[spoilers] 8.8 - Chapter 4

[almh]

Ooooh, getting closer now Thanks to all who have reviewed so far I'm hoping to write the last few chapters tonight, so they should be up here tomorrow (My mum just came into the room and is now completely puzzled as to what I am up to. But at least I missed the you should be working lecture...)

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Ros walked briskly to the meet. It was a hidden place, no way of being followed without it being obvious. She arrived slightly early, choosing to stand in the shadows. Finally her contact arrived, looking round the area carelessly.

"Joshua," she said loudly, making her way out of the shadows.

The man smiled. "Hello Eleanor."

"How about we skip the pleasantries and move onto you telling me what you've found?" she asked sharply. The man continued to smile.

"As usual, all business with you." He handed over a file. "I've got this. It's the file of an MI5 officer with links to Basel. Large amounts of money deposited in a bank account, and they were at the meetings in Basel. Good enough?"

"It'll do," she answered, turning on her heel and walking away, slipping the file into her jacket.

-=-

Tariq looked up briefly from the computer screen when he heard the unmistakable sound of more files being placed on Ruth's desk. Sympathetically he smiled at her. She weakly smiled back, grabbing a new file to read through and analyse. This one he noticed had been different from the rest - a brown paper envelope instead of a file. He briefly returned his attention to the screen, but it went back almost immediately to Ruth opening the envelope.

She brought out a couple of disks, and the wad of paper that was contained inside, but was at the wrong side to read what was on it. Quietly sighing he went back to his work, only briefly looking up out of curiosity every so often.

Ruth finally broke the silence half an hour later. "I've got to go out, can you tell Ros when she comes back that I won't be able to meet her for lunch."

"Everything alright?" he queried, her voice softer and more nervous than normal.

"Of course, just got too much work to do, you know. I'll be back in about an hour, you'll be alright by yourself?"

"Of course. Going anywhere nice?"

"No, not really," she answered back simply. "So I'll see you in an hour then." She quickly grabbed her bag and her coat and rushed off the Grid. Tariq watched her leave, and barely looked up from his computer, even when the person from GCHQ came in to collect some of the files from Ruth's desk.

-=-

"Remind me why I'm here again?" Lucas asked Harry quietly as they waited to be admitted to see the new Home Secretary.

"I want a second opinion on the Home Secretary. An unbiased opinion," he answered briskly and quietly.

Finally they were admitted to see the man. The first thing that struck Lucas was the unmistakable pompousness of the man. He was sitting down behind his desk, smiling similarly to a snake when it was about to eat its prey.

"Sir Harry Pearce," he said loudly. "And this is?"

"Lucas North, Senior Case Officer," he introduced himself. The man gestured for them to sit down.

-=-

"Well the man is an arrogant self-centered politician," Lucas told Harry.

"Good to know we're of the same opinion," he replied as they made their way through the doors onto the Grid. The new Home Secretary had insisted on walking them both all the way back to Thames House, an unpleasant experience.

Both men looked around. "Tariq, is no one else here? I thought Ros and Ruth were here with you," Harry told him.

"Ros went out to see a contact, and Ruth left about ten minutes ago, didn't say where," he answered. Ros suddenly walked onto the Grid behind Lucas.

"Speak of the devil," Lucas murmured.

"Where did you say Ruth went to?" Ros asked, choosing to ignore Lucas's comment.

"I don't know, she just went ten minutes ago," Tariq repeated. "She said to tell you that she won't be able to meet for lunch -"

"Any reason why?" Ros brought out the file from her jacket, choosing to start reading it whilst waiting for an answer.

"No, she didn't say anything."

Harry frowned. "Not like Ruth," he murmured. He turned to Ros. "Ros, is everything alright?"

"This is a file from my contact. He said it showed proof of a mole in MI5 who was involved in Basel," she said, her voice normal except for a slight waver.

"And? Who?"

"It says Ruth."

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OOOOOOOH!!!