Sally and Dave were both quiet, before they went to bed, she asked if he had decided what to do. “Yes, I will see Jane first, try for more money, make sure everything is agreed, then I think she will have to speak to Sir Rupert. Depending on what happens, I will head over to the MOD, see the Brigadier, update him. I will be back in the evening. I will message you to let you know how it is going.”
Jane Goodley said how smart he looked when he was admitted into her office, she asked why he was in London. “I have to talk to you about how it will work if I accept the offer, the three days here and two at home is OK. I want to know where my office would be, who I would have working for me in an admin roll, my clearance level, and there are plenty of other issues at home. I will need a secure phone line, office equipment, there is no need for furniture or filing cabinets, I have these already.”
“David, once you formally accept the offer, everything will start to happen. You will be on this floor, close to here.”
“Did you get any further with more money?”
“There won’t be any more, I think the package is generous enough, there will be a car, not the one you are using just now, still a Range Rover, but one equipped for armed response. We will be picking up the bill for your hotel, you will have a Government procurement card so you won’t have to spend any of your own money. There isn’t anyone else in the building who has these benefits, don’t push your luck. If you want to go ahead, I need written conformation of your acceptance of the offer, I will then speak to Sir Rupert. Have you thought of a start date?”
“Next Monday would be good for me, I would spend the first three days here setting up the office, the following week I would start properly. I’ll go off now and type out an acceptance letter, I will go over to the MOD once you have confirmed my appointment.” Dave said he would be back in half an hour, sitting in a busy office, he typed out a short letter to Jane. Once it was printed, he went into a breakout room, closing the door, he rang Taff. “It’s Dave, have you thought about my offer, I’m in the building sorting out my new job, I could do with knowing one way or another.”
There was a long pause, “can I walk away if I don’t like it, and Dave, I’m not an executioner, no wet jobs?”
“I was never asked to kill anyone, like you I would have refused, there are other people who do that. If you don’t like it, or there is too much pressure, I have no problem if you walk away.” Taff said he would do it, and give him a company name once he had sorted it out. Dave said he would be in touch next week. Returning to her office, he gave Jane his letter, he also told her the extra help would be in place next week.
“What happens now, have you told Howard?”
“He will know later today, there won’t be any issues there, he is a great administrator, but isn’t so good on the investigation side. Your letter will be sent to Sir Rupert, I’m not sure how long he will take to confirm your appointment. It needs to be quick. I think there will be changes soon, you need to be in place before the government shuts down.” He looked at her quizzically. “There may be an election soon, I’m not sure if the present government will survive.” Dave waited for an explanation, “there is mounting pressure on the PM, although the bombings were resolved quickly, the press are saying it should never have happened. We are being blamed for not seeing the threat before it happened. It’s easy to point the finger at us, we never comment on whether the media is right or wrong. His majority is slim, there are already calls within his party for him to be replaced. If he loses a vote of no confidence, then the word is he will call a general election. Whatever happens he is being viewed as weak, we need to have your appointment confirmed before anything happens. It should be a civil service matter, but you never know.
If you are in place, by the time a new government takes over and starts looking, hopefully you will be well established.”
Dave said he would be sorry to see him go, “he is weak, I know that from when I pushed him about his private life, he crumbled.” They both laughed as Dave said he wasn’t very good at appointing Home Secretaries.
“Come back and see me when you have been to the MOD, we can talk some more.”
He had phoned earlier, the Brigadier was waiting for him. He was shown into his office without waiting. They sat without talking, coffee was brought in, finally the Brigadier spoke. “David, this is a sorry state of affairs, what makes people do this? I have known the Admiral for years, I would have counted him as a friend.”
“I don’t know, they think what they hope to achieved was patriotic and in the country’s best interest. A misguided loyalty perhaps.” Dave poured the coffee, he could see the Brigadier was lost in his thoughts.
“I’ve decided to go, as soon as a replacement is appointed I will off, placed on ‘gardening leave’ to see out my time. I didn’t have long to go, I don’t want to be here with someone new coming in above me, there would be changes. We will be under greater scrutiny, someone younger can sit in this chair and take the flak. Only my aides know at the moment, it will become general knowledge by the end of the week. I heard something about a new job for you, can you tell me?”
“Nothing is official yet, I will be appointed assistant to the head of MI5, with a focus on investigations. Please don’t say anything. Sally has a part time position as well. Your news in some ways makes my visit easier, I came to say I would no longer be able to carry out any work for you.” They both sat saying nothing.
“David, join me for lunch,” they spent an enjoyable time, the food was good, they talked about the good times, officers Dave had served under and the Brigadier knew. Drinking coffee, the Brigadier lowered his voice. “You are one of a kind, I can only guess how high you would have risen had chosen to be an officer, perhaps it would have been too easy. As a soldier you have had to fight for the recognition you earned. You must be aware many people dislike you, however they all respect the talents you have.”
“Being unpopular has never bothered me, if everyone likes you then you aren’t doing your job properly. In some ways, I will miss coming into the building, but if familiar faces have gone, it would be different.” David didn’t go back to the office, the two stood by the lift, he wished the Brigadier well in his retirement, in turn he was told to keep upsetting the politicians. They shook hands as the lift doors opened, each wished the other well, Dave was upset as the lift headed down to the ground floor.
Outside he decided to walk back to MI5, it was cold, he wished he had brought a coat. His phone had pinged several times, he didn’t bother to look. Going through the entrance to MI5, he told himself to get a grip, when he reached the top floor, he was back to his normal self. He knocked on Jane Goodley’s door, there was no answer, he looked round the outer office. “Howard is in there, I’m not sure how long they will be.”
“I’m going for a coffee, will you tell her I’m back in the building?”
He sat looking at his phone before calling Sally. “What’s happened, I can tell by your voice?”
“I have been to the MOD, I’ll tell you later. I have given Jane a letter saying I will accept the job, she has forwarded it on to Sir Rupert. I should be happy, but I’m not.”
“Come home as soon as you can, use the blue lights.”
“I’m waiting to see Jane, then, depending on what she says, I will be on my way, I’ll message you.” He looked at a missed call, it was Cyrus Grantly, reluctantly he phoned him back. Dave was angry with him the last time they spoke, he accused him of withholding information.
“Cyrus, it’s Dave Stretton, I missed a call from you.”
“I’m in London, can we arrange a meeting, we need to have a discussion?”
“I’m at MI5 today, but I am going home shortly, I’m not in the right frame of mind, can we arrange it for later in the week, I’ll let you know when I will be back here?”
Jane came to find him, “what’s happened, are you alright?”
“No, but I will be OK.”
“Come to my office, it won’t take long.” He saw Howard smile at him as he went in, he was back at his desk, the door was closed. “What happened at the MOD?”
“I had lunch with the Brigadier, he’s resigned, we had lunch, I felt incredibly sad when I left the building. I’ll soon snap out of it.”
“I have letters confirming yours and Sally’s appointments, you have to sign them and return them to me, you both have vetting on Friday.” Dave looked at Jane, “it’s part of the process, you can’t avoid it. Sir Rupert is keen to see you start as soon as possible. If the paperwork is brought back to me on Friday, you can start on Monday, HR and payroll have been informed.”
“Do you know why Cyrus Grantly wants to meet me, does he know I’ve been appointed?”
“No, not even the PM knows, he doesn’t have to be informed. Peter Stockdale will be told on once the signed paperwork is returned. Again, the Americans will be notified once the paperwork is returned. I have no idea what he wants. You will have to report meetings you have with people outside MI5.” Jane handed over two ‘new starters’ packs, one had his name, the other Sally’s, “read and sign the forms inside, I will email you the times for the vetting.”
Dave didn’t use the blue lights on the way home, he sat amongst the traffic, there was no way he would have been able to concentrate. Sally saw the headlights through the curtains as he pulled on to the drive, she rushed out to see him. Jane had phoned her to say he wasn’t well. He looked worn out as he walked into the house, Sally said nothing, she made him take off his jacket before he sat on the sofa, his eyes closed. He wasn’t thinking, he was asleep. She sat looking at him, wondering what had caused this, he had recovered from the operation, and had been his normal self before he left, she would find out when he woke. An hour later, she gently shook him, he woke with a start, “sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“When you’re ready, will you tell me what happened? If you want food, I can cook you something.” He nodded, “beer or coffee?”
“Neither, a Coke or something like that please.”
“Do you want grilled chicken and chips?”
“Yes, please,” he had come through and was now sitting at the kitchen table. “I was fine until I went to the MOD. The Brigadier is leaving, we had lunch and talked about old times, people we knew, things like that, going down in the lift, I thought it might be the last time I would be in the building. A wave of sadness came over me, I can’t shake it off.”
“Eat and then go to bed, we will talk in the morning.”
Dave wasn’t in bed when she woke, he was downstairs. “It’s 07:30, what are you doing?”
“I woke up, I’m reading through the paperwork I was given yesterday, I start on Monday.”
“Leave it and come back to bed now,” he followed her back up the stairs. She lay with her arm across his chest, neither of them went back to sleep. A short time later she sat up in bed, she said for Dave to do the same. Moving down the bed, she turned to face him. “Dave, our lives are changing, not everything can remain the same, you hated the MOD when you left to come to Loughborough. You were called back, it worked out well, we are now moving on to the next phase, you will always have your memories. Yesterday you focussed on the good times and had a laugh, think about the times when work was piled on you, you weren’t laughing then. I’ve had more than my share of sadness in my life, I try not to dwell on it. I think of happy times, you have brought happiness into my life, it has pushed the bad times out the way, you have to do the same, don’t be melancholy, it isn’t good for you. Next Monday, we start a new phase in our lives, let’s be positive, push the sad thoughts into the place where you don’t go.” She moved to sit on his legs and hug him, when we have had breakfast, we will go for a walk, have lunch in a pub, you can tell me what Jane said.
They were both wrapped up as they walked arm in arm through Bradgate Park. Dave had been better since breakfast, as they walked he told her what had been said, there was a sigh when he told her there would be vetting on Friday. “Cyrus wants a meeting with me, I have no idea what it is about, we didn’t part on very good terms the last time we spoke.” Sally said the only way he would find out was to meet him. The pub where they stopped for lunch was quiet, they were able to carry on talking, by the time they were home, she thought his head was in the right place. They sat that evening looking through the packs Jane had given them, Dave read very little of it, he looked for where he had to sign, grabbing a pen, the forms were signed and put back in the envelope.
Dave booked the hotel for Thursday and Friday nights, he messaged Cyrus saying he would be free for Thursday evening and some of Friday, there wasn’t a reply. On Wednesday, there was an email from Jane saying both their vetting times were 10:00.
Sally was nervous on Friday morning, the last time she had been vetted, she cried, this time she would try to be stronger. Dave wasn’t bothered. Both were smartly dressed, the vetting was taking place away from the top floor, they were on separate floors, they kissed before heading of, he said to Sally it would be OK. Dave was greeted by two people, normally there was only one. He had thought it would be a formality, when he saw his file and another stack of paperwork, he knew there was going to be some serious questions. They started by asking about his bank accounts and why he had so much money, one was making notes as he answered, they moved on to ask about his relationship with Sally, and then with Olivia’s husband Michael, they knew his father had been in the security services. The questioning was relentless, Dave remained calm and polite, he answered all their questions. He was asked about emails he sent to the CIA asking about work. Dave answered truthfully saying it was a ruse when he knew he was being monitored. He thought the interviewers were good, not as good as him but close. Sally had been out for an hour when she saw Dave, he looked worn out. “Why were you in there so long?”
“They wanted to know everything, lots of personal questions and about money. Hopefully it went well, if not I will be Ubering on Monday,” they both laughed.
“We have to see Jane, she said to come up when we are done,” they were both offered coffee. “I may have the results later today or Monday, they are going back to see the relevant decision makers immediately.”
“Jane, Cyrus Grantly has asked to see me, the last time we spoke, I accused him of withholding information, I want to be wired, something isn’t right. Sally and I will be staying to do a little research, I hope you don’t mind.”
“What is it?”
“He told me ages ago, to follow the money, I’m going to do that.”
Sally had been unaware Dave was still thinking about the case. “The Americans have played some part in this, the money passed through the US, it couldn’t have happened without the authorities knowing.” Jane asked what he needed. “An office, the three hard drives taken from the pc’s used two weeks ago, someone from IT and coffee, lots of coffee.”
She made phone calls, “use the office along the corridor, how long will you need?”
“I don’t know, hopefully by the end of today, don’t ask me what I will be doing, you wouldn’t approve.”
They each fired up a PC, Dave logged on to his cloud storage, he downloaded the software he thought he would need. Jane brought in the three hard drives, a woman from IT knocked on the door. “I need cradles to mount three hard drives, can you sort it out, this is urgent.” Turning to Sally, “one of the hard drives has the trail of the money, find it, we were so focussed on finding where the money came from, we never looked at whose hands it passed through. Use a VPN located in the US, it might give us a little more time.” He took out his phone, “Yuri, it’s Dave Stretton, yes, happy new year to you too, as usual, this is a rush job. Have you got anything which will hide the original IP address, we will be using a VPN, but I’m sure it can be hacked to find where the PC is?” Yuri said only governments security services used that stuff, he wanted to know which one. “I can’t tell you,”
“OK, I will upload a program we use, it slows down your machine, it scrambles your IP address, you are bounced around the world, no one can put it back together to trace the IP address, I’ll add it to your bill.”
“Thank you, I might need more, can I contact you later?”
“Yes, be careful.” Half an hour later, Sally had identified the correct hard drive, the new software had been downloaded. Jane had come back in, she sat watching them, she said nothing. “Sally, use the new program, it will take longer, get into the CIA, you want the 24th December, find Cyrus Grantly. I want all his messages and emails that day, give me a list of who he contacted, don’t bother with calls, we won’t be able to trace internal ones and I doubt he would have used his mobile.”
“David, what are you doing?”
“Following the money, if you are staying, check out a company name Sally will give you, I want to know everything about it, directors, turnover, location, email addresses, anything which might help us.”
“Dave, I’m in, I’ll download his emails first, they will start printing out in a minute. Jane, the company is Fairfax Movies Inc., don’t do anything until Dave has loaded up software on the PC.”
Each email was read as it came off the printer, “the messages from his PC will be next.” He kept on looking, the ones which didn’t interest him were left on a desk.
“I’ve got it. Sally stop, look for Nathaniel Dawes, look in his storage, it might be deleted or it could have been sent on to someone else. A file containing any reference to Cemento Milano, find it, I want it downloading, see if there is any reference to Fairfax Movies, Jane is searching for the company.”
“Dave, I’ve found it, it’s in his deleted folder, I’m downloading it now, I will print it out.”
“Find out if it was sent on to anyone before he deleted it. Jane, how are you doing?”
“I’m not having much luck, there is no website or physical address anywhere on the internet.”
“Look it up on the Securities and Exchange Commission website, if you can’t get in, I will transfer a piece of software for you to use.” The printer was working again, his phone rang, Dave looked at it, he went outside into the corridor. “Hello Cyrus,” there was a pause, “no. I can’t meet you today, I’m sorting out my new office and have meetings later on, tomorrow should be good, I’ll call you in the morning to arrange it.” Back in the office he relayed the call to the others. The printer was still working,
“Dave, Nathaniel Dawes sent it on to someone called George Frascati.” Jane said she had the same name as a director of Fairfax Movies. “Is it a CIA email address?”
“Yes.”
“Jane, call the PM, we need him here, this could be way beyond us. Do not say what it is about, just tell him to get here.”
© 10210ken 2026
