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Garrison sat on the steps and read the letter again. He checked the date. It hadn't taken all that long to get here, she must have found a mailbag sitting on the dock waiting to be loaded on board for the return voyage back from New York. Most of the time had been taken tracking him down here in England. She didn't have a contact address for him, she didn't expect to need it, so she'd sent the letter to the hospital knowing they'd find him some how.

I'm sorry Craig. He didn't make it. The night before we were supposed to dock he just went to sleep and he didn't wake up in the morning. There wasn't anything we could do. The Army is taking care of notifying his family, but I knew you'd want to know.

Melanie

He'd told him to try and pick a couple of men he thought he could depend on to watch his back. Seemed he'd gotten a few of those sprinkled in his life, they just showed up on their own. Collin and the others he went through training with... There were only the two of them left now, and he didn't know where Wade was. Colonel Catron who'd suggested him for the program in the first place, and then seen them through their first assignments. And one Lieutenant General Jackman himself, who'd been there from the beginning, before he'd been anything more than a misfit cadet with an interesting background.

g

"Give you a lift to the airfield, sir?" The jeep pulled to a stop at the foot of the steps and the British Sergeant Major who'd been assigned to help train the men sat waiting for him.

"Thank you, Sergeant Major." Garrison pushed up onto his feet and slid the letter into the pocket of his jacket before settling himself in the vehicle. "I believe I'll take you up on that."

"I saw you taking a last look around, sir. What do you make of it?" Rawlins hadn't wanted this assignment when it was first offered to him. But this Yank officer had a way of hooking people, playing on their interests. He'd told him the men would need an intense course of commando training before the first mission. Then, if they did well, and didn't get themselves killed, or skip off free as birds once they landed on French soil, which was what Rawlins thought would happen, he'd be in charge of getting them in shape and keeping them sharp for the jobs the military would dream up for them. Since he'd been invalided out of North Africa Gil had been itching to get back on the job. They weren't going to let him go back there so this was the next best thing.

The Lieutenant considered the building as they pulled away. "Well, the bars are in, the gates, alarms, the fence has been raised all around the perimeter." He fired off a quick salute as the barrier was raised and the vehicle waved through. "The guards clearly know their business.

"Thank you, sir." That would be another of his responsibilities, as well as acting as an aid to the Lieutenant

Garrison turned to study Rawlins as he drove. Might as well see what the man was made of he thought. "What do you think Sergeant Major Rawlins?"

"Sir, I think if that new lot of yours can't get off the grounds you're in a great deal of trouble." Gil considered that he might be in a great deal of trouble as soon as the men were handed over to him at the airfield, but he chose to keep that opinion to himself…for now.

"Oh, they'll get off the grounds, Sergeant. The question is, how long do you think it will take them?" Craig smiled at the look of surprise on the other man's face.

"Three days, sir? Three days after you get back from that first one and the shackles are off."

Garrison shook his head and caught the inside of his cheek between his teeth a moment. "Two"

"No, sir!" Rawlins countered with confidence. "They'll play it safe for a while and feel you out before they try anything."

"Care to wager on it?"

Interest lit the British non com's eye. "How much, sir?"

"Five pounds?" Garrison smiled as the Brit nodded his agreement "Alright, who's the stake holder?"

Rawlins down shifted as they made the tight turn on the road that ran through town "We can leave it here, sir, with the owner of the pub."

Craig had been in the comfortable little local before and had already met the man who ran it. "How much time before the plane arrives Sergeant Major?"

"A good hour yet, sir." Gil had let the jeep roll to a stop when the Lieutenant asked his question, they were still idling there in the road in front of the pub.

"Well, come on then. We might as well stop and give the man our money. I can show him their pictures too, my briefcase is in the back. We'll leave the number out at the mansion so he can call and tell us who's won."

"Sir?"

"Don't play the fool for me Sergeant." Garrison laughed and asked, "Just where do you think they'll head, for their first foray off the grounds?"

"But how'll the lads know the pub's here, sir? The orders are to transport them with the canvas sides on the truck down, sir." Rawlins pulled the jeep to a stop in front of the door to the public house.

"I read the orders Sergeant." Garrison assured his Sergeant quietly. "The sides will be down…. But I didn't see anywhere in those orders where it said the flaps on the back of the truck had to be tied closed. Did you?"

"But, sir," Rawlins said, shaking his head. "I'm sure that they were meant to say that."

"And I'm not so sure, Sergeant Major. So, since I'm not sure, I'm going to let a higher authority decide."

"Sir?"

"Well, since I haven't got express instructions to tie the back flaps closed, and I haven't got express instructions to roll them up and tie them out of the way, I'm going to just let them fall lose and.."

"..Let the wind decided. Yes, sir, I see what you mean."

"Thank you Sergeant, I thought you might."

"We're wasting time sir."

"You're right. Let's go in and give the man our money." Garrison dismounted the jeep and headed towards the entrance with the non com trailing along behind.

"You wouldn't want to increase the wager a bit, sir?"

"Are you that sure it will take them three days, Sergeant? You haven't installed any security measures that I don't know about out there, have you?"

"No, sir. Nothing like that, sir… I'm dropping my estimate to one day, sir."

"You can do that?" Garrison stopped with his hand on the door and shot Rawlins a look along his shoulder. "The wager's already been made."

The Sergeant smiled back at him. "Not until the money is in the stake holder's hand, sir"

"Are you certain about that?"

"Yes, sir. Quite."

"Not until then?"

"No sir."

"Sergeant Major Rawlins."

"Yes, sir."

"You are not an honorable man."

"Sorry, sir." Rawlins grinned. "I used to be, sir. Is the bet still on, sir?"

"Of course. I am an officer and a man of my word."

"You wouldn't like to knock the pins out of your estimate and take it down to, say a few hours?" Rawlins didn't want to take advantage. He thought he might get to like this young American officer. He was a bit green perhaps…but then the Americans hadn't been at this thing very long, had they?

"No, Sergeant." Garrison shoved the heavy wooden door open and called over his shoulder. "My bet stands as it is."

"Begging your pardon, sir, but you didn't have any extra security measures that I don't know anything about put up out there. Did you, sir? ...Sir?"

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"Well, whadda ya think big shot?" Wheeler asked from where he slouched in the corner of the room. "Readin' people's s'pose to be your specialty, isn't it?"

"I can't understand why they would pair us with a career military officer." Actor was seated comfortably on the couch in the room. They'd been waiting for several minutes now and he wondered at the lack of strict military punctuality.

The little cockney burglar hunched his shoulders up and asked "Ow'd you know he's picked it for a living, then?"

"Because he went through the military academy." To the Englishman's questioning look the group's con man explained. "It is like the Army's university."

"You mean he's got a degree in followin' rules 'n regulations?" It was the first they'd heard from the quiet young Indian. He'd spent the flight over staring out his window and was leaning against the wall now gazing through glass and out across the airfield.

"Jeeze! That's just what we need," Casino started to pace. Being cooped up in that plane for so many hours had gotten on his nerves. And now they were stuck here, locked in this small room until their new warden came to pick them up. "Some second looey trippin' over a damn rule book while we're over there could get us all killed."

"First Lieutenant." Actor correct quietly

"What?"

"He's a first lieutenant, not a second. I would try and remember that." he advised. "Some young officer's can be quite touchy about the difference."

"Swell! So what does that mean? He's been at it long enough they've taken the training wheels off?!" As far as Casino was concerned it was already a disaster. What was the Army thinkin' turning them over to some green, wet behind the ears kid of a lieutenant anyway?