Moment of Truth

by Emrys Apollo

  Not just a person. That was Antony.

  Desmond hit the brakes hard but it was never going to be enough. He saw Antony brace for impact in time to him sharply throwing the bike off its collision path. The machine slipped from underneath him, throwing him off in the opposite direction. The tarmac was hot as he skidded across it, rolling too many times to count until he came to a stop.

  He was dizzy, everything was moving at different speeds. He tried to push to his feet but just came crashing back onto the ground. His right side was hot and wet, probably with blood after he had travelled most of the road on his side. Desmond forced his eyes open, pushed passed the nauseous feeling as he yanked his helmet off. It dropped pointlessly to the side as Desmond tried to stagger towards the truck he could see parked in the middle of the road.

  “Anton…” Desmond tried to call for Antony but it was too much. His body was screaming at him in pain and the wind had been taken out of him. In his blurred and tumbling vision, Desmond saw two men lift the guy who had been sat in the middle of the road to his feet and force him back into the truck. There was a small kafuffle but eventually Antony was forced back into the truck. As the engine started up, Desmond pushed to his feet.

  But he wasn’t anywhere near coordinated enough to make any progress towards Antony. He fell to his knees, finally succumbing to the pain that was overcoming his body. He felt hot and sore and exhausted. Collapsing onto his right, Desmond yelled out as the pain crippled over his body. His vision was fading to black, but even then everything was still spinning.

  Was this how it was going to end? It certainly felt like the end. Desmond heard a buzz emit from somewhere near him, but he didn’t have the energy to investigate. He closed his eyes, taking short, shallow breaths and just let the pain overcome him.

  The last thing he remembered was a bright light. If that was coming to take him away he would happily go with it.

  - - -

  “It was stupid and reckless and you made everything we’d managed pointless.” Henson shot, his head dropped in his hand. Desmond was sat in a hospital bed. This was the first day he’d felt like he was human again. It seemed Henson had been waiting for this day to tear him a new one. “We told you to stay away. You compromised the whole mission and we weren’t able to follow the truck to work out where they are holding him.”

  “Sorry…” Desmond croaked, his voice weak from under use. Jody and Kendrick were stood on either side of his hospital bed; apparently the mission meeting had come to him.

  “You’re lucky you’re on bed rest or we’d be detaining you for six weeks.” Six weeks? He’d been written off for six weeks? He couldn’t be. He had to get back out there and save Antony. God knows what they’d do in six weeks. Jody gripped Desmond’s shoulder as he tried to sit up, subtly shaking his head. “This sets the mission back. A lot. But right now we have a bigger problem.” Desmond frowned. What could be a bigger problem than an ongoing missing person case? Surely that was their top priority.

  Henson had turned away from him, moving over to his briefcase. Desmond turned his frown onto Jody, hoping the man would be able to shed some light on Henson’s last statement. He tried using his voice again but it wasn’t working, so he hoped Jody got his question with his eyes. Jody let out a deep sigh, taking the seat that was at Desmond’s bedside.

  “Stuart’s gone missing.” Jody said heavily. Desmond’s eyes widened in shock. “He was undercover. He’d worked out that they also had people undercover there. Somehow they worked out he wasn’t just another team member but was a spy. We barely got any warning. He just went into the motor home and suddenly all communication was lost.”

  “We would have tried to recover him but someone chose a high speed bike chase at the same time.” Henson said darkly. Desmond shook his head. This was his fault. They must have seen Stuart talking to him after he had talked to Antony and worked out that Stuart was MI6. As for the timing, well, clearly Desmond hadn’t been following as subtly as he thought. The captors knew Desmond was following them and used him as a distraction so they could take Stuart and not be followed by MI6. Desmond had well and truly fucked up.

  Stuart was gone. Antony was gone. And now he was useless and stuck in a hospital bed.

  “Luckily for you, Desmond, we assume that they have Stuart and Antony together. Problem is, they will interrogate Stuart for answers. Where we could be fairly certain with your cooperation Antony was safe, the same cannot be said for Stuart. So this is now a code five rescue mission.” Henson dropped something on the table that was connected to Desmond’s bed. “We need to know where they are.”

  “What?” Desmond asked, picking up the business card that Henson had just given him.

  “We think that Antony left it for you, because he knew that you were there trying to get to him.”

  “We are hoping that it’s a clue to their whereabouts.” Henson said, folding his arms. “Does it mean anything to you?” Desmond looked at the business card that he was holding in his hand but he couldn’t focus on it. His head was spinning with all the information he’d just found out. Not only had he lost a lead on Antony but he’d lost Stuart too. How had he managed to get it so wrong?

  “How about you give him ten minutes?” Jody said kindly, his eyes locked on Desmond’s expression.

  “We need to know-” Henson started.

  “I know, but that’s a lot of information to get in a short space of time. He’s only just really come round. Give him ten minutes of peace to process it all. Then we can talk about it.” Henson looked between Jody and Desmond suspiciously, but when he couldn’t find any reason to argue it he dropped his arms.

  “Fine. Ten minutes. We’ll be outside.” A simple flick of his hand had Kendrick following after Henson. Once the door was closed Desmond put the business card down, dropping his head in his one good hand, the other was strapped across his chest. He was slowly starting to resent himself more and more. Not so much for losing Antony again but for putting Stuart in danger.

  “It’s a good thing it was me who picked you up or you’d have even more questions to answer.” Jody said, walking around Desmond’s bed until he was standing with his back to the door. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out the Motorola, placing it next to the business card. “You’ve got a message.” Desmond grabbed the phone so fast he nearly knocked it onto the floor. Finding the messages on his phone he opened up the most recent.

  Kill Bowse or he dies. You chose.

  “We’re going to get them both back, okay.” Jody said soothingly, hooking Desmond under his shoulder. He closed the phone down, taking it from Desmond’s limp grasp and pushing it back in his pocket. “For both of our sakes.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t know.” Jody said soberly. “But neither of them are going to get hurt. We’re going to get them both back. Don’t worry about Stuart, he’s a tough guy.” Desmond squeezed Jody’s leg, trying to tell him how sorry he was for putting him through all this as well. He wouldn’t have wished this situation on his worst enemy and now his actions had forced his best friend into the same torment. But Jody was right; they were going to get them both back unscathed.

  Desmond’s eyes locked on the business card that Antony had apparently left for him. He had to work out the clue, for both Jody and his sakes.

  CHAPTER 7

  Desmond startled himself awake, hot pain shooting all over his body. He forced his eyes open, pushing the mental images that had been plaguing his sleep out of his head. This was ridiculous. Not only was he know in pain but sleep seemed more elusive than ever. He just wanted this nightmare to end; to wake up and have Antony tucked in his arms and this all just be a horrible dream. But unlike those dreams that didn’t allow him to have more than half an hour’s sleep at a time, he couldn’t wake up from this.

  Letting out a deep breath, Desmond sat himself up, running a hand over his face. He couldn’t help wincing as his sore body twinged, having gone stiff from being still for so long. After a few
minutes of wriggling around and trying to get comfortable, Desmond gave up. It was no use. There simply wasn’t a comfortable position for him to lie in in his current state.

  Turning to his left, Desmond looked across at Jody. He was slumped in the chair at his bedside, dosing softly. Desmond was glad he hadn’t woken him; as much as Jody was making out he was fine and that everything was fine and that Stuart was tough enough to look out for himself, Desmond could see the pain sitting just below the surface. Whether it was because he knew Jody so well or because he too was going through what Jody was going though, Desmond wasn’t sure but he knew Jody wasn’t okay. And he had every right to not be okay.

  With Stuart being a known MI6 agent he was definitely in a lot more danger than Antony was.

  Desmond let out another deep breath as he tried to relax back into his pillows. It simply wasn’t working. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see was Antony sat in the middle of that road, that split second where Desmond seriously felt like it was too late to stop the bike careering straight into Antony. Or his imagination would throw every horrid torture scene it could at him, all featuring Antony. He was powerless to stop any of it.

  He didn’t want to think about all that. He had to keep believing that Antony was fine and that the kidnappers wouldn’t do anything to him. Not yet anyway.

  Forcing any thoughts from his head, Desmond picked up the business card that Antony had left for him at the arena off his bedside table. He looked at the shiny gold writing on the white piece of card. Of course he knew this place; he’d never forget the relevance of this particular hotel. Desmond and Antony had taken many trips to it in their time together. But why this place? Why had Antony thought to remind him of this place? It couldn’t be where he was being held now; the hotel was too high profile. Desmond didn’t care how much money the captors were paying; they could not sneak Antony and Stuart in and out of that hotel without someone spotting them. So why did Antony leave this as a clue to his whereabouts? What did it mean?

  Desmond dropped his hand on his lap, closing his eyes in thought. It was a special place to the pair of them, yes; it was the place they had first met.

  - - -

  Seven years earlier…

  “This is stupid; we’re not getting anywhere.” Desmond muttered, turning his back on the party as he masked his words by pretending to sip on his champagne. He would have looked crazy if he had been openly talking to himself. And it would be the quickest way to get himself discovered.

  “A little bit of positive attitude never hurt anyone.” Desmond glanced across to the other side of the mezzanine that surrounded the room, his eyes falling on the tuxedoed blonde opposite him who was smirking.

  “We’ve been here an hour.”

  “And you’ve barely touched your drink. I thought you knew how to party.” The man was pretending to be insulted. Desmond just rolled his eyes.

  “Gentlemen, stay focused.” Henson sounded in his ear. Desmond made it look like he was scratching his ear as he pressed the earpiece more firmly in place. “We need to find our guy.”

  “We’re not finding anything up here.” Desmond said, trading his empty champagne flute for a full one. “I’m heading downstairs.”

  “May, go on his flank-”

  “I don’t need a bodyguard.” Desmond hissed. “Drop your hand, Kendrick, or someone is going to know you’ve got a bug in your ear.” The new kid dropped his hand instantly, disappearing back into the crowd.

  “Leave the kid alone, Desmond, or he won’t want to play anymore.” Jody chastened as Desmond started down the stairs.

  “Gentlemen, please. This is not a school trip.” Henson exasperated. Desmond took a long swig from his champagne flute as he entered the bustling crowd.

  “Give me the description again.” Desmond requested, adjusting his bowtie as he moved between two drunkenly dancing girls.

  “Short, brunette, male, late forties, Italian-”

  “Sounds like Stu’s ideal date.” Jody teased. Desmond couldn’t help but smirk.

  “Jody, you know I prefer them blonde.” Desmond’s eyes followed Stuart for a split moment as he danced passed him with a brunette woman in a dark blue dress.

  “She doesn’t look very blonde to me.” Desmond grinned.

  “Oh no, she’s totally not Stuart’s type.” Jody said. “The girl in the olive colored short dress. That’s the one Stu wants to be dancing with.”

  “Because you would know.” Stuart sent back.

  “Gentlemen, please ! This is a mission!”

  “Alright, come on lads, before that veins starts popping on Henson’s temple.” Desmond chuckled, stopping at the bar. His eyes scanned the room for anyone matching the description he’d been given. “We sure he’s here?”

  “His truck is parked out front.” Kendrick informed. Desmond took another sip of his drink.

  “Doesn’t mean his in the party though. I don’t think he’s the only one who would have RSVP-ed yes just to get a hotel room.” Jody muttered.

  “You don’t think… He’s here?” Stuart asked, his voice quiet. Desmond swallowed dryly; if Leone was here this mission got a bit more important.

  “One way to find out.” Desmond said, placing his half-empty glass on the bar.

  “This is important now, agents. We need to find out what rooms have been checked into and get a scout mission going.” Henson instructed. The air crackled with a new kind of tension; they could be able to crack the biggest case of their careers.

  “Leave the room numbers to me.” Desmond said with certainty, his eyes already locked on the entrance to the lobby. In his peripheral, he saw Stuart break off his dance with his ‘date’, leading her to the corner of the room. She gave a subtle nod, heading out the door Stuart had left her by without anyone noticing.

  “Sharp, twenty minutes and we need those numbers; Barnett, Carnegie, get upstairs and start a basic sweep; May, find Walker. I want the pair of you into the security system in no more than ten minutes.” As soon as Henson had finished giving his instructions the four agents began to move. Desmond nodded to himself, waiting to see Jody disappear from the mezzanine before he headed for the lobby.

  “Oh!”

  “God, I am so sorry!” Desmond clattered back into the bar; whatever had been in the glass the other guy was carrying now soaking into his shirt. Desmond shook his head, trying to push away the hands that were trying to dry off the spilt drink.

  “It’s alright.” Desmond gritted, still trying to move forwards. But whoever had spilt their drink was trying desperately to rectify their mistake.

  “It’s too crowded.” The guy huffed, grabbing some napkins from the bar and patting at Desmond’s shirt that was partially turning see-through.

  “It’s fine, easy mistake.”

  “No, are soaked! Hey… You come with me, will get you a clean shirt.”

  “Really, it’s O…” Desmond’s mind blanked as his eyes connected with the deep coffee ones of the man who had spilt his drink on him. It felt like the world stopped moving, like nothing else mattered in the world apart from the man who tightly had hold of his wrist and was trying to drag him away. Desmond could barely function. How could one set of eyes make him forget who he was entirely? “Okay…” Desmond didn’t even know what he was saying now. He felt the blush of embarrassment hit his cheeks.

  “Why do you blush? Should be me who is embarrassed for falling on you.” The guy smiled cutely. Desmond couldn’t help but reciprocate.

  “You can fall on me anytime…” It suddenly dawned on Desmond what he had said. Feeling too hot all at once, Desmond drew his hand back from the other man. What was he supposed to be doing? He was on a time limit but for the life of him he couldn’t think what for. “Sorry…”

  “Antony.” The guy smiled, holding his hand out as an introduction. Once again, Desmond found himself magnetizing towards Antony, mirroring his every move. His hand felt nice in his.

  “Desmond.” Bollocks. Now he’d gone a
nd given his real name. Like he could remember what his decoy name was right now. Like he could remember anything at this present moment in time.

  “Desmond; is nice to meet you.” Antony smiled. Desmond melted at the way his name folded off Antony’s tongue. He wanted to hear him say it again and again and again. “I’m so sorry about your shirt. Please let me go and get you a new one.”

  “It’s no trouble.” Desmond blustered, holding Antony’s hand tighter as he moved to disappear in the crowd. Antony’s eyes fell back on his and Desmond’s stomach looped over. “No trouble at all…”

  “Oi, Lover boy. Room numbers.” Jody’s voice in his ear snapped him back to the situation at hand. Right, room numbers. Super important mission. Desmond dropped Antony’s hand.

  “Actually, I was just leaving.” Desmond said suddenly causing Antony to frown. “I… Yeah.”

  “Wait!” Desmond tried to keep his head down and disappear in the crowd but it appeared Antony was as keen to stay close to him as Desmond was keen to have him close. Desmond couldn’t shake him off. He was forced to stop when Antony’s hand grabbed his again. “Please do not run off, I feel bad enough for soaking you as it is.”

  “Code Six. Out of action.” Desmond muttered frantically. If Antony wasn’t going anywhere there was no way Desmond could.

  “For fuck sake, Desmond.” Stuart muttered.

  “May, how’s the security?” Henson said sharply.

  “I’m nearly in. Cassandra can go.”

  “Alright, Walker. Downstairs now. You’ve got ten minutes before we need those numbers.” Desmond felt bad for letting his team down but it was for the best; he wasn’t about to drag Antony along on this mission and for all intents and purposes he was compromised. Code six: he was out of action.

  “Good luck.” Desmond muttered as Antony pulled him to the edge of the room.

  “You better get some tonight, Desmond, or it totally wasn’t worth it.” Desmond ripped the earpiece from his ear at the sound of Jody’s words, stuffing the small thing in his pocket. He didn’t need those sorts of comments at this present moment in time.