False Omen Ch. 4

[JHyde]

A long chapter, that probably wouldn't take that long to watch but takes a long time to read (and write). It is plot heavy, but is important overall. This is the main exposition required for the story, so it will stand alone in that respect. Hope you stick with me, and please review. I love hearing what you think.


Ros charged into Harry's office. "Lucas has her, they're changing cars and will be here in 10 minutes. Ruth's assembling what she needs."

"Ruth playing good cop, I suppose?"

"Yes. Lucas was right to suggest her, it does help clear the decks of distrust slightly. And it will make her more likely to talk."

"You hope." Harry set his lip, contemplating what might happen if they couldn't convince Bushra Essam of the immediate danger.

Ros smiled unhappily. "Yes well, hope is half what this game is about sometimes."

______


The still youthful woman in the burqa waited angrily for a reply.

"I'm sorry about the gun, Mrs Essam. It was necessary for us to get away as soon as possible, there was no other way to convince you."

"I am in no danger. No-one has tried to hurt me. Only you." Her brown eyes flashed dangerously.

Lucas leant forward. "Mrs Essam, you were being followed by more than I and my colleagues. You were being watched by two men....."

Lucas broke off as Ruth entered the room. Bushra gasped.

"Ruth!" She stood up, looked her friend up and down, and then ran to her.

"'Ra!" Ruth embraced her warmly, unable to help uttering the old nickname. It was wonderful to feel arms around her, even though she knew very shortly that Bushra would want nothing to do with her ever again. It was so nice to be touched lovingly, warmly - she'd forgotten how it felt.

Ruth tried to brush aside the flood of questions Bushra threw at her while she regained her mental strength. "Bushra, you should sit down. We have things to explain, and I will tell you, but it is urgent."

"Why am I here, naaz (sweetheart)? This man", here she gestured broadly to Lucas, "broke into my car at the traffic light and pointed a gun at me. He says this is the MI-5 building?"

"It is, I promise you. But sit down, truly, we will explain."

They sat, Ruth breathing deeply before launching into the morass of information they had collected.

"Bushra, what I'm about to tell you isn't easy, but it's true. Lucas?"

Lucas pressed play on the digital recorder in his hand. Essam's voice filled the room, the voiceprint from his conversation with the as-yet unidentified man.

"Why are you listening to my husband? Why would he matter to you? He is a grocer!" Bushra's eyes filled with tears.

"He is," Ruth replied, dreading what came next. "We discovered him by accident, 'Ra. In this conversation he is talking about killing someone, on the instructions of another man. He is also allied with a large terrorist organization called Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, based in Pakistan, but with many supporters here in the UK..."

"What lunacy! Amir has business contacts in Pakistan, perhaps you are mistaking one for the other," Bushra interrupted.

Ruth continued, knowing that time was limited. She pulled the financial records from the file and placed them in front of the incredulous woman she had once known better than anyone else her age. "These are receipts for deposits made to the organization in question. Some totalling more than 5000 pounds in one go. There is an intermediary account, but it traces directly back to your husband's account. Not your joint one."

"If you'd only asked him! He sends money to his relatives in Pakistan, his mother is ill. We have been doing so for years, since before Emir was born."

Lucas stepped in. "His mother is not unwell, Bushra. She has been dead since 1994."

Bushra opened her mouth to argue, but Ruth placed the death certificate in front of her. She said nothing, absorbing this. Lucas carried on, pressing his advantage.

"He lied about his mother and the money, and he lies about where he goes sometimes. He has a mistress in Southampton, did you know?"

Ruth winced as her friend looked up in horror. "He does not, he never would..." Bushra faltered, before Lucas selected a file on the recorder and pressed play again. The sounds of violent lovemaking filled the room, and Bushra burst into tears hearing her husband's voice and that of another woman. Hating her job at that moment in time, Ruth pulled several photos that confirmed what they were hearing as truth from her folder and pushed them across. The crying mother merely glanced at them before directing her venom at Ruth. "Why would you tell me this?" she hissed. "I haven't seen you in what, 12 years? Why does it matter?"

"Tragic though this is, Bushra, it's not the reason you're here." Ruth paused, knowing she had to be the one to tell her this. "That conversation Lucas played of Amir? The Ghalib poetry? The group he is giving money to uses that phrase to direct members to kill a target."

"Amir would never kill anyone! He may be a philanderer but he would not hurt anyone." The anger seemed to stem the tide of tears, at least for a moment.

"Bushra, the next part of the conversation uses a codeword to describe you. You are to be killed. By Amir. On the orders of another man." Ruth forced herself not to lose eye contact.

"I want to hear it, I don't believe it, I don't!" Bushra shouted, rising to her feet.

Lucas played what little remained of the original recording and Bushra laughed. "You think he would kill me based on that? He does not even say my name, he is so cold there. They are not talking about me!"

______

Harry watched from outside as Ruth argued her case. He could only imagine how hard it was for her to stay detatched, and to the eye of a stranger she was walking the tightrope well. She proceeded to outline Amir's past, including his online involvement in radical websites, as Ros approached.

"How're they doing?"

"Slowly. It's too convincing a case to hold out against for too long."

Ros looked at the small monitor placed outside for observation. "The tap on Amir's second phone is operational. He must call his Mr Big soon and let him know that his target is missing. He can't postpone him forever, and when he calls, we might be able to find out who he might be."

"I'd rather we found out without letting Essam we're onto him. Is the plan for the wife in place?"

"It is," replied Ros. "And I'll tell Ruth."

Harry smiled his thanks, grateful that he was not the one to tell Ruth what the plan was for her friend in the immediate future. But he knew she would have worked it out anyway. She always did.

He returned his gaze to the monitor in time to see Bushra bury her head in hands, sobbing. "Fine. Do you what you can. And find my son!"

Lucas left the room, leaving Ruth to try and comfort her.

"She did well." Harry sounded satisfied.

"She did," Lucas replied. "Now we just have to find out why he wants her dead."

"I'll get started on that now," said Ros, walking away. "Lucas, you'd better make sure the second part of the debriefing gets started."

Lucas allowed himself a minute, watching Ruth put an arm around her. "She's going to be very angry when she finds out what we've done."

"Yes, she'll make our life hell for a week or two, that's for sure." Harry suddenly realised Lucas was looking at him inquisitively. "Ruth," he added.

"I meant Bushra, Harry."

______

It was two hours later and both Ruth and Bushra were exhausted. Ruth left the holding room, telling Bushra that she would arrange for some food shortly. Her old friend was still resentful and suspicious, and she felt that nothing more could be gained for the moment. She trailed upstairs, leaving Lucas with her for the time being.

Ros met her halfway upstairs. "I was coming to find you," Ros said, not unkindly. "I need to explain what we're doing to keep Essam away from her."

"Why not just send her back to her mother's? Tell him she's ill and she needs to stay there?"

"There's no guarantee he won't kill them both, Ruth. We've arranged for Bushra's car to have a little....accident."

Ruth gasped. "You're going to make Essam think she is dead already? How is she supposed to go back to her life after he's picked up, Ros?"

Ros looked at her, willing Ruth to realise the truth for herself.

"You have to say it, Ros."

"She'll be relocated with a new identity, Ruth. You know how these things work. And her son too, once we have him. She can't stay in Newnham, that's for certain. Who knows who's involved with this group? Even if we catch this cell, there will be others who know who she is. We have to cover her disappearance for the next few days, and this is the only way. You know that."

"Anyone we touch....runs." Ruth looked up at Ros, glaring. "It never ends, does it?"

Ros touched her arm gently. She too understood what it was like to flee from home, not expecting to return. To leave onself behind. They shared this now, she and Ruth.

"I won't lie to her, Ros. I won't."

"You must, Ruth. For her sake, you must. It's the only way she'll help us this next day or two. Remember it's not just about her."

Ros moved toward her desk and Ruth instinctively into Harry's office. He wasn't there, it was his twice weekly meeting with the DG, but she found herself looking there anyway. How long had this been planned? she wondered. From the beginning, she knew. It was how this game worked.

_____

It was getting late, toward dinnertime, when Tariq called Ros over excitedly.

"Essam is making a call from his second phone. We've had both phones tapped, but apart from checking with Bushra's mother some hours ago, he hasn't made anything other than work calls all day. But the police rang him half an hour ago to tell him about the accident."

"But now?" Ros asked, moving closer.

The comms answered her.

"Yes?" said a voice at the end of Essam's call.

"It's Amir. About my wife."

"Is it done?" the unknown man replied coldly. "You were told not to ring until it was done."

"My wife was in a car accident this afternoon. The police say it was nasty, her body beyond recognition. They are comparing the dental records which will take some time."

"It's him," Tariq confirmed as the voice analysis software beeped in recognition.


The second man's voice resumed: "This had better not be a doublecross, Amir. You know what the punishment will be if she is found alive."

"I do. Truly, I was prepared. But she is dead. It was her car, apparently she drove into the back of a tanker. It took them hours to cut her from the car and then several hours again to get in touch."

"Do you have a trace yet, Tariq?" Ros asked urgently. "He'll sign off any second."

"Almost." The techie chewed his thumb absently.

"You will call me again as soon as you know for certain. And meet me tomorrow. The usual place."

The second man hung up, followed by Amir. Tariq sighed in exasperation.

"There was a scrambling device on it, Ros, I couldn't narrow it down beyond a square mile. In Newham somewhere."

Ros sighed. "Let's hope Ruth and Lucas get something from Bushra then. And we'll have another crack at him tomorrow, follow him to whatever meeting he's going to. In the meantime, we'd better get her to a safehouse."

_____


Lucas gathered the personal effects Bushra had handed over reluctantly. He had only prised them from her after explaining that this group could have the ability to track her via her telephone and that it needed to be destroyed. After the phone was smashed convincingly with a hammer and her wallet smeared with grease, a burqa taken from her luggage was added. She had been supplied with a change of clothes, so that her luggage could be picked up by her husband at the morgue the next day. Along with the generic, clear plastic pocket he now filled with her small, everyday items. Keys, jewellery, her wedding ring (it had taken Ruth's help for that one)...it all went in. Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. Just a swing by the morgue on the way home and maybe they could start to find the Mr Big eluding them.

Lucas paused at Ruth's desk. She was blanched and clearly exhausted.

"It will get better tomorrow, Ruth. We'll find out why it is he's after her."

Ruth smiled wanly and got up, grabbing some loose files that needed to be returned to the Registry. "Thanks Lucas." She hurried away, ducking towards Harry's office to see what he needed returned. He often forgot to send back what he didn't need, and she had fallen quickly back into the old habit of cleaning up after him a little.

"You're the not the Registry clerk, Ruth."

Startled to be caught in his office, she turned.

"Good thing you're not or we'd never know where anything is. I'm going downstairs, what are you done with? They're not in your usual piles."

Harry smiled and walked over, taking what she had in her hands into his. Their hands met briefly in contact, and they glanced at each other as they did so, feeling the tension in the air. Harry broke the moment first, realising he was staring and sorted quickly through his desk.

"These too," he said. "Thanks Ruth. Bushra. How was she when she left?"

"Angry. With me as well as her husband. I was the messenger Harry, she may well clam up tomorrow. She never knew I worked here at Five. It's all part of a larger betrayal."

"It is, but we'll get the bottom of this tomorrow, I promise. We have a clear lead on Amir meeting the other man, perhaps we can glean something from that."

"You shouldn't promise things, Harry. This is a terror plot, an imminent attack. We don't know what tomorrow brings."

"No," Harry said softly. "But we start it with better intelligence than we did today. It's enough."

"We're missing something Harry, I know it."

Harry sighed, switching off his office light. "It will get better, Ruth."

How he was to regret those words, so carelessly uttered. He could only blame them on wanting to quiet her fears, hoping her rest would be easy. For now, it was enough and Ruth headed downstairs to the Registry while Harry looked after her longingly.

[YourFutureMuse]

Well I didn't have to wait long!! Excited

[JHyde]

You missed a chapter - I posted chapter three earlier.

[YourFutureMuse]

Yet again really goood!! Why do you have to leave so many questions each time! Its killing me!! (haha not really I love it)..

---

(01-01-2010 05:53 PM)JHyde Wrote:  You missed a chapter - I posted chapter three earlier.

Yeah I just read that and got straight to this one!! I am glad because the suspense might just kill me

[JHyde]

If you work on your essay, I will put a word in the next chapter for you.

[almh]

Oh wow, this is getting very interesting

[JHyde]

I wish I could skipped all of this, but I think it was important to meet Bushra as others did too, rather than jumping over it. I hope it didn't bore you all. Bear with me, there is a plan (laugh manically).

[almh]

Oh dear :hides under table: I now worry for their lives.

[YourFutureMuse]

Haha I think this one was actually my fave so far! I liked meeting Bushra And you best be serious about the essay

[JHyde]

Let me know when it's done and you can pick a word. I promise.