Sally’s hair was still damp as they waited in the bar for Jane Goodley to arrive, Sally was smartly dressed, Dave was in jeans and a shirt, there hadn’t been time to have his suit pressed before dinner. They both had glasses of wine, Jane was ten minutes late, there were handshakes, no kisses, she too was smartly dressed. Looking at Dave she asked if he had run out of clothes, “as a matter of fact I have, these are the only clean clothes I have.” With a drink ordered for Jane, they moved through into the restaurant, Sally, when she had booked, asked for a quiet table, they were away from anyone else. Once they had ordered, Jane said according to the data she had, you are still in Langley, why did you change ID’s and switch off your phone?” “I thought you had seen enough of my movements, I had somewhere else I wanted to go.” “Facial recognition picked you up at Heathrow this afternoon, you were on a false ID. I’m waiting to find out where you flew in from.” “Madrid, it’s no big secret.” Sally looked at him, “you didn’t tell me you were there.” “I never moved far from the airport, it was a connecting flight.” “Your job offer from the CIA came in this afternoon,” both of them now looked at Jane, “are there any other emails I might need to attend to, you could make a good secretary.” There was a sarcastic tone to his voice. There was silence as they ate their main course, Dave although he was physically tired, his brain was still sharp, he was trying to figure out what the meeting was about. He was the only one to order dessert, not one, but two, coffee was brought as he was eating, there were only a few other tables still occupied. “You eat, I’ll talk, this trip to Washington and the emigration search is a load of nonsense, it was done to push the Home Secretary, I’m sorry to inform you that it hasn’t worked, there was a meeting yesterday, the Prime Minister has given him until next Friday to make a final decision. Your complete record was presented and then discussed, he is adamant you will not work for him. The Defence Secretary won’t be getting rid of you.” Dave had finished, he wiped his mouth before speaking. “That’s OK, it’s not a problem,” there was a smile on his face, “You’re up to something, what do you know?” “Unfortunately, I can only talk about anything I know with my employer.” “David, don’t mess with me I could make life very difficult for you.” “You won’t though, you dislike Cunningham as much as I do.” There was no reply. “Both of us have information, we need to compare notes before we decide on our next move.” Again, he was asked what he knew, “I will tell you before anyone else knows, have you put this meeting down as an engagement?” “No, only Ruth is aware.” “Can I trust you, whose side are you on?” “It’s not a question of sides, I need both of you, Home Secretary’s come and go, I have to guide the service regardless of who my boss is. With you working for us, there is more security, you know as a team there is no one to touch you. Individually you are very good, together you are better.” “One of us will speak to you next week, we will arrange a meeting to discuss our findings and work out the next move.” The meeting was over, all three walked to the hotel door, they waited while a taxi was called. As she was getting in, Dave thanked her for coming, “book the lecture theatre for next Friday, I will be giving a talk that morning,” Sally wanted to know why he said what he did, “because we should be re-instated by then.” She felt him wobble as they walked through the lobby, “I need to sleep, I feel worn out.” In the room he sat in a chair, he bent down to undo his laces, Sally was watching him, he was struggling, she helped him undress and get into bed. “I need you to do something, phone the Brigadier in the morning, I want to see him, make it early, there is a lot to do tomorrow.” His eyes closed as soon as he had finished, Sally made a note, she called reception and asked for a 07:00 call and someone from housekeeping to pick up clothes needed for the morning. Five minutes later she had Dave’s suit which needed pressing, boxers, shirts and socks in a laundry bag. She handed over the clothes together with £10, gave instructions and asked for everything to be returned at 07:30.
Sally picked up the phone as soon as it rang, out of bed she made coffee for herself, she would avoid waking Dave until the last minute. She had showered and was wearing a dressing gown when the clothes were returned. At 08:00 she used Dave’s phone to call the MOD. The Brigadier wasn’t in yet, Sally explained who she was, she would be called back as soon as he was in.” It was time to waken Dave, she made coffee for him, put it on his bedside table and kissed him. He stirred, but didn’t open his eyes, she squeezed his ear lobe, Dave had told her it was an Army trick to waken sleeping soldiers. It took several goes before his eyes opened, he rubbed his ear, he saw Sally smiling at him. “What time is it?” “08:15, time you were up.” While he was in the bathroom, his phone rang, Sally answered it. When he came out the bathroom, she said there was a meeting organised for 10:00. Dave quickly showered, he was pleased to see clean clothes. Dressed in his suit, they went down for breakfast, Dave asked if they should stay another night, Sally said no, they could work from home. It was 09:30 when they checked out, their cases were left at the hotel, each of them carried a laptop. The Brigadier greeted them with smiles and a handshake, coffee had been ordered. “You have another meeting after you have finished with me, the Chief of the Defence Staff wants to see you. What do you want from me?” “Sir, I would like you to arrange for me to go to Hereford, there is a bit of research I need to do there. We were up in Scotland, staying in the same hotel was an ex SAS soldier, I would like to check up on him.” He was asked why, “he is presumed dead, he disappeared on a mission on the Russian border, when we saw him he was with a Russian woman, Sally reckons they aren’t a couple. I want to check his record.” The Brigadier was making notes, “when do you want to go?” “Monday would be good,” “I will have it done today, your letter of authority will be emailed over to you.” “Sir, I would like an office to work in today, I’m not bothered where, big enough for us both.” They drank coffee and chatted until it was 10:45, Sally was given the key to an office close to where they were, Dave took out the folder from the CIA, read through this while I’m gone, see what you think.” He kissed her before leaving, “I’ll see you shortly.”
He knocked on Admiral Gordon Sheldon’s office door, he heard the electronic lock buzz, he pushed the door open. “David Stretton, I have an appointment,” “go straight in, the middle door.” The Admiral stood up as he entered, the Defence Secretary, Sir George Makin remained sitting. “Good morning sir,” both looked at him, Dave sat on the only empty chair. It was the Admiral who spoke, “You’re not very popular are you?” “Sir, I don’t go out of my way to make friends, but I haven’t spoken to the man, I’m not sure why he doesn’t want me working for him,” having read the file yesterday, he had a good idea. “I want to know about your trip to the CIA and the report you are thinking about moving abroad.” “Miss Goodley when she was sacking us said we were now being monitored and the report had to be sent to the Home Secretary weekly. I thought it might be fun to see what happens.” “Bullshit, what’s the proper story.” “I wanted something from the CIA to do with an investigation, I have a contact in Langley, we arranged a meeting, I had him send over an invitation.” “Is it anything you are working on for us?” “No sir, I might have been sacked, but it doesn’t stop me from carrying on, after all, I never worked for MI5 according to the records. I’m also just starting on one for the MOD, it’s early days, someone presumed dead, has risen from his grave and is being accompanied by a Russian minder. I have no idea why, but I will find out.” Sir George had said nothing up until now, “I would like to give you a piece of advice, I don’t know what you are doing, and I don’t want to, be careful, be very careful.” “I will, I always watch my back.” He stood up, shook Dave’s hand and left. The two sat there saying nothing, the silence was broken by a bell being pressed, the door opened, “coffee for two please.” “Sir, I’m not a politician, my only experiences of them have always been negative, what about Sir George?” “He will and does stick up for you, I can’t say about others, the new Home Secretary certainly doesn’t like you.” The rest of the meeting was general chat, he left at midday. Back on the Brigadier’s floor, he took two coffees into the office they were using, Sally was still reading. She drunk from the mug without looking up, it was another fifteen minutes before she closed the file. “Fucking Hell, he’s a wrong one, there’s none of this in his main file, I have a load of stuff on his sons, not shagging young girls, but very dodgy deals regarding the land they bought. We need to work on this to decide how we will present it and to whom. This isn’t the place to do this, we need to be at home where we can discuss this openly, without watching who is walking past.” Dave agreed, “we’ll go home, start work on this tomorrow, we might get it done by the end of the weekend.” “Dave, I want to ask you loads of questions, can we talk tonight when we get back, I haven’t asked you anything as you have looked so tired?” “OK, after dinner, I’m looking forward to some home cooked food.” They were on the train by 16:00, hopefully home by 18:00, it was busy, they managed to find window seats facing each other. Sally guessed he would nod off when the train moved out the station, his eyes closed as soon as he sat down. She watched as a man in a suit sat down next to her, he said hello, Dave never moved, he was thinking, planning the way he wanted the report laid out. The new arrival started talking to Sally as the train left St. Pancras, Dave stopped thinking and started listening, Sally, he thought, was being chatted up. He opened his eyes slightly to look at the man, he was smartly dressed and good looking. Sally was asked where she was getting off, she replied saying Leicester, the man was getting off at Market Harborough. “We’re not very far from each other, perhaps we could meet up, have a drink or a coffee.” Sally showed him her engagement ring, “I have a boyfriend, I don’t think he would like it.” “He wouldn’t have to know. What do you do?” “I work part time as a receptionist, the rest of the time, I have another job.” “What else do you do?” “I can’t tell you.” Dave could tell without opening his eyes, Sally was enjoying herself. “Would you tell me over dinner?” Dave thought he would start laughing if he didn’t say something, he opened his eyes and looked at the man, “nice try, but I would rather she came home with me and cooked my dinner.” There were profuse apologies, he said he would move seats, Dave said to stay where he was, the three of them chatted until the man got off. “Why did you spoil things, I was looking forward to being wined and dined?” “I was about to laugh, he was good at chatting you up, I thought he isn’t going to get anywhere. Good to see you were giving nothing away by saying you were getting off at Leicester.”
That evening Sally did grilled chicken breasts with salad and new potatoes, Dave sat in the kitchen drinking lager and watching her. In the lounge after they had eaten, she sat on a chair facing Dave, he was sprawled across the sofa. “Can I ask you questions now?” “Fire away,” “Tell me what happened in Langley, how did you get the file?” He went over everything that happened right up to the dinner with Cyrus, he explained about the software he had to give them to get the file. “Was that the real reason you went?” “Mostly, I did think about asking them for a job, but I thought there would be more restrictions than just now. I swapped identities and flew to Madrid, I met a friend and picked up newer versions of the software I had given away, it cost me $3.5k. I then flew back to London, a lot of travelling in a few days.” “Can I tell you about the sons?” Dave sat up to listen. “They have made a lot of money, they took over when the father was made an MP. They bought parcels of land, usually farming land or greenbelt, the cost was low, miraculously usually within two years, outline planning was approved. This happened every time, it’s still going on now. Strangely after each planning approval cash was withdrawn from the bank, according to the accounts this was for the private purchase of plant or vehicles. The amounts were up to £25k, I spoke to Michael, who knows more about accounts than I do, he said there should be an increase in assets in the balance sheet, I passed the figures over to him to look at, he said there was no increase. He and Olivia came round on Wednesday evening, he spent an hour looking at the accounts, his conclusion was the money went out, but no assets were bought. I think they were bribes for the planning. Although the father is nothing to do with the business, there are large payments to him every year. Someone better than us needs to look at the accounts.” “You did well, have you got everything in a file?” “Yes, it’s all upstairs, I printed out the last five years bank statements.” Do you have the mobile numbers for the sons?” “Not written down, but they are on their website.” “Can you get Monday off if I arrange a meeting?” “I’ll try, the students are back, the campus is busy, let me make a couple of calls, I will see if anyone will cover for me.” Ten minutes later, she was back, “It’s covered, you owe Sandra a box of chocolates.” “Can you give me the phone you used to call Ruth,” “It’s in the kitchen on top of the fridge,” he called Ruth, “It’s David Stretton, is Jane there?” “She’s in the bath, shall I ask her to ring you back?” Dave said yes, then rang Flemings Hotel, he booked for Sunday and Monday nights. “What’s your plan?” “We go down tomorrow, I will arrange a meeting room for Monday, can you get me the two phone numbers and the dates when the planning applications were approved?” Sally went upstairs to find the information. Jane Goodley phoned back on the burner phone, she was annoyed at being disturbed. “Jane, things are happening, I need your help, I have booked a meeting room at Flemings Hotel for Monday, I need a forensic accountant there then, Sally has accounts that don’t add up, excuse the pun, she thinks she knows the reasons, but she needs an expert.” “David, stop, I have no idea what you are talking about, start at the beginning and explain what you have found.” “Corruption amongst other things, the Home Secretary’s sons are bribing their way to obtaining planning permission, some of the money is paid to Sir Alan, I also have a huge file on him I would like to discuss with you on Monday evening.” Sally was now back in the room, she handed over the paper with the information he wanted. “I would like you to check out two phone numbers, I want a list of the calls made and received ten days either side of specific dates. Do you have a pen or should I email it over. I could do it myself, but it would take me some time.” There was a pause before she spoke. “What if I say no?” “I will do one of two things, either I will speak to the PM or I will carry on if he won’t help.” “Send over what you want, I will have to organise the accountant, I will let you know later.” Sally was now sitting beside him, “tomorrow we can go through everything, put all the information from the CIA into a report, make sure you have everything in your file. We will need the official MI5 file as well for comparison.” He looked at his watch, he picked up his normal phone, he sent a text and waited.
His phone rang at 09:30 the next morning. “I’m sorry to call you at the weekend sir, as you know, I’m going to Hereford on Monday, I will be in London, do you have a car I could use, with blue lights if possible. I would like to leave at 10:00, I don’t need a driver.” Dave waited while the Brigadier was writing, “Flemings Hotel sir, thank you.” Sally had stopped what she was doing and listened to the call. “I had forgotten about the missing SAS soldier. How do you remember everything,” she didn’t expect an answer, it was an expression of her amazement at how he managed it all.
The morning was spent scanning in the documents brought from the US, he sat and wrote a foreword for the report as Sally worked away. He listed Sir Alan’s liking for young girls mostly sixteen although the CIA report noted some were younger. The pregnant au-pair who had an abortion, his wife beating and two drink driving charges which suddenly vanished. When he had finished, he wondered how the CIA had obtained the information and the photographs in the file, he thought they must have had a dedicated team working on it. “How could he be Education Secretary, when he was shagging young girls, some dressed in school uniform, dirty, filthy, bastard. He deserves to hang, I’d pull the lever.” Sally was upset by some of the images, “he’s a fat fucker with a tiny dick.” She left the office, Dave could hear her sniffing, he went to find her, she was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’ve seen images of orgies, we had a laugh about them, shot and killed, seen pictures of corpses, nothing has upset me like these, Dave they’re only kids.” His arm was round her, she buried her head in his chest and sobbed. A few minutes later, she sat up, wiped her eyes and stood. “I’m OK, I was just a little overcome, I’m going back to carry on, the more evidence we have, the better.” With a break for lunch, it was 19:00 when they finished, the files were ready to be printed. “We will do the printing tomorrow, we need more paper, ink and lever arch files for everything.” “Dave order food, I’m going for a bath, we can swap places when I get out.” It was 20:30 when the Chinese was delivered, they ate in silence, Sally wanted to go to bed when they had eaten. “I just want you to hold me tonight, I want to be loved, not make love, do you understand?”
With an early breakfast out the way, it was off to Tesco’s, each had a trolley, Dave went off to find the office supplies he needed, while Sally started on the food shopping. Time was tight, four copies of the paperwork were required, over six hundred pages. Dave started as Sally put away the food, she had packed for the hotel and made lunch, all the time she could hear the printer churning out the paperwork. At just after 15:30 it stopped, “Have you finished or has it broken?” “Finished, it’s all put into files and folders, is there room in the case, it won’t all fit in my backpack?” They were carrying a lot as they left, a suitcase, two laptops, a briefcase and Dave’s backpack. The train from Loughborough was almost empty, it was slow, there was engineering work at several points on the way down. It was almost 20:00 when they arrived at the hotel. The suitcase was quickly unpacked, the meal that night was in the Greek restaurant they had visited before. Sally was back to normal, they laughed about silly things and enjoyed their meal, both knew the next couple of days would be hectic and stressful.
© 10210ken 2025
