“Look” Colin said “I’ve got some time off due to me; why don’t we spend it together?”
“Do you mean it this time?” said Therese.
“It wasn’t my fault we didn’t get away to the Netherlands in July” said Colin “it was that copper Hounsell.”
“My number is still the same Owen, or Colin; whatever you call yourself. Why didn’t you call me before, you know I’d drop everything to be with you.”
“That’s my girl” smiled Colin “I’ve never forgotten what you looked like when you dropped everything before!”
“I’ve never forgotten how you made me feel either. Are you sure we can’t just do it here somewhere in the station?”
Colin was tempted but he knew that his priority was to get off this platform and away from the crowds. He’d spent too long in Manchester earlier in the year; somebody might just remember seeing him and Therese together. He drew Therese to him and kissed her hard. It felt good.
“When is your train?” he asked Therese.
“In about five minutes” she replied.
“Okay if I come back to Runcorn with you?” asked Colin. Therese nodded. Colin dashed to get a ticket and they were soon sat in a compartment on their way to Runcorn. It was almost midnight when they arrived by taxi at Therese’s first floor flat; they crept in and made it upstairs to her room without disturbing anyone.
Colin woke up about five o’clock. With Therese snoring gently beside him he spent the next three hours wrestling with his conscience. Colin’s conscience hadn’t troubled him a great deal in the past it has to be said; he had no problem ticking people off his list in the most decisive manner. After all, they deserved it; he was just rectifying other people’s mistakes.
Perhaps it was his age, or he was getting soft but as soon as they had closed the door behind them and rid themselves of their clothes, Therese had reminded him how fiery and exciting the sex had been between them when they met in the summer.
A few days in bed with Therese wouldn’t recharge the batteries like Erebus wanted, but it was a pretty enticing prospect.
Then there was Athena. Was he feeling guilty about cheating on her? They hadn’t shared anything more than a few kisses for crying out loud! Who was he kidding? She was way out of his league anyway.
Athena was a beautiful, intelligent woman with a great body who would probably be his boss when Erebus had taken his place in the celestial navy. Her partner Simon dying in the London bombings must have wrecked her emotionally for a while, but despite what Erebus thought, Athena was no shrinking violet.
Colin asked himself whether all Athena needed him for was one night of passion to get back in the saddle again. After that he might be yesterday’s newspapers.
“Bloody hell!” he thought “this relationship lark is complicated isn’t it.”
What the hell; perhaps on this occasion he could have his cake and eat it!
One thing he knew for certain; Therese wasn’t about to hand him over to the police, based on the energy she’d put into their lovemaking earlier and she couldn’t wait for them to get off on holiday together somewhere. It was after those few days holiday that concerned Colin. What would she want from him then?
This could get messy! If he ended it after the holiday she might turn nasty and threaten to expose him. Perhaps he could keep her sweet by promising to be a frequent visitor to Runcorn? As long as he avoided her discovering where he was based and wanting to follow him back down south, perhaps he would get two helpings for a while after all?
As the morning started to break over the shabby street that Therese called home, Colin realised that their ‘brief encounter’ at Manchester Piccadilly could ultimately result in Therese putting too much significance on their relationship and starting to get ‘clingy’.
If she asked him for some type of commitment he might have to do something to solve the problem, permanently!
Although he had only been with Olympus for a few months, Colin ‘The Phoenix’ Bailey was well aware how important the integrity of the organisation was; nothing must jeopardise that.
CHAPTER 23
At Larcombe Manor Erebus was just about to bring the morning meeting to order. Athena was sat on his right hand side reading the overnight reports. Thanatos and Minos were on his left deep in conversation about the terrorists still in the ice house.
Alastor was a little late. The door burst open and there he was, slightly out of breath with a copy of the Daily Record under his arm.
“Sorry for the delay Erebus, but I had to pop into the city to get a copy of this regional newspaper. Phoenix has played a blinder on the Dunfermline job, judging by the report in here.”
“He hasn’t been in touch yet has he?” asked Athena casually.
“He’s on holiday my dear” scolded Erebus “I’m sure you’ll get a post card in due course. ‘Wish you were here’ or something along those lines.”
The old man winked at her. Athena look a little flustered for a change. Their banter went straight over the heads of the other three men around the table.
“He’s a good addition to our organisation” said Thanatos “efficient and single minded.”
“He chose extremely well on this mission” said Alastor “there doesn’t seem to be any doubts about it being suicide. ‘The body of Donald MacDonald was found in his car yesterday evening; it’s thought he died from carbon monoxide poisoning’. They’ve reported all the basic details of the case brought against him previously and mentioned ‘additional evidence discovered at his home that supports the note left in his car for the police’.
The Fife area police chief gave a statement to the Record in which he said ‘Donald MacDonald was a troubled soul, whose actions had destroyed his long and conspicuous career; we pass on our condolences to his family and hope that Donald is now at peace.’ A neatly tied up package presented to the authorities; just leaving them to tick the boxes on their interminable paperwork and move on.”
“Excellent” said Erebus. “And he’ll be here at Larcombe Manor with us for the foreseeable future as Athena informed us on Saturday morning” he added cheerily.
Athena picked up one of the overnight reports and hurriedly changed the subject; she could feel several pairs of eyes turned her way. She already knew that Erebus suspected a growing connection between her and Phoenix; she didn’t want the others to have too much time to think about what might lie behind the old man’s comment.
“This report from Level Three of the ice house is a little disturbing” she said “we don’t want to keep these men here for too long surely? It’s been some time since our last snap inspection from the charity commissioners. Although they’ve never suspected anything amiss with our set up, having four people under interrogation at the same time could be an issue. I hope we can clear things up quickly.”
Erebus nodded.
“I share your concern Athena but we need to tread carefully; despite the fact that we carry out our operations in secret, we have always tried to maintain some standards. Our interrogation techniques are designed to get the information we desire, but anything forbidden by international law is beyond the pale and we wouldn’t entertain using more extreme methods. We must trust Henry Case and his team to persuade our guests to provide the answers we need to hear.”
Athena was well aware that Henry Case had a formidable reputation; he was undoubtedly good at his job, indeed Athena couldn’t think of anyone who was better suited for the job that they did than Henry.
Athena was the only person around this table that knew that among the personnel in the ice house, the chief interrogator was known as ‘Head’ Case.