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

mental strength that’s important. Killing someone is easy. After the first few it’s like turning off a light. The crucial things are preparation and flawless execution. If they catch you, they’ll torture you and kill you. Besides, it’s not cricket, as the British say, to murder. ‘Assassinate’ is a nice word, but you’ll be a murderer. Your targets will be defenseless, just like the people they killed or tortured. So maybe you can take some comfort in that.”
    “My comfort comes from avenging the screams of my countrymen, the mangled corpse of my brother, and from God,” Madeleine said in a dangerous voice.
    “I’m Bertold Hartmann,” he said. A faint smile crossed his face as he stepped around the bench and sat down. “When we’re done, your enemies will have no one to protect them. We’ll start tomorrow. We’ll meet at Baker Street Headquarters. Don’t bring a weapon. First you’ll kill with your hands and using ordinary objects. It’s not skill that kills, it’s knowledge. Skill comes with practice and is useful. Learning never to hesitate is the most deadly lesson I can teach you. When we’re finished, you’ll only be afraid of two people ever again.”
    “Who?”
    “Me,” he said without the slightest hint of boast or bravado. “You see, long ago I crossed over to a place I can’t come back from. I’ve done things I can’t undo,” he said, standing up.
    “And who else?” Madeleine asked.
    “Yourself,” he answered with a hint of sorrow as he walked away, disappearing into the night. Teach was right: the man was terrifying, she thought as she stood and walked in the direction of Baker Street.
    Over the weeks that followed, Madeleine worked exclusively with Hartmann. It became clear to her that she was learning from a master. He shared secrets with her that were truly frightening. She learned by example and constant reinforcement, as she began to understand the mindset necessary to do the work he did. It would be solitary and frightening. His lessons always came back to the core theme of preparation. The actual act was never technically difficult, he told her. It had to do with precise planning so that she could get to her target. She learned that the more simple the details, the less chance for discovery.
    Madeleine and Hartmann stood in front of a table in the basement of a country house tucked into a remote location north of London. Other recruits were housed in a converted guest house. Madeleine and Hartmann trained together, often sleeping outdoors, or inside the perimeter of a secure military facility. Every opportunity was taken to practice stealth and infiltration.
    “The weapons on the table are standard issue in the German army. Break each piece down and reassemble them until you can do it in the dark. You might have to someday,” Hartmann said, picking up a compact machine gun, handing it to her.
    “Is the ammunition for most of these the same?” Madeleine asked, removing the magazine.
    “7.92 mm,” Hartmann said. “It’s standard for most rifles and machine-guns. But remember, if you’re caught with German weapons, they’ll just shoot you.”
    “I’m sure I’ll get shot anyway,” Madeleine said, removing the barrel.
    “Knowing you’re going to die makes you more effective,” Hartmann said. “It’s not reasonable to think that you’re going to survive every mission. Fear can paralyze men in battle. I saw it so many times during the first war. I got over it quickly in combat. That helped when I starting killing Nazis. The part that did scare me was when I realized that I was starting to like it.”
    “Do you think that will happen to me?”
    “I don’t know, but I don’t think so. That night I snuck into your room and held that straight razor to your throat, you reacted automatically. That showed me that your actions weren’t hampered by emotion. I was impressed,” Hartmann said.
    “I just did what I thought I was supposed to do. I didn’t think