“There are changes going on in the setup here, I have been offered a position on the books. It means for most of the time I would be behind a desk, this will leave a gap out in the field for someone to replace me. I will explain the proposed new way the organisation will be run, where my part is in it and where you may fit in. Obviously all this is secret and not to be repeated to anyone.” Dave spent twenty minutes explaining the changes taking place. “I will be the one who makes the final decision on any job, you will come up with a plan, explain it to me. I will give the go ahead, or we will discuss alternatives, once agreed you will be expected to carry it out. As before, there is no need for anyone else to know who you are using. Payment for the job will be agreed beforehand, authorisation to use firearms will be given on a case by case basis, I won’t be in charge of that.
Before we move on, I have something else to talk to you about.” The three files printed the day before were taken out from a drawer, “look through these,” the MOD file was handed over first. “It’s a very good report.”
“There are jobs in here, you’re not supposed to know about, how did you get the file?”
“I can look anywhere.”
He passed over the MI5 file, “I hadn’t looked at this until today, it says you might have been involved with me, but they couldn’t find anything out.” The last file was pushed towards Taff. “This one isn’t like the others, it’s a good job you have a lot of people who will lie for you. If you accept my offer, the dodgy stuff has to stop, is that understood.” There was no reply.
As Taff was reading his police file, Dave saw Jane Goodley walk past his office, she looked at him then stopped, he shook his head, she carried on. “What’s the offer?”
“You will need to create a company and invoice us on a monthly basis, you will be paid the equivalent of £1k per week, whether you do anything or not. If you are required to work, then in addition you will be paid £7k per week, or £1k per day. The costs for any additional help will be agreed on a job by job basis. Equipment will be supplied as required and returned at the end. There may be a separate contract available from the MOD, but that could be discussed later.”
“It’s not enough.”
“Taff, £50k for sitting on your arse, £1k per day for shooting people, that’s much more than you ever earned before. You will still be free to do what you are normally doing now, except for the illegal stuff. Plus, you know there might be finders keepers at the end of a job, you know how that works. Only three people in this building would know who you are, myself, Jane Goodley the head, and Sally. Meetings could be held away from here, or you would be admitted as a visitor.” He sat as Taff thought. “I don’t need an answer now, think about it, I’m sure you will consult Colin, but I don’t mind that. I would like an answer by the beginning of the new year.”
Dave said he would answer any questions, Taff thanked him for the offer. “I’ll let you know, I have things to consider before I make a decision.” He stood up and put on his jacket, at security, they shook hands, Dave thanked him again for coming.
Picking up the files, he headed for Jane Goodley’s office, inside, he poured out two coffees from her machine, it tasted like coffee, rather than the drinks out the vending machine. She asked what he was doing, “Sally is shopping with friends, I dropped them off and came here.”
“You haven’t answered my question.
“When I knew she was coming down, I arranged a meeting with someone, I’ve brought his files along for you to look at, he’s my replacement.” He handed over the files one by one, keeping the police one until last, she read each one. Tapping the police file, she said he was no angel. “He is the one who has been on most of the jobs with me, I would trust him with my life, he can organise and is discrete, I’ve explained how it works.
He isn’t an investigator, he is a doer, he isn’t like me, he cannot investigate, but then perhaps that’s a good thing. Imagine two people knowing what you are thinking?” He laughed as he said it.
“What have you offered him?”
“Less than you were paying me,” Dave said what he had offered. “We might need to up it a little, but not much, I asked him to let me know either way by the beginning of the new year.”
“Does this mean you will be accepting the offer?”
“Can I speak honestly to you as someone who knows me rather than employs me. You, Sally and I have spoken endlessly about my time in the field coming to an end, I know that, I’ve had more than my fair share of luck, who knows when it may run out. Sally is worried I will change, I left the army because all the shit was put on my desk, I don’t want that to happen again. One part of me is saying to go for it, there is another part saying to give it another twelve months in the field.”
“David, what do you love more, your work or Sally?”
“That’s the type of question I would ask you, it has to be Sally.”
“Then you know what you have to do.” He changed the subject by asking if she had read the report. “It’s a conformation of everything we know, not much will get out into the public domain, people will fade away, there will be no scandal. You will have to get used to that, the higher profile someone is, the less punishment they will receive.”
“Hopefully that might change.”
“David, life isn’t fair, you have to let some of the injustices pass you by, if you don’t, the job will screw you up, you will never beat the system. All we can do is our best, find those who are guilty, it’s up to others to decide what happens to them.” She poured them out more coffees, “what are you doing while Sally is shopping?” He said he hadn’t planned beyond the meeting. “It’s only 14:00, I only came in to check everything was OK, do you want to have lunch with Ruth and myself, I could call her, she could meet us at the hotel?”
Dave said it was a good idea, “however we will be too late for lunch in the restaurant, it will have to be the bar or the lounge.” Jane rang Ruth, they agreed a time of 15:00. Dave suggested they walk, it was cold but dry, they walked quickly, the streets were quiet. At the hotel, Dave was greeted by name, the bar had a few people in it, Jane wanted a gin, Dave stuck to coffee. They were chatting when Ruth arrived, Dave kissed her on the cheek. She wanted a glass of white wine, with the drinks, they sat down at a table, menu’s had been picked up as the walked across.
Ruth asked if he and Sally had a good Christmas, “it was good until late in the evening, talk of the job offer started once our guests had gone. I think we have it sorted now.” They all ordered snacks, no one wanted a full meal, the talk was of holidays, shopping, mutual acquaintances, anything but work. At 17:00, Jane and Ruth said they were out in the evening and would have to go. Dave stood outside while they climbed into a taxi, he had kissed each of them, he suddenly said for them to wait. Going back into the hotel, he picked up his jacket, checked he didn’t owe anything and joined them in the taxi, “can you drop me off at Millbank, I will site with the duty staff until Sally calls.”
He didn’t have long to wait, just after 18:00 she called saying they were worn out and standing in the doorway to Harrods. He said they would be outside the main doors in around twenty minutes. The traffic was heavy, he pulled up in front of the taxi rank on Brompton Road, immediately a traffic warden headed towards him. Flicking on the blue lights and opening the passenger window he took out his MI5 ID. “I have to pick up the head of MI5, she is waiting inside the shop for my arrival, I will be no longer than a minute.” The warden moved away. Sally, Olivia and Sam came running from the shop, the shopping was put in the boot, they were in the car and gone seconds later, the blue lights still on.
At the first set of traffic lights, the blues were switched off, Sally leaned over and kissed him. He asked if it had been a good day, all three had said it was brilliant. Not long after he was on the M1, they were sleeping. Pulling off a Junction 23, he shook Sally, “nearly home,” she rubbed her eyes then looked at the two in the back seat. She could reach Sam, she tapped her leg, when her eyes were open, she asked if she wanted dropping off at her flat. Dave thought he knew where to go, Sally gave him directions. The car stopping woke Olivia, there was a blast of cold air when Sam opened her door, Sally was out the car as well, she hugged Sam. Olivia wound down her window, she kissed Sam without getting out. She walked to the door to her flat waiving, her shopping swinging about. Arriving home Sally asked Olivia if she wanted to come in for a drink, she said Michael would be waiting for her. In a way Sally was glad, she wanted to speak to Dave.
She made a coffee, he had a cold lager from the fridge. “I’ll tell you about the shopping once you have said what happened today, I want to know what is going on.” Dave had taken out chicken, it was in the frying pan, a jar of red wine sauce was ready to pour over it, a bag of microwave rice was open and ready.
“I’ll tell you when we are eating,” he took out another lager, this time Sally had a swig from the bottle. There was no conversation until they were sitting at the kitchen table, he had a few mouthfuls before he spoke. “I saw Taff today, I offered him my job, working out in the field, he is thinking about it. Jane was in the building, we had a chat, afterwards we went to the hotel for something to eat, Ruth joined us, I went back to MI5 and then you called.”
He returned to eating. “There’s a lot you’re not telling me, I can see it in your face, your upset about something, I want to know what it is.” Dave said to wait until the meal was over. They had ice cream for dessert, Sally asked if he wanted a coffee, there was a shake of the head as he opened the fridge for his third lager. In the lounge, Sally wouldn’t sit beside him, she sat on the easy chair facing him. “As I offered Taff the job, I was thinking there was no going back. I spoke to Jane about it afterwards, she asked me if I loved the job more than you, I said no. She said there could only be one outcome. Do you understand, it’s the finality of it all. I might still be planning jobs, but I will be asking someone else to carry out the work, there won’t be the adrenalin rush, it will be worry, sitting waiting for a phone call to tell me the outcome. It’s also an indication I am getting older.”
Sally now moved to be beside him, “It’s a change, everyone is scared of change, you know you can do the job, your years of experience will help you, it’s the admin side you might struggle with, but I will always help you.”
“Jane also said, the bad guys don’t always get what they deserve, sometimes it can be too embarrassing to prosecute those in positions of authority, we’ve seen that plenty of times before.”
“It’s difficult to realise one part of your life is over, would you rather carry on as your reactions get slower. On complex cases, you will still be involved, just not doing the dangerous part, you will be the one deciding where the investigation goes, you might enjoy it more, trying to work on several jobs at the same time. We’ll talk about the shopping in the morning, I think you should go to bed, I will be up once I have cleared up in the kitchen, don’t go to sleep, wait for me, I think you need some loving.”
Dave was woken by the sound of the shower, Sally came into the bedroom with a towel wrapped round her. “It’s 11:00, did you have a good sleep?” He nodded, “stay there, I’ll bring you up a coffee.” He got up to go into the bathroom, he was back in bed when the coffee was brought in. “Stay in bed a bit longer, I think you need to catch up on your sleep, you haven’t stopped for days, you’re drained. I think things will be clearer when you are less tired. I’m going to play tennis later, I won’t bring Olivia in when I come back, get up if you feel like it when I return.”
Within minutes, he was sleeping again, he was still like it when she looked in at 16:00, she had taken off her tennis gear and was naked other than the dressing gown she was wearing. Normally she would have showered as soon as she had come home, but didn’t want to disturb Dave. Sitting downstairs, she heard him in the bathroom, he was back in bed sitting up when she came into the bedroom. “How do you feel?”
“Worn out, I might stay in bed a little longer.”
“I am going into the shower, I’ll be back out in a few minutes,” this time she was naked, Dave looked at her then patted the bed. They lay together in bed, Sally snoozed off and on, her leg and arm were across Dave, he was asleep again. The bedroom was in darkness when he woke, Sally kissed him, she said it was 21:30.
“I’m starving, I think I will get up and eat, have you had anything?”
“Not since I came back from tennis.” Downstairs, he had corn flakes and toast, Sally put in a microwave meal for herself. By 22:30 he was back in bed, Sally was beside him, he slept through until 09:00, when he brought Sally up a coffee, he showered and sat on the edge of the bed, it would be too easy to lie back down again, his body said it was what he should do. Sally wondered how long he would sleep for, she was downstairs doing chores, the shopping from London was still in the hallway.
Dave came downstairs wearing his dressing gown, “I want to eat, them I’m going for a run before it gets dark, do you mind?” Sally said no, she asked him what he wanted, fifteen minutes later he was in his running gear and eating bacon sandwiches. He ran for an hour, his legs were filthy when he returned, he showered as Sally ran him a bath, she sat in the bathroom with him, they didn’t talk, she was worried he might fall asleep, his eyes were closed. There was a towel ready for him when he climbed out, he dressed for the first time in two days, sitting in the lounge, Sally said she was starting on their evening meal, pork chops and apple sauce, with mash, gravy and veg. Dave nodded.
She waited until after dinner to ask him if he now felt better. “No, not really, I still feel I want to sleep, but I shouldn’t be tired, not now.” After dinner, Sally sat with her own laptop, she said to Dave he now had an appointment at the spa the following day for a reflexology session. “It’s not until 15:30, we will go after lunch, I will only swim, I won’t have any treatments.”
He felt more like himself after the treatment, at home, he cooked the meal that night, afterwards she finally told him about the shopping. He was shown some of the items she had bought, others were for a special time. Dave listened as she listed the shops they had been in, it sounded like Hell, he thought. With another good sleep Sally thought he was back to normal. She asked if he wanted to go to the New Year’s Eve party at Olivia’s, Dave asked if she would mind if they spent it quietly on their own. “There is something I want to talk to you about, it concerns our future, just after we have watched the fireworks would be the best time.”
“Tell me now, I don’t want to wait.”
“No, not until then.” She looked at his face trying to work out what he planned to say.
The minute they had watched the bells on TV, she asked him what he wanted to talk about. “We’ll do it in bed.” He was pulled up from the sofa, Sally quickly undressed and was in bed waiting. Dave took his time, when he was sitting leaning against the headboard, Sally climbed onto his legs.
“I’m waiting.”
“Ages ago, when we first talked about getting engaged, I said we should wait until I had stopped running about the country before we got married, that time has now come. If you still want to marry me, I think the time has come to start planning.” Sally didn’t know what to say, she sat looking at Dave. “Sally, will you marry me?”
“Of course I will,” her arms were round Dave’s neck, she was franticly kissing him, his hands gently moved her bum to be in the right position, they fell asleep later in each other’s arms. In the morning, she called Olivia and then Sam, they both congratulated her. “Dave, when will we do it, and who will we invite?”
“I’m not sure, I have no family, well, no one who I would want to invite, I think it would be a small wedding, you know more about weddings than I do. We could go somewhere, get married and come back as a married couple.” Sally said love is more important, when you are younger, you want a big fancy wedding, now, I just want to be with you. Sally Stretton sounds good.”
They both had one more day before they both were back at work, instead of Ubering, Dave was going to London, there were people he wanted to see.
© 10210ken 2026
