Sally sat at the back of the lecture theatre as Dave gave his Friday morning talk, she had asked him while they ate breakfast what he would be talking about. “I don’t know, I will decide when I am in the room.” She watched Dave as he paced back and forth across the platform.
“Are we all here, sit down and I will start. It’s a history lesson today, no groaning, I hope you might learn something. In the 6th century BC, there was a Chinese warrior, his name was Sun Tzu, he wrote a book, thirteen chapters long, each one dealt with a different aspect of war and winning battles, I want to talk about chapter thirteen, the last one, I think it should have been the first. It deals with spies, without the information they pass on, many battles would be lost.” Dave went on to talk about the different ways spies can be used, how to deal with them, always to check the information and have it confirmed from another source if possible. He said our spies are our opponents traitors. After forty five minutes he finished saying he would take any questions and would be in his office most of the day. Dave hadn’t seen Jane Goodley sitting amongst those who were there, she remained seated as Sally came down to the front. “Again, you give an interesting talk on a subject most of us find dull. Come up and see me later, both of you.”
Dave and Sally sat in the head of MI5’s office, both were given coffees, “following your advice, we are trying a different way to recruit new field agents. There won’t be more than five or six, I want you both to assess the new recruits and to advise on an individual training program for each one. Sally, you will look at their office skills, David you will work on field craft. We are looking for this to commence in the next three to six months. You can then start to do less of the dangerous work.” Neither of them knew what to say, eventually it was Dave who spoke. “I don’t think either of us see our future as trainers and teachers, yes, we will help you, but I don’t want to be a recruiter.” “David, whether you like it or not, you are getting older, the time will come when you don’t want to be running around in the cold and wet, being shot at. Start thinking about the future.”
The rest of the day was spent helping out with cases where the researchers didn’t know what to do or where to go next. They worked separately and only met up at the end of the day. As they were leaving, Sally said they had to hurry as the show began at 19:30. They both enjoyed the musical, it was fun and entertaining with catchy songs, Dave led Sally into Chinatown, they found a restaurant with space and enjoyed a late meal. Walking back to the hotel, they passed the entrance to Green Park tube station, “don’t turn round, there are three following us, they just came out from the tube, be ready.” Crossing the street, the three walked past them, two on the side where Sally was, the other on Dave’s left. The pavement was much quieter, there was only the five of them. The three got further ahead, Dave was about to say it was a false alarm when they turned. “Wallets, phones and watches now, I’ll stab you if you don’t hurry up, you give me your handbag and rings.” “You picked on the wrong people tonight,” all three were now brandishing knives. Dave hit the one who had spoken, he went flying backwards, crashing onto the floor, Sally did the same to the one nearest to her, he fell sideways, dropping his knife. The third one turned to run, Dave caught his arm, held him and with his other hand punched his nose, he let go before the blood started to flow. The three were on the floor, Sally asked what they should do, “you watch them, give them a kick if needed. He walked out into the middle of Piccadilly, he looked for a police car, Fortunately, one appeared within a few minutes. Dave flagged it down, it was a policewoman inside, he said what had happened. She radioed for more police and a van, Dave heard sirens in the distance. Sally was still watching the three, two were sitting up, the one Dave hit first was still on the ground. One of the cars contained a sergeant, he took over, an ambulance was called for the one on the floor. Dave was asked what had happened, he explained everything from when he heard the footsteps behind them. “Why didn’t you hand over your valuables, you might have been stabbed, possessions can be replaced.” “Because they are ours, I’m not giving them to some shit just because he has a knife, there was no way either of us would have been stabbed, each one got a whack, I did two, my partner did the other.” Sally smiled at the policeman, “she’s very good you know.” We will require a statement from you both, do you have any ID with you?” “Yes, but I’m not producing it out here in the street, we are staying at Flemings Hotel, just along the road, you can see us there, we will be in the lounge.” Dave turned to walk away, “You cannot just walk away from the scene of a crime.” “Look, I’ve told you where we are staying, have someone come with us, but I’m not waiting. We could have just walked away and left them here, I wish now we had.” The sergeant spoke to the policewoman Dave had flagged down, “She will go with you, I will be round when this is cleared up.” At the porters desk, Dave said what had happened, “another policeman will be round soon, shall we sit in the dining room out the way?” The porter said it was a good idea, Sally asked for coffee and biscuits for four. The policewoman asked about the hotel, she said she had driven past many times, but had never been in. The sergeant arrived fifteen minutes later, the policewoman left. “Let’s start with who you are,” “I’m Dave and this is Sally,” “Can I see your ID’s please?” They both took out their MI5 ID’s, “this is why we wouldn’t show you in the street. There is a contact number on the front, phone it for confirmation,” “What about your address? “As I said, phone the number, I’ve told you what happened, neither of us will be saying anything else.” He left to call MI5, returning a couple of minutes later, “thank you for giving me the facts about the attempted robbery, I shan’t require any further information.” Sally asked what he would have been told, “I don’t know, but probably to leave us alone.”
Dave asked Sally to check the business account as he sat in bed with his first coffee of the day. “Fucking Hell, do you know how much is in?” “By your voice, rather a lot,” “it’s over £420k, £44k, for Washington and Scotland plus just under £200k from HMRC, is that your share of the deal?” “Yes, you can start looking if you want.” “With the money in the house, it must be nearly £600k.” He said it was no more than they deserved. “I suppose we will have to go shopping today.” The duty manager approached them as they were having breakfast, Sally said for him to join them for a coffee, he took a cup and saucer from a nearby table and sat down, the waiter asked him if he would be eating, he shook his head. “I understand there was an incident last night as you came back to the hotel, thank you for being discrete, it’s disconcerting for the guests to see police coming and going.” Sally said what had happened, “Dave said to them they had picked the wrong people to rob. He downed two of them I did the third.” He looked at Sally, jokingly he said he would know who to call if ever there was any issues in the hotel. He drained his cup, stood up and thanked them again for their discretion. The day was spent shopping, Sally didn’t buy much, what she did buy was expensive.
For the evening dinner, Dave wore a suit, Sally had made him put on a tie, she was wearing the silk evening dress she had bought in Washington. “You’re not wearing the tight thong are you, it wasn’t comfortable last time?” “No, only the dress, and a small jacket.” Dave ran his hand round her bum to check, “I’m going to be thinking about you knickerless for the rest of the evening.” They were in the bar at 19:00, Dave had retrieved the envelope from the safe in reception. Fifteen minutes later, Sally saw Jane and Ruth, she hugged and kissed them both, “Congratulations, I hope you will have a long and happy life together.” There were hugs and kisses for Dave. When they all had a drink, he said for them to move into the lounge. Sally sat on a table on her own away from Dave, her handbag open on the table, Jane and Ruth sat further into the lounge, but still able to see Dave, “When the contact looks round at you smile.” He watched everybody come and go, the lounge was half full. Cyrus Grantly came in at 19:30, the agreed time. Dave stood up when he saw him, they sat down, He carried on looking at the entrance, “are you wired?” Cyrus nodded, “get rid of the two goons who have just come in, Cyrus said something which Dave didn’t here, he watched the two men leave. “Sorry, they come with the job, Where’s Sally, I thought she was staying here as well?” “She’s over there,” he pointed out Sally, she smiled, “her open handbag has a gun, there are more, look at the two ladies behind you, Jane gave him a little wave. “Mine is under my jacket, it’s not that I don’t trust you, I like to be careful.” He took out the envelope from the side of the chair, opened it and passed the contents to Cyrus, “We have been watching you all day, we never saw the handover.” “It was on Thursday, I lied. The software has been tested, I had an extra copy for the UK Government. It works exactly as expected.” The sticks were put in his pocket. “Cyrus, it would have gone a lot smoother and easier if your guys hadn’t been trying to trace who I was contacting, tell them to lay off. I would ask you to stay for dinner, but it is a private party tonight, will you still be here tomorrow?” “No, I hope to catch a flight later tonight, they want this in Langley.” They were now standing, “keep in touch Cyrus, I’m sure we can do more business.” With a brief handshake he was gone.
The four went back into the bar, they were given menus to look at, Dave said he had to go up to the room, he patted his jacket, they were ready to order when he returned, he said what he wanted, they had one more drink before going through to the restaurant. They chatted as they ate the starters, the wine waiter came across carrying an ice bucket on a stand, he was passed a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, four more glasses were put on the table, other diners looked round as the bottle was opened. Dave said to pour out Jane and Ruth’s glasses first, Dave raised his glass, “to Jane and Ruth, may you have everlasting happiness.” There was a clink of glasses, Dave was the only one not dabbing his eyes. It was a happy meal, they all discussed their plans for the future. Drinking coffee, Jane asked if they wouldn’t mention anything about the wedding when they were at work, “not even Howard knows, it’s private business.” Ruth wanted to hear about Dave and Sally’s exploits, “you know we can’t go into details, but if Jane has a video on her phone, she might show you Sally driving a boat.” “I’ve not seen this, will you show me as well?” Jane found the email with the video, she turned the sound off and put her phone on the table so Ruth and Sally could see it. “Shit, I am good, the boat is all over the place, you’re doing well to stand up.” Jane played it again, Ruth said it was like a scene from a film, “weren’t you scared?” Dave said there was no time to be scared. “Your heart is thumping before you set off, adrenalin takes over.” They had more coffee before Jane said they should be going, she rang for her car, standing in the foyer, there were tears in Jane’s eyes, “thank you both, especially you Sally, if you hadn’t phoned Ruth that night, we wouldn’t be here now.” There were more hugs and kisses as they got into the car. Walking back in, Sally said it had been a mistake not to wear something under the dress, “didn’t you notice me going to the toilet more than usual? I’m soaking wet, we need to go up to the room now.” Dave quickly undressed, he was soon naked, Sally was standing waiting, still wearing the dress, as they held each other, he undid the zip at the back, pulling the thin straps off her shoulders it fell to the floor, Dave carried her to the bed.
In the morning Sally wanted to stay for an extra night, Dave said it would be too much of a rush on Monday morning. Reluctantly, she picked up the clothes off the floor and packed. Later in the day, sitting at home, they each had a message, Sally’s was from Ruth, thanking them for the evening, Dave’s was from Cyrus, his too was a thank you. That evening, they sorted out clothes for the morning, back to a normality, at least until the next crisis.
Case closed.
© 10210ken 2025
