Upstairs in the Prime Minister’s private office he turned his computer monitor so Dave could read the message.
‘We have Jane Goodley the head of MI5 here. Unless you do what we want, she will be killed. If you try to rescue her, she will be killed. Our next message will tell you what we want.’
The Prime Minister clicked on the attached video, they both watched in silence, Jane was tied up, her face was bruised, they both saw her exposed breast and the blood stained dress. She was prodded with a piece of wood from behind the camera. She moved as the stick dug into her stomach. There was no commentary.
“Where was it sent from?” Dave took over and looked to see who had sent it. The email address was Russian, “you won’t trace it from there, there will be no indication where or who sent it. All the information from the video will have been stripped out as well. Can you forward it to me, I want to study it on the large screen downstairs.” He returned to the room, “I have sensitive information I need to look at, everybody take fifteen minutes, get a drink or fresh air. Come back at 09:45. Sally and Howard please remain.” Dave brought up the email on the large screen, he let them both read it before clicking on the video. Sally who had been standing, now sat on the edge of a desk, tears were running down her face, Howard was also struggling. “It’s not a pleasant video, at least she is still alive, I need to examine the clip to see if I can find anything that might give us a lead, you can stay or go out for a break.” Neither of them left, Dave replayed the clip, he paused it, then stood and stared at the screen. All the time Jane had been tapping her leg with her finger. There were rat droppings in the image, wherever it was had been disused for some time. The wall behind her was a faded blue. Dave ran the clip over and over looking for something, suddenly he stopped, “Howard, find someone who knows Morse code, Sally, copy the video, crop out everything else other than Jane tapping.” Howard left to ask if anyone knew Morse code. He returned with one of the guards from the rear entrance, “I was in the Signals for some time, we used to tap out messages to each other.” “Look at this clip I want to know if the tapping is anything.” The clip was shown, Sally put it on repeat. “U, P, S, T, A, I, that’s all there is.” Dave thanked him, “well, she is in Dagenham and upstairs somewhere. Howard will you call everyone back in now.”
Charles and Francis were showing their replacements what they were doing, Sally was looking tired, “go to the hotel, have a sleep, then come back, ask the driver for a phone number to arrange you being picked up later.” “What about you, are you OK?” “Yes, for just now, bring me a change of clothes.” He kissed her before she left. “Change of plan, we now know Jane Goodley is in Dagenham, being held in an old building, it has at least two floors, blue paint on the office walls. I want you to start trawling through the commercial property listings to find something that looks like it might be the right place. Print out the details of anything you find.” “Sir, sir, come over here,” it was the MI5 operative, “she’s just logged in, it’s flashed up as a ‘distress’ password.” “Explain please,” “if the last digit of your password is different, it will let you in, but flag up to anyone monitoring, the user is logging in under duress.” “Will it log what they are looking at?” “Yes, everything will be in a file, nothing will be changed, it will look like it, but anything changed is moved to a secure area, nothing will be deleted.” “OK, just monitor it for now.” The Prime Minister came back in, he had another email, “he is demanding the release of two convicted animal rights activists, they were imprisoned over ten years ago for murdering a scientist from one of the facilities where they breed and test products on animals.” “Can you contact the Home Secretary, I want all the information from the prison where they are being held, visits, letters, phone calls and their behaviour.” Dave said he was going to have a sleep, “waken me if anything occurs.” He lay on the chairs in the room next door, Howard woke him shortly after midday. “Dave, a couple of things, we may have found the building, and the car has been located.” He was on his feet in seconds, the car had been dumped and set on fire in north London. There were a couple of possibilities for the premises, he looked at both sets of details, “Can you give us five minutes please, we have to look at something highly classified.” Dave brought up the video clip, they compared it to the property details, one looked more likely than the other, he examined the skirting boards, they both looked the same height and design. “Right, I think this one may be the best match. Let them back in now.” He asked if the Home Secretary was in the building, someone said he was with the Prime Minister, Dave left to go upstairs. “I think we may have located the building, is there any information on the two prisoners?” “From the reports, they are model inmates, regular visits from their families, only family letters, no different letters or visitors.” “OK, reply to the last email, say you are prepared to release the prisoners, when Jane has been released, play for time, this is being done as a distraction while they are using Jane’s login to access the MI5 database.” He explained about the password, turning to the Home Secretary, he asked him to have Essex police check out the premises, plain clothes officers, look for tyre marks or any signs of occupancy.” When he had gone, he spoke to the Prime Minister, “sir, if it is confirmed that this might be the building, I want permission to go and get Jane, I would need certain things putting in place before I started. I need £10k to pay for technical assistance, I will require additional weapons for myself, you will need to issue a letter of authority for me and anyone assisting me to be armed.” There was a moments pause before he nodded. “Thank you sir, I will now start on my preparations.” He called Taff, they had worked together before, he was ex SAS, Dave had met him when he spent six months in Hereford learning field craft. “It’s Dave Stretton, are you available for a job this evening?” Taff swore at him, “not much notice is it, what’s involved?” “Someone is being held hostage, I want to release them tonight.” Taff asked for more information, “I don’t have any, other than it’s in Dagenham, in an old factory and the hostage is on the first floor.” “How many?” “I don’t know, maybe four.” “How many of us?” “You, me and another shooter.” He wanted to know who the other person was, “She’s there to take care of the hostage, but can shoot if required.” His next question was how much he would be paid. “£10k, we won’t start until around 02:00, shouldn’t be more than thirty minutes, then you are away.” What about police?” “There won’t be any until I call them in when we have finished.” “OK, send me over the address, I will do a recce and phone you when I have had a look, we will take it from there.” Dave warned him that there may be plain clothed police about as he had asked for them to check for tyre tracks to make sure we have the right building. He sent a message to Sally asking him to phone him when she woke. He returned to the Prime Minister’s office, “My additional help is in place, I will require £10k in cash to pay him, from the MOD, can you organise an SA80, 100 rounds and six smoke grenades? The chances are, they won’t be needed, but I would rather have them than not. Is there a Range Rover I can use, preferably with blue lights, we might want to come back in a hurry?” Notes were being made as he spoke, “How does your mind work on all these different levels, yesterday, you were on a beach in Greece, today you are organising a raid on a building you didn’t know existed until a couple of hours ago?” “It’s what I do, all the time my brain is going over scenarios and possibilities. Sir, we need to have a meeting with someone high up in Essex police and the Home Secretary, it needs to happen before 20:00 tonight, we will be gone by 21:00.” “Leave it with me, I will let you know.”
Downstairs only the MI5 man was working, he spoke to the others, “we know the car has been torched, I want the VIN from it, find the original registration number and track it, everywhere it has been in the last seven days, I want the information on a map, each day a different colour, or some indication of it’s daily travels.” He moved over to the computer where every movement was being watched. “What are they doing?” “They’re everywhere, looking at files, deleting some, to them it looks like they have been deleted, but they are still there.” “Can they download files or do screen prints?” “No, nothing can be downloaded or grabbed off the screen, they would have to be in front of the computer with a camera to capture anything, I think they are going through files too quickly to do that.” Dave called Howard to one side, “on Monday, I don’t think Jane will be at work, whether I get her tonight or not, tell those who need to know that she has rung in sick and will hopefully return to work later in the week. I will speak to your IT guy, I’ll make sure he tells no one what he has been doing.” Dave asked everyone to stop work for a moment. “The operation is winding down, I want to thank you all for the effort you have put in. hopefully there will be a resolution this weekend. Those who aren’t involved in the search for the car can now go. You have all signed the Official Secrets Act, please remember not to discuss this with anyone when you leave the room.” Dave made sure he thanked everyone in the room individually, other than himself, there were only two people left, one waiting for the VIN from the car and one watching the computer screen. He ordered coffee and sandwiches, while waiting he dozed in a chair, he hadn’t slept properly since 08:00 yesterday. He woke when he heard his phone ringing, Sally asked how he was, “tired but we are nearly there. I have some things for you to do before coming back here, let me know when you have finished, I will have a car sent for you. Ring reception, ask them if they have a suite with two bedrooms available for the next two nights, possibly three. If they have, say we want to move rooms, another two people may be joining us later. It doesn’t matter about the cost, we won’t be paying. When you have done that, can you go shopping, I want two black boiler suits, one to fit me, the other to fit you and a fleece tracksuit, about your size, ask the concierge where to buy them, use a taxi or walk if it is quicker, the same with black boots, we are going out later tonight. If you can find two black balaclavas, or ski masks, so much the better.
In a dirty smelly office in Dagenham, Jane Goodley’s face had more bruises, she had been punched and petrol poured over her head. It was only when they lit matches she gave them the login details for her computer. The other strap on her gown had been ripped, the petrol had run down her hair and face and over her breasts, she could feel it all round her bottom. The taste was in her mouth, all they had given her was water. She wasn’t hopeful about the outcome. Now they could access the MI5 servers, she was probably of no use to them. She was a liability. Occasionally one would come in, always wearing a mask, look at her and laugh, one had entered, laughed, then squeezed both her breasts until she cried out. This made him laugh even more. She had tried to work out how many there were, at least four she thought, possibly five. There had been noises from other offices, the smell of food had been in the air several times, she had no idea of the time. It was only when she heard the scuttling of the rats, she guessed it was getting dark.
Sally was now in Downing Street with Dave, they had been invited to dinner with the Prime Minister, his wife and the Home Secretary, the talk during the meal was about anything other than what was going on, Sally wanted to know what it was like having to look perfect every time the wife had to accompany her husband. “It’s difficult, I have wardrobes full of clothes I have been seen in once, the trick is to mix them up, but at times I can’t be arsed, I would love to arrive in jeans and an old jumper.” They laughed round the table. When dinner was over, the wife left, the table was cleared, more coffee was brought in, the Chief Constable of Essex, who had been waiting, was asked to come in. In his uniform, he looked imposing, well over six feet tall, Dave put him at around mid fifties. He took off his cap and placed it at the end of the table. The Prime Minister gave him a quick update on the situation, he finished off by saying there was to be a rescue attempt tonight. “I have a small team who will be carrying out the task. They will be armed and will do what is required to effect a swift rescue.” The Chief Constable wanted to know who the people would be, “Me, Miss Fellowes and a third person who may be in position already.” “But who are you, are you police, army, just who are you? I can’t have people running about in my county armed and with no one in command.” “I thought that was what happened on a daily basis with local gangs.” Dave waited for that to sink in. “The Prime Minister is in charge, he has given me the authority to carry out this operation. We can either work together and get the job done efficiently, or you can make life difficult for us, either way, we will be going in.” This time it was the Home Secretary who interrupted. “Gentlemen, let’s listen to the plan and then we can discuss where help can be given.” Everyone looked at Dave, “The operation is due to take place between 02:00 and 03:00, I have intelligence on the ground at the moment. We will enter the building, eliminate any armed opposition and return with Miss Goodley. Unarmed opposition who surrender, will be left tied up. That’s it, a simple plan. No need for anything complicated.” “And what if it goes wrong?” “It won’t, I am the best MI5 has, my accomplice has many years experience in this type of job, Miss Fellowes is a trained and authorised hand gun operator.” The Chief Constable was softening his stance, “what do you want from us?” “No police cars in the area from midnight, your own armed response standing by to move in when we have finished.” “And what do we tell the press, you can’t keep a shooting like this quiet for long?” “Put it down to gang warfare, settling scores or something like that, I’m sure you will come up with an explanation.” Dave laid a street map of the area surrounding the premises printed out earlier. He pointed out where the building was, “As I said, I don’t want any police vehicles anywhere nearby from 00:00, you will give me a phone number, I will call as soon as the building is clear. There will be no tailing of vehicles away from the scene. Miss Fellowes and I will be in a government Range Rover, we will blue light it back to London.” “Where are you going afterwards?” The question was asked by the Home Secretary, “to a secret location, until I can understand what is going on, I will update you all on Sunday morning.” The Chief Constable asked if he could take the map, Dave nodded, before he left, he gave Dave a number to call when it was over.
Downstairs, the only person remaining was from MI5, “Are they still looking?” “No, there has been nothing for the last hour.” “Time to block access, send me a copy of the logs and details of any files they try to download. I want to save it in my secure cloud storage, just in case.” Dave waited for the files to be sent to him then transferred them. “Delete Jane’s user name and password, she can create a new one when she is ready. When you have finished, you can go, thank you for everything you have done.” He waited until there was only Sally and him in the room. He pulled her close and kissed her, “how did you get on this afternoon?” “We are in a suite on the top floor, it has two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a lounge, all our clothes have been moved upstairs. The clothes you wanted are in carrier bags by the door.” “OK, time to change, it won’t be flattering, but you need to be able to move freely. Did you get ski masks?” “You can’t get them in London in the middle of summer, I bought two black bobble hats then cut the bobble off.” Dave opened a black holdall that had been delivered while they were having dinner, inside was the SA80 and the smoke grenades. He put the tracksuit inside, looked round to make sure nothing had been left that would be needed. He spotted the box with the Glock for Sally, “this is yours, load it then put it on, I will help you adjust it, make sure it is under the boiler suit.” Sally stopped, Dave looked at her, “I was shit scared the first time, it’s all right, everyone is, if you don’t want to do it, say now, I will take both guns.” “No, I’m scared, but I will do it. If it was anyone else other than Jane, I might have chickened out.” He picked up a report that had been left on his desk, he slipped it into one of the carrier bags and handed it to Sally, “look after this, leave it in the car for later.”
“One of my secretaries will be waiting for your call, good luck,” The Prime Minister shook both their hands and kissed Sally on the cheek.
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