Dave sat in the lounge waiting, he was early, he wanted to see who came through the door. There was no mistaking the Chief Constable, although he had changed out of his uniform, he still walked like a copper. Dave stood and greeted him. “We have a private room, follow me.” The door was locked as soon as they were inside. “What’s all this about?”
“Before I explain, I need to know if I can trust you, none of the ‘my duty is to uphold the law,’ can I trust you? As soon as I tell you what I know, I’m putting my life and Sally’s on the line. I read your file this afternoon before I came here, you haven’t always been the perfect copper. If you betray me, friends of mine will make sure the file is with the newspapers the following day.”
“This is outrageous, you cannot speak to me like that.”
“Calm down, I am just laying the ground rules before I start.” Dave poured out two coffees. “I’m nearly there, I know who one of the top people are, my task now is to see where it goes. Normally as you know, I would bring in my own people at the end, this won’t be possible this time. If the end point is in London, and I need assistance, can I rely on you to supply me with armed response teams. The Prime Minister would have the final word, there may be only around an hour from approval to action.”
“This kind of operation normally takes days to prepare.”
“I will have done the preparation, your teams will only need to be briefed.” There was a silence, Dave wasn’t bothered about that, the longer it went on, the more in his favour would be the outcome.
“I don’t suppose you will tell me what this is all about?”
“No, the fewer who know the better, all the information we have gathered will be released if anything happens to us. Others not connected to me know what to do.”
“As long as I have written authorisation from the PM, then I will back you.”
“Thank you for that, I have no time scale at the moment, if I can tell you anything extra, we will have another meeting here.” They finished their coffee and left, on the way back, he wondered if he had done the right thing. In the underground carpark he took the lift back up to the busy top floor.
Sally was sitting in his chair, she was on the phone, she mouthed to Dave it was the Home Secretary. “He’s here now, I’ll pass the phone over to him,” she mouthed ‘wanker’.
“Sir, what can I do for you?” He listened as the Home Secretary went on at him, “I was out seeing someone who might help me to move the investigation forward, I won’t say who it was or what was discussed, if you’re not happy, my offer from early this morning still stands, I would gladly walk away from this one.”
Dave hung up without waiting to hear if there was any more. “Dave, George Armson, doesn’t appear to care, I have a list of the people he has called, can we go over it tonight, I want to have a sleep first.”
“Let me see what Howard has for me to sign, we should be gone by 16:30. Put your vest on, where is your gun?”
“I went down to the stores, I have a belt, my coat will cover it.” It was dark when they left, street lights were on, because of the disruption on the trains, the traffic was much heavier. They crept along. “Sir, there is a car behind us, it’s been with us since we left.”
Sally went to look round, Dave stopped her. “How many?”
“Definitely two, I’m not sure about the back, I’ll swap lanes, see if he moves up, you can see then.” The car stayed behind, it moved lanes to follow. “We’re a couple of minutes away, do you want me to radio the police?”
“Change lanes again, if he does the same, radio in, tell them our destination is Half Moon Street.” Dave heard him on the radio. “Take your coat off, get your Glock ready. When we stop, wait for my word before getting out, when you do, run for the hotel.” As they turned the corner, just up from the hotel he saw a motor bike facing the wrong way with two people on it, smoke was coming from the exhaust. “Slow down, give us a few more seconds. Change of plan, get out when we stop, stay with the car, crouch down by the rear wheel. Watch the car following, if you see a gun, shoot. I’ll take the motorbike. Driver, turn the car across the street when we are outside the hotel. Stop and then duck down.”
Dave shouted “now.” The Range Rover stopped diagonally in the road, right outside the hotel, Sally rolled out, she was beside the rear wheel, Dave was out the other side, the motor bike was revving up, the pillion pulled out a machine gun and aimed it towards Dave. At the same time a hand gun came out the open passenger window of the car. In the distance, sirens could be heard. They both fired at the same time, Sally shot through the windscreen, she saw the gun drop. The driver’s door opened, a man climbed out, two shots were fired at her, both missed and hit the bodywork of the Range Rover. She took aim and fired, the gunman dropped to the ground. Dave fired several shots, he took out the shooter, as he fell backwards, the rider lost control and crashed into the other car. He tried to get up to run off, Sally stood there with a gun pointing at his head.
It was only then they heard people screaming, blue flashing lights could be seen further down the street. Armed response teams were slowly coming up the street. Their weapons pointed at Dave and Sally, “MI5,” Dave shouted, they were saying for them to put their guns down on the ground. They both obeyed, Dave said for Sally to lie on the ground face down. They were frisked while guns were pointed at them. “Take out my wallet, check my ID, Sally’s will be in her purse in the back of the car, there is a driver in the front, check he is OK.” Handcuffs were put on them both, one of the police was looking through Dave’s wallet, he went back to his car, when he returned, the handcuffs were removed. The driver was looking at the car, there were a couple of bullet holes in the bodywork. The place was now swarming with police, four ambulances had arrived, only one was needed for the motorcyclist. Sally put her gun back in its holster, Dave put his in the back of his trousers.
A Chief Superintendent had arrived to take charge, Dave said he was going into the hotel, for coffee. He was accompanied by an armed policeman, he asked the porter on the desk to bring coffee into the restaurant, it wasn’t yet open, Dave knew it would be a private place to talk. They were followed in by the duty manager, he was going to say something, but the look on Dave’s face said it wasn’t the right time.
Sally asked if he could organise coffee for six. “I’m sorry about the disruption, we didn’t plan this, until we can arrange a private meeting room, we will stay here.” Minutes later coffee was being brought through. Dave had two cups before he sat down, the policeman watched as Sally hugged him. “I had a different plan for this evening, killing bad people wasn’t part of it.”
The Chief Superintendent came into the dining room. Dave asked him if he would keep the number of police in the hotel to a minimum. “The management get a bit upset about it, they say it disturbs the other guests.” He looked at Dave, “this is a police operation, I say what happens.”
“As acting heads of MI5, I think my decision might trump yours, check with the Chief Constable.” He called in an armed policeman who was standing outside the door. “Clear the foyer, we only need one officer in here.” Sally thanked him, Dave was on the phone,
“Howard, someone has tried to kill us, can I have two armed security over at the hotel, we will be staying in MI5 for a few nights. I understand there is a flat above the top floor, can you have it made ready, we will be there this evening. We can’t stay here. Call me when you have it ready.” He now turned to the police. “Will a statement from me be sufficient or do you need one from Sally as well?”
“If you know both sides of the story, she can sign it at the end.”
There was a knock at the door, it was the head porter. “May I have a word with you sir, in private?” They walked to the far side of the room. “Sir, there was someone waiting for you, he had been there about an hour, after the commotion, he wasn’t there.”
“Can you describe him?”
“He wasn’t one of our customers, I don’t think he had shaved for a couple of days, he was Welsh.”
“I will want to look at the CCTV before I leave later, I hope that will be OK.”
“I’m sure it will be.”
“Sally, would you go up to the room, pack everything, if you get my backpack from the car, put the Uzis in there. When you are done, have the porters bring everything down, leave it all with them except my backpack.” The two police had looked at Dave when he mentioned machine guns. “It’s OK, we have a letter from the Prime Minister allowing us to carry any weapons we might require. I would prefer to give my statement away from here. Our offices in Millbank would be ideal, we would have our own security. Before we leave, I want images of the faces of those involved and also any possessions they have, especially phones, this is connected to the recent bombings I think.”
There was another knock at the door, this time it was the MI5 security guards, Dave said for them to stay outside and only to let Sally in. It was agreed the interview would take place in the MI5 building, ten minutes later Sally was with him, she dropped the bag by his feet. “I’m going to take pictures of the dead, and hopefully the one who survived if he is still here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
As he passed the desk, the duty manager was still waiting to see him. “I’ll be with you in a few minutes.” Outside, he made for the ambulance, he knocked on the door before going in, the rider was conscious. Dave looked at him, as he took out his phone, he turned his head away. In a matter of fact way, Dave said if he didn’t turn towards the phone he would kill him. The ambulance men looked at him, the head was turned to face Dave, he took a couple of pictures and left. There wasn’t any point in taking a picture of the passenger in the car, Sally had shot him in the face, there wasn’t much left to photograph. The driver was still on the ground, a blanket covered him, he pulled it back and took more pictures, finally it was the one with the machine gun. His helmet had been removed, again he was covered. Forensics were everywhere, there was the constant flash of a camera.
He stopped at reception, and paid the bill using his American Express card. He was asked to come into the office. Dave didn’t sit down, “I’m sorry there was an incident outside the hotel today, four people tried to kill Sally and myself, fortunately they weren’t successful. I have paid the bill, we are leaving, I don’t think we would be very welcome here. My question to you is whether we will be welcome when we next want to stay in London, or do we need to look for another hotel? I like it here, but if you don’t want us back, I will understand.”
“I will have to check with the general manager, he is on his way in now to speak to the other guests.” Dave stood up and left, back in the dining room he arranged to see the Chief Superintendent at 19:30. They were escorted out by the two security guards, it was just after 18:00 when they were in the flat above the top floor. Cleaners were still preparing the rooms, fresh linen was on the bed, there was tea, coffee and milk in the kitchen. Sally flopped on the bed, minutes later she was sleeping, the door was closed while the rest of the flat was cleaned. Sitting on a sofa, he closed his eyes, he was trying to put everything in its place, why was there an attempt on their lives, what triggered it, who had said something. Only Sally and himself knew the full details, what was Taff doing in the hotel, was he part of the plot, or was he there for something else. He heard Sally crying out, he hurried into the bedroom, she was sitting up, tears were rolling down her face. “It’s only just sinking in what happened, they tried to kill us.”
“Yes, but we didn’t let that happen, do you want to get into bed properly, the cleaners will be gone soon. I will sort out everything then come and join you.” She nodded then grabbed hold of him, he kissed the top of her head, “I have to go downstairs, there will be guards on duty tonight, we will be safe.” In the office, he called for one of the night team to come upstairs, “Give me your email address, I will send you some pics, can you see if you can trace the people, find out what you can, email me a report for the morning.” Security buzzed him saying there were four policemen downstairs to see him. “Bring them up with armed security guards.”
He poured himself a coffee before seeing the police, he wanted it over and done with quickly. He recognised the policeman from earlier and the Chief Constable, the other two were in plain clothes. They went into a meeting room, one of the plain clothes officer asked him questions, the other wrote the statement down, it took around thirty minutes. “It will be typed up, one of us will return tomorrow to have you and Miss Fellowes sign it.”
“Will you bring up everything you found on the bodies and the one who survived. I especially want to see the phones, have them here by 09:00, they will be returned to you once we have examined them, maybe when you return with the statement. If you don’t mind, I haven’t been to bed since yesterday morning, I need to sleep.”
“Mr. Stretton, may I have a word with you in your office,” it was the Chief Constable. “Have you told us everything?”
“Yes, what I want to know, is who did you tell about our meeting? It could only be you, no one else has been told.”
“I only said to my deputy that it should all be over soon.”
“Do not say anything to him again, do not tell him about our meeting tonight.” He wearily climbed the stairs after they had gone, he stripped off and joined Sally, she was in a deep sleep. He kissed her before setting an alarm on his phone and turning out the light.
He could smell coffee when he woke, Sally was sitting on the bed beside him, she hugged him when he opened his eyes. “It all seems like a dream, or maybe a nightmare, how much longer will this take?”
“I don’t know, hopefully we will have more information today. I think we will be staying here until it is resolved, we can’t go home, we would have no protection. We must be close, Taff was in the hotel before the shooting, he wasn’t there afterwards. I don’t know what his involvement is, I don’t know if I can trust him.”
There was a lot to do, when he was down in the office, he made a list,
- Major George Armson
- Henry Danbury
- The dead people Howard was checking on
- Those who had tried to kill them
- The Chief Constable’s Deputy
There was plenty of people to be investigated, as he wrote the list down, he was sure more names would be added during the day. He added Taff’s name at the bottom, against it he put a large question mark. To one side on the sheet he wrote George Evans, he had spent a few minutes trying to recall Taff’s proper name.
Howard knocked on the door. “Are you both OK, the reports said three were dead with another in hospital?”
“Yes, the police were more trouble, have you had any luck with the dead people?”
“Yes, we matched one to the images from Norwich Station, he has a long record of drunk and disorderly, petty theft and the like.” Dave asked if he had served in the military. “There is nothing on his record, some of the addresses he has lived in were hostels and half way houses.” He scored through the line on his pad, he was disappointed, but there was enough to be working on.
Sally came in, “what do you want me to start on?”
“Close the door, I need a small select team I can trust, there’s no point in asking Howard, he would say everyone is vetted and can be trusted, he doesn’t understand.” There was a knock on the door, Sally stood to open it. “If it’s not important, tell whoever it is to speak to Howard.” The phone on his desk was ringing, it was the Home Secretary, he asked if they were both OK. Once Dave said they were, he immediately asked for a report. “Speak to the police, I gave them a statement last night, any report I write would be a duplicate.” Sally had half opened the door, but was listening to one side of the phone conversation. “Ranting and raving at me isn’t going to change the way I’m working. The more time I spend on the phone to you, the less time I have to investigate, please get off my back.” There was a long pause before Dave spoke again. Sally and the person on the other side of the door were listening to the call. “Find someone better and I will step aside, you had better ask them if the mind being shot at. If we hadn’t been armed, you would certainly have been looking for my replacement this morning. When I have something to report, you and the Prime Minister will be the first to know.”
The handset was thrown back on to the cradle. Sally now opened the door to let Jane Goodley in. Dave was up out his chair and walked across the office to kiss her. “How are you?”
“Better but not right yet, may I come in?”
“It’s your office, I’ve only been keeping the seat warm for you.” Sally was pouring coffee, she was offered her chair. “Not yet, you keep it for now, I’ll sit on the other side of the desk.” He picked up the phone, “Howard, no calls or visitors, only the Prime Minister or a breakthrough,”
Sally locked the door and sat beside Jane. “I’m here to offer what assistance I can, you are still in charge. Look at it as a job swap, you now know the pressure on that side of the desk is stressful,”
“Yes, I nearly told Peter Stockdale where to go.”
“He’s always like that, you get used to it, what happened yesterday?” Between the two of them they said about the attack, Jane said nothing.
Sally said they were now staying upstairs. “I don’t think we’re are welcome at Flemings at the moment, we will see when this is over.”
Dave asked what she was prepared to do, “I will help with any research you need to do, I don’t want to be involved in any of the day to day decision making, not until I feel better.”
“Good, I will bring you up to date, there are two different investigations going on at the moment, one everyone is involved in, the other is being done by Sally and myself. Once you know, I need to ask you to sort out a few things.” He spent almost an hour explaining where they were with their investigation, he didn’t bother with the official one. “I would like you to find around ten investigators who you can trust, ones who are loyal to you, I want them in a secure office. I will put armed guards on the door. There is a list of names of people who need to be investigated, we have the software to do it. I don’t want anyone else knowing what we are doing. Is this something you think you could do, say if you think it would be too stressful.”
“I will be OK, it will be like working as a team leader.”
“Before you do anything, I think you should speak to Sir Rupert, let him know what is happening health wise, he came to see me a few days ago.” Standing up, he unlocked the door, he called for Howard to come in, he was surprised to see his boss sitting in the office. “Jane is back, but she is not resuming normal duties just yet, I will still be making the decisions. She will be doing research on a different project. She will need an office large enough for around twelve people, preferably on this floor, there needs to be room for two armed guards to sit outside. Can I leave you to work with Jane on this? I want this set up within an hour, use whoever you need to, Jane will give you a list of the researchers she wants to help her. While you are organising this, she will be with Sally in her office, if there are any issues, let me know. I will be phoning the PM next, if security call to say they have police looking for me, make sure they are searched before they are escorted up here.”
Dave was left alone, he called the PM. “Sir, following the attack last night, I won’t be leaving the building until this is sorted. If you want me at a meeting, I can attend by ‘Zoom’ or it can be held here. Miss Goodley came into work a short while ago, she is not ready to resume her roll, but is working to assist us on this case. She will be speaking to Sir Rupert this morning, I had another run in this morning with Peter Stockdale, shouting at people never brings out their best, he needs to think before he speaks. It’s water off a ducks back to me, but if he is like it with others,” Dave didn’t say any more. He was asked if he had anything to report. “Maybe tomorrow, by midday I will have more people working on the information I want.”
He went to see Sally and Jane. “When you see the people from IT, tell them you want the PC’s on a private network not accessible by anyone else, use a VPN when searching the net, the normal way we operate. Jane have you found people yet?”
“Yes, as soon as the office is set up, they will come up.”
“I have spoken to the PM, I explained you were back, to assist us.” He leant over and kissed her on the top of the head, “it’s good to see you.” Walking back to his office, his phone was ringing, he didn’t recognise the number, “David Stretton.”
“It’s Harry the porter from the hotel, the man who was waiting for you yesterday came back this morning. I said you had checked out last night.”
“Thank you for the information.” Locking the office door, he called Taff, the phone was answered almost immediately. “Are you looking for me, do you need help?”
“Yes and yes.”
“How do you want to do this? I can keep you safe until this is over, but can I trust you?”
“They are looking for me as well.”
“You need to get rid of any weapons you have, come to the MI5 building, ask for me at the front desk, use your name. I will let them know, when you arrive, I will come down to meet you.” He made several calls before going out to speak to Howard, “I want another room upstairs preparing for someone else who will be staying for a couple of nights.”
The office Sally had been working in was now empty, he asked where they had moved to. He soon found them, two armed guards were outside, a small group of men and women were being spoken to by Sally and Jane. The conversation stopped when Dave came in. He waived for them to carry on, five minutes later, the talk was over, computers were being fired up. “If you come back with me, I have the names you need, we also have to discuss a development.” He waited until they were in the office, he locked the door, he passed Sally the list of names. “Taff is coming in, I think he will be downstairs sometime today. I said we would look after him, but I still don’t know where his allegiance lies. I will find out before I let him stay. I think the information he has will help move us forward. That’s it, I will update you later when I have spoken to him. He will be shown to an interview room first, if I think I can trust him, he will be staying in a room near us.”
© 10210ken 2026
