide his body, though?’

‘Lev will handle it. They’ll bury him somewhere out of the way. He said he knows the woods well.’

‘And what about the informant? She will be a threat when she realises he has disappeared.’

‘The network will eliminate her. There’s no other way to protect Luc, and it’s dangerous to leave informants in play, anyway.’

Lizzie nodded. ‘The network is being baptised by fire.’

‘It’s the best way to learn. They have Hannah with them for now and she knows what to do.’

‘It was incredible seeing her. I’m sorry we won’t wake up at the chateau tomorrow. Dear Luc will expect us at breakfast. And our sudden disappearance will be suspicious,’ Lizzie said, sadness ringing in her voice.

‘It’s a shame, but Marguerite promised to get a message to him to let him know we’re safe but had to leave. Luc is quick-witted. He’ll say we were called away on urgent family business.’

‘I wish we could have said a proper goodbye. The last thing I expected was to be leaving tonight. It’s just as well we hugged after dinner.’

‘Yes, it was almost as if he had a premonition.’

The plane whirred through the sky towards its destination.

Lizzie was exhausted but too on edge to fall asleep.

Jack dozed on her shoulder after a swig of whisky from the navigator’s flask.

She glanced out the window as first light broke and gasped in awe when the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral etched against the pink dawn sky like a welcoming talisman came into view.

Jack winced and opened his eyes. ‘Where are we?’

‘Look,’ Lizzie said, pointing to the skyline. ‘We’re flying over London.’

‘Welcome home to Blighty, darling,’ Jack said, taking Lizzie’s hand.

Lizzie looked over at the airman, who had nodded off, his head bumping against the panel. ‘We had a successful mission, but my heart hurts for them.’

Jack’s gaze followed hers. ‘It could have been even worse. At least one of them is alive and will go home to his family.’

‘What about Billy? Who will break the news to his poor wife?’

‘The RAF will notify her and arrange the funeral. He’ll be buried with full military honours after being missing in action for weeks.

We are bringing his body home, and she can mourn him.

Too many of our boys have fallen in foreign fields and lie in unmarked graves.

Billy’s death is a tragic loss of life, but at least they can have a proper burial. ’

They reverted to silence, immersed in their own thoughts of the horrific price of war and another grieving widow and fatherless child.