False Omen Ch. 6

[JHyde]

Spoilers for Season 8. Please read chapters 1-5 before proceeding.

kirmostar's shirtless scene and YFM's word choice are used in this chapter. YFM chose the word "Nemo".

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At that moment, Harry was in a meeting with Richard Dalby that had predictably run overtime. The Chairman of the JIC needed briefing on the PM's visit to _____ that weekend, and Harry spent more time in explaining the more pressing threat. It eventually fell to Lucas to explain what had happened in his absence. Lucas followed him slowly into his office, and watched his fearless leader shrug his overcoat from his broad shoulders. The younger man knew he was about to burden those shoulders once again; that an already lined face would be even more world weary by this story's conclusion.

"Harry," Lucas began, "Tariq has the memory stick with the contents of Essam's home computer. He has the targets for tomorrow at 8am, and the three boys who are to carry out the attacks."

"Excellent." Harry flashed a rare smile, but then paused at the sombre expression on Lucas' face. "I take it we didn't manage a tail on Danish Talat? Apart from not having the manpower...."

"The meeting took place in such a place that tailing him was impossible under the circumstances. But Harry, we now have another problem. It seems that Bushra's safe house was compromised. Ros and Wendy are following what small leads Tariq was able to source from CCTV, but it seems she was abducted by a man Wendy reckons is a dead ringer for one of the goons following Bushra in the Lexus yesterday."

Harry sighed. "How was she compromised? Did Ruth see anything before she left?"

Lucas paused ever so briefly before Harry's face betrayed his thoughts. "Ruth's gone too, isn't she?"

"Yes," Lucas reluctantly admitted. "She's been taken too."

The cold, ruthless Harry the team knew from countless operations disappeared for just a moment. He gripped the back of his chair tightly, his knuckles white. And then he spoke in the calm voice of one who knew not what else to do. "Tell Tariq to get on the contents of the hard drive and bring me a list of those targets immediately. Call Peters in Section _____ and tell him to send me his analyst at once, and someone from HR to rope in another techie to follow Ruth's trail before it goes cold. I think we can assume the women are with Essam."

Lucas shook his head. "Amir Essam is back in his family home, Harry. We have him under surveillance, but no, he must have gone straight from the meeting to his house."

"Then they're with Talat," Harry said heavily. "Get those boys under surveillance at once. Those bombs cannot go off and we need to find Ruth simultaneously. We find Talat, we find Ruth."

_________

The van rocked from side to side as the two women inside struggled in vain against their bindings. Ruth strained to rub her face against the rough timber that was her uneasy bed, desperately trying to force the gag from her mouth. Too many people underestimated her in the field. She would not go quietly into that good night, she was determined. Splinters cut her face, the skin rubbed raw on her forehead and chin, but she was able to spit out the gag and regain some ability to talk. She tried to hush Bushra's desperate cries, stifled through her dirty smile built of rags.

"Bushra, listen to me, LISTEN TO ME!" Her voice was low but urgent, and she channelled Ros, trying to capture the same stillness that so commanded her reluctant respect. "I need you to remember what I am about to say. I am not Ruth Evershed, MI-5 desk analyst. I am Ruth Elliott, private detective." She took a deep breath and proceeded to outline the brief legend on which their lives now depended.
__________

Lucas scooped the water from the deep sink, hoping that by partially bathing he might keep himself awake. He had been on the Grid most of the night before, and it looked as though tonight would be another marathon. Stripped to his waist, he rubbed the chamois over his torso, trying not to think about where Ruth and Bushra might be and what might be happening to them at that very moment. He heard Ruth's cries in his head, her anguish and relief at being rescued seconds away from death. He had been more suited to torture, to interrogation that lasted for months on end. What chance did Ruth have? He bent again to the sink, trying not to inhale the water, as it only served once again to bring back evil memories. His tattoos shone dimly in the grainy light, his back curved, his face averted from the door.

"You sure you used enough water? There's enough you might just find Nemo swimming about in there."

How Ros entered so silently in heels he would never know. "This is the men's room, Ros, you should probably whip yours out."

Ros permitted herself a smile - it was the only time she was likely to do so that long night. "More bad news I'm afraid. Those three boys have gone to ground. Wendy's been to their place of study - school records seem to suggest they've been absent since Friday of last week. Obviously, we'll have Special Forces ready to go in the morning at all three targets and we're doing the usual things but so far, we've got bugger all."

"Ruth's mobile hasn't been active?" Lucas sighed exasperatedly.

"No. Tariq has an active tracker on it, so if at any point it's in use, we'll know about and have a trace quickly. But for now she's on her own."

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Ruth lay dazed and broken, wishing she was not able to feel the pain radiating from every part of her lower body. Bushra screamed again.

"She is a detective. I hired her to check on Amir, he is away so much, I thought," her sobbing impeded speech, her panic full-blown, "I thought he was sleeping with another. And he was! Ruth found out, she had pictures, I saw them!"

Talat's thin face showed his displeasure. He cursed, resolving that Essam would be dealt with once the current operation was completed. He had suspected this to be the case, and cursed again, blaming himself for not resolving this problem earlier. He returned his attention to Ruth.

"You arranged for Bushra to 'die'?" he demanded. "That takes resources."

"She wanted to leave her husband, have a chance at a new life....." Ruth's voice trailed off as she slipped out of consciousness. She could see her own old, new life, the sunshine in Cyprus, hear Nico playing with his friends in the garden....

Talat slapped her awake without ceremony. "Why did you not have anything with you? No bag, nothing."

Ruth tried to swallow and found her mouth was too dry to do so. "It was in the car. Your man could not have looked properly." By now, Ruth figured the car would be back in the hands of MI-5, and there would be no way to check the veracity of this statement. Lucas had not let her into the car with any identification, a wise precaution in hindsight. It would have all been over.

She tried to force the cogs of her tired mind to grind their weary revolution. Only by using her wits did they have a chance of staying alive long enough to be found. Basic training, she almost breathed.

"You have meddled in things that do not concern you! We will check up on you, make sure you are who you say you are!" Talat bellowed. The young man who had brought them to this hell stepped forward out from the shadows and dragged Ruth roughly to her feet, shaking her like the proverbial rag doll. Ruth clung to the image of sunshine that lay behind her closed eyes, but it was Harry's face that swam in her mind's whirl, his eyes bleeding with hurt as she called him a "heartless bastard". She longed for him, even as the blows rained down upon her.

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"Danish and Talat have spoken once earlier this evening, but it was a ten second call, Harry. No trace, and all Talat said when Essam picked up was "The sun will rise tomorrow". Tariq motioned toward the plainly dressed, gimlet eyed research boffin seated behind Ruth's desk. "Patricia says that it could be a confirmation signal for the attack." He rolled his eyes. Tariq had little patience for people who reiterated the painfully obvious.

Harry lost his temper for the first time in that neverending day. "It COULD be? You COULD really do with a refresher in the mechanics of being an analyst."

Foolish woman that she was, Patricia started to answer back, but Harry was already on his way back to his office. He covered his face briefly with his left hand, while his right gently massaged the top of his upper thigh. It was a calming motion he indulged in without even thinking about it anymore and he tried to talk himself down from the panic he had managed to suppress for some hours now. For a moment, it overwhelmed him, images of Ruth being brutalized, her eyes wide with panic and terror. Watching yet another person she cared for being hurt. He had sworn this would never happen again, and yet only months after her return, here she was, once again in mortal danger. He heard her scream in his head and he ached with loneliness and fear.

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They had eventually been left alone, and Bushra had held her old friend as they waited for the men to return. Ruth's beating had ceased only when she choked, the retching induced by being kicked in the stomach and she was quietly glad she wasn't any stronger. How much longer would she have endured if she was as hardy as Ros or Lucas? Bushra quietly sobbed her apologies.

Ruth struggled to speak. "'Ra," she started hoarsely, once again using the old term of endearment. "It wasn't my fault, or your fault - apart from the fact that we were captured, that was all me. But they are animals. You did not beat me."

Bushra started to speak, but was interrupted by the solid door opening into the dank interior. Talat entered, ominously flanked by his henchman.

"The agency checks out. No operatives are listed, but I am sure we can confirm what we know in the morning. And we have your phone, so we can contact your boss." Ruth thanked Malcolm silently for the false website he had planted just before he left in trying to find leads on one particularly unfaithful rogue. And thanked God it had not been disabled.

He turned to Bushra. "Now you, on the other hand. A whore who left her husband, planning to find another man, deserting her family. Such betrayal cannot go unanswered."

It happened so quickly the two women barely had time to react. Talat had drawn a gun and pointed it directly at them without flinching. They clung to one another in terror as they screamed, but then Ruth realised she was the only one wailing. Bushra's head was flung backwards, a single hole in her forehead. The sound of the gunshot echoed later. Ruth held her once teenage companion close, sobbing, as Talat gave the men a curt directive and left the room abruptly. She tried very hard not to see what the bullet had done to Bushra's soft flesh, and she saw George's head blown to bits as she rocked the dead girl in her arms.

[Beatriz]

I can't read it until I come back home Why? Now I'm not going to be calm because I want to know what happens next!! Why did I have to enter the forum now? I have to go
(End of rant <- Sorry for that )

[YourFutureMuse]

I have printed it off so I can go hibernate in my bed and really enjooy it I shall be make with a review shortly

[lwhite53]

Oh geez, Ruth . . . . :going away to think now:

OK -- I'm back. That was just a little TOO real for the moment, which is, I guess, the best feedback I could possibly give. Well done.

[JHyde]

Is that bad?

[Tea Lady]

The best chapter yet I think. Poor Ruth. She did some quick thinking there that saved her. What about Harry? Are we going to see action Harry back, tie off, in the next chapter ????

Well done.

[lwhite53]

(05-01-2010 07:46 PM)JHyde Wrote:  Is that bad?

No, that's powerful writing.

[Silktie]

Bloody hell, that was harrowing! Geez, you couldn't give poor Ruth a break, could you? She's going to need some serious TLC after this - I'm sure you know where I'm going with this. Also liked how you worked in a reference to Harry's broad shoulders...

[JHyde]

Maybe I should put a violence warning at the top? I didn't think it was anything more than what the show does.

[TygerBright]

Just when I thought 2010 hated my by throwing a ****load of work and a nasty cold at me... here comes my reward for hanging in there. Won't be until the wee hours that I can properly read it but from skimming it I know it'll be worth the wait... was already grinning at the bathroom scene, could soooo picture it (time to whip out yours?!?!? ROFL.MAO.)
and Harry's gonna kick your derriere too for torturing Ruth... right after he rescues her..(at first I wanted Lucas to be the hero, especially since he's probably gonna blame himself that he "lost" her, but I think action Harry is what I want to see now )

and I think "Ruth Elliott, P.D." would make a great TV show