Chaisley stumbled behind her trying to keep up. When they made it to the car, she practically fell into it.
“What’s happened?” Rick sounded panicked.
“Drive.Hurry.” Melanie wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.
Back at the hotel, Chaisley couldn’t stop shaking. Did thatNazi know where they were? Would he come after them here? She grabbed Rick’s hand. “Let’s drive away from the city. Find a small hotel somewhere else. And make sure we aren’t followed.”
The exhaustion in them all was palpable, but they agreed her plan was the best. When they reached a quaint hotel and checked in with two adjoining rooms, Chaisley was beyond anxious to speak to Dr. Grafton. She picked up the telephone in her room. “Rick, would you stay with Mel and me for a moment? Just until I finish this call?”
“Of course.” It sounded like he hadn’t left the door. Was he guarding it?
She put the call through to her grandmother’s. She hated waking the house, but she needed to ask about the visas for Mary Beth and Geraldine. Because she couldn’t stand to stay here much longer. Not after tonight. It was a risk to ask about the visas over the phone, but maybe if she switched up languages, she could throw off anyone listening in.
Were the mother and daughter all right? It was too risky to visit them at their hotel. Chaisley drew too much attention, but to know she was in the same city and couldn’t do anything to help them yet broke her heart.
When Dr. G answered, she spoke as vaguely as she could. A sentence or two in Dutch, then switched to Hungarian, then to French, then to English. Using a few code words along the way.
“I’ll be there tomorrow.” Dr. G’s voice was gravelly in his French response. “The flowers older than a fortnight need to be exchanged.”
So. Those old enough to be sterilized needed to leave immediately. The Gestapo were only growing bolder in their arrests. There was no way they would stop searching for them. “I’ll ask the driver if he can make a trip tonight.”
“Good. No need to wait for me. I’d love to visit the hotel where you are staying.”
In other words, get out as soon as she could, and leave a coded letter at the hotel with details.
He switched to Hungarian. “I’ve learned there are many new groceries I’d like to pick up. I may stay several weeks, but will try to be back by the time you return at the beginning of November.”
She longed to tell him about what happened. To pour out her worries and fears. But she couldn’t. It wasn’t safe.
For any of them.
“God be with you,” she whispered in English.
“And you, my child. I love you and how brave you are.”
She hung up the phone and sucked in a breath.Wasshe brave enough to keep going? As her whole body shook, she couldn’t stop the tears.
Rick gripped thesteering wheeland rounded a sharp curve. The towering forest on either side of the road kept any moonlight from hitting the pavement. His palms were slick with sweat. All of his training was to extract information. Get in and out of buildings without detection. Blend in and hear things people thought were secret.
But this mission had become so much more than spying for Britain. God, in His wisdom, had given him a greater purpose in helping those the enemy wanted to destroy. He glanced in the rearview mirror. The weight of responsibility for these six young people with him tonight put his nerves at a level he hadn’t experienced since his first mission. But that was nothing compared to the tension that gripped him when he thought about Chaisley. His most precious cargo was in the grip of the Nazi regime.
His chest tightened.
Was Chaisley safe? Was Mel? Would that Nazi officer come looking for them again? Rick’s throat tightened and he cleared it. No use asking questions when he had no answers. Right now, the bestthing he could do was pray for them, as he knew they were doing for him.Please, Lord, protect them. Give them wisdom. Keep them safe.
It was the same prayer he prayed every time he left. With so many around them losing their livelihood, homes, and even their lives, it was difficult to know the right words to ask the Lord to intervene. That was the beauty of prayer, though. God knew, even if he couldn’t articulate it well.
He drove up a small hill and caught a white marker on the side of the road. Some of the tension left his shoulders. Only two miles to the Netherlands. Celestia should be at their meeting point, seven miles past the border.
“We’re almost there.” His voice was hoarse from lack of use.
“Praise God!” One of the young women breathed the words out in a prayer.
The teenaged boy in the front seat reached out and touched his arm. “You’re a good driver, Mr. Rick. I haven’t gotten sick one time.”
Rick smiled. “Thank you, George. I’m glad to hear it.”
The car fell silent once more, and he maneuvered the vehicle around the last corner before the border.
