Acceptable Risk

Chapter 12

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Sitting in the office of MI-5's head boss, Harry Pearce, Emily presented to him and Lucas North copies of the translated scripts Reid had done.

Harry glanced over the files for a while and then looked up at her, "Are you saying Al Qaeda is here?"

She nodded, "INTERPOL has captured three cells, there are two more. The brother of the late bin Laden is still MIA. He is believed to be here in England."

Harry frowned at her and looked over to Lucas, "Do you…?"

Lucas nodded, "Yes, Harry, I do. Believe me, I do. And Harold Brown is the key to leading us and INTERPOL to the brother."

"What is his name?" Harry asked her impatiently. "We can't keep calling him the brother."

Emily grinned, "Well, bin Laden did have many brothers…sisters…but the rumored successor was Omar bin Laden, he was the 23rd son and half brother. He's in his 40s and is known to be as lethal as his late half brother."

Harry shook his head, "Are there any more kinsmen we should be aware of?"

Emily shook her head, "None, as far as INTERPOL can see as potential threat. The others half brothers were either dead or didn't want anything to do with him."

He nodded, "Thank goodness."

"What's the game plan, Harry?" Lucas watched his boss closely.

Harry thought for a moment before he answered, "Game plan?" He turned to his senior officer, "I feel as if we're about to attend a football game! Game plan!"

Lucas grinned as he turned to look at Emily, "I like football…don't watch it much but it's a fun sport."

"Oh…I don't follow sports Lucas, I haven't the slightest idea about their rules." Emily looked at him in confusion

"It's okay, I'm teasing."

"Well, I'm not." Harry groused. "First of all, we're going behind -6's back….not that that's a bad idea." He shrugged. "Second, this has to be handled very carefully." Emily and Lucas nodded. "Gallows is a fool for letting Harold Brown who's nothing but a sniveling little weasel."

Emily chuckled.

Harry whipped his stern head at her, "Yes…yes, go ahead and laugh, Prentiss but do not underestimate that bloody weasel. He moved up the ranks really fast; his father wants him in the Parliament." Harry frowned at the last statement.

"And you don't want that happening." Lucas provided the last.

"Of course not!" Harry snapped. "Imagine the Parliament full of 'rodents'! Harold will be filling the seats with his cronies, for heaven's sakes!"

Emily arched her brows, "Um…back to the situation at hand…"

Harry stared at her, "Yes, I've not forgotten, Prentiss." He stood up and walked about his office before he turned back to her. "Of course you'll have to turn over the books to Gallows but," he held up one hand. "You'll tell him the interpretations are about Syrians making a trade with the Egyptians…and arms trade are all about illegal weapons."

"You think he'll buy it?"

Harry shrugged, "He'll have his people go through the books…if he has anyone to interpret them."

"But they'll see the word 'nuclear'."

Harry nodded, "I'm aware of that but by then…"

Emily smiled, "I see…that'll give Harold time to contact brother Omar."

Harry smiled at her, "You're catching on, young lady."

In the meantime, in the dungeons of INTERPOL, Reid and Hotch going over the last few pages of the books Reid had completed. Mei-Lin was standing outside, keeping watch as usual.

There was a small smile on Reid's face as he muttered over the pages.

Hotch arched his brow as he watched his young agent, "Something amusing?"

Reid glanced over to him and shook his head, "Oh no, Hotch, I'm just going over this page…it's actually boring…"

"And you're smiling?"

Reid frowned, "I am?"

Hotch nodded, "Come on, Reid…you're talking to me." He looked at him expectantly.

Reid looked out the closed door where he knew Mei-Lin was standing and turned back to Hotch, "She came to my room last night…and we talked."

Surprise wore on Hotch's face; so Emily was right, she did hear some noise!

"Is she okay?"

Reid nodded, "Oh…yeah…yes…she told me all about her fiancé," Hotch nodded and waited. "And I told her about Maeve." Reid finished quietly.

"How did it feel…talking about her?" Hotch prompted.

The young man shrugged, "It's okay…didn't hurt as much as I thought. I guess I'm ready to move on." He looked up at Hotch. "I won't forget about her, Hotch."

"Reid, just because you may have feelings for someone else doesn't mean you're betraying Maeve's memory. It's okay, I'm sure she wants you to move on."

"Did…Did…you feel…"

Hotch smiled softly, "Yeah, I did feel weird when I first went out with Beth. But now, it's gotten easier, I don't feel as if I betrayed her, I'm moving on, I have to…and so do you, Reid."

Reid nodded, "Yeah, I guess I owe it to her." He took a deep breath, "I like Mei-Lin, she's nice." He said shyly.

Hotch chuckled, "Yes Reid, she's a nice girl. I like her too."

Reid blushed slightly.

"And very smart."

Reid smiled, "I know she told me…she and I have the same IQ."

Hotch arched his brow, "You're kiddin'?"

The young agent shook his head, "Seriously, Hotch."

"Okay…"

They were interrupted by a knock; it was Mei-Lin, "Excuse me, agents, it's Emily."

They exchanged looks; Hotch grinned widely, "Thanks, Mei-Lin. We're packed and ready."

Emily appeared by the door, "Hey guys, all done?" She looked at Hotch.

He nodded, "Reid's done…and he did a few touch-ups, like you wanted."

Emily nodded, "Great, thanks Reid."

He nodded, "No problem, Emily. Like I said, I'm glad to help…and I had fun." He looked behind her over to where Mei-Lin was standing and smiling at him in return.

Emily saw his exchange and glanced over to Hotch who shook his head and smile.

"Okay, hand over the notes. MI-6 just called…again." Emily rolled her eyes. "They are anxious to get their hands on the notebooks." She stood aside and indicted to the three men who were waiting to pick up the boxes.

….

Twenty minutes later, at Vauxhall Emily was standing in front of Sir Fillion Gallows; she noticed Harold Brown was not present in the room.

"Here are the notebooks, Sir Gallows, all 200 of it."

Nodding at them, the man gave it a cursory glance, "Thank you agent Prentiss. We'll have our expert examine them shortly." He began to walk to the doors, an indication of dismissing her.

"Good day to you…I have a meeting in five minutes with the Prime Minister…"

"Oh…I guess I'll leave." Emily smiled as she nodded to the men. "Let's go, guys." They nodded and left.

As they left the building, Emily muttered to Tomas, "As paranoid as they have been, I'm surprise he didn't use a scanner on the boxes."

Tomas shook his head, "A little careless, Agent Prentiss, yes indeed. Although I wonder where that Harold Brown is…?"

Emily glanced about her, "Yeah…that little weasel is MIA…"

Tomas chuckled, "Best get out of here…this place always gives me the creeps." He shivered for effect. "It's as if there are eyes everywhere."

Canter nodded, "I know what you mean," he looked about him as they walked out of the place. "The faster we get out of the building, the faster we shake the eyeballs off the back of our heads." He began to brush his head.

Emily shook her head, "You guys are a bunch of pansies." She chuckled.

"Pansies! Hey, don't laugh…MI-6 are the creeps…never liked them…now MI-5, they're not half as bad."

Canter nodded.

"Now, I agree with you on that." Emily grinned. "That's one agency that doesn't play around."

She took out her phone, "Prentiss, okay Lucas…Operation Mouse Trap is all yours." She grinned.

Operation Mouse Trap? Lucas repeated. Who thought of that name?

"I did!" Emily laughed, her team shook their heads.

Figures…Yank! Lucas chuckled. Very well, Mouse Trap is set up and is a go.

"By the way…the weasel was MIA at Vauxhall." Emily informed him.

Oh? I'll inform Harry…this is interesting information; he never lets Gallows out of his sight. Thank you Emily.

"Not a problem, happy tracking. Prentiss out." She tucked her phone back into her pocket as she hopped in the car and joined the other three.

Hotch grinned at Emily, "Where to, boss?"

"Back to the –Pol. We still have to figure out the third location." She turned around to face the back seats where Reid and Mei-Lin were seated, "Harold Brown was not there, and I have a bad feeling about this."

Hotch frowned at her, "I hate it when you have bad feelings…things never end up well."

She turned back to him, "I don't either, Hotch but you know me long enough."

Hotch nodded, "I do and I'm beginning to worry. This third location…"

Emily nodded, "Yeah, I know what you mean."

Reid leaned forward, "What? What do you mean?"

Hotch and Emily exchanged looks before he explained, "I'm afraid it's going to lead us to a trap but we have to go forward, Reid."

"Why?" This came from Mei-Lin.

Emily took a deep breath, "The third location may lead us to where your father is."

….

End of Chapter 12