Dave woke as the front door banged close, he drunk the now cold coffee Sally had left for him. Coming out of the bathroom, he sat on the edge of the bed, there were two options, get up, or lie back on the bed for another half hour, he chose the latter. It was 14.00 when he next opened his eyes and saw the clock, “shit, I didn’t mean to sleep this long.” This time, after a shower, he avoided sitting on the bed. Downstairs in the kitchen, he checked his phone, there were three missed calls, six text messages and loads of emails. The three calls were all from the same number, the Brigadier, he called him back. “There is a meeting on Friday at 14.00, it will be here, as they cannot locate any other secure location.” “How many will be there sir,” “Probably six, but if you are preparing paperwork, add an extra couple. David, these people are in senior positions, I know it won’t make any difference to you, but please try to not be too rude.” “I’ll try sir.” The text messages were all from Sally, she wanted to know how he was. He messaged her back, ‘just woken, could you do some shopping for me, I need thirty USB sticks with a minimum of 32Gb storage, Try PC World first, then Sainsbury’s and then the big Tesco. Thanks. XXX’. The reply was almost immediate, ‘Glad you slept for a long time, have some news, will do your shopping. Love S. XXX’.
Dave phoned Flemings Hotel and booked three nights from Thursday. He switched on his laptop and went through the emails, most of them were junk, a couple were from Uber detailing his earnings, the final one was confirmation of the meeting on Friday. He sat doodling on the pad on the desk, where to start the presentation eluded him. There were several ways he wanted to start but couldn’t decide on which one. The front door opened, Sally shouted “Hi” and having seen he wasn’t downstairs, came up to see him, she dropped a carrier bag on the desk in front of him, “I cleaned out PC World and bought the rest in Tesco.” “Thanks for that, What’s the news you have?” Come into the bedroom and I will tell you as I am changing. “I passed my vetting, I had an email this morning, I am on the same level as you are.” “That’s great news, I didn’t have a chance yesterday to ask how it went.” It was exhausting, I answered all the questions truthfully. The same question was asked several times during the meeting, but always in a different format, for instance, when I was talking about my time working for the MOD, the next question was about my relationship with you. The woman would ask again later on but phrase it differently. I cried when I was pushed about how I felt after the crash, I said it was a mixture of sadness, relief and guilt. She asked me to explain, I said the sadness was for the loss of life and the gap there would be in my life. The relief was that the marriage was now ended, without the need for a divorce. I felt tremendous guilt for feeling this way. Tears were pouring down my face, she offered me tissues then waited for me to stop before carrying on. I was exhausted by the time it was over. What are you doing?” “We have another, hopefully, final meeting on Friday, I have booked us into Flemings Hotel for three nights.” There was a smile at this news. “I have to prepare the presentation, but I can’t get started, I’m stuck.” “Why don’t you use the two you prepared previously, are the attendees new people?” There was a nod. “Start at the beginning and explain the initial investigation, with all the attachments, follow it up with the report from Tuesday. There aren’t any more facts to add to what we already know. You prepare the food, I will put it all together, it shouldn’t take too long, I also have a couple of ideas we can discuss over dinner.”
Dave went downstairs, he was relieved Sally would sort the paperwork out. There were fresh supplies in the fridge following Sally’s visit to Tesco. The smell of chicken in a red wine sauce filled the kitchen. New potatoes were gently simmering and green beans were ready to go into another saucepan. He opened a lager and poured a gin and tonic for Sally. He called her down, eating in the kitchen, Sally wanted to know if he had caught up with his sleep. “Almost, tonight should sort it. I should be back to normal tomorrow. After dinner they went back upstairs, Dave wanted her to create a slide show as part of the presentation. He went over what he wanted and left her to it. “Would you mind if I go for a run, I feel stiff and I need to clear my head.” “No problem, I have plenty to do here.” He changed into his running gear and was gone, an hour later, he was in the shower, with only a towel wrapped round him, he was back sitting next to Sally. “How’s it going,” “I’m done, will you check it over and see what you think.” He started with the presentation, “Will you split it in two and prepare it as if it was two separate presentations, The same images to be included as we did the first time. The second presentation can be left as it was on Tuesday. For the slide show, can we add in the audio from the flat, A screen shot of the bank statement and the anagram program with the solution. I have to make two copies of the USB sticks.
It took around ten minutes to make two copies, at this rate, it would take nearly three hours to copy the sixteen sticks. As soon as Sally was finished, she helped, they were done in just over an hour and a half. “I now need twelve copies of the presentation, including the images, and the same number of my service record, you should be able to access it now. I will staple and corelate everything as it comes off the printer. Sally took the opportunity as she was printing it, to read through Dave’s service record. It was vague, there were only brief details of each of the investigations he had undertaken, no doubt there were links somewhere that would expand the information. She saw he had been transferred to the SAS for further training and spent six months in Hereford. Also listed were injuries he had suffered, there were knife wounds and he had been shot once.
At 23.00 with their clothes sorted for the next three nights, they climbed into bed. Sally kissed Dave and lay with her arm across his chest. At 06.00 Dave was up first. He showered and dressed before waking Sally. In the spare room, he checked all the envelopes making sure nothing had been missed. The USB sticks had been put into three boxes, the photographs were put into another box. There was too much to fit in his briefcase, the extra was put into his backpack. Sally had gone downstairs to make a drink and eat breakfast. “What will we do in London once the meeting is over,” “I have a few ideas which we will discuss on Friday evening.” They were gone by 08.00, “are we going to Luton?” “No, I have a call to make on the way, we will be catching the train in Beaconsfield.” Sally had no idea where that was, she didn’t ask why. Dave left the M1 and drove down country roads, the last part of the journey was on narrow lanes. He pulled up outside a pair of gates, next to a lodge. There was a sign on the gates, the paint was peeling off, Sally saw that is read, ‘Skifford Hall’. “Shit, what are we doing here.” “I want to have a look round.” Inside the gate and at the side of the lodge was a car, “good, someone was in.” “What if they won’t let you in?” Dave opened the glove box and took out his Glock, “I’m sure there will be no problem. Are you coming with me?” “I’m not staying here on my own.”
Knocking on the door, the Glock was tucked into the back of his jeans. It was answered by a woman in her forties, “are you the housekeeper for the Hall?” “Who are you and what do you want?” A man was now standing behind her. “I have news about your employer, Stuart Ogilvy.” Whatever she replied, he could tell that he was right, there had been a slight change in her expression on the mention of the name. “I’ve never heard that name before.” “He’s dead, there won’t be any more payments or parties.” “Let them in Helen.” Inside, they were led into a small living room, there was just enough space for the four of them. “I know all about what goes on here, your phone calls to him have gone unanswered and no doubt for the last week you have been wondering what to do.” “Are you the police,” “No, we work for the government, but we aren’t the police. There is a good chance that by tomorrow, they will be swarming all over this place. I want to go up to the hall to see the layout and the cameras.” He looked at the man and asked him his name, “George, and what if I refuse to let you into the Hall?” “I will shoot you, and then go up to the house, either way, I will be going there. It’s your choice. I would also like you to give me all the USBs or memory cards you have not passed over yet.” The woman left the room and returned with a small box, inside, there must have been fifty memory cards. “The card with images you took of yourselves isn’t in here is it?” There was a shake of the head. “Right, let’s all walk up to the Hall.” The alarm was switched off as they entered. “Will you show us round the rooms and point out the cameras as we go?” Dave and Sally recognised many of the rooms from the images they had seen. The cameras were well hidden, even knowing their position, Dave struggled to find some of them. They saw the snooker room where two couples had been seen having sex on the table. “Are there cameras in the bedrooms?” Helen shook her head, “only down here.” Dave walked back into the kitchen. “I have some questions for you, have you seen any Chinese here?” George shook his head. “How did you get paid?” Mr. Ogilvy would come down every month, pick up the memory cards and pay us cash, he would also tell us when the next party was to be.” “I have some advice for you, whether you take it or not, is up to you. Do you have somewhere else to live?” “We have a flat in Clapham.” “I would pack my bags and get out of here as quickly as you can. As I said earlier, the police will be all over this place tomorrow. Would you show us out now.” They had spent less than an hour there, back in the car, as they drove off, Sally had her own questions. “How did you know they had taken pictures of themselves?” “Wouldn’t you?” “Why did you tip them off about the police?” Dave said that they were only small players with no control over what happened. The police will find them if they fingerprint the lodge and they have a criminal record.
With the car parked at Beaconsfield station, the Glock was put back into its hiding place in the boot. With suitcases, backpack and a suit carrier, they walked into the station and waited for a train to Marylebone. A taxi took them to the hotel. “I could fall in love with this place. They were on the fourth floor with a room similar to last time. Dave’s phone had pinged a couple of times as they travelled in. Sitting in the room waiting for sandwiches and coffee to be brought up, it was now ringing. “Hi, it’s Cyrus Grantly, how are you,” he replied that he was fine. “I have news on the phone you gave me, our guys at Langley have been through it and have taken any files connected to our investigations from its memory and uploaded the rest to the cloud, a one-time access link has been sent to you by email and the password by text, it is only valid for twenty-four hours so you better get a move on. The information we got will be very helpful. I hope we can work together again in the future.” With the call ended, he said that he needed to find a computer as soon as he could. He rang the Brigadier, “sir, I need a computer sending over to me at Flemings Hotel. It must be set up to allow non authorised USB sticks to be used. Can you organise that please, I have had more information sent to me today that I need to check out.” There was a pause, “thank you sir.” An hour later there was a call from reception to say a package had been delivered for him, He asked for it to be sent up. Logging in, he checked his emails and opened the one from the CIA, clicking on the link inside, he entered the password sent to him by text. He looked at the files briefly before downloading them to the stick he had inserted. Clicking through the files he saw one called ‘Aliases’, opening it he hoped it would list any other identities he might have had, it didn’t, it was much more interesting. It had all the scrambled bank payee references and the full name, address, phone number, email address and the amount they were paying. Sally was looking over his shoulder. “Bloody Hell, I recognise a few of these names,” pointing at one, “he’s on the tele, I saw him a couple of weeks ago.” He moved on to another folder ‘GovtInd’, against each name in this file was their phone number, email address and the government department they worked in. There were some names he recognised on the list, he saw Mark James was there. “This is scary, I could bring down the government with this list. I have to make a phone call.” He called the Brigadier, “sir, I need to talk to the Major General, will you give me his number?” “I can’t do that, I can give you his office number, you will have to speak to one of his secretaries.” Dave dialled the number, he explained who he was and how important it was he spoke to the Major General. He was told that there were visitors in with him and that he couldn’t be disturbed. “When everything fucks up in the meeting tomorrow, I will say that it is because of you. I’m sure you don’t want that to happen?” “I will see if he can be interrupted.” An angry voice was on the end of the phone, “this had better be good, I’m very busy, what is it.” “Sir, you will have to cancel the meeting for tomorrow. The people who are attending, are not senior enough. I have received information in the last fifteen minutes that I am not prepared to disclose over the phone, I can be in your office in half an hour, can you finish with your guests by then? have your secretary book us a meeting room in the basement with armed guards, I am not being over dramatic, this is very important.”
“Right, I will make things happen, be here in thirty minutes.” Dave asked Sally if she wouldn’t mind going into the bathroom while he did something on the computer. As soon as she was gone, he logged onto a secure storage area in the cloud, he uploaded the entire contents of the stick. Someone would first of all need to know where it was stored and then they would only have three goes at the password, after the third failed attempt the document would be destroyed.
“It’s OK, I’ve finished,” “what were you doing,” I was uploading the stick to a secure place. Let’s go, we have less than thirty minutes. Sally hadn’t understood the implications of the file he just opened. “You will see shortly, don’t ask anymore just now.” With the laptop and the stick, they were dropped off outside the MOD with ten minutes to spare. The laptop and stick had to go through a scanner as they passed through security. The Major General was waiting, all he said was for them to follow him. Back down in the lift to the basement, the door to the room was blocked by two armed guards. They moved away as the three of them approached. “No one is to enter, use the phone to call us if needed.” “Sorry to force this on you with no notice but what you are about to see could have major implications.” He fired up the laptop and inserted the stick. “Less than an hour ago, I received a copy of the contents of Stuart Ogilvy’s iPhone. I was searching for anything that might be of benefit for tomorrow’s meeting. I found a lot more than that,” he opened up the file he had been viewing in the hotel. “I had already found the list of all the people being blackmailed for money, this was the next one I opened, it is a list of everyone who is being blackmailed for information.” “How do you know that.” He scrolled down the list to Mark James, do you see the “G” next to his name, the others they either have an “S”, “Bi” or “L”. Gay, Straight, Bi-sexual or Lesbian. You are not going to find that information on Wikipedia. I am sure if we checked names against images from the parties, they will all be there.” The Major General was now scrolling through the list, “I checked to see if your name was there before I called you.” As Dave watched the Major General he noticed that as the cursor rolled over a name there was an option to click on it. “Double click on a name sir, anyone. A new screen opened with thumbnail images of the person taken at the party and information obtained. “That I think sir, is conclusive proof.” He went over to the table where the coffee and biscuits had been put and poured out a cup for Sally and himself, “would you like on sir?” There was a shake of the head. He was now clicking on other names and looking at the new window. “You’re right, this needs to go higher, is this the only copy?” “No sir, I have another on a secure server, another person who cannot be connected to me has instructions to release the entire contents to the press, across the dark web and all over social media if anything happens to me. I’m just covering my arse.” Dave sat with Sally as a phone call was made. A short time later, the Chief of the Defence Staff entered, the Major General and Sally both stood up as he came into the room, Dave asked him if he wanted a coffee. He accepted the offer, as he sat down, the drink was put beside him, Dave put the plate of biscuits next to him then helped himself to a couple off the plate.
“Background please.” Dave started to speak, “who are you?” “Ex sergeant David Stretton, recalled to help an investigation, describe by others as an uppity and insolent soldier. May I continue?” He gave a five-minute briefing to the Chief, up to the point where he obtained the files. “If they were on an iPhone how did you get them, they are supposed to be secure,” “not if you know the right people sir.” He was then shown the list and the click through page, “my God, are they all like that.” “Pretty much so, if you check out the list of names, some of them are the great and the good in Whitehall, even in this building. Fortunately, sir, your name is not on the list. There is a meeting arranged for 14.00 tomorrow, I think it needs to be cancelled and another one organised with more senior personnel.” Again, he was asked if this was the only copy?” “As I explained earlier, there is another copy in a secure location, if anything was to happen to me then it would be everywhere within a couple of hours.” “You are insolent and a might too cocky.” “But sir, you have to admit, I’m good at my job.” He now turned to Sally, “what part do you play in all this.” “I am Sergeant Stretton’s assistant and researcher, he does the digging, I help correlate the results into something that can be understood, I am a civilian and fully security cleared.” The Chief rose, “I have to make some calls, one of my staff will contact you later with a time and place for the meeting, that stick is not to leave this building tonight, make sure it is put in a safe somewhere. Where can we contact you?” “For the next couple of hours I will be here, after that you can contact me at Flemings Hotel.” “The Chief looked at Dave, “isn’t that a bit out of your league?” “Sir, I stay there every time I’m in London, I put it on expenses.”
The Brigadier asked what they were going to do next, “we have to adjust the presentation to take into account the new information, we will work here until it is done, can you make sure the guards remain. As soon as we have finished, I will contact you about putting the stick into secure storage.” “I’m going back to my office, contact me there if you need anything.” Dave asked Sally if there was any possibility she had bought the presentation USB stick with her. She opened her bag and took out the two sticks, “I brought them just in case.” He leaned over to where she was sitting and kissed her. “Are you alright, this has all happened very quickly?” “I’m fine, I’m quite excited by it all, but I tried not to show any emotion.”
“Can the files be put into the presentation so I can click on them to show the links?” “Not really, or if there is a way, I don’t know it. Are you using this laptop tomorrow?” There was a nod, he was eating a biscuit. “Transfer the files onto the presentation stick, then you can do it from there. We can run through it to make sure it works.” Dave picked up the phone and called the IT section, “I need a printer, a pack of A4 paper, hole punch and a box of presentation folders, can you organise that and have it brought down here as quickly as possible.” He opened the door and said to the guards that someone from IT will be bringing equipment down, will you let him in. Could you also ask the girl who does the coffee for a fresh pot?” Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door, Sally opened it, there was a trolley with a printer on it, on the shelf underneath was everything else Dave had asked for. “Can you set up the printer and then leave us, thank you. The second knock at the door was the coffee and more biscuits, she cleared away the dirty cups, before she left, she asked if they wanted anything else. Within ten minutes they were on their own again, Dave said the first thing was to print out ten copies of the list of names, Sally put them into a spreadsheet to make it easier to read then pressed ‘print’, as they came out, Dave was setting them out in piles. “I need ten copies of the following, an A4 sheet with ‘Presentation 1’, ‘Presentation 2’ and ‘Images’.
With the printing done, Sally tried out the links between the files, it all worked perfectly. The laptop along with the folders and the hole punch were put in the backpack, Sally had their two USB sticks in her bag, The stick with all the information on it was sitting on the table. Dave picked it up and opened the door. “We need to be escorted up to the Brigadiers office, will you do that please and then you can go back to normal duties, the room has been cleared.” In the Brigadiers office Dave told him most of what they had done, the only thing left to do was to secure the stick. It was put in a large envelope, Dave and the Brigadier both signed over the seal and then the smaller flap at the other end. All three of them walked down to an office behind reception. “This needs to be put in the main safe and two signed receipts issued. It can only be retrieved with both parties present, is that understood.” A bored woman rose from behind her desk, took the envelope, put it in a bag, sealed it, printed out two receipts, a signature was required from the Brigadier and Dave. The signed sheets were stuck to the envelope then it was put in a safe. He asked the Brigadier what happens next, “I think you will be notified later where and when the meeting will take place, the problem is, Parliament is in recess, Ministers are all over the place.” With that they parted company. Sally said that this time tomorrow it should be all over. “When we get back to the hotel, sort out everything for the meeting, go over it all again, have a bath together and then eat.” Dave said that it sounded like a plan. There was a frantic half hour where all the paperwork was put into folders. Sally opened up the laptop and went over everything again with Dave.
Lying in the bath together, Sally asked if he had thought when he started, it would end up where it has. “I never know where it will go when I start, I have no pre-conceived ideas, I just let it happen. This one has been the most mentally demanding one I have had, I will be glad when it is over.”
In the restaurant later, they were approached by the head waiter, “excuse me sir, reception has informed me there is a gentleman asking for you.” “Can you bring him in please.” Sally looked quizzically at Dave, “the party invitations.” A smartly dressed young man in his twenties was shown to the table, “Mr. Stretton?” Dave nodded, he beckoned for him to sit down, he passed over a white A4 envelope addressed to ‘David Stretton’. Inside were two passes, one for him, the other for Sally, there was a typed note to say the meeting was being held in a cabinet briefing room in Downing Street, beginning at 11.00. A car would be outside at 10.30. Dave read the note twice and passed it to Sally. “The car needs to be here at 09.30, we have preparations to do, before we start. Can you arrange either an email, phone, or text to confirm?” The young man confirmed he would, stood up and left.
“We’ll look at the passes later, I have no idea who will be there, it should be an interesting time.” “Are you not over-awed or scared by who you might be meeting in the morning?” “Not really, none of them will be trying to stab or shoot me, well, I hope not.” Later in the room, they went over everything one last time. Lying in bed, Sally tried to go over the events from the day, her mind jumped between Skifford Hall, the MOD, back to the gatehouse and then to the bath, she couldn’t concentrate on any one part of the day. The alarm call was at 07.00, Dave’s first job was to ring for housekeeping to press the clothes for today, a chambermaid knocked on the door, “I need to have these ironed and here by 08.45,” she took the clothes promising they would be done in time.
When they returned from breakfast, the clothes were hanging ready. Sally was in the bathroom putting on her make-up, Dave gathered the paperwork up and filled his briefcase, the rest he put in the backpack along with the laptop. They
were ready by 09.15. “I’ve got butterflies, I hope I don’t let you down.” “You won’t, you look great, chances are, you won’t be asked anything, if you are and I think you are struggling, I will step in. I love you, and thank you again for everything you have done, for me and for the investigation.” She wanted to kiss him but said she couldn’t in case it spoiled her make-up. They sat in the lounge, ready to go. At exactly 09.30, a porter came over to them. “Your car is here sir.”
© 10210ken 2024
