At 08.30 there was a knock at the door. Dave got up from the table in the kitchen to open the front door. “David Stretton?” “Yes.” The caller wanted ID. He was shown the drivers licence in his wallet. “I have three boxes for you.” He went back to the van, the first box Dave knew was the computer. He put it inside the front door. The second two boxes were much smaller, there was also a sheet of paper between the two small boxes, “can you sign for them please?” As soon as he had closed the front door, he took a key from the small table near the door, opened the internal door into the garage, picked up the computer and put it with the rest of the boxes being stored there. The other two boxes he took upstairs and put in his wardrobe beside the backpack.
Sally wanted to know why he had put the computer in the garage, “it will have lots of stuff on there that I don’t want, I am going to PC World this morning to buy a laptop, it will be much easier if I have to work away at any time.”
At 09.15, Sally said goodbye, “I will be back just after 15.00,” she worked Monday, Wednesday and Thursday as a receptionist at the university.
As soon as she had gone, he went upstairs to open the other two boxes. In one was the Glock 17 and a shoulder holster, the other had two boxes of fifty shells for the pistol. He put everything into the backpack. He looked at the boxes out of curiosity to see where they had been sent from. There was nothing other than a label with his address.
His next job was to check his bank account, there was a payment of £5000.00, the payee was HMRC. As soon as he saw the money, he left and headed into town, at PC World, he was one of only a few customers, an assistant followed him around as he checked out the laptops. He was trying to sell Dave the more expensive brands, he knew exactly what he wanted and having checked the specification he bought a seventeen-inch laptop and bag. He spent most of the day setting it up, the software needed, was only Office and a VPN which he bought online. Dave logged onto the MOD system using the details he had been given yesterday, the password was quickly changed then he logged out. He opened up the VPN software and logged in again, this time disguising his location, he chose Germany. He searched for a hidden website where software he required was available for download. He scanned the lists until he found the program he wanted. He logged out and opened the internet tab at the bottom of the screen, Dave checked the list of available connections, he could see six that must be in the houses round about. Selecting the one with the strongest signal he started up one of the programs downloaded. He left the software running and went to make a coffee, on his return displayed on the screen was the password to access the neighbour’s internet connection. He swapped from Sally’s to the house next door. They may be monitoring the broadband connection from Sally’s, but by using a different one, any pages or sites he visited couldn’t be linked to him. Before he finished for the day, he checked his emails, there were two he opened, one had the telephone number that he had to call to be released from custody if arrested. The other was authorisation to carry a handgun. It was signed by the Home Secretary. This one would need to be printed out and kept with him.
All this time, he had been working on the dining room table, he wouldn’t be able to do this when Sally was around, there was no place for him to work in his bedroom, the only option was the spare room. Switching off the laptop, he went upstairs to see if it would be suitable. Sally had shown him it when he first moved in but he hadn’t been in since. There was a desk, it was piled high with boxes, it was being used as a store room. Dave couldn’t see a chair, but that was a minor issue. When Sally came home, he asked if he could use the spare room as an office. She said that it was piled high with junk, but if he could shuffle things round to clear the desk then she had no issues with him using it.
That evening having eaten, he spent an hour clearing the top of the desk and piling the boxes up on the other side of the room. Until he bought a chair, one from the kitchen would do. Everything was in place, in the morning he would make a start to finding the rogue operator.
Dave fired up the laptop just after 08.00, using his VPN and the neighbour’s broadband no one, hopefully, should be able to track him. His first job was to locate the personnel files of those currently on active service for S417 and anyone who had left over the last five years. There were over a hundred names when he had finished. He transferred them over into a spreadsheet and set up headings along the top. Scanning down to his name, he highlighted it yellow, this was to be the colour of those he didn’t suspect.
Next, he checked each person to see if they were sending and receiving emails, he put a tick or a cross against each name under the ‘email’ heading. Sally knocked on the door, she waited for Dave to answer. Standing in the doorway, Sally said she was going into town, “do you want anything?” “I should have bought a printer, paper and a notepad yesterday, but I will go out later.”
By 17.00 he had found twelve names that hadn’t used any of the email addresses held on file. Three he found were dead, Dave thought that it would be hard to send an email from where most of them would have ended up.
He had worked all day, stopping only for coffee, Sally had shouted upstairs that dinner would be ready at 18.00. After the meal, he went back to PC World and bought a printer and paper. He had the same feeling he had on Saturday, someone was following him. The carpark was almost empty when he put his purchases in the boot of his car. There were four other cars parked nearby, he ignored them. Two others were parked much further away. Instead of getting in the car, he walked out through a pedestrian only exit, crossed the road and waited unseen in Sainsbury’s carpark to see who followed him. A man and a woman who Dave had seen in the shop appeared. They had a brief conversation, the woman hurried towards the shop while the man walked round the carpark. Dave waited until he was far enough away, then left and walked back to his car. As he drove slowly past the two cars further down the carpark. Each had a driver trying to lie back unseen. He noted the registration number on one of the cars. Neither of them followed him as he drove home. Upstairs, he logged into the Police National Computer and put in the number he had written down. It belonged to a hire company, the next part was trickier, he had to hack into the hire company’s website to see who had rented the car. He knew where to visit for the software he needed and within half an hour he had all the information he wanted. Two cars had been hired by ‘J. Gregory and Son, Fruit and Veg Merchants.’ A short time later he was on the phone to S417, the Major wasn’t there, Dave left a message asking him to phone him first thing in the morning. He spent the rest of the evening downstairs watching TV and chatting to Sally. She had asked him how it was going, “slowly,” was all that he would say.
His phone was ringing just after 07.30, answering it, he said it wasn’t a convenient time and he would call back shortly. He waited until the house was empty and called the Major back. “Why am I being followed?” The Major had no answer, “It isn’t anything I have initiated, what makes you think that?” “I’ve spent too long out in the field, two cars, two in each, good, but not good enough.” “Who do you think it is?” “I know, I checked last night, the rental cars were hired by a company that links back to the Home Office, I can give you the hirer’s details, including his credit card number if you want.” “I won’t ask how you obtained the information, what I would like to know is why you haven’t started work.” “The computer you sent up is sitting in the garage, still in its box, it will be loaded with monitoring software, how do we know that whoever it is, isn’t watching every move made in S417? I have bought a laptop and I am using a different broadband connection.” Inwardly the Major smiled, he had chosen the right person for the task. “Have you made any progress?” I am going through the operatives for the last five years, checking their current status to see if anything stands out. I’m not sure what I am searching for, but will know it when I see it. Can you speak to the Home Secretary and tell him that I don’t appreciate being followed and I will stop working if he doesn’t call them off.” “I will contact him this morning, is there anything else that you need?” “No, I will be in touch.” With that the call ended and Dave got back to work. Today he concentrated on the nine who’s email addresses hadn’t been used. He found their aliases and started to check these.
Eventually he tracked each one down, they were all now using an identity that had been created for them by S417. Sitting there thinking where he would go next, he idly entered ‘Sally Fellowes’ into the system, he stared at the screen when it came back with a hit. It brought up her maiden and married names, she had been a civilian secretary in the intelligence section over ten years ago, leaving when she married. They had both worked in the same building, but at different times. He looked first at her security clearance level, ‘CTC’, “one below the top,” he said to himself, reading her work appraisals gave him more insight into what she had been doing. She had been working on counter intelligence, typing reports and doing basic research. The last line of her file shocked Dave, she had been contacted in February this year. There was no information and no names, he couldn’t pursue it any further online, however he could find out more in person. Sally was tapping on the door, he closed the laptop and said to come in, he hadn’t realised what the time was, she was back from work and asking if he wanted a coffee. “Yes please, I’ll come downstairs, I need to stretch my legs.” The brightness in the kitchen made his eyes blink, the sun was shining, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He stood outside enjoying the sun on his face. “Chicken breast or steak this evening?” Talking through the open kitchen window Dave said he would cook the chicken. With his coffee drunk, he went back to work, his head was buzzing, there was no way he was going to achieve anything more today from the laptop. He switched it off, deciding it was time to think, he lay on his bed with both the curtains and his eyes shut. Two different things were bothering him, Sally and the case he was working on. He was struggling to separate them in his mind, whenever he thought he was getting somewhere his train of thought would drift off. Sally had come up to change out of her work clothes, she saw him lying there, the door had been left open. “Are you OK?” “I’m fine, I just need to think, I have a couple of issues I need to resolve.” She left him, going into her bedroom to change, he heard the shower running. The next time he saw her, her hair was in a towel and she was wearing a dress.
“Are you coming to cook dinner or shall I do it?” It was now almost 18.00, he had been there for two hours. He had a plan for both situations he faced, time will tell, he thought.
Sliced chicken breasts with an orange sauce and rice, there was an apple pie in the fridge for dessert. He opened a bottle of wine, instead of eating in the kitchen as they usually did, Dave had laid two places at the dining room table, the French doors into the garden were open. He called Sally through when everything was ready. The towel had gone from her hair, which was still slightly damp. She talked about her day at work while they ate, they would normally swap stories of their day, Dave could say nothing of his. He cleared away the plates and brought through warm apple pie and ice cream. There was a gentle breeze coming through the open doors, birds were coming and going in the garden, in the distance, someone was cutting their grass. It was 19.45 when they were drinking coffee, the wine was finished, the doors had been closed as it was getting cooler. They took their coffees into the living room. Sally closed the curtains and sat on the sofa, she was relaxed and feeling happy. Dave sat on an easy chair which faced towards Sally. There was a table lamp on and light coming in from the kitchen. He judged the time was right, he wasn’t going to pussy foot about, he wanted answers and he figured the direct approach was the best way forward. “What did the MOD want when they contacted you in February?” Sally stared at him, she didn’t know what to say. He repeated the question. “How did you find out?” “It’s my job to know,” he repeated the question for the third time. “Can we talk about this later?” “No, I read your file this afternoon and need an answer, if you are not prepared to tell me then I will be gone in the morning.” This shocked Sally, she didn’t know how to reply. “I have ‘eDV’ clearance, so you cannot hide behind the Official Secrets Act. I could have made phone calls this afternoon and found out, but I wanted to hear what you would say.” Sally sat for a moment, Dave could sense the answer was coming, “I was told not to say anything to you, they called you Stretton, I said I didn’t know a David Stretton, I was asked what name you were using, I said there was a David Gibson staying here. The man on the phone wanted to know if we were in a relationship, I said you were my lodger. He said I had to contact him if I noticed any sort of change to your routine. That’s all.” Her eyes were red, had she gone on any longer, he thought there would be tears. “What phone number did he give you?” Sally went to get her purse, she took out a folded piece of paper and read out a phone number. “Was it a Major Cullen who phoned?” Sally thought and then nodded. “What’s it all about, what’s going on?” “It must have rung alarm bells when I moved in here. Two people with intelligence backgrounds living together. They have been keeping tabs on me since I left. They obviously checked out where I was living, when they found out it was your house and with your background…” Dave didn’t have to say anymore, Sally could remember what happened when the bosses thought something was not right, they never stopped until they had checked, and made sure everything had been investigated. “Did you phone him back?” Sally shook her head. “Will you tell me what you are doing upstairs?” “Someone has gone rogue, I have to find him, he might still be in the service or he could be an ex-member, no one is sure.” They sat there in silence for some time, one of the issues had been resolved, there was still the other to try to make headway on.
That night, he fell asleep thinking what to try in the morning, he woke at 02.30, he went to turn over, Sally was lying beside him, he must have been in a deep sleep not to notice her joining him. In the morning, she was gone, he wondered if it had been a dream, he could smell hair conditioner on the other pillow so knew it wasn’t.
© 10210ken 2024
