Part 10 of 18
On the way to Surrey
Once on their way, Angus turns to Richard and muses, "You know, I had an odd meeting with Pegasus just before we left. He seemed to think I was some sort of super-spy with the ability to be in 2 or 3 places at once. Odd, hey?"
Richard grins, "Very odd, indeed! Did he offer you a permanent spy-hood?"
"Strangely enough, he did. I had to turn him down, of course. My heart and soul resides in Saint-Marie and there is NO way I'd move the family back here. It's much too crowded and cold and frantic." He settles back onto the buttery-soft leather of his seat and sighs, "Besides, I could never leave you or my duties." He glances to Johnny, "Sorry, sir."
Johnny gives a weary smile, "No need to apologize, my boy. I agree with you one hundred percent. I could never leave Saba permanently." He meets Richard's eyes in the rear-view mirror, "Do you know, I don't think our wives would shine quite so brightly in this dull place, do you?"
Angus and Richard both frown and try to envision their angels wrapped up in wool and leather and layers and layers of clothing. They can't do it.
Surrey
Richard and Angus crouch in the hedge and watch Johnny enter the side door. They cautiously circle around, following his progress through the glass walls of the building. "I'd hate to pay his heating bill," Richard murmurs into Angus' ear. Angus nods. They lose track of Johnny for a while but then see him being held at gun-point by Bulletova and being grilled by Volta.
Angus tenses up. "We need to create a diversion so agent English can escape," he rasps just as three massive black dogs canter into view, making the rounds as trained. Angus groans, "There's our diversion but I really don't fancy being mauled by those brutes." He is just easing out of the shrubbery when a hand stops him. He looks up into his mirror-image.
"Don't bother, Angus. I'm the one with the track record, not you. I'll lead the dogs away. You stay and help Johnny get out of his fix." Angus nods and Richard sidles away. Minutes later, Angus hears a quiet furor coming from the other side of the estate. He creeps up to the glass wall to watch agent English more closely and is almost spotted by the entering security man. As he slithers up behind the man, he snatches up a small stone from a rockery.
Inside, Johnny turns just in time to see the security man enter from outside. A sudden motion down behind the man's knees catches his attention and he sees a sleek leather-clad arm hook in from around the door's edge and drop something into the door-track, something small that will keep the door from locking shut. Seeing his chance, Johnny grabs Bulletova's cell phone and charges the door, kicking the obstruction out of the track just in time for it to lock in the face of the pursuing security man.
As Johnny runs, he sees neither hide nor hair of whichever man has rescued him. He is almost sure it was Bough but not totally certain. Richard has shown great promise and it might very well have been him. Regardless, he makes for the front gate, confident that his partners will make their own way back to London.
The chase
Richard is running for his life. Never has he been so motivated to keep ahead of his opponents. He glances back and marvels at how silently the dogs run and how their teeth glint in their canine grins. Judging by their festive mien, I'm almost sure they've been trained to take down and restrain, not to kill, is his detached thought as the hedge comes into view once more and, behind it, the estate wall.
He is just calmly determining if he can vault to the wall's lip or will he need to ricochet off one of the trees when his concentration is totally shattered by the sudden appearance of several small animals that race out from the hedgerow. He continues on and reaches the hedge but something - some sound or lack of sound or soundless sound - makes him spin around to witness something wonderful.
End – part 10