He left at 12.00, this would give him plenty of time to drive to Luton Parkway and change on to the train for the last part. The M1 was steady all the way, at junction thirteen he took the slip road off the motorway, rejoining the northbound carriage way. Dave wasn’t sure if anyone was following him, but decided to drive back up to junction fourteen and then head back south again. He varied his speed keeping an eye in the rear view mirror to see if there was another car keeping pace with him. He thought if they were professional then they would have at least two cars and regularly change over, it was what he would have done. At junction ten he pulled off for the train station. He parked in the multi storey car park and walked the few yards to get his train. Paying cash for his ticket, he picked a coffee from the small shop in the upstairs foyer, crossing the bridge to the far platform he checked the screen to see how long he would have to wait. Ten minutes later, he was sitting on a Thameslink train to Brighton, no one he had watched coming down the steps after him looked like they were following him. It stopped at every station, at Harpenden he waited until the few who wanted to get off had done so. He quickly rose from his seat and stepped off the train onto the platform. No one followed him. He waited for the next one going to the capital while he sat drinking his coffee. He was in London just after 14.15, his option was the tube or a taxi, the tube would take less than ten minutes, but he would have to use a card to pay for the journey. Opting for a taxi he asked the driver to drop him in St. James’s Square. Paying cash for the fare, he sat on a bench waiting for 15.00. It was only a few minutes away, he watched as people were leaving the private dining club, there was no one entering. At 15.00 Dave headed for the entrance, he was dressed similarly to those whom he had watched leaving. Inside he approached the desk, he stated his name and who he was due to meet. This was checked off on a list, a bell was rung, a liveried porter appeared. “Would you take this gentleman up to table twenty four.” Dave followed the porter up a wide staircase and through a large oak door. He could see the Major sitting at a table, someone was sitting opposite him. Dave was annoyed, he had said for the Major to be on his own. The porter was now standing by the table, “your guest sir.” As the Major stood to greet Dave the other person said goodbye and returned to the table of four he had been sitting at earlier. Inwardly there was a sigh of relief from Dave. “Good afternoon David, did you have a pleasant journey?” “Longer than it should have been.” They shook hands and sat down. Menus were brought and with the food ordered the Major asked about drinks, Dave wanted water, the Major ordered a glass of house white. “Well David, why the request for a meeting and all the secrecy. “I don’t want anyone to know this conversation has taken place, there is something very odd about this investigation.” The starters had arrived and the conversation stopped while they ate. Dave finished his starter first, “Am I being set up as the fall guy if this all goes wrong?” He waited for the Major to put down his cutlery, “No. certainly not from our side. Tell me what you have found out so far.” He went over the checks he had been doing for the last three days, “I couldn’t find anything on the current squad or anyone who had left in the last five years. I never bothered with the dead ones, but finding nothing, I decided to check them out.” The main course had now arrived and they fell silent again. The plates were cleared away, neither wanted a sweet or cheese, the Major asked for a large pot of coffee and the table to be cleared. I found that one of the dead men had sent an email two days after he was reported as having been shot dead.” The Major asked him who it was, “Roger Peterson, he was shot in Guangzhou on the 2nd January 2019, his last email was sent on the 4th.” The Major asked about the content of the emails. Dave put his briefcase on the chair beside him, opening it, he took out a copy of the last email. The Major stared at the black lines and then back at Dave, there was a puzzled expression on his face. “His last job before he left the service was in Hong Kong, however if you read through the file, all details have been redacted. Someone doesn’t want us to know what he was doing. Either it was another agency, someone higher up in the MOD or the Chinese have a direct line into the servers and have done it themselves.” “But why wouldn’t they just delete everything?” “I thought about that, if it had been me, I would have done the same, delete it and the missing information rings alarm bells, redact it and anyone reading it would think it had been done by a higher authority to protect someone. They would have us chasing round trying to find out who had redacted the information. You would never get to the bottom of it.” Neither of them said anything, Dave leaned back and drunk his coffee. “I have to report this to the Home Secretary.” “Don’t do that, I don’t trust him, if you have to tell him anything, say I am following up a lead on one of the current staff. I did a little reading up on him, he spent some time in Hong Kong many years ago, before he was an MP, he worked for a merchant bank, it’s all listed on his Wikipedia page.” They sat in silence for a while. “Whoever in the government you take this to will fob you off saying it’s not their department, it will always end up back with the Home Secretary. Every one of them is just passing through and are only interested in securing their future when the leave parliament.” “That’s very cynical David, but probably true.” “Do you have a direct route to the Chief of the Defence Staff?” “Way above my grade, however, my boss may be able to arrange something with the Vice Chief, I will find out.” “When you speak to the Home Secretary, will it be a face to face meeting?” “Yes, it is scheduled for 18.00 this evening.” Can you say that my searches have been unproductive so far, I want him to think I am getting nowhere. Tell him that in the office they are checking records of staff who left over five years ago, even those who have died. Watch for his reaction.” “What is your next move going to be?” “Hopefully I will be seeing someone later this evening who might provide me with more information. I have a feeling we are opening a can of worms and it may become very messy.” The Major rose to leave, “one last thing sir,” he sat down again, “my landlady, why did you ask her to spy on me?” “It saved me having to send someone to check on you. She is a former civilian worker, I asked her to let me know if you were struggling. You’re good David, this all comes naturally to you. People like you are hard to find, I’d like to think that you would help us out when we needed it.” They shook hands just before they left the building, the major went first, Dave waited a few minutes before going down the steps and headed in the other direction.
It was 17.30, he had a couple of hours to kill. Dave walked through the streets of London mingling in with office workers, shoppers and tourists, he was heading for Euston station. There was a Costa inside, a seat in there would take up the time until his next meeting. At 19.15 he set off, it would be a good twenty minutes to walk to Oak Tree Road. It was now much quieter, he didn’t have to weave in and out of other pedestrians. At the end of the road were two large blocks of flats, the one he wanted was on the fifth floor. The main door to the block was locked, he randomly pressed one of the call buttons, “DPD, got a delivery for you,” the lock on the door buzzed and he pushed it open. He stood outside the flat hoping it wasn’t a wasted journey. The occupant had no idea he was coming, if he had, he wouldn’t have been in. Dave pressed the bell on the door, he stood out the way of the spy hole. He heard the locks being undone, the door opened, Dave moved so he could be seen, “oh fuck.” “Hello Freddie, I was in town and I thought I would pop by and have a chat, can I come in or would you like to do it out here on the landing.” The door was opened to let him in, walking into the living room he sat on an easy chair, Freddie stood, he had a worried look on his face. It was him who spoke first. “I thought you had gone?” “Well, I’m back,” Dave took out his ID card and passed it over. Giving it a quick glance he handed it back. Freddie Small had worked in the MOD for as long as anyone could remember. He was in his mid fifties thin and slightly effeminate. A civilian who created the fake identities for the field workers. During a previous investigation Dave had followed a lead the took him away from the main part of his work. He discovered online many images of him dressed as a woman, others had him taking part in sex sessions with groups of men. This didn’t bother Dave, each to their own, he thought. However, there was a security implication, he should have reported it but decided to keep quiet, it didn’t affect the case he was on. When it was completed, he spoke to Freddie telling him what he had found. He pleaded with Dave not to say anything. “You owe me one,” was how the conversation ended.
“I need some information, I want you to tell me the truth. If I think you are lying, I will email the images to Major Cullen and the papers, you wouldn’t want that to happen, would you?” He was now perched on the edge of his sofa, his hands were trembling. Dave opened his briefcase and took out a picture he had downloaded the previous day. “Do you recognise this person?” he passed it over to Freddie. There was a nod, “did he ask you to create some false identities without logging them on to the system?” Again, there was the slightest nod, “how much?” “£500.00.” “Did you keep a record?” “Yes,” his voice was trembling, there was no friendliness in Dave’s questioning. He got up and left the room, he returned a few minutes later with a small note pad, which he passed over. Dave took it, quickly checking inside, he put it in his pocket. “Did you make any for anyone else?” there was a shake of the head. “I want three making for myself, you choose the names, how long will you need?” “About ten days.” “I will pick them up a week on Monday, Leave them with Chris in S417. Your secret is safe with me for now, just make sure everything works, I won’t need bank cards, that will save you some time.” With that he was gone.
He took a cab to St. Pancras and was sitting on the train twenty minutes later. At Luton Parkway there were a lot of people getting off. Many had backpacks or suitcases and were making for the airport. Others were met by loved ones or waited for taxis, he was the only one going to the carpark. He paid the fee and walked up the stairs to his car, as he walked across the parking level, he was aware he wasn’t alone, he didn’t turn round, there were two sets of footsteps. He stopped by his car, putting the briefcase on the bonnet. “Money, phone and watch now,” He turned round to see two youths in dark clothing, their faces covered, one was waiving a knife at him. “Hurry up or you’ll get it.” Dave moved as if to take his wallet out of his inside pocket, with his right hand now raised he punched the youth hard in the face. As he did so the knife caught his arm. The attacker fell on the ground in front of the car. His accomplice wasted no time and ran. Dave looked at his bleeding arm. He took off his jacket to check the damage, it wasn’t a deep cut but it was bleeding a lot. He pressed his left hand over the cut, the arm of his shirt was getting redder. Dave dragged the youth out the way of his car and climbed in. He took a packet of tissues he had in the glove box, opened them, and undoing the cuff of his shirt, pressed them against the cut. He started up the car and drove out the carpark as quickly as he could. It was 23.30 when he got back to the house. The bleeding had stopped but it had dripped on his trousers, his suit jacket and shirt were both blood soaked. He undressed in the kitchen and ran the cold tap. There was dried blood and tissue stuck to his arm, he gently cleaned the wound. The noise had woken Sally, she came downstairs to see Dave almost naked washing blood off his arm. “What’s happened, why are you bleeding.” I’m not, it’s stopped now, someone tried to rob me in a carpark, I hit him but his knife caught me.” Sally took over, she pressed kitchen roll on the cut, telling Dave to hold it firmly in place, she went for her first aid kit, she took out the largest plaster and with his arm now dry, stuck it over the wound. The clothes could wait until the morning. On the landing, she guided him into her bedroom. He was sleeping within minutes of being in bed. Sally sat on the edge beside him, her hand stroking his face, she kissed him gently before turning off the light and joining him in bed.
© 10210ken 2024
