8

The late evening sunshine made it seem as though the hotel was bathed in sunlight as Beth approached the bar. She knew the others were all in place, that Malcolm, Ros and Tariq were watching from the comms room. Back up was near by but there was something nagging at the back of her brain. Something they had missed, or she had missed. She took her place behind the bar as Calum approached her.

"Harvey Wallbanger please." He smiled sweetly as she glared at him.

"I'll." She looked over to where the head bar man was watching, having no idea who she and Calum really were. With a tight smile at Calum she replied. "I'll be right there, sir." Calum smirked, knowing Beth was hating every bit of the night. He looked over the bar to see the various dignities arriving with their guests. He could see Ruth and Harry arriving at the other end of the bar as Dimitri approached the French Environmental Minister. Jacques Felip did not seem happy to be distracted from the pretty young red haired woman he was talking to. Calum smirked, sometimes the stereotypes were right.

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"I have eyes." Malcolm stated as he watched the CCTV footage. The ballroom was begining to fill up with the band begining to play classical music. Joseph Lincoln was just to the left of the band watching the scene in front of him unfold.

"Why are we sending the Trade Minister when the rest of the delegates are Environmental Ministers?" Tariq asked as he watched the screen over Malcom's shoulder. The older man sighed. "Harold Tranter is married to the Environmental Minister - Clare Davies."

"Oh, right." Tariq shrugged. He genuinely had no idea who the politicions were or what they were doing. He was far more interested in whether or not the newest version of his trademark listening devices were working. He knew so far that Calum and Beth's mini cameras were perfect. It was all the other devices that were worrying him. He sighed, hoping that he would see what was going on, sooner or later.

"Lucas?" Malcolm spoke as the younger man looked up at the camera. "Lincoln is by the bar. Dimitri has intersepted the French target."

Malcolm nodded just as Ros joined the two technical officers in the make shift comms room. She looked as calm as ever but Malcolm knew her well enough to see she wasn't at all comfortable with being in the hotel. He wondered if it stemmed from her experience at the bombing or her previous visit to the hotel. Sighing he knew there was no way he would ask her, especially with Tariq in the room.

"Penfold is being as disgustingly creepy as ever."

"True to form." Malcolm watched the disgust cross her face as the smaller man her husband and Zaf were supposed to be 'protecting' clearly said something to offend the Spanish delegate, almost earning himself a slap from Maria Abuelo for his trouble. The Spanish woman narrowed her eyes before smiling at Zaf who had stepped in to calm the situation as Lucas removed the slimey man away. Ros let a small sly smile cross her face, knowing Lucas had done the right thing by getting him away from the situation. She spoke calmly, as she heard Adam and Zoe's coms start to kick in.

"Location."

"Ros, I am where you left me."

"Stay there."

"Catherine."

"Left wing, all quiet here." She sighed as she pushed the housemaid's trolley along the corridor. "Next time I'm not being the chambermaid. Humans are disgusting."

"Now you notice?" Adam's voice cut through. "I've got eyes on Lincoln."

"Stay back. He's not done anything yet. We need him to try to make the deal or lead us to the person we want." Ros folded her arms as she watched the ballroom fill with more and more guests. She frowned slightly, watching Harry order a drink from Beth who looked like the typically bored bar maid that ended up working at such events. Ruth was alongside him but her attention seemed to be on the Russian delegate.

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"Ruth?"

She smiled sweetly as she turned her attention back to the bar. "Ruth?" Harry tried again as she finally met his eyes.

"James George." Ruth touched Harry's arm to stop him looking, although she knew he wouldn't let anyone see he was spying on them she didn't want to risk it.

"Who?"

"Arms dealer, people trafficker. Should be serving life in a Texas prison."

"Not in Havensworth."

"No, not here." She paused. Rested her head on one hand she spoke low enough for the comms to pick up her voice but anyone else would think she was talking to Harry. "We need to find out what the Hell he is doing here."

"On it." Catherine and Tariq stated in unison as Catherine realised she was just relieved to get back to sitting in front of a computer screen. Research had to be better than pushing a cart full of bedsheets and cleaning equipement around the hotel. Ruth turned her attention back to the ballroom as Harry handed her a drink - the champagne glass containing a non-alcoholic version of the drink.

"I don't like this, Harry." She knew that there was every chance George had been the man she had heard Joseph Lincoln talking with when she was locked in the Domestic's cupboard. "He should be in prison."

"Seems he has friends in low places." Harry agreed.

"We need to know why he is here. Harry, I think he's part of the deal." She paused. "I looked into his case when I was in Cyprus. He was arrested for arranging an assassination."

"Ruth."

"He was arrested in Cyprus and deported to the US. It was headline news there for days." She sighed, annoyed that part of her past, even something as seemingly inoquious as a man from a news bulletin had come back to haunt her. "He should not be in the UK. He shouldn't be out of prison. Not for another twenty years."

Harry racked his brain, trying to think of the news story she was referring to. He had to admit, if Section D weren't directly involved in those days he tended to ignore it. At the time dealing with Connie and the brutal senseless murder of Ben Kaplin had been his priority. He frowned slightly as he realised the man Ruth was referring to had crossed the room to where Lincoln was stood. The pair seemed to be very friendly as they greated each other. He watched for a moment before he realised the guest of honour had arrived. He rolled his eyes as the pagentry of a member of the Royal Family appearing at the venue usually entailed began to get into full swing. He knew the RPS knew they were there but would keep out of their operation. The more people who arrived, the less Harry liked it. More distractions meant there were more opportunity for things to go wrong. He glanced over at Beth who was moving from behind the bar as Dimitri and Lucas started to follow her. The little red dot on the front of the Deputy Prime Minister's chest signalled an assassin. Suddenly there was a cacphony of noise as Beth rugby tackled the politician as gunfire rang out over the crowd.

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