by Carl Andrew
“Go on,” she encouraged.
“Ok, well not that it’s any of my business but are you still planning to get involved in the activism stuff?”
“I’ve been thinking about that. I had a lot of time to think about it over the last couple of days. You know I feel myself drifting away from activism. I’m not sure it’s really me,” she said.
He struggled to hide his relief.
“Is that what you were hoping to hear Leon?”
“In a way, yes, I don’t know why. I mean I’ll support you in whatever you decide but I just wasn’t sure how you felt about that,” he said.
“Truth is, I’m not even a vegetarian. I love a good steak,” she revealed and started to chuckle.
Her laugh was infectious and Leon found it impossible not to reciprocate.
They eventually arrived at Finsbury Park Station and navigated the way to the flat.
Leon was curious as to Sarah’s reaction when they got there and she saw the place but was a little more reassured after witnessing her previous accommodation.
They walked in and stood in the doorway while Sarah surveyed her new home.
“I love it,” she said and a smile beamed across his face.
Their first evening living together was an emotional one with her relaying what happened to her when she was taken. She left out the part about what she finally revealed to the kidnappers about her family story.
It was the part of her she kept as secure as she could and she wasn’t ready to share it just yet.
A couple of bottles of wine later, exhausted but happy at the prospect of starting a new life together they found themselves in the bedroom.
Theirs was a relationship about to blossom. Conversation flowed easily throughout the evening and there was a heat radiating from each and every physical or emotional contact.
That night was based on a mutual but unspoken understanding. A night of sex didn’t feel right to either of them, instead they fell asleep comfortably in each other’s arms. It felt so much more to them that way.
Chapter 14:
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
Back at the Institute, Jennifer gave the external drive to her assistant to analyse. The ten introductory interviews had gone very well and she was impressed by how open the test cases had been.
What was even more exciting was that each presented a unique challenge. There were very few similarities between each case.
“Can you set up their research files with the material from the interviews and send me a report by Thursday. I’m keen to see a benchmark overview of each test case,” she said.
“We’ll then meet as a team and plan out a program for each of the cases. I’m aiming to head back to Leicestershire on Friday to see how our first week of audio and video went.”
Her assistant nodded his acceptance and scurried away in the direction of a quiet room, seeking out the company of solitude.
It’s interesting, she thought to herself, how many people in this industry are so very good at being by themselves.
She remembered hearing about how some of the larger and more successful technology companies sought out those potential developer or engineering employees who had conditions such as Aspergers.
There was something about their ability to focus single-mindedly on specific tasks that gave them the edge over what society deemed as other ‘normal’ people.
The phone rang breaking her concentration. It was Vanessa.
“Hi Jennifer, how did it go with Russell up in Leicestershire?”
“Really well thanks. Governor Voskov was the perfect host and will definitely be a help rather than a hindrance.”
“And the prisoners,” Vanessa said digging for information.
“The test cases are ideal. I think we’ll be able to undertake some very useful research with them,” responded Jennifer.
“That’s really good to hear. It all seems to be coming together. Where do you go from here?”
“From here, I’m planning on going to the kitchen to make a cup of tea,” Jennifer said in jest. No reaction was forthcoming from Vanessa so she continued, unabated if a little uncomfortable that her attempt at humour had gone largely ignored.
“Err… As far as the project is concerned, my team will analyse and record the results of the introductory meetings and then we’ll reconvene on Thursday to map out individual project plans.”
“How’s life inside Number 10 today?” Jennifer enquired, not wishing to be the only person questioned.
“It’s good. We’re going to start encouraging neighbourhood watch schemes to start up and grow in number. The aim being to get people power back on the streets,” Vanessa said, taken aback at first. Jennifer had never asked about Vanessa’s day job before. It felt a little strange and she was caught off guard.
“We’re also looking to encourage media coverage of successful neighbourhood watch schemes so that we can build up fervour of excitement. That will hopefully get other people interested in getting involved.”
“Sounds like you’re busy. Good luck with that plan.”
“Jennifer, I know its early days but, from what you’ve seen so far of the test cases, are you confident of making progress quickly?”
“You want to know when you can announce a declaration to the public about a long term solution to the anti-social behaviour issue right?” Jennifer responded, not beating around the bush.
“Err… something like that, any thoughts?” Vanessa said, recounting the first time she met Dr Jennifer Hopwood. The confidence she heard in her voice today was reminiscent of that first meeting.
“I’m hoping we’ll have some early guidance on options in a month or two,” she said.
“Great. I’ll let David and Russell know. If there’s anything you need to expedite things, let me know.” Vanessa was trying to encourage haste without being too direct.
“Vanessa, there’s a phrase we have in my world. Scientific research is like a watched pot, under scrutiny it doesn’t boil.”
“Ok, I understand. Nice analogy,” Vanessa replied. “Keep me posted and good luck with the research. I hope it’s ‘cooking’ soon,” she said before hanging up.
Jennifer allowed herself a smile and then got on with her next scientific experiment, pouring hot water onto a tea bag.
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Finsbury Park, London
Leon woke up with a smile on his face. It was the same smile that had been on his face for almost 48 hours.
“What?” Sarah enquired also recognising the familiar expression.
“Nothing, I’m just thinking how strange it is that I’m here with you now, like this, how strange but how wonderful.”
Sarah leaned over and kissed him.
“I’m happy,” she said.
As perfect timing would have it, Leon’s phone rang, spoiling the moment.
He looked at Sarah. “I have to take this,” he said.
She offered approval with a nod of her head.
He checked the caller ID, Vanessa Lim. He pressed to answer.
“Vanessa, how are you?”
“I’m good. How are things with you and Sarah?” Vanessa responded. She was obviously well informed, he thought.
“How did you know about…? Oh wait, of course you knew. You’re the Government,” Leon said.
“To be honest,” she said, “I could tell you had feelings for her when we spoke after she was taken. It was pretty obvious by the sound of your voice.”
“Aah, I made it that apparent huh? It’s going well, great… I mean, how can I help you?” He was desperately searching for a way to change the direction of the conversation.
He wasn’t very good at conveying or discussing emotion. That’s why Sarah had to make the first move with the kiss. But over the last day, he was starting to understand that side of him much better. She was the catalyst for that.
“I was actually hoping you could help me, well us really.�
�
“Us as in the Government?” he asked.
“Kind of, more like us as in the people of the UK,” she said. “Leon, you have a lot of influence with the blog. People read it and take on board what you have to say,” continued Vanessa.
“Go on,” said Leon, intrigued with where this was heading.
“As you know, we’re working on a long term solution to the problems we’re all facing of street violence. I’m going to be completely upfront with you and let you know that we’re still a month or so away from the next step here.”
“With science, things don’t move at a quick pace. Not if you want to do things right and explore all possibilities. We’re looking for a change of mind set, not a quick win for the polls. When we say long term we mean it,” Vanessa was on a roll with this particular diatribe.
“So where do I fit in,” Leon said trying to move Vanessa somewhere close to the point.
“Leon, we need a stop gap. We need to encourage communities to be brave, to join together and watch out for each other. We need to encourage people power to offer some sort of challenge to the violent offenders.”
“And how are we going to do that?” Leon was keen to resolve this call.
“If we provide you with some success stories of neighbourhood watch schemes, would you cover them in a post?” Vanessa had finally got there, the real reason for the phone call.
“You’re hoping that people will read about them and decide to get involved right?” He asked.
“Precisely,” she replied.
“What about the risk to these people? What happens if they become the victim of these violent thugs?” He said
“Obviously we can’t guarantee that won’t happen. You know that. But if we get people together, working as groups, there’s far less likelihood of them getting attacked,” she shot back as if prepared for this question.
“The stats show that the majority of incidents happen when the victim is alone. It’s cowardice masquerading as strength. This is as much a way to protect people as it is to confront the bullies.”
“Ok listen, all I can say is, send me over the details and I’ll take a look. You know my perspective on independence. If they’re good stories, I’ll write about them but I won’t cover them just because the Government asks me to. Is that fair enough?” Leon said with as much assertion as his polite nature could muster.
“That sounds ok to me. I’ll send the info over a little later. Thanks for the chat,” Vanessa finished the call with a positive, friendly tone.
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Hitchin, Hertfordshire
He was monitoring the scene in front of him. It reminded him of his army days. He was feeling good after completing his jigsaw puzzle today following a few weeks of effort and was now in ‘full on’ observation mode.
He had been an avid member of the Hitchin Neighbourhood Watch scheme since his retirement. He took his work seriously and had started to climb the ranks until last year when he took over the operation after Old Roy had passed away.
It was a role he thrived in and, in truth, gave him a purpose. People say that if you retire the mind when you finish up with work then you speed up the ageing process. If you keep yourself active and your mind exercised, you slow it down. He was 73 and didn’t want to give up just yet.
To his left stood the video camera set to night vision. The winter evenings welcomed darkness just after 4pm and visibility was poor with a normal video camera so he’d invested in this new special one a few months ago.
Some in the Watch scheme said that he went a little too far. He disagreed, believing you can never be too prepared for what might happen.
The Town of Hitchin was not a particularly dangerous place but there had been a few incidents over the last couple of years.
It suffered mainly from burglaries but there were some unwarranted attacks as well, by gangs of youths on unsuspecting individuals, for no other reason than just because they could.
He was perfectly located at the end of the road to see the whole street. His vantage point also allowed him a fairly substantial view of the park where there had been some troubling situations over the past couple of months. The bushy area to the eastern side was a particularly worrisome area.
He was an hour into his watch and was set up for a good hour or two more. His wife had made him a flask of tea and had cut him a couple of slices of banana bread she had baked that afternoon.
He also had the phone close to hand in case he needed to contact the police. The video camera was recording direct to his computer. His grandchildren always commented on how ‘tech savvy’ Grandad was. He knew his way around some of the modern gadgets. It made him proud.
So far, he’d seen a few cats, a couple of visitors to Mabel’s house at number 24 and two foxes. Bloody nuisance the foxes, he thought to himself. They had attacked his bin as well as a few of the neighbours recently and were getting entirely too confident.
He took a large bite out of one of the slices of banana bread and reached down to open the flask of tea. As he did so, his eyes noticed movement on the camera screen. He looked closer and zoomed in.
It was a young lady from what he could tell. She was walking through the park away from the direction of his road. Some people went through the park as a shortcut on their way home from town.
He let out a moan of disapproval. How are we supposed to keep the violence off the streets when people do silly things like that? He thought to himself. He continued to watch.
He zoomed out slightly to get a wider view of the park. As he did so, he noticed a couple of other figures moving around near the bushy area. By the shape of them and the way they moved, they looked male.
He zoomed in and saw that there were five youths in total. They had cans of something in their hands, he suspected it was alcohol.
He scanned back to the girl, she was walking towards the group but it didn’t look like she could see them. Back to the group, they were starting to move towards a couple of large shrubs. They went behind the shrubs as if they were hiding.
He picked up the phone and dialled the local constabulary. This didn’t look good, he thought.
“Hello. Is that Hitchin Police? This is Bob Woolford from the Oughton Neighbourhood Watch. There’s a girl walking through the park next to Lavender Way, I think she’s about to be attacked by five youths. Can you send someone over there?”
His request was accepted. The police had always worked closely with the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in the town. They were their eyes and ears.
He continued to watch as this drama unfolded. The gang were still waiting behind the shrubs. He looked for the girl and she had stopped. The light in her hand suggested she may be on her phone. She was about 100 metres from the gang.
He estimated it would take about two or three minutes for the police to get to the park. The girl was still, the light source in her hand was now by her ear. She was talking to someone. Stay there, he urged with almost telepathic hope.
The gang were still waiting patiently although he saw one of them push the other one. It was like they were egging each other on to make a move.
Back to the girl, still speaking, still not moving but with her back towards the gang.
He went to train the camera back on the gang. The shrubs were hiding no one now, where were they?
He followed the line from the shrubs towards where the girl was standing. He saw the movement; they were making their way closer to her, using other bushes and trees as cover.
Run, please run, he was begging but his thoughts could not communicate with her. The gang were about 50 metres away now moving stealthily closer.
He daren’t watch but he couldn’t take his eyes off the scene. The girl pulled the phone away from her ear, her call was obviously over. Then she swivelled around. She must have heard something, he thought.
She was looking in a direction passed the bushy area. He could tell by the angle of her body. N
o, no they’re not there. They’re closer to you than that. Please run.
He scanned back to the gang and was filled with utter horror when he saw them sprinting towards the girl. They grabbed her and threw her down on the ground. She was helpless.
He saw a punch thrown and hit her in the face. Then… then it stopped. Two other figures had joined the affray. They wore familiar hats. It was the police. They got there just in time. He was so happy, he almost shed a tear. She was safe. The girl was safe…
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10 Downing Street, London
The phone rang on Vanessa’s desk. It was Maggie, her assistant. “Russell for you Vanessa,” she said.
“Great, put him through,” Vanessa responded. There was a click and then a voice.
“Hi Vanessa, I wanted to call as soon as I finished with the Police Commissioner. You wanted Neighbourhood Watch success stories and I’ve got one for you from last night,” Russell was audibly excited as he spoke.
“Excellent, tell me Russell.”
“A scheme in Hitchin foiled an attempted assault on a young girl by a gang of five youths in a park. The Neighbourhood Watch guy is happy to be interviewed and for the, get this…” he said leaving a pause for effect, “...night vision video footage of the whole attack to be shared publicly.”
“Night vision, what is he? Some sort of vigilante?” Vanessa enquired.
“No, he’s retired army. A good sort, 73 years old and knows his way around a computer, a huge proponent of the schemes and wants to encourage others to start up.”
“Perfect,” said Vanessa with a huge smile on her face. “Give me his details and I’ll get in touch. Oh and Russell, thanks. You’ve really come through on this one. I appreciate it.”
“No problem, happy to help,” Russell replied.