“You mean sick leave?” Norma chuckled. “Yes, perhaps I am.”
“You don’t look sick,” Geordie told her.
“Sickness comes in all shapes and sizes. And sometimes we are told to be sick.”
Geordie processed that for a moment. “Which means you’re not?”
“I’m taking time away from the office. And as it happens this little get together is the perfect opportunity to have a little chat.”
“How did you know we were here?” Daisy asked.
“I tried Derek’s house first and then yours, Daisy. When neither of you was in I had your phone signals triangulated and found out you were together and in a pub. Finding Hannah here as well is a bonus, and... Josh, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Josh said, in a way that meant he didn’t want to be there.
“Perfect,” Norma said as she knocked back some of her G&T.
Geordie sighed. “Why?”
“I needed to speak to you and Daisy. The changeover in staff has meant that you are the two field agents we have who I can trust the most.”
Geordie whistled. “Now that’s a big statement.”
“Quite.” Norma looked around at them. “And not that surprising I would imagine.”
No-one spoke and Norma, with a severe haircut that made her look like a stern headmistress, gave Geordie a serious look. “Well?”
“I think there’s a few you can trust, just not if they came in with Holdstock.”
“But you have loyalties to the memory of Douglas Congrave, and that means a lot.”
Geordie pointed at Josh. “He’s new, but he seems okay. He tipped us off today about Holdstock and his mad plan with the psychics.”
“Which continues tonight,” Norma said. “I understand three more have been drafted in for another test.”
“What?” Geordie and Daisy said together.
“He’s out of control,” Geordie added.
“I can agree with that, but he is also under control. Which is why I’m here,” Norma said. “There has been some disquiet for a few months within the security services about the actions of Sir Richard Stanton, the Secretary of State for Defence. He seems to be running an operation somewhere but we can’t quite pin it down. My original plan had been for you and Daisy to investigate but your faces are well known and too many people might recognise you.”
“So how do we get around that?” Daisy asked.
“You don’t,” Norma said, with a grim smile. “But Hannah does.”
“Me?” Hannah said in surprise.
“Yes. Holdstock doesn’t know you, ever since he arrived at Sheddlestone you have been on sick leave. I doubt he even knows you exist as all your details went through the finance office and me. I can use you to go undercover on this investigation.”
Hannah’s mouth grew wider with each sentence. “I can’t,” she said.
“You can,” Norma told her in a voice that would take no argument. “You are a highly-trained service officer. You already worked undercover at the school, and no-one suspected you. I think your presence tonight was meant to be.”
Hannah looked at Geordie and Daisy for support, but they seemed to be siding with Norma. Even Josh gave her a smile and nod of encouragement.
“I don’t know,” she said, weakening in the face of Norma’s decision.
“Nonsense.” Norma pointed at Josh. “You came in from MI5, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I can get you recalled, that way when Hannah goes undercover you can accompany her as her case officer.”
“We can’t disappear,” Josh said.
“Trust me. You can,” Norma said. “Hannah will go undercover into Defence Intelligence, that seems to be where Stanton is drawing his people from. We’ve noticed some dropping off the radar. There are rumours of an operation running out of Scotland, but we can’t get near it. That will be your job.”
Hannah couldn’t speak. She looked at Josh for help, and all he could do was hold her hand and say, “It needs something like this.”
“But my face,” Hannah said. “I can’t go undercover with scars like these.”
“They are the perfect cover. Who would suspect someone as an agent with injuries like that?” Norma said. “We all know that there are influences on this world from ones we can’t see. Some people might say there are metaphysical or spiritual guides for us all. I think one of them brought you here tonight.”
“That’s as maybe,” Geordie picked up his drink. “But what if there is a black op running? How do we support these two? Ghosts can’t do that.”
“That’s true. Therefore, you and Daisy will need to be ready to move at a moment’s notice.”
Silence fell around the table. Hannah looked ready to be sick, Josh confused, and Daisy annoyed that Norma had ruined her planned evening out with Geordie. For his part, Geordie grinned. “Sounds like fun,” he said. “When does all this start?”
“Tomorrow,” Norma said. “I will have new identities ready for Hannah and Josh.”
“Looks like you’ll be cooking for one now,” Geordie said to Daisy, as Norma finished her drink.
Daisy shrugged, “I might find a man who will offer to take me out for a meal,” she said.
Geordie looked at her over the rim of his pint glass. “Let me know if you do, and I’ll tag along to make sure you’re safe.”
Daisy smiled as she kicked him under the table. “I’ve already found one.”
***
Hannah stared at her empty glass and tried to think of a way out of going back to work. How could Norma do that? Walk in and start ordering people around as if they were pawns in a game of chess? Fear, anger and embarrassment made her want to get out of the pub as soon as possible. Daisy and Geordie didn’t seem to notice; they were having a bit of banter about cooking for one or something. Maybe she should call a taxi, a quick visit to the loo would give her a chance to make the call. Then stand outside until the cab came. She could pack her bags as soon as she got home and drive down to see her parents. Norma would have no idea where she was, and that would be the end of the stupid idea of returning to work by going undercover at Defence Intelligence.
“You okay?” Josh’s voice made her jump.
“Yeah.” She didn’t look at him.
“Want another drink?” he took her glass without waiting for a reply.
“I was thinking about going,” Hannah said in a quiet voice, so Daisy didn’t hear.
“Because of Norma?”
“Yeah. I can’t believe she did that.” Hannah looked at the vacant chair as if Norma still sat there.
“Come on up to the bar,” Josh said.
Hannah followed him a little reluctantly. She didn’t want to be hanging around but refusing him outright seemed a little childish. At the bar, he leaned on one elbow and said,
“You don’t want to do it, do you?”
“Is it that obvious?” Away from the other two Hannah could talk a little more freely.
“Apart from the flashing lights and banners saying ‘No, not me,’ I can’t say I noticed,” Josh said.
“So why aren’t Daisy and Geordie trying to persuade me to do it?”
Josh paused as the barmaid came over, he ordered two cokes, before saying, “They’re ignoring it. They want you to do it so figure if they don’t acknowledge your reluctance it doesn’t exist.”
Their drinks arrived, but neither of them made a move to go back to the others.
“I was going to run away,” Hannah said. “Pack my bags and go.”
“But then what would I do?” Josh asked. “First, I wouldn’t get another date. Second, I’d miss out on a being your case officer, and third, we’d let down our friends.”
Hannah met his gaze. Josh had dark brown eyes, and right now she couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking. Hannah covered her uncertainty by taking a drink. Ice rattled in the glass as she put it back onto the polished wood of the bar.
“I can’t do it,” she said.
>
“Can’t?” Josh frowned. “My dad always had a motto, ‘success comes in cans, not can’ts’”
“Don’t force me,” Hannah said.
“I’m not going to.” Josh reached out and brushed hair from her face. “I didn’t want to come tonight but was too afraid of Geordie to say no. But now I’m here I can see you’ve lost your self-confidence, that’s obvious even to someone like me who doesn’t know you. This operation will get it back, some work away from demons and monsters. The kind of thing you signed up for when you joined the service.”
Hannah put her back to the bar and stared out across the room. She could see Daisy watching her. Damn, of all the things to happen. “You remind me of someone,” Hannah said.
“Someone good, I hope.” Josh matched Hannah’s position.
“I think so.”
She could almost feel Josh wondering if he should ask the obvious question. “Ex-boyfriend?” he said, eventually.
“Sort of. It all went wrong because he got caught up in a demonic event. He wasn’t part of the department so didn’t understand. He’s moved away now.”
They watched a family group come out of the restaurant. Three or four generations were making a lot of noise as they headed to the exit. Hannah felt tears prick her eyes and could have sworn at her stupid emotions. As the group disappeared outside she said, “I’ve got to move on, haven’t I?”
“You do,” Josh said. “But it’s up to you whether it’s now or another day. And whether it’s working in the service or starting somewhere new.”
Exactly, it’s up to me. But I can’t seem to make that step. And now Daisy drags someone out of the office, and he turns out to be the kind of guy I like.
Josh dug a hand into a pocket and came out with a pound coin. “Heads you do it, tails you go on the run.”
Hannah shook her head. “No, that’s too simple.”
“According to Norma, you have a spirit guide with you tonight. That fella will help the way the coin lands, I’m sure.”
“What makes you think it’s a man?” Hannah asked. “It might be a lady guide.”
“You’re right.” Josh looked around as if searching for the guide. “I apologise if I said anything wrong,” he told it.
Hannah shook her head. “Get on with it.”
She watched the coin rise and fall, the edge glinting in the lights. Josh reached to catch it, but the coin bounced from his hand, hit the carpet on the run and rolled away from them.
“Damn.” Josh chased it, Hannah close behind. They reached it as the coin finished its roll with a long, slow curve and fell onto one side. Josh lifted it up for Hannah to see. “Heads it is.”
Hannah pulled a face. “Best out of three?” she asked.
“No.” Josh gave her the coin. “Keep it for good luck.”
Hannah turned it over. “I’d better check it’s not a two-headed fake,” she said.
“And I thought you were a nice girl.” Josh gave her a little push.
“Shows how wrong you can be.”
They stood in the centre of the pub, unaware that Daisy, Geordie, the bar staff and remaining customers were all watching them. Hannah sighed and put the coin into a pocket.
“Are you doing it?” Josh asked.
“Haven’t got any other choice.” Hannah smiled at him. “My spirit guide is pointing the way.”
When they returned to the table, Daisy said, “You look like a different person.”
“I guess I’ve made a decision.” Hannah could feel the coin in her pocket, for some odd reason it made a warm spot against her body. “I’ll take up Norma’s offer. At least it will give you and Geordie a chance to spend some time together.”
Hannah laughed as she dodged the beer mat Daisy threw at her.
Yes, decision made, and the right one for a change.
***
Twenty minutes later Geordie said, “Come on then, Sugar, best get you and Hannah home.”
Daisy sighed, “Geordie, stop calling me Sugar.”
He’d already got up and started off towards the exit so over his shoulder he said, “Okay, Flower.”
Daisy followed with Hannah and Josh trailing. Outside, in the chill air and dark car park, she caught up with Geordie. “Geordie, don’t call me Flower.”
He stopped and frowned down at her. “Why not?”
“My name is Daisy.”
“Exactly,” Geordie said. “A daisy is a flower, isn’t it? So, I can call you Flower because it’s your name.”
Daisy heard Josh and Hannah laughing. She put her hands on her hips, stared up into the clear night sky, and said, “Give me strength.”
***
By early afternoon of the following day, Hannah and Josh sat in Toddington services, north of Luton on the M1. They had the paperwork for their new identities given to them by a sombre faced woman who sat a dozen tables from them in the Costa Coffee waiting to take the files away with her when they’d memorised the details.
“I can’t believe this.” Hannah looked up at Josh. The first page gave basic details, name, date of birth, home city, education and work background. The second page filled in the background.
“What is it?”
“I’m a servicewoman. Army. Wounded in Afghanistan by an IED and transferring to the Defence HUMINT Organisation.”
“So?” Josh smiled. His identity much more straightforward consisted of being a researcher for a pharmaceutical company. All he needed to do was sit around, drive around and make sure Hannah reported in on time.
“I can’t blag that. They’ll all be service personnel. Someone will ask which unit I’ve served with and is bound to have friends in those places.”
Josh shrugged. “Norma must know what she’s doing.”
Hannah looked at the sombre faced woman. “Do you think she knows?”
“I doubt it.” Josh leaned forward, keeping his voice low. “They wouldn’t put you into this if they didn’t think it could work.”
Hannah studied the page. “Jesus, it says here a court martial cleared me of misconduct when I tortured a suspected Taliban fighter to get information. Why are they doing this?”
Josh reached out and put his hand on hers. He could see Hannah’s stress levels rising already. “Hannah, the cover will work.”
“Really? Would you be so sure if it was you walking into the lion’s den?” She closed the file. “I can’t do this.”
“You have to,” Josh said. He’d been sitting opposite her at a four-seater table. He moved around to slide into the chair next to Hannah and put his arm around her. “Take a deep breath. Think logically. This cover must be for a reason. It’s there to protect you.”
Hannah wanted to push his arm off, but truth be told she quite liked the feeling of support it gave her. Josh gave her the briefest of hugs.
“Okay?” he asked.
“Give me five minutes.” Hannah opened the file and began reading again, putting the order of her ‘career’ into a series of little stories to help memorise it. When she finished, she closed the file and gave it to Josh. “Done.”
He took both files and put them into a briefcase. Hannah finished her drink, and they left the coffee shop. The sombre faced woman followed them and in a retail unit selling a variety of books, magazines, food and drink she took the case from Josh in a switch covered by a rack of key rings. The files went away, and Josh now held a briefcase containing passports and other paperwork for their new names.
They headed out to their car and sorted the items out. Once done, Josh started the engine. “Ready?” he asked.
Hannah nodded. The Defence Intelligence training centre was based at Chicksands, a little over ten miles from where they sat. Josh would drop her in a nearby town and Hannah would take a taxi the rest of the way.
“I still can’t believe I’m doing this,” Hannah said.
“I’ll be available all the time. If you need to talk, call me.”
“Thanks,” Hannah said. She reached out and held his h
and for a moment before Josh put the car in gear and got them moving.
***
“You’ve had an interesting career,” Colonel Max Blair said, leaning back in his chair and waving Hannah’s personnel file in front of him.
“Interesting might not be the word I would use, sir.” Hannah sat in a straight-backed chair, feeling distinctly uncomfortable in the air-conditioned cold of Blair’s office.
He laughed. “Interesting in the way that bad things happen when you are around.”
“If you are talking about the Taliban, sir, then I...”
“Him and others.” Blair flicked a few pages back and forth. “Private Aimee Wilson claimed you deliberately pushed her down a flight of stairs after a dispute about a training run.”
“She tripped and fell,” Hannah said.
“A sergeant in the Catering Corps accused you of burning his hand in hot oil.”
Hannah had read that one as well and thought a little embellishment was needed. “He shouldn’t have put the hand where it wasn’t wanted.”
“Hmm.” Blair put the file down. “Remind me not to do the same.”
“I will, sir.”
He stared at her. Blair was a short, grey-haired man and right now he drummed his fingertips on Hannah’s file where it lay on his desk. He seemed to be considering her and Hannah began to wilt under his scrutiny.
He knows. I can see it in his eyes. He’s going to pick up that phone, and call security to arrest me.
“To be honest,” Blair said, “I don’t think you are suitable for the DHO. We provide specialist support for military operations around the world, and your seeming lack of self-control is a mark against you, I’m afraid.”
Hannah waited for the hammer to fall. She knew the cover created by Norma and her people was too much.
“However,” Blair said as he sat forward, steepling his fingers together. “We are currently looking for people to work on a project in Scotland and I believe you are ideally suited for it.”
“You do?” Hannah said in surprise, and then added, “sir.”
“Yes. We need people who are willing to act with a certain degree of... what shall I call it... ruthlessness.”
The Tomb (Scarrett & Kramer Book 3) Page 14