‘How are things?’ ‘Not good. I have some bad news, Dan.’ ‘Oh, what’s happened?’ Dan listened, his mouth setting in a grim line. ‘Why the hell has Stan waited all this time before letting us know?’ When he heard the rest of the story, Dan swore fluently under his breath. ‘What a stupid, crazy scheme! They’ve lost two valuable people and gained nothing! Don’t tell me to calm down, Uncle. Any fool can see that a mission like that had little chance of succeeding. I’m on embarkation leave now so I’m coming there in the morning. Stan can tell me what he’s intending to do about this. To say they are missing is unacceptable … I know there’s a bloody war on, but that’s no reason to go throwing good lives away. I’m in the mood to shake some sense into a few people!’ ‘That’s how I feel.’ George’s voice betrayed how upset he was. ‘I’ll warn Stan you’re coming, and then we can both go and see Grace’s parents.’ ‘Yes, we must,’ Dan agreed, his fury draining away and leaving him feel empty.
