Titch got to his feet and crossed the room to grab a can of cold beer from the fridge. He opened it and took a long swig just as his laptop started chiming with an incoming call.
“Hello,” Titch said after he answered the call. “George?”
“No, it’s Charlotte. George has been called away urgently. He’s asked me to speak to you.”
“Oh, okay, thank you.”
“There have been some developments since your actions. That video you posted? It has got into the hands of the media,” Charlotte said. Titch wondered what she looked like and whether she was as attractive as her voice suggested. “Lots of people are looking for its source, and we think that some areas of our networks are under scrutiny from the authorities.”
“Is that bad?”
“It’s to be expected. As the latest recruit to our cause, there are going to be many people looking for you.”
“The latest recruit? Does that mean I’m ready?”
“Charles,” Charlotte said. A frisson of excitement ran through Titch. That was the first time he had been called by his new name, the name he had chosen so carefully. “You have proven yourself more than worthy with your actions. I was listening to you speaking to George just now, and yes, you are considered a true Anglo-Saxon, despite your heritage.” Titch stared at the silhouette on the screen, his mouth half open. Then, safe in the knowledge that Charlotte couldn’t see him, Titch pumped the air with his fist. He was in!
“So, what happens next?” he asked. Would there be some sort of ceremony? Would he perhaps get to meet George, Charlotte, and the other true believers?
“For the moment, nothing. You must keep your head down and, when the time comes, we will contact you.”
“Will we still talk on a Saturday night? Like now?”
“No, Charles,” Charlotte replied. “There is no need. We will be in touch and bring you to a real meeting. You will need to be properly welcomed.”
“Okay, I’ll be there. I can’t wait.”
“You still have access to military equipment?” Charlotte asked. Titch frowned, unsure what sort of equipment she was referring to.
“Um, yes, I do.”
“Excellent. When we’re ready for the actual war to begin, that is when you will come into your element.”
“Okay,” Titch replied.
“Welcome, Charles Sixte. Welcome to the Victorious in Vienna.”
Titch opened his mouth to reply, but Charlotte had disconnected the call before he could say anything. He sat back in his chair, laughed, pumped his fist in the air again, and took a long drink from his beer before getting up to get another can.
When he sat back in his chair, Titch logged into the dark web and entered the long string of numbers that led to the forum he knew so well. There was a new announcement placed at the top of the message board by one of the moderators. Titch smiled as he clicked on the message. It was from George himself.
Victorious in Vienna welcomes its latest soldier. Charles Sixte, a fully blooded brother in arms.
As Titch watched, several forum users ‘liked’ the post and congratulatory comments started to appear. He grinned and took another swig of his beer.
He was in. Titch was finally in.
57
“Adams, it’s me.”
Adams looked at the screen of his mobile and grinned. “Lizzie, you do know your name appears when you call, don’t you?”
“Listen, I’m in trouble.” Lizzie whispered. Adams sat up in bed, instantly concerned.
“What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“I have just had the most bizarre conversation with my boss.”
“Is everything okay, though. You’re safe?”
“Of course I’m safe,” Lizzie said, giggling. Adams sighed and relaxed back into his pillow.
“You had me worried there for a moment,” he said. “I thought something had happened to you.”
“It nearly did.”
“So, what happened? Something about your boss?”
“Yeah, my God, it was weird. I’d just got off the video call with you earlier, and I was a bit upset because we got cut off,” Lizzie replied. She was still whispering, and Adams pressed the phone against his ear to make sure he could hear her properly. “Then she knocks on my door to make sure I’m okay. Next thing I know, she’s taken me up onto the roof of the building so she could have a smoke.”
“Okay, well, what’s weird about that?” Adams replied. “It sounds like she’s just keeping an eye out for you.”
“That’s what I thought at first. Then she started asking me about you, and whether I was happy.” Lizzie hesitated for a few seconds. “Well, that’s kind of what she asked me.”
“I hope you said you were?”
“I said you would do for the time being. Then she asked me if I’d ever been with a woman.”
“Seriously? What did you say?” Adams asked, grinning. He could imagine the look on Lizzie’s face at being asked that.
“What do you think I said, Adams?” Lizzie replied, her voice an octave higher. “What would you say if some bloke asked you if you were gay?”
“It would depend how good looking he was.”
“Oh, you are ridiculous. But that’s not the worst bit.”
“My God, there’s more?” Adams’s grin broadened. He was really enjoying Lizzie’s sense of outrage.
“A lot more. I can’t remember the exact words she used, but she essentially made a pass at me. Along the lines of if I went to bed with her, she’d show me the best time I’d ever have.”
“She sounds really classy,” Adams replied, starting to laugh.
“But can you believe she said that?”
“Yeah, I can, Lizzie. You’re not made of wood. You’re an attractive woman. I would say she’s got impeccable taste.”
“I know, my eyes aren’t painted on.” Adams heard Lizzie sigh down the phone. “I’d make a crap lesbian, anyway. I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“I think you’d probably work it out pretty quick, but if it would help, I can send you some of my collection?”
“Thank you, Adams, but I’m good.”
“Let me see, I’ve got ‘The Nervous Nuns’. That would be a good one.” Adams could hear Lizzie giggling. “How about ‘All Girl College Sleepover Volume Two’? Volume one was a bit rubbish.”
“Really kind of you to offer, Adams, but I’m fine.”
“What’s she like anyway, this boss of yours?”
“As a boss, she’s okay. She’s flying back to England tomorrow but then coming back next week.”
“Is she fit, though?”
“Shut up, Adams.” Lizzie was still giggling.
“She’s probably in her room now, imagining doing lesbian things with you.”
“Stop it, you idiot.”
“I’m now imagining her doing lesbian things with you.” Lizzie’s giggle turned into a cackle, which stopped suddenly as if she’d clapped her hand over her mouth. “Listen, lezzie, I mean Lizzie, if you do turn can I maybe watch? I won’t get in the way.”
“Adams, would you stop? Making me cry with laughter isn’t going to help,” Lizzie replied, still laughing. “If I’d known you were going to be such an idiot about it, I wouldn’t have called.”
“I’m glad you did call, though,” Adams said. “I was really pissed off when we got cut off earlier.”
“So was I,” Lizzie replied with a sigh. “That’s what started the whole thing off. All I wanted to do was to tell you I miss you.”
“I miss you too, you know that, don’t you?”
“It’ll only be a few weeks before we see each other again. In Casablanca, maybe?”
“Are you serious about that?” Adams asked. Knowing Lizzie, if she was, she would have already lined up flights, hotels, sightseeing tours, the whole nine yards.
“I may have done a bit of research, but there’re no direct flights. I think I might just come back to the United Kingdom, especially if I ca
n get a lift on the plane they’re using.”
“I’ve got some leave I can take.” Adams was smiling as he replied. “We could book a hotel in London and catch a show?”
“A decent hotel, not a Premier Inn.”
“I don’t remember you complaining the last time we stayed in a Premier Inn,” Adams said. The first time they had slept together had been in a Premier Inn in Thetford. “If I remember correctly, we both enjoyed ourselves quite a lot?”
“Speak for yourself,” Lizzie replied. “All I remember is thirty seconds of huffing and puffing, and then you rolling over and snoring.” Adams laughed, thinking back to that evening. How nervous and tentative they had both been, and how far they had come since. In every sense of the word. “Anyhow, I’ll let you go. You’ll be needing your beauty sleep.”
“Okay, well, I’m glad you called. I needed that.” Adams paused. “To speak to you, I mean. I really do miss you.”
“Me too.”
“I have thought of something, though.”
“What?”
“Have you got a lock on your door?” Adams said with a smile.
“Bugger off, you idiot,” Lizzie replied playfully, before disconnecting the call.
Still smiling, Adams plugged his phone into the charger, turned off his light, and lay back in his bed. His smile broadened as he tried to imagine the look on Lizzie’s face at being propositioned by another woman.
Adams closed his eyes, wanting to sleep but at the same time thinking that he probably wouldn’t. He’d not been joking when he’d said that he missed her. He just didn’t think he would be missing her as much as he was.
58
Eleanor blipped the locks on her car and set off down the short road toward the Ascalon Institute. It was technically the start of her second week working there, although she’d only actually worked three days the previous week. The Institute had been shut on Friday for some sort of deep cleaning to take place. According to Jimmy, this happened every few months. As she approached the main doors to the institute, Eleanor waved at Jimmy, who reached under his desk to press a button to release the door.
On her first day, which was the day after her interview, Eleanor had arrived in plenty of time and sat in the reception area, waiting for Sue to arrive. She’d been nervous, but no more so than anyone else starting a job for the first time. Jimmy, who perhaps had picked up on her nervousness, had talked to her non-stop until Sue finally arrived. The HR manager was flustered after some sort of domestic emergency involving missing ingredients for a home economics lesson.
“I’m so sorry,” she had said as she showed Eleanor to her office. “Bloody kids. I love them to bits, but they can be such a pain in the arse at times.” After a cup of coffee, Sue had calmed down enough to give Eleanor a guided tour of the facility. Or at least, the parts of it that Eleanor was allowed to see. Sue showed her a desk situated in the main foyer of the building after Jimmy had taken them through security. Eleanor had to surrender her phone, as she had done at the interview, and then walk through a scanning machine.
“Morning, Jimmy,” Eleanor said as she walked into the foyer and placed her phone on the counter. “You still flying solo?” Jimmy’s colleague, the other security guard who had been in the golf buggy with him, had been off for almost the entire week.
“Morning, Eleanor,” Jimmy replied with a grin. “Yep, sicknote’s still claiming to be unwell, leaving everything to me. You’re looking nice.” He’d said the same thing, or a close variant of it, every morning she’d worked so far. Eleanor knew it wouldn’t be long before he asked her out for a drink. A proper one this time, not just a cup of coffee in the staff canteen, which they’d already done. Eleanor had a cover story prepared about a boyfriend, but part of the story was about how she was in the process of breaking up with him. That way, Eleanor reasoned, she could keep him keen without actually having to do anything.
As Jimmy placed her phone into a locker, Eleanor stepped into the scanning machine. It was almost identical to an airport scanner that claimed to be able to see people’s bodies without actually seeing them. Eleanor didn’t like the idea of her standing there while Jimmy was looking at her with no clothes on, although she was sure he wouldn’t have minded.
“Sorry, left pocket, Eleanor?” Jimmy said. Feigning forgetfulness, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her car key. She had been trying to work out the smallest item she could get through the scanner, but she wasn’t going to be able to get much smaller than a key fob.
“You said you were going to show me how all that lot works at some point?” Eleanor said as she placed the key on Jimmy’s desk.
“Why don’t you come down at lunchtime?” he replied.
“I was going to go for a run at lunchtime,” Eleanor said. “How about this afternoon?”
“Sure, just pop down when you want.”
A few moments later, Eleanor was sitting at her desk in the main foyer. It was half-hidden in an alcove, but it still gave her an excellent view of everyone who was arriving and leaving. Her first job of the day, which she did after logging into the Ascalon Institute’s network, was to go through e-mails to the organisation’s general e-mail account and send them on to the relevant department. Any she wasn’t sure about went to Sue, who forwarded them on with a copy to Eleanor to let her know which department was the right one for the query.
Then she checked the booking forms for the two conference rooms, the main laboratory, and a further laboratory that was simply called Laboratory B. That was the one that Fiona had taken some pictures of. Eleanor knew where it was, but she couldn’t get into the corridor that it was on as her key card didn’t have the right permissions. Eleanor had little to show for her first three days in the institute, but she did have a plan, which she was slowly putting into place.
Later that afternoon, Eleanor used one of her fifteen-minute tea breaks to go to the staff room and make two cups of coffee. Careful not to spill any, she made her way to Jimmy’s desk and placed one of them in front of him.
“There you go,” she said, smiling and gesturing at the bank of monitors behind his desk. “Now, show me how all this lot works. It looks ever so complicated.”
“Come on through,” Jimmy said as he opened the door to his working area. “I brought a seat in for you.”
“Oh, thank you, Jimmy,” Eleanor said as she walked past him, making sure that her hip brushed slightly against his before she sat down in the chair. “That’s really kind of you.”
For the next few moments, she listened as he pointed out the various cameras and showed her how he could switch between them. It didn’t seem like there was a single square centimetre of the building that wasn’t covered. Even the laboratories had cameras, but she didn’t want to go there just yet.
“Did you see me out running earlier?” Eleanor asked, knowing full well that he had. She’d noticed one of the cameras tracking her as she had run down the side of the fence line at lunchtime. It was the same area she’d been denied access to earlier, but now she was on the staff no-one seemed to mind.
“No, I didn’t. Why?”
“Oh, I fell over,” Eleanor said with a self-deprecating laugh. “I must have looked a right idiot.” Jimmy started grinning.
“You want to watch it?” he asked her, turning to fiddle with the mouse. “What time was it, about twelve?”
“Yeah, a few minutes after. I tripped on a tree root or something. Went flat on my face.”
“Here you are,” Jimmy said a moment later. Eleanor leaned forward, making sure that Jimmy got a good look down the top of her blouse as she did so. On the screen, she saw herself jogging slowly alongside the fence before pretending to trip over about halfway down. It looked reasonably convincing, but Eleanor wanted to see the rest of the clip, so she leaned forward, noticing that Jimmy’s eyes were where she wanted them.
Eleanor watched herself on the screen as she got to her feet and brushed herself down before continuing to jog to the corner of the fence
. Then she disappeared from view for a second or two, only to emerge on another camera. Mission accomplished, from her perspective.
When she’d been in the grounds of the Ascalon Institute last week, pretending to enjoy her lunchtime sandwich in the sunshine, Eleanor had carefully scrutinised the camera set up to see what she now knew to be true.
Right underneath the camera on the corner of the fence was a blind spot.
59
Charlotte leaned forward and rapped hard on the glass of the security booth, making both the security guard and the young woman he had in there with him jump.
“Hello?” she said to the guard. “Is there any risk of actually being able to get into the building?”
“I’m sorry, Doctor Lobjoie,” the guard replied. “I didn’t hear you.” Charlotte wasn’t surprised. He had been staring down the young woman’s blouse as she was leaning in to look at one of the screens. The guard shooed the woman out of his cubicle and closed the door behind her. As she placed her bag on the counter, Charlotte appraised the woman who was looking at her nervously as if she’d been caught doing something she shouldn’t have been doing.
“Who are you?” Charlotte said brusquely. She was fairly sure that the security guard—Jimmy, she thought his name was—wasn’t supposed to have anyone outside the security detail in his booth, but Charlotte wasn’t that bothered.
“Oh, hello,” the woman said, extending her hand out. Charlotte noticed the lanyard around her neck with the distinctive logo of the Ascalon Institute. “I’m Eleanor.”
“You’re the new administrative assistant?” Charlotte asked. She must be. They’d not hired anyone else.
“Yes. I’m Fiona’s replacement. The one who, um…” Eleanor’s voice tailed away.
“Yes, terrible business.” Charlotte looked at Eleanor carefully. There was something not quite right about her, but Charlotte couldn’t put her finger on it. “I’m Doctor Lobjoie,” Charlotte said, shaking her hand. “Charlotte.”
Enemy Within: A heart-wrenching medical mystery (British Military Thriller Series Book 3) Page 22