by Jack Fiske
Jim didn’t, but it only took a minute to get a pen and paper from the car. Wolf tried to force his way out of the door to see if he could sniff around outside and there was a brief struggle while he pushed him back in again. Wolf looked accusingly at him as he went back to the phone box, then jumped over the seat and went back to his previous position in the back of the car, resting his nose against the window, slowly steaming it up, while he watched what Jim was doing.
It only took a moment to jot down the details that Archie gave him and then Jim was back in the car, trying to fend off Wolf, who had climbed over to the passenger seat and was insisting that Jim made a fuss of him before he would let him drive off.
Jim checked his watch on the way back. He’d been gone for less than half an hour, but he could imagine Stephen and Marion waiting up, anxious to know what Archie had told him.
As they approached the house, everything was quiet. After what Archie had said, Jim was certain it would be under surveillance, but if that was so, there was still no trace of it. He swung the car into the gravel driveway and parked in his previous spot. The lights were on in the house and someone had switched on the outside light, so that he could see his way up the path. Jim opened the back of the car and Wolf jumped out, paused to look back at the gate and then ran ahead to the front door, waiting to be let in.
Stephen must have heard the car because he opened the door as Jim got there.
“Everything alright?” He was dressed in his pyjamas and dressing gown and Wolf stopped to greet him, before trotting into the kitchen to see if he had missed anything interesting while they’d been away.
“I hope so.” Jim nodded. He was still digesting the information that Archie had given him, but he couldn’t see that it changed anything.
Stephen locked the door and threw the bolt at the top. “Marion’s in bed reading. Why don’t you come up and tell us what your friend had to say?”
Jim nodded and after waiting for Stephen to switch off the lights, the pair climbed the stairs and joined Marion in the bedroom.
Stephen and Marion listened silently as Jim told them what Archie had said. Marion looked shocked, but if Stephen was he didn’t show it. He seemed to be taking it in his stride. It was he who said that the news shouldn’t make them change their plans and Jim had to agree. They sat there talking for a while and then Jim left them and went back to his own room, taking Wolf with him. It had been a long day and he was glad to turn in. It wasn’t long before he was lying in the darkness with one arm around Wolf, who insisted on keeping him company as he had the night before.
It had seemed to Jim that he would never get to sleep, but he must have drifted off eventually, because he was woken at seven by the alarm and Wolf jumping off the bed, where it seemed he had spent the whole night. Jim lay staring at the ceiling for a few minutes and then sat up. He could hear Stephen and Marion moving about downstairs. In fact, if he wasn’t mistaken, he could hear the sound of someone on the stairs. A moment later there was a knock on the bedroom door and in response to his shouted, “Come in!” Stephen appeared with a mug of tea.
“Thought you might like some tea,” he said, putting the mug down on the bedside cabinet. “I’ve to tell you to take your time, but Marion wants to know if you’d like bacon and eggs?”
“Yes please. That would be lovely. How long have you been up and about?”
“Oh ages. Couldn’t sleep. We were awake most of the night talking, so when it got light we thought we might as well get up. Marion’s been ironing and I’ve been working on the phone number that we got from the kidnappers.”
“Is Marion alright?” Jim asked, feeling guilty that he was still in bed and had slept without too much trouble.
Stephen nodded. “She will be. The situation is starting to get to her I think. It’s easier when she’s doing something. It takes her mind off what might be happening to Susan and Millie.”
Jim took a sip of tea. “Well at least we know a lot more than we did yesterday. Maybe we can start to do something about it. Have you managed to get anywhere with the phone number?”
“Not yet, but I’m sure that I can. I need to work on getting access to more information from the telephone networks. Once I’ve done that, I’m hoping it will lead to something useful.”
“Nothing as useful as information on where they are though?” Jim said.
“Oh, I haven’t ruled that out yet,” Stephen replied. “You’d be surprised what you can do with a few telephone numbers and the information that’s held on a telephone company’s computer. The only trouble is that hacking into those computers isn’t exactly legal.”
Jim shrugged. “That’s probably the least of our worries. If anyone finds out and kicks up a fuss, MI5 will put a lid on it quicker than you can imagine.”
“Well I still feel guilty about breaking the law. I should know if I’ve got anything later today.”
Stephen bent down to stroke Wolf, who was looking at him expectantly then, as if he could read the dog’s mind, he opened the door so that he could squeeze through.
Jim laughed. “I know where he’s going.”
“The kitchen,” Stephen said with a smile, as he followed him out. “He can smell cooking. You’d better get dressed and come down, otherwise he’ll have persuaded Marion to give him half of your bacon.”
As the door shut, Jim swung his legs out of bed and reached for his clothes. At least Wolf didn’t change. He could always rely on him to put his stomach before anything else.
Over breakfast the three of them had a chance to go over things once more and make some decisions. Jim still had the second GPS tracker that Archie had sent him and they agreed that after breakfast, he and Stephen should check that they could pick up the signal from it using the internet address and passwords that Archie had supplied. After that, the two would go into the office and check that Mark had finished the fake K2 processor. The company’s supplier was usually reliable and the parts should have arrived by now. Urgent orders came by overnight courier and the security staff would sign for deliveries that arrived before nine. Marion had agreed to stay at home in case the kidnappers called early. They didn’t want to aggravate them unnecessarily, or make it seem that they were stalling for time. Stephen was worried about leaving her alone, but she insisted that she’d be fine. After all, she said, it would make her feel she was doing something useful and there were undoubtedly MI5 agents watching the house, so she shouldn’t be in any danger.
While they were eating, the radio played quietly in the background and Stephen suddenly held up a hand.
“Quiet a minute. That’s the news coming on. Let’s see if there’s anything about the shooting that Archie Long told you about.”
There were a couple of predictable reports about the prime minister’s latest diplomatic visit and something about underfunding in the NHS and then the newsreader introduced the subject they were waiting for.
“Two men are being held in police custody this morning after a shooting incident at a motorway service station north of London. The incident, which took place in the car park of the Eastgate Services at approximately 7.45 p.m. yesterday evening, is understood to be drugs related. One man, who suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest, is said to be in a serious but stable condition in a London hospital, whilst another man, who was arrested at the scene and is believed to be his attacker, is being questioned at Paddington Green police station. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that it is too early to comment further on the reasons behind the shooting. However, they do expect to make further arrests once the injured man regains consciousness. We also understand that a significant quantity of drugs were recovered at the scene.”
The newsreader moved on to the next report and Stephen turned to Jim. “Well, that’s a different version of events.”
Jim nodded. “Just what I’d expect. When you’ve worked for the Service you realise you can’t put too much faith in what you hear on the news – or what’s in the papers, come to
that.”
“But that’s awful,” Marion protested.
“Not really,” Jim said, defending them. “If I were in Walker and Quinn’s position, I’d be pretty worried about what happened yesterday. The last thing the authorities want to do is to give out the real reasons behind the shooting.”
Marion scowled. “Isn’t it awful to think of those men listening to the same news bulletin that we are?”
“Yes, it is,” Stephen agreed. “If they do hear it, I hope they are worried. The more worried the better.” He glanced at Jim. “Do you think they’ll believe that?”
“Maybe not,” Jim said. “No matter what they believe, it’s going to make them more cautious and that will make the job of finding them even more difficult.”
Jim mopped up the last of his tomatoes with a piece of toast and put his knife and fork together on the plate. “Marion, that was delicious.”
Marion managed to raise a smile and took the plate from him. “You two go on up to the study and sort out what you need to. I’ll tidy up and do the dishes.”
Getting the information from the GPS tracker unit proved to be much easier than either of them expected. The system worked from an ordinary internet site, which Stephen could access directly from his PC. The passwords to get any further were awkward, being made up of a random string of numbers and letters, both capitals and lower case, but once they had fed them in, the process was straightforward. The site requested the serial number of the tracking device and then a second password which was specific to that unit. There was a moment or two of inactivity whilst the computer at the other end worked to process the information and then once it was satisfied, the display changed to a table of dates and numbers.
It took them a minute or two to make sense of the display, but they quickly realised that it showed a column of dates and times, with a grid reference against each. Clicking on any grid reference brought up a map which pinpointed that location, whilst clicking on the time brought up a short sub menu. After a little trial and error, they realised that they could change the settings on the system and request that the location of the tracker unit was updated either more, or less frequently.
One of the GPS tracker units was with Mark Brennan, but Jim had unwrapped the other and placed it on the corner of Stephen’s desk.
“Switch it on then,” Stephen said.
Jim picked up the unit and flicked the switch at one end of the tube. Nothing happened. The last line of the display on Stephen’s screen still read ‘Device Inactive’.
Jim switched the unit off again, waited for a moment or two and then switched it back on. Still nothing.
“Damn and blast! The bloody thing’s not working. I hope to God the other one is.”
“Hang on a minute,” Stephen said. “Maybe this is the other one.” He reached for the slip of paper with the passwords on and typed the code for the other tracker unit into the computer. Another table appeared on the screen and this time the last entry had the current time against it. Stephen clicked on it with his mouse and the table was replaced by a map of Ringwood with their house pinpointed by a small red cross, right in the middle.
“Success!” Stephen proclaimed. “Switch it off to make sure.”
Jim flicked the switch off but nothing happened. He looked at Stephen enquiringly.
“Time delay,” Stephen said. “Give it a minute.”
Sure enough, a moment later the last line of the table updated with a new time check and the message ‘Device Inactive’.
After a little experimentation, it was clear that the small tube was working properly and it was only because its position was displayed at thirty second intervals that there was a delay between switching it on and off and the computer screen updating.
Having satisfied themselves that they knew how to use it, Stephen handed the unit back to Jim and leant forward to switch off the P.C.
“O.k. let’s go and see Mark.”
Jim put the tube back in his pocket and they went downstairs to let Marion know they were leaving.
They got to the office just after eight-fifteen and weren’t surprised to find that Mark Brennan was already there. He was in the work area on the ground floor, where he’d claimed one of the benches and was surrounded by electronics.
“Morning Mark,” Stephen said, as they approached. “How’s it going?”
Mark looked up from a piece that he was soldering and propped the soldering iron out of the way at the back of the bench.
“Morning,” he replied. “It’s good. The parts we needed were in first thing this morning and I’m just putting it all together. Shouldn’t take more than half an hour and then I can check that it’s working. What about you two? How are you bearing up?”
Jim hadn’t thought about it until then. He was certainly worried, but the situation hadn’t got to him yet. Probably because there had been so much going on, or maybe because he used to do this for a living. In a sense it seemed unreal, almost as if it was happening to someone else and not to him. Jim glanced at his father-in-law, who by contrast was showing the strain. He hadn’t slept last night and he was looking tired and drawn. Despite what he was feeling, Stephen shrugged off any concerns.
“Oh, Jim and I are o.k. I just hope the same can be said for Susan and Millie.”
Mark obviously felt for both of them and appeared to be at a loss for something to say. Stephen smiled and put a friendly hand on his shoulder.
“Thanks for putting all this together. Can we give you a hand, or make ourselves useful?”
“No, not really. I’ll be quicker doing it myself. Mind you, I wouldn’t say no to a cup of coffee if anyone is offering?”
Stephen turned to Jim. “I don’t suppose you’d sort out the coffee would you? I want to make a couple of phone calls and check through our files for the telecoms contracts that we had last year.”
Jim nodded. “I’ll get us all one, I’ll bring yours up for you.”
“That’s good of you.”
Stephen hurried off in the direction of his office.
Mark grinned apologetically at Jim. “I’ll have a couple of biscuits too, if there are any left.”
As it turned out there weren’t, but Jim did find a loaf of bread and a lingering smell of fresh toast. Somebody else was apparently supplementing their breakfast and Jim was sure they wouldn’t miss a couple of slices.
Having taken Stephen’s coffee upstairs, he came back down, collected Mark’s, his own, plus three slices of toast and went to see if Mark was making progress.
“No biscuits I’m afraid, but I’ve I made you some toast.”
Mark looked up from the job. “Even better. Put it over there and I’ll get it in a minute.”
The components on the bench had disappeared rather quickly and there were hardly any left. Mark was having difficulty getting one piece to fit, but then there was a satisfying click and he put the unit to one side and reached for his coffee.
“Had to take the thing apart again to get the new bits in,” he explained. “Good toast by the way. Helen will have your guts if she finds out though. She was moaning last week about people helping themselves to her bread without asking.”
Jim laughed. “How do you know I didn’t ask?”
“Well you’ll be o.k. then.” Mark smiled.
Jim picked up the plate and put it out of sight on the shelf beneath the bench. “Better safe than sorry. Wouldn’t want us to get caught red handed with the evidence still uneaten.”
Some people would find it strange that they could joke at a time like this. Maybe it was a defence mechanism that cushioned them against the harsh realities of the kidnapping.
Mark didn’t need much longer to finish. Jim stayed to help, but there wasn’t a lot to do, other than watch and hand things to Mark as they were needed. It didn’t take long to test the unit either. Mark had had it working the night before and simply needed to change the display and three of the input sockets for the type that had been used on the original.
>
“That’s it,” Mark confirmed, as he unplugged the unit from the multi-meter and the oscilloscope that he’d been testing it with. “Now all we need is the glue.”
“What glue?” Jim asked.
“This stuff.” Mark leant over and produced a tube of glue from his briefcase. “I want to glue the screws in so that it’s not possible to take the casing off. This might look like the real thing from the outside, but the inside looks nothing like it – especially with that tracking device at one end.”
Jim picked up the unit from the bench. “There’s just one thing before you do that. We need to check the tracking unit works.”
Taking a screwdriver from the bench, he carefully inserted the blade through the grill at the back of the casing, felt for the switch on the end of the GPS tube and flicked it to the on position. There was a computer terminal on the desk behind them and it only took a moment to start it up and to find the website that they’d used earlier. Jim fed in the passwords and the serial number from the piece of paper that he had in his wallet and they got the now familiar table showing a grid reference and then the map which pinpointed their location.
“Hey. That’s some system,” Mark said, obviously impressed.
“Clever, but simple,” Jim agreed. “Stephen’s laptop connects to the internet through his mobile phone, so we’re going to use that to check on this thing once we’ve handed it over.”
Another five minutes were all that was needed to finish the thing off. Mark undid the eight screws which held the unit’s case in place, added a couple of drops of glue to each and then tightened them once more.
“All done,” Mark pronounced himself satisfied and handed the small box to Jim.
The work area was getting busier now as people arrived for work and Mark lowered his voice slightly so he couldn’t be overheard.
“What else can I help with?”
“I don’t know that there is anything.”
“Come off it. There must be. You and Stephen can’t deal with all this on your own you know. Who’s at home with Marion?”
