“Of course, Mr. Errington, I am happy to speak to any of our guests. It only depends upon which topic you wish to discuss, to determine exactly how much service I may be to you.”
Matt nodded in the direction of his table and asked Roger Gillian to join him.
“I have a few minutes,” Roger bent imperceptibly, allowing Matt to precede him to the table.
When seated, Matt could hardly contain his questions and nearly burst out with the purpose of his visit to London. But taking the lead from the more reserved, proper Mr. Gillian he felt he should make some small talk before he got into the gist of his story.
“You have a stunning hotel, Mr. Gillian,” Matt told him, glancing around for effect. “I am so impressed. Have you been with the Royal Arms for a long time?”
“Thank you for your kind words. I have been here nearly thirty years,” Mr. Gillian proudly replied. “We at the Royal Arms are dedicated to maintaining a proper environment for our guests. Did you find your first night satisfactory?”
“Oh, absolutely. I intended to take a short nap yesterday afternoon and then stroll around the city a bit later in the evening, but I never woke up until this morning. The bed was great.”
“Well, I’m certainly glad you had a restful sleep. These old buildings can be noisy with creaking and groaning going on all the time. Most of our guests like the ambiance and very few ever complain, but it is always nice to hear our talking walls did not disturb your sleep.”
“No problem on that account,” Matt reassured his host. Glancing at his pocket watch, Mr. Gillian remarked, “I apologize, Matt, but I am required to attend a meeting shortly. Perhaps we could move on to why you asked to see me. Mr. James, our clerk, informed me you hoped to obtain some information about former guests at the Royal Arms, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Matt said. His mind was going a mile a minute. He wasn’t sure how to get around the privacy issue, but he had to try.
Matt wanted to pull out the postcard from his pocket and give it to the man, explain the whole thing with Kate leaving, and this being his only chance to find a link to her, but he wasn’t at all sure the proper Mr. Gillian would be sympathetic to his story and help him out. Instead, he asked innocently, “Do you keep records of past guests, going back several months, maybe even years.”
“Yes, we do. They are kept in our vault. Is there someone, in particular, you are inquiring about?” On the flight over the Atlantic, Matt concocted a story he could use if he got to this point, something more plausible than just looking for the mother of a ghost of a girlfriend. He needed a convincing story to sway the privacy matter in his favor. “Yes, I work for a medical laboratory in the States. We do a great deal of research seeking cures for a variety of diseases.”
“Ah,” Roger said nodding, “a most noble endeavor to be sure.”
“Well,” Matt said going on, sensing encouragement, and tweaking his story a bit, “my company sent me here to track down some former test subjects. They were part of a research project with some new drugs for diabetes. We would like to do some follow up with them but have unfortunately lost a few addresses and have been unable to contact them.”
“I see,” said Roger, looking down at his hands. “And you think they may have been guests at the Royal Arms at some time in the past.”
“Yes, yes I do,” Matt said, pleased it was going so well.
Lying was not his forté, but he found it rolled off his tongue better than he hoped. All across the ocean, he practiced the few lines in his head, and it seemed to be paying off.
“Matt, our guest’s privacy is of the utmost importance; however, if you give me the names of the individuals you wish to locate and the dates they were here, perhaps I may be able to help you since it is for science, and perhaps, even their health. There are no guarantees, however, but I will see what I can do.”
“Um, yeah, I do have the name of one person who stayed at this hotel, but I have no idea when she was here,” he answered.
“I see.”
Unease ran through Matt’s body, churning the breakfast he had just eaten.
“Hmmm. Without a timeframe, it may be a bit more difficult. Perhaps you can tell me why you believe this particular test subject was a guest here at the Royal Arms at all. Maybe we can begin with that.”
Matt hesitated; maybe he should bring out the postcard and see what his host would make of it. But with no names for either the addressee or the sender, it would prove nothing.
Putting on his best poker face, he decided to go with another lie. Matt looked Roger in the eyes and said without a blink, “A member of our staff received a postcard from one of these subjects, from this hotel. The guest’s name was Mrs. Champion.”
For a split second, the placid demeanor on Roger Gillian’s face drastically changed. With a barely noticeable shake of his head, he quickly regained his composure and stared at Matt as if he misheard him.
Matt caught what appeared to be a flash of recognition that verged on panic and was startled by the intense look he was receiving as if Roger was trying to peer right through him.
Roger Gillian opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it and closed it again with a little pop, then completely caught Matt off guard when he said, “Are you referring to Elizabeth Champion?”
SHE EXISTS! Lights exploded in Matt’s head nearly springing him from his seat as that knowledge also confirmed that Kate, must indeed, also exist. “Yes, that’s her.” Up to this point, Matt could only hope Kate, and her mother had the same last name. “Elizabeth Champion. Do you remember her staying here?”
There was still something odd about the way Roger was looking at him, but Matt shook it off in his eagerness to learn more about Kate’s mother.
Roger took a long, deep breath before letting it out slowly, still staring through Matt. Roger wondered what the young man was looking for. The police had already cleared the hotel of any wrongdoing. Was he only looking for some former clients? Nothing Roger knew or had heard about Elizabeth Champion suggested she was diabetic or suffered any other health ailments. In spite of his misgivings about discussing the matter, Roger realized there was nothing to hide. The death was ruled accidental, and although the gentleman from the U.S. attempted to eliminate all of the details, bits of information about the nasty accident did appear in the smaller local papers. He would not be breaching any hotel confidentiality rule by giving Matt information about her.
“I am sorry you have traveled all the way to London to find this woman,” Roger began, “but I cannot give you any forwarding address which will be of any help to you.” Disappointment raced through Matt’s veins like cold water. Without her mother to help him, Matt would have no further clues to Kate’s whereabouts.
“Are you absolutely certain, you remembered the name, are you sure there is no information you can provide to help me find her?”
“Mr. Errington, I can tell you where Mrs. Champion is, that is not the problem. But knowing her location will not help you with your study.” At first excited the information was available then confused why it would not be useful, Matt could only stare at the man, his eyes begging an explanation.
“I am sorry to be the one to tell you, but Mrs. Champion was found drowned in the hotel pool several months ago. She is deceased, Mr. Errington.”
The blood drained from Matt’s head, and his vision wavered. “What? Are you certain we are talking about the same person?” His heart skipped several beats and threatened to stop altogether. He couldn’t breathe. All this way for nothing. How will I ever find Kate now? This is too cruel, one second, she exists, and in a blink of the eye she’s gone. Matt was at a loss of what to do now. His only shred of hope at finding Kate died with her mother.
Chapter Nine
Six months earlier.
Lilly finished taping up the last box and slid it with her foot across the floor to join the others by the wall. Her twin sister walked into the room with several photographs in her hand just as the door opened an
d Ben Madison popped his head in.
“You girls ready, we should have been out of here ten minutes ago. Don’t want to drag this out. That nosy little super is always driving around. I haven’t spotted anyone else, but let’s get a move on. You checked everything out?”
The girls looked at each other. “Yes,” Kate nodded, “it’s all back to normal. I compared the whole place to the pictures we took before I moved in. We put it back correctly.”
“Well, make sure,” Ben, said, “Don’t want you to leave anything personal behind.”
“I’ve already wiped the place down,” Lilly said, “it’s clean of Kate’s prints.”
The sisters picked up the rest of the boxes and headed for the door. Taking a quick peek outside, Ben motioned them to follow and close up the place behind them. “I feel bad about doing this,” Kate said, as she walked down the steps, quickly wiping away a rebellious tear threatening to blur her vision. “He is a great guy and doesn’t deserve this.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Lilly answered. “Don’t go getting mopey again. You knew this was a difficult assignment, and you had to be out of here soon. It was necessary to cut it off with Matt one of these days anyway; we just needed to cut the job a little shorter than we expected. Ben wouldn’t have pulled you out today, but since Matt got those hockey tickets, he didn’t have a choice. You would have been seen by a lot of people at the game, and the dome is televised. We can’t take the chance their cameras might pick you up in the crowd, or you could be seen on TV, there would be a record of you. It’s much harder for you to disappear if there is evidence of you on tape. Just in case Matt goes looking for you. Police could check on seat tickets, people around you would swear you were there. They’d be able to describe you.
“It was different with the neighbors and people around here. No one has paid any attention to you, that’s how people are, but the hockey game would have been a different story. You know that. Besides we’ve talked about this many times, it’s just a job. National security and all that stuff ... have to save the world you know.”
“Yeah, right.” Kate could barely answer. Her mind was on the past morning, and the feel of Matt’s arms around her.
“Do you think he might look for me?” she asked, a bit of hope brightening her heart. “Just once I would like to hang onto some normalcy in my life. You know, be the person a man like Matt wanted to come home to and live a normal life.”
“Yeah, you will someday. If it’s meant to be, you will find someone like Matt again. I believe that.” Lilly said, giving her sister a quick hug.
“It’s hard to explain, but from the day I met him, I could tell Matt was perfect for me. He’s been through a lot. I didn’t have to pretend much. It was easy to try and make him happy. Make him believe he deserved to be happy. He has horrible baggage he carries with him. Pain he doesn’t deserve. It’s so sad I have to hurt him like this, and he’ll never know why ... or what happened.”
“You know that’s Ben’s way. He doesn’t like loose ends, and Matt knowing who you are would just cause problems, and—”
“Got it all?” Ben interrupted.
“Yes.”
“Okay, then lock it up and let’s move.”
“Done,” Lilly said, throwing a warning look at Kate. “You’ll be okay, I promise.” Ben started the van. They had learned all they could from Matt. It was time to end the assignment.
KATE CHAMPION AND HER sister Lilly had worked with Ben Madison and the CIA for more than eight years. They were recruited right out of high school. Both girls were national honor students and graduated at the top of their class, earning their highest awards in science and math. When Ben first approached them with the prospect of working for the government, neither girl took him seriously, but eventually, they were convinced enough to sit down and listen to him with open minds.
Ben had been with the agency for nearly twenty-seven years and was one of their main recruiters. He drafted over eighty government employees. His job was to identify potential employees from every region of the country to work in over twenty-two different departments of the government. If he took a personal interest in the employees, as he did with Kate and Lilly, he often acted as their handler if they proved worthy. The girls caught Ben’s attention as he reviewed student records from across the U.S. They had exceptional scholastic abilities and well-rounded backgrounds. Both girls were athletic and excelled in sports. They shared a love of the arts and were members of their school's drama group, even taking the lead roles in several stage presentations. Kate, with Lilly as her campaign manager, was elected class president. Lilly was class valedictorian.
Since childhood, the two were inseparable and often made a formidable team, whether it was in sports, politics or playing pranks on friends and family. The latter was always a great source of amusement to them due to their identical features. Only their mother could distinguish which one was which if they chose to deliberately confuse people.
Their father, however, was never sure which little blond angel was wrapping him around her tiny finger. As young as five or six years old, they learned what being identical could do for them. Parents, teachers, friends, and neighbors all became pawns in their games of fun. It didn’t take them long to discover they could raise all sorts of havoc and no one was sure whom to blame. The poor parents realized the only way to control their exuberant offspring was to punish both regardless of the culprit.
When Ben approached the twins, he outlined for them successful careers with the U.S. Government if they were able to maintain their high academic standards throughout college, and achieve stringent goals within a curriculum, which would be directed by Ben himself.
The choice of the finest universities in the country was open to them, paid for of course, by government scholarships. The girls and their parents met several times with Ben before they were all comfortable with the concept. A contract was drawn up explained all expenses would be paid for their entire college experience. In exchange, upon graduation, they would work for the U.S. State Department, for not less than ten years, at assignments of the government’s choosing, wherever they were needed.
Having a guaranteed job as soon as they graduated didn’t seem to be a bad thing to the twins or their parents. However, the parents did have some concerns about where they may be posted, but Ben assured them the careers he had in mind for the girls would pose them no danger.
Ben’s emphasis was on national security and the contribution the girls could make to their country’s welfare. As he explained it, “the cold war was dead.” He was not recruiting agents for cloak and dagger operations. To be selectively chosen and groomed as one of the best and brightest in the country, to help staff some of the highest departments of the nation’s capital were honors not to be taken lightly. It was also good business for the country. By the time he was through with the sales pitch, they practically stood up and saluted him. The way he told it; the government was pleading for their support. The patriotic family could hardly refuse. Ben was a good salesman when he was inspired. And for the girls, he had intriguing ideas on how he could use identical twins in the field to his advantage.
The twins excitedly chose the University of Michigan and settled into college life, embarking on four years of a grueling test of their abilities. In spite of the unusually varied program, Ben designed for them, including science, psychology, languages, human cultures, law, and the arts, the girls did Ben and their parents proud. They lived up to every expectation. As graduation drew closer, Ben’s visits grew to be more often.
“Checking up on your investments?” the girls chided him, although by this time the trio had bonded to a unique closeness.
Ben was like family to them. He guided, mentored, pushed, encouraged, threatened, and cajoled them. He celebrated their successes along the way and picked them up when they needed encouragement. In May, shortly before their graduation with honors, their father suffered a massive heart attack and was dead before he reached the floor.
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Elizabeth Champion was pragmatic enough to realize, at least, the girl’s futures were secure. However, their long-awaited graduation was diminished by their father’s absence.
In the following weeks, Ben made more frequent visits to see them. They were allowed a brief vacation spent at home before the girls were asked to report to Langley Air Base in Virginia for a thorough training in government protocol and the more serious business of espionage.
Chapter Ten
Mr. Gillian was correct in his assumption. The police had indeed cleared the hotel of any wrongdoing in Elizabeth Champion’s death. It was still a mystery why the CIA was involved, but Roger was deeply grateful for Ben Madison’s intervention which prevented most of the information from reaching the press about the accident, much to the hotel’s relief.
“As was her habit for several nights in a row,” Roger Gilliam continued his story to Matt, “Mrs. Champion desired a late-night swim. Although the pool was officially closed, the doors were seldom locked, and she would not have difficulty accessing the area. Mrs. Champion appeared to be an excellent swimmer, and because she enjoyed her quiet time in a tranquil pool, the staff did not interrupt her.”
Mr. Gillian was careful not to give away any personal information but saw no harm in sharing limited details of the accident with Matt.
“The exact method of how she drowned was never identified,” he continued. “The police theorized she developed swimmer’s cramps or hit her head on the diving board. Both events were possible, and there was a rather nasty red mark on the side of her head, which did match the end of the board. Perhaps she misjudged her position, came up under the board and was knocked out by the impact. Without someone to help her, she must have drowned immediately.”
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