A Friend in Deed

by G D Harper

  We were dragged to the front door. I felt an arm slip through mine, pulling me tight against a body hard with solid muscle. I heard Tanya whimper as the same happened to her behind me. In a few seconds, we’d be in the back of the car, powerless and driven off to our fate. My mind raced.

  I struggled and wriggled as I was led down the short path to the street, trying to break free. Impossible. I was in the car in an instant, Tanya thrown in on top of me. The door was shut, and I heard the click of the locks. This was it. We were going to die.

  ‘Lie down! Both of you! Not a fucking word!’

  The two of us cowered down as the car drove off. I tried to think straight. They hadn’t done anything in the flat, they must be taking us somewhere remote to dispose of us, so that Act Now! could argue there was no evidence that anything sinister had happened. I cursed myself for not yelling at the top of my voice before I had been pushed into the car – anything, everything to get someone to notice. But it had all been so fast. I had to do something when they stopped the car. But what?

  I strained ineffectually against the cable tie. Even if I was brave enough to try something, there was nothing I could do. I had the bizarre thought that I had always wanted to go to Antarctica, and now I never would. I could hear Tanya talking in Russian to herself, muttering under her breath in a resigned monotone. I tried to force myself to focus.

  Suddenly the car screeched to a halt and the windscreen exploded, sending fragments of glass everywhere. Tanya screamed, and we both dropped lower in the back seat. There was the sound of the front passenger door opening, someone getting out of the car. Shouts, sounds of a scuffle, then silence.

  Fragments of glass were covering my body, but I didn’t dare move to shake them off. The driver of the car had started groaning, which turned into a rasping sound after a few seconds. Had we crashed? Whatever had happened, we needed to react.

  I stuck my head up. The driver was slumped forward against the steering wheel, his head twisted to one side. Outside, two men were handcuffing the other man.

  ‘Get up,’ I said to Tanya. ‘I think it’s safe.’

  In the distance I heard a police siren. Dazed and confused, I squirmed around in the back seat and tried the car door, but it was still locked. I clambered over into the passenger seat, struggling because my hands were still tied behind me. Pellets of glass were everywhere, and I winced as they dug into me. Blood was seeping through the driver’s shirt. I managed to open the door and stumbled and rolled out of the car. Tanya started to climb out of the back seat to follow me. She fell out of the passenger door onto her back, and I helped her to her feet as best I could. We staggered away, still trying to take in the scene around us.

  When the police car arrived, two cops got out and went over to the men standing over the handcuffed assailant. Then one of them came over.

  ‘Are you okay?’ she asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Tanya said.

  ‘Do you know what’s happening here?’ I asked.

  ‘Sorry, I don’t. We were responding to a 999 call, someone who witnessed the shooting of the driver of this car. I need to check on his condition and then I’ll get back to you.’

  Two more police cars arrived a few minutes later. Someone finally cut the cable ties binding our wrists and Tanya and I embraced, our bodies shuddering in the release of tension.

  One of the two men who had been handcuffing the Russian came over, just as an ambulance arrived.

  He addressed Tanya.

  ‘Tanya Petrenko?’

  She nodded.

  ‘I’m an authorised firearms officer with the Metropolitan Police. My colleague and I were assigned to covert surveillance and protection of you following your release from detention earlier this morning. We observed your two assailants enter the property of Mr Jones here and when we determined their intentions were hostile, we moved in to apprehend them.’

  He turned to include me in the conversation.

  ‘I’m sorry we couldn’t act sooner, but the best way to ensure your safety was to intercept them as they attempted to drive off. When we blocked the car on the road, the driver reached for his gun, so I had no choice but to shoot. He’s receiving medical attention, his passenger attempted to escape but surrendered when confronted. Another ambulance is on its way so paramedics can assess your condition, and then I’d like to collect a statement from you both about the incident here.’

  ‘We could have been killed,’ I blurted out. ‘Who are these people and who told you to follow Tanya?’

  ‘Your questions will be answered in good time, sir. Best if you get checked over, and we’ll take things from there.’

  A second ambulance arrived, and Tanya and I were ushered inside. As the door closed, it felt like we’d found sanctuary from the horrors of a few moments ago. The paramedics went to work, and my body started shuddering from the release of tension. Tears flooded my eyes as I thought about what had just happened.

  A few minutes later, there was a knock and a policeman put his head round the door.

  ‘Best if you drive off with these two,’ he said to the ambulance driver. It’s turning into a bit of a circus here. Media arriving in droves.’

  Over the next couple of hours, I started to find out the details of the afternoon’s events. When MI5 picked up news of Tanya’s sudden release, they had made a direct request to the Metropolitan Police for armed surveillance, making sure that only the operational officers involved knew what was going on. They must have suspected something was going to happen and were ready and waiting when it did. That’s what saved us.

  * * *

  Their plan having backfired spectacularly, Act Now! put their cover story into operation, no doubt the one they had planned to explain the disappearance of Tanya and myself.

  Tanya and I were lovers, their supporters in the media claimed, and the two of us had dreamt up the whole Russian conspiracy theory during our relationship. After being discredited, Tanya had left me and returned to Ukraine, where she had started a new life with an unnamed Ukrainian gangster. Then she regretted splitting up with me and finished with the Ukrainian gangster, coming back to London to restart our relationship. Ukrainian gangsters don’t take kindly to being dumped, and evidently this was a particularly psychotic one. In a jealous rage, he arranged for the two of us to be disposed of, hence the shoot-out on the streets of London.

  It would be a stretch to make the story stick, but that wouldn’t matter. All Act Now! had to do was hold on to their lead in the opinion polls a few more days. Then, with a general election victory behind them and a mandate for even more radical policies, they could do what they wanted.

  There was only one last chance to stop them. Tanya’s interview.

  * * *

  I sat down to watch News Today that night, full of trepidation. The plan for a pre-recorded interview with Tanya had been scrapped. Instead Simon Green was going to talk to her live on air, with Michael Mitchell there to provide further comment. As Act Now! had refused to participate, no opposition politicians would be allowed on the show to comment. I could hardly breathe with the tension.

  The opening credits faded away and Tanya was sitting in the studio, an empty chair next to her. That must be for Michael Mitchell. Simon Green sat across from her.

  ‘There’s a change to the topic of tonight’s programme,’ he announced. ‘Instead of the discussion about immigration, given the dramatic and violent events that played out on the streets of London today, we are going to air exclusive accusations from our studio guest about the scandal involving Russian support for Act Now! in the general election.’

  He turned to Tanya.

  ‘Tanya Petrenko, can you describe the events of this afternoon?’

  Tanya gave a little nod and started to speak in a steady, low-pitched voice.

  ‘I was at flat of Richard Foxe, political blogger. He came to Ukraine to as
k me to return to London, to tell my story to you on this programme. I was stopped at Heathrow, kept at jail near airport, I thought I was to be sent back to Ukraine. But instead your government release me, so I go to see Richard, we prepare to come here for interview. Two armed men break into flat, kidnap us, try to take us away to be killed. But they are stopped by police, one is shot, the other caught. So, I am still alive to tell my story.’ Tanya gave a weak smile and took a deep breath to compose herself.

  Pictures of the scene of the arrest appeared on the screen, and videos of the aftermath of the shooting, from two different angles, sent in by viewers. After they had been shown, Simon turned to Tanya.

  ‘Can you describe your feelings after the police intervened?’

  As he spoke, video of Tanya being led to the ambulance appeared on the screen, the car with shattered windscreen in the background.

  ‘I should say grateful,’ she replied. ‘But the truth is, I was in big anger. The doctors tell me that I need to rest, take it easy for few days, need to recover from shock. But I can’t wait. I need to tell what happened and tell it now. I cannot wait till doctors say okay.’

  ‘And why is that?’ Simon, of course, knew the answer.

  ‘Because it was not some stupid story that jealous lover was behind this. It was your government, and I need to tell my story before election.’

  Simon nodded. ‘There have been rumours flying around Westminster for months now, that the investigative blogger, Richard Foxe, has uncovered evidence linking the Russian government to the Act Now! political party. What has been your part in this?’

  ‘I am Ukrainian national, previously living in London. I was recruited by MI5 last year as part of investigation into whether Act Now! was controlled by Russian government. My job was to get results of investigation into public.’

  Simon feigned a look of astonishment.

  ‘These are shocking claims, Ms Petrenko. Let’s deal with them one by one. How exactly were you recruited by MI5?’

  Tanya took Simon through the story of her job as an event manager at the British Council and how, after the death of her brother, she had been recruited to gather information on Russia’s involvement with Act Now! from Russian oligarchs. Photos of her appeared on screen with Anton Shub and a few other high-powered Russian businessmen, even a mid-level Russian politician. I didn’t like how it made her look, but she answered the questions about them with class and dignity.

  ‘And now we come to the most sensational part of your story. You claim you were asked by MI5 to take on a new role, to help publicise the findings rather than collect information. Why would they ask you to do that?’

  ‘Because they could not make news themselves, especially in early days when proof still coming in. My job was to help choose journalist, use him to tell story. Only when it was completely proved would MI5 be able to act. They chose Richard Foxe.’

  Tanya smiled. ‘But he was smart guy. He find out this plan, and my job was over. I go back to Ukraine to hide. He reveal my story and he get into big trouble. Then he come to Ukraine to find me, say to me it is time to tell my story. So here I am.’

  My heart was bursting with pride at Tanya’s performance. She answered every question directly, keeping her tone matter-of-fact, her simmering anger lending her words authority and credibility. She spent the next five minutes detailing and explaining exactly how the MI5 operation worked, and what her part in it was. Combined with the footage of the shooting, it left little doubt she was telling the truth.

  They played the footage of Tanya being led to the ambulance again and when they returned to the studio, Michael Mitchell was sitting in the seat next to her. Simon started his questions.

  ‘Michael Mitchell, you have long campaigned for penal reform and to address miscarriages of justice. I’m going to ask you in a few minutes to comment on this case, and the recent detention of the blogger Richard Foxe that seems to be at the heart of it. But first I want to ask you about your personal connection to these events. Can you tell us what that is?’

  Mitchell paused before replying.

  ‘Yes, it is no secret I have a connection to Richard Foxe. In the 1980s, he wrote a novel under another name that implicated me in a murder that I didn’t commit. I spent fifteen years in jail as a result. I have no affection for him, or for anything he’s trying to do. But what has happened to him, and no doubt to others, is so shocking that I find myself with no choice but to speak out in his support, and to condemn the actions against him.’

  ‘And those are?’ Simon leaned forward, caught up in the intensity of the moment. Sitting at home watching all this on TV, I found myself doing the same.

  ‘Detention on the order of a politician, rather than an independent judiciary. Suspension of habeas corpus, a right that goes back to Magna Carta. And that’s before you get to the other allegations about Act Now!, which I’m not qualified to talk about.’

  This was a smart move by the programme-makers. By focusing on the legal principles of my detention, rather than the allegations behind them, they could debate the story at length, without falling foul of the same gagging order that I was still under.

  The programme wrapped up with a statement from Act Now!, pointing out that despite his pardon for murder, Mitchell was still a convicted criminal, guilty of fraud and money laundering. They stuck to the story that the attack on Tanya was the work of a Ukrainian gangster and nothing to do with them, and warned that they would not hesitate to use the courts if they felt the programme had continued to spread slanderous comments about them.

  Simon wrapped up the story, pointing out that Act Now! had been invited into the studio to debate the issues raised but had declined, and that I could not be interviewed because my gagging order was still in place. It was a powerful piece of television journalism. I hoped it was enough.

  A follow-up story appeared on the Chronicle’s website just after midnight. It contained the news that News Today had been served with an injunction banning the programme from being shown on catch-up; and that a writ for slander had been served on the programme-makers personally.

  I checked the websites of all the other major media outlets. Nothing. With everyone else, the legal deterrents were obviously working. I stayed up till two in the morning reading the comments and discussion on the story, then it disappeared from the paper’s website. Almost immediately there was an email from Sam, saying that a court order had instructed it to be taken down, that he had also been charged with libel, but the newspaper was already on the streets before the injunction had been granted. However, his was the only newspaper brave enough to cover the story. No matter how powerful the impact was of Tanya’s testimony, if people couldn’t get to hear it, it could be too little too late to affect the election result.

  I finally succumbed to tiredness, desperate to find what would happen next.

  * * *

  There was silence until the next day’s six o’clock news.

  ‘We have just had a statement from MI5, released in the last few minutes,’ the newsreader announced. ‘A spokesman has confirmed that Tanya Petrenko, the Ukrainian woman at the centre of the Act Now! Russian conspiracy story, was an employee of the security services from 2020 until March this year. The nature of her role cannot be revealed for reasons of national security, but sources close to the head of MI5 have indicated that her relationship with Duncan Jones, better known as Richard Foxe, the investigative blogger who originally broke the story, was part of her remit. After the attempt on her life on the streets of London yesterday, MI5 say they have had no choice but to confirm her identity. In the last few minutes, an Act Now! spokeswoman has said that MI5’s announcement is a deliberate and despicable attempt to influence the general election, and has triggered a constitutional crisis of unprecedented proportions. We go over now live to Charlotte Peterson, our political correspondent who has more on this breaking story.’

 
A few seconds later my phone rang and it was Sam, breathless with excitement. ‘Have you heard the MI5 announcement?’ he asked.

  ‘Just this second on the news. What’s going on?’

  ‘I’ve no idea. MI5 have never revealed anything like this before, so they’ve as good as said that it’s true they’ve been investigating Act Now!, without saying it explicitly.’

  ‘They must finally feel that we’ve reached the threshold where they can give the story legitimacy,’ I replied. ‘And the attempt to kill one of their agents was probably the last straw. What are you going to do now?’

  ‘We’re going to defy the injunction, lead with the MI5 quote on our front page tomorrow, and this time we’re convinced we won’t get the story barred. And we expect every other newspaper to pile in behind us. You can’t be sued for libel for repeating what MI5 themselves are saying.’

  The story did run the next day, but paradoxically it was the articles in the tabloids that made the biggest splash. Their reporters had been busy since Tanya had done her interview, but not on political secrets. Her whole modelling portfolio was on display, with a particular emphasis on the lingerie shots. It was a tabloid editor’s dream, a juicy political scandal and more half-naked photographs than you could shake a stick at. The Sun promised they’d have a picture of Tanya modelling lingerie every day until polling day, to dispel any election blues. The Mirror had a cartoon of Tanya in a boxing ring, standing over an unconscious Damian Zane in the same pose as Cassius Clay standing over Sonny Liston, with the headline, ‘Ukraine girls really do knock you out’. This was not a story that was going to go away.

  The first snap opinion poll came out the next day, a ten-point shift against Act Now! pushing them into third place behind the two main political parties. The assault on their credibility continued unabated right up until the day of the vote, more and more of their supporters distancing themselves from their increasingly toxic image. I spent election day in a trance, fruitlessly going from one website to another for any clue as to how the voting was going. Numbers going to the polls were down, interpreted as being due to the disillusionment of the Act Now! voter base.