Chapter 9

Back to London after Kenneth Martin dropped Annie off.

Annie walked a couple of city blocks and entered a Marks & Spencer for water, a banana, some nuts, and a cheap pair of sunglasses. When satisfied that she went undetected, she checked into the hotel and placed a Do Not Disturbsign on her door. She went into mission mode and set up her things. Annie washed up quickly, changed into a fresh outfit, swept her hair into a low pony tail and took a necklace with a key hanging from it out of the lining of her purse. She put it on and tucked it close to her skin under her clothing. It has been a long while since she had that piece of Simon close to her. She checked herself in the mirror before she left via the stairs and back entrance. She was careful still even though she felt confident that no one was watching her, she wanted to keep it that way until she was ready to be revealed and that time had not arrived yet. She did all that in less than 12 minutes.

Before she left D.C. she learned that the Fischer Estate was held in probate for a time since the next of kin, Zarya Fischer failed to appear at appointments on the reading of Simon's will. Simon's lawyers maintained his estates and properties in a trust. It seemed that Simon had prepared very well in event of his death. The British government seized and froze many of Simon's assets and properties for reparations against his crimes, but still a sizeable fortune remained. Many of his properties, cars, two private planes, a luxury yacht and art collections were auctioned off as stipulated in his wishes, but after time had passed and no one came forward, the few properties Simon chose to keep in his estate reverted to the private trust.

The old caretaker was still there, living in a cottage on the edge of the Fischer property near Canterbury, about 90 minutes outside of London. Annie learned Duncan Lewis had no immediate family left. He had no social media presence, no cell phone, and rarely ventured far from the village from the looks of his financial records. He had a week long hospital stay the year Simon died for a mild stroke. Annie wasn't sure what she would say to convince him that she knew Simon, but she wore the key to the Fischer Family's steam trunk around her neck and hoped she could get answers from him.

Annie rented a car after taking a train and getting off when halfway to Canterbury. No car had been behind her for miles, she drove quickly, keeping just over the speed limit as she stayed with the flow of traffic. When she arrived she drove past the main road and the electronic gates of the main estate. It had been leased out to a French celebrity as a vacation home, nothing out of the ordinary and no ties to Russians. She noticed as she drove down the small lane to the cottage there were motion-activated cameras near the farm style gate. Not as fancy as the main gate, she had to get out of the car to unlatch and open it, there was no intercom or ringer, simply a small understated white sign with black lettering that read, The Shire Sheep Farms.

Annie turned her car around to face the way from which she came. When she left her parked car, she noticed motion activated cameras affixed to the tall cascading willows on each side of the gate. After walking through the gate she heard dogs barking as she walked down the path leading to the stone cottage. The ivy framed door opened before she reached the end of the path and out ran two barking dogs, a border collie and a westie. Annie bent down to allow them to sniff her and gave each of them a scratch.

"Nice security system," said Annie her eyes meeting Duncan Lewis.

The elderly man following them wore a wool cardigan over a button down shirt and newsboy cap with khaki slacks. You could see he still took pride in his appearance, as he was neatly groomed and bright eyed. He looked around and whispered, "Come in Miss Walker, I put a pot of water on the stove. If anyone by chance asks you're here about the wool. I'm not expecting another buyer until 3 p.m. You can be on your way at least twenty minutes before then to avoid crossing paths on the one lane road."

Annie nodded in reply and noted to herself that he spoke calmly and didn't seem surprised to see her. Mr. Duncan Lewis set the expectation for how much time they had together upfront, a familiar technique. He wasn't a mere caretaker concluded Annie as she watched him snap his fingers and command, "Come Maisy, come Felix."

The dogs obeyed.

Annie gave a smile not revealing her surprise that he knew her name. She followed the man who walked steadily despite his age and took in everything her training taught her. There appeared to be no signs that the stroke left him worse off in any way. The thin dossier she compiled showed that he had been with the Fischer family for over three decades and not only was the caretaker for the estate, he looked after a sizeable flock of sheep kept on the property. Simon Fischer's will included provisions for Duncan Lewis to remain living on the estate to care for the animals as well as a generous salary and funds for his heath care as he aged.

Annie didn't speak until the solid wood door to the stone cottage closed behind them. She scanned the cozy living room filled with books and said, "Mr. Lewis, how did you. . . .um,"

"You're here about my employer, I've waited and hoped you'd come while I was still of sound mind." He said as his finger tapped the side of his forehead. He led her past the living room and dining rooms into the kitchen and a nook with a window that framed the view of the road she drove down to reach the cottage. Annie looked out the window.

"So we can see if anyone else is coming," said Lewis.

"You expected me?"

"Please sit."

He walked over to the stove and removed the whistling tea kettle.

"Mr. Lewis, I'm looking for answers for Zarya." Lewis dropped the canister of tea leaves on the counter. The first time he lost his cool noted Annie.

"I'm sorry," said Annie as she rushed over to help with the mess. She saw tears well up and drip down his leathery skin. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped away his tears. Annie finished making the tea after she told him to sit.

"My dear, Zarya, she's alive, well and free?" he laughed and cried.

Annie felt teary herself and nodded. "I thought the Russians had her hidden away in some bloody hell or worse, that they killed her. I sent an investigator to her café and her apartment to look for her when she didn't return at Christmas like she promised. It was closed, boarded up. Her apartment was as she left it. I called her a hundred times . . . " his voice trailed off.

"She's a survivor."

"You've seen her in person?" he asked, very surprised.

Annie nodded.

"Yesterday. She spoke fondly about you, Mr. Lewis," Annie brought over the tray of tea to the table. Lewis for a moment looked like he was elsewhere and in deep thought.

"Oh Duncan will do, the biscuits are in the cupboard to the left there," he said pointing and returning to the present.

"You must tell her to be very careful," whispered Duncan. "She should not come anywhere near here or any of Simon's properties."

Annie nodded. "She knows, she's been very careful. You're surprised that I spoke of Zarya, yet you expected me."

"I expected that you would one day come with questions about Simon, but Zarya I feared for dead."

"Zarya came to me with questions and memories," said Annie.

"Beautiful carefree girl, is she still that way?"

Annie shook her head.

"Bound to happen with all this business. You managed to connect with her, now that I did not account for, but she needs to be ready to move and not trust anyone, Simon asked me to pass along some papers to her in the event that he did not return, but she never came," said Lewis.

Annie thought for a moment. "I can get them to her."

"Very well. You have the distinction of being the only woman Simon spoke of to me, Miss Walker. And that's the truth," said Duncan with a wink.

"Simon was someone I lied to Mr. Lewis. It was my job to get close to him through deceit. I wasn't sorry for my feelings, but. . ."

"We must never be sorry over whom we love. He wasn't sorry."

"Simon is dead because of me, my stubborn hope that that he had good in him. I could have prevented it, but I hesitated and that hesitation. . ."

"Miss Walker, no one is more sorry than Simon and you were right, he had much good in him. Oh there's much to say and we don't have much time, Zarya found refuge through you, thank you, it's time for her to know the truth and perhaps she has realized it herself, what questions did she have?" asked Duncan.

"Zarya came to me yesterday with questions and vague memories. She suspects Simon's allegiance to the FSB wasn't true, that he was a double agent working on behalf of the Crown. Do you know anything to corroborate this?"

"Clever, clever Zarya," chuckled Duncan remembering how she never really applied herself though she was brilliant, she simply enjoyed the moment and went where the wind took her.

"She's correct. He used his work and worldwide travel as a developer, philanthropist and venture capitalist in developing nations as a cover for the FSB, but he was really feeding small bits of misinformation to them and at the same time reporting to the British his work for Russia. How did she learn of it?"

"She wasn't sure, this was all a conjecture based on a brief meeting she had with a Brit last year, but you tell me what you know," replied Annie as she watched Duncan's reaction when she mentioned the Brit. An eyebrow furrowed every so slightly.

"Simon was extremely careful and he was deeply entrenched, but he was raised here in the UK by parents who were ordered to defect. That was to be his training all along, his parents were to play as defectors, but they were here as their mission too. He was the mission. He learned to lie and to pretend as a young boy, but you can't change your very nature and he was a good and honest boy who cared very much for truth and justice. It is hard to have integrity in this business and perhaps that is what swallowed him up in the end. It was always intended from the moment they set foot here that he would become a weapon Russia, but God bless her, his mother would have none of it. She had seen the evils and hypocrisy of dictatorships and her eyes were opened to the Western world's ideals of representation and democracy."

He looked at his watch.

"And Zarya?"

"Everyone protected her from all of it. She was a good deal younger than Simon when they defected, and she had no knowledge at first and later absolutely no interest in this world. Simon was gifted at the work and insulated her from it."

"His bright star…"

"Exactly, and please have her take every precaution, come, let me get you what Simon wanted her to have," Annie followed as did the dogs who had settled themselves at their feet after the excitement of Annie's arrival wore off.

Annie looked around as they walked towards the back entrance of the cottage and outside. Again there were security cameras.

"Simon maintained his cover so well, he killed many," said Annie trying to reconcile the shock of hearing corroborating information on Simon's true allegiances and what she knew to be true from his files which she studied since he was her target.

"He did, but never without a heaviness of heart and some he didn't kill at all, they were all part of the story that built his cover," said Duncan.

"Do you remember anyone coming to the estate late at night?"

"When the Brits needed to meet with the family, they came here to this very cottage under the cover of darkness though rare. I'm taking you now, there is a tunnel leading here from the barn at the main house. Irina would come here to meet her handler late at night. Started out as a bomb shelter from World War 2 for the main house, but it was extended to reach the barn before his family defected."

"Zarya thought she saw this man at their home late at night," said Annie taking out the sketch to show Duncan as they walked slowly followed by the dogs.

"She remembered?" he asked as he stared at the sketch and nodded.

"Not exactly. She thought it was at the house not here, and she only remembers vague things like the lights of a car, voices, and the shadow of a man she concluded was this man," said Annie tapping the sketch.

Simon and Zarya had a ball with me and working with the sheep and farm animals. No animals were allowed in their home, Irina had little time or patience for it. When whelping time came, they slept over if their studies allowed for it and helped take care of the freshly born pups, so she must have seen Lord Phillip Thomas Archibald Middleton here." They walked outside and past pens with sheep and lambs.

Annie had a name, "Lord Phillip Thomas Archibald Middleton, you're sure?" asked Annie.

"Oh dear, I'm positive as he hired me himself to the be the caretaker for the family estate, but really I was the surveillance head of this operation, reporting the actions and movements of the family to MI-6, a system of checks and balances to insure that they were indeed working for us," said Duncan.

"He was the lead on the operation?"

"Operation Solitude, he was Irina's handler and then Simon's on our end,"

"Has he been here recently?"

"Rare now, about twice a year or so to reminisce about the old days, but he failed to mention that Zarya had surfaced and that's not something I'll soon forgive, I'll tell you that."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Oh, I suppose he did it to protect her and me from the FSB, but I'm ready for the grave," said Duncan.

"Come to think of it the last time he came, he asked where I thought Zarya might be if she were alive, what her life might have been as she matured and we spent a bit of time talking about the Fischer children and their achievements. We both agreed on the tragedy of what befell them both," said Duncan.

"And it was only you who was involved in the surveillance of the Fischer Family?"

Duncan shook his head, "The Russians preferred cloak and dagger meetings out in the open, they used signals at the children's schools to indicate a meet. I had a team including their driver, the cook, and various operatives from time to time placed at their schools. They were under constant watch. Russians never came here or risked it, they knew we were always watching defectors so Simon learned early how to evade surveillance on all sides. The Russians always approached the family while they were out and about at the parks, restaurants or on holiday."

It made sense, he was more than a caretaker from her assessment of him, but she would ask Kenneth to help her corroborate Duncan Lewis' story. Despite his age and reports of a stroke, he was of sound mind. Annie peppered him with more questions to establish more evidence and noted all the names and approximate dates in her head.

"And the driver, the cook and the others now?" asked Annie

"All let go by the time the children left home, but none of them knew the affairs we speak of, to them we were only watching a family of defectors," said Duncan.

"But you couldn't locate Zarya despite your connections?"

"I tried and then I was ordered to cease because it may draw attention back to Simon and all of this would be taken from me. Lord Middleton thought she was likely captured or dead since his network could not locate her, this was all I had left of them so I stopped. Simon and Zarya were the closest family I had, they were like children to me, so I followed orders, Lord Littleton told me she was probably dead, but I didn't want to believe it," said Duncan.

"What did the Russians do after Simon's death? Did they probe further?"

They continued to walk a short distance towards the barn as the dogs followed while sniffing and playing.

"You my dear made it easy. They believed Simon's loyalties were compromised because of you. Compromised for love. All the pieces created a story we controlled, killing Hector to save you, the home in the Maldives, the identity he cultivated for himself and for Zarya, but we quickly changed it to match you and it worked."

"For Zarya?"

"Yes, Simon wanted to get out of the business long before he met you. Each time he was put off and asked to do one more operation, to cultivate one more asset for us, to fund another legitimate Russian business that we had eyes on, and his sense of duty always took priority over his own desires to be free from the only life he knew. That is until you came along."

"Zarya was supposed to go with him?"

Duncan nodded, "It was Simon's wish, but things happened out of sequence and he never read her in on his true allegiances. He had no time on his last trip back and I was to tell her in person the next time she returned here and provide her with the necessary documents and directions, but she never returned," said Duncan.

"This is all just so hard to take in," said Annie.

"I know dear, the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction," said Duncan.

"Twain," said Annie. Duncan nodded.

They only had about another 20 minutes as Annie wanted to be on her way long before Duncan's next appointment.

"Simon had two safes. One the Brits knew and one the Russians knew about at his flat in London. Each examined and cleared out the contents of anything valuable or incriminating or of use to them. Like wiping them would clear the world of his existence. But none of them knew about his other safes." said Duncan as he led Annie into the barn. They walked into the last stall.

"Here under the straw lies the tunnel entrance," said Duncan.

Annie kicked around the straw and saw that the cement floor had an outline. "Over there is the crow bar," said Duncan. Annie lifted the trap door and looked in with the phone light.

"It goes along the fence line to the pasture, all the way to the car park of the main house," said Duncan. "It was a bomb shelter at first for the main house, but it was further built out for Irina to meet with her handler."

"Who else knows about this tunnel?"

"Aside from me, Lord Middleton, Irina and only later did Simon learn of it," said Duncan.

Annie looked around, "I didn't know he was fond of sheep," said Annie.

"Oh he was fond of all creatures as much as he was fond of books, he loved to visit places where wool was cultivated in the old ways. Did you know us Brits aren't even in the top five when it comes to wool production? Come now, not much time left," said Duncan as he pulled some raw wool from a shelf for Annie. "For you," said Duncan. Annie smiled and played with the wool in her hands before putting it in her bag.

Duncan led Annie to a nearby storage stall filled with equipment of the trade. He went to the back corner and again pointed to the ground. Once he swept the straw and dirt away Annie helped him lift a loose stone to reveal and in ground safe, upon seeing it Annie's brow crinkled.

The safe is the same exact model Ryan had in their home and it was in the floor of their four car garage. She flashed back to a conversation with Ryan about his choice of safes and how this particular model and ground placement were his preferred placement of safes.

"Simon had this installed? When?"

"Yes. About the time he realized it wasn't going to be easy to free himself, but I handled all the particulars for the farm, it can't be traced back to Simon," said Duncan.

It was very much like a spy to have a private safe his agency-or in this case agencies—didn't know about.

"The life he lived was taking a toll on him even before you came along," said Duncan.

"He was really able to keep this from both the MI-6 and the Russians?"

"Ah yes, he had me hire a private contractor who also outfitted the cottage, Simon vetted him," said Duncan.

Annie's heart rate sped up and she suddenly felt warm as Duncan gingerly knelt down to open the safe.

He took out a black canvas pouch, it was filled with euros and US dollars, a pack of travel documents and a safe deposit key. He handed it to Annie. "Get these to Zarya, they can't be traced unlike whatever Lord Middleton must have given her," said Duncan.

Then Duncan took out a manila envelope and passed it to Annie. She looked inside the safe and saw something she didn't expect to see, the RDI logo. Suddenly Annie was thrust back to her mission, the burglary at RDI and why Simon surprised her in D.C. when he should have been in Scotland. The microchips. . . she thought they had been in Russian hands all this time. When Simon brought her to Cuba, it was to pass the substrates to Hector. Now it made sense given what Lewis corroborated, Simon either never gave the substrates to Hector or he got them back after he killed him.

"Duncan, do you know what those are?" asked Annie pointing to them.

Duncan nodded as he reached her them, "Simon's leverage. Now I fear if you've found me, others may as well, so take this one. I trust you will do the right thing with them."

"Leverage?" asked Annie as she looked over the contents.

"He didn't think the Russians should have a working version of something that could disrupt communications the world over, in truth he didn't think anyone should have that power," said Duncan.

"He asked you to keep these from MI-6?"

"Aye, Simon didn't want them to have them until they agreed to let him end his service," said Duncan.

"But you kept them even after he no longer needed the leverage."

He looked at Annie and with a slight delay, then nodded. "There's another portion elsewhere," said Duncan.

"Does the man who installed the safe know the contents?"

Duncan shook his head. "He or an associate of his comes to upgrade and do a system check about twice a year, but they don't have access to what's inside."

"What was the name of the security firm?"

"Flint Group, good people, Simon trusted them and so do I, " said Duncan as he closed the now empty safe.

Annie felt her stomach drop as she learned that Ryan knew Simon, had hired him and had stood where she stood.

"Did the firm know Simon was working for MI-6?"

Duncan shook his head, "Doubt it, after Irina died no one new apart from me and his handler knew Simon's true allegiance. Simon hired him because he needed discretion."

"When were they last here for a system check?"

Duncan thought a bit. "Oh when the lambs were last transported to the farm in Wales, he was here first and then accompanied them to Wales last fall so he could check on the security there."

"Wales?"

"The Flint Group went there?"

"I'm getting old, haven't been in ages, so I send them on my behalf. It all runs very well with the people I've hired, but the ferry ride is beautiful indeed, have you been to Wales?"

"Never."

"You should change that and also put Australia, New Zealand on your list, lots of sheep farming in those parts and The Shire Sheep Farms extends there as well," said Duncan with a wink.

Duncan put the straw back over the stone slab with Annie's help and they walked back outside.

"Simon has farms in Australia and New Zealand?"

"Investments under the family trust," replied Duncan.

"I see, where are the remaining components?" asked Annie as they approached the cottage.

"That I am unsure of. Annie, you must tell Zarya not to trust anyone and that Simon would want her to stay hidden and safe, tell her about The Shire, and do send her my love."

"Safe from even Lord Littleton?"

"He may try to get his hooks in her and use her for the good of the Crown, but Simon wanted to protect her from this life, now off you go and you need to be safe too, if the Russians ever get wind that Simon was a double there will be a ripple effect of tremendous proportions and I fear for Zarya and you," said Duncan.

"I'll be fine, they can't hurt me more than they already have."

"The Shire, I wonder who came up with the name?"

Zarya loved it when Simon read Tolkien to her. When they arrived here, they imagined it was the Shire.

"Where the Hobbits lived?"

"Aye," said Duncan.

"Good-bye," said Annie with a heavy heart. "Thank you," she said as she hugged the elderly man.