The Way Home

by Glover, Nhys

  ‘Locked… Locked… my family’s heart…’ Then it flashed into her mind so quickly she couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. ‘Oh my god! The locket! She means the family heirloom she gave me. It’s a heart-shaped lock… et! Look!’ She held it out to him. He had to have seen it often enough over the last days. She never took it off, even when they made love.

  ‘But I looked at the locket. There’s just a picture in it.’ She frowned as she looked at the beautiful, old-fashioned heirloom in her hand.

  ‘Take it off, Cassie. Let me see it more closely.’

  She did as he told her. It felt like she was giving him a little bit more of her own heart as she did so.

  He found the catch on the side and opened the locket. It was airtight, so no water had ever got into it. The photo looked just as it had the day Fran had given it to her two years ago.

  Hawk began to dig at the picture.

  ‘Stop. What are you doing? You’ll wreck it. There’s nothing there. Do you think it’s one of those pictures that has code imbedded in its pixels? It’s not. Marnie said Fran cut up one of the old pictures in front of her. It can’t con…’

  But Hawk had continued prying at the picture until it finally tore away from the back. Then he removed the picture carefully. Beneath it was a small black rectangle the size of her thumbnail.

  ‘Oh my god,’ she said again, taking the locket from Hawk. ‘It’s so thin you couldn’t even tell it was behind there. It just felt like blue-tac or something holding it in place. This is it, isn’t it? This is what they’re looking for. Fran gave it to me all along and the message was the clue. Why didn’t she just tell me instead of making it into this whole big spy-thriller thing? I might have been able to help her if she had.’

  ‘She was protecting you. She probably did not expect you would ever need to know. It was simply a safeguard. No more.’

  Cassie nodded, seeing the sense in his words. But it still made her angry to think that her friend had been in such trouble and hadn’t come to her with it. What was the use of a ‘sister’ if you couldn’t ask for help when you needed it?

  She pulled the data chip out of its hiding place and held it the palm of her hand. All she could hope for now was that the information it contained was worth the cost of Fran’s life.

  Pulling out her iPhone, she turned it on and inserted the data disc into it. Moments later, the information began scrolling down the screen. It didn’t mean much to her. It seemed to be a record of chemical compounds that were more complex than she recognised.

  She didn’t have the chemistry background to understand this. She needed an expert.

  Her mind turned over possibilities. What about John Merrick, the guy she’d dated for a while at Uni? His area had been chemistry while hers had been biology.

  Where had he gone after Uni? A government posting, civil service, she thought. How could she find him? Could it be as simple as ringing the home office?

  Wait, what about his parents? He’d taken her down to Kent to meet them one time. That was when she started to get cold feet. He was obviously more into her than she’d been into him. And then of course Hugh had come along.

  Where in Kent were they? And would they still be there after five years? Maidstone. She remembered it because it sounded like a statue of a woman. They were not far from a big park with a lake in the middle. What was it called… the water around a castle… but spelled differently? Mote not moat.

  She entered the information into the search engine and quickly came up with a phone number for John’s parents still living in the same house. Did she have the nerve to ring them and ask for their son’s details? Normally she’d say no, but Fran had died for this information and Hawk had put himself at risk, too. So, no matter what it took, she was going to find out why this information was so important.

  Of course, she could just take it to the police. But what would they make of a fantastic tale that was more James Bond than real life? And this wasn’t a crime in England, if it was a crime at all. This was happening in Germany. No, she needed to find out more about what she had before going to the authorities.

  ‘What are you thinking, Cassie?’

  She looked up in surprise, having almost forgotten Hawk was there. How had she become so immersed? With a shake of her head, she came back to him.

  ‘I’m trying to work out what to do with this information. It doesn’t mean anything to me but I used to have a friend who was a chemist. He might be able to make sense of it. I don’t know where he is now but I do remember where his parents live. I’m thinking about giving them a call tomorrow morning and asking for his contact details.

  ‘A friend? A romantic partner?’ He was suddenly stiff and imperious. She was starting read that expression for what it was – discomfort.

  ‘Yes, for a while. But it didn’t work out. I hurt him, breaking up as suddenly as I did. So I wouldn’t normally think to contact him after all this time. But he’s the only person I know who might have a clue what this means.’

  Hawk nodded and then shrugged. ‘Very well, ring this man in the morning. But you do not go anywhere without me. It is too dangerous.’

  ‘I know. I’m getting that, especially after what you did tonight. I won’t leave your sight, I promise.’

  It chaffed to have to wait, but Cassie managed to hold out until nine o’clock the next morning before she rang the Merrick household. She knew his mother didn’t work. Or she hadn’t when she knew her, so the chances were good that she’d be home.

  On the third ring, the phone was picked up. A bright and breezy upper-crust female voice answered. ‘Merrick’s residence. How may I help you?’

  ‘Mrs Merrick?’ Cassie said nervously.

  ‘Yes, Justine Merrick speaking. With whom am I speaking please?’

  ‘Oh, Cassie Grant. I don’t know if you remember me but I used to date your son at University.’

  There was a deathly silence at the other end of the line and then the voice replied, much colder now. ‘Yes, I remember you Cassandra. What mother wouldn’t remember the girl who broke her son’s heart? To what do I owe this pleasure?’ The sarcasm in the last word was apparent.

  ‘Um… I need to get in touch with John as a matter of urgency. Could I please have his phone number?’

  ‘Tell me this isn’t to inform my boy that you had Aids when you were dating him. I can’t think of any other urgent reason why you’d need to contact him after all these years. John is doing very well these days, by the way, thanks for asking.’

  Cassie was so stunned for several seconds that she couldn’t find words to go on.

  ‘Cassandra? Are you still there? Is that it? Is that why you’re calling him? If you’ve given my boy a death sentence I’ll…’

  ‘No,’ she managed to get out hastily. ‘I don’t have Aids or any STDs. It’s another matter that has nothing to do with our relationship. This is very important. A matter of life and death. And no, I won’t be endangering your son. I just need some information. It’s very important,’ she reaffirmed one more time for effect.

  For several long seconds there was silence down the line again. Then the woman cleared her throat. ‘All right then. But I’m only doing this because you insist it’s important. But if you’re trying to get back together with John…’

  ‘No, Mrs Merrick, I’m not. Can I get the number?’

  The woman delivered the mobile number off the top of her head. Obviously, she rang John often without recourse to her address book. After getting off the line, Cassie shuddered and sighed.

  ‘What was this Aid and Estedees you said you didn’t have? You are trying to aid someone…’

  ‘Not aid… Aids. HIV. It’s a disease that has no cure. A virus that mutates. It’s a sexually transmitted disease, although you can get it from blood. But Mrs Merrick was insulting me. Very much so.’

  ‘Hmmm. So you were shagging this Merrick?’ She nearly laughed at his use of the vernacular. Obviously, he’d been listening when she
’d explained about hooking up.

  ‘No, we made love. But it wasn’t…’

  ‘Wasn’t?’ he prompted.

  She felt her face going bright red. Did she have to spell it out to him? All right. ‘It wasn’t anywhere near how good it is with you. Okay? Satisfied now?’

  The smug look on his face made it clear that he was. Men and their egos!

  She keyed in John’s number before Hawk could ask for more details. She didn’t want to discuss John with Hawk at all. It was a part of her life she just wanted to forget. Like the years with Hugh were a part of her life she wanted to forget.

  After one ring, the phone was picked up. A familiar voice answered with, ‘Merrick. Speak to me.’

  ‘John? It’s Cassie Grant.’

  She heard a clatter, as if something metal had just been dropped. Then she caught a series of muffled swear words. When John spoke again, his voice was much more nervous, like the insecure boy she’d known at Uni.

  ‘Hi, Cassie. Long time… Um, what can I do… do for you?’

  ‘Something very important, John. Do you remember Fran?’ She heard him mumble, ‘yes’, on the other end. ‘Well its information Fran died for. Information on chemical formulas and compounds that are beyond my limited knowledge to interpret. The only person I could think of who’d have the expertise for this was you. Can you help me?’

  ‘Died? Your friend is dead? What expertise? I’m not sure I understand.’ He sounded flustered now.

  ‘Fran was working for a pharmaceutical company in Germany. She found out something really important and was going to turn whistleblower. But before she could, she died. I just got the information she was killed for. It’s something very important John…’

  ‘Why don’t you go to the police?’

  ‘Because they’ll think it’s all too far-fetched. They won’t believe these black ops guys tried to kidnap me. And I don’t know what the crime is yet. I need you to look at it. Please John, I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t a matter of life and death. These people killed Fran and now they’re trying to kill me…’

  That seemed to seal the deal. Suddenly he was all business. ‘All right, Cassie. You better not send the data to me by unsecured line. It would be better if you could come here. I’m in a government-run laboratory near Clapham Junction. Do you want to come here? I can get you in. We aren’t a secure site.’

  ‘Yes, that’d be good. Can we come right away?’

  ‘We?’ There was stiffness in the voice now.

  ‘Yes, I’m with someone who’s protecting me. A German who put me on to what was happening.’

  ‘A German? How do you know he isn’t a criminal?’

  ‘He’s one of the good guys, John. I know that. Please… give me the address. We’ll be there within the hour.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll leave word at the front desk.’

  When she ended the call, she stood silently for several more seconds trying to process her feelings. It had felt odd to speak to John after all these years. And he’d sounded just the same.

  Yet she wasn’t the same. She was a totally different person from the girl John had known back then. How could they relate now? But then, it wasn’t about relating, was it? She just needed his expertise. And it wasn’t for her. It was for something bigger than either of them.

  Then why did she feel so guilty?

  ‘You still have feelings for this man?’

  Cassie was jerked back into the present by Hawk’s cold words. ‘No. I was just thinking how he sounds the same and yet I’m not the same. You know?’

  ‘Yes, I do know. I can hardly recognise the person I was when I was alive… the last time.’ There was a note of humour in his voice now, as if he were intentionally trying to lift her spirits now that he’d assured himself that this old boyfriend was no threat to him.

  ‘Yes, well, I guess we better get going. Clapham Junction. We’ll take the Victoria Line out there. Not far. Come on.’

  They collected their things and Cassie made a point of turning off her phone again. If their hunters were monitoring her phone, her GPS would have given her current location. It was important they moved quickly just in case. It already felt like they were on borrowed time after she’d used the phone to access the information the night before.

  They handed in their key and told the girl they were checking out. She seemed disappointed by the news. Then they went to Kings Cross and caught the Tube. She was pleased to see Hawk was becoming much more comfortable with the modern world now.

  It was just after 10.30 when they reached the government laboratories in a non-descript building on an average London street. She hadn’t asked what they did here. As it wasn’t a secured site, it couldn’t be anything of national importance.

  They entered through the large sliding glass doors and went to the reception desk where a middle-aged woman with bright red hair looked at them with polite interest.

  ‘Miss Grant to see Mr… um Dr Merrick…’

  ‘Ah yes, Miss Grant. Dr Merrick has sent word that you are to be sent right up to Level 4. Laboratory C. It’s the third door on the right from the lift. You can’t miss it.’

  ‘Thank you.’

  They headed to the lift and she took Hawk’s hand while they waited for it to arrive. He was tense and wary, obviously determined to catch sight of their hunters before they had a chance to attack.

  At the anonymous white door that said nothing more than 4C, she knocked. The door immediately flew open, revealing John on the threshold dressed in a white lab coat looking no different from how she remembered him – tall, skinny, with upper-class good looks and a geek haircut. God, couldn’t he have aged just a little bit in the interim years? He still looked no older than twenty.

  John’s look of surprise told her she looked a lot different from what he expected. Then she remembered she was wearing her blonde wig. Of course she looked different!

  ‘Hi John, thanks for seeing us. This is Hans… Have you got a computer handy?’

  If he was surprised at the speed with which she got down to business, he didn’t show it. He simply led her over to a bench where a state-of-the-art computer sat. She took out the data disc and inserted it into the drive. In moments, the screen was filled with the information she’d seen the night before.

  John sat down at the computer and began to study the data closely. He frowned and then began scribbling down unintelligible notes on a pad at his right hand. Finally, he flipped through the screens, seemingly looking for something. When he found it, he grunted loudly.

  ‘Have you any idea what you’ve got here Cassie?’ he asked without turning his head from the screen. He seemed hypnotised, his blonde shock of hair standing on end as he ran his fingers through it. That had always been his habit. She’d told him he looked like he’d put his finger in a power outlet once and he hadn’t liked her humour.

  ‘No, I haven’t got a clue. That’s why I came to you…’

  ‘These chemicals… they’re not common. They’re mostly found in some of the anti-virals that are being developed around the world. It’s not my field, but I have a passing knowledge… enough to tell you that unless this is a government facility working on chemical weaponry, these stocks shouldn’t be needed. You said she worked for a pharmaceutical company?’

  ‘Yes. Gesamt Pharmaceuticals.’

  ‘Then Gesamt is into something it shouldn’t be. I thought Fran was a computer nerd?’

  ‘She was. I guess she must have been working on something that required her to access this information… and she must have known what she was looking at. I don’t know how.’

  ‘Well, this needs to go to MI 6. That might sound a bit cloak-and-dagger but that’s what this is… If this is accurate, then these people are doing dangerous things. Without the constraints of a governing body. Let me call someone…’

  Cassie couldn’t believe it. She’d come to someone who could ‘call someone at MI 6’? How James Bond was that? John was far less boring than she remembere
d him being.

  In a couple of minutes John was back. He looked ten years older than when he’d greeted them at the door less than fifteen minutes before.

  ‘Several agents will be arriving shortly. I’m to secure this data and then find you a private room for the interview. They’ll want to know everything you can tell them. Are you all right with that, Cassie?’

  She nodded silently, because suddenly her mouth was as dry as a desert. How were they going to explain Hawk under close scrutiny of a government agency? Their story was flimsy. They still didn’t know enough about this Hans Fredricksen. The agents would see through Hawk’s alias immediately.

  ‘Hans, you need to go. You can’t afford to be involved in this. I… I’ll meet you at Costas at the station when I’m finished,’ Cassie said, turning to Hawk as she fought to keep the fear from her voice.

  ‘I don’t think that’s a wise idea…’ John put in, officiously.

  ‘John, Hans works for the company in a minor capacity. He’ll be in a lot of trouble if he’s found to be sharing secrets with the British. There isn’t anything he knows that I don’t. I can do this and he can stay out of it officially. He only came to keep me safe.’

  She looked at Hawk, pleading with him with her eyes to agree.

  After several long moments, he nodded and looked at her with fierce eyes. ‘I will do this because you are safe with your government. But I will not be far away. You will not be safe until this board meeting, or until the government has acted and these criminals have been rounded up.’

  ‘Yes, I know. I’ll stay safe. And I’ll see you soon, I promise…’ She wanted to kiss him goodbye, but with John there and several other lab assistants working quietly in the background it didn’t seem appropriate.

  With a stiff nod, Hawk headed for the door. Cassie couldn’t remember ever feeling so bereft. It was even worse than when Fran had left her after she given her the gift. It felt so final. Would he disappear now that he’d done what he came to do?

  She felt the panic rising inside her. He couldn’t go now. She couldn’t take it if he disappeared now. In the short time they’d known each other, she’d come to depend on him. Not in a needy desperate way but as one adult depends on another. They were equals in their weird mixed-up relationship. He was a war-weary ghost and she was a grief-stricken cancer survivor.