Before the Dawn

by Candace Camp

  She and Unicorn were at the café early, and they had to wait thirty minutes before Allegro arrived. He frowned when he saw Unicorn. “I didn’t ask for you.”

  Unicorn shrugged. “I was afraid it might be a trick. I’m more experienced at these things than Cleopatra.”

  “She does well enough by herself.” Not for the first time, Alyssa sensed a bit of animosity for Unicorn in their new leader. From things Allegro had said and the way he looked at her sometimes, Alyssa had begun to wonder whether the group’s leader was becoming romantically interested in her. If so, he might think her relationship with Unicorn was more than platonic and resent it.

  “Why did you want me to meet you here?” Alyssa asked, drawing Allegro’s attention from Unicorn.

  “I have a new job for you.” Allegro couldn’t conceal the light in his eyes. “You are very lucky.”

  “What is it?” Excitement began to stir in Alyssa. From Allegro’s manner, this was something special.

  “The leader of the network has lost several people in his group. A freak accident. They were supposed to meet someone near the university, and they got caught in a student demonstration. The Gestapo rounded them up. Hopefully, the Nazis won’t realize what an important catch they’ve made. One of the people lost was Dragon’s pianist.”

  “Dragon?”

  “Yes. He’s the leader of Rock. A very important man. He wants to meet you.”

  “All right. Where?”

  “He’s coming now.”

  Alyssa looked up. A tall, inordinately thin man, fortyish and balding, was walking toward them. When he sat down at the table with them, Alyssa could see that his small brown eyes were hard and sharp, like those of predatory bird. He glanced at Unicorn.

  “Who is this one?” He talked in a peculiar husky whisper.

  “Unicorn. He was a member of Cleopatra’s original cell and is with us now.”

  Dragon turned his eyes to Alyssa. “You are very pretty, my dear. How have you managed to escape the Nazis’ notice?”

  Alyssa smiled. “I try to stay out of their way.”

  She had thought he would ask her questions, but instead he only studied her for a long moment, then said, “I have a message which must be sent now.” He laid a book down on the table between them. “Tell Mother what happened to my pianist. Meet me tomorrow at noon at Brasserie Lipp to give me their reply.”

  “I want to join your group, too,” Unicorn said boldly. “Allegro told us you were short on men.”

  Dragon’s cold, bright eyes flickered over him, assessing. “I do have need of more men. But you are part of Allegro’s cell now.” He looked toward Allegro inquiringly.

  Allegro shrugged. Alyssa suspected he would be happy to get rid of Unicorn. “It won’t hurt my group, Cousin. They were extra anyway.”

  “All right. I will be in touch with you about it.” Dragon downed his drink in one gulp and left as abruptly as he had come. Moments later Alyssa and Unicorn also left. Alyssa was eager to get to her message, and she ground her teeth in frustration when they stepped inside and found their landlady visiting in the parlor with Faith.

  But Alyssa managed a cheerful smile for the woman and excused herself for a moment. She set down the book Dragon had given her in the bedroom she shared with Faith, then returned to the front room to chat. She envied Unicorn; being a man, he wasn’t expected to do more than exchange a pleasant greeting with the woman, and he retired almost immediately to his bedroom. It took over thirty minutes of nerve-fraying small talk before the landlady finally left and Alyssa was able to escape to her bedroom.

  She picked up the book and flipped through it, stopping when it opened to a page where a thin piece of paper had been inserted. On one side was written the name of a café, Brasserie Lipp, and a time of twelve noon the next day. She turned the paper over and her breath caught in her throat. The message began “From le Duc.” Quickly she ran her eyes over the message, which was a long rendering of information about Nazi movements. Dragon was the Duke, the spy for headquarters whose name was mentioned with hushed reverence.

  Alyssa sat down abruptly. Allegro had been right when he had said it was an important job. Probably even he didn’t realize how important. She wanted to jump up and run in to tell Unicorn, but she stopped herself. Such information was too important to reveal to anyone. A man might tell anything under torture.

  Instead, she pulled out her transmitter case and set it up to send the message.

  *****

  It was the middle of the night. The apartment was hushed and dark. Unicorn opened his door and slipped into the hall, padding to the front door and easing the lock open. Stepping outside, he moved like a wraith down the stairs and out the front door. Outside, he paused to slip on his shoes, then scurried along the sidewalk to the nearest public telephone.

  Inside the phone booth, he pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket and dialed the telephone number written on it. The phone rang over and over before it was finally answered by a sleepy male voice. “Ja?”

  “I must speak to Herr Schlieker.”

  “Don’t be insane,” The speaker switched to heavily accented French. “It’s two o’clock!”

  “I realize that,” Unicorn replied acerbically. “But I wouldn’t be out telephoning him at this hour of the night if it weren’t something important. Get him.”

  “Give me your name and the message. I’ll tell him when he wakes up.”

  “Nom de Dieu! You idiot, get Schlieker on this phone, or it may be the last time you answer it.”

  There was a hesitation on the other end of the line, then the servant said, “One moment.”

  Two minutes later Schlieker’s voice was on the phone, as crisp as if he’d never been asleep. “Yes? This had better be as important as you said.”

  “Is knowing the identity of the Duke important enough to awaken you?”

  “Mein Gott!” For the first time since he’d met him, Unicorn heard excitement in the German’s voice. “Are you serious?”

  “Never more so.”

  “Then tell me, you fool! Who is it?”

  “Where’s my payment?”

  “Don’t try to bargain with me. You’ll regret it. Tell me.”

  “My friend was asked to send a message tonight by a man known as Dragon. I sneaked into her room and read the message. It was a listing of information I’m sure you would rather be kept secret, and it was signed le Duc.”

  “This Dragon. You think he is the one?”

  “Possibly, though I suspect he is more likely the go-between we talked of. But he should know the spy’s identity.”

  Schlieker chuckled. “And I presume you know where we can pick him up?”

  “Yes, he’ll be at the Brasserie Lipp tomorrow with my friend. You can take them both; she is of no more use to me.”

  *****

  Alyssa was late to her meeting, and she hurried, ashamed that she should be tardy at her first assignment with Dragon. She had set out in plenty of time, but a Nazi checkpoint had made a detour necessary. Though she had false papers, it was better not to expose them to scrutiny if she could avoid it.

  Dragon was waiting for her when she arrived, and she slipped into the seat across from him breathlessly. Her cheeks were flushed from her haste, and she looked unusually pretty. Even Dragon, who was known for his somber nature, had to smile.

  “I’m sorry I’m late. I had to make a detour; they were checking ID’s.”

  “It is no problem. I have been enjoying the sunshine. Very pleasant today, don’t you think?”

  “Yes.” Alyssa opened her large handbag and took out the book Dragon had given her last night. She laid it down on the table just as the waiter arrived to take her lunch order. Dragon had already ordered, and his meal lay on the table before him. He had eaten little of it, and now as he and Alyssa chatted, he poked the food around on his plate, not eating.

  “You aren’t hungry?” she asked, thinking of h
ow very thin he was.

  He shook his head. “I have developed a stomach condition. An ulcer. I was not made for intrigue, I suppose.”

  “Were any of us?”

  “Yes, some. Allegro loves it. My cousin is a man for danger; he has been so since we were boys growing up. I sense that about your Unicorn as well.”

  “Perhaps that’s why they don’t like each other?”

  He smiled. “I think it may have more to do with you.”

  Alyssa returned the smile, shaking her head in modest denial. She wondered if Dragon was really the Duke; she had realized last night that he might be only a messenger for the spy. She glanced toward the sidewalk, past Dragon’s shoulder. Her smile froze. Four Gestapo soldiers were walking through the tables toward them. “Gestapo!” she breathed.

  Dragon’s head snapped up, and by the expression on his face Alyssa realized that there were more soldiers behind her. They looked at each other, their eyes flaring first with fear, then a shocking realization. Only two other people know of this rendezvous: Allegro and Unicorn.

  “Allegro is my cousin,” Dragon said softly. “I trust him above all others.”

  They both knew. Alyssa’s stomach contorted in icy pain. Unicorn was a traitor.

  A heavy hand clamped down on her shoulder. “Get up, and come with us.”

  Alyssa stood, unsure whether her legs would support her. Eight booted, heavily armed soldiers stood around them. Escape was impossible. They were escorted to a large gray car and shoved into the back seat. A soldier sat down on either side of them and two in the front. The driver crossed the river and maneuvered the Étoile. Alyssa realized they must be going to the Gestapo headquarters on Avenue Foch.

  Only important prisoners were taken to 84 Avenue Foch, and Alyssa knew she was not that valuable. It was Dragon they were after. But did they realize how very vital Dragon was? Did they think only that he was the leader of a cell... or did they know that he was the liaison for le Duc? Whatever happened, she must keep that knowledge to herself.

  The car pulled up in front of the classic white stone building on Avenue Foch, and their captors pulled Alyssa and Dragon out of the car. They were marched through the back iron gateway and into the house. Alyssa’s knees were watery. She was afraid she might suddenly drop to the floor, unable to walk. She prayed she wouldn’t disgrace herself.

  Half the soldiers left them once they were inside the building. Two on either side of Alyssa took her down the hall and up the stairs to the second floor. Dragon walked in front of her with his escort. The soldiers stopped Alyssa before a door while Dragon and his escort went on. One soldier opened the door and shoved Alyssa inside, following her.

  The room they entered was an office. A male secretary sat behind a desk. Seeing her, he rose and walked through a door in an inner wall of the office. A moment later he returned and spoke to the guards. “Herr Gersbach will see her now.”

  One of the soldiers poked Alyssa in the back. “Walk.”

  Alyssa went into another office, larger and more luxuriously furnished than the secretary’s. A chunk of a man sat behind the desk. His face was round and pasty, and his eyes were so pale a blue they were almost white. His eyes flicked over Alyssa, and she shivered as though a snake had run across her skin.

  “Well,” he said, standing up. “You are certainly an improvement over our usual crop.”

  He jerked his head at the two guards, and they left the room, closing the door behind them. Alyssa held herself stiffly as she watched him approach, willing courage into her icy body. She thought of the L-pill hidden inside the hem of her dress. She had always been afraid she would not be able to withstand torture and had counted on being able to die quickly if ever she was faced with it. But what if she wouldn’t be able to remove the pill and place it in her mouth before they started in on her?

  She stared straight at the man, her jaw thrusting out a little, determined not to let him see the fear that ate at her insides and chilled her skin.

  Gersbach stopped less than a foot away from her, and again his eyes traveled slowly over her face and form. “It would be a shame to ruin that face.” He ran his forefinger across her cheek. “The slice of a razor here. Or there. No longer such a pretty girl.” He smiled. His hand moved heavily down her body, across her breast and stomach and poked vulgarly between her legs.

  Alyssa had been determined not to move, but at his intimate gesture, she recoiled involuntarily. He chuckled. “Don’t like that, eh?” His hand splayed over her breast and squeezed painfully. “That is nothing. You will be begging for something that pleasant before I’m done with you.” He twisted her nipple between his forefinger and thumb. “I am very successful at getting information from prisoners. Especially women. I like my work, you see. You might want to save yourself the agony and simply tell me what I want to know.”

  Alyssa answered him with her haughtiest look.

  Again he smiled. “Oh, yes, I shall enjoy my session with you a great deal. I’m glad you won’t tell me right off.”

  He reached out and hooked his hand in the neck of her dress and casually tore it downward, exposing one pale breast. Alyssa stepped back and came up against the wall. He made no move toward her, simply gazed at her breast and wet his lips obscenely. Alyssa shivered and pulled the material up, holding it over her bared skin.

  “You will be taken to the Cherche-Midi prison, and there you can think about what will happen to you tomorrow. Two of my men will bring you to the Place des Saussaies and take you to my special chamber. There they will strip off your clothes.” In horrible detail he described what he would do to her, and bile rose in Alyssa’s throat. It required every bit of will she possessed to breathe naturally and keep her face placid, not betraying the terror inside her.

  Gersbach called to the guards, and the same men entered the room and marched her out of the house. They walked through the black iron gate and past a sleek black limousine to the gray military car which had brought Alyssa there.

  They drove across the city to the dark, looming walls of the women’s prison of Cherche-Midi. There the guards released her to a stern-looking female in the gray uniform of the Nazi female auxiliary. The woman led Alyssa deep into the prison to a small, damp, windowless cell. Alyssa had a brief impression of a dirty stone floor and a small bare cot before the matron left, locking the door behind her and leaving Alyssa in utter darkness. There was a scurrying noise, and Alyssa shuddered. Quickly she crossed to the cot, scraping her shins on it, and sat down, curling her legs up under her. It was cold, and she wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. She thought of Gersbach and wanted to vomit.

  But at least she had been given extra time. Alyssa reached down and grasped the hem of her skirt, feeling along it for the small bumps that were her pills. When she found them, she carefully picked the threads from her hem, moving slowly in the dark, and pulled out the pills. She fingered them to determine which was the capsuled L-pill and which the other two tablets. She stuck the tablets back in her hem and curled her fingers around the suicide capsule. Tomorrow morning when the Gestapo came for her, she would put the pill in her mouth.

  And she would have the last laugh on the sadistic officer, for she would rob him of his victim. Soon after she entered the torture chambers of the Place des Saussaies, she would be dead.

  Chapter 18

  The door opened with a clank, and Alyssa’s head snapped up. She had thought she would never go to sleep, but somehow she had, even cramped in this curled-up position. The female attendant barked an order at her and motioned for her to come out of the cell. Slowly Alyssa straightened out her legs and stood up. One of them had gone numb, and she could barely walk. She stumbled toward the door, pushing her hair out of her face with one hand while grasping the top of her dress with the other hand, holding it closed. It was torn badly and she hadn’t been able to do anything with it to make herself feel less exposed. It was now also wrinkled from sleeping in it, and the odor of the cel
l clung to her. She felt horribly dirty and bedraggled, and it surprised her that it should bother her at a time like this. But it did. She desperately needed her pride. They had given her no comb, no water, no mirror. They had brought her no food or drink, either, and hunger and thirst added to the twisting agony of nerves in her stomach.

  Alyssa followed the gray-clad woman up several steps and down a long, poorly lit hall, surreptitiously slipping the pill into her mouth and moving it carefully to lodge safely between her teeth and cheek. When she got outside, she would flick it with her tongue onto her teeth and crunch it open. She could have done it here and now, but she didn’t want to die in prison. She wanted to see the outside and daytime again.

  The guard led her into a small reception room. “Here is your prisoner, sir.”

  Alyssa kept her head down. She couldn’t bear to look at the guards—or had Gersbach himself come for her? She waited. And then a familiar voice said impatiently, “Very well, come along.”

  Alyssa’s head snapped up, and she stared straight into the eyes of the elegantly dressed man across from her. “Philippe,” she whispered. Her knees sagged, and he caught her arm, his fingers digging in and compelling her to stay upright. “What are you doing here?”

  He cocked an eyebrow, his tone mocking as he answered, “Why, coming to rescue you, my dear. So England’s reduced to sending minor actresses out to play spy? It’s no wonder they’re losing the war.”

  Alyssa glared at him. He was clean and handsome, his clothes expensive. The crease in his trousers was razor sharp. Alyssa was humiliatingly aware of how she looked, and she hated that he was seeing her this way. She hated his arrogant, smug words. Most of all, she hated that her heart leaped like a crazy thing when she saw him.

  Philippe nodded at the woman who had brought Alyssa to him. “Thank you, Fraulein. I will be sure to tell Herr Schlieker of your efficiency.” He strode from the room, pulling Alyssa along with him.