London, England – Present Day

She surveyed the door with a sigh before rubbing at the bridge of her nose and practically grinding her knuckles into her eyes. The relator struggled with the key in the lock but managed to shoulder the door open. An awkward set of smiles passed between them as the other woman stepped back to show off the flat.

"It's nice and bright." The woman immediately stepped into the space, showing off the studio style of the sitting room, kitchenette, and a hallway for four smaller rooms sharing two and a half baths between them. "The floors were all refinished last year. Some artist or hipster or whatever wanted to keep the 'rustic' look and tore out all the carpet."

"Wood's easier to clean for the dogs." She paced the space, her hands in her pockets as she surveyed the neutrally colored paints. "And I prefer walls I wouldn't be tempted to hang anything on. Makes for less hassle when I move out."

"Pets?" The realtor opened her file, "Ms. Smith I don't… Did you mention that when we started looking through flats? I don't remember…"

"They're expertly trained." Ms. Smith put up a hand to stop the woman's sudden onset apoplexy. "I did it myself."

"What kind of dogs? Small or…" The relator put her hands out in demonstration, increasing the distance between them every second, but Ms. Smith continued to shake her head until the other woman paled. "If they've over fifty pounds then they'll be-"

"As someone once said, dogs should never be under fifty pounds because then they're cats and cats are useless." Ms. Smith managed a little smile. "Babylon and Assyria are not cats."

The relator, suffering a small aneurysm, almost groaned aloud. "What kind of dogs are they?"

"Black polish hunting dogs." Ms. Smith walked to the window, looking down at the street below. "They'd like the view here. Better than the other six dumps we saw this morning."

"Those were all-"

"What's the agreement?" Ms. Smith folded her arms over her chest, pivoting to face the other woman. "Rent, lease, or buy outright?"

"I… It's…" The relator almost fumbled her papers looking for the right information. "Right now it's a month-to-month lease but I'm sure they'd be willing to sell. It's been on the market before and getting renters in this neighborhood for this space is a little difficult but-"

"But they'd be open to a sale?"

"We could investigate it as an option if you're-"

"How soon could I move in? After purchase?" Ms. Smith put her fingers on the glass of the window and pressed hard before nodding at it and flicking her eyes to inspect the other details of the studio space around her.

"I'd assume immediately. It's not occupied currently and given the mortgage here they'll be eager to get some payments-"

"It'll be cash, up front, and I want it all closed as soon as possible."

"Oh… I… well… That's…" The relator flustered a minute more before recovering. "That'll be our pleasure Ms. Smith. I'll get the paperwork filed the minute I'm back at my office."

"Perfect." Ms. Smith gave a quick smile, that did not reach her eyes, and pointed to the door. "Shall we?"

Warsaw, Poland - One Year Ago

She juggled the bag while the ginger-headed woman next to her checked her phone again. "Ethel, if you don't stop checking that the nanny'll think you've got a serious problem."

"I'm worried." Ethel pouted at her, making the other woman snort a laugh. "What if he forgets me? He's all the way in York, Anna, and-"

"Okay," Anna held up both hands as best she could with her load. "One text. And don't use names, remember-"

"My psycho ex is after me and might use it to track the location of our son, I understand. I won't say anything incriminating." She typed it out quickly and held it up for Anna to read. "Good to go?"

Anna took the phone, reading over the message, and handed it back. "Good. You're getting better at this."

"If it's Charlie's life on the line then it's worth all the hassle." She sent the message and tucked her phone into her pocket with a sigh. "If it weren't for this gig here, I'd have gone with him."

"Someone's got to put bread on the table." Anna shrugged, "We all know that Karol's not going to do it so…"

"You make it sound like he didn't want a part in Charlie's life."

"Uh, he didn't. And he told you so when he beat you nearly to death when you told him you were pregnant." Anna stopped, putting her hand on Ethel's shoulder. "Look, I understand that this is all new to you. But I've spent enough time working things like this to know. Guys like him, they won't change, they won't come back, and they're not going to make an effort. Best you can do is get the hell away from them as fast as you physically can."

"So cruel," Anna spun on her heel but the weight of the bag and the force of a fist as large as her face impacting on her cheek sent her sprawling to the ground. "You talk like I'm animal who can't change spots."

Anna blinked, picking herself up as she tried not to see flickers of light in the dusk of the street. Two sets of arms grabbed her as she gained her feet, holding fast, as Ethel shrieked from beside her. Whoever held her was ready, or simply matched the dimensions of a tree, as attempts to reach out were met with the solid steel of the bulky men. Even the partial view she caught of them betrayed limbs as thick as support beams when they simply lifted Anna off the ground to hold her better.

"Now," The first man, self-identified as Karol, held Ethel so tightly his knuckles were white on her arm and Anna could see the vague bluish tinge on Ethel's fingers. "Where's my son?"

"I don't know," Ethel shook her head, her fingers scrambling fruitlessly on Karol's hand to try and release her arm. "I don't know."

He frowned, his eyes narrowing at her a moment, and then nodded. "No. You wouldn't know because you're not safe source. All I have to do is threaten to find him myself and give him pinprick or scratch and you weep like old woman."

"No," He turned, dragging Ethel, to face Anna. "Only you know."

"Not as dumb as you look." Anna tried to smile but a wrenching crack dislocated her arm and she hit the pavement hard enough to jar her shoulder. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to hold back her incoherent ramblings of pain. "You son of a bitch!"

"Not a nice thing to call my mother." Anna held her arm to her waist, maneuvering up as Karol threw Ethel to the two men who dropped Anna so he could crouch and meet Anna at eye-level. "Now, tell me where my son is."

"I'd rather drink battery acid."

"I can arrange that."

"Don't think I wouldn't." She held his gaze. "I'm not so easily broken and, for the record, you wouldn't be the first person to try. You don't even make top five."

"Then this might take more time." He nodded behind her and Anna let out another cry when two more hands grabbed her, manhandling she and Ethel into the tight space of the car boot.

Anna tried to maneuver to keep her dislocated shoulder from holding her weight but their positions pinned her between Ethel and the bumper of the boot. She turned her head, twisting it awkwardly to look up at Karol as he slapped his hand on the boot lid. "We won't tell you anything."

"Not now, maybe, but you take time. Think on it and then, when we get where we go, you tell me how you like to take your acid. With water or straight."

"I'm sure a vodka chaser beforehand's out of the question?" The lid shut and Anna groaned, "Guess that's a yes."

Ethel whimpered next to Anna. "They're going to kill us."

"I'd put that down as worst-case scenario." Anna shrugged her shoulders, moaning past the pain in her dislocated shoulder while upsetting her inside pocket so her mobile clattered to the floor of the boot. "Capital."

"What?"

"I think…" Anna shifted and struggled, fighting back tears as she wrenched her already screaming arm, and got her phone into her hand, swinging herself sideways to look at the screen. "I can track where we are and then…"

"Then what?"

"Then we…" Anna paused, thinking."

"Then what, Anna?"

"Then we nothing." Anna chewed the inside of her cheek before tucking her phone away. "On second thought, that's a terrible idea."

"Why?"

"Because I know, for a fact, that half of the officers on duty with the police here tonight work for Karol. I've been documenting the ones he uses and I… Damn it!" She knocked her head against the worn interior, "I should've sensed something was off when I heard them all call in."

"Heard them call in? What does that mean?"

"I've… I've got an app on my phone that connects to their scanner and their duty logs. It's…" Anna shook her head, even with the lack of light in the boot making it impossible for Ethel to see her anyway. "I was trying to track their movements and I outthought myself. Stupid."

"Outthought yourself?"

"I tried to outsmart them and tripped over my own feet."

"What do we do now?"

Anna blew out a puff of air, "We face the reality of our inevitable demise and the very strong possibility that we'll only meet that fate after a very long, incredibly painful, and most assuredly torturous experience."

"What?"

"He wants his son and we're not going to give him up." Anna hissed through her teeth as they hit a bump. "He's what matters here, not us, and you agreed to that mentality when we started all this."

"I didn't think it'd get me killed."

"Well this was worst-case scenario for me too but, truth be told, I didn't take this assignment because I thought we'd actually make it out of this without a scratch." Anna closed her eyes, shaking her head to send static to her hair from rubbing on the rough fibers of the interior lining. "I had hoped we wouldn't die and that some other things would fall into place but…"

"But what?"

"But they didn't and we're on our own." Anna went to say something else but the car stopped. "Ten minutes… We're still inside the city limits. Warehouse district, probably. He's got places here."

"How do you know all of this?"

"Because I'm-" Anna squinted as the lid opened and a flashlight blinded her. "Oh look, it's you. We there already? I didn't even get time to bang my head on the seat and shout at you from the boot."

"All in good time."

They lifted her from the boot, shoving both women forward and through a large doorway to a dark interior room. Harsh orange light from the bulbs in the streetlamps and the dusky yellow of the ones blinking toward their end gave the echoing space a harsh, fake feeling. An odd smell, like something from a petrol station or a back alley known for nighttime gatherings of the homeless filled her nose and she scrunched it, trying to block the scent.

Holding her arm to her side, pressing her jacket closer to her chest until she heard a tiny beep from her pocket, Anna shuffled along as they instructed. The moment she could pause, she eased up and gasped out when arms whipped her around to face Karol. The wrench in her shoulder almost drove her to shut her eyes against the pain but she forced them open.

"Breathing a bit too easy."

"Just trying to handle the pain." Anna nodded toward her arm and then cried out as one of the other men wrenched that arm behind her back. "A little more left?"

Karol frowned in confusion until Anna used her position to jam her arm back in place. Her eyes watered and her vision hazed to drop Anna to her knees on the floor. All she had was a regulation in her breathing to try and stop from passing out at the pain lancing through her body. When she breathed through the nausea she stood, still holding her arm to her chest, and nodded toward the other man.

"Much obliged."

"He speaks no English."

"Oh." Anna coughed and faced the man again, "Dziękuję Ci bardzo. If I pronounced that right. If not… idź się pieprzyć."

The man blinked but Karol only hissed him away before sitting Anna down hard in a wooden chair. He accepted another one, sitting on it the wrong way so his arms could rest on the top of it. "Have you given any thought to why I chose this place for our conversation?"

"Logically? So we can scream and no one'll hear us. Theoretically?" Anna shrugged, "You need decorating advice and you know your ex-girlfriend's one of the foremost interior designers in these parts. Needed a second opinion before you think about flipping it?"

Karol snorted, "You use humor to cover pain and fear. I like it but it wears on my nerves. Makes me… jumpy."

Anna swallowed, "And we both know what happens to people when you get jumpy. So let's cut to the chase, shall we?"

"You cut, I choose." He smiled and Anna suppressed a shiver. "That's how saying goes, yes?"

"Yes, that's how it goes."

"Good. I worry about my English sometimes. It is not easy to learn."

"You did an okay job of it."

"Thank you." He tapped the top of the chair before pointing between himself and her. "But this time I choose and you cut, yes?"

"Are you offering me cake?"

"Something a bit more important than cake, annoying woman." He pointed to two men and Anna watched them tighten their hold on Ethel's arms. "So, what do you wish for me to cut off Ethel?"

"What?" Anna tried to turn but meaty hands the size of rubbish bin lids stopped her from moving an inch in the chair. "No, no, no, that's not how this game is played. You choose to hurt me."

"See, I don't think you understand." Karol leaned over and drew a long karakulak knife from a leg sheath to show Anna. "You happened to take my rybicka the last time so I make do with this."

"Missing your bandit knife as well, I'd imagine."

"You took it the first time we met."

"I also remember cutting you pretty badly with it." Anna jerked her head toward his leg. "Still ache when it rains?"

"I deal with it."

"I'm not sure I want to know how you deal with it."

Karol leaned over the chair, "Like the bitch who stabbed me there. But," He pushed himself to stand, walking over to Ethel and turning the knife in his hand. "You still have not made choice about where I cut."

"I thought you said I was going to do the cutting and you'd choose."

Karol made a show of slapping his unoccupied palm against his forehead. "Again, my English. No, I meant you have choice now." He pointed the knife at Anna before directing it back at Ethel. "You choose to either tell me where my boy is and Ethel here leaves without bleeding or you choose to not tell me and she bleeds a lot. Understand? I can say it in Polish if you want."

Anna looked at Ethel, the shine of tears and snot catching in the comically drastic lighting. A moment passed before Anna shook her head. "I'm sorry but you told me how I should play this and I've made my choice. I can't be in two places at once and… I think this is the choice you'd want me to make."

Ethel closed her eyes and took the second of surprise she had in throwing all her bodyweight forward. Anna scrunched her eyes shut at the quick sound of slicing flesh and the scream of released air before the echoes of it rang out throughout the room. Shakes took over her body as she opened her eyes to watch Ethel's body sag and then drop to the floor, leaving only dripping red on the knife in Karol's hand.

He looked from it to Ethel to Anna as Anna let out a deep breath. "She made her choice. If you weren't going to hurt me, she knew you'd hurt her to get to me and he's too important for that."

"It's no matter." Karol shook the knife out, the wet slap of blood hitting the floor sending Anna's skin pimpling as he approached her again. He drew the blade over her cheek, smearing it. "Every person has their point. You'll reach it and tell me where he is."

"I think not." Anna held her face steady as her pocket rang. "You might want to answer that. It's for you."

He dug his hand into the pocket, keeping his knife on Anna's cheek, and pulled out the phone. Sliding the indicator to the side he put it on speaker to hold the device between he and Anna. "Speak."

"This is Henry Talbot, of Her Majesty's Clandestine Services. Am I speaking to Mr. Karol Brzycki?"

Karol glared at Anna, who only shrugged, "Yes."

"I've just noticed that there is one less heat signature nearby."

"Is that question?"

"Sorry, the question is, did you kill Ms. Ethel Parks?"

Karol snorted, "If I did, what would British Government care?"

"A great deal. Ms. Parks was a necessary piece in an operation to dismantle your drug operation into the UK. She'll be sorely missed. But that's not the matter that should concern you at this moment."

Anna noted the clench of Karol's fist around the phone. "No? And what, Mr. Spy Man, should worry me?"

"The fact that I've ten men on their way to your position right now to retrieve Ms. Smith from your custody. I assume she's the one still present since you answered her phone instead of smashing it."

Karol threw the phone to the ground and stomped hard on it. It shattered but he continued stomping until the bits and pieces flew everywhere. Anna flinched as a shard almost hit her before recovering enough to notice the hands keeping her stationary no longer occupied her shoulders. But going to move only proved injurious as Karol's knife came at her.

Anna barely dodged the blow but not the boxer's fist that crashed into her jaw. Tumbling sideways, she broke her momentum knocking the chair to the floor and jarring her entire body. When she tried to get up, Karol's booted foot caught her in the stomach and drove her back a full three feet.

"Please, stay. You're my guest here." He tossed the knife toward her. "Another keepsake for your collection."

Anna grabbed at it but sliding warehouse doors closed all around her, locks sliding into place as Karol made for the smallest of the doors. She tried to follow but tripped in the dark over Ethel's legs and sprawled on the floor. Getting to her knees, Anna watched the last door close and a bolt draw over it.

With a swallow, sheathing the knife in her belt, Anna stood. A soft clicking noise had her tuning in place, listening more than seeing in the dark, for the source of the odd sound. A moment later a whooshing roar filled the room and Anna crouched in a hurry to cover her head as the entire place caught fire.

Burning wood barely covered the odor of gasoline and Anna squinted at the path of the flames. But they consumed everything and Anna could only get as low as possible to try and find the last of the breathable air. The overwhelming light, as the smoke billowed and bunched near the ceiling, allowed Anna to track a path toward the door but…

She turned toward Ethel's body and grabbed under the woman's armpits. Shuffling, and bent over more than double, Anna dragged Ethel's body over the floor and through the careful snaking of the flames. They reached the door, barely a ring of untouched wood amidst the blaze, and Anna let Ethel sag against the wall.

Her hands touched the door, pressing to try and find where the bolt slide across, and she breathed out for a second. Smoke made her eyes water and her breath rasped in her throat but she set her uninjured shoulder against the door and took as deep a breath as she could muster. In the next instance, she slammed her bodyweight against the door.

The rusted bolt broke and Anna fell face-first onto the gravel, glass, and refuse dumped outside the warehouse. She pushed herself up, ignoring the sounds of sirens and the bleeding of her hands, to reach back inside the door for Ethel. Dragging her clear, careful not to damage her further, Anna moved them both away from the flames as white, red, and blue lights flashed around them.

Anna pivoted to address them, holding her shoulder, and then hit the ground when someone's bodyweight rugby tackled her at the midriff. Hands scrambled over her, taking the knife from her belt, and turned Anna roughly into the dirt to pull her hands behind her back. With both shoulders already in varying states of pain, the wrenching motions only worsened the effect.

They barked to one another in Polish before lifting her to her feet. Anna caught sight of them moving toward Ethel and reacted. Her head snapped back, breaking the nose of the man holding her, and she jumped forward to tackle a man with her hands behind her back away from Ethel's body. They landed heavily, the man breaking her fall, and Anna rolled off to stand over Ethel.

A shot rang out and Anna crumpled to her knees, blinking through the pain before falling forward and finally passing out.

Two Days Later

Anna held out her hands as the woman unlatched the cuffs. She rubbed at her wrists as much as she could with her matching slings before shrugging toward the tall man with dark hair standing at the end of the grimy corridor. In her canvas shoes the walk to his position sounded almost comedic but he did not laugh when she reached him. Instead he bent down to retrieve a coat and wrapped it over her shoulders.

"Shall we go?"

They walked out into the cold sunshine, both shivering slightly at the bite of the wind before he helped her into a tiny car with barely any backseat. Squishing together on the excuse for a seat, the taller man gave instructions to the driver in Polish, explaining the details of something before settling back next to Anna. Within moments they were away from the gray buildings and moving back toward the beckoning lights of the city.

"Did they believe your story?"

"They made jokes about how bad my security team must be if I failed so miserably in protecting my client." Anna shook her head, "Most of the ones who arrested me work for Karol."

"I know." The man sighed, his knees practically sitting on his chest. "Did they tell you anything about him?"

"No." She paused, "Do you have her body?"

"It's already back in York. Her parents are burying her on Thursday." His jaw shifted, "I know you'd want to go, Anna, so I-"

"I need to be there Henry."

"And do what?" He turned his head to look at her, his hair scraping the top of the car. "You couldn't tell them anything. And it's a closed casket so there's nothing to explain about why her throat's been cut the way it has."

"She fell on her sword, literally, so they couldn't use her to torture her son's location from me." Anna rested her head back on the lumpy seat, closing her eyes. "Has Horus shown his head?"

"Silent as the grave, actually." Henry shook his head, the scrape of his hair on the roof of the car giving him away again. "Karol's stunt with the warehouse and having his whole payroll of cops all working the same night didn't go unnoticed. It'll bring a lot of heat down on Horus's group and he'll not like that."

"He's about as classy as his son is crackers." Anna opened her eyes and sat up. "Are we evac-ing immediately?"

"No. We've still got a few things to wrap up here." Henry paused, "But you've been medically cleared to go home. There'll be a debrief but you did everything you could. You protected the asset to the best of your ability and-"

"She's still dead, Henry."

"We all die eventually." Henry ground his teeth. "It's not pretty and what we do doesn't always have the good guys winning but-"

"Pull over." Anna caught the driver's attention with her switch to Polish and he immediately complied, instinct taking over. Henry gawked and tried to move but the prison of a car trapped him as Anna got out. She yanked the slings off and tossed them at Talbot before shoving her arms into the sleeves of her coat. When he leaned forward she snaked his phone from his pocket and shut the door. "I'll call when it's over. Wait for me."

"Anna," He rolled down the window, "I don't know what you're about to do but I'm begging you not to be stupid about this."

"I won't be stupid."

"What you're doing might be."

"No," Anna checked the phone before tucking it into the coat. "This is the smartest thing I've done in a very long time. Trust that."

"Anna-"

She walked down the street, still in her canvas shoes with the overlarge coat over her shoulders, and rubbed alternatingly at her shoulders. Soreness from the dislocation, the constant jarring, and the bullet wound had her entire body occasionally shuddering, even after two days in Polish detention. Anna shivered when cold air kept whipped stronger and stronger until Anna had to turn sideways into the wind before taking the corner to walk down another street. Another in a series of streets that led her to a door where two large men stood like pillars. A part of the décor as much as a defense of the building. Not something one commonly saw outside a dentist's office but Anna stopped before them both and took a deep breath.

"I'd like to talk to your boss."

They both blinked at her and then at each other. One of them barely opened his mouth as his finger went to his ear. He pressed there and muttered in rapid Polish before the other man waved toward the camera. The first one nodded and then stepped to the side, allowing Anna through the doors.

The doors drew back, another one of the nearly-decorative pillars of men pulling it open, and Anna walked the scrubbed floors to take the stairs where a man pointed her up to the next level. She took the stairs carefully, grimacing and holding her arms to her chest as each rise sent a shudder through her body to pull at her injuries. Another man at the top of the stairs nodded at her and Anna carefully extended her arms from her body. He patted her down, scanning the phone with another device before nodding at her handing it back.

Slotting the phone back in the inside pocket of the coat, Anna followed his direction to the end of the hall. She passed rooms filled with people getting their teeth checked, operated on, and the distant sobs of children facing their worst nightmares with scrapings and fillings. When she reached the end of the hallway, Anna entered the indicated room and took the rolling chair to sit across from a man still wearing the coat of the dentist and removing latex gloves.

"My men tell me that you're looking to speak to me." The man with intensely gray hair and a significant mustache tapped some x-rays before him. "I work and you interrupt me."

"You won't mind." She tried to get comfortable on the chair and then winced as her arms pulled at her injuries.

He frowned and then beckoned her toward the table. "Your arms would be better here than hanging loose. Injuries, you know."

"How much do you know?" Anna rolled herself forward, using her toes to get herself there. She put her arms on the edge of the desk and he shifted his work over. "As the head of this whole operation I'll bet you're pretty informed."

He raised his eyebrows and then sat back, leaving the x-rays forgotten. They stared at one another for a few moments before he nodded. "You're not wrong. I do know a bit about what happened to you."

"But you're not going to tell me?"

"You're Interpol."

"Technically I'm on loan to Interpol from MI5 but semantics aren't really important." Anna shrugged and then regretted it. "Just like the semantics of how much you know or don't are really just us shooting the breeze."

"If we shoot breeze, as you say," He interlaced his fingers on his chest, a small smile twitching the corners of his mouth. "Then I should ask why you're here."

"I want your permission to kill your son."

He blinked at her, "Who?"

Anna cleared her throat, "I want you, Mr. Horus Brzycki, to give me permission to kill your son, Karol Brzycki."

Horus narrowed his eyes and then shrugged, "I'm sure you've got more than a few reasons for doing what you're asking-"

"I think you're under the influence that this is a request because of how I said it. And that's on me." Anna twitched her head as if to apologize for the confusion, "But it's not a request. This is more… me being kind enough to inform you."

"You consider this a kindness?"

"It's kinder than what I plan to do when I find your son." Anna waited, noting the tap of Horus's fingers. "It's your choice on how you take all this but I'm going to do this all the same, regardless of what you do."

Horus made a little snort, the smile expanding over his face. "You are even better in person than I expected."

Anna's eyes widened, "Is this the moment when you tell me that you were looking for a way for us to meet?"

"I'm not so stupid."

"Obviously." Anna pointed at the office. "You're a dentist."

"Me?" He laughed out loud, covering his face with a hand to try and stifle his guffaws. "I just work here."

"Planning murder?"

"Examining these." He held up the x-rays, "I am radiologist."

"What got you into that?" Anna snorted, "Shoved someone through one to kill them or something?"

"No, it's how I met my wife at university."

"You do realize you can't see through clothes with them, right?"

Horus wagged his finger at her. "You're funny. I'm sad we've not met before."

"I'm not."

"No?"

"No. I was trying to put you and your gutter-trash son in prison and now I want to kill him so please understand why this is the first time we've met." Anna took a breath, "That being said, are my terms acceptable to you? They won't change, just so you know."

"Then I'm afraid," He opened his hands, as if trying to placate her. "Your terms are completely unacceptable."

Anna frowned, "Did you miss the part where it's non-negotiable?"

"I'd like to offer new terms." Horus tapped the desk. "I want to hire you."

"Excuse me?"

"I want to hire you to kill some people for me."

"Isn't that what the men who look like tree trunks are for?" Anna jerked her thumb toward the door where the indicative shadows of the men still stood. "I think you've got more than enough help from Thick and Thicker here for me to be of any real good to you."

"You'll be better for me than you think because it's not for security." His face got serious for the first time. "I need your other skills."

Anna stiffened, "I don't do wetwork anymore."

"Artists should never stop using their skills."

"Says you."

Horus pointed to the x-rays. "Does I."

Anna paused and then shook her head, skipping over the grammar lesson to respond. "I don't do that kind of work anymore. Haven't in…"

"Seven years." Horus nodded, his face changing again to a more somber, almost conciliatory expression. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Yet you don't seem so upset about the possibility of a similar loss in your own family." Anna ground her teeth slightly, swallowing past a memory of two smiling faces and tight curls.

"He's… embarrassment, you understand."

"Completely." Anna risked it, "He's the one who planned the human trafficking angle, wasn't he?"

"Karol liked… He wanted to take my position. He wants my job."

"Dynastic changes happen."

Horus shook his head, "No. Not when my son is an idiot."

"So you'll not mind if I wipe the board of him?"

"Not if you take his five friends with him." Horus sighed, "I don't need a coup. Not when I've got to recover our business after you routed our supply chains."

"I'll not do either of us the disservice of pretending to apologize for that."

Horus waved a hand as if to dismiss it. "It's your job. Professional courtesy demands I commend your efforts in the noble fight against drugs."

"I'll keep that in mind." Anna sighed, "If you're hiring me to eliminate the five goons and your son then I'll bet you've already got compensation in mind."

"I wasn't finished." Horus raised a finger, "I've one more request."

"Which is?"

"I want to see my grandson."

"Over my dead body."

Horus gestured to the door. "I can make that happen."

"Then you'll never even find him."

They stared one another down a moment before Horus nodded. "It's why she died, your friend, because she knew she'd tell them and Karol would hurt him."

"She never knew." Anna blinked, trying to hold back her tears. "She killed herself so they couldn't torture her to get to me. I made a choice and she knew that. She died for Charlie."

"His name's Charlie?" Horus blinked rapidly and Anna almost gawked at the presence of such a brusque, imposing man even attempting tears. "I want to see my grandson. You can't deny me."

"Yes I can and it's not going to happen."

Horus stared at her, "You'd deny me my blood?"

"I'd deny you more than that but you've got me as a disadvantage here so…" Anna shrugged and then winced again. "It'll keep him safe and if you gave two shits about him, you'd agree."

Horus gave a snort, "I like you. Not scared of nobody. Take no shit."

"At least twice a day." Anna shook her head, dismissing his confusion. "The deal, in that regard, that I could offer you is simple. When Charlie is ten, I'll arrange a visit to a city of my choosing. You'll wait in a place I choose and I'll bring the boy by that location. You get to see him and, if he wants, meet him. But not before then and not if you're still in charge of your cabal here."

"That's your word?"

Anna nodded, her jaw shifting. "If you even live that long. Your occupation's not known for its pensioners drawing social security."

"Little English, I've now got reason to live so long." He held out his hand, "Do we have a deal now?"

Anna sighed and shook his hand, "Then, to clarify our terms, you'll allow me to kill six of your people. Five of them are cronies of your deadbeat son and he's the sixth one. That what you want from me, correct?"

"Yes."

"And, when your grandson is ten, you'll get to see him. And maybe meet him." Anna waited as Horus chewed on it, her grip on his hand not wavering until he acknowledged her condition. "That's not changing. Not for his safety."

"Yes."

"My price, then, for this is that you give a hundred percent of whatever Karol hoped to inherit from you to your grandson right now."

Horus dug into his pocket and dug out a checkbook. "Do you take check?"

"Yes." Anna waited, reaching to take the check from Horus but he held on when she went to take it. "What, sad to see the money go?"

"How do I know Charlie gets it?"

Anna slipped the check free, snorted at the price, and then folded it into the same pocket with Talbot's phone. "I'll send this to the person watching him. They'll send me a picture of it when it arrives. I'll save that picture, and the one of them depositing it in an account for Charlie to you. Once that's done then I'm your agent until my price needs to be paid."

Horus frowned, "Why not just bank transfer now? It's easier."

"Sure, for you. And it tracks easier for you too." Anna shook her head. "I'm not taking any chances for Charlie's safety. Not while you've got a list of enemies who could use him against you."

"Fair enough." He twitched toward that devious smile again. "And what about your price. You don't come cheap, I imagine."

"You're right, I won't." Anna rubbed her palms on her legs and then moved her arms back to the desk to take the strain from her healing muscles. "You'll give me access to the mobile numbers, favorite hangouts, hideouts, and recent purchases for the six men. When I've given you proof of death for all of them, and you've squared me with Polish police using those contacts of your son's that'll be yours now, then you pay me the equivalent payout for each of the five had they lived to retirement age… Not that you usually have to pay that out."

"What?" Horus gave a little laugh, "Your Interpol friends not going to give you a pension?"

"I'm relatively sure that my time with MI5 will end shortly as someone else inevitably hands in a resignation for me." Anna shifted her jaw in a cringe, "And, if not, then my suspicion in the homicide of six known Polish gang bangers will definitely put me into more hot water than a retirement plan can stand."

"Then this is… seed money? For new venture?" Horus opened his hand to her. "I could use someone like you. Stealthy, capable, and inconspicuous."

"I can imagine having someone who eats less than a walrus would be beneficial to you, for a number of reasons, but once those men are dead I'm washing my hands of this country and this work."

Horus shook his head, "Work like this… It's in the bones and it doesn't wash off your hands so easily."

Anna chewed the insides of her cheeks. "It will."

"No, Little English, it won't." Horus lowered his voice, leaning over the table toward her. "This kind of work isn't like stained teeth or skin. It stains the soul. You might think you know, sitting behind a scope for your government, but there's no honor in this kind of work. Once you do it, it's with you."

Anna took a deep breath, "I know a bit about that."

Horus looked her over, "I'm sure you do." He stood up, prompting Anna to do the same. "I'll get the information to you the moment you've proof that my grandson has that money."

"And I'll gift wrap six troublemakers for you as soon as I possibly can." Anna patted her coat pocket with the check. "He's safe, just so you know."

"I trust the woman who so brazenly walked into this office to do all she can to keep him that way." Horus opened the door for her and spoke to the man quickly in Polish. "They'll leave you alone, next time you come here."

"Thank you." Anna nodded at the men as she descended back to the street and then wrapped herself tightly in the coat before calling Talbot. "Henry?"

"Anna? Thank goodness. I thought you'd jumped off a bridge or done something stupid so I was listening to the scanners for any news but-"

"Henry," Anna took a deep breath, "Please accept this as my resignation with immediate effect."

"Anna? Wait you can't just-"

She clicked off the call and dropped the phone to the ground. About to stomp on it she turned over her shoulder to one of the immovable objects and called out to him. He frowned in confusion at her but she pointed to the phone and then mimed shooting it. The partners checked with one another before one of them drew his gun, walked to the phone and motioned Anna behind him. She took her position in the shadow of his massive frame as he squared up and fired.

Sparks and shards were all that were left of the phone and Anna Smith's career with MI5.