Ever wish the ground would swallow you up?
Sarah Bentley from a small village in Lancashire along with her brother’s best friend, Shaun Chapman have gone on the run after Sarah has falsely being accused of involvement in the murder of her brother Trevor. Her best friend and her family have also been slain, possibly others., Shaun has taken Sarah down to London to look for answers, where he has just learned through a news site at a cyber café that his younger sister, mother, a neighbour and a taxi driver who assisted Sarah have also been murdered.
Sarah on learning this decided that Shaun would now hate her for bringing death to his family and has now run out on him, straight into an American man, who knows who she really is.
This is just such a time Sarah would like the ground to swallow her up…
+ + +
Sarah continued to look in terror at the steel grey eyes of a man in his late fifties, with cropped grey hair and shook her head in disbelief,
who was this guy, CIA?
“Miss Bentley, we need to talk” The American man told her in his American accent, “We believe you may have something of interest to us”
Sarah did the only thing she could think of and tried to kick the man in the lower left leg, hoping he would let go, but he could see what she was trying to do and suddenly, she was lying facedown on the ground, with her left arm behind her back with the American on top of her.
For an older man, he seemed pretty fast, possibly due to military training. They were the only people she heard of who could do that.
“Like I said Miss Bentley” the American told her as he pinned her to the ground, “We just need to talk”
Sarah looked up hoping someone would intervene, but the passers by seemed to just move away from her.
Did this American have a gun?
Then she heard a metallic sound behind her, and it felt like something was closing around her wrist.
She was being handcuffed - Was this a police officer with an American accent?
“I didn’t kill my brother” Sarah protested, “I never saw those drugs before”
Suddenly before the American could cuff her other hand, she felt the pressure on her arm go, as he was sent flying onto the ground by some other assailant.
Suddenly Sarah found herself yanked to her feet and being dragged along at speed through the crowd, the handcuffs hanging from her left wrist.
It was Shaun!
He had come to her rescue
Sarah only just managed to hold onto her bags with the empty bracelet of the handcuffs hanging from the other cuff around her left hand, while Shaun held tightly onto her right hand
The pair ran through the London streets until Shaun spotted a small alleyway and pulled Sarah into it. The two of them kept running for what seemed like ages.
Sarah could not understand why he would come to her aid again, not after what she and her brother had caused to happen to him, the murder of his sister and mother. She thought she was the last person he would ever want to help after all that.
Shaun dragged Sarah through various streets at speed until they came to a London Underground Station.
It was the Sloan Square tube station
Shaun got to the ticket machine and took out his wallet, finally letting go of Sarah so he could feed the ticket machine with coins.
Sarah was confused; surely he should be having nothing further to do with her
“Why are you doing this after what’s happened to Lauren and your Mam?” Sarah demanded to know, “I don’t understand. They’re dead because of me and you’re still helping me, why?”
Shaun looked up at Sarah with a serious face, “Not here Sarah” he told her sternly, “I’m sending a text to my mate to meet us at a previously agreed location” he added, pulling out a mobile phone from a pocket.
Shaun grabbed the tickets and then to Sarah by the hand and dragged her down to the west bound platform, as he thumbed his phone to prepare and send the text message
Sarah kept quiet; she did not want to antagonise the one person she had hoped would be a boyfriend, but now she knew it was all over.
It had to be In his heart he would despise her for bringing the assassins upon his family
A
Circle line train was arriving as they got onto the platform.
Shaun pulled Sarah onto the crowded tube train, “I just sent the text so we need to get away from this station fast” he told Sarah.
The seats were all full so Shaun and Sarah stood in the centre of the carriage. Shaun still held on to Sarah’s hand, probably to maintain some pretence they were still a couple.
Again Sarah kept quiet and did as she was told. She no longer felt she could look Shaun in the eye as the thought of his family being slaughtered when she could have just stayed with that taxi driver and kept them out of it was so overwhelming. If it were not for her, they would still be alive, including that neighbour who had got caught in the cross fire.
The announcement on the underground train instructed them all to “stand clear of the doors” and then the train set of on its westbound journey.
“We need to change at either Gloucester Road or High Street Kensington onto the District Line southbound” Shaun told Sarah, with what Sarah thought was an icy tone as he looked distractedly out the window and among the other passengers.
He obviously hated her for bringing about the death of his mother and sister
Sarah found it impossible to speak; maybe she deserved to be killed by the assassins whoever they were. Maybe she should just throw herself under the next underground train and be done with it. She began feeling that she had no right to live. The chaffing of the handcuffs bracelet on her wrist seemed well deserved.
The two of them kept quiet due to the passengers around them as the train headed through the tube to South Kensington. As they approached the station a public address system advised them that this was the station for the Piccadilly line and for the various London museums, a bit pointless as it was probably closing time at them all.
The train came to a stop at South Kensington tube station and a large number of people left the carriage so there were seats left over but Shaun told Sarah that as Gloucester Road was not that far, there was not much point sitting down.
The train doors closed again, and the tube train headed off for the next station.
Again Sarah continued to keep quiet, what could she say to Shaun that would ever make up for the deaths of Lauren and his mother?.
The train came to a stop at
Gloucester Road tube station, and the two of them stepped onto the platform, to wait for the west bound District Line train to take them to Earl’s Court where they could, according to Shaun, pick up the District Line South Bound.
There were not many people on this platform, which seemed odd, but then this was not really that much of an interchange station, given that the Piccadilly line went from another platform deeper underground and so Shaun and Sarah had extra space to them selves, but it was not to last as more people came on to the platform.
After five minutes of awkward silence, a district line train came along, and so the two of them got on. Again there was standing room early as it was the early evening rush hour.
The train pulled into Earls Court and Sarah and Shaun left the train and made their way to the platform for the southbound District Line.
Now according to the train information display they had about ten minutes to wait, and the platform was not as full, so again they had space to themselves.
Again Sarah did not feel like speaking to Shaun, after all the heartache she had obviously caused him. She did not even feel comfortable to look him in the eye.
“Sarah, why did you run out on me like that” Shaun asked bluntly
Sarah shook her head, why ask the question, when the answer would be obvious. “I thought you would hate me because it’s my fault they’re dead” Sarah blurted out before dissolving into tears.
Sarah wanted to run away again and leave Shaun, he deserved better than her. Unexpectedly, Shaun held Sarah in his arms and kissed her on the head, “That’s bull crap Sarah” he whispered, “you did not pull the trigger, those b*****ds did”
Sarah was confused to put it mildly. “But I led them to your family Shaun” Sarah protested, “The taxi driver wanted to take me to Rochdale, but I spotted Lauren in the street and got him to stop. I should have listened to him and gone on with him to Rochdale so you would all be kept out of it, but now they’re dead and it’s my fault”
“And you would have been dead too Sarah” Shaun said icily, “They took out the taxi driver outside the railway station. They were tracking him somehow Sarah. If you had stayed with him they would have killed you too in order to cover up what grubby secret they are trying to hide”
“But at least Lauren and your Mam would still be alive” Sarah insisted
“You don’t know that” Shaun replied
“They were after this damn thing” Sarah said angrily as she pulled out her brother’s memory stick from her purse and waved it at Shaun. “It’s only because I stupidly took it by mistake that they came after me. Shaun” Sarah continued “they killed Vicky and her family because I listed them as my friends on Myspace. They killed Lauren because I spoke to her in Ramsbottom and went to your house”
“And for all we know Sarah Lauren, Mam and I could all have been targeted because I am listed elsewhere on the net as Trevor’s friend. For all I know, they could have been coming after us anyway because they thought what ever vile secrets Trevor came across he was sharing with me”
“But I led them to your family” Sarah went on, “I just thought you would no longer want anything to do with me”
Shaun made sure he looked Sarah in the eye, “Why? Sarah, you have not done anything wrong here. Who knows, if you had not taken that memory stick, they still would not have tried to kill you, just to make sure”
“But I have no idea what Trevor was up to” Sarah insisted, “He just seemed to be more into his stupid conspiracy theories because he said he couldn’t find a job. That’s why Shaun I went out last night. I was looking for work as a stripper so I could pay our bills and save our parents house.”
Sarah again dissolved into tears, especially at the shame of admitting to someone that she had tried to get a job in the sex industry, just for the money.
Shaun held Sarah in his arms, “I hate what those b*****ds have done to us Sarah, not you” Shaun whispered, “If they split us up, then they can pick us off and they will have won. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction”
Shaun noticed that the handcuffs were still on her wrists and fished in his pocket for a paper clip.
Shaun opened it out and with the empty bracelet he stuck the paperclip in the lock and bent it towards the long part of the locking mechanism. Then Shaun took the paperclip with the tiny bend and released Sarah’s wrist.
Sarah rubbed her wrist and whispered “thank you”
“It’s a trick I learned from
YouTube” Shaun smirked
Shaun pocketed the handcuffs, “They might be handy” he told Sarah, “I might have a go with them myself” he added.
Sarah had heard that some couples used them in their love lives, but she never knew how or why.
“By the way” Sarah spoke up, “The man who cuffed me knew who I was”
Shaun frowned, “How?” he demanded
“I don’t know” Sarah pleaded, “All I know is that he’s an American”
“It’s the CIA” Shaun retorted, “And just like always I bet our government is going along with them”
“So Trevor was right?” Sarah asked
“It’s looking that way” Shaun replied
Just then the train they needed arrived, and the two got on, hand in hand
Just like the other tube trains at this time of day, the southbound district line tube was crowded and it was standing room only.
“I will let you know when we are getting off” Shaun whispered
“Ok” was all Sarah could squeak out.
It still felt so wrong that Shaun seemed to be forgiving Sarah for the calamity she had brought down on Shaun’s family, it felt so wrong. By rights, Shaun should have been turning against her and handing her over to the authorities for all the harm she and her brother had wrought on those around her.
But he still seemed to care about her and possibly love her?
Maybe he still despised her, and after this was over he was going to ditch her. After all, he would have every right.
Sarah found she had one other burning desire, apart from clearing her name and bringing the killers to justice. She wanted to please Shaun.
The train continued on south past a number of stations, even crossing the River Thames.
As the train pulled into
Wimbledon Park, Shaun signalled to Sarah it was time to get off, and so both of them left the train and climbed up the stairs past the barriers and out through the booking hall, such as it was.
To the immediate left of the entrance was a small newsagent that was still open and Shaun grabbed a union flag postcard and went into the shop to pay for it.
Sarah was confused by this, but did not dare ask why. She also kept looking around, just in case the assassins had found her or that American who knew who she was.
Shaun came out of the newsagent and directed her to head back up the road towards a zebra crossing.
Sarah meekly did as she was told and they soon came to
a small café called Café Du Parc with two tables outside and Shaun ushered Sarah in.
“This place is open for another hour” Shaun told Sarah and ordered two teas and two chocolate muffins and found a table inside. Shaun then slapped the postcard down on the table.
“Now we wait” Shaun told Sarah, “And hope my contact was monitoring his twitter account”
“Were you able to contact him at the Cyber Café then?” Sarah asked
“No” Shaun replied, “I sent it via text message” he explained, “When people register their mobiles with Twitter, it gives out the same number to everyone. Anyone back tracing would have first get access to twitter’s servers and then wade through millions of tweets just to locate the phone.”
Shaun then showed Sarah his mobile. It was an old Nokia 1100
“I had a prepared message in my drafts folder which I sent” Shaun explained , “I then switched it off as soon as I sent it, in theory they would not have had time to track it. Plus” Shaun went on, “As it is just a basic phone, it does not have a GPS chip in it”
Sarah shook her head and looked at the table, “This is just unreal” she muttered, “This time yesterday I was going into Manchester to audition at a strip club”
“I know” Shaun whispered, “And I never thought our own government would ever sanction something like this, but if the guy who tried to cuff you is CIA…”
“Trust you to have the last two muffins” said a male voice approaching their table.
Sarah looked up and saw a man of similar age to Shaun, but he was more rotund.
“I’m sure they have more if you ask” Shaun replied, and then after a few seconds, “But maybe we did you a favour by having these last two”
Sarah felt shocked by Shaun’s sudden rudeness. “I don’t need this” Sarah told the man as she held up her muffin.
The man declined the offer, turning to Shaun, “I still preferred my idea of using something from a Mid Summer Night’s dream” the man told Shaun
Shaun glowered at the man for a few seconds, or so Sarah thought, “But that would have been so obvious Derek”
“Huh?” Sarah said, still holding up the muffin.
“That’s ok” the man Shaun called Derek told Sarah, “I’m not really into muffins”, then he asked Shaun, “Is this your latest girlfriend Shaun?”
Shaun put his arm around Sarah, “It’s Trevor’s sister, Sarah”
“Whatever” Derek replied, “And how is your brother?” Derek asked Sarah.
Sarah felt tears welling up inside her and she looked up at the ceiling of the café and felt unable to answer.
“Are you ok?” Derek asked Sarah
“Can we talk about this in the car?” Shaun said to Derek, “I’d rather not speak out in the open here”
“That bad?” Derek asked.
Shaun muttered an affirmative and nodded.
“You better drink up and eat up quick then” Derek told them, “It say’s I don’t need to pay and display as it’s after three if I read the sign outside correctly, but the Wardens here can be like the
Gestapo”
Sarah hurriedly ate her muffin, as did Shaun and drank up the cup of tea Shaun had got. After which Sarah and Shaun picked up their bags and followed Derek outside the café and turned right where a blue two door mini was parked.
Suddenly Derek put his hand out to signal them to stop.
“We just need to check something” Shaun whispered
Derek pulled out his car keys, pointed them at the car and pushed a small button.
There was a chirp of the car alarm.
Sarah went to move forward, but felt her arm being grabbed by Shaun, “Not yet” he whispered.
Derek pulled out another box and pushed the button.
The car’s engine started
“It’s a special feature Derek added” Shaun explained to Sarah, “Some devices are triggered as soon as the engine starts”
“You mean he was checking for car bombs?” Sarah asked in disbelief
“I always do Sarah” Derek called back, “especially when I get tweets like the one Shaun sent”
Derek still beckoned them to stay back, whilst he opened the driver’s door.
Nothing happened.
After a few minutes of looking around his car he called out the Shaun and Sarah that the car was “clean”
Sarah nervously approached the car. Her experience with the American had shown her that if the killers had obviously tracked her all the way to London, who knew what else, they were capable of.
Derek put Shaun’s and Sarah’s bags in the small boot and then folded the driver’s seat forward and beckoned for Sarah to get in.
Sarah climbed into the backseat as instructed, still expecting it to be engulfed in flames as a bomb ripped it apart, but still nothing happened.
Shaun got to ride in the front passenger seat.
Derek started the car and headed down past various shops, businesses and office blocks before turning right onto a main road.
“So what’s the situation about Trevor” Derek asked
Before Sarah could answer, Shaun replied, “He was murdered last night while Sarah was out in Manchester and we think it may have been connected to some system Trevor may have hacked into”
“You’re kidding” Derek said in surprise
“And they’ve kill best friend and her family” Sarah called out from the back seat, but as ever with back seat passengers, she felt she was being ignored.
“I wish we were” Shaun replied to Derek, “They tried to kill Sarah as well” he added
“Why?” Derek asked, “And how did they try to kill Sarah?”
“I took my brother’s memory stick by mistake into Manchester” Sarah called out from the back.
Neither Derek nor Shaun seemed to acknowledge Sarah’s answer
Shaun then continued explaining to Derek, “They attacked the police car Sarah was taken to the police station in and killed a cop in the process”
“That would be one hell of a black op” Derek commented
“They even killed my Mam and Sister this morning according to the news” Shaun continued
“And you think I’ll be next” Derek asked with concern in his voice, again seemingly forgetting that Sarah was in the back.
“I hope not” Shun answered, “I did limit how I contacted you, and Trevor did not really know you”
“Ah!” Derek exclaimed in a guilty tone
“What do you mean?” Shaun asked, “You have been contact with Trevor?”
“Yeah, Trevor contacted me a couple of weeks ago” Derek admitted, “It was via Twitter. He wanted me to look up some place in Kent”
“That was on the motoring atlas Trevor had just before he was murdered last night” Sarah called out.
“Great!” Shaun cut in, still ignoring Sarah in the back, “These people are good. According to Sarah they got somebody last night to pose as a police surgeon to try and take Sarah out while she was in custody”
“Custody?” Derek asked
“They framed me” Sarah called out form the back, “They planted drugs in my room”
“Anyway” Shaun went on, as if Sarah was not there, “We travelled under assumed names this morning by coach, and someone from the CIA I assume identified and tried to arrest Sarah near Victoria, I had to rescue her from him before getting on the tube”
“How do you think they tracked you” Derek asked Shaun, still apparently ignoring Sarah in the back.
“All I can think of is that someone identified Sarah at the coach station in Manchester and called the police. I mean if it’s the CIA, they are probably calling the shots”
“They may be posing as FBI” Derek suggested, “They often work with British police in some cases”
“Usually in tracking hackers rather than drugs?” Shaun questioned
“The police were accusing me of being involved in a gang feud” Sarah called out from the back, but again, they did not seem to acknowledge that she was there. It was so frustrating and this was one reason Sarah hated being in the back of a car.
“The only other thing I can think of was that at the coach station in Manchester” Shaun continued, “Sarah got fixated by a CCTV camera”
“Are you sure they got in there?” Derek asked Shaun
“They were able to kill my SIM card and the one the Taxi driver gave me before killing his” Sarah tried calling from the back.
They might as well have put tape over her mouth the way they were ignoring her
“If they are tracking SIM Cards then” Derek replied to Sarah, “We could be talking NSA here”
“They’re worse than the CIA” Shaun ventured
“Who?” Sarah asked, but reply came there none
“You got it” Derek said before pulling the car to the side of the road and stopping.
“Why are you stopping?” Shaun asked
“Because there is another alternative.” Derek said cryptically and turned in the car to Face Sarah as best as he could.
“Was there anytime you were not in possession of your stuff that you have on you right now in the last twenty four hours Sarah?” Derek asked
“I was asleep for a bit at the police station Derek. Then they took my bag off of me but I got it back when I got to the hospital, oh when the person who said he was a doctor came in, I think” Sarah went on, “I passed out, it was dead weird”
“Hmm” Derek went, “Before I take you any further, I need to give you a quick scan”
“Why?” Sarah asked
“To be on the safe side” Derek answered, “I mean Shaun may be right that someone in Manchester reported you, but we need to eliminate the possibility that someone has placed a tracking device on you.
“Are you sure?” Shaun questioned.
“Whoever it is Shaun” Derek said to Shaun, “I would rather not lead them back to my place”
With that Derek got out of the car and went round the back, opened the boot, pulled out Sarah’s holdall and started rummaging around in the boot for something else.
After two minutes he came back to the car with Sarah’s holdall and something looking like an old transistor radio
“I made a few modifications to this myself” Derek said proudly as he folded the seat forward and got Sarah to get out of the car and go to the pavement and switched it on.
Shaun also got out of the car.
Derek pulled the aerial out to it’s full extent and waved it over Sarah’s holdall.
Nothing!
Next Derek started waving it over Sarah.
There was a loud and quick beeping sound coming from the device.
“Is that bad?” Shaun asked
“Afraid so” Derek replied
“So they did plant something on me at the police station?” Sarah asked, “No wonder they were able to find your Mam and Sister” she added as her voice started to crack, “I’m sorry Shaun, I led those killers straight to your house”
“You didn’t know Sarah” Shaun responded.
Derek persisted with the device and focused on Sarah’s hand bag. At his request Sarah handed it over to Derek and he opened it onto the front passenger seat. Once it was empty he swept the empty bag.
It was clean.
Then Derek swept the contents of the bag and the scanning device flagged up Sarah’s mobile.
Derek picked up the mobile and showed it to Sarah.
It was still switched off
“This is yours?” Derek asked
Sarah peered at it intently, and sure enough she recognised certain scratches.
It was definitely hers
Derek slid the back cover off, scanned it and after it registered as “clean”, he put it on the front passenger seat with the other items from Sarah’s bag.
He pulled out the battery and swept that.
It was clean
Derek dropped that on the front passenger seat and swept the rest of the phone and it now appeared to be clean, which Derek muttered was suspicious so he pulled out the SIM card and examined it. According to Derek something about the SIM card did not seem right.
Derek swept the rest of the phone with out the battery or the SIM card and it was still registering as clean. Then Derek put the battery in, without the SIM card and still the phone was showing it was clean.
Then Derek removed the battery and put the SIM card back in and then the battery
Bingo!
The scanning device sounded, there was a tracking device.
Derek removed the battery and then the SIM card and held it up saying “Voila”
“Is that it?” Shaun asked
Derek nodded and took from a coat pocket some kind of small bag that looked metallic and dropped the SIM card in the bag and closed it.
“That’s confirmed” Derek told Sarah and Shaun, “They have somehow hidden the tracker in a SIM card which is then powered by the phone’s battery even when it is switched off. I’ll have fun seeing how they did that back at the flat”
Sarah shook her head in confusion, “But that’s the SIM card Ali gave me”
“The Taxi driver?” Shaun asked with a puzzled look
Sarah nodded.
“That means the taxi driver was working for them all along” Shaun ventured, “And I bet he was the one who arranged for the murder Mam and Lauren”
“And I led him straight to them” Sarah blurted out; “So it
was my fault they were killed so I’ll go and you will never have to see me again” she added and turned and walked away from them, tears streaming down her face.
If she had only gone with the taxi driver to whatever was planned for her in Rochdale, Lauren, Shaun’s mother and that neighbour would not have died.
Shaun ran up to her and grabbed her and spun her around.
Sarah flinched, waiting for Shaun to hit her for what she had caused, but instead he just held her shoulders.
“This is stupid Sarah” Shaun railed at her, “Where do you think you’re going”
“Out of you’re life so I don’t cause you any more damage” Sarah replied, “That taxi driver wanted me to go to Rochdale and I should have gone along with that”
“And he would have either killed you himself or handed you over to those killers” Shaun interrupted angrily
“But at least Lauren and your Mam would still be alive” Sarah shouted through her tears.
“I told you Sarah, you don’t know that” Shaun reiterated firmly, “They could have been coming after me anyway. Let’s not forget, that man wanted me to go to Rochdale with him as well. I had to insist he drop us off at the railway station”
“I’ve led them here haven’t I” Sarah then said quietly, as a cold realisation dawned on her.
“Not totally” Shaun told Sarah, “Derek’s found the tracker and neutralised it. We will go back to his place and we should be relatively safe where he lives” Then after a few moments as Sarah and Shaun looked at each other, Shaun said quietly, “Come back with me Sarah, if they split us up, they win, and I don’t want to give them the satisfaction”
Shaun took Sarah’s hand and led her back to the car where Derek was waiting with her hand bag. “I put everything else back in” Derek told Sarah and folded the passenger seat forward for Sarah to get in the back.
For a moment Sarah hesitated and looked up at Derek, “But why kill the taxi driver, he was working for them”
“Maybe that was the price of failure” Derek replied, “He was supposed to deliver you two to his handlers and he didn’t”
This kind of made sense, but it did seem odd that he kept up the pretence for so long that morning when he seemed to be the only one in the world who believed in her innocence
Sarah got in the car and Derek went to move the seat back, but Shaun insisted on riding in the back with Sarah.
Sarah did not know what to think about this, she still kept thinking she was somehow responsible for the death of his family and yet Shaun was so handsome and attractive.
Derek drove the car for a while along the main road, crossing a bridge over some railway tracks, passed the entrance to an industrial estate and then passed what seemed like normal houses on the right and flats on the left.
All the time she held hands with Shaun, not daring to speak, wondering if there were already assassins on their way to finish the job.
Then they came to a box junction and Derek turned left and for a while they drove along that road, passed Wimbledon Stadium and into the London Borough of Wandworth.
“You will be glad to know” Derek called out “there is no sign of any tail”
“That you can spot” Shaun chipped in.
Derek did not answer
Derek drove to the compound belonging to a one of a number of blocks of
flats in the area, and parked the car.
It was getting quite dark now as Sarah and Shaun got out of the car. Derek retrieved Sarah and Shaun’s holdall bags from the boot, along with Shaun’s laptop computer.
“I live on the second from the top floor” Derek told Shaun, “I have one spare bedroom so I can put the two of you up in that.” He went on. “We will have to eat in the kitchen as I turned the living room into my sort of study come laboratory”
Sarah did not make much comment as she followed Derek and Shaun. She just wished she could sleep in her bed, at her Lancashire home in Tottington, but it seemed that was not to be.
At Shaun’s injunction, she made sure she was wearing the dark glasses and the woollen hat as they passed through front door security and headed for the lifts, in an attempt to avoid being recognised, since her picture had been shown on a news webpage and presumably the television news.
Also who knew who had access to the CCTV footage from the cameras in the entrance and the lifts of the tower block
The three of them got in the lift and Derek pressed the button to call the lift. Shaun and Sarah were careful not to look in the direction of the CCTV camera in the corridor outside the lifts.
“I don’t have much in, in the way of food” Derek told Shaun and Sarah, “I could order an Indian takeaway if that’s ok”
“Would that be safe?” Sarah found herself asking
“She has a point Derek” Shaun told Derek, “If they went after Trevor and me, they could be watching you or any credit cards you have. If you depart from a normal spending pattern they will know we are here”
“I don’t use credit cards for takeaways Shaun” Derek replied, “The people who live here are unlikely to be able to get one. I use a local takeaway service that accepts cash”
“That doesn’t sound like a good idea” Sarah voiced, “What if they were mugged.
The lift arrived and Derek ushered Shaun and Sarah into the lift and pressed the button for his floor. Again Shaun and Sarah made sure that the CCTV camera in the lift could not see their faces.
“The people who run that takeaway have friends who have a certain reputation Sarah” Derek explained, “No mugger would dare touch them”
Sarah gulped
She had been accused of being part of some gang involvement up in the Manchester area, and here Shaun’s friend seemed to be doing just that.
“But what about ordering patterns” Sarah asked
“I always tend to over order” Derek smiled, and then with his hands emphasised his shape, “or can’t you tell”
“Oh yeah” Shaun interjected, “I remember from when we did that course together in Tooting”
“But how are you going to ring it in?” Sarah asked, “As soon as I turned my mobile on, even with that dodgy SIM card, they traced it and blocked it, just like my original SIM card”
“I have
Secure Voice over Protocol” Derek replied in a tone that assumed Sarah knew what he was on about.
The lift came to a stop and Sarah was about to walk out, but Derek motioned for her to stay in, while he peered round into the corridor.
“It’s safe” He told them and the three of them left the lift.
“I chose this floor” Derek explained, “So if someone is there who should not be, I can go to the top and get the other lift down. Plus it’s high enough to put off most people using the stairs”
Derek went to the flat and opened at least four locks he had put on.
“You can’t have too many locks there Derek” Shaun observed.
“Yeah” Derek replied, “A lot of burglaries in high risers are committed by other residents”
Derek insisted on going in first, one to cancel the alarm and two to make sure all was still well.
Sarah and Shaun then entered the flat. It looked dingy and not well lit and along the hallway were all sorts of items of an electronic nature in varying degrees of construction, along with numerous magazines about computers and electronics.
Derek pointed to a door with dirty white peeling paint, “This is the spare room. I got the bed a couple of years ago from an elderly neighbour who moved out of their flat after their wife died. Don’t worry its clean”
“Did she die in it?” Sarah asked incredulously
“Of course not” Derek replied, “She died in hospital during an operation; well they did say she only had a thirty percent chance with her age and all that”
Derek stopped for a moment and breathed in and out, “She’s very much missed by all of us on this floor” he said after a few moments
Sarah could sense that Derek was still cut up about her death, even though it had been sort of expected and a few years ago. Sarah should have known better even though she had not had time to mourn her own brother, she had been tactless.
“Thanks Derek” Shaun interrupted, “I’m sure it will be ok”
Sarah went quiet as she did not want to put her foot in it again and she was finding it hard to come to terms with what had happened to her in the last twenty four hours. Sarah’s world had been ripped apart by unknown killers, all because of some system her stupid brother had been hacking into on one of his stupid conspiracy theory investigations.
Why oh why could he have not found a job and keep out of trouble
Now Sarah was travelling with Shaun, another geeky hacker her brother had got involved with, even if Sarah did find him attractive, and she was in the London home of yet another geek who had a penchant for paranoia.
What was even scarier was that their paranoia seemed to be well founded, given what had happened.
“I’ll get the main computer on and then I will order dinner” Derek called out, “You make yourselves comfortable in the spare bedroom”
Shaun pushed open the door and Sarah followed him in. The room also had a number of old computer parts and boxes of old magazines, computer and electronic ones presumably. The window was grimy and over looked houses beneath. In the centre was the large old double bed Derek had got from his former neighbour. She looked around to see if there were any other items of furniture. There was only one old wardrobe, which again had computer parts on it and magazines in the bottom
As Sarah looked around the room, it was nothing like the house in Tottington that she grew up in. For a moment she wondered what would happen to it, without her and her brother. Presumably the creditors or the police would seize it.
If only her brother had not got involved in hacking, got a proper job and if only she had been able to work as a stripper, then she could be sleeping in her own bed in her own house
Suddenly Sarah dissolved into tears, “I miss him” she kept repeating, along with “I’m so sorry” while Shaun held her in his arms.
“I think we will all miss them Sarah” he said with emotion in his voice, “And there’s no way those b*****ds are going to get away with this”
It seemed like forever that Sarah and Shaun stood in that bedroom, mutually grieving over the friends and relatives that had been murdered over the last twenty four hours, over some dark secret when there was a knock on the door.
It was Derek.
“It’s on it’s way” Derek announced, “They should be here in twenty minutes”
“Do you think we should wait on the top floor until they have been and gone?” Shaun asked
“Nah” Derek answered back, “If they had spotted you here, I would have assumed they would have raided this place by now”
“It might still be an idea” Shaun pressed, “They could try and pretend to be delivery guy”
“But if you hang around on one of the floors” Derek countered, “One of the residents will report you to the concierge and there is nowhere to hide up there if they shut off the lifts and block the stairs”
“It was just a thought” Shaun said
“Don’t worry Shaun” Derek reassured them, “I have my own security protocols. You just wait in my bedroom when they come. I constructed it as my own panic room”
Again Sarah gulped. This was paranoia in the extreme, and worse of it, it was totally justified.
Sarah and Shaun moved over to Derek’s bedroom where he had a television located. Derek’s computer was in the lounge along with a caged area he called a
Faraday Cage. The television was in the bedroom because according to Shaun he wanted his bedroom to be a place to escape from what he called “his work”
Shaun put on the set and tuned it to a news channel as it had Free-View, a decoder to receive free digital television channels.
The main story on the news was still the murders in Ramsbottom because of the savagery of the attack, with automatic weapons and the hand grenade. Also mentioned was the murder of the taxi driver, the two police officers and lastly her brother. No mention of Vicky and her family. The police were obviously convinced that that was an unrelated murder suicide. Sarah just knew differently.
The news report also went on about how Sarah was now wanted by police in connection with the deaths of her brother and the police officers, as it was obvious she was somehow involved in a vicious war between rival Manchester drug gangs. Again the images used had obviously come from her memory stick.
There was no mention of Shaun.
The main spokesman that the TV station was interviewing was Detective Inspector Halsall, again he was indirectly blaming Sarah for the deaths of the two police officers
The only good news was that they still seemed to be convinced she was sheltering in the Manchester area and had no inkling that she had travelled down to London.
Or maybe they knew and this was a bluff given to the media so she would…
WHAT!! – Was Sarah now buying in to the paranoia of her brother, Shaun and now this Derek person?
“This is not good” Shaun commented as he watched the news with her.
“They think I killed all those people Sarah said out loud and burst into tears again.
Shaun hugged Sarah, although Sarah could not understand why, after all, he had lost a sister and his mother because of her.
A phone rang in the hall way
Sarah gasped and put her right hand to her mouth. She listened in as Derek spoke on it. It was the takeaway delivery man; he was now on his way up.
Shaun closed the bedroom door and locked it as per Derek’s instruction.
Shaun and Sarah hugged each other as they waited for Derek to give the agreed coded signal that it was all clear.
It took five agonising minutes, before they heard a knock on the door, and the muffled sounds of Derek answering it.
From what they could tell nothing was untoward and after hearing the sound of the locks being done up on the front door, Derek gave the coded knock to say it was safe.
Nervously, Shaun unlocked the door and opened it up slowly.
It was just Derek along with a selection of curry, rice, chapattis and Irn Bru.
“I didn’t get any alcohol this time” Derek told them, “I don’t normally drink it and I didn’t want to raise suspicions”
“We need to keep clear heads anyway” Shaun replied, “especially if we want to get to Leeds Castle tomorrow”
The three of them then set about eating the takeaway in the kitchen. Sarah was nervous at first, worrying about poison, but Derek was convinced that the people he bought from would never allow that, and they shared his distrust of the state as well.
Sarah was more into Chinese food, but she kept quiet and ate up.
After that Derek went into a cage like structure in his living room which he called a Faraday cage and examined the SIM card the taxi driver had given Sarah.
“This has got to be the most sophisticated device I have seen” Derek called out, “I don’t think that American Sarah saw was CIA, This definitely has to be NSA standard kit”
“Well whoever killed Trevor and my family, the Americans are definitely behind this” Shaun observed with Derek’s agreement.
“Who is the NSA?” Sarah asked
“Officially they’re sort of like our GCHQ in Cheltenham” Shaun explained
“But worse” Derek chipped in
“They are considered even more secret than the CIA” Shaun went on
“What the hell was Trevor into” Sarah said accusingly at both Shaun and Derek
“I wish we knew” Derek spoke up after an awkward silence, “Some of the stuff Trevor said did not make sense, he even claimed he had found a connection to some reality TV show that was aired a few years back”
Sarah thought back to the last time she had seen Trevor alive, “Yeah” she agreed, “He had some stuff relating to that Big Brother Show and he showed me some internet forum devoted to it”
“Do you know which one?” Derek asked
“I think it was this is big brother or something like that” Sarah replied.
“Could they have been using that show to send as some carrier wave to piggy back coded transmissions?” Shaun asked Derek
“That is the only thing that would make sense” Derek mused, “It could also be that because Big Brother was interactive on the web, their agents used the forums to send coded messages. Did Trevor say that was what they were doing with that forum he showed you?”
Sarah shook her head, “He told me he was just using it to find out about two particular series of that show”
“Seems a bit far fetched though Derek to use some fan forum” Shaun interrupted, “I mean there are other ways to send coded communications”
“I don’t know” Derek admitted, “Trevor never said, the only other connection I can think of Shaun is as you suggested, they used some of the transmissions and web traffic as carrier signals”
“But if this NSA is American” Sarah interrupted, “Why use a British TV show?”
Shaun and Derek shrugged their shoulders, it was a total mystery
Just then Derek had an idea, “Phone voting?” he suggested “The American Big Brother did not have phone votes but the British one did. Maybe Trevor hacked in to the company who did Big Brother and found something was amiss with the phone voting system”
“And I bet he triggered something which alerted the NSA to his presence in their system” Shaun suggested
“That’s the only thing that sounds plausible to me” Derek agreed
The evening was now really getting on and Shaun got Sarah to show Derek the Iron Key
“We need to see if we can find a back door to this” Shaun told Derek, “It may have proof as to what this is all about”
“Nice trick if you can do it” Responded Derek, “Those things are incredibly secure”
Shaun then went on to mention how it was rumoured that the US government had demanded the manufacturers put in back doors under the US Patriot Act and they needed to hack in to the manufacturers system so they could find out where the back door was s and then access Trevor’s memory stick.
Derek was uncertain as that was serious hacking, and needed to be done at a cyber café so they could scarper if something went wrong. Shaun was in agreement. As Sarah listened in on their conversation as it got increasingly technical, it went beyond her. If Trevor were still alive, he could possibly keep up with them, but not Sarah.
Then it was time for bed
Sarah looked out across the alien landscape of South London through the living room window while Shaun disappeared into the bedroom she was to share with him.
Again she wished she could be home in Lancashire in her house in Tottington in her own bedroom in her own bed, but it looked like, that was not to be, unless she could clear her name of the accusations of drug involvement and the death of her brother. Even so, there would always be the question of the deaths of her friend Vicky and her family and possibly that of other friends of hers. Even if Shaun was forgiving, she could not guarantee the Tottington community would be.
Derek went into his room and locked his door
Slowly Sarah used the bathroom and then went into the bedroom she was sharing with Shaun.
Shaun had removed his shirt and was sitting on the floor next to the bed with his back against the wall.
“I can sleep on the floor and you can have the bed if you like” Shaun offered.
Sarah could not think why she did this, but quickly removed her top, revealing her bare breasts in front of Shaun, “Don’t be silly” she told Shaun and knelt down in front of Shaun and took his hands.
The two looked into each other’s eyes and then slowly Shaun and Sarah stood up and Sarah wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I don’t think I packed any night things” She whispered
“Neither did I” Shaun whispered back, and then kissed Sarah on the lips and wrapped his arms around her
Sarah extricated her arms, and then slowly hooked her thumbs into the skirt and panties that Lauren had given her, and pushed them down so they fell to the floor and then she kicked them away. She had this desire to share her body with Shaun, she felt she owed him that much.
Shaun continued to kiss her, and Sarah started trying to push down his trousers, but that seemed harder.
Shaun took the hint, released Sarah and soon he too was naked. Then the two of them climbed into the bed, and they proceeded to make love.
For Sarah, this was her first time.
+ + +
Sarah was woken with a start as there was a banging on the door.
“Are you up in there?” she heard Derek yelling through the door, “We need to make an early start if we want to beat the London traffic”
Shaun was still lying there in the bed beside her, just as naked as she was and for a fleeting moment she was resentful that they could not continue to lie in bed together in this fashion.
Suddenly Sarah felt coy, and wanted to use the duvet to cover herself, especially as she would have to leave the room to cross the corridor into the bathroom, but she did not want to pull the cover from Shaun.
This was ridiculous, the two of them had shared the same bed together naked. She would have to just brazen it out, so she grabbed the skirt and the Tee-shirt she had from the previous day, rolled them up and opened the door on a startled Derek.
“I can put those through the washing machine on quick wash” Derek said pointing at the clothes, flustered at the site of a naked seventeen year old girl in front of him.
Without thinking, Sarah thrust the clothes into Derek’s hands, and then went back into the room to collect the used underwear and gave it to Derek as she pushed past him into the bathroom.
“I put out spare towels” Derek called out
Sarah got into what passed off as a bathroom. The shower had obviously been retrofitted in, but the controls were easy to work out. The state of the bathroom was not that great, but then what would you expect from a single guy living alone.
After making use of the facilities and then the shower, Sarah found the towel.
It was probably classed as a bath towel somewhere, but it seemed little more than an oversized tea-towel to her. There was no way she could wrap it around her as she did the large towels back at home, or the one she used the previous day at Shaun’s house.
Sarah thought for a moment. Derek and Shaun had been so nice to her, especially Shaun who had lost family as well,
probably because she had come into their lives. Sarah then remembered how gentle Shaun had been with her as they made love as it was her first time. After a moment’s thought Sarah thought she would treat the guys to something she imagined every red blooded male would like to see, and so she just wrapped the towel around her hair and opened the door of the bathroom and went out into the hall, otherwise naked.
Sarah heard sounds in the kitchen, banged on the bedroom door to let Shaun know that the bathroom was free and wandered in to the kitchen. It was still pretty dark outside. There was a cold breeze that played onto her still damp naked body, and she shivered, this was just something she would have to put up with as these two guys had been so accommodating towards her.
Again Derek was shocked and did not know where to look.
“Sorry” Sarah apologised as she sensed Derek’s discomfort, “I looked for the bath towel, but only found this” she added pointing to the towel around her head, “I thought..” she began to add but Derek quickly pushed past Sarah into his own bedroom, and within less than a minute came out with a dark red dressing gown, holding it out for her to put on and looking down at the floor.
Sarah slipped it on, did it up and thanked Derek
“Sorry Sarah, I should have put you this out” Derek told Sarah, “Your clothes will be done in forty minutes, but they will still be damp I’m afraid” he added, “I just hope the neighbours won’t complain about me using the washing machine before eight. If you don’t have anything else to put on I can find some of my clothes for you, but they might be a little too big” he went on in a nervous manner.
“That’s ok” Sarah said quietly, “I have some spare clothes in my holdall”
“Oh yes” Derek responded, still in a state of shock at what he had seen.
Sarah sat at the table while Derek cooked a breakfast of sorts and Shaun went into the bathroom.
Derek told Sarah all about the computing course he and Shaun had been on a few years previously in Tooting and about the takeaway that Shaun had used as a false address in Manchester at the coach station.
Shaun finished in the shower and wandered into the kitchen with a towel tied around his waist. Sarah looked up at his torso, and kept thinking how this was the guy she would want to spend the rest of her life with.
STOP THAT! – What was Sarah thinking, she was probably just one of his many conquests,
or was she?]
“Sarah” Shaun spoke up; shattering Sarah’s thought train, “Breakfast is still a while of, would you like to go and get dressed”
It was obvious to Sarah by Shaun’s tone of voice that Shaun wanted to catch up with Derek in private, so Sarah went back into the bedroom and pulled out another skirt, tee-shirt and panties.
Then she had another cheeky thought, maybe she should just give the panties a miss and just put on the tee-shirt and the skirt only. It would save on washing, and if it gave Shaun a thrill that she was not wearing any underwear then he deserved it. What ever would please Shaun, Sarah wanted to do.
WHAT ARE YOU THINKING SARAH???
Sarah was finding the voice in her head, telling her off was getting tiresome, but it would not shut up!
Sarah put the panties back in the bag, she would ask Shaun later.
NO! – the voice in her head scolded her
Sarah pulled them out of the bag again and slipped them on under the skirt, closed the bag and ventured into the hall.
That voice in her heard was a right pain
Sarah knocked on the kitchen door.
Shaun and Derek stopped speaking.
This made Sarah feel uncomfortable, but she said nothing.
Derek looked at his watch and switched on the radio and then went to serve breakfast, such as it was.
The radio was still talking about the “manhunt” for Sarah Bentley, for her part in some gang related drug war that had claimed her brother. The police were even relooking at the deaths of Vicky and her family to see if they were connected, along with the killings in Ramsbottom.
Still no word they were widening the search past the Great Manchester area.
Derek turned the radio off
“I don’t do drugs” Sarah said before breaking down in tears.
Shaun put a comforting arm around her, “We know that love” Shaun whispered, “That’s just a big lie the powers that be put out to hide the truth”
“Trevor was obviously on to something” Derek chipped in, “That is why they are trying to frame you especially if the Americans are involved”
The three of them finished the breakfast as the washing machine finished its cycle.
“I’ll hang those up in the bathroom” Derek offered, “They should be dry by the time we get back from Kent” he added as he took the clothes from the machine, leaving Sarah and Shaun alone in the kitchen.
“Derek’s driving us down to that place in Leeds Castle” Shaun told Sarah
“He said he would last night” Sarah reminded Shaun
“After we have visited a certain site” Shaun continued, “We are going to a cyber Café to hack into the manufacture of your brother’s Iron Key, to get that back door in to it. I’m hoping we will find out who this Doctor Aitch is your brother came across as they seem to be behind things.”
“Doctor Aitch” Derek interrupted, “That’s the name your brother mentioned he came across somewhere, but I can not remember where”
“Maybe we will find out at Leeds Castle” Shaun replied.
The three of them packed up and headed out of the flat.
Derek switched on the burglar alarm and locked all the locks on the front door before they headed for the lift.
As they got in, Sarah hit the button for the ground floor, but Derek hit the button for the second.
“We don’t go all the way down Sarah” Derek announced, “We go to the second and walk down, just in case of ambush”
The lift descended and stopped at the second floor. They all got out and walked through the second floor to the far end stairs and slowly walked down them, checking as they went.
They got to the ground floor and again Derek did his procedures to ensure his car had not been tampered with, before they all piled in.
As they drove out, none of them noticed a CCTV camera turning round to track them.
Across the from the tower block in a side street two men sat in a car looking at the Mini Derek was driving on a small monitor.
“It looks like they will be passing this way any minute now” a man in his forties and wearing a grey coat spoke up, “Do we take them out here?”
“No my dear chap” the other man replied. He was older and in his late fifties.
“Oh come one”, the first man said with frustration in his voice, “we travelled all the way down from Manchester Mr Reed to get this job done”
“And we will” the older man replied, “But not here”
“I get it Mr Reed” the younger man spoke up, “Too public”
“You’re learning” the elder man replied and started the car as the mini passed the side road they were in.
“Well your guys up north were not too fussed about being in public” the younger man growled
The elder man chose not to comment
“So when are we going to take them out Mr Reed” the younger man asked
“All in good time my dear chap” the elderly man reprimanded the younger man. “Mr Derek Johnson, the person of interest who is local to these parts is not as cautious as he thinks he is” the elderly man went on, “We have had his flat under surveillance for some time and I believe from what we intercepted in that flat they are heading down to certain former storage facility in Kent”
“And we take them out there?” the younger man asked
“We will only supervise that operation from a far this time” the elderly man chided as he slowly pulled out of the side road in order to follow at a distance the mini with Sarah, Shaun and Derek in, “Sometimes my dear chap, it pays not to get one’s hands dirty and besides” The elderly man pressed further, “I have got Major Eff to bring his team down. We will let them handle this”
“If you think that is wise Mr Reed” the younger man said with irritation, “Do we really have to wait for them when we can do this job ourselves right here and now?”
“To take action so soon like that my dear chap would not be wise” the elderly man insisted, “Really Inspector Halsall if you are going to work for our organisation as our embedded operative in the Greater Manchester Police force, you must learn to be patient”
To be continued..