“Knightsbridge.”
“Posh!”
“It’s a nice house. My uncle is a civil servant, one of the faceless ones.”
He laughed. “I’m so pleased you’re settled and okay. I was worrying about you, but didn’t know how to contact you.”
“I’ve got a new mobile, so keep this number if you like.”
“I already have,” he said, sounding as if he was smiling.
“I’ll come and visit when I have a chance.”
“That would be cool. Did you remember what you do?”
“Yeah, I’m a government assassin.”
He laughed again, but slightly nervously. “No, seriously.”
“I’m a budding actress,” I said, off the top of my head. I needed a cover occupation, so it seemed to fit.
“I knew it! How old are you?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Have you got anyone?”
“You mean a boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
“Not as far as I can tell. I’ve only just returned from Hong Kong. My parents died and so I came back by myself.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, it’s still a bit blurred, but my uncle told me the missing bits.”
“Any chance you could come and see me this week?”
“I’ll try, but I think I’ll be busy sorting out my parents’ affairs.”
“Oh, that’ll be tough.”
“Yeah, but you can always ring me.”
“I will, I promise.”
We chatted aimlessly about nothing for a while. I liked hearing his voice. It made me feel normal in a very un-normal situation. He only knew me for what he saw, so it made me feel good.
Having run out of things to say, we terminated the call. I watched TV for a while. It was E.R. and for the first time I started to relate to the girls, and realised that I was looking at the world with a very different perspective. It was worrying, but in a way faintly reassuring. I was waiting to have a major crisis, but it didn’t seem to want to happen.
I slept late into Saturday, but when I awoke, I felt refreshed and full of enthusiasm for life. I can’t remember when I felt this good. My leg didn’t hurt, my back didn’t ache and my eyesight was clearer than it had been for ages. I should have gone to an optician, but I suppose pride prevented me from admitting I was getting old.
I was young again, so I vowed to make the most of whatever time was granted me. I had a shower, played with my makeup, making a right royal fuck up of my face. The girl in the shop had made it look so easy, but after the sixth time I damn near poked my eye out with the mascara stick, I washed it all off and tried again.
Eventually, I managed a simple application, some mascara, eye shadow and lipstick. I thought I looked okay, so it would have to do. I wanted to go shopping again, so I dressed in a simple dress with tights and the same shoes as yesterday. It was very wintry, as the rain had turned to sleet. It was March and spring was trying to spring, but winter wasn’t giving up that easily.
I didn’t have a coat, as I stupidly hadn’t bought one on the previous excursion. I found a black ladies coat that fitted. I assumed it belonged to Mary or one of their two daughters.
Knightsbridge is a very well-heeled area, with Harrods close by. I’d never shopped in Harrods; in fact, I’d never even been in Harrods before.
I was like a child in a candy store, but my previously frugal nature kicked in, making me cautious about spending too much. I had a coffee in the Harrods café, and thoroughly enjoyed watching the rich and curious milling about. I would guess that over fifty percent of the people there were tourists.
The place was crowded, being Saturday, so when a large American woman and her husband asked if they could share my table, I smiled and made room.
“This is our first time in England, isn’t it, honey?” the lady said. She was in the region of eighteen stone (252 lbs), which made me rather sorry for anyone unfortunate enough to be seated next to her on an aeroplane. Her husband was tall, well over six foot, and almost as wide as he was tall. I had been above average as a man, so as a girl was well above average height. I looked up at him, as he must have been at least six-six.
“Yeah, we never left the States before. I retired last fall and this is the cheapest time for us to come across.”
“Do you live in London?” the woman asked.
“No, I am German. I am visiting here.”
“Oh, where do you come from in Germany, I was with the US Air Force as a weapons technician over there for five years?”
“You know Stein?”
He frowned.
“Where’s that?”
“It is a small village near the Dutch border, north of Sittard.”
“I know where Sittard is. Is there an AWACs base near there?”
“Ja, I think so. Are they the ones with the big dish on the top?”
“Yeah, I never worked on them. They are mostly Boeing 707s, I worked on bombers.”
That killed that conversation.
“How long are you over for?” she asked.
“Another couple of weeks. I’m hoping to get a job, but if I can’t, I’ll go back home.”
“I heard there’s a recession in Germany, is that right?”
“Ja, the reunification has made things difficult. There is much unemployment.”
“Things are tough all over.”
I watched them dispatch some very large and exceptionally sticky sweet buns. No wonder they were enormous, one would do me for three days, and they each had two!
I excused myself and left them to it, making my way into the rain again. I was pleased with myself, as they never questioned my nationality, accepting me for what they saw. I spent the rest of the day spending money buying clothes and jewellery. I even had my ears pierced so I could wear the earrings I’d bought.
I changed from being German to Croatian, Swedish, Danish, Dutch and American. Not once did the person to whom I was talking suspect I was anything other than what I was purporting to be. I smiled, as I realised that David’s joke about be being a government assassin was closer than he ever imagined.
My phone rang when I was in Dorothy Perkins.
“Rebecca,” I said, after a hesitation.
“It’s me. Everything okay?” It was the Colonel.
“Fine, boss, thanks. How was dinner?”
“Rather dull, but I consoled myself with a fine claret.”
I chuckled. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Just checking. The team did your flat this morning. It’s as clean as a whistle.”
“I thought it might be. Any joy with the documents?”
“That’ll have to wait until Monday. Are you all right for cash?”
“I’ve just enough for the weekend,” I lied.
“Okay. We’ll sort out your accounts on Monday as well.”
“Boss, what about Rob? He’ll have to die, or something.”
“Already in hand. A press release is going out shortly that his body was found in some woods near the River Humber.”
“That’ll do, but the local police may put two and two together and come up with the dreaded four.”
“Do you have a name of the local police Inspector?”
I gave him DI Furness’s details.
“Leave it with me. It will be in the papers on Monday. It’s not everyday one gets to read one’s obituary.”
“My son will see it. Can someone call on Debbie and warn her?” I said, feeling my heart wrench.
“I’ll arrange it. It’s tough, Rebecca, but you must move forward.”
“Yeah, I know. It was bad enough that he called another man Dad, but to never see my son again.” I felt the tears well up.
“You can see him, it’s just he can never know the truth. As far as the world is concerned, you and I will be the only people who know the truth.”
“It’ll be weird if I see Bruce and he won’t know who I am.”
“It’s as it should be. He will remember his father as a hero and a soldier. He knew who you were, so leave it like that. I’ve learned it’s often dangerous to try to go back.”