by Ted Tayler
“Why am I not surprised that you’re so well informed?” said Colin.
“Needs must dear boy,” said Erebus.
“Should I return the gun and spare ammo to the armoury tonight?” asked Colin.
“Yes,” said Thanatos, “we have someone on duty twenty-four seven. We have strict rules for items of that sort being above ground for any longer than necessary. They might be difficult to explain away if the charity commissioners dropped in for an unannounced spot check tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll finish my sandwich and get back to my quarters then,” said Colin. “I’ve secured them in my locker for the time being. I didn’t know how long I’d be tied up here.”
Athena allowed herself a brief smile.
“Did you imagine you might be tied up then?”
“A man can dream,” replied Colin and made to leave.
“Hang on Phoenix,” called Erebus. “We have another direct action for you.”
“When do I leave this time,” Colin asked, “in the morning? No rest for the wicked I suppose.”
“I didn’t realise we agreed to Phoenix being the right man for the Dunfermline problem,” whispered Athena. Erebus laid a hand on her arm.
“I believe he is the right person, without question. We still have the intelligence to gather in that regard. The direct action won’t receive confirmation until we have everything we need to hand. In the meantime, Phoenix needs a change from a policeman don’t you think?”
Erebus invited Colin to retake his seat.
“Sir Godfrey Penrose is a former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare, and Veterans. He stood down at the last election after a long career in politics. His father was a Brigadier and after Oxford University, he worked in the City and dabbled in corporate finance, and management consultancy. He never followed his father into the regular army, but he spent several years in the Territorial Army. The Tories saw him as a safe pair of hands. After contesting a safe seat in the Home Counties he got a reputation as a solid backbencher for the first few years. He held minor posts with Education and Transport before ending up with Defence. We believe that on his watch many of our former colleagues got a raw deal. Have you heard of the Armed Forces Covenant, Phoenix?”
“Can’t say I have,” Colin answered.
“In simple terms, HMG has agreed to enshrine in law its duty of care to its serving service personnel. It has agreed to sustain and reward them for the rest of their lives. The House of Lord’s are playing silly beggars with it at present but everything should be signed off well before Christmas. Our veterans should be better protected than they have been hitherto. We have carried out a thorough investigation of Penrose and found black marks against his name. Apart from the veterans who suffered deprivation and a distinct lack of ‘sustenance and reward’ before their deaths, there were rumours of incidents that took place while he served with the TA. During their so-called Annual Camps. These are an intense period of learning for any reservist, whatever their rank or level of experience. The more junior members focus on basic skills such as first aid, map reading, and weapon handling. Several eighteen-year-old boys and girls found themselves up close and personal with the future MP in tents scattered across the Brecon Beacons and Dartmoor. The rumours, as confirmed, described how these youngsters woke up in the night to find Penrose lying next to them. He touched them intimately, the assaults included penetration of both sexes. The victims were frightened and confused; for many, it was their first sexual experience. Penrose told them it formed part of their training. He convinced them they needed to cope with adversities. If they cried out or struggled when they found themselves in action, they could give away their position to the enemy, endangering the lives of their comrades. The victims are still living with what happened. They continue to blame themselves despite the passage of time. We sent agents posing as documentary filmmakers to interview these men and women, now in their thirties and forties. The agents recorded their evidence with their faces never appearing in shot and disguised their voices. This persuaded them to tell us everything. We paid them for their cooperation but warned them that as an independent company we couldn’t guarantee that the programme ever featured on their TV screens. The victims found the courage to tell someone about the abuse they suffered by a man who acted as their protector and carer; it was a gross breach of trust. A couple may have come forward in the future to get the justice they deserve. We will not wait for that to happen. We will see Sir Godfrey Penrose receives the right punishment for his heinous acts.”
“Can I have a dossier on this Penrose character?” asked Colin.
“It will be with you first thing tomorrow morning Phoenix. Pay a quick visit to the armoury tonight and then get a well-earned rest. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight Sir,” Colin replied and then said his goodnights to the others, reserving an extra little nod towards Athena and left the drawing-room.
Colin rose bright and early. When the dossier arrived, he was ready and waiting to start on his new assignment. He reviewed the information Erebus gave him last evening and paid closer attention to the most recent data that the surveillance section had gathered. Since he retired from politics, Sir Godfrey had taken several non-executive posts on the boards of prestigious companies in the City.
“He’s not short of a few bob, is he,” exclaimed Colin.
He scanned the list. There was a one-bedroom flat in Egerton Gardens, Knightsbridge valued at just short of two million that Sir Godfrey used when in town on business. The family home was a converted barn near Stowmarket, Suffolk which weighed in at a cool one million and he owned a modest two-bedroom cottage in Princeton. This was very much a rural property and buying on this part of Dartmoor requires a particular love of moorland and foul weather. The raw beauty of the last wilderness in England took some beating. Colin noted that the property could be reached in less than half an hour by car from Plymouth across the moor via Yelverton. A little light switched on in Colin’s head and he started on his plan.
It appeared Sir Godfrey owned several luxury cars to take his pick from when running around London. He owned two top marques Range Rovers into the bargain to use in the country. Sir Godfrey married Penelope Bradley in 1977; they had no children. She was the only daughter of a wealthy wine merchant. These days she appeared to spend most of her time in Suffolk drinking her way through her late father’s cellar, plus the odd bottle or two from Waitrose. Colin tried to work out how often the couple spent any time in each other’s company. It looked to be eighty days per year at most. Less, if they didn’t see eye to eye.
The rest of the day Colin spent in planning mode. He made a list of the items he needed when he travelled further west to have a few final words with Sir Godfrey Penrose. He asked the surveillance section to find out if the Dartmoor cottage was a regular weekend retreat for the happy couple which he doubted; or whether Sir Godfrey had a male or female companion that shared his rural bolt hole. Or did he buy the cottage so he could escape the mad, mad world in London to recapture his younger days camping out on the moorlands?
Colin was right about one thing. No evidence existed that Penelope Penrose ever visited the property. Her married name reminded Colin of a programme that Sharron liked as a little girl, but he couldn’t bring the title to mind. It was possible Godfrey had company in his London pad, but again, no evidence suggested the cottage was a love nest. As far as the surveillance section had found out Sir Godfrey let the train take the strain on Thursday or Friday afternoon and travelled back late on Monday. “The joys of a non-executive post,” thought Colin “grafting three days a week at most for a small fortune plus share options. Nice work if you can get it.”
The problem would be the frequency of Sir Godfrey’s visits. They appeared to be random. Colin checked the local press for events that might attract the former politician. He was sure a car boot sale in Yelverton wouldn’t appeal, and he couldn’t imagine him having signed on for the local darts team. No
, it needed to be more refined.
He thought he might have to change his plans. To stake out the pad in London, with the associated problems of getting rid of a body in Knightsbridge, had to be a nightmare. More by luck than judgement, he stumbled across the answer. Various courses and expeditions took place across Dartmoor throughout the year. Trips where young people faced a range of adversities trying to complete elements of an Outward Bound scheme or a Duke of Edinburgh award. Sir Godfrey at seventy years of age was too old for the rough and tumble of his earlier TA days, but he remained a voyeur at least. He got his kicks watching youngsters scrambling around the moors in all winds and weathers. In time, Colin hoped to discover whether the old man had more to hide.
Colin couldn’t see what persuaded these kids to do outdoor stuff such as that. Every Easter the media covered the plight of those poor lads or lasses that got lost on the Ten Tors challenge. They turned up suffering from nothing worse than hypothermia, thank goodness, and everyone got on with eating their Easter eggs. Why nobody thought only a bloody idiot would be willing to go out in a wilderness to walk fifty-five miles was beyond him. Then they had the cheek to expect the emergency services to risk their necks rescuing them when things went wrong. As they often did.
These days you’ve got a job to get the emergency services to come out for sane people, let alone nutters. Colin had a view on that. He remembered telling his first wife Karen that people who went potholing and got stuck were idiots too. She ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the TV when they surfaced safe and sound after an anxious wait. Or sat wiping the tears from her chubby cheeks when they winched a body bag to the surface. But she never grasped Colin’s logic that the money wasted on these adrenalin junkies would have provided more support for her when she gave birth to Sharron. Karen might not have suffered her postpartum haemorrhage if there had been an older doctor on call. Maybe she would have been able to have more kids.
Colin told himself he must stop thinking back. Those family days, dysfunctional they might have been, were behind him. He must concentrate on the here and now. He checked the activities on the moors scheduled over the next few weeks. The surveillance reports indicated Sir Godfrey was a creature of habit. There was nothing on the books for this weekend. He anticipated the old buffer would drive up to Stowmarket to endure a frosty reception from Penelope.
Sir Godfrey would have a few warm thoughts to keep him going to help get him through to Monday morning when he escaped back to Egerton Gardens. The following weekend several hundred youngsters would be on the moors and Colin would put good money on Godfrey being on that train west.
CHAPTER 16
Colin worked on through the evening, putting the finishing touches on the itinerary of his proposed assignment. Once he completed it, he saved it on his laptop and crashed out on his bunk, without even bothering to undress.
He slept fitfully through the night dreaming of Karen and Sharron for the first time in a long time. Those painful memories had been suppressed so well. As he read how Sir Godfrey Penrose had taken advantage of those innocent children, it caused those emotional times in his life to come tumbling back.
Colin dragged himself from bed at six o’clock and made straight for the pool. He stripped off, showered and put on a pair of trunks. He dived into the water and swam until he couldn’t raise his arms or kick his legs any longer. Then he clambered out of the pool and sat on the edge with his feet dangling in the water. Tears were close, but not that close. Gradually, he fought against the feelings that sought to overwhelm him and regained control. Colin Bailey, the stone-cold killer was back.
He looked up when he heard someone else enter the building.
“Good morning Phoenix,” said Athena.
Colin watched her as she stepped out of her tracksuit bottoms and peeled off her sweatshirt top to reveal her one-piece grey swimsuit. She looked incredible.
“Do you come here often?” he managed. His tongue seemed to have stuck to the roof of his mouth.
“Is that the best you can do?” Athena mocked and slipped into the pool. She set off with long smooth rhythmical strokes and tumble-turned at the end of the lane. Her appearance looked so graceful that Colin sat and stared at her for a few minutes mesmerised. He knew he should get up and dry himself before he got a chill. He wanted to stay a while longer to get his breath back. Well, that was his excuse.
Eventually, he tore himself away from the sight of her long powerful back and the grey costume that made her look more fish than human. Although when she had removed her outer clothes Colin was under no illusions, Athena was all woman. He dried himself and dressed in a hurry. He needed to get back to his quarters and get into clean, warm clothes. Then he had to get to work, to take his mind off Athena.
Colin had visited the canteen and had breakfast, wondering if Athena came here to get something to eat. She wasn’t about to sit with the hired help, what was he thinking? It didn’t stop him from looking up every time the door opened. He took his time over his second cup of coffee to no avail. As he strolled back to his quarters, he remembered he needed to contact Erebus and set up a meeting to go through his proposal for direct action against Penrose. As he walked through the door, he saw yet another ‘post-it’ note on his laptop.
“I’ll teach Erebus how to use a mobile phone or e-mail,” he thought and picked up the note. Surprise, surprise it wasn’t from Erebus.
‘I dropped by, but you were out. A,’ it read. A sad-faced emoticon lay under the A.
Colin smiled to himself. The ice maiden had a softer side. What a shame he had to put one hundred per cent of his energies into his new assignment. Erebus summoned him to the orangery to meet him at two o’clock. One of the transport guys delivered the message. Colin asked what was going on this morning. Erebus and the others had been in a heavy-duty meeting. The only thing the guy knew for sure was that Athena needed to go to London. Also, he had learned that the government had just escalated the terrorist threat on the streets of the UK from ‘moderate’ to ‘severe’.
When the two men met in the orangery Erebus seemed distant. Colin ran through his proposed itinerary and he knew damn well that the old man was only half listening. When he finished, Colin waited for a response.
“Are you happy that you’ve covered every eventuality Phoenix?” asked Erebus.
“Yes,” replied Colin, “but..”
The old man interrupted him. “Then I’m happy. It’s cleared for direct action. We have bigger fish to catch.”
With that, Erebus levered himself up and out of his chair and left. Colin watched him leave. He thought he’d aged since last night. This must be serious.
Colin spent the rest of the day ordering supplies. Not food and drink, but clothing and equipment for next weekend’s trip to Dartmoor. This assignment didn’t warrant a weapon Colin had decided. He had a far more apt exit strategy for Sir Godfrey in mind.
The next seven days passed slowly. Colin spent time in the gym and the pool, but his sessions never coincided with those of Athena. He didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not. He put in a few hours in the shooting range to sharpen his skills. New data came to him from the surveillance section on Donald MacDonald and he did several minutes’ preliminary work on his plans for that gentleman.
As for the people in the ‘big house,’ they were conspicuous by their absence. Whatever threat this terrorist cell promised, it occupied many hours of their time and resources. Colin had received a green light for the Dartmoor job and they left him to get on with it. When he went to bed on the following Thursday evening he was cool, calm and ready to do just that.
Colin awoke early. He showered, dressed and collected together the items of kit he had ordered. For this trip, he picked up his own rucksack. Rusty had given him hell when he returned his to him after the Lewes assignment.
“I’ve had that since Kuwait mate,” he snarled. Colin hadn’t the nerve to ask to borrow it again.
Colin jogged over to the canteen for breakfast; as h
e entered he saw Athena striding away from the swimming pool entrance. He turned back to speak to her, toying with the idea of asking her to join him. Although he convinced himself she spotted him, Athena turned her head and walked away. She looked to have things on her mind.
After he had eaten his full English breakfast alone, Colin headed back to his quarters. He double-checked the contents of his rucksack and satisfied himself he had everything he needed. He looked at his wristwatch; still only half-past seven. Transport wasn’t due for another hour. He searched his laptop to see what he could discover about the threat levels of ‘moderate’ and ‘severe’. He wanted to learn why it had become necessary to move to a higher level. Then he might be abler to take part in the Olympus Project’s bigger assignments. Now he felt like an odd job man, getting rid of minor irritations. The preservation of the nation’s safety restricted to agents several rungs further up the ladder than him it appeared. He wondered when he would find his way off the bottom rung.
Colin’s search gave him food for thought. He hadn’t realised a step existed between ‘moderate’ and ‘severe’.
“Blimey, it must have been something big to jump past ‘substantial’ and straight to severe,” he exclaimed, “thank goodness it hasn’t got to the ‘critical’ stage yet.”
He learned that in effect, the situation had moved from ‘possible but not likely’ to ‘highly likely’ in a heartbeat. The intelligence surrounding these people must have flagged up a suicide bomb plot. Either that or something of the same magnitude had moved forward far quicker than expected. People might be fooled into thinking with the Games opening next July, factions planning to make the world sit up and take notice were still months away from following through on their plans. This could escalate into a major problem in weeks if not days. No wonder it had Erebus and the others so preoccupied.
