I memorised the number, one of my many gifts, and handed the card back. He looked surprised and not a little upset.
“Don’t look so miffed, I’ve committed the number to memory. It’s a thing I do.”
“Really?”
I laughed at his expression, so I told him his number. “Okay?”
Grinning again, he nodded.
“Look, this is fun, but I have things to do,” I told him.
“So do I. How about tonight?”
“Dinner? Not tonight. As I said, when we’re finished.”
“But that’s a date?”
“That’s a date.”
“No hard feelings?”
“A few,” I admitted.
He nodded, but then smiled. “Yeah, I guess I would have too, so thanks for being so nice to me.”
I smiled sweetly at him and left him looking after me. I felt strange under his gaze, as if I desperately wanted him to find me attractive.
It took me a while to forget his smile.
Jon was ever so pleased to see me, reminding me of a faithful dog that I’d left at kennels for three weeks. His eyes lit up when I walked into the room in which he was sitting, clicking through thousands of photographs on a computer.
He immediately got up and came over to me. There he hesitated, so I kissed his cheek, in a sisterly fashion. I sensed he was a little disappointed.
“Rebecca, you’re okay?”
“So it seems. Any luck?” I asked, nodding at the computer.
“No, I never got any good sightings.”
“Okay, when you’re finished, I’ll be in the medical wing speaking to Carlene. If you come and find me, we’ll go see Mum.”
His face clouded with the prospect of going home with me. I think he was worried about my meeting his mother.
I left him to his photographs while I went to catch up with Carlene. She had a patient so I waved at her through her glass door and went looking for the Colonel.
“Ah, Rebecca, glad you found me, as there’s been a development.”
“Oh yes?”
“We’ve a positive identification on Omar. He was a mercenary. Langley found him in Beirut, but he’s believed to be Iraqi. They trained him and used him on various Black-ops in the Middle East. He went rogue and independent two years ago. The Agency was rather reluctant to give us the information, as he was one of theirs, in the pre-Kuwait war days.”
“What sent him rogue?”
“Who knows, perhaps he got greedy or got religion. Whatever it was, they don’t know who was paying him.”
“How about the device, is there any way of neutralising it?”
“Oh, I rang that Whiteside chappie, as you suggested. It seems there is a possible counter-measure. It’s all to do with vibrations and microwaves, most of it far over my head, but if the vibrations are interrupted then the force field can be breached. The problem is that Standing foresaw that and has alternated the vibration sequence so there are about five million possible frequencies.”
“At least it shows that we’re on the right track.”
“Right. Um, don’t let our American friends know, there’s a good girl.”
“I thought they were our chums on this one?”
“There are chums and chums, dear girl.”
“Understood, oh, and by the way, Mike was the man who was in charge when they grabbed me in London.”
“I thought he might have been. He’s been CIA in London for two years. A good man, by all accounts.”
“He’s also got the hots for me, I thought you ought to know.”
“Really? Now that is interesting! He’s always been known as the Iceman. Do me a favour, Rebecca, don’t dampen his ardour, as it would be a weakness we could exploit later.”
“Look, boss, doing what has to be done is one thing, but I’m not buggering around with anyone’s love-life on job time, and that includes mine, okay?”
He simply grinned, as he knew the resentment I felt over my treatment at the hands of the Agency was sufficient for me to do as he suggested.
“Go on, get your new boyfriend and zip off and check his mummy. We want something within four days, okay?”
“I’ll try, boss, I’ll try,” I said, leaving to find Jon looking for me near the medical wing.
“Come on, Jon, time for us to go see mummy dearest.”
“Must we?” he asked.
“We must, but if it is really shitty, I promise we’ll leave.”
“What do I tell her about you?”
“We’ll discuss that in the car. Got your kit?”
He nodded, hefting a case.
“Let’s go!” I said, steering him to my Mazda in the car park.
Chapter Fourteen.
The atmosphere at the family home was hardly warm and welcoming. It had been a good hour and a bit drive down to Hampshire from where we had been. Berkshire is next to Hampshire, but the Standings live in a lovely Georgian house near the coast. Spring was slow in coming, as there was still a cold feel to the weather. Grey skies and chilly winds kept people wrapped up warm. The many clumps of daffodils, other spring flowers and tree blossom promised warmth to come, but as I got out of the car, I shivered.
The house was painted white, with ivy and wisteria breaking up the stark appearance nicely. Set on the top of a hill with a south facing aspect, it was a nice house, but somewhat isolated and bleak in its remote setting. Jon looked at me, looking slightly nervous.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Yes. Now try to cheer up, and just act as you would normally.”
He smiled. “I’ll try.”
“And, don’t forget, I’m a girlfriend, so we hold hands and silly stuff like that, okay?”
This made him look even more nervous, so I went over to him and kissed him on the lips.
“Okay?”
“I think I can pretend to be in love with you,” he said with a soppy grin.
We were both laughing when the front door opened. I turned and faced my next challenge.
“Mum, hi, this is Rebecca.”
Sarah Standing was a handsome woman in her early fifties. Her hair was still dark brown and cut quite short with a natural wave. Dressed in jeans, a heavy sweater and a green body warmer, she looked like a member of the local gentry. Two dogs, a Labrador and a spaniel, raced each other to greet us.
“Jon, darling, how lovely,” she said, her eyes belying her words. Her voice was very cultured and could cut ice. There was no doubt that this lady believed she was definitely upper-drawer. I recalled the colonel telling me that she went to one of the better schools and that her family were ‘moderately good’. That, from him, was recognition of some standing, no pun intended.
She smiled with her mouth, but I have never met anyone with eyes as cold as hers.
I shook her hand and smiled.
“Hello Mrs Standing. This is really kind of you, I didn’t want to put you out, but Jon said you might welcome the company,” I said, making my own accent match hers. I was wearing a tan suede skirt, long boots, a cashmere sweater and an Italian leather Jacket. I know I didn’t look like your average student, and was rewarded by a rise of her eyebrows as she regarded me with some surprise.
“Oh?”
“I just thought with an empty house, that it might be nice to have some people around,” Jon said.
“Well, things are a little quiet at the moment. Holly and William are still at school, but the horses keep me busy.”