They slumped into bed in the hotel. At 07:30, Dave had to force himself out of bed. He woke Sally before he went down for breakfast, they kissed, Sally asked if it was now over. “I hope so, but still carry, I will know more after this morning. I’m booked in until Wednesday morning, I’ll decide if I’m staying later.” There were no Americans waiting for him downstairs, following breakfast, a taxi took him to Downing Street. Showing his pass he walked through the security barrier, the alarm went off, he left his Glock with security. An aide said for him to wait, it was just after 09:10 when he was taken to a meeting room, he was the last to join the meeting. Also present was the Chancellor, Home, Foreign and Defence Secretaries and aides making notes round the edge of the room. Dave sat on the only remaining chair at the table, he said good morning to everyone. “Thank you for joining us, I understand you know already the meeting was fairly successful, Miss Fellowes played a large part in the process, will you pass on our thanks. I will be speaking to the Nation at 12:00, then taking questions afterwards, the envelope in front of you contains the concessions, we are discussing the best way to present it without appearing to gloat. Please look through the agreement and give us your suggestions.” The document was read twice, during this time a coffee was put in front of him, all the eyes in the room were on him.
Dave leaned back on his chair, he was thinking, there was silence in the room. “OK,” he sat upright, holding the document, he spoke. “Clean up this document and have it ready as a press handout, don’t go into details in your statement, be general, give out the main points. Tell them we have come off better, leave the part about the bombing until last, you want that to be the last point. The public will talk about that the most. Emphasise how this event has changed the government’s policy on dealing with other countries, say a new world order is coming and the UK will be at the forefront, less reliance being placed on unhelpful friends. Sir, I have to be careful, I am now a civil servant, I am supposed to only give you factual information. It’s your special advisers who should be doing this.”
Dave was asked to leave the room, he sat in a waiting room, he poured himself a coffee and ate a few biscuits. Just after 10:00 the meeting was over, everyone left, the last one leaving said for him to return to the room. “Thank you for waiting, a note has been added to the minutes of the meeting saying your advice was being ignored. I’m sorry you were put in the position where you had to say something. Shall we walk round the garden? I want to show you the new planting which has been done. Outside, Dave said to not go in too hard on the Americans. “You never know when we might need them, big up the deals done, say they have admitted to errors of judgement, you know better than I do what to say, but at the same time, let them know there will be more serious consequences if they do it again. I would say nothing about the other countries being listened in to, let’s keep that to ourselves until we have found out what has been recorded, it might help us further down the line.” Richard Carlton asked Dave if he wanted to do the press conference instead, they shook hands before returning inside. Picking up his Glock, he left Downing Street, he had been offered a car to take him back to MI5, he said there was another call he had to make first.
Twenty minutes later he was sitting waiting to see Sir Rupert Parsons, he was ushered into his office having sat for only five minutes. “Sorry to arrive without an appointment, but I need to speak to you.” Sir Rupert indicated for him to carry on. “Sir, I’ve come from Downing Street, I was being asked for my thoughts and suggestions regarding a press conference being held at midday, I suddenly realised as I was talking, I was now a civil servant and possibly shouldn’t be saying what I did. I need to know what I can and cannot say.”
“It’s touched on in your induction pack, but I suspect you haven’t had time to read it, I will send over the guidelines to you and Miss Fellowes later today. I appreciate you coming to tell me, I would have found out anyway. David, the path you are treading is a narrow one, my door is always open, from what I have seen you will be like no one else in the service, rules may have to be rewritten to accommodate the way you operate. Carry on as you are doing, but don’t give anyone the chance to trip you up. People don’t like change, there are too many people ticking over, counting the days until they retire, upset them and they will be out to get you.” With that Dave left, he walked slowly back to Millbank, he arrived at 11:45. Sally was already in the office with Jane. “There’s something wrong, what is it?”
“The three of us will talk about it later, after we have watched the press conference, I want some time on my own.” Sally poured him a coffee, it remained undrunk.
The Prime Minister stood behind the wooden dais, two Union flags behind him, he had no support, he was standing on his own. He read the statement from the autocue, most of what Dave had said was in the statement, trade agreements were announced, investment by US companies into infrastructure projects were planned. Richard Carlton said closer ties were being forged with individual countries, especially with those not in Nato or the EU. His final announcement was a £500m donation from the US Government to be distributed amongst those who had lost relatives, and the injured from the bomb on the Underground. For the next twenty minutes he answered questions from the press, when asked directly if the US had been spying on the UK, he said for the reporters to draw their own conclusions. Jane switched off the TV when it was over. Dave stood up and left the office, it was only when he didn’t return Sally phoned him, “where are you?”
“Getting some fresh air, I’ll come back in a bit.”
“You haven’t answered my question, where have you gone?”
“I’m across the road.” Sally looked out the window, she saw Dave sitting on a bench looking over the river.
“Jane, will you come with me?” They both walked across the road, sitting either side of Dave, there was no conversation. Eventually Dave said he wanted to be on his own. “It doesn’t work like that, you are my partner, Jane and I are here to look after you. What has happened?” Dave shook his head. “We need to get him to the hotel, Dave, stand up.” He obeyed without saying anything, “walk with Jane and I, we’re taking you to the hotel.” Jane hailed a cab, Dave was bundled onto the seat, at the hotel, the doorman helped them out the taxi. “Would you get a wheelchair, Mr. Stretton is not well.” Seconds later he was being wheeled through the lobby to the lifts, one of the porters asked if a doctor was required. Sally said no, he was suffering from exhaustion.
In the room, they sat him on the edge of the bed, Jane pulled off his jacket, then undid his shoulder holster. Sally was undoing his shoes, his socks were pulled off. “Can you undo his shirt, once you have done that, lie him down, I will start on his trousers.” It took both of them to remove his trousers, Jane saw more than she wanted to. Sally quickly pulled his boxers back up. She started to cry when he was finally under the duvet, Jane hugged her, when she had stopped, Jane asked what was wrong with him. “I think he saw the press conference as the final part of the investigation, he has been on this non stop for weeks, it has been both physically and mentally draining. To put it bluntly, he’s fucked, add that to him starting a new job, I’m amazed he has lasted this long. Jane you have to realise, he’s not Superman, he’s the same as all the rest of us. Dave pushes himself way beyond the point where he should stop, you see the result lying in the bed.” Jane picked up the phone and ordered sandwiches and coffee for her and Sally. “I have to go back to the office, but I will come back when I finish.” As soon as she had eaten, Jane stood to go, she kissed Dave before leaving, Sally never saw the tears in her eyes.
Dave’s phone had gone several times during the afternoon, in the end, Sally switched it off. She lay down beside Dave, her arm across his chest, she cried for the second time that day. She was woken by knocking at the door, Jane had returned. “I’ll look after him if you want to get some food or have a break.” Sally thanked her, she had a quick shower and changed. “Sally we need to talk after you have eaten.” Jane ordered coffee and scones while Sally was downstairs, she was back within forty five minutes. It was just in time, Dave was restless, Sally went over to him, “I need to pee.” He swung his legs out the bed, she was beside him as he walked to the bathroom, he said he would be alright, he came back out naked, Jane stared before looking away, when Sally returned, she saw a red faced Jane. “Sorry about that, he will probably sleep on until morning now. What do you want to talk about?”
“Giles has been monitoring his emails, Cyrus Grantly has been trying to contact him, the PM wants to know why he hasn’t returned his calls, it’s the same with the Home Secretary. I found out he went to see Sir Rupert after his appointment with the PM, he won’t tell me what was discussed, he said it was private. Something happened between him leaving there and his arrival at Millbank.”
“I don’t think we can do anything until the morning, I had hoped to go home today, but I’m not sure about tomorrow either. If he is awake in the morning, I might try something. When you go, will you book tomorrow night as well. He isn’t in a fit state to see anyone at the moment, will you tell them he is exhausted, let Sir Rupert know as well.” Jane left at 20:30 saying she would phone in the morning, before going to bed, she phoned Olivia.
The following morning, she was woken by Dave, he was restless, it was just after 06:45, sitting up, she asked if he was OK. “I need a drink, I’m thirsty.” He was given a bottle of water, he drunk it down, getting up, he headed for the bathroom, Sally followed him, she wanted to make sure he was alright. While he was there, he washed his face and cleaned his teeth.
“Dave don’t go back to bed, I want to talk to you, but only if you want to.” Going back into the bathroom, he returned with a towel wrapped round his waist, he sat on one of the chairs in the room. Sally pulled on one of Dave’s tee shirts, she sat facing him. “Do you want a coffee or something to eat?”
“A coffee would be good,” his voice sounded weak, “perhaps we could have breakfast later.”
“Do you want to tell me what happened yesterday?” There was a long silence before there was a reply.
“I haven’t had a chance to go over everything myself, if I tell you, it will be the same as the first draft of a report, bits might be in the wrong place and not make sense.”
Sally could see he was struggling, “I think I might have made a big mistake, I spoke to Sir Rupert yesterday, a lot of what I say will have to stop, I cannot say anything which might be taken to be political. I had to stop myself in the meeting yesterday morning, that’s why I went to see Sir Rupert. I don’t know where the boundary is, I can’t work like that, I have to be able to say what I’m thinking. When we were freelance it didn’t matter, but we are civil servants now. I walked back thinking if I quit I will be letting you down, but if I stay, I may become very dissolutioned. I have to work this all out in my head.”
Sally moved to wipe away a tear from the corner of his eye. She sat on his knee and hugged him. “I love you, whatever happens, that won’t change, there is no way you would ever let me down.”
“How did I get back here?”
“It was Jane and I who brought you here, we undressed you and put you to bed, but I will tell you about that later. What are you going to do now, go back to bed or stay up and have breakfast?”
“Can we have half an hour in bed together and then get up, I want you beside me.” She lay across his chest, stroking his face, she felt a hand resting on her bum. Moving so they could kiss, she wouldn’t stop, only her phone ringing stopped the kissing, she let it ring, she guessed it would be Jane.
The moment was gone, Sally went to the bathroom, Dave heard the shower running, he joined her in the bathroom, he shaved while Sally was in the shower, he took her place when she had finished. As they were both drying themselves, she asked what he would be doing today. “I have to sort my head out, I would normally do it with a run, but I don’t have any running gear here.”
“Do you think some of the reason you can’t think straight is you might be worn out, yesterday you looked shattered, fifteen hours sleep isn’t going to fix it. You haven’t stopped since the bomb on the tube. I have no idea how you have managed to keep going. Yesterday the press conference was the final part, I think the adrenalin stopped, you’re running on empty. I put it slightly less politely yesterday, I said you were fucked, I can see it in your eyes. When we go down for breakfast, I will have a word with the porters, see if they can get you some running gear. When you have had a run, we will talk again, depending on how you are, you might get your phone back. Giles is handling your emails, the phone is switched off.”
Dave went into the dining room, Sally spoke to the head porter, she said what she wanted. A junior was given the sizes and sent off, she took the opportunity to return the missed call from Jane. She said once they had eaten she would call her again. It was twenty four hours since he had eaten, extra bacon and sausages were ordered, she waited until he had finished his hot food before she said Jane had seen him naked last night. Dave looked at her, “she almost saw it as we were pulling off your trousers, I managed to pull your boxers up in time. Later you woke and went to the bathroom, you didn’t know she was there, you came back out naked, she had a good look before turning her head away, she coloured up.”
“I hope it didn’t disappoint her.”
“I’ve never been disappointed seeing it.” In the room there was a several carrier bags, Sally said she hoped everything fitted. Ten minutes later he was ready to go.
“I will run round the park across the road, probably be back in an hour, it might be all a bit clearer then.” They kissed as he left, Sally rang for room service, she handed over clothes to be pressed, she checked if there were enough clothes for a couple more days, she guessed there was.” With a coffee, she phoned Jane Goodley, she said he was better and had gone for a run. “As well as being worn out, he has issues regarding the job he has to get right in his head.”
“As usual people want to see him, Giles is fielding calls in the office and answering his emails, if David wants him, he can stay permanently.”
“I’ll ring again once he is back, hopefully he will know what he wants to do.”
It was ninety minutes later when a worn out Dave knocked on the door. He showered and then soaked in the bath, he was brought a coffee. “How do you feel after the run?”
“Would you ring Jane, say I want a meeting with her and Sir Rupert, not in a Government building, either here or a neutral location The sooner the better, preferably within the hour, there is a lot in my head, it has to come out while it is still fresh.”
“Do you want to write it down, it might help?”
“No, it keeps changing, my head is buzzing.” Sally left him, she phoned Jane again. Minutes later she rang back, in the bathroom she said to Dave the meeting was arranged for 12:00 in one of the private rooms downstairs. Housekeeping returned the clothes taken earlier, they quickly dressed, it was a couple of minutes after midday when they walked into the meeting room.
© 10210ken 2026
