Dave and Sally sat watching TV, their dinner on trays, the news was on, it was early September. It was a Wednesday evening, Sally had come home first from her job at Loughborough University, she worked as a receptionist on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dave drove an Uber. They both also worked freelance for the MOD and MI5, before moving to Loughborough, Sally had been a researcher for the MOD, Dave had been a sergeant in the Army in a military intelligence section based in Whitehall, but at a different time. When he left the army, he moved to Loughborough, he had no idea why, within a few weeks he had answered an ad he had seen in the local paper for a lodger. He rented Sally’s spare room, before moving into her bed. Dave had no idea about her past at the time, it gradually came out, her husband had been killed in a car crash over six years ago. It was only when he had been recalled he found out Sally had also worked for the MOD. She was now his researcher, assistant and having been trained to use firearms accompanied him on any field work he had to undertake. They were called in when there were jobs to be done that required specialised skills and could be denied if it went wrong. They were paid a retainer every month, in return, Dave spent two days a week at MI5, helping out the researchers, giving them the benefit of his unique way of thinking. Sally did the same on a Friday. So far in the eighteen months they had been working together, the cases they were given had been resolved quickly, but not always in the way those in authority wanted. Dave’s methods weren’t approved by everyone, Jane Goodley the head of MI5, realised the asset he and Sally were, she had tried on countless occasions to have them move to London and work full time for her. Every time the answer was no, “Jane, we don’t stick to the rules, I don’t ask for permission before I do anything, if I screw up, you can always deny we worked for you.”
There was a picture of the Home Secretary on the screen, Henry Wiggins and Dave didn’t get on, on several occasions, he had embarrassed him in front of others, he didn’t like the way Dave and Sally operated. Sally pressed the remote to turn on the sound, they heard he had been replaced in a reshuffle. “Good, let’s hope the next one is better than him.” They continued to watch, the replacement was announced, Sir Alan Cunningham was to be the new Home Secretary. He looked early sixties, had been moved over from Education Secretary. “He looks like he has more about him than the useless Wiggins. We will soon see.” Dave cleared up and made coffee, Sally was upstairs sorting out clothes for the next day, she packed a case for Dave with clothes for her as well, he would be gone by 06:00.
He was at his desk by 09:00 the following morning, his suitcase had been dropped off at Flemings Hotel before he travelled on to Millbank. There were three files on his desk, he studied each one, writing notes in the margin where he thought further investigation was required. Looking through one file, he phoned the researcher to come up and see him. “I think you are going the wrong way with this one, you are trying to make the facts fit what you think the outcome should be. Start again, instead of trying to make everything fit together, leave them as loose ends, investigate each thread further, see if you can find any links. Look at the people, dig into their backgrounds, see if any of them have too much money.” There was a message ping up on his screen, a meeting with Jane Goodley was now in his calendar. At 11:30 he knocked on her door, he was carrying a cup of coffee. The door was opened, he was beckoned in. “What are you working on at the moment?” “I’m going over files with the researchers, guiding them and offering suggestions, why, has something come up?” “No, I have a new boss, I want to warn you to not upset or antagonise him if you are speaking to him.” Dave feigned a look of indignation. “Don’t look like that, you upset everyone, you have to learn to respect those in authority, you can’t order them around.” Jane, you know what I’m like, you give me a job, it’s usually urgent and needs resolving. When things need to happen quickly, I won’t get anywhere by pussyfooting about, people have to act fast, sometimes demanding is the only way.” “David, I understand how you work, but others don’t, please, at least to begin with try not to upset Sir Alan.” “OK, I’ll be very polite when I see him.” “I’ve been told he is strict, he is also a friend of Henry Wiggins.” “I’ll be glad to see the back of him.” Jane Goodley indicated the meeting was over. He returned to his office, more files had been put on his desk, leaning back in his chair he thought about the conversation he just had. He couldn’t change the way he was, it was how he managed to achieve the results he did, that and a lot of illegal software he used.
At 18:00 he was sitting in the lounge of Flemings Hotel, he had a lager, he could see the main entrance, he was looking for Sally, she would have finished work at 15:00 and taken a train around an hour later, she had sent a message to say she was on her way. When he saw her come through the door, he left his drink and went to greet her, they kissed in reception. She wanted to go up to the room and shower, “I’m knackered, I think we will dine here tonight.” Sally changed her mind and ran a bath, “Dave, get undressed and join me.” They lay in the bath together, Sally said she didn’t want to get out. Dave’s toes found the chain to the plug and pulled it out. Sally wanted to go to bed before they ate, Dave said he was starving. Over dinner, he told her of the conversation he had with Jane Goodley. “You do give out orders, you hardly ever ask, I’m used to it, but others get annoyed.” “Well, I’m not changing, it’s how I get results.”
On a Friday morning, Dave usually spent an hour giving a talk to the researchers, they were gathered in the lecture theatre at 10:30. The subject today was money, those who had too much for their salary and those who didn’t have enough. He explained both were an indication something might not be right. He talked about the reasons and how to investigate, what to look for and where. As usual, at the end, he said if anyone wanted to talk further then he would be in his office until 16:30. “You never cease to amaze me. You would have been a great teacher if you had chosen to be.” Sally had sat listening, “I looked round at those attending, no one was bored, you made it sound really interesting.” “It is, you know money is usually the lead in, find the money and you have made a start.”
They travelled back on Friday evening, Sally was playing tennis with her best friend Olivia, on Saturday morning. Her husband, Michael, and Dave had become firm friends. While she was playing tennis, Dave’s job was to go round Tesco’s, he hated it, by the time Sally returned the food was away. She came in dropping her tennis bag in the hall, she went upstairs to shower. Dave made coffees and took one up the stairs for Sally, she came out the en-suite naked, she was now thirty three, her body looked great, Dave stood and looked at her. “What are you looking at?” “You look great,” “You look bloody good yourself.” Dave was five years older, broad shouldered and fit, apart from running, he did no other exercise, his physique hadn’t changed from his time in the army. Six months training with the SAS had built up his body. Sally lay on the bed, “my legs ache, will you give me a massage?” She rolled onto her front. His coffee was stone cold when he eventually went back downstairs. The rest of the weekend was spent quietly, all too soon it was Monday again. They left the house together in the morning, Dave stuck the magnetic Uber signs on the side of his car, switched on the app and headed for the café where the drivers would meet. He loved the interaction, sometimes he would spend hours sitting, drinking coffee and either chatting or just listening. This morning, he had a bacon roll, picked up a job and was gone, it was 18:30 before he switched off the app and went home. Sally had eaten, his was in the oven, he pinged it in the microwave, took out a can of cold lager from the fridge and sat in the kitchen. Sally was upstairs, he could hear her on the phone, she came down and saw him, the phone was in her hand, “Olivia is asking if we want to go out for dinner on Saturday night?” Dave nodded, Sally disappeared again, as soon as he had finished, he made coffee for them both.
They spent Tuesday together, Sally wanted to go to Nottingham, she had thought about replacing the fitted furniture in their bedroom, it was a trip to see what was available. She had made a list of the places she wanted to visit. By 17:00 they had seen nothing they liked, on the way back, they stopped at a pub instead of going home for a meal. Both were at work on Wednesday, in the evening Sally looked out clothes for both of them for Thursday then packed a suitcase for Dave to take down to London on Thursday morning, as usual there were clothes inside for her as well.
Dave was gone by 06:00 in the morning, he kissed a sleeping Sally before he left. In his office in MI5, he settled down to go through the files on his desk. Difficult cases, ones where the researcher or investigator couldn’t see a way forward and others with few leads. Dave had a way of looking at cases from a different angle, he would look from the inside and then stand back and look from the outside. He encouraged the researchers to investigate every angle and lead no matter how stupid or irrelevant it might seem. He made notes, sometimes he would call the researcher and ask them to come to his office to discuss a case. In the middle of the afternoon, he called Jane Goodley’s office, the call was answered by her deputy Howard. “Is she in?” “No, she is at the Home Office, she’s been there all day, the meeting was supposed to finish by lunchtime, it was a get together with the new minister and all his departmental heads.” Dave said he would speak to her in the morning. He had received a message from Sally saying she would be in the hotel around 18:00. In the bar, he ordered a lager, he sat in the lounge looked at his watch, hopefully Sally would be here within the next fifteen minutes. They saw each other as she came through the doors to the hotel, she walked directly to him, Dave stood up, they kissed before sitting down. They each asked how the others day had gone, Sally was drinking Dave’s lager, he asked if she wanted one. “No, when we have finished this one, I want to go to the room.” Upstairs, she said the train had been filthy, Sally was undressing as she was telling Dave about the train, “I tried moving carriages, but they were all dirty. Can you ring for someone from housekeeping, I would like the clothes I was wearing cleaned. While she was in the shower, Dave rang reception, a few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Dave handed over the clothes and asked for them to be returned before breakfast. She came out the bathroom naked, she was drying her hair with a towel, there was a cup of coffee waiting for her. Dave was lying on the bed in only his boxers, Sally climbed on to the bed and sat on top of him. “No, I need to have a shower, there is a table booked for 19:30 in the restaurant.” She rolled off him and sat on the edge of the bed with her coffee. Just before they went down for dinner, the room phone rang, “there is a hand delivered letter for you, would you like it sent up?” “No, I will collect it in a few minutes.” Sally saw the puzzled look, “what is it?” “There is a hand delivered letter for us in reception.” “The only way you will find out who it’s from is by going downstairs.” On their way to eat, he picked up the letter, it was a typed envelope addressed to Mr. D. Stretton & Ms. S. Fellowes,
Flemings Hotel. He passed it over to Sally, “I have no idea who it’s from.” She started to open it, “wait until we are sitting down and have ordered.” Once their order had been taken, Dave picked up a knife from the table, he opened the envelope, read the contents and passed it over to Sally. “What does it mean? It says we have to be in her office at 09:00 tomorrow morning for a meeting.” “Read the wording, it is written in an official style, there is no friendliness, no use of first names, she signs her name Ms. J. Goodley. Look at who is copied in to the letter, Sir Alan Cunningham, the new Home Secretary. I think we are in for some sort of bollocking at the least.” Sally asked why, “I don’t know, we will find out tomorrow at 09:00, let’s not let it spoil our evening.” It did, they were both quiet all through the meal, each was going over possible scenarios and thinking of reasons for them to be called in like this. Afterwards, they had an early night, in the morning as they ate breakfast, Sally said they had no formal clothes for the meeting, “I don’t think it matters, wear what you had planned, I don’t think what we will be wearing will make any difference.” “Dave, do you think it’s serious?” He nodded, back up in the room, Sally packed their clothes away, Dave emptied his briefcase of its contents, he put them in the small backpack Sally had brought with her. She looked at Dave, “don’t ask, leave your phone in the backpack, he put his phone in then took out a burner phone from the backpack. “Put your MOD ID in there as well.” “Why are we doing this?” “I have a bad feeling about today.” “They won’t arrest us will they?” “No, nothing like that, we will know within an hour.”
The taxi dropped them off outside the main doors, up the steps and in through the barriers, they were early, Dave led the way into one of the staff cafes, they would wait there until it was time to go. “My heart’s thumping,” again she asked what he thought it was about. Dave had his suspicions, he had thought about it while he was lying awake in bed.
With five minutes to go, he motioned to Sally it was time. She stood up, Dave picked up the empty briefcase. In the lift, he kissed Sally, “it will be OK, I don’t think this will take long. Out the lift, they walked to her suite of offices, Howard was sitting at his desk, when he saw them he made a phone call, “you can go straight in.” Dave opened the door without knocking, he went in first, Jane Goodley was sitting behind her desk, on the other side of it were two chairs. There was no sign of coffee, the percolator was on, the cups were there, but there was no offer of drinks. Sally sat down, Dave did what he would usually do in this type of scenario, he would try to put the other person off and seize the initiative. He walked towards the coffee machine. “Sit down, there will be no drinks today.” Sally was sitting in her chair close to the desk, Dave pulled his out and sat further away. A small but defiant gesture. Mr. Stretton, Ms. Fellowes, I have to inform you that as of now, your contract with MI5 is cancelled, arrangements will be made to collect anything issued to you by MI5. Please submit your invoice and expenses up to and including today, you will be paid in the normal way. Would you now give me your passes and anything else you have with you today issued by MI5.” Dave thought she must have spent ages rehearsing. He took out his wallet, the ID card was tossed on her desk, Sally had placed hers carefully. “It’s a shame, you won’t hear my talk to the researchers today, it was to be about ignoring orders and doing what you think is right.” She switched off a voice recorder on her desk, “David, I tried to have you kept on, I argued that people like you are necessary, but he wouldn’t listen. He says everything has to be done by the book. I have been ordered to monitor you both, not follow you, I have to send a report in every week.” Dave said nothing, he stood up, Sally did the same, he said nothing more before walking out the room. There were two security guards waiting for them, they were escorted out the building.
© 10210ken 2025
