I couldn’t understand why she was reacting so strangely now. It was almost incomprehensible for me to believe that my mother, who was fit both physically and mentally, could go into this state of near collapse, so very quickly.
Breaking into my disturbing thoughts, a policeman suddenly called out, “Miss Susan, you need to come up here for a moment, please.”
I ran up the stairs and along the passageway, where I found evidence that the battle had also gone on up here, as markers had been set up on the stairs where they’d found blood spatter.
“In here, miss,” the policeman called.
Going into what used to be my mother’s den, I could barely believe the type of equipment that she now had installed in there. For the room, which the policeman described as a safe room, with a double metal door, contained sophisticated surveillance screens, cameras, a huge computer and several other machines that I didn’t recognize. It certainly looked as if she’d been prepared for whatever she’d imagined was coming. This is why none of us could understand why she’d not barricaded herself inside the room.
Later that night, when the MI6 men arrived, they immediately set up a work station in the safe room. I heard one of the men say that the entire security system had been ripped out and that it certainly looked as if somebody had known what they were doing when they’d set about destroying it. He also mentioned that only a few known culprits would have known where to find the hidden switches.
Pricking up my ears now, I asked, “So does this mean that you probably know who’s responsible for all this mess?”
“Well, yes and no, but as soon as the fingerprint identifications come through, we’ll be more sure of who we’re dealing with, Susan. However, we do know that some of her old enemies were involved, because Harry here has identified two of the men.”
Feeling slightly startled, I said, “I see, so my mother wasn’t imagining it all, or just being paranoid when she set up all this equipment in here.”
“No, not at all, it was all part of her previous training coming to the fore. Then this morning when she called us from her cell and said that she’d just seen a man in the village, whom she recognized from the past and mentioned too that an old friend called Joe, hadn’t pitched up at the coffee shop, we immediately suspected that something was about to go down. We told her to go home and to remain inside this safe room and await our arrival. But I guess something must have happened to prevent her from reaching this place. We also suspect that someone was spying on her, most likely someone that she knew and trusted. So do you perhaps know who her friends are, or if there’s anyone besides the cleaning woman that works here?”
I thought for a moment and then said, “No, not really. My mother’s a very private person, so she doesn’t give out much information. But besides the maid, the only other person that works here is a gardener come handyman, called Fred. He’s a big chap and I’ve only met him twice, but he seemed okay. I also think she still practices some form of martial art with a man called Joe, who lives locally, and she might still go to her Yoga classes in the next village, but as far as I know these are her only contacts.”
Then as a scary thought struck me, I quickly added, “Oh crumbs, I just thought that she and Joe practiced Tai Chi or something equally as innocuous. But obviously if she was involved in these killings, then their games were far more deadly. Gosh, so do you think she’ll ever come right again? Or do you believe she’s now lost it completely? It’s just that my mother is usually so focused and independent, that I can’t believe this is happening to her now.”
“Yes, I do think she’ll snap out of it in time, Susan. She’s probably experiencing a kind of self-preservation trauma, where the brain simply shuts out recent terrifying events. It does sometimes happen to people in the field, Susan. They appear to be able to cope and remain alert for years in the face of some anticipated danger. But once the danger is past and it’s all over, and they’ve dealt with the situation, they somehow fall apart. It’s almost as if they just roll over and allow someone else to take charge,” he said.
I nodded in agreement and said, “Yes, you’re right; she has kind of, rolled over, hasn’t she?”
After this, I watched for some time as the experts went over the evidence meticulously, and when the fingerprint and facial recognition data came through, they called me in and one of the men said, “Meet some of your mother’s old enemies, Susan. Not a pretty sight, are they?”
I stared at the faces of some rather cruel looking men and then I said in alarm, “Gosh, but this man here, lives here in the village. He’s Joe, the martial arts man that I mentioned earlier and this man here looks very much like a younger, thinner version of Fred, the gardener.”
“Yes dear, but as your mother probably didn’t know that they were connected to the Old Russian mob, she trusted them. I wish she’d sent us data and photos of the people she was associating with here. We would’ve recognized these men immediately, in spite of the facial surgery that the ‘Fred’ person has had. You see dear, they all knew who your mum was, but she didn’t necessarily know all of them,” he said.
Feeling tearful now, I said, “Oh dear, this is all becoming so terribly confusing for me. I simply don’t know how to respond to any longer.”
Becoming more sympathetic now, another man said, “Well for starters, we need to take you and your mum back to England, so we can protect you and also get you the help that you both need. We have trained people there, who know how to help those who’ve experienced recent trauma in their lives. We’ll also take you to a safe house with around-the-clock protection,” he added.
“Yes, thank you. But who are these monsters? And why did they come after my mother so many years later?” I asked.
“They’re from the old Russian mob dear, remnants from the Cold War and people that still hold huge grudges. Look my dear, I know you must be scared, but if there’s anything that you want, or anything that you need, just ask. The British government owes you a huge debt of thanks, for giving up both of your parents to work for us,” he told me.
“What do you mean? Surely my father wasn’t also a spy?” I asked in consternation.
“Oh yes, and he was and a good one, at that. It was just unfortunate that he got caught up in some shady deals with the enemy,” he replied.
“Gosh, are you implying then that he didn’t just walk out on my mother and me that day? I somehow remember that he received a phone call in the middle of my tenth birthday lunch and that after this he simply disappeared and never came home again,” I said.
“I guess I am. Sorry about that Susan. It must have been hard for the two of you after he was killed,” he replied.
“Heavens, I didn’t even know he was dead. All my mother told me was that he’d walked out on us and gone off to live with another woman,” I said in surprise.
Coming forward now, another man said, “I see, so she did tell you the truth after all, just not all of it. You see, the woman he went to live with was a double agent and once she’d got him in her clutches; she set up an ambush and had him killed. Look, I’m so sorry for bringing up these painful memories at a time such as this, Susan. If it will help at all, please just call me Uncle Harry, dear. I was friendly with both of your parents, so they’d definitely approve,” he said with a smile.
Feeling patronized, I said “Okay then. Well, Uncle Harry, when you said if I needed anything you would help me, did you really mean it? Because for now, all I want out of this mess is to get my mother back. So do you think you that could possibly arrange for this to happen, Uncle Harry?”
Raising his eyebrows and looking me directly in the eye, Harry said, “I really wish I could promise you that, Susan. For now, I suggest that you live one day at a time. Things will get better. But when she begins to recall what went on here and also what she was forced to do to save her skin, she’ll have a new set of problems to deal with, and so will you. Try not to rush things, dear. Allow her the time she
needs to get herself better. Right now she needs to be handled with care.”
“I’ll do my best. Look, I’m sorry for the outburst earlier, but as you obviously believe that my mother took part in this killing spree, it really concerns me. I mean that I just can’t imagine her doing anything like this,” I said as I started to cry.
“I understand, but I do know that she did it Susan. You should try to understand that she had no option to do what she did, as she was forced to fight for her own survival. In other words, -it was either her or them. Also, the crime scene has her signature written all over it. So there’s no doubt in our minds that your mother did what she had to do, what she’d been trained to do, and that she did it well. You should be pleased that she put up such a good fight, as it could easily have gone the other way. Also, proof that she did the killings is shown in the way that she managed to clean up after herself. It also shows up in the efficient way she got rid of her clothing, -in that well-disguised incinerator over there. Our people are trained to clean up after themselves, in this manner. We do this in case the local police get to a crime scene before we can remove all the evidence of our presence there. This is also the reason why she walked away from the crime scene, and went to
My Mother, the Spy Part 1 of series Page 3