“Will you wait while we get jackets,” As they went upstairs each wondered what the meeting would be about. “This had better be important, and hopefully there will be some food, I’m starving, another evening spoiled.” Sally was upset and angry, Dave just accepted the situation. The room they were taken into was crowded, people were standing around talking, Dave saw a few people he recognised, Jane Goodley, Sir George Makin the Defence Secretary, Graeme Rogers, the head of MI6 and the Prime Minister, there were several others he recognised by sight. Jane Goodley broke off from the small group she was talking to, and walked over to Dave and Sally, “David, I have to apologise for what I said to you earlier, it was wrong, I was stressed at the time.” Dave said nothing, “The meeting will start shortly, there will be two parts, you will be involved slightly in both of them.” Double doors opened, people filed out the reception room and into a room with a table Dave reckoned could seat twenty. People were looking at place names, Dave and Sally were placed at the end of the table, those who didn’t have a seat at the table were sitting at desks round the edge of the room. The Prime Minister tapped the table with a pen, there was silence in the room. “We all know why we are here,” Dave and Sally didn’t, “The press have been briefed this evening regarding the death of Sir Alan Cunningham, his death is being linked to a tax investigation into the business he set up and subsequently taken over by his sons. It has been stressed this has nothing to do with his ministerial position. It is proposed to appoint Peter Stockdale as his replacement, the two people at the end of the table will check into his back ground before we go any further.” Jane Goodley stood up and motioned for Dave and Sally to follow her out the room. “The PM wants you to contact your man in Langley to find out if they have a file on Peter Stockdale, and if they do, have it sent over now.” “You are presuming a lot, first, my contact is there, secondly if there is a file, he will be allowed to release it. Thirdly I don’t have anything to bargain with.” “David, do your best, there is an office for you to use.” He found the number for Cyrus in his notebook, it was now 15:30 in the USA, he hoped they didn’t go home early on Fridays. “Cyrus, it’s Dave Stretton, yes I’m fine, I hope you are well.” Sally sat beside him, Jane sat on the other side of the desk. “I need a favour, yes I know nothing is free but I need this in a hurry, you find the information and, depending on how thick the file is, I will make an offer, I also have a major bargaining item, but I won’t waste it on this.” Both Sally and Jane looked at him. “Do you have a file on Peter Stockdale, he is a British MP, I can give you his date of birth if you need it.” Dave put the phone on speaker, the sound of a keyboard could be heard. “Yes we have one,” “is there much in it?” “No, a bit of extra-marital sex when he had been married about a year, nothing since he became an MP.” “Would you send it to me please,” “No, I have to have clearance, what have you got in return?” Dave looked at Jane, she was shaking her head. “I was offered a way into the North Korean security section, it has a translator built into it, it’s not something I would want, but I could purchase it for you. See if that will buy me the report.” “Can I call you back on your mobile, the number you are calling from hasn’t come up?” “Yes, Cyrus I need a quick decision on this.” The call was ended, it was now time to wait, he took out his mobile and placed it on the desk. “Where do you get all this software from, or shouldn’t I ask?” “If I don’t tell you then you don’t have to lie. We were just about to eat, we’ve only had sandwiches since lunchtime, is there anyone round here to fix us up.” As he was speaking, his phone rang, “Thank you, send it to my email address, I will log in and print it out. The software will cost you $10k, I will pick it up soon, you can reimburse me when you see it working. Thank you for your help and have a good weekend.” Two minutes later there was a ping on his phone, the email had arrived. “I need somewhere to log in and print it out, do you know where I can go.” Jane left them, Sally leaned over and kissed Dave, “you’ve saved the day again.” Jane opened the door, “there is a computer and printer available in the next room,” It didn’t take long to have the file on screen, “how many copies?” “Do five, send the file to me, I can then print out any more if required.” They returned to the meeting, the copies were handed to the PM, he read the top one before handing the others round the table. The copies were shared amongst those at the table, there were only three pages, turning to one of his aides, “arrange a meeting for tomorrow morning, have Peter Stockdale here at 09:30, if he has gone to his constituency, have him come back.” He looked down the table, “Mr. Stretton, Miss Fellowes, would you leave us please, we will call you back in when this part is over.” Dave found a receptionist, “we were on our way to dinner when we were called here, we haven’t eaten for hours, is there a chef on duty or someone who can make us something?” She thought for a moment, “there may be someone still in the staff restaurant who could do you food, I will find someone to show you the way.” Five minutes later they were sitting with bowls of soup, burgers were being cooked for them. Two cups of coffee were served up with the burgers. “Dave, shouldn’t we go back to wait?” “No, if they want us, they will find us.” It was almost an hour before the receptionist came looking for them, “you are wanted back in the meeting room.” There were only four people and an aide in the room now, The Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, Jane Goodley and Graeme Rogers. “Thank you for the report, I understand you had to promise to give over software in return.” “Yes, I’m almost out of things to swap for information, I could hack into their system, but it makes me liable to extradition and prosecution if I am discovered. The UK government would have no qualms about handing me over.” There was no reply to his comment.
“I want this sorting out, arrange a meeting with the CIA, Sir George, you will be in charge, the Foreign Secretary will go as well. The heads of MI5 and MI6 together with Mr. Stretton and Miss Fellowes will accompany you. They appear to be the only ones able to obtain anything from the CIA, keep them in the background they may be able to advise. Take whatever people you need for negotiations, hopefully we can sort this out, it can’t carry on the way it is.” With that, the meeting was over, the Prime Minister left with his aide. Sir George now took charge, “I will contact Washington on Monday, hopefully they will see us, I will try to arrange it for the week after next, it should only take a couple of days at most, if we haven’t succeeded in two days, then we never will. When I know who will be attending from their side, I will arrange a dinner party at the Embassy. I’m not sure what part you two will play, but the PM wants you there, Miss Goodley will let you know the arrangements when they have been made. That is all for tonight, we will see what Monday brings.”
Cars were waiting for them outside, Sally asked Jane if she wanted to eat. “We had a burger while we were waiting, but I’m still hungry, do you want to eat with us?” She thought for a moment, “I’ll phone Ruth and tell her I will be later than I thought.” “Where do you want to eat, the hotel restaurant will be closed now?” “Indian or Chinese, I don’t mind.” It was agreed to eat in the Indian restaurant close to the hotel, there was no problem with a table, it was only half full, the busy spell over. They picked a table away from anyone else. With the food ordered and drinks on the table, Jane said it had been an awful day. “It feels like I haven’t stopped all day. It was one crisis meeting after another. I won’t say it is all because of you as I know what you will say back, but David this time the shit hit the fan, not just because of the death, it was more to do with the Americans having more information than we do. The PM wants us to revisit everyone in Parliament, starting with the Cabinet, he doesn’t realise it takes years to build up files on people, little bits of information here and there all recorded to create a bigger picture. The file on Sir Alan was huge, I wonder if, when they found out about him, they went out to gather as much as they could, wait until he was in a position of power and then use it to find out what we were doing.” The starters arrived and there was silence as they ate, it was the same through the main course, only when they had coffee did the work talk resume. Sally asked what would happen in the US, “There will be a lot of talk, agreements will be made and signed and everything will carry on as before, they want everything, we get nothing. You can see it from tonight, the file had nothing of any substance in it, David has had to promise to give them something of much greater value, not monetary, the ability to see what is going on in North Korea far outweighs three pages on an MP.” Dave who had been quiet through most of the meal said if the opportunity arose, he would like to speak to the Americans sometime during the meetings. “I’m not sure it would be wise, I’ve seen you talk to those in authority before.” “If it isn’t going well then you have nothing to lose.” They walked back to the hotel, Jane had one more drink before phoning for her car, she kissed Dave and Sally before leaving.
Sitting on the train to Loughborough on Saturday morning, Sally said they needed to talk, Dave stopped looking out the window and turned to face Sally, “not now, later when we are at home.” When they arrived home, there was no milk, Dave was given a shopping list and sent off to Tesco’s, the kettle was flicked on as he brought the first lot of shopping in. The coffee was made by the time he had finished, the washing machine was on, they put away the shopping together. Sitting in the lounge she asked him why he was quiet. “I don’t know, before you ask, it’s nothing to do with our relationship. I’ve been trying to figure it out. I thought it might be to do with the suicide, but it’s not that. I’ve wondered if it’s what Jane said to me yesterday morning, she told me to ‘keep out of fucking politics’. It keeps coming back to me, since working for MI5 everything revolves round politics. I don’t understand the double standards, the back stabbing and the downright lying, I wouldn’t trust any of them. They would think nothing of dropping someone in the shit if it saved them or advanced their position. I loathe them. There is only one person I trust, that’s you. I’m a good judge of people, but politicians are a different breed.” “I’ve got a load of stuff to do, when it’s done I want to go to bed with you, I’m tired and I want you beside me. On Monday, I want you here when I come home from work, your phone will be switched off, I will cook dinner, we will spend until Tuesday lunchtime together, in the house, I’m sure we will find enough to pass the time, you can switch on your phone in the afternoon. Our time, it’s been missing lately.” She moved to be sitting on top of Dave, she kissed him passionately, his hand was up the back of her blouse, “No, I have loads to do.” She went off into the kitchen, when she looked later, he was asleep. Finishing off the jobs she had to do, Sally made more coffee, she took the cups upstairs before gently waking Dave. They lay in bed facing each other, they kissed before Dave rolled on to his back, Sally lay with her head on his chest, she could feel his heart beating, it wasn’t long before they were both sleeping. Sally woke around 04:00, she looked at the clock, went to the bathroom, back in bed, she looked at Dave, there was just enough light to make out his features, she kissed him on the lips before closing her eyes and sleeping again. When she woke at 10:00 she worked out she had been in bed for sixteen hours, Dave was still sleeping, but more lightly now. He woke as Sally moved about the bed. “You’ve been asleep for sixteen hours, do you feel better for it?” “I don’t know, ask me again when I’m fully awake. I had to get up in the night, but you never moved.” The rest of the day was spent not doing much, in the afternoon, they walked into town, not to buy anything, they wanted to mingle with normal people. That evening Sally reminded Dave, there would be no phones or work from the time she arrived home from work on Monday. “I want you all to myself, no talk about work, for twenty four hours.” She knew it wouldn’t last that long, but she could hope. Dave spent the following morning with phone calls, his first was to the Brigadier, he explained what he would like the researchers to do for him, he wanted a check on Fraser MacIntire, all the banks, credit card companies and betting companies to be checked to see if there were outstanding debts when he disappeared. The instructions were typed out and emailed across, hopefully something would come back in a couple of days. His next call was to Yuri, he used a burner phone for this call. “Yuri, I need updates on some of the software you are developing, I also want the North Korean program you told me about, the one to access their defence department which will translate as it goes. I have to have it by next week, I had hoped to fly to Reykjavik to see you, but I think it might prove risky for me, I can either wire you the money or settle with you next time we meet.” There was a pause while Yuri thought, “OK, next time we meet, I will upload it to your storage later today,” “What have you got for governments, I have a meeting next week, I want something I can bargain with?” Dave wrote furiously as Yuri talked, when he had finished Dave asked him the cost, “$750k, it will only be used once, it has cost a lot to develop,” “Have you tried to sell it?” “No one wants it, there is only one buyer for this, I won’t deal with them, it’s too risky.” “I will be seeing them next week, I will try to shift it for you, if I am successful then we will need to think of a way for me to pick it up, I don’t want it in my secure storage, they might find out where it is when I download it. I will have to sell it first. Hopefully we can both make some money on this.” He hung up and looked at his normal phone, it had rung twice while on the other call, Jane Goodley’s office, not her direct number, someone else. He rang back, the call was answered by Howard, her deputy, “a document pack is being sent up to you today, it has your flight times, hotel booking, details of the meetings and times, the flight out is on Sunday afternoon, returning on Thursday, will you let me know when you have received it, the delivery should be tomorrow morning.” “I won’t be here then, could you make it late Tuesday or Wednesday. How has this all been organised so quickly, it’s still early over there?” “I understand they have been working on it over the weekend.” Dave thanked Howard and hung up, he sent a message to Sally saying the trip was on for next week. The story she was to tell her boss was, Dave was travelling to see someone he knew from his Army days who was now living in America, Sally had been invited as well. An hour later she sent a text saying it was all agreed.”
He was ready with coffee as Sally walked through the door just after 15:00, “Phones please, switch them off and give them to me.” They were put in a drawer in the kitchen, “you won’t need them for the next twenty four hours. I’m going for a shower, wait until I come out, I will be waiting in the bedroom.” She took her coffee upstairs, Dave sat drinking his in the kitchen. He waited a couple of minutes after the shower was switched off before he moved. The room was dark, the curtains were closed, but there was enough light coming through for him to see, Sally was lying face down on the bed. She was wearing a small pair of knickers and a bra, “I want a massage, but you can’t touch any of the bits covered up.” Dave complained but was told to shut up and do as he was told. They spent an hour on the bed, every time Dave tried to put his hand where Sally had said it wasn’t to go, he was told to stop. He ended up wearing only his boxers and on the bed beside Sally, their arms were wrapped round each other. Eventually she sat up, swinging her legs off the bed, she reached for a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a zip up top. “I’m going downstairs, I will be cooking tonight, your job is to lay the table in the dining room, three courses and open the wine.” She left him in bed. He stayed until it was just after 18:00, the kitchen door was closed, a cold bottle of wine had been left on his side of the door, he spoke through the door asking if she wanted a drink, “I’ve got the gin in here and a bottle of tonic. You keep out,” Dave set the table, opened the wine, then poured himself a glass, returning to the kitchen door he asked Sally to put another bottle in the fridge, “It’s already in, I will be about another half hour, enough time for you to shower and get ready, I’ve laid out your clothes in the spare bedroom.” Dave wondered how much planning she had put into this evening, on the bed was a light blue shirt and a pair of cream chinos, he looked for boxers, there were none. Smiling he pulled on the trousers, the shirt was done up but left loose. Downstairs, Sally had put a starter on each of their place mats. When she saw him she briefly kissed him, “I’m going upstairs to change, close all the curtains, light the candles in the dining room, hopefully there should be enough light, switch the others off.” He sat at the table waiting, his back was to the door, he only saw Sally as she moved past him to sit down. There was nothing covering her back, he could see a tiny skirt which barely covered her bum, she slipped onto the chair opposite him and smiled. Sally was wearing a white halter neck dress, it was almost see through. “Do you like my dress?” “What there is of it is lovely,” he filled Sally’s glass and topped up his, she took a large drink before starting on her salmon. Each time she leant forward, Dave caught a glimpse of her breasts. When they had finished, she had another drink before standing up to take the plates away and bring in the next course, as she bent over to pick up his plate, he could see the dress was all she was wearing. The main course was duck in a plum sauce served with green beans and new potatoes, Dave was more interested in watching Sally as she ate, the halter top now looked a little looser. The food was good, other than the bones, there was nothing left on the plates. They sat chatting and drinking before dessert, Sally went into the kitchen to bring through another bottle of wine. Dave was now sure she was loosening the top every time she went into the kitchen. Her foot was rubbing up against Dave’s leg as they sat, Sally took the plates into the kitchen, Dave took the opportunity to take Sally’s placemat off the table, he put her dessert spoon next to his, he turned his chair sideways. When she returned, she was carrying a tray with a trifle and two bowls. “Where am I going to sit, I don’t have a place anymore?” “There’s a seat here,” he patted his knee. Putting the tray down, she sat facing Dave on the edge of his knees, he reached round her neck undoing the knot at the top of the dress, pulling her towards himself, he kissed her, they stayed like that for an age. She moved slightly back and undid the buttons on his shirt. Her hands were all over his chest, she was kissing him franticly. “What about the trifle?” She stopped and turned towards the table, she stuck a spoon in the trifle, she moved it towards Dave, he opened his mouth, Sally fed him, when some of the cream dropped off the spoon she moved to lick it off his chest. “Dave I want you now, right here, as she stood up the dress fell to the floor, she sat on the edge of the table waiting for him, later he carried her upstairs, there was more lovemaking before she fell asleep exhausted. Dave woke around 10:00, downstairs, the kitchen looked a mess, he spent some time loading the dishwasher and tidying up, in the dining room he cleared the table of what was left of the trifle, he picked up their clothes from the floor. He heard Sally moving about, he took two coffees upstairs. In bed, he asked her if last night had gone to plan, “better than I had hoped, David Stretton, I love you, I couldn’t be happier, I have never felt the way I do about you.” “I quite like you too,” Sally playfully slapped him. “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?” “More of last night please. There has been too much going on lately, we haven’t had enough time for each other. I want you near me, I know you love me, but at times I feel insecure.” The rest of the morning was spent in bed, sleeping and talking, nothing was said about work, the talk was of holidays, Sally asked about his past, although she knew about his time in the Army, he was reluctant to say anything much about growing up, she didn’t push him, she would be told in little bits when the time was right for Dave.
He was true to his word, twenty four hours after Sally had walked in, he still hadn’t asked for his phones or spoken about work. “You can have your phones back now,” Dave didn’t move, he said for Sally to sit down, “we fly out next Sunday and then back on Thursday, we will need smart clothes for each day we are there, I’m not sure about evenings, I don’t even know what we will be doing, the documents will be with us later today or tomorrow.” Sally went into the kitchen and returned with his phones, He had missed only one call, the Brigadier had phoned at midday, there was an email from him, opening it, he saw Fraser MacIntire owed over £40K to various credit cards, bookmakers and personal loans. He passed over his phone for Sally to read, “Maybe that’s why he gave himself up.” There were no other emails of any significance, he left the phones on the coffee table. Sally lay on the sofa with her head in Dave’s lap, his hand automatically caressed her face and hair. They were both thinking about next week, Sally wanted to be with Dave, he was trying to work out why they had been invited.
The documents were delivered on Wednesday morning, Dave felt flat, he didn’t know why, he drove to the café where he knew there would be plenty of drivers, he stayed until 15:00, he didn’t switch on his app, he wanted to be with people who had no idea what he did. Sally was her cheerful self when he returned, she asked if he had many jobs, “none, I went to the café to have a break, I didn’t want to work today.” “What is it, one day you are fine, the next you are low.” “I’m not sure, perhaps it’s time to give this all up, I love the work, it’s a trust thing, I said the other day, the only one I can trust is you. It’s true, there isn’t anyone else.” “Wait until the Washington trip is over, we will talk then, if you want to stop, then that’s fine by me.” Dave passed over the document he received that morning, Sally read through it, “we hardly get a mention, nothing is planned for us, we aren’t invited to the final dinner party at the Embassy.” “Why do you think we have been asked, it says we are there to liaise with the Americans, other than Cyrus, I don’t know anyone else?” “Let’s look at it as a freebie, if we’re not invited to any of the social events then we can go out in the evening. See if we can change our flights back, we could stay a couple more nights.” Dave said it was a good idea, he would call British Airways in the morning.
© 10210ken 2025
