After they had eaten Sally sat down with the clean laptop, she spent an hour searching websites for details about moving abroad. She looked at government websites and downloaded applications. “Dave some of these places look good, maybe we should consider moving.” He didn’t know if she was joking or not, “I’m not sure about the part where you have to say what skills you would bring, Good at hunting down people might not appeal to them. That should be enough, she can’t fail to see we’ve been looking. Can you check the emails, see what’s come in?” “A couple from Uber, loads of junk and one from Cyrus,” she passed the laptop over for Dave to look. The email was what he wanted, he replied saying he would fly out on Monday.
Tuesday was spent in the office, He gave Sally a usb stick with all the information he had gathered the day before, “can you put it into some sort of order, don’t connect to the internet on your laptop, save everything back on to the stick.” Dave opened up the other laptop and logged on using the neighbour’s connection. He found a way into the MI5 servers using more of his software, Sir Alan Cunningham’s file was what he was after. It was there, but he couldn’t access it, he logged out the site and tried the Cabinet Office, this time he had more success, he quickly downloaded the file and disconnected the internet. Sitting reading it, he thought it contained more background information than he would have found in the MI5 file. However, there was nothing of any interest, there were progress reports, his security vetting and the same personal details he had found on Wikipedia. Hopefully next week, he might obtain more information. Sally’s head was down on the other desk, she was typing away, Dave could see her flicking between spreadsheets, he left her to make coffee. Putting the mug on her desk, he suggested she stop for a break, “I’m nearly there, it won’t take much longer.” Half an hour later, she pushed her chair away from the desk, “it’s done, I think we need to investigate the sons, look at their company, find out where the money comes from, they became rich very quickly, I know property developers can drive hard bargains, but it doesn’t look right. Cunningham’s money comes from the sons. Why does he need all these accounts?” “We’ll look this afternoon, I have to go into town, I want to buy my plane ticket, pay for it with cash if possible, then change some money into dollars. Do you want to come with me?” “Yes, I could do with a break.” They headed for an independent travel agent away from the town centre, there was no problem paying cash, he was also able to buy dollars there as well, he bought as much as they had, a little over $4000. Outside Sally asked why he needed so much money, “I might want to buy something on the way home.” In town he bought another $1500 at a ‘bureau de change’. The lunch in Wetherspoons was noisy, there was little chance of conversation. They walked home slowly discussing the next move, once inside and with more coffees it was back to work. He looked at the sons website then downloaded their accounts from Companies House, there wasn’t the detailed information he wanted. He decided to leave it until he thought the business would be shut before he looked. “How are we to get up to Edinburgh, have you thought about it yet?” “I left that for you to sort out.” “I think the train would be better, if we are staying at The Balmoral, it is next to the station. It would save a load of driving.” “OK, I just booked the break, I hoped you would sort out the logistics.” Around 20:00 Dave left Sally watching TV, he fired up the laptop and had found a way into the sons server, he didn’t know how the software worked, he was just glad it did. He downloaded a backup of the accounts, then the emails, the final item was a copy of the letters they had typed. He installed the software needed to view the accounts, he restored the backup and was able to see all their transactions. In the accounts were the bank details, he logged on and downloaded the statements. Everything was saved to a stick. He switched the laptop off, he didn’t want to start, it was too late in the day. Sally was at work the next morning, Dave decided to Uber, there was too much happening, there was only a day before they went away, he didn’t want to look in case he found something, he wanted the weekend to be special. Sally was home long before he was, she was upstairs packing, Dave was to pick her up at 12:00, she was finishing early. In the morning, Dave was up to take Sally to work, he dropped her off then drove home, he sat in the kitchen going over the last week, there were two different thoughts, one was to drop what he was doing and work only for the MOD, the other thought was to carry on working towards getting his job back. The decision was to fight.
Sally saw him park outside, she was already changed, waiting for him to arrive, she said goodbye to the others and left. In the car, she leaned over and kissed him. “We have less than half an hour, or we will have to wait another sixty minutes.” They arrived at Loughborough station with about ten minutes to spare. Their journey to Edinburgh involved a change at Chesterfield, with a wait of almost forty minutes. Sitting on the platform each with a coffee they watched trains come and go until the Edinburgh one pulled in. Dave found their seats in first class, he settled down, looking out the window as the train pulled away. They arrived at Waverley station in Edinburgh in the early evening, they walked up the slope out of the station, the hotel was just around the corner. A liveried doorman held the door open as they arrived. “Dave, I think we are a little underdressed, it’s just like Flemings Hotel in London.” The room was luxurious, they had a view down Princes Street and over the gardens. Sally stripped off, quickly showered and changed, “will we have time to eat in the restaurant or shall we go out?” “It closes at 22:00, there is plenty of time.” The food was excellent, they shared a bottle of wine as they ate, after coffees, they sat in the bar with more drinks before going to bed. Sally had no intention of sleeping, she fell asleep later, lying across Dave. Over breakfast they discussed what they would do, Sally as usual wanted to look round the shops, Dave wanted to go up to the castle, a compromise was agreed, shopping in the morning, a pub lunch and the castle in the afternoon. While Sally was shopping, Dave was instructed to find somewhere to eat in the evening. Sitting in the bar of the hotel with a lager he saw Sally come in, she had a drink from his glass, put the bags on a chair then sat down beside Dave. He went to the bar and returned with two more drinks, he sat on a chair opposite Sally, she looked at him as if to say, ‘why aren’t you sitting next to me’. “I want you to do something in a minute, I will pretend to take a picture of you, when I’ve done that, you take a picture of me, make sure you get the big man with the black hair facing you in the picture, I’ll tell you why afterwards.” Dave made a big thing of taking a picture of Sally, she did the same for her picture of Dave. In a low voice, he said he would explain over lunch. Sally gave her bags to one of the porters asking him to take them up to their room. They found a pub just off Princes Street, it was busy, there was a mix of tourists, shop workers and businessmen. They found a table they hoped would be quiet, Sally started, “this had better be nothing to do with work, we are meant to be on a break this weekend.” Dave said nothing, he looked at the menu. “Dave, if you’re working, then it’s not fair.” “I’ll explain when we have ordered the food.” He returned from the bar with the drinks, and a wooden spoon with a number on it. Sally looked at the spoon, “we put that on the table, the number is our food order, the waitress will come and find us.” “Right, what’s going on?” “I’m sure the big bloke I saw is a current or former member of the SAS, the thing is, when I remember him, he didn’t have any money, he was always scrounging. Now he is smartly dressed, staying in the same hotel as us and has a pretty woman with him, from her accent, I think she is Russian. That’s all, I suppose I never really switch off from the job.” Sally heard the waitress calling their number, she waved the spoon to indicate where they were. As they ate, she asked Dave what he was going to do. “Visit the castle this afternoon then have dinner with you this evening.” Sally enjoyed the view over the city from the castle, but little else, they looked in some of the tourist shops on the way back to the hotel. Sally was disappointed the bath in their room wouldn’t take two people, they had to make do in the large walk in shower. Dave said they were eating in an Italian restaurant that evening, Sally asked if it was smart or casual, “smart casual,” was his reply. Sally wore a dress, and carried a smart jacket, Dave was in chino’s and a blue shirt. As they walked back from the restaurant around 23:30, Sally wanted to walk through the gardens, Dave said no, “it’s too dark, there are too many bushes.” Sally insisted, “we’ll be OK,” walking down one of the paths, they passed benches with rough sleepers on them. Sally changed her mind, they turned round, coming towards them were two lads in their late teens or early twenties. “Give us your money.” They both had knives, Dave moved Sally behind him. “Lads, I’ll give you one chance to turn round and walk away.” “Fuck off and give us your money,” One of the knives was now being waved towards Dave. The lad never saw the punch coming, he fell backwards, the other wavered, Dave caught his wrist and twisted it until the knife dropped onto the ground. Sally had now moved from behind Dave, she punched him hard on the side of his face. He turned and ran, the one on the floor was moaning, she kicked him hard between the legs. Back on the street, she apologised for wanting to go into the gardens, “they’ll think twice before doing that again.”
They had no plans for Saturday, Dave suggested they visit the gardens in the daylight, he had an idea for the afternoon, but would leave it for later. When breakfast was over, Sally went to get a jacket in case it wasn’t as warm. Dave waited in reception, he picked up a newspaper as he saw the man from the bar yesterday. He had two suitcases with him, Dave saw a gold Rolex watch on his wrist. When Sally came back, he said there was a change of plan, “will you do something for me? I want him followed, find out where he goes, I think he might recognise me.” She looked at him, “You said no work,” “just this and then it’s back to us, it will be good field experience for you.” “Fuck off, I’m as good as most of the others who I trained with. This time only, nothing else this weekend.” She moved to wait outside the hotel. A few minutes later, she saw them emerge, they turned left, then left again, walking down towards the station, Sally messaged Dave as she walked behind them, making sure there were plenty of people between. He was easy to spot, his height made him stand out. In the station she watched as they stopped and looked at the information board, they then walked to the platform for the train to Aberdeen. Sally bought a single ticket to Aberdeen, the train left in ten minutes. She mingled in with the crowd waiting for the gates to the platform to be opened. On the train, she sat in the same carriage, but as far away as she could be, someone had left a paper on the seat, she picked it up and read it. Every time the train pulled into a station, she was ready to get off. She sent a message to Dave saying where she was, she looked out the window as the train crossed over the River Tay, approaching Dundee. There was movement, suitcases were pulled out from between the seats, she saw the big man stand up, the woman was easily a foot shorter. Sally waited until she was sure they were getting off, she left by a different door, there were plenty others leaving the train, she slipped off her jacket and was now wearing a jumper. They were still in sight as she climbed the stairs up to the concourse, with her ticket checked, she looked for them, they weren’t to be seen, she rushed outside to see them standing in the queue for a taxi. Sally stood in the queue, two people down from them, she watched the dynamics between the two, something wasn’t right. When the taxi arrived, she listened as they put the cases in the boot, she only caught part of the destination, ‘Ferry’. Sally moved out the queue to phone Dave, he said she had done well and to catch the next train back, he would be waiting in the station for her. They headed straight to the hotel bar as soon as Sally was off the train, Dave ordered coffee and sandwiches. She recalled everything that happened right up to them getting in the taxi, “Dave, I don’t think they are a couple, I watched them in the queue and at the station, I don’t know what it is, I just get that feeling.” “There are two ‘Ferry’s’ in Dundee, West Ferry and Broughty Ferry, they could have gone to either one.” He leaned over and kissed her, thanks for doing that,” “It’ll take more than a kiss to make up for a spoilt day.”
When they had eaten, Sally said she still wanted to walk through the gardens. There was no trouble this time, plenty of people were doing the same. They sat on a bench and watched people walking by, every so often making comments after they had passed.
Sally asked the concierge where would be a good place to eat, he passed her a file full of restaurant menus. She sat with Dave flicking through the options, they chose a high class Indian restaurant. A table was booked by the concierge, Dave and Sally sat in the bar enjoying a drink, “you’re thinking about something,” “I was trying to remember his name, it will come to me eventually.” “Come on, let’s go to our room, we have plenty of time before we have to get ready.” The meal that evening was delicious, the flavours delicate and intense, Sally’s arm was through Dave’s as they walked back, there was time for another drink in the hotel, before heading up the stairs.
They left their luggage with the porters while they went off to see The Royal Yacht nearby in Leith. On seeing the Queen’s bedroom, she wondered out loud, about how much shagging was done under the covers. Sally had said, other than the trip to Dundee, she had enjoyed her weekend away. They had lunch in a pub with Scottish music playing, the atmosphere inside was better than the food. With their luggage retrieved, they walked round to the station, the train left at just after 17:00, it would be almost four hours before they had to change at Sheffield. Sally closed her eyes, she was going over the events of the weekend, Dave, sitting opposite could see a smile on her face, she opened her eyes each time the train pulled into a station, looked round the platform, then closed them again. Sally opened her eyes, she could sense Dave moving about, he was looking through his jacket pockets for his phone, “what are you doing?” “I’ve just remembered his name, “Mac the Knife.”
© 10210ken 2025
