Sally moved the boat out into the river slowly, “no speed yet, I want to see the handover first.” They were around a mile from the yacht. Dave was standing, his feet were wedged under a piece of metal rail, with his left hand, he held onto a piece of webbing, his Glock was in his right hand. The powerboat had sped up as soon as it was clear of the harbour. More messages were coming in from the spotter at the yacht club. “Powerboat approaching, one hundred metres, speed dropping. Warning shot in the air from the yacht. Now about ten metres apart. Conversation taking place.” Thomas Grassington was shouting that there was only supposed to be two people. “Show me the money,” the white duffle bag was opened and bundles of US dollars were waived at him. “Throw the bag on board, your stuff is here,” he lifted up the package he had picked up in Kirkwall. “Once you have thrown the money over, I’ll put it on the side of the yacht, pull alongside and take it, nobody comes on board.” The white duffle bag was thrown across, Thomas Grassington bent down to pick it up. His gun, which had been pointing at the powerboat, dropped as he bent. When he stood back up, there was a burst of fire.
The spotter was yelling “man on yacht shot,” that was enough for Dave. “Go, go, go.” Both boats sped into action, racing towards the powerboat and yacht. Someone was now on board the yacht, the duffle bag and package were retrieved. Sally was aiming directly for the powerboat. Dave was firing, where the bullets were going was random, he saw someone fall back, one down three to go. The powerboat was facing up river, it moved towards Sally quickly, they were heading towards each other, both were firing, Sally shouted at Dave to hold on, she turned quickly, soaking those in the powerboat. The second boat now took over as Sally turned. There was an exchange of fire, no one was hit. Sally was now behind, gunfire was being aimed at her, Dave was now crouching behind the bullet proof windscreen. Whoever was driving the other boat wasn’t very experienced, they could go fast in a straight line, but not so good at turning. Sally was relentless, she was chasing, the three boats were heading upstream, they passed under the road bridge and carried on. The powerboat slowed to turn, Sally who was now firing as well as steering turned to aim directly at the powerboat, Dave shouted at her to watch out, he was ignored, she turned just before she was about to collide, she gave it a glancing blow, “shoot the engines,” Dave turned round and fired as many shots as he could towards the back of the powerboat. The three left were still trying to fire. The powerboat suddenly slowed. The second boat came up behind and hit it between the two outboard motors, the force knocked the three over. They weren’t very far from a stoney shoreline, they kept pushing until the powerboat was up on the stones. One of the three climbed up, a gun in his hand, he fired towards the other boat. Sally still holding her gun, shot him. There was no further resistance. The two left were Fraser MacIntire and the Russian woman, five Glocks were being pointed at them, Dave said for them to get out the boat, he was already on the shore, he was joined quickly by the others. Sally sat on a rock, she was worn out, the captives were quickly tied up, no one knew where they were. A commando scrambled up to find a footpath. Dave was sitting on the front of one of the boats, he took out his phone to make calls, The first was to the Brigadier, “Job done, three dead including Grassington, not killed by us, two in custody, no civilians involved.” He made the same call to Jane Goodley, his third call was to Trevor, “That’s it, job done, thank you, meet us tonight for dinner, you can drive us back in the morning.” He went to sit next to Sally, “you never told me you could handle a boat,” “you never asked me. Many years ago, I had a jet ski, I was bloody good, I could never be caught, it just came naturally to me. The boat was just a big jet ski.” Police started to appear, the two were handcuffed and taken away, the number of weapons recovered, would put them away for many years, Dave thought the Russian woman would be swapped for a British person being held somewhere in Russia, if there wasn’t one, there soon would be. He heard over the radio, a recovery team were on their way to collect the boats, there were bullet holes in both of them. Dave photographed the two dead as well as the two survivors, more images were taken of the weapons, the package and the duffle bag. Dave opened it, there were bundles of $100 notes, the rest was newspaper. Dave took eight of them, he passed four to Sally and put the others in his pockets. It was unseen by anyone else. Speaking to the Lieutenant, he said for everyone to stand down, and to meet at the TA base. Dave let the police take over, his part was done, he felt tired and relieved, since returning from the US, he hadn’t stopped, he was amazed Sally had kept up. One commando was left to supervise the recovery of the boats, they were to be towed back to the dock they had left. A tug with police on board was on its way to bring the yacht to the same place.
Once inside the building, Sally laid all her weapons on a table, she unloaded the Glocks, emptied the magazines as Dave did the same. Mugs of coffee were brought for them, there was a feeling of relief in the room, everyone was busy doing something, Dave stood up on a chair. “I want to thank everyone for the way the operation was carried out this morning, the result was better than expected, the two main people are now in custody, they will be in London by this evening. I can tell you now, it was an attempt to deliver top secret equipment to the Russians, however, that information is classified. Thank you all for your commitment.” He climbed down and thanked each person in turn. Sally was surrounded, they were amazed at her boat handling skill and her shooting ability. One of them asked her for a date, “you will need to speak to Dave, I’m not sure he will agree, she held her hand up for him to see the ring.” There was an immediate apology, “It’s OK, he won’t take offence.” Leaving, Dave wanted to be dropped off at the hotel, he and Sally quickly went upstairs, showered and made love. “We can’t stay in bed, I have a report to write and I’m starving.” Reluctantly they dressed, went down to the restaurant, before going to the meeting room to start on the report. Scribbling his thoughts down on paper, Sally browsed the internet while she waited. There was a knock at the door, Sally went to see who it was, she let the police Area Commander in but said for him to sit quietly and wait. It was another fifteen minutes before Dave stopped. “Sorry about that, I had to get my thoughts down on paper, while still fresh in my head.” “This is Sally, she is my assistant, and much more, she was on one of the boats this morning.” “We have the two in custody, the Home Office will be taking them to London later, the bodies have been recovered from the boats and yacht, but we haven’t been able to identify them yet, do you know who they are?” “The one in the yacht is Thomas Grassington, a Royal Naval submarine captain, I don’t want his name released at the moment. The flat in Broughty Ferry, should be looked at however I don’t think you will find anything there which will help us, I would like the luggage from the powerboat and anything else found, delivered here, together with paperwork found on the two in the cells and their dead colleagues. I will deliver them to the Home Office later. Have you decided what you will be telling the press?” “It’s being worked on now, something along the lines of an Army exercise which went wrong, the dead yachtsman will be unexplained until a post mortem has been carried out, by the time the cause of death is released, it will probably be reported as suicide, hopefully the press will lose interest very quickly. Will you send me a copy of the report when you have it completed?” “It will be with you later this afternoon, I will be gone tomorrow morning, life can return to normal.” Dave stood up indicating the meeting was over, “I have to get back to my report, whoever brings everything to the hotel, say to them to ask for me at reception.” They shook hands, Dave returned to his seat and started to right up the report again in a way Sally could read.” Two hours later it was done, Sally was no longer bothered by the images, she inserted them where Dave said. They both read through it again, it was sent to the police, Army, Jane Goodley and the Brigadier, they would forward it on to those who needed to see it. When Sally had pressed send, he called Jane Goodley, “the report should be in your emails about now, I understand the two in custody are on their way to you, I want to see the man next week, but we will sort that out later, I will have all the luggage and documents soon, can you arrange for it to be collected from Sally’s house over the weekend, I want to go through it first. Can you have the local police interview the wife once she has been told, it may add to what we already know.” “David, can you come here tomorrow, people are screaming at me, I have the PM, the Home Secretary and your American friend all demanding meetings?” “No, I can’t do that, if you remember, we haven’t been home since we left for the US over ten days ago, I’ve been all over Scotland, I need to sleep, when the adrenalin wears off, I will collapse, Sally is shattered, I want to spend time with her, we have only talked about work since we landed.” Sally was now standing behind, her hands on his shoulders. Make appointments from midday on Monday, I was thinking about Ubering to wind down, but…” “OK, I’ll put everyone off, come to my office on Monday morning.” Putting down his phone he pulled Sally down to kiss her, “put everything away, it’s nearly over, Trevor will be here for dinner later, do you have anything you want to do for the next couple of hours?” He smiled at her as he said it. Sally pulled him up saying “I have a list of things, all involve us being naked.”
Waiting for Trevor to arrive, Dave was told there had been two suitcases and a sealed box delivered for him, he took them upstairs leaving them in the room, Sally was talking to Trevor in the bar when he returned. Over dinner, he wanted to know what it was all about, Dave said enough to satisfy his curiosity. They planned what would happen tomorrow, it was decided to leave at 10:00, Trevor would pick them up, he and Dave would share the driving. “Can you pay me when I drop you off,” “We need a full invoice for this, can you make sure we have it by the end of the weekend, as usual, I don’t need to remind you to keep your mouth shut, I wouldn’t want you to have an accident.” Trevor was gone by 22:00, Sally was yawning, Dave said he wanted to look in the suitcases before they slept. He put one on the bed, Sally said it felt odd going through someone else’s possessions. “It’s part of the job,” the first case belonged to Fraser MacIntire, mostly clothes and toiletries, his Rolex was in a gift box wrapped in a tee shirt. He felt round the edges of the lining to see if anything was hidden. Next was the woman’s, it was full of underwear, nearly all of it new, still with the tags on, Sally held some of the items up. “These are from Ann Summers, do you suppose Russian men like split crotch knickers, you might as well not bother.” Dave closed the cases, there was nothing of any interest, the box he would investigate over the weekend, before it was collected.
They were waiting for Trevor in the morning, he moaned when he saw how much there was to fit in the car, “you should have hired something bigger.” Sally had some bags in with her on the rear seat, Trevor set off, he would drive until fuel was needed. The journey was uneventful, Sally slept for a lot of it, approaching Loughborough, Dave pulled into a garage, he picked up milk and bread while the car was filled up. Sally made coffee while the cases were brought in, Trevor sat at the dining room table, finalising his bill, he had done most of it the night before, he had to add the fuel he bought today. Sally looked at the total, and went off, she came back with a thick envelope, “There is an extra £500 in there. Thank you.” Trevor slipped the money into his jacket, he would count it later.
When he had gone, she hugged Dave, “home at last, I feel worn out,” “I will ring for a takeaway, empty the suitcases while we are waiting, when we have eaten, we can go to bed.” Sally, emptying her suitcase took out the eight bundles of money, “Dave what are we going to do with this?” “I thought I might buy you a jet ski.” Despite being tired, they both laughed. “I have a plan for it, I will use it to pay for software, my contact likes dollars.”
Sally woke first, Dave slept on, she went downstairs to phone her friend Olivia, it was nearly two weeks since they had spoken, Sally had messaged her when she was in Scotland to say she was working with Dave and would phone her as soon as she could. The call lasted almost an hour, before hearing Dave moving about she said she had to go. Dave was brought a coffee, she asked how he was, “it’s good to be in our own bed, I slept well.” “I’ve spoken to Olivia, I said they could come round tonight, do you mind?” “Are we cooking, is it a dinner?” “I thought we might get decent burgers and salad, something like an apple pie for dessert.” “Fine by me, it will be good to sit at home.” Dave looked at his phone, “the carriers are coming between 15:00 and 17:00 for the cases, I will look at the box after breakfast.” Sally said she would do the shopping while he was in the office, “it will be good to do normal things.” There were four phones, three passports, three wallets and a purse and the duffle bag. He didn’t bother with the phones, there was nothing further to investigate, the wallets and purse had money, drivers licences and bank cards, someone else would examine them. He picked up the British passport, it belonged to Richard Shanks, he knew it would be a forgery, his untrained eye couldn’t see anything wrong with it. The two Russian passports he guessed would be genuine, the first one was Svetlana Yegorova, he looked at the woman, she had a typical Russian face. Richard Shanks Russian passport was in the name of Nikolai Romanov, he thought for a moment then laughed out loud, he wrote the three names down. He looked in the duffle bag, two bundles of notes remained, Dave guessed Grassington would have been ripped off, he wondered how much he had been promised.
He resealed the box, found tape and wrapped it round the suitcases and took everything down to the front door, he opened the garage and put them in ready for collection. As he was making coffee, he heard Sally come in with some of the shopping, he put another cup near the kettle ready.
The carrier arrived with five minutes to spare, “what will you be doing on Monday?” “I’m not sure, Jane will have arranged it all, I think I might stay down on Monday, do you want to come?” “No, I want to be here, I need time to get over it all.” “On Tuesday I want to see Fraser MacIntire, see if he will talk to me. I won’t get anything out of him unless he wants to talk, he has been trained not to give anything away.”
Olivia and Michael arrived at 19:30, there were hugs and kisses, they stood in the kitchen as Dave cooked the food, Sally was in and out setting the dining room table, she and Olivia were drinking wine, Dave and Michael drank cold lager. There was silence as they ate the burgers, there were two bowls on the table, one with salad, the other full of French fries. Eating the apple pie, Michael asked how the trip to the USA had been, it was Sally who answered, “interesting, Dave was asked to speak on the last day, I think a lot of people regretted it afterwards, he told them a few home truths in the way only he can.” Olivia wanted to know what he had said. “I only talked about their foreign policy and how the world looked at them as bullies. Not much else.” “He’s playing it down, it was very good, the meeting was in front of the heads of the CIA, he pulled them apart, saying where they were wrong, and then put them back together again by telling them what needed to be done. There was a stunned silence when he sat down.” Olivia then asked what they had been doing since they flew back, Dave looked at Sally, “there was a bit of work in Scotland which needed his help.” Sally picked up the empty plates, she and Olivia took them through into the kitchen, the kettle was put on for coffee. “Were you in Dundee?” Michael looked at Dave, “two dead in a training exercise gone wrong, reports of gunfire, no further updates. Then in the same area, there is the story of a suicide on a yacht.” “I can’t say where we were, or what we were doing, you know that.” “My offer stands, how is Sally?” “She is fine, did you know she used to own a jet ski?” “As far as I’m aware she has never had one while she has been here, it must have been before she moved.” The coffee had now been brought through, Olivia and Michael were shown the pictures from the Embassy Dinner, they both said how elegant they looked. The rest of the evening was spent chatting, Sally said she would book a tennis court for the following Saturday. A taxi picked them up just before midnight, Sally’s arm was through Dave’s as they left. “I don’t want to leave here, I know they will try to persuade you on Monday, whatever you agree to, don’t say we will move.” “Sally, you know that won’t happen, I want to be here with you, maybe in a different house, one we choose together, but there is no way I would take you away from here, now, get in the house and up the stairs.” They didn’t go out on Sunday, Dave washed the cars and cut the grass, Sally had the washing machine on several times. During the evening, Dave packed his case for the morning, he was gone by 06:00.
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