25
The Briefing Room was a hive of noise and activity as the team began to settle down before the meeting. Ruth smiled slightly, glad that for once the whole team were there. Will looked a lot healthier than he had when she had seen him last but still a little quieter than usual. She was used to seeing the younger man laughing and joking with Tariq and Catherine. She knew her step-daughter thought of him as a cousin, after all Harry and Jane had been his godparents. Now she wondered what was going on in his head. Harry walked in to the room, effectively calling the meeting to a start as the assembled officers settled. Ros leant against the wall watching her team, she knew they were all still reeling from the death of their chief suspect but she knew they were all beginning to wonder if they would ever find out who was behind the debacle that had been Havensworth. Folding her arms she knew that if she never set foot in the place again it would be too soon.
"Catherine." Harry looked at his daughter as she almost ran into the room. "Nice of you to join us."
She shrugged before sitting next to Malcolm. The older man smiled sympathetically at her as Calum raised an eyebrow. She knew her husband was wondering why she was late. She nodded once to him, letting him know she was ok. He turned his attention back to Harry and the meeting as they realised there was very little new information to be had.
"Katya Dennisof was a former FSB officer. They've effectively closed ranks." Ruth paused. "No way I can get into anything that she was working on. Not without them finding me. All we know is that prior to her death she was persona non grata as far as they are concerned. Only her relationship with the Prince means that she was more than likely working freelance."
"So, someone wanted her to assassinate Prince Poshbollocks." Alec frowned. Ruth smirked.
"Looks like that. Seems her father was part of a splinter group." Catherine joined in. "His murder was to protect that splinter group. The more I look into Yannis, the less I like this."
"You didn't meet him." Ros paused. "Not my favourite person." Lucas smiled slightly, he knew Ros was downplaying her encounter with Yannis years earlier in St Peter's Square. She folded her arms as she watched her team.
"I chased the money." Tariq tapped his pen on the desk. "It all feeds back to Nightingale. I don't know how but I know it links back to Basel."
"Basel." Harry closed his eyes. "Nightingale have tentacles everywhere. You take out one and they pop up somewhere else."
"Jason Morgan former MI-6 operative." Adam frowned. "Was in the Army Intelligence before being recruited to 6. About the same time I was." He looked at the photograph of his former colleague. "Came to see Wes when he was born. A good bloke, I thought."
"He's RPS."
"He was." Ruth frowned as she looked at her friend. "I spend most of last night trying to contact him and Prince Bertram. Katya was in a relationship of some description with the Prince. I thought they should be informed of her death and the increased threat to the Prince. I mean, if someone took her out to stop her talking then there is a very real chance they'd go after the Prince again."
Adam nodded. "You think he was the shooter?"
"Bullet recovered from the scene matches a gun used by RPS." Ros watched Adam curse. "We don't have the gun but the forensics team want the gun to confirm. Adam, it looks like your friend took the shot."
"We don't have evidence of that." Zoe paused. "Not concrete evidence that would stand up in court."
Harry looked at his hands for a moment, thinking about the words he was about to change. He had to put himself in his friend's shoes. He knew Jason Morgan had an outstanding record in MI6 and in the Royal Protection Squad - it did seem to be out of character that he would be the culprit. He felt a slight headache begin to threaten as he listened to Ros and Adam talking. Ruth glanced at him, looking concerned.
"The reason I wasn't here at the start of the meeting." Harry paused, his attention on his friend. "Is due to a phone call from the head of the RPS, Godfrey Carmichael. At 8 am this morning the body of Jason Morgan was found in the grounds of the Prince's residence. It appears he died of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head."
Adam swore before getting up from his chair and marching out of the room. Ros raised a hand telling the others to stay where they were. Ruth closed her eyes as Zaf raised an eyebrow before following him out of the room.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Adam?"
"You alright, mate?" Adam asked as he looked out over the city. The roof providing the one place in Thames House he knew wasn't covered by the CCTV. The place was a secret hiding place for more than one officer. Zaf nodded.
"Sorry about Jason. I know you were friends."
"Were." Adam paused. "Not seem him since Fi's funeral."
Zaf nodded. He remembered the day clearly.
"Why?" Adam looked at his friend. "Why turn? Money? Love? Why? There is always a motive? Something always acts as the trigger for it. And why not kill the Prince at the conference?"
"I dunno." Zaf rested his elbows on the brick barrier around the edge of the roof. "I've never understood it. Even when I was being given the option of joining the Redbacks rather than be tortured by them, I couldn't do it. There was no way."
Adam nodded. He had been through similar years earlier in Syria. He hated to think back to those days but knew the things that had happened then had changed him. He sighed as Zaf looked at him. "You alright?"
"Yeah." Adam nodded. "Yeah."
"Good. We better get back in there before Ros comes up here." He turned as Adam smirked. He still hated the idea of his old friend being a traitor but he had to admit there was no way he was ever going to know for certain. If Nightingale had paid him - if that was what the money Tariq had found meant, he knew there was no way they were ever going to find out who was behind the attack on Havensworth Hotel or what they were planning next.
(AN - no reviews for last couple of chapters. Hope people are still reading. New story up soon.)