08.00. The three speaker phones
bleep into life and the caller on each identifies themselves. Those seated in
the room do the same. The normal jocularity that usually accompanies such
situations is missing. The Minister leans back and then forward with purpose
placing the palms and fingers of his hands together almost in prayer,
"Gentlemen, and lady," he turns to acknowledge her, "I need
hardly remind you what a tsunami of crap is going to fall on your heads and
lives if we don't resolve this situation." He leans back and gives the
sort of smile that can curdle milk
08.05. In Betcherton
eight men run to their vans as the leader stares at a tracking device on his
mobile. The man and woman walk back to a dark saloon car and get in. The woman
is speaking on her phone. On a train pulling away from the station Faith and I
are sitting opposite each other. I have been keeping an eye on those walking
along the platform and those boarding the train. There is no person or group
who look dangerous to us. I lean across to Faith and say, “Looks like we’re
ahead of them.” She lets out a little smile and sits back.
08.10. A voice from
the one of the Spider phones crackles into life “Gentlemen,” says Voice 1. The
lone woman in the room stares at the speaker. “It would appear that our teams
are back on the signal track of Agent Hope’s phone. I shall leave this
conversation for a few moments and come back to you with an update shortly.” As
he hangs up there is a general sense of relief in the room. A second
disconnected voice reports that the police who were present are too stupid to
know anything. The Minister sits back, “Let us hope this removes the cloud that
is hanging over all your heads.” He presses his intercom. “Tea now,” he barks.
08.15. As PC Ellis
changes into her civvies she hangs her uniform on the bar in her locker and
turns away before remembering. She reaches back into the darkened space and
lift up the sleeve. She takes a short sniff. ‘Should do for another couple of
shifts,’ she thinks before her hand brushes the pocket of the jacket. She
glances around the changing room to confirm it’s empty and puts her hand inside
enclosing the metal object from the scene in her palm. Quickly transferring it
into her civvy clothes pocket she leaves the room for home shouting ‘goodbye’
as she leaves.
08.20 He cycles with
headphones in. He is avoiding puddle and potholes and is finally beginning to
relax after the near accident by the station. He begins to sing along to the
track and let’s his mind wander ahead to the evening he has planned. A small
smile flicks across his lips at the thought. As it curls upwards towards his
eyes he is knocked from his bike by a black van sending him sprawling onto the
pavement and his rucksack into the road. He begins to shout as a second van
pulls up and he, his bike and bag are bundled into the back.
08.25. I am looking at
Faith and she is still smiling. “You seem quite relaxed considering they are
chasing us right now.” She reaches forward and says, “I gave them a little
detour.” She smiles again. “Remember the cyclist I bumped into.” I nod. “Well I
turned on my phone and slipped it into his bag when I knocked into him. They
should have been chasing him for the last twenty odd minutes.” I sit back and
suddenly feel nothing but pity for the innocent cyclist who is now wrapped up
in this hideous morning.
08.30. In a darkened
room a nurse moves towards the man in the bed and rest her hand upon his. She
gently repeats his name until his eyes open. “What is it nurse?” he croaks and
signals for the plastic beaker with straw next to his pillow. “It’s your son
Sir, he want to see you.” He takes a sip and lets the warm water moisten his
lips and tongue. “Help me sit up,” he asks and when he is settled asks her to
show him in. He knows something is wrong. He has no son.
08.35 The cyclist in the
back of the van is terrified. Two of the men are shouting questions at him about
a mobile phone is his bag that isn’t his. He has no answers and if confused. He
needs time to think but they won’t stop shouting. He can’t even follow what
they are saying as his English is weak. They have been through his papers and
he can only presume it’s about his visa but they haven’t asked him about it.
Finally he shouts out his name and bursts into tears. For a few moments the
only sound is from the road. A voice over the leader’s mobile phone says “Bring
him back to base.”
08.40. Tea has been
served. Those that wanted coffee accept the tea as it is clear there was never
going to be a choice. Little of insight has been said in the half an hour that
has passed but they have rehearsed a few scenarios and discussed various
strategies and approaches. The have shortlisted the most likely countries and
organisations to be behind the act and have shortlisted two. The computer voice
announces that the Line 1 spiderphone is active again. “Well?” asks the
Minister. The tiny voice speaks, “He’s being brought back to the base for
questioning. He has the phone but nothing else.” There is an uncomfortable
silence.
08.45. Back at home
Tracey-Rebecca Ellis fills the kettle and flops into her comfy chair and thinks
‘what a night shift.’ Well, in fairness up until just after six it had been a
normal night but then …. She takes the metal object from her pocket and stares
at it. She’s knows what it is and she knows she should have handed it over and
now she is totally compromised. She can’t think what came over her but can only
assume it was the fact that, for the first time this morning, something
exciting and exceptional had happened after four years in the police. The click
of the kettle makes her jump.
08.50. “You wanted to
see me?” says the man from his hospital bed. “You can leave us Nurse and do sit
down son.” The nurse pulls the door shut and they both leave a pause to hear
her footsteps move away. The room is filled with the sound of the old man’s
breathing. “Well?” he finally says. The younger man opens a brief case and
lifts out a small device which he turns on. It emits a white noise distraction and
as soon as it is audible he speaks. “We may have an issue with the collection.”
08.55. Faith opens her
eyes and looks at me. “We should be in London shortly. The shop is in a very
affluent part of London. I doubt it will open until ten at the earliest. I
suggest we go to one of the large shopping centres and buy a set of clothes
each from a single shop so we can settle everything together in one payment. They
will have tracks on all our credit cards. Before then we want to buy to large
brimmed hats with cash to ruin any CCTV images.” She really is rather
remarkable. At least I have some cash so can contribute a bit.
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