Dave was woken by two things, his need to pee and his ringing phone, he was still dressed, answering his phone, he said he would call back. Having come out the bathroom, he looked at the clock, 08:00, he drunk some of the cold coffee, it tasted horrible, back in the bathroom, he cleaned his teeth. Sitting on the bed, he looked at Sally, she was still asleep, undressing, he went back into the en-suite and showered, wearing only boxers, he undid the boots Sally was still wearing, she stirred, but carried on sleeping. Dave pulled the part of the duvet he had been lying on over Sally then went downstairs. He made himself a fresh cup of coffee, on the table was a note from Olivia, saying to call her if they needed anything. Dave phoned Jane Goodley back, “David, as you can guess, the shit has hit the fan, people are screaming at me, I need you down here today to help me explain what took place.” “I’m not sure, I have only just woken up, I don’t know how Sally is, yesterday shocked her a little, it depends on her, she is still sleeping at the moment, she is in bed wearing the clothes she flew home in. Give me an hour, I will call you back. Will you contact the trawler, we left stuff on there, can you get it to London, some of it is to do with the job.” He heard Sally moving about upstairs, he made another coffee and took it up to her. She was naked, and going into the shower, when she saw him, she changed her mind, they hugged for an age, she didn’t want to let Dave go. “How do you feel?” “Apart from feeling fucked, I think I am OK, my face hurts, I didn’t notice it at the time. It looks like you have thumped me.” “What about yesterday, how do you feel about that?” “I’m OK, bad people were trying to kill us, we had to kill them. The only thing is the guy who put his hands up and was shot by his own people. That upset me, it was like an execution.” “That’s what it was, you can’t describe it any other way. Jane wants me in London, she says there is a lot of trouble, I need to explain what we did.” “Just tell them we killed a load of bad guys.” “Do you want to come?” “Book into Flemings Hotel for tonight, I will see how I feel later, would you ring Olivia, ask her to come round while I am in the shower.” Half an hour later, Dave was sitting having breakfast, he heard the door bell, he guessed it was Olivia, he hadn’t dressed, wearing only his boxers, he opened the door. “Bloody Hell, there’s not much left to the imagination.” Dave said nothing, she followed him into the kitchen, he made another coffee for her. “Thank you for yesterday, I have to go to London, I think Sally needs some company today, I’m not sure if she will join me later, it depends on how she feels.” “Dave, I looked in the backpack yesterday before I left, I described what I saw to Michael, he says they are machine guns.” “You shouldn’t have looked,” “there was the pointy bit of one sticking out.” Dave left her and went for the backpack, he took it upstairs and put it in the wardrobe in the spare room, he would sort it out later. Sally was out the shower, she wanted to make love, Dave said Olivia was in the kitchen. She pulled on a dressing gown and went to see her. They hugged, she made sally another coffee as Dave dressed. He came into the kitchen wearing a suit. “Shit, do you think it will be that bad?” “I’m not sure, I don’t know who I will be meeting, Olivia, would you take me to the station?” She watched as Sally and Dave kissed, she had seen them kiss briefly when they had been out, never anything as passionate as this. “You’re like two school kids, break it up,” He took his old battered backpack with everything he would need overnight, if Sally came down, she would bring more clothes.
At midday, he was sitting across the desk from Jane Goodley, they both had coffees. “There is a meeting with senior cabinet ministers at 14:30, Admiral Sheldon, Graeme Rogers, myself and you will be there. You will only be required if they want to know what was involved in the operation.” “I still think there is more I haven’t been told, but if I’m asked to investigate further, you know I will find out.” There was no reply to his comment. “Do we have time for lunch, I will treat you at Flemings, your car can pick us up afterwards.” Jane thought for a minute then picked up her phone. “Howard, I am going out, I’m not sure if I will be back, I’m having lunch out, will you have my car ready.”
There was no talk of the previous few days as they ate, other than an enquiry about Sally, Dave said she was OK, “she was upset when she saw one of the republicans being executed.” Jane stopped eating and looked at him, “I called for them to surrender, one of them stood up with his hands in the air, he was immediately shot by one of his own. She has a friend with her today, she won’t say anything, don’t worry.” Drinking coffee, she asked him how he dealt with the killing. “Sally explains it in a much better way than I can, she says they are bad people and if we don’t kill them, they will kill us. I could ramble on for ages, but I would end up saying the same.” As they drove to Downing Street, she said depending on what happened this afternoon, she may have more work for him.
It wasn’t a friendly meeting, the three heads were each asked to explain why such a serious operation took place without those round the table being informed. Dave found out the SBS operation had been compromised, the radio communications to and from the island were being monitored. They knew the SBS were on their way. Graeme Rogers said less than ten people knew what was planned. The Prime Minister now looked at Dave, “Mr. Stretton, would you explain your part in all this.” Dave stood up, he walked over to the table where the coffee was, he poured himself a cup, “would you mind if I stand and walk about, it helps my concentration.” Jane knew exactly what he was doing, he wanted to be in control. “I was called in last Sunday morning, the setup on the island was explained to me, my task was to reclaim the island and stop the manufacture of drugs. On Monday I had a meeting with two associates, who the following night were put ashore on the island to carry out a recce. They found two of the three from the SBS, before going down into the occupied area to find the best way to accomplish the mission. Back on the trawler, we worked out a plan, there would be a force of six, Miss Fellowes and myself, my two associates and the two men being held. It was only as we were about to go in, we were told about the hostages and that those on the island were dissident republicans. I don’t know if you have dealt with them before, but they can be fanatical. It changed the operation, we had to locate the prisoners first, they were found in the southern pillbox. With them safe, we moved in to take over, there was a bit of a fire fight, during a lull, I called for them to surrender, one stood up, he was then shot in the back by his friends. There was more firing before eventually it was over. We immediately called for backup and attended the wounded, our only casualty was Miss Fellowes who was hit in the face when a grenade was thrown towards her. That’s it, I will right out a full report over the next week which you will all receive, if anyone has any questions, I will be pleased to answer them.” “The Foreign Secretary asked who the other two were, “associates” was all Dave would say, he was pressed further, I won’t be saying who they are, so please don’t ask, the operation was approved before it was carried out, I’m used because, truthfully you can say no government employee took part in the operation, well, actually there was this time, but operations by the SBS are always denied.” Dave sat down, he hoped his part was over. It wasn’t, there was another question, “how can you justify killing nineteen people?” “They were shooting at us, we shot back, I can’t help it if we are better shots than they are, I offered them the chance to give up, they chose not to. That’s why they were killed. I take no pleasure in killing another human being, however it is what the Army spent a lot of money training me to do.” “And what about the woman, what did she do?” “What she had to do, she also has been trained to kill.” Dave was asked to wait outside. Sally sent him a message asking how it was going, he said it was boring, she sent him a picture of herself sitting on a train, Dave sent back a row of smiley faces. The meeting room door opened, everyone filed out, there was no talking, Jane said he was to go back in, “Come back to my office when you are finished.” Dave went back in, only the Prime Minister and an aide remained. “David, sit down.” “Before I do, would you like a coffee?” They both nodded, he sat to the right of the PM, “David, it’s true what they say about you, wherever you go, there is always a trail of debris left behind for others to sort out. What’s your view on all this?” “May I speak candidly without your aide making notes?” Richard Carlton nodded, the pen was put down. “Sir, there is much more to this than I have been told, I don’t know what or who to believe. I’ve said to you on many occasions I don’t trust politicians, this time it’s civil servants, will you tell me the truth?” There was silence in the room, the Prime Minister was thinking, “Charles, will you leave us?” He waited until they were alone, “Are you staying at Flemings Hotel tonight, you don’t need to answer that, I know you are, will Miss Fellowes be with you?” “Yes, she is on her way down now.” “I will book a private dining room for 20:30, there will be six of us, we will discuss things then.” He stood up to indicate the meeting was now over. A car was waiting outside to take him to MI5, before getting in, he made a phone call. By the time he was in her office she knew about the meeting that evening. “David, you will be asked tonight to undertake a massive job, I will give you as much assistance as possible, Sally will need to take time off from work if you want her to help you. There won’t be a problem with her job, people on the campus are aware of what she does.” “Do I get any clues as to what is to be discussed tonight?” “No, I could tell you now, but I have been ordered not to. One of those at the meeting will be staying in the hotel.” “Where will I be working?” “Home or wherever you want, additional staff will be available if required, however they are not to be told what you are working on.”
Sally was in the room when he returned, she was unpacking, a tray of sandwiches and coffee were on a low table, Dave kissed her, then ate some of the food. “What’s wrong, what happened today?” “There is to be a meeting tonight here in the hotel, I’m not sure if we are having dinner then the meeting or if we will eat earlier, it’s at 20:30. Something is up, and we are the ones to sort it out.” Sally messaged Jane to ask about the dining arrangements, the reply said to eat first. She then rang down to book a table for 19:00. “What’s all this about?” “No one will tell me, everything is being kept secret.” Dave called housekeeping, he wanted his suit freshened up for the meeting, he then contacted the porters desk, he asked if they could supply him with a tie. As his suit was being collected, a porter came up with a selection of ties. Dave picked out one he thought would go with his suit, Sally had only brought one dress, and nothing for a meeting, she hoped it would be OK.
In the dining room Dave saw Jane Goodley and Graeme Rogers at one of the tables, he and Sally were seated away from them. The food as usual was good, although they didn’t appreciate it, both were wondering what would be said later. Sally asked why Jane wouldn’t tell him, “I don’t know, usually she is open about cases she wants us to work on, it could be nothing, you know what politicians are like, sometimes they can get things out of proportion. We will find out in around twenty minutes. They sat with coffees until 20:25, Dave indicated it was time to go, Jane and Graeme had already left. They were the last into the room, they were checked off on a list before they were allowed in, inside four people were already sitting waiting for them. Three of the faces they recognised, the fourth looked like a policeman, Dave helped himself to coffee for him and Sally before sitting down. The Prime Minister started, “thank you all for coming, will each of you briefly introduce yourselves, then we will get down to business.” “When it was his turn, Dave said he drove for Uber, Sally following on said she was a receptionist at Loughborough University.” “We all know you are more than that,” Richard Carlton explained to the unknown person they were freelance agents who worked for the government and had been on the Island the day before. The sixth person now introduced himself, “William Robertson, Head of Police Scotland.” The events of the last two days were gone over, Jane Goodley explained it had been shrouded in secrecy to prevent anyone other than the few who needed to know finding out. She said how the previous attempt to get onto the island had been compromised before it had begun. “The leaks have come from Police Scotland, whether it is one person or a group, we don’t know at this time, certainly information was leaked from the local police on the Hebrides, we also think people further up in the organisation are also involved.” William Robertson protested saying they had no proof, the initial reason for him being called to London, he had been told, was for a briefing on the raid, this, he realised had been a lie. David Stretton and Sally Fellowes will be carrying out an investigation to locate the guilty parties, they have my full authority to look wherever they want, any attempt to obstruct them will not be acceptable. They will work from a secure base, it is not expected they will need to be in Scotland very often, if they are, you may be informed beforehand.” Dave interrupted, “I’m not pointing the finger, but what if it is you who is leaking the information, you are now aware of what we are planning to do.” “I think we must assume the Police Chief is not the one.” Dave said he would assume nothing. “If we are investigating, then no one is off limits.” William Robertson was told he would be expected to give Mr. Stretton and Ms. Fellowes any assistance they required. With that, the meeting was over, Jane Goodley asked for Dave and Sally to remain behind. Sally poured out more coffees, she looked at the time, it was now just after 22:00. “Jane, do you realise the enormity of the job in hand, if my memory is correct, I think there must be thousands to be checked out, doing one hundred a day would take ages to complete.” “It’s not as bad as that, there is a list of suspects, probably around one hundred and fifty, MI6 and my department have done some initial digging, however, we need you to do the deep background investigations, officially, without reasonable proof, we cannot investigate bank accounts and phone logs. This is where you and Sally come in. We need you to find out what is going on. The Police Chief is now in another meeting with the PM and Graeme, he is being told to say nothing about tonight, if he does, then he will be out of a job. You need to find conclusive proof of those who are guilty, once we know who they are, they will be arrested all at once.” “This could take weeks, Sally can’t take that much time off work, even if she could, it is too much to ask of her.” Sally now spoke, “I am willing to take two weeks off to get the investigation started, then I will work on my days off from the university, I don’t think Dave should work as intensively as you want him to, why don’t you set up a small team in London, they can do the initial background, depending on what they find, Dave can then use his software to dig deeper, keep him for the important bits, use researchers who have been there a while and have top clearance.” Jane said nothing for a while, she was working out the logistics in her head, “I will have to run it by the PM first, if he agrees then we will do that, I will set it up on Monday, you can come down on Tuesday and brief the staff, I don’t think it will be more than ten people, you wouldn’t be able to cope with the information from more than that. How long are you staying for?” “It’s Friday tomorrow, we will probably go home on Saturday morning, we are both worn out and need some time for ourselves, Sally will be back to work on Monday.” “Thank you both for everything, you have no idea how much what you do is appreciated.”
© 10210ken 2026
