In the lobby of the hotel, Dave stopped at the Concierge’s desk. “Are there any good small restaurants round here?” He was asked what type of food he wanted to eat. Sally said an Indian would be good. A menu was taken from a file and handed over, “this one is only two streets away, many visitors have said the food is excellent.” Sally had quickly glanced down the menu and said yes. “Can you book us a table for two at 20.00 please.” It was now just after 17.00, in their room both of them took off the clothes they had been wearing, “take everything else off and get into bed, it’s our time now.” Dave was the first one out the bed, he ran a shower and was quickly joined by Sally, having dried off afterwards, she wanted to go back to bed. “No, we will be late for our meal.” Reluctantly she dressed, as they were getting ready, his phone kept pinging with messages. “I thought all this was finished now, why are you still getting messages.” “It’s just tying up loose ends, it will soon stop.” The food in the restaurant was excellent, full of flavour, Dave drunk lager while Sally was on gin and tonics. They talked all through the meal, not much was said about the case, it was mostly about holidays, where and when to go. Sally asked about his childhood, and told him about hers. She thought afterwards how similar their experiences had been. Neither of them had a loving happy time. When they left, they were arm in arm and laughing, Sally may have had slightly too much to drink. Just before they reached the hotel, they stood in the middle of the pavement kissing. As they entered the head porter approached Dave, “Mr. Stretton,” Dave nodded, “there is a lady waiting in the lounge to see you, she has been here for two hours.” He looked at his watch, it was now 23.30. “Who is it,” Sally asked in a low voice, “We will soon find out,” in the lounge staring straight at him was Jane Goodley, head of MI5. “Good evening Jane, If I had known you were coming, you could have joined us for dinner.” “I would like to talk to you alone,” “there is no reason for Miss Fellowes to be excluded, she has been vetted to the same level as me.” “I want it to be a private meeting.” “Whatever we discuss, she will know later.” “I’m tired and want to go to bed, I will see you later,” Sally saw neither of them would back down and thought, by going to bed, that would remove the impasse. With a quick kiss and a look at the other woman, she turned and left. “Do you want another drink, I’m having coffee?” “Coffee is good,” Dave caught the eye of a waiter, “coffee for two please and can you bring a bowl of mints in from the bar.” “Turning to Jane Goodley, he apologised, “I have just had a curry. So, what brings you to Mayfair on a warm Friday evening?” She was struggling with where to start, while she was waiting, she had gone over the start in her mind, however Dave’s pleasant and friendly manner had thrown her, he also had a presence which she found slightly overpowering. “My attitude to you today was not professional, I shouldn’t have spoken to you the way I did.” She want’s something, he thought. “This afternoon, I spent an hour going through your record and the file we hold on you. My intention was to find something that I could use against you.” “I know there is nothing, I checked a couple of days ago, if there had been, I could easily have removed it.” “How did you get in?” “I kept knocking and eventually the door opened.” “You are very resourceful, can we both take down the barriers there are between us and talk openly off the record?” “Nothing is ever ‘off the record’, however you talk and I will listen.” “What you have just achieved, would have taken my team months to tie all the links together, how did you do it?” “The main asset I have is I don’t think like normal people, my aim isn’t to try to fit the facts into a preconceived plan or to come up with the answer my boss wants to hear. In this case, everything stunk, right from the beginning, my investigation achieved what the Home Secretary wanted, he found out that S417 had no idea what was going on, there were no suspicions. My mentioning dead agents threw a spanner in the works, that’s why I was called off. I carried on as I knew something was wrong, today was the result.” “But where did you start and how did you do it?” “Money, it’s at the root of everything. I check bank accounts for where money was spent and where it came from. I search in all directions, back, forwards, up, down, I go wherever it leads me. Many of the times I get nowhere and retrace my steps and try a different route. As I go, I gather information, most of it irrelevant at the time, but sometimes it will tie up with something else, the sum of the two bits of information may take me somewhere else. I also rely on knowledge from previous cases. There is always an element of luck.” I would like to know how you accessed the bank accounts of senior cabinet ministers, government departments and the iPhone. “I can access software which does the hacking for me.” “Who did the iPhone?” Dave ignored the question, he popped another mint in his mouth, “it was the Americans, wasn’t it, the only others who could do it are the Chinese and probably the Russians, and I’m sure you didn’t approach them? What did you give them in return, the cost to us is too high, not financially, but in the information they want in exchange?” “A congressman and an official at a gay party enjoying the sins of the flesh.” “Is that all?” “Stuart Ogilvy was also trying to set up an arms deal in southern Africa, they had been tailing him but getting nowhere. I said they could have any information on the phone not connected to the UK. The deal worked out well.” Dave then took the USB stick he had copied earlier, “I thought you might be here this evening, I brought this for you, it is a copy of the files on the phone.” She took it and put it into her handbag. It may give you a few days head start on the others. There is nothing to be found at the Hall, I was there yesterday morning, The two staff will be gone by now. I went round the house with them, they knew what was going on, it was their job to look after the cameras and clean up afterwards.” The coffee was by now cold, Dave went off to order a fresh pot. Jane Goodley had taken the opportunity to visit the toilet. He was pouring out hot coffee when she returned. “I have a proposition I would like to discuss with you. There is a position available for you in Vauxhall as head of investigations, the staff need guidance from someone who knows what they are doing.” “Sorry but no, it wouldn’t work, I’m a field worker, not a desk worker, I would have to obey orders and I’m not very good at that.” He leaned back and sipped his coffee. “I have a counter offer, you know the setup I have with the MOD from my records. I may accept, under certain circumstances, a similar agreement with MI5, but there would be conditions.” She gestured for him to continue. “No phone tapping, no surveillance on me or Miss Fellowes, if I find anyone following either of us, I will assume he is not friendly and take suitable action.” He waited for acknowledgement, it came in the form of a nod. “If I find anyone has been in my home then I will walk away, I want two letters signed by the Home Secretary, one allowing me to carry and use firearms. The second giving me a phone number to call if I am arrested while working for you.” Dave waited, again there was a nod. “I want access to all government IT systems, my name needs to be added to the ‘super access’ listing.” This time there was a shake of the head, “That won’t happen.” “Jane, I can get into them now, it just takes me a bit of time, if I don’t have it, I will create a user name and password for each department, that way you won’t be able to track me.” “I can ask the question, but it will probably be a no.” “Finally let’s talk about money and how it will work. Currently from the MOD, I receive £5K per month as a retainer and £5K per week when working. My expenses are reimbursed monthly. Sally is paid for work she does at £500 per day. The retainer from you would be the same, however the weekly amount for working will be £7.5k to include Miss Fellowes, If I take on a case, you will have weekly reports and meetings if required. I will be employed on a freelance basis. That way you have deniability and I have freedom to do and go where I want. I will not work overseas, it is too dangerous, even for me. You know I am good, you wouldn’t have ruined a good evening with your partner Alison to come here and speak to me if I wasn’t. You’re not the only one who can check records.” “I was told before I came here, you were rude, insolent and didn’t respect authority, I saw that today and I disliked what I saw. This evening, I saw a different side. You are passionate about what you do, tenacious and self-assured.” “I am also very loyal to my country, people who respect me will always have my respect. There you are, you have my offer, the ball is now in your court.” “The paperwork will be sent over to you on Monday, please sign and return it to me. We will then arrange a day for a meeting.” “One last thing, can you arrange for me to pick up a Glock and two boxes of shells when we meet, preferably a 17, I already have a silencer for that model.” As she was in the back of a taxi on the way home, she was sure she had made the right decision.
© 10210ken 2024
