The warmth of his coat and his touch took the edge off the shuddering cold, but barely. If only she could hold Lachlan, kiss him, savor his love. They’d finally revealed their feelings, but they were in no state to enjoy the moment.
“They’re signaling, ‘Mackenzie—inquire as to your status.’” Lachlan hauled himself up to sitting and stretched up to the signal lamp mounted to the roof of the cabin.
“What will you tell them?” Cilla asked.
“Brough. Two injured.” Lachlan turned on the lamp and flipped the flaps open and shut, over and over.
The lighthouse went dark.
“Message received.” In the moonlight, beads of sweat glistened on his face.
He was in pain, losing blood, badly wounded. “Oh, Lachlan.Your knee. How are we going to explain your injuries to the world?”
Lachlan groaned. “I dinnae know.”
Cilla patted the wheel. “All right. You know the first rule in this work. Start with the truth. You came to Dunnet Head for a meeting, yes? That’s what you told Commander Blake.”
“Aye. Yardley summoned me. I read your letter. I didnae believe you’d betrayed us.” His voice shook with conviction, and he rubbed her lower back. “I remembered the missing limpet mine, and I came for you. I didnae know what to do, but I had to come.”
Cilla reached behind her and squeezed his hand, then released it so she could steer. “You weren’t supposed to come.”
“Aye, but I’m glad I did.” Even with his knee in shambles.
Her chin wobbled. “I am too. Oh, Lachlan, I love you so much.”
“Unfair of you speaking like that when I cannae kiss you.”
She sent him a quivering smile, then sobered. They had work to do before they reached Brough. “Your story. You can’t mention my letter, of course. But you were at Dunnet Head. From there, you could have seen the U-boat explode, sunk by a mine, yes? You rushed to the rescue and took the boat. Wait, where’s the crew? What did you tell them?”
“I—I told them I was going on a rescue operation, very dangerous. I ordered them to shore.”
“A dangerous rescue operation—yes, that fits our story. Then you raced to sea. By the time you reached the wreck, there was only one survivor, a German man in an Army uniform, oddly enough. He tried to commandeer your boat—you couldn’t imagine why—and he shot you. So you shot him. Oh, Lachlan.” Revulsion at all that had happened writhed inside.
“Aye.” His lower jaw pushed forward in that way of his when he was thinking. “That rings true.”
It did. Lachlan would be a hero. Hewasa hero.
But a wounded one, and a grunt of pain issued behind her.
“Your knee—oh, darling, what will happen to you? To your naval career?”
“Depends on how bad it is.” Wincing, he adjusted the bandage. “I may be invalided home.”
“But the Navy—it means so much to you.”
He aimed a strained smile at her. “Not as much as you do.”
Desperate to touch him, she wiggled her fingers behind her, and he gripped her hand, kissed it, and released it.
“More importantly, what will happen to you?” His voice dipped low.
She puffed a breath into the icy air, and her mind whirled. Since she’d planned to die, she hadn’t planned for this. “On the U-boat, we saw the explosion at Scapa. Everyone was thrilled, and Kraus had them send a message to Hamburg. They had plenty of time to transmit before—” Before her explosion killed them all, and her upper body convulsed forward.
She’d have to come to terms with what she’d done. Beg God for forgiveness.
“All right,” Lachlan said. “That means Hamburg—the Abwehr knows you were on board. When they learn that the U-boat was lost with no survivors ...”
“They’ll think I’m dead. And they—they’ll tell my family.” Even though she’d started the night’s mission expecting that, a horrible emptiness carved into her. “And—and my case is over.”
