Week Five
It was back to work after breakfast, Dave read the report as far as she had typed up. He called Yuri, “sorry to ring on a Sunday, I need something else,” Sally stopped to listen, “if I send you a name, can you scour the dark web, send me a file with all the references and messages, let me know how much it will cost. Today would be good, but if not definitely by Tuesday at the latest.” Sally didn’t see the name he sent, she returned to the report. Dave made another call, a short while later, a small black rolled up piece of cloth was brought in. He opened it up and checked each piece, “what are they?” “Lock picks, I will need them tomorrow night.” They finished early on Sunday afternoon, in the evening Jane Goodley phoned, she asked for a progress report. Dave said there wasn’t one, people are breathing down my neck, they want to know what is happening” “Book a meeting place for a week on Tuesday, somewhere secure, but tell no one, not even the PM. Jane, can I ask you something, regardless of the answer, I don’t want it to go any further. Do you trust Graeme Rogers?” “I’ve never had any reason not to.” “If he asks you anything concerning this case, say nothing.” “Do you suspect him?” “At the moment, everyone is a suspect, please do not discuss this with anyone other than the PM, not even the Chief, or anyone in your office, we are getting to the critical phase, you will realise next week, I’m not being over dramatic, I will be in Dublin tomorrow and the US on Thursday, back on Friday, Sally and I will work from then until the report is completed.”
On Monday he worked with Sally up until 15:00, an old suitcase had been brought to the office, it was full of clothes that would fit Dave. He put the lock picks inside, Sally looked at the suitcase and then Dave, “I can’t take the lock picks on board, they have to go in the hold, I’ll dump the suitcase in Dublin.” She didn’t want to let him go when it was time, they kissed, he said he would phone when he could. He was sitting in the back of a people carrier, four others were with him. With the blue lights on it didn’t take long, as he was getting out, they said he would be collected in the morning. The flight was at 18:00, while he was waiting for it to be called, he phoned Taff. “We’re ready, it’s going to be a good night, we will be on our way shortly.” He was in the centre of Dublin by 20:30, he slipped down a side street, took out the lock picks, pulled off the labels and dumped the suitcase in a skip, he covered it with rubble. It took another thirty minutes to walk to where the office was, it was in darkness, the building had several companies located on different floors, he looked on the outside for an alarm box, there was nothing. He went round the back, there was a light above the door, he checked the lock, it was a Yale. It looked like it was well used, there were parking spaces, he assumed people parked there and used the back door. He walked round the front, the lock was the same, but it was exposed, people were in the street, he thought it would be quieter later, it would be the fallback if the back door was bolted. Sitting in a chicken shop he ate the greasy tasteless food, he phoned Sally to say it was going well and he would see her in the morning.” He bought a coffee to take with him, it was now 23:30, ninety minutes to wait. He walked round, occasionally stopping to look in shop windows, other people were walking, Taff, Colin and a former officer from the Royal Ulster Constabulary, were walking round Dublin, each had their own route, Dave had said to avoid places where people may be, they targeted Government buildings and political offices, they had a mixture of incendiary and Semtex bombs, each one had a timer similar to the ones used by republicans during the ‘Troubles’. They had eight each, Taff had the largest one, he left it at a derelict building two streets away from where Dave would be. There heads had been covered to avoid identification from any cameras, when they had finished, they met back at the car, it was in a street where there was no CCTV. At 00:45, they were back in Belfast, the stolen car they had used was on fire in the south of the city, a bottle of whisky was open, they were pleased with their nights work. Dave was hiding by the back door when he felt the explosion, windows rattled, he waited until he heard sirens before trying the back door, it took him five minutes to get in, he would have preferred his own lock picks. Pushing the door open, he stayed outside for ten minutes to see if anyone came, he had heard two more smaller explosions while he waited. He went in, making his way up onto the first floor, he suddenly heard alarms going off all over the place, the emergency lighting came on, Dave guessed there was a power cut. It took five minutes to get into the office, his heart was thumping. There wasn’t a computer anywhere in the office, he wondered if it was taken away when the business was closed. The filing cabinet was locked, he used the lock picks for the third time. He found the file for P Finn and Daughter Manufacturing, he had been using the phone for light, now he opened the file and photographed each document, there were around thirty. He checked he could read each one, he put the file back where it had been, and locked the filing cabinet. Before leaving, he uploaded the images to his cloud storage, he then checked he could view them. With that done, he deleted them from his phone, he made his way back down the stairs and out into the blackness. It had taken him forty five minutes. He walked back towards the town centre, sirens could be heard everywhere, there were still explosions to be heard. The lights were on in the town centre, he found an all night café, he ordered a coffee and asked what was going on. “Feck knows, the bastards are probably fighting amongst themselves.” Dave had no idea who ‘the bastards’ were, he drank his coffee and ordered another one and a bacon roll. Someone else came in saying there were buildings alight all over the city, Dave inwardly smiled. At 03:30, he asked the man behind the counter if there was a taxi office nearby, “keep on down this road, it’s on the other side.” On the way to the airport, the driver said loads of roads were blocked, “buildings are on fire, others have been blown up, fecking gangs.” His flight was just after 06:00, police were everywhere in the airport, sniffer dogs were checking everyone. At the check in desk was a detective, he was questioning everyone, Dave was pulled to one side, “You’ve been here less than twelve hours, can you tell me what you were doing?” “I met a girl from Dublin in a club in Birmingham on Saturday night, we had a good time, she flew back on Sunday with her friends, we had exchanged numbers, we phoned a couple of times, I said I could get a cheap flight over, we agreed to meet, she gave me the address of a chicken shop, I sat in there for two hours waiting for her. I called her, but the number sounded disconnected, I’ve spent £150 on flights, the food was shit and I never got a shag.” The detective laughed and waived him through. Coming out of arrivals he saw the people carrier, a policeman was arguing with the driver, Dave got in, the doors were closed and the last leg began. He was sitting in the canteen when Sally came in, he had sent her a message when he was dropped off, when they had hugged she asked if he had seen a TV, he shook his head. “One of the officers had it on this morning as I passed his door, I stopped to watch, “what the fuck were you doing last night?” “I broke into a building and took some pictures. I heard a couple of bangs as I was working. If something else happened it was nothing to do with me.” She could tell he was lying. His phone was ringing, it was Jane Goodley, she asked the same question Sally had. “Jane I went there to break into a building, I can’t help it if I’m there at the same time as something else kicks off, there’s no way I could have left here laden with explosives, I think they might have had something to say at the airport, I was in the country for less than twelve hours.” “It’s too much of a coincidence, you there, and this happens.” When he had eaten and was in their office she asked him for the truth. “Taff and Colin were asked to create a diversion, in case I set off an alarm, I wanted the police kept busy.” He showed her his phone, there was a message from Taff, it was a row of smiley faces. “How are you getting on?” “I think by tomorrow I will have the British end tied up.” “I have all the shipping documents, I will download them and we can have a look.” Dave printed a few out, he could read them better. “Look, it shows where the container was picked up from, the date it arrived at the docks, the contents, plastic Irish toys, the ship it was loaded onto, the destination and recipients, some of it must be the identity number for the container. They are going to Boston, that ties in with the Boston Tea and Coffee Company, they are down as the receivers. It’s all coming together, can you finish the British end as soon as you can, the shipping documents can go in both, I’m going for a shower and a change of clothes. His phone rang as he was dressing, it was Jane Goodley again, “I’ve had a call from Graeme Rogers, he wants to know if I have any information about last night, I said to him I was about to call him to see if he knew anything, David be careful.” “I used a false ID issued by the MOD, it would take him some time to trace it back to me, the MOD would hold him up.” “Did it help the investigation?” “Yes, I now have the next link in the chain.” He finished the call and lay on the bed, he was woken by Sally at 13:00, “Sorry, I meant to come right back,” “it’s OK, I’m going for lunch, do you want something?” “I’ll come with you.”
Back in the office, he spent some time reading the latest update on the report, there was very little to correct, they worked until Sally had finished, it was 20:00 when Dave handed it back with the last few corrections. “I think that explains everything, let’s eat, then I’ll buy you a drink,” “I’d rather you took me to bed.”
On Wednesday morning they spent some time working out how it would be presented. Sally suggested it should be a separate presentation, “do the British part in the morning and the US part in the afternoon, the following day can be a discussion, once we have gone through it all, we can leave them to decide what to do.” Dave agreed, “make a start with the shipping documents, gradually add in the information, putting in names and conversations, use the diagram software to show links, finish it with the links to the ultimate aim of the operation.” He suddenly remembered about Yuri, he logged on to his storage, there was a file there, it looked large, he didn’t open it, “there will be a third part for the British only, we will work on it last. I have to sort out some documents for Thursday, I have to redact the names and anything which could identify the participants, I will do that while you make a start.” He selected twenty five pages, if that wasn’t enough to convince Nathaniel Dawes, then nothing would. Each page was numbered so it all made sense.” They finished early, Sally had said it was easier as there were fewer people.
They had a drink in the Sergeants Mess before going to bed, it would be an early start for Dave. His flight was out of Heathrow, with a change in Dublin, he would arrive in Washington just before 17:00, it would give him time to prepare for the evening. He had booked business class, he wanted to relax, think things over and work out if there was a plan B. Instead of thinking, he slept, he woke for meals then drifted off again, only a change in the cabin pressure as they descended woke him. He took a taxi to the hotel, he said as he checked in a suit needed to be pressed and brought back to him within an hour. The receptionist said it would be done. He was sitting in the lobby at 19:45, he could see everyone entering, it was 20:15 when he saw his man come in, Dave thought his wife was very good looking, they were both in their fifties, he moved into the lounge to see them chatting to a couple who were already in the bar. Dave sat at the bar with a beer when they moved into the dining room, he could just see the back of his wife. The paperwork was in his inside jacket pocket, he was still trying to work out what he would say. He saw him leaving the dining room, Dave followed him out, he went down the corridor to the toilets, Dave waited across from the door, when he came out, it was time for Dave to make his move. “Mr. Dawes, may I have a word with you, it will only take a minute then you can return to your meal.” He stopped and looked at Dave, “We’ve met before, I was the rude Englishman in the British delegation.” “The guy with the software,” “yes that’s me. Sir, unless you do something the President will be killed, I have uncovered something, I have proof.” Dave took out the sheets from his pocket, “read this, I have more in my room.” Nathaniel Dawes read the sheets, he re-read them before handing them back. “Do not phone anyone in your organisation for two reasons, one I will be gone if I see any CIA people come through the door, secondly, there is no one you can trust. I have more in my room, which will further prove my point, if you refuse, I will walk away, do you want the death of the President on your conscience? I will let you go, you will find me sitting at the bar.” Dave took back the sheets and walked ahead of him back to his seat at the bar, he had no idea how it would go from here. Half an hour later, he saw the wife leave with the other couple. Nathaniel Dawes came out the restaurant a few minutes later, he joined Dave at the bar. “How did you know I would be here tonight?” “I looked at you diary the other day.” There was no reply. “Do you want to see the rest of the paperwork I have?” There was a nod, they left the bar, at reception he asked for a large pot of coffee to be sent up to his room. They waited until the coffee had been delivered, taking out the rest of the sheets, he added the ones from his pocket, “as the names are missing, it makes it more difficult to read, but you will get the meaning.” He poured out two coffees, he left the spoon in the second cup. Dave knew what the first question would be, it was always the same, “where did you get this?” “I won’t say at present, it doesn’t matter how often you ask the question, the answer will be the same. My question is what are you going to do about it? I can make a suggestion, it’s up to you whether you take it or not.” There was an indication to carry on. “This is part of a much wider investigation, it started off as a drugs bust, but as we dug deeper, it became much more sinister, we have followed the money, well known Americans are involved, I came here specifically to warn you, only two people know I am here, this affects the UK as much as the US, no one knows the full scale of our investigation. I needed someone high up in the CIA to talk to. You were a field worker, I checked you out, I’ve seen your file and the one the FBI hold on you. I decided I could trust you. Now I might have made a wrong decision, but if anything happens to me, the unredacted files will be released. My offer is for you to come to the UK on Tuesday next week, I will be making a presentation of my findings to the Prime Minister and a select few, I am inviting you, and if you need it an assistant, your man in London Cyrus Grantly. The meeting will last two days, by the time I have finished you will know the extent of the problems you have. It’s up to you, I insist you tell no one, not even your wife and definitely no one within the CIA. Make an excuse to be away for a few days, fly out on Monday, no doubt after the meeting you will be talking to the President.” “How do I know this isn’t made up bullshit?” “I don’t lie, I and my assistant are locked in a secure military base, we have guards if we have to move off site, I am here on a false identity so no one knows. I’m not doing this for a laugh. If you need a contact in the UK, speak to the PM or Jane Goodley, the head of MI5, do not speak to anyone else in the government, if you do, the operation in the US will be over, the people will disappear, any action has to be coordinated.” “I need to think about this, I can’t answer right now.” “Don’t walk out of here now, make a call and have some of your men down here, I will see them a mile away.” The meeting is going ahead with or without you, make a decision, come back here tomorrow on your own and let me know, if you don’t want to do that, phone Ms. Goodley, but if you do, use a burner phone.” Nathaniel Dawes stood up, this meeting was over, Dave wasn’t sure if there would be another one, “I will be in the hotel until around 14:00, if I haven’t heard from you then, I will be on my way to New York, I have some other people to see before I go back.” They shook hands, Dave went down in the lift and watched as he hailed a cab.
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