“Why ‘Mac the Knife’?” “I think he had a very Scottish name, his surname was ‘Mac’ something, one of the other guys must have called him that during their training and it stuck.” “You don’t know his proper name then?” “Hopefully I will in a few minutes,” he took out his notebook and using his burner phone he dialled a number. The phone was answered by a Welsh voice, “Hi Taff, it’s Dave Stretton, sorry about the background noise, we are on a train. Are you OK to talk?” There was a pause while he listened to the voice on the other end. “Can you remember someone called ‘Mac the Knife’, in Hereford, do you remember his proper name?” Dave said nothing, he was listening, he made a writing sign to Sally, she found a pen and a piece of paper, Fraser MacIntire was written down. He carried on listening, eventually he spoke, “if I send you across an image, can you let me know if it is him.” With the call ended, he searched through his phone for the picture Sally took in the hotel, only half of his head was in the shot, the rest of the image had the face of the man she had followed. It was sent by WhatsApp to Taff, Sally asked what he had said. “He’s missing presumed dead, Taff doesn’t know very much, four went on a job to check out something on the Russian border, only three returned, others were sent in to see if they could find a body, but found nothing.” His phone pinged, ‘confirmed’ was all the message read. “We now have an ex-SAS member, reported missing, seen in a decent hotel in Edinburgh, no shortage of money with a woman, you reckon, he isn’t in a relationship with.” It was now his turn to close his eyes, Sally sent messages to Olivia, included were pictures she had taken over the weekend. The next station was Sheffield, there was a thirty minute wait for the connecting train to Loughborough, it was a long wait in a dismal station. They were indoors by 22:45, milk had been picked up from a garage as they drove home. The suitcases were taken upstairs and left on the spare bed, Dave had opened the one with their toiletries and put the bag in the bathroom. He unpacked and then repacked his case for the morning, Sally brought up coffees, she laid out her clothes for the morning, before getting into bed, Dave sat on the edge, “are you getting in or sitting there all night?” “I was thinking,” finishing his coffee, he turned out the light and swung his legs into the bed. As he lay on his back, he felt a leg being laid across his, and an arm on his chest. He turned to kiss Sally, whispering he loved her, she kissed him before falling asleep.
In the morning, it was a scramble, Dave was tired but needed to be gone by 07:00, he had booked a cab the previous evening, he was dressed in jeans and a shirt, his suit was in the case ready for tomorrow, the only other item was his laptop and two usb sticks. Sally was reluctant to let him go, “take care, phone me when you can, I will have my phone with me all the time. Sitting on the train to London, two things were in his mind, the main one was Fraser MacIntire, the second being the meeting tomorrow. Before checking in at Heathrow, he made sure he had the correct passport, he had two with him, he would be using the second one on the return journey. Through check-in and security, he changed more money for Dollars, the exchange rate was poor, but there was nothing he could do about it. He sat watching the screen for his flight, his phone was ringing, not the burner, it was his regular phone, it was Jane Goodley. He wasn’t sure he wanted to answer it but decided he would. “Good morning Jane, how are you?” “David, why are you flying out to Washington?” “If you know where I am flying to, then you must have read the email inviting me.” “You are on very dangerous ground.” “Jane you sacked us, I no longer work for you, it’s sad it ended the way it did, but I have to explore all avenues open to Sally and myself. It’s nothing personal, I know you were doing what you had to, all I would say to you is to make sure the report is sent to the right people. Jane, take care, give our love to Ruth.” With that, he ended the call and made his way to the gate. The flight was busy, he was in economy and it was cramped. It was mid-afternoon when he arrived. He found a hotel in central Washington, he booked in using the second passport he had. In the room he rang to have his suit collected and pressed. Lying on the bed, he phoned Sally, told her about the call, “I want you to do something for me, use one of the other burner phones to do this, send a message to Jane’s partner Ruth, say if Jane wants to contact Dave then to use the burner phone, you should have Ruth’s number somewhere. I’m going to ring Cyrus then eat, I will be having an early night.” The meeting was set up for 10:30 the following day. Dave was tired, he was sleeping by 20:30, his suit had been returned and was ready for the next day. “He could never get used to eating pancakes for breakfast, however the coffee was good. He took a taxi, arriving fifteen minutes early. Security to enter the building was tight, once inside, he waited for Cyrus to come and collect him. After a shake of hands, he was led down countless corridors and up several flights of stairs. Finally, they arrived at a large meeting room. There were three others in the room, he was introduced to them, but soon forgot their names, Dave guessed one of them was from their IT department as he was the only one not wearing a suit. “One of the others started the meeting. “Mr. Stretton, thank you for coming, we saw a brief demonstration of the software you have, I would like you to demonstrate it for us here. What do you need?” “I have my laptop and the software, I need access to your internet,” the man from IT said that wouldn’t be possible, no external computers are allowed to be connected, it’s the same with the sticks, no external sticks.” “OK, find me a PC or laptop configured to accept an external stick.” “No, that isn’t possible either.” “So, I’ve come here to show you software, but because it’s not an approved stick, then it cannot be used. Why don’t we go to an internet café or back to my hotel and I will show you it there.” There was silence. “What if I connect my laptop to the internet through my mobile phone, sorry cell phone, using my own connection, it will be slower.” That was agreed, Dave connected up his phone, plugged in the stick and loaded the program. Fifteen minutes later he was in, they had watched in amazement. The man from IT was frantically checking on his laptop for a breach, there wasn’t one. “How is it doing that?” “I was told, it mimics an employee, then searches for the password, it is programmed to look for the highest level of access it can find.” He spun the laptop round for them to look at, Cyrus sat down and started searching, Dave moved away, he asked about coffee, a call was made, minutes later a trolley was wheeled in laden with coffee and fresh donuts. As he was eating, he was asked where he obtained the software from. “I won’t be saying, so please don’t ask. I have another piece of software I brought with me that may be of more interest to Cyrus, but I want something in return.” “What is it, and what do you want?” “I want a copy of the file you hold on our new Home Secretary.” “I don’t think we have one.” “I’m sure you do, if you have one on me, you will have one on him. I could look for it myself, but I thought it would be better to ask.” “What do you have for us?” “Access to every bank account in the UK, all you need is the back end address. Would you be interested in that?” Cyrus said it would help. “I’ll show you it in action,” Dave had previously checked to see if the person he would look up had a UK account. He swapped sticks, a few minutes later, they were looking at the bank account of the US ambassador to the UK. “Holy shit,” was the only reaction. Dave took the stick out and put it in his pocket. “Will you leave that here please.” “Sorry but no, I’ll exchange it for the file I want. I would like to say something, the software I have shown you will be released on the net if anything happens to me. It is stored securely in the cloud, if anyone tries to access it the wrong way, it will be wiped, other hard copies are lodged with people not connected with me, they know what to do if I am reported missing.” Dave was told the file would be delivered to him at his hotel. With that the meeting was over, “I’m flying out tomorrow morning, so don’t be late.” In the hotel he called Sally, she said she missed him and wished he was there. He said how impersonal it was, everyone is friendly, but it is superficial. I’m having dinner with Cyrus tonight then moving on tomorrow.” Sally asked if he would be back tomorrow, “no, I have another person I want to see, hopefully if the connections work out, I will be back on Thursday.” “I sent the message to Ruth, there has been no reply.” “My normal phone will be switched off from now on, until I am back in London, use the burner phone.” “Dave, I am working on the information you left me, I want to dig deeper, can I use this laptop to access the internet, I just need to know which stick has the software on it?” Dave explained where the sticks were, Sally took them out and laid them on the desk. She was told what each one did. “Make sure you use one of the neighbour’s internet, the user name and password is written down on my pad.” With ‘I love yous’ the call was over. It was mid-afternoon, down in reception he asked for directions to the nearest travel agency, the flights were booked and he was back in the hotel by 17:00, he was hungry, he ordered a burger and fries in the restaurant, it would keep him going until later. He lay in the bath rather than have a shower, his phone ringing stopped him from falling asleep. By the time he was out the bath, it had stopped, he called Cyrus back, “I’ll be down in ten minutes, see you in the bar. Dave looked at the phone, it was almost 19:30, dressing quickly he was standing next to Cyrus five minutes later than he said. There was a thick file under his arm. He was passed a beer, “Shall we talk in the restaurant, I can’t be too late, I have to prepare for a meeting in the morning, you stirred things up today, things are happening fast, it’s way above me, I’m involved as I have now been appointed to be the contact point with you.” Dave ordered a steak and salad, Cyrus had soup, “my wife will have a meal for me later.” “You don’t have to stay, we can do a swap and you can go. However, I would like you to do one more thing for me. Send me an email, saying subject to certain conditions, there could be a position available. Obviously I won’t be taking it up, it’s just to advance my case in London.” He handed over the file, Dave passed him the stick, “be careful using it. Get in and get out, don’t hang about.” Dave stood and they shook hands, they both thanked each other. Finishing off his meal, he didn’t wait for coffee, tomorrow would be a long day.
His first flight was to Charlotte, North Carolina, he had forty five minutes to make the next flight to Madrid. Fortunately, he made the connection. The flight wasn’t very busy, there was room to stretch out, he slept, waking only for food and coffee. He was due to land before 06:00, his meeting was in the Plaza Hotel next to the airport. It was an hour before he had his suitcase and was sitting in the hotel lounge, he saw Yuri come out of the lift at 08:00, the time they had agreed. Yuri hugged Dave when he saw him, He was as tall, but not quite as broad, he was mid-forties, long dark hair tied back in a short ponytail. There was no disguising his thick Russian accent. “You look tired, come and have breakfast with me, we can eat and talk.” Dave left his case with the porters, Yuri was already sitting down, he was asking the waitress in broken Spanish for coffee, Dave still had his laptop with him. He hung the bag over his shoulder as he selected food from the buffet. Sitting back down, he said he had to be gone by 09:45 at the latest, “I have a flight to London at midday.” “It won’t take long, I show you the software, you pay me and then you are gone.” Dave knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Yuri complained about how hard it was to make a living, “Yuri, you are a rich man, you have money hidden away all over the place, one account might not have much money in it, but the others will, then there is all the cash you have, the watch on your wrist is probably worth $50k.” The breakfast was quickly eaten, let’s go, I have a few bits to show you. In his room a laptop was sitting on the desk, “I’ll show you two programs you will like, but probably won’t want, a stick was plugged in, a picture of a car appeared on the screen. “It’s for electric cars, you connect by wi-fi, load the program, and the car will spontaneously catch fire, there are two modes, parked or moving, if it is moving, it will lock the doors so there is no escape. It only works on a few models at the moment, but more are being added.” He removed the stick and replaced it with another, “this will hijack any government text warning system. You can send out any message to whoever you like, I sold it to the North Korean Government a couple of months ago they paid very well.” “What have you got for me, I don’t have much time?” A third stick was inserted, “this is an updated version of the hacking tool you use, it is much quicker and doesn’t leave any footprints, you can use it without anyone seeing you.” Dave sat in front of the laptop, and tried accessing the same sites he had at the CIA building, it was much quicker, “how much?” “$3.5K, it’s a good price.” “A good price for you, not for me. Anything else?” “Yes, a newer version of the bank software, this time it works in different countries, a new search feature has been added, it will look for the backend, all you have to do is enter the name of the bank. It will do all the European banks, some from Russia and most of the American ones, try it out.” Dave tried different banks in various countries, every time it let him into the back end. “$1500 for this one, $4.5k for them both.” “They’re not worth that much, shall we discuss a reasonable sum, or shall I take my flight to London with my money still in my pocket? $3k for them both.” “I have to pay the developers, it’s very expensive work.” “Yuri, most of them do it because they can, it’s the challenge of beating the system, not the money, $3.25k is my final offer.” “Make it $3.5k and we have a deal.” They shook hands, Dave counted out the money, Yuri checked it again then put it in an envelope. Dave left with two sticks, in the airport, once he had checked in, he called Sally, she said to stay in London, “I’ve booked the hotel for tonight, we have a meeting this evening with Jane.” He sat reading the file he was given while waiting for the flight.
In London, Jane Goodley was sitting in her office thinking. The meeting yesterday had gone a little better than she had hoped. It had been held in Downing Street, present was the Prime Minister, Home Secretary, Defence Secretary, The Chief of the Defence Staff and herself. There was only one topic on the agenda, David Stretton. She had organised the meeting by contacting the Prime Minister directly, she had asked for the MOD representatives to attend as she hoped they would back her up. In front of each person was Dave’s file, not the one normally seen on line, it was one only a select few had access to. Each person spent some time reading it. “He’s a bloody maverick, we are well rid of him, I don’t want anyone in any of my departments, who doesn’t play by the rules.” Jane waited until he had finished, “this isn’t the education department, decisions in the field need to be made in seconds, we don’t have anyone better than Stretton and his assistant Ms. Fellowes.” “That’s another point, it says here they are in a relationship. The Metropolitan Police Chief has experience of him, he told me this man has scant regard for the laws in this country. There is no way he will ever work for the Home Office while I’m in charge.” The Defence Secretary now spoke. “I have no problem with the way he works, he is freelance, everything he does is deniable, if he screws up he is on his own. When he succeeds, he fades into the background and returns to his taxi driving. The amount we pay him is nothing compared to the return.” “Would you all leave us please I would like to speak to Sir Alan alone.” The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary were in conversation for fifteen minutes before the meeting resumed. “The Home Secretary will make a final decision on Mr. Stretton before next Friday, I have also been made aware he is looking at various options, he is currently in the USA at the CIA headquarters in Langley, I understand he may be offering his services to them. He has also been looking to move abroad. In my opinion he is an asset we need to retain, however the final decision is down to Sir Alan. The meeting is now over.”
Jane thought she knew what Dave was doing, she phoned the number Ruth had given her and arranged the meeting for this evening.
Dave almost missed the flight appearing on the screen, he carried on reading the file on the plane, by the time he touched down, he had formed a plan. It was 16:00 when he checked into the hotel, he ordered coffee and sandwiches to be sent up to his room. He waited for them to arrive before lying down on the bed. At 18:00 Sally opened the door to the room, she saw Dave asleep, fully clothed, on the bed, the coffee was cold, the sandwiches uneaten. Leaving him, she emptied her suitcase, made fresh coffee and sat on the edge of the bed, the movement woke Dave, Sally leaned over and kissed him, he reached over to hold her hand, “I just lay down for a moment, what time is it?” “Time you were up if we are to make the meeting with Jane,” “where and when?” “I suggested downstairs in the restaurant at 20:00, I can ring and change it if you want.” “No, I’ll be OK, would you run me a bath, I don’t think I smell too good, I haven’t changed since yesterday morning.” “I don’t care how you smell, I’m glad you’re back.” He swung his legs off the bed, he took a drink of the coffee, the sandwiches were dry, he didn’t care, he ate everything on the platter. Undressed, he slipped into the bath, Sally let him lie there for a few minutes before joining him. She sat between his legs and leaned against him. “Dave, I’ve missed you, if you have to go away like that again, I want to be with you.” His hands were resting on her tummy, she moved them up to be holding her breasts. Dave kissed her head.
© 10210ken 2025
