“She has protection at all times.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” A tear wriggled down Cilla’s cheek, and she brushed it away. “What if he kills one of you? You, Commander—or Gwen or Imogene or—or Lachlan?”
Yardley let out a long groan. “You keep forgetting. If we believe Kraus knows you’ve turned, we’ll run down your case. We’ll put a notice in the paper about your untimely demise to a sudden illness or accident, and we’ll spirit you away.”
“To prison.” Lachlan ground out the words.
“To safety, Mackenzie.”
Cilla waved her hand before her face as if clearing smoke. “So soon after Kraus ordered me to meet him? He’d know for certain that I’m in Allied control.”
Yardley locked his gaze on Cilla. “But you’d be safe as would everyone on your case, and Double Cross would bear only the most superficial of wounds.”
“My family.” Cilla thumped the table with her hand. “Kraus told me if they find out I’ve turned, they’d send my family to a concentration camp. I won’t let that happen.”
“Never. None of these is acceptable.” Lachlan slashed his hand through the options. “But Kraus is telling us where the U-boat will be. We can send bombers and destroyers—”
“We could. And we could send them straight into a German trap.” Yardley raised one dark eyebrow at Lachlan. “If they suspect Cilla is in MI5 hands, they may expect such an attack and have a wolf pack of U-boats waiting for us.”
Lachlan had seen the damage a wolf pack could do. Hundreds of lives could be lost on the British destroyers. His head flopped back, and a strangled cry ripped out. “These are all unacceptable. We need to find a different—”
“We already have a plan, Mackenzie. And we’ve set it in motion.”
How had they found a path when Lachlan found roadblocks in every direction? He released a long breath and met the commander’s steady gaze.
“On Wednesday night,” Yardley said, “Cilla told Kraus she can’t meet the U-boat on the first of May, because that is the night she plans to commit sabotage at Scapa Flow. With so many pieces to her plan, she can’t possibly shift the timetable by even one day.”
“We hadnae set a date yet.” Lachlan swung his gaze to Cilla.
If she knew MI5’s plan, why did distress still crease her forehead?
“That was one of the dates we’d considered.” No distress marred Yardley’s voice. “The moon will be full and will rise only forty minutes past sunset. The same conditions that favor a rendezvous with a U-boat.”
Lachlan failed to see the plan.
Yardley strolled behind Cilla’s chair. “When Cilla learns the time for the rendezvous, she’ll tell Kraus she’ll schedule the sabotage for the same time, so the surfaced U-boat can observe the explosion. The sabotage will prove her worth as an agent, prove she can commit sabotage without further training. She will request that if she’s successful, they allow her to remain in Scotland.”
“And if they dinnae allow it?”
“Cilla will insist she can’t possibly be spared that night. She must help Free Caledonia with the explosives. Since the fishing boat can’t leave Scapa Flow until the following morning, she’ll tell Kraus she’ll make the rendezvous the following night.”
Lachlan frowned. Would Kraus permit an agent to give him orders?
Yardley gestured to the window, toward Scapa. “When Kraus observes the sabotage, the U-boat will wire the news to Hamburg, validating Cilla in Abwehr eyes. The next morning, I’ll allow the RDF at Dunnet Head to detect the U-boat—if it’s within range—and we’ll send out air and naval patrols. We will either sink the U-boat or drive it away.”
Lachlan held back an indignant huff. “What about the wolf pack?”
“The U-boats won’t dare stay close to shore. As soon as Kraus realizes Cilla can be trusted, the wolf pack will be ordered to disperse. And when Kraus’s U-boat is lost or driven away, Cilla will officially be excused. We can either continue her case or run it down with no risk to her family—on our timetable.”
The plan felt flimsy, but what else did they have?
“I must return to the station.” Yardley circled the table and poked a notepad in front of Cilla. “Your assignment today is to work out the final details of the sabotage plan, search for holes, and plug them. I trust you to do so.”
As Yardley’s footsteps receded downstairs, Cilla stared at the notepad, her mouth undulating like the waves far below.
“You dinnae fancy Yardley’s plan,” Lachlan said in his softest voice.
She shook her head, not lifting her gaze. “Kraus won’t believe me. We’ve planned the sabotage for the same night he’s ordered me to meet him? It’s too much of a coincidence.”
