Seek and Find - Part One

‘There he is again, nice to have a regular customer about the place,’ she smiled from behind the

counter.  

‘Nice to see you again too,’ he smiled, taking a seat on the same stool as yesterday recalling their conversation from then.  

Yesterday

‘Used to be such a good place to live, you know, the English Riviera and all that as they used to

call this place.  Now look at it or perhaps best to not, unless you like being depressed.’

‘I know I used to come here with my parents when I was a child. I loved the beaches, the pier, the food, especially one chip shop. I can't for the life of me remember its name, but I do remember the man and woman who ran it, very nice, they always gave me extra chips, I suppose because I always said please and thank you.  To me they seemed more like the kind of people you’d see running a tea room, kindly, warm,’ he said.

‘I know exactly the shop you’re talking about, just along the alley access path to the beach, blink and you’d be by it except it always had a crowd.  Run by the Wescott’s, lovely people, they ran it forever, even after their daughter left, went to Uni and made it big in the business world.  Rumour was they could have retired and lived a very nice life on the money she sent home, but they loved to run it, gave them pleasure, but when he passed, oh a while back now, Mrs. Wescott didn’t have it in her anymore and sold the place, too many memories I suppose, can’t say I blame her.’

‘She still lives here then?’ he asked.

‘Oh yes, very active in the church, the one mentioned on the radio.  Altar Guild and such, her husbands buried there,’ the waitress added.

‘I was hoping to grab some chips, relive an experience, but it wouldn’t be the same.  Maybe for the best, chips and the waistline and all that,’ he added with a laugh and she joined in.

Now

‘A body, as yet unidentified by the constabulary, was found early this morning in the graveyard of St. John’s the Baptist Church in Paignton.  No other details have been released at this

time but it must be noted that the area has been identified as one of the poorest in the Torbay

area and possesses a high youth gang violence rate.  Now to sports, a shocker in the FA Cup,

3rd round as Shrewsbury Town upset Tottenham 1 nil.’

‘That’s a shocker, that is,’ the waitress said.

‘What is, the body or the football,’ he answered, accepting the fill of the coffee cup and her eye roll with a smile.

‘Mostly it's just robberies and such, nothing that violent, bit of a worry,’ she added.

‘I wouldn’t read too much into it, most likely gang related, turf war, that sort of thing. You’ll be fine I’m sure, not to worry.’

He finished his coffee, paid and gave her a very generous tip, popped open his umbrella as he exited the place and walked toward the church.  

The police investigation was still in full swing, Forensics Truck and Patrol cars about, but the church was open.  He stood at the entrance to the Narthex, flashed his umbrella open and closed a few times to shake out the water then entered.  He was in luck, ladies were at the altar setting up for the Mid day service.  He saw her immediately and proceeded businessman like up the middle aisle.

‘Mrs. Wescott I wonder if I may have a word with you,’ he said at the bottom of the steps to the nave, flashing a badge.

‘Mary Wescott looked up with a worrying smile on her face as the two other ladies looked at her, then down.  They turned to each other and chatted quietly as she came down the steps. 

DCI Ashton Cross, Cornwall and Devon, I wonder if I may have a word with you,’ he asked in his best kind voice.  ‘Away from active ears,’ he smiled again, looking up at the altar, while two sets of eyes looked quickly away.  He led her to the North Transept where a small pew was located for sidespeople to sit when not directing or handing on hymn and prayer books, most importantly it was out of both ear and eye shot of the others.  

It was easy to see where Virginia got her looks from and what she would look like later in life, although taller than her mother, Ashton guessed the height was from her father, the bearing was all her mother.  

Do you know this man?’ he asked her, showing Mary a picture on his phone.

‘No, should I?’ she asked.

'We have CCTV footage of this man on your street last night.  We also have footage and audio of him in several shops asking about you, well about the Chip Stand you and your late husband used to run.  That man is in fact the dead man in the graveyard outside.  So far we’ve not been able to identify him.  I was hoping you could help us?’ he said.

‘About me, whatever for?’ she said.

Ashton heard Virginia's voice.  He also could tell she knew more than she was letting on.  The FORCE spy would have liked to go on playing the game with her, she was delightful, but time was a factor, he had no idea if the real constabulary would show up at any time. Against all better judgement, he decided to tell her the truth, well a version of the truth that would keep Virginia’s secret life from her.  In all ways it was best for everyone.

‘I think you’re lying to me Mrs. Wescott,’ he paused and added.  ‘Just as I have been lying to you.  I’m not a police officer.  I work for MI6, as does Virginia.  She was working on something when she went missing a few back.  She had not checked in with us since then.  That man in the graveyard, I killed him last night, right on your doorstep, to be precise.  He’s looking for your daughter and  not to help her.  Who else would know the whereabouts of  a spy in hiding, maybe her mother, after all she does contact you frequently, either, email, Skype or a visit here and there and in our experience, when an agent goes into hiding, some of them go back to a place they know or feel safe at.  That man last night was not going to ask you nicely nor are the others lurking about this place.  Tell me, did Virginia ever give a gun for protection or do you have one?’ he asked hoping she could digest all he had said.  

‘My daughters a spy? Was all she managed.

‘Yes and a very good one, but she’s in trouble right now.  I can’t say too much, but it's all false intelligence meant to make us question each other.  

‘How do I know you’re not one of the ones looking for her?’ Mary asked, looking into his eyes.  Again, no fear, just like her daughter.

‘Virginia has that same look,’ he said softly, then reached behind his back  ‘Please, please,

don’t be alarmed,’ he added, as the Kimber R7 Mako came into view.  ‘Do you know how to use one?’

‘Ginny took me shooting once, said she’d done it with a group from work as an office party thing, that was obviously a lie.  The short answer is I do, but could you show me again?’

He did, then took the pistol back for a second and reached into his pocket, pulled out a bullet, pulled back the slide then ejected the magazine and added it, replaced the magazine and handed it to her.

‘If you need it, flick the safety off and pull the trigger a round is already chambered, it saves on time.  Aim for the torso, the biggest part. Now you can kill me if you want, should you still think I’m lying.’

‘If I did, what are the chances that the round you put in is a blank?’ she smiled.  ‘I know it's not, I can tell, your eyes changed when you mentioned Virginia.  This is more than saving a colleague.’ she said.

‘Your right of course, about both things.  This is more than just saving her and if I did have bad intentions about Virginia, I just would have beaten the truth out of you, as that man last night intended to do.  Sorry for the blunt assessment, but that is the world I and your daughter occupy.’

‘I should have guessed that all that talk about international finance was nonsense.  Nobody is so busy that they can’t come home for a visit once a year or two, plus all that security she made me put on my computer,’ she said disillusioned.

‘Oh god!.  You haven’t used that computer in the last two weeks, have you?’ he asked, panic in his voice.

‘Yes, I was trying to contact her, I miss her.’

‘You can’t go back home, you can’t stay here, they will have tracked that software, no matter what she did to it’  Ashton pulled his phone out and made a call.  ‘I need an extraction.  Yes, understood, have them come to the south end, right up to the door.  Two hours, ok, yes, home base, from there we can work things out, good,’ he said ending the conversation.

This is hard, I need to ask, do you trust me even with your life, because this is what this comes down to.  That man was the first, there will others, there may in fact already be some in town, you need to not be here.  We have a place in London that is safe, you won’t be alone.  I will stay and find Virginia, for you and me,’ he said.  

‘I don’t know you well enough for that, but I do know you care about and that is enough for me.  I mean, everything has happened so fast, one can’t possibly make sense of anything right now.  You told me my daughter is a spy, is in mortal danger, handed me a gun, said I could shoot you, told me men were after me because of her and now you want to protect me.  How can anyone make sense of that?  If you are telling me the truth and I see no reason, against the insanity of what I’ve heard, that you’re not, then I have to at least believe, maybe trust and the rest of the truth will come out later.  Just find Ginny, for both are sakes.’

He spent the next several hours finding out more about Virginia, details and information that may seem irrelevant but when placed with others might create a pattern he could use to find her.  He was still sure she was here, close to mother, her only family, waiting to contact her, but still too clever to be caught.  When the call came that her ride had arrived Ashton escorted her to the door, made a quick look outside and was relieved to see who was waiting, the passenger door open.

‘The area is clear,’ came a calm voice as he shielded her to the car.  ‘I know, drive fast, don’t stop, be aware.  Not my first pantomime, she said leaning over to speak out the passenger window.  ‘Hello, Paige Worthington, pleased to meet you,’ a very pretty young woman said. ‘Did he give you a weapon.  Thinks of everything, doesn't he,’ she smiled.  Don’t worry Mrs Wescott, we’ll be fine and in London before you know it, this car is very fast, what say you and I find out just how fast.  Tah Tah Ashton,’ she waved out her window as they roared away, the throaty noise of the Vantage fading. 

Thanks to Mary he learned more about Virginia just from the time they’d spent

together and most importantly he had a picture of her Mary had on

her

phone, now

on his.  Whether or not she still looked the same was another matter, but it was

something to show about.

His next call was to David Jacobs and his IT wizards.  

^^^

“Your logic and reasoning are all valid, that's of course assuming she is actually in

the area because

that’s where I will have my team confine their search to,’ David said.

‘I understand it's a long shot but it's all I’ve got and well all she’s got is her mother.  Let me know when you have a viable list,’ Ashton said thanks in his voice.

Until David could get back to him Ashton decided to see who was about, beside the man he’d killed last night.  He got in his car and drove over to near Mary Wescotts home

He made himself as conspicuous as possible with being as such if that made any

sense.  Up and down the street, both sides, several times, then he stopped and

tried the front door, looked in the bay window and went up the side into the back

of the property, then up and down the alley before coming back out front, pausing

then walking away aware of a car door closing almost silently down the street behind

him.

‘Coming up on a likely candidate.  No one is going to miss this Renault Clio,’ Ashton said, reaching into his pocket and just out of sight as he turned in front of the vehicle and flipped something.  He walked to the other side of the street and again out of view began to sprint, turning down the alley and back toward the way he came.

He had just turned the corner to re-enter the street when it went off.  He looked for a

second, out of the corner of his eye sure he saw a head or arms, some body part

sail into the air when he came up to the drivers side door of the car the man had

gotten out of just a minute before, his partner still in the car.

'That’s what you get for ball watching!’ Ashton said as the man behind the wheel clutched his throat with both hands, his Adam’s Apple having been introduced violently to the steering wheel seconds before.  ‘Now where’s your phone,’ he asked, rifling about the man's coat, then pants pockets. ‘I can’t use your partners, it’s in a thousand pieces, much like him, here we are excellent.  Now what do we need, face, finger print, code.  Me, I’m hoping not code, your voice box might have trouble with that, excellent, finger print, hand please, not asking, telling,; Ashton continued grabbing the man's hand and unlocking the phone.

He scanned the numbers, not many, settling on the one he called the most.  

'Thanks offly old chap, you’ve been of immeasurable service, take the rest of the day off,’ he smiled then repeated the process with the steering wheel.  ‘Or longer,’ he added, pushing the body over in the seat toward the passenger door.  He rolled up the window, turned about and leaned against it as he dialled the number.  

‘Hello, yes, just checking in to tell you your men will not be checking in anymore.  One went all to pieces in front of the other and the other, well he struggled for words, seems something got caught in his throat.  Who this is is of no concern and while you're busy triangulating this call, I’m doing the same.  Since you know I’m in Paignton,  I should think me locating where you are is of much greater concern, so I’ll keep this short.  The search for Miss Wescott is over as of now.  We discovered and stopped your plan without any help from her.  A man needs to know when to accept defeat and move on, same goes for an organisation.  Now, should Miss Wescott decide to continue her career in whatever way she chooses then of course she is fair game.  You’ve lost three people so far, I’m more than willing to up the count and believe me when I say that and I’ll start with you because I just found out where you are.  It’s over as of right now and to show you I mean business check the picture I just sent you of you.  Next thing I send will be a bullet.  I trust that is enough of a demonstration.  Your silence condones consent.  Have a nice day.’

^^^

‘I took your idea, ran the data, then one of my colleagues ran with an idea and she came up with something that should narrow down the search.  If, as you say, she would want a job that didn’t put her in the public eye, a Call Centre job would be perfect because so many of those are now run out of people's homes.  All they need is the equipment and a premium broadband connection.  So given that and the data you provide she cross referenced all that with installation of the broadband with areas within the Torbay region against cheaper rents for flats and we came up with the list I just sent you.  We further narrowed it down by usage giving you a small list to check out.  These are the most likely locations, but we can expand to the secondary choices if these don’t work out.’  

Ashton looked relieved as glanced at the list.  He thanked David and asked him to pass on his thanks to the analyst who did the extra work and making a note to personally thank her when he returned.  

The first two yielded nothing, just gamers who needed to take a break and have a shower.  The third had its entrance down a walkway between two narrow three story homes then up a series of wooden stairs that had seen much better days.  Ashton noted no recent imprints of shoes on the steps in spite of the

dirt on them.  The landing proved more of the same, no mat, no name on the mailbox, no evidence of anyone living there.  The wood creaked under his feet as he tried to step carefully, he heard nothing inside, then he heard shuffling.  He instantly fell flat to the ground, his face against the bottom of the door.  

Virginia, it's me Ashton and before you react just let me say this to prove it.  I stillhave the shirt you wore that night, in fact I have it on at the moment, but, truthfully,

it never looked better than it did on you that night,’ he said then heard a hesitant

footstep.  ‘I came alone, I promise,’ he added.

Ashton heard a few small steps, he rocked his body back, sitting on his backside, legs pulled up when one vertical panel of the blind moved aside just a touch, part of a face and the barrel of a pistol visible.  The lock on the latch clicked, he took a quick look around, got to his feet, turned the handle and moved into the darkened room.  

He felt the unmistakable point of a gun barrel in his back and stopped, then a hand slid up one side of his body from the waistline to just under the arm, then down again.  The gun went away, he turned around.  

‘I must look terrible,’ she said.  ‘There’s no hot water, the shower doesn’t work.  Thermostat busted wide open, I didn't dare open a window or a blind.  There’s news all over about the body in the park, then the explosion,’ Virginia answered still in the dark.

Ashton turned the blinds open just a touch, she drew closer, her arms half reaching for him then relaxing away as if they’d been shocked.  She looked terrible, her hair matted and stuck together, her face pale, eyes red and sunken in a bit, her clothes had not been washed in some time and she’d lost weight, it was very visible, but she looked wonderful to him and he slowly reached out his arms going around her waist, that was far to thin, her could feel edges, he pulled her close, not in a hurry, letting her come to him until she was against him, his arms went around her and just held her.

‘I’ll tell you everything, I promise, but for now, it's only important to know your safe and it's over.  When you are ready to go, we can.’

‘I’m trying to cry, but I can’t remember, training,’ she said quietly as she held on to him thinking that if she let go the dream would turn into a nightmare again.  

He played with her hair and kissed her cheek as her arms gradually tightened about him.

‘I’m ready,’ she said after several more minutes.