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

killed before. So you can see why we might ask more from you than the duties of a standard field agent.”
    “What do you want me to do? If it involves killing Germans, I’ll gladly do that. I don’t want to be a messenger or make coffee for the soldiers who fight. I am as capable as anyone.”
    “I’m happy to hear you say that Madeleine, because what the SOE is going to ask you to do we can’t order you to do. It’s a bit outside of the rules as they currently are.”
    “Rules? There are no rules for me. It’s against the rules to attack a country and enslave its people without provocation. Now, what do I do?”
    “You seem eager. When you hear what I have to say, I’m afraid you won’t be quite so ready to jump into the fray.”
    “Then just say it,” Madeleine said, firmly returning Teach’s stare.
    “We want you to be a killer, Madeleine, an assassin. We need someone in each occupied country to kill the enemy directly. That will demoralize the command structure and put the bloody fear of the long reach of the SOE into their guts. Make them look over their shoulders and kill them when they drop their guard.”
    “How many others will train with me?” Madeleine asked.
    “None. Only you,” Teach said. Madeleine raised her eyebrows.
    “I see. That doesn’t change my mind. I’ll do it,” she said.
    “Then you’ll continue your training, but it’s a cold and lonely road you’ll be going down. Your only purpose will be to kill or, more specifically, to assassinate the enemy. Everyone else thought the job needed to go to a man. I disagreed. I said the job should go to the most qualified candidate, the most likely to succeed. I went directly to the Prime Minister to argue my case. He was intrigued and authorized the balance of your training. He was taken with the idea. He laughed and said, “Twas beauty killed the beast.’ Aside from the PM and I, everyone expects you to fail.”
    “I won’t fail.”
    “I know you won’t, Madeleine. You have a talent for violence but you need to control it. Gender is irrelevant to courage. I think you’ll be more successful than any man could be. You’re a beautiful woman, highly intelligent and resourceful. You’ll blend in among your countrymen. You’ll be able to move freely into and out of communities, pretending to be traveling to meet relatives or for employment. But you’ll have little contact with the Resistance agents or SOE field operatives. All of your instructions will come to you directly from London. You’ll kill strategically important targets, Gestapo, SS and command officers when their deaths provide a specific advantage to our operations.”
    “When do I start?”
    “Right away,” Teach said. “You’ll have only one instructor. His name is Bertold Hartmann. He can teach you everything you need to know. Do everything he tells you and pay close attention. What I’m going to tell you next is highly classified. I warn you though; he’s not like other men. I met him only once. I don’t believe there’s any humanity left in the man. He’s cold in a way that leaves no mistake as to his abilities and what he’s done. He’s a German Jew. A decorated soldier and spy from Germany’s World War One military regime. Germany hates Jews, regardless of their previous contributions to their country. He was rewarded with the internment and disappearance of his wife and children. He thinks they’re dead. So do we. We don’t know for sure, but we believe the Nazis are killing Jews by the thousands, maybe more. I’m afraid of what we’ll find out when the war is over. Hartmann spent the last few years revisiting old skills. Numerous high-ranking Nazis have disappeared. At first he did this on his own, with no support, but then he came to us when the war started. He’s been watching you and the others for weeks. He chose you, Madeleine.”
    Madeleine looked at him and searched his eyes for an indication that he was exaggerating or having a joke