Legacy. Jeff Edwards

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      Thorpe smiled at the agents as he entered from his private bathroom.

      ‘Sorry to bring you back from leave early, but we have a matter of vital importance.’ Both agents were sure he couldn’t have cared less about interrupting their leave.

      Over the next half-hour he briefed them on Jade Green and the missing videos, what their job was to be, and what to do when the videos were finally located.

      ‘This will be a need to know operation. You will not tell anyone else at Inland Security what you are searching for. In fact, you will not be operating from this building.

      ‘You’ll report directly to me, but will be acting entirely on your own. A business has been set up as your cover and you’ll live and work from those business premises.’

      ‘We won’t be able to live at home?’ asked Bree.

      ‘The PM wants this matter to be given your full and undivided attention, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.’

      ‘So, what is our cover story?’ asked Sam.

      Thorpe passed them each a business card for the Save the Country Fund, bearing their names as directors of the fund. The address was close to London University in an area where many worthwhile causes such as Greenpeace and Save the Whales, could also be found.

      ‘Congratulations, you two have now become the proud co-founders of the latest ecological foundation. It’s been set up in your names, with funding supplied by the government.’

      Bree turned the card over in her hand.

      ‘And what country does Save the Country Fund save? Ethiopia, Iraq, India or the lower blue crested snipe of East Anglia?’

      ‘It can mean whatever you like. Make it up as you go along. Use it to fit whatever situation you’re in at the time. You can even recruit some volunteers to help you and to raise funds. I’m sure the government will be more than grateful if you can complete an assignment and show a profit at the end. Just as long as nobody finds out what you’re really up to.’

      He indicated a pile of papers on a table near the door. ‘That’s the information that we’ve been able to compile so far on Green and her friends. It’s all raw data and no one has been through it yet. I suggest you take it to your new office, move in, and start going through it.’

      ‘Where do we start? Any clues?’ asked Bree.

      John Thorpe’s face became stern as he remembered the past. ‘I interviewed Jade Green while she was in prison. I hoped to exchange the videos for her quick release. It didn’t work. She acted as though butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. All frothy female and twice as innocent. Swore she didn’t have any videos. I knew she was lying and threatened to take all her assets. She continued to act innocent and cried to make it look real when, in fact, the bitch was laughing at me. She had assets stored away overseas and she knew damn well we wouldn’t be getting even close to her real wealth. The bitch was acting the whole time I was interviewing her.

      ‘Be on your guard with her. She’s as nasty a piece of work as you’ll ever want to meet. Don’t give her an inch. Those videos exist and Jade Green knows exactly where they are. Find them.’

      Chapter Two

      The premises destined to become known as the Save the Country Fund consisted of a run-down shop, with a flat above, on a street lined with similar premises, all exuding a look of long neglect. The government had acquired the building in lieu of back-taxes and had held on to it with no fixed idea what it might be used for. To put it to good use would have cost money, so it had been left vacant and neglected.

      Unlocking the door, Sam and Bree pushed their way in.

      Cobwebs covering most of the open spaces attested to how long it had been since anyone had dared to enter. A counter divided the room in two. Behind the counter they found a desk and an enclosed office. Behind the office were a storeroom and a galley kitchen that led out to a rear lane.

      Upstairs, were two single bedrooms, a bathroom/toilet and small sitting-room.

      ‘Luxurious,’ commented Sam.

      ‘Barely adequate,’ responded Bree, thinking of her two-bedroom apartment with large bathroom, kitchen, lounge and balcony, which she had to share with no one. ‘There’s not even room for a decent sized double bed.’

      ‘I thought we’d have separate bedrooms this time,’ responded Sam with a grin.

      ‘Piss off! You know what I meant,’ she said, giving him a friendly slap on the arm. ‘What do you think?’

      ‘Well I’m not going to spend my precious time getting this place fit to live in. We’re supposed to be conducting an important investigation. You can play mother if you like. I’d like to see you doing tai chi with a mop and bucket.’

      ‘I’m not the janitorial type. I pay a perfectly good cleaner to keep my flat clean.’

      ‘I vote we pay some poor idiot a lot of the government’s money to come in here and clean up while we go down to Walton Village and check out Jade Green.’

      Bree brushed a cobweb from her hair: ‘Sounds like a plan to me. We’ll lock the documents away in the boot of my car and when we get back we’ll be able to move in.’

      A check of the local phone book revealed a cleaning service, to whom they turned over the key to the shop with instructions that they would be back in three days.

      A further listing was found for a furniture rental firm. The agents called to their showroom, placed an order for sufficient furniture to outfit the premises and told them they would be ready to receive the furniture on their return, leaving a sizable deposit from their Save the Country Fund.

      They were finding it remarkably easy to spend the government’s money.

      Using Sam’s car, they called to their respective home units and collected their flight bags, which were always packed and ready to go, as well as their laptops and Sam’s digital camera and telephoto lenses. Weapons were considered and rejected.

      Speeding down the expressway, they soon found themselves in the country and, not long after, reached the turn-off to Walton Village.

      Chapter Three

      Acting like tourists, they СКАЧАТЬ