Sitting in the car taking him to the hotel, Jane phoned “Remember, you have a meeting with Sir Rupert at 15:00 this afternoon, your first bollocking in your new job, no doubt it will be the first of many.” She laughed and said to come to her office when in the building.
The door to the car was opened outside the hotel, as he slid out, the doorman said not to go inside. “The head porter has said not to let you in, but to call him.” He stood on the pavement waiting, the head porter came out. “It might be better if you came into the hotel by a different entrance.” He was guided along the street and round to the staff entrance, as they walked he was told there were two Americans sitting in reception waiting for him. “They asked for you at reception, when they were told you weren’t in, they said they would wait.” Dave asked how long ago this was. “About 09:30, the doorman said they were dropped off in a big Yank car with blacked out windows.”
“Come up with me to my room, I want to make a phone call, if you listen, you will know what’s going on.” He called Jane Goodley, “there are two Americans waiting in reception for me, I don’t know why, but I can guess. I spoke to the head of the CIA this morning, he wasn’t happy. They turned up just after 09:30 not long after the call. I want a Glock, shoulder holster and a box of shells. Find two close protection officers, I’m not bothered if you have to use Met people, just make sure they aren’t in uniform. Have them bring me the Glock, tell them not to come into the hotel, but to ask the doorman for the head porter, he will bring them to me.”
The call ended, Dave looked at the ex-military man standing across from him. “I understood all that, it will be done, Dave took out his wallet, he passed over £50. “I don’t have much more with me now, I will see you before I check out.” He showered, shaved and changed, although he had eaten a breakfast, he was still hungry, he ate the small packet of biscuits left by the coffee machine while he waited. It was over an hour before there was a tap at the door, he recognised the voice and opened the door. Dave saw immediately the other two were policemen and armed, there was the tell tale bulge under their jackets. They handed him a box. Dave said hello to them.
The head porter was asked if they could use the dining room as it would be empty just now. “No, they will be getting ready for service, there is a large private dining room you can use, there isn’t a booking this morning.” While Dave was preparing the Glock, he explained what would be happening. “It might be nothing, but I would rather be prepared.” They looked round the room, Dave sat at the table, away from the door the two Americans would come through. The two police would stand facing the door, waiting for it to open, guns ready.
The head porter went down to reception, he approached the two waiting for Dave. “I’m sorry, you were given wrong information earlier, Mr. Stretton is working from a private office this morning, none of us knew. I can take you there now. Please follow me.” The three heard the knock, guns were ready, Dave shouted to come in, the two Americans pushed past their guide, they stopped dead when they saw three guns pointing at them. “Come in gentlemen, please put you weapons very carefully on the table, try anything and you will be shot where you stand, no warnings no second chances.” Two handguns were carefully put on the table. “And your knives, you normally have a knife as well,” Dave waited while knives were put on the table. “One of you search them check the bottoms of their legs, sometimes there is another small gun or knife.
Once they were checked, Dave said for them to sit down away from their weapons. “You won’t be going back with them, all I have done today is take weapons from Americans. Gentlemen, you obviously didn’t come here to have lunch with me, I’m not sure it was ‘capture or kill’ either. What is the message you have for me, since I’m here now, why don’t you tell me?”
“We are to take you to the Embassy, we don’t know any more than that.”
“Surely a phone call asking me would have been a lot easier, who instructed you?” Neither of them said anything. Dave spoke to the police. “I want these two arrested, illegal possession of a handgun in a public place, have the vans pick them up from the staff door, take them to separate police stations. Still pointing his gun at the two, he called reception to ask the head porter to come up. When the head porter came in, Dave said to call the duty manager, he explained about the police and how they would be going down the staff stairs and then out the back. The phone was picked up, a porter was sent to the back door. It wasn’t the duty manager, it was the general manager who would be coming. Six more uniformed police were in the room, two were armed response. Handcuffs were put on the Americans, before they were led away down the back stairs. Dave knew they would be released later, but it served a purpose.
He thanked the two plain clothed police, the weapons had been put in a secure box and removed, there was only the general manager and the head porter left. “David apologised and hoped the disturbance wouldn’t have been noticed by the other guests. “If I hadn’t been informed by the front of house team, there would have been a lot more trouble in reception, the two men came to get me, they were to kidnap me. By doing it this way, I don’t think anyone in the hotel will have noticed. If you’re not happy, I will move out today.”
In his room he called Jane Goodley. “Don’t come here, I was about to phone you, I will pick you up in around fifteen minutes, we have been called to a meeting with the Prime Minister.”
“I have to make some calls before I do anything, if I’m not in reception, have them call me.” His first call was to Sally, he knew she would be at work, when he told her what had happened she said to be careful. “When you get home, keep a Glock with you, shoot anyone who pulls a gun. If you are not coming down, see if you can stay at Olivia’s.”
“I’m coming down, I want to be with you,” Dave said to bring a Glock.
He used a burner phone for the next call, it rang for ages before being answered. “Cyrus Grantly.”
“Good morning Cyrus, I hope I haven’t woken you.”
“David, what the fuck are you doing?”
“I could ask the same about your government. I only have one question for you, is there a kill order out on me?”
“Not at the moment, they are too scared of what might happen if you are killed, be careful, you are in way over your head.” The phone went dead. His final call was to the US Embassy, he asked to speak to the head of the CIA in London, the woman on the other end said she had no idea who he meant. “Tell him it’s David Stretton and I have two of his men in custody.” He was put on hold without anything being said. “Dan Shapiro, how can I help you?”
“Are you the station chief, if you aren’t then find him, I’m tired and really pissed off. You know who I am, either you are the chief or not. I will check once I’m back in my office.”
“What do you want?”
“I want to know why you sent two armed men to escort me to the Embassy this morning, they are now in police custody.”
“The Ambassador would like to speak to you.”
“Don’t give me that shit, he knows where my office is, tell him to make an appointment. If he doesn’t want to meet me there, then Downing Street is the other option, but before you do anything, check with Bob Smidowitz, he knows the consequences.” The room phone was ringing, Jane said she was waiting for him. “Come up, I’ve still got calls to make.” He had decided he needed to make two more calls. He was flicking through his note book when there was a tapping at the door.
“It’s me, Jane.” Dave asked if she was alone, she said she was, his Glock was ready as he unlocked and opened the door, it was locked again as soon as she was in the room.
“Say nothing while I make two more calls, she watched as he used the burner phone to call a number. “Yuri, it’s Dave, there’s no time for pleasantries. I’m in danger, it’s the Americans, you know what to do if something happens to me.”
Jane looked at him, her expression turned to one of worry, she was about to speak, but was silenced with a look. He phoned Michael, Olivia’s husband, he understood the job Dave did, but never asked, he had always said he would be there for him if needed. “Michael, it’s Dave, if anything happens to me, promise you will look after Sally. I don’t think she is in danger, hopefully she is travelling down here tonight, if she decides to stay in Loughborough, could she stay with you, or you and Olivia stay at our house. Sally will show you where the Glocks are, there are also a couple of Uzi’s.” He listened to Michael before saying thank you and that he had to go. “I will phone you later.”
“Fucking Hell, is it that bad?”
“Yes, the only reason there isn’t a kill notice out on me is they are scared of the damage I will do. What ever happens, there has to be a meeting today, I will sort that out when we see the PM. The other issue is I think they might throw me out this time, the general manager was a bit pissed off this morning.”
As they left, Jane stopped at the desk and asked to see the manager, she was shown into his office, Dave chatted to the porters, all the time looking round.
“There’s nobody to worry about, we have been checking those who have been coming in.”
He watched Jane come out smiling, “all sorted, you were to get a final warning, but I’ve smoothed it out.”
They were shown in directly to a meeting room, the main cabinet ministers were already round the table, the Prime Minister was at the head of the table. Dave and Jane took the last two seats. “Before we start,” Jane was speaking, “there is the possibility the Americans will issue a kill notice on Mr. Stretton, any discussions should take that into account.” All eyes looked at Dave.
The Prime Minister began the meeting. “There has been a response from the Americans, they have invited us to a meeting to discuss and refute the discoveries we have made. The meeting, they wanted it to be in Washington. You Mr. Stretton, they suggested, should be one of the delegates. I think it may be because of the way you spoke so eloquently to the Head of the CIA this morning. Seriously we have to decide on our response, I would first ask Mr. Stretton to make his suggestions and then we will take it from there.”
“You’ve put me on the spot, so I’m thinking as I talk. A definite no to going over there, it would give them the advantage. If I went over, I wouldn’t return. It has to be here and in a secure location, secure for us, not them. There has to be time to work our way through some of the information from last night, we need ammunition. Miss Fellowes will be here tonight, use her skills to look for patterns and links, she will be able to get past any passwords quickly, have a team working with her. They have fucked up big time with this, we should be able to use it to our advantage. Have the Ambassador in again, tell him the meeting will be on Saturday or Sunday, the exact venue to be given when we know who will be in their delegation. Thinking about myself, let them know any threat to me will result in a wholescale release of unredacted information regarding their operation. Let them know you have copies of all their personal files held by the CIA and FBI. That should be enough to get you started, if there is to be a meeting, I would like to be present.”
Dave was thanked for his contribution, he and Jane left the meeting. It was still early afternoon, he was worn out, but there would be time to sleep later. He called Giles out his office. “Have the office swept for bugs, I don’t want anyone knowing what we are doing.”
“It was done first thing this morning, it is being done every morning, all the offices near here.”
They went back inside, “can you find a list of the top people at the CIA, once you have it, speak to Miss Goodley, we will require another person. I’m going to get food, call me if you have to.”
Having eaten, he returned to his office, “Miss Goodley wants to see you, I said you had gone for food.”
He poured two coffees before sitting down, “your extra person will be with you in about ten minutes, she is finishing off the work she was doing. Will you tell me what is happening?
“I’m doing a little bit of research, it’s better you don’t ask.”
“I listened to the recording of your phone call this morning, you will never make a diplomat, but it was very good.”
“Hopefully I upset the right people.” “What about this kill notice?”
“I’ll have that sorted later today, a lot of people are going to be a little unhappy, I might need a team to work late. Once they are working, I might try to sleep for a bit.”
Giles introduced Hazel when he returned, “I have the list of the top people.”
“OK, we are going to search the records held on them, one of you will do the CIA, the other will look at the FBI files.” Giles had learned quickly not to question, Hazel said they weren’t allowed to do that. “If we play by the rules, we will never achieve anything, our enemies don’t, so why should we. I will load software onto your PC, it will hide where we are, then another piece will let you in. I want the personnel files of those at the top, while you are doing that, see if their wives or partners have anything hidden away. Create a file and list each one by name and position. Print each record out and have it put in a file, move onto the heads of government departments, then senior senators, you might have to dig deep to find the true dirt. It may be behind several passwords, keep trying the software will eventually let you in. I’ll be here for the first half hour, after that I will be resting, but contactable.”
Dave spent twenty minutes setting both the PC’s up, he watched as they began downloading records. On his own PC he was doing the same, but was searching through databases. He didn’t notice the time, all he was doing was opening, skimming and then closing each one before moving on to the next one. He knew what he wanted would be there, the problem was he didn’t know where to look. “Has anyone done Bob Smidowitz yet?” Both said yes. “Anything on his wife Haley?” It was Hazel who said there was an FBI file on her, she handed him the printed version, he read it several times. Dave knew from a previous encounter she liked men, she had spent an entire dinner party squeezing his leg each time getting a little higher. There was a reference to ‘external research’, he switched from the CIA to the FBI site, eventually he found a folder with the same name, he scrolled down until he found Haley Smidowitz. There were images of her taken with a long lense, she was kissing a much younger man, others showed her going into a motel with a man, Dave knew it wasn’t her husband. He called Jane. “I need more people, probably another three, they will have to work late, I’ve found what I was looking for.
He was aware of someone in the doorway to his office, he looked up to see Sally standing there. As he went to stand up, he fell back into his chair, Sally came over to him and kissed him on the lips. “You look out on your feet, have you had any sleep?”
Dave shook his head. “I was going upstairs, but I got involved. Giles will tell you what’s happening.”
Jane was now in the office, she hugged Sally. “He needs to sleep, but he won’t stop, I don’t know what he is working on.”
Sally looked at his screen, she flicked through a couple of images, “he’s looking for dirt, I think he has found it.”
“He has asked for three more people, when they come up, put them in another office, will you take over while he rests? When he has gone and everyone is working, will you come into my office and I will explain my call to you this afternoon.”
It took Sally almost an hour before she was able to see Jane, the door was locked when she was sitting. “There is no easy way to say this, so I’ll come straight to the point, Dave is worried the Americans will put out a kill notice on him, they tried to take him this morning in the hotel. There will be people in the hotel tonight, I spoke to the manager today, I think he is gathering dirt to let them know what will happen if they try. I heard him speaking to someone called Yuri and then another call to Michael, I assume that is Michael Parkes, we have a file on his father.”
Sally’s head was spinning, she knew there was always a risk of being killed, but to know someone might be actively looking for Dave scared her. “I think he might be overthinking this, but it’s how he thinks, you should know that better than I do.”
“Thank you for telling me, if anything happens to him, he won’t be the only one to die.” Jane got up and hugged Sally, she left saying she had work to do. Giles and Hazel were finished. Sally was now in charge, she said the files had to be put together with images from the three others added. “Lock them in the filing cabinet when you have finished, give me the key. When you have finished you can go, thank you all.”
© 10210ken 2026
