A/N: Thank you for your reviews. A big thanks to r4ven3 for reading these chapters to ensure they are ready for public consumption.
Chapter Five
Friday afternoon, 5 October
George walked out of the bedroom and joined Ruth in the sitting room.
'He's much better than when he arrived, but he still needs time to recover. He needs to rest and rebuild his strength.'
'I'm glad to hear that. He seems much better, but still, it's good to hear you say that,' she repeated.
'Now can we talk about moving on with our life? In another few days I think he'll be well enough to travel back to England; surely he has family or friends who can help him there.'
Ruth could hear the annoyance creeping into George's voice. They've had a variation on this conversation before, about whom Zaf really is and what he could have done to cause him to be abducted and tortured.
'I told you, I've seen those men around that came looking for him at the hospital. It's not safe for him to just leave and fly home.'
'But why? Ruth, please, what aren't you telling me? Why can't we just call the police? Surely they can arrest the men and Jamal will be safe.' George was pacing back and forth in the small room.
'And what will we tell them? It's Jamal's word against the four of them. And once we make a formal complaint, the men will know he's here in Polis. They'll simply wait for the right moment and abduct him again, and probably me with him! Is that what you want?'
'Of course not! But do you really think that Jamal can stay here indefinitely? He can't hide here forever. Ruth, I need you to tell me the truth. If we are going to continue our relationship, I need to know that we are honest with one another and right now, I don't believe that you have been honest with me.'
Ruth looked up at George, who stopped his pacing to stand before her position on the sofa. She understood why he was feeling as he did, but her commitment to the Official Secrets Act wasn't invalidated simply because she no longer worked for Five. Granted, as far as Five and the whole of Britain was concerned she was dead, but she knew she wasn't and she still felt a duty to uphold the Act. And if she told George the reason she could tell him the truth was because of her Official Secrets Act oath, well, wasn't that as good as telling him the truth? He wouldn't be satisfied by her saying she couldn't talk about it because of the OSA; he would have even more questions, not to mention that telling him would confirm that Zaf is with Five, putting him at further risk.
'Are you going to answer me?' George didn't bother to hide his impatience with her.
She stood up and moved across the room to put some distance between herself and George. 'I'm sorry. I can't answer your questions and I know you don't understand why but I can't.'
George didn't stick around to hear the rest of her explanation. 'I've heard enough excuses. You need to decide what's important in your life: our relationship or protecting this friend of yours and your secrets. I need an answer from you by Monday. Make your decision,' he said before walking out the door and letting it slam.
Adam walked into Harry's office without knocking and noticed the odd look that passed quickly across his boss's face. 'Latest intel from my friends in Syria is that the Redbacks may have a base of operations somewhere in Cyprus. Six have a few assets scattered around the island so I have someone making discreet inquiries. We may not find Zaf, but if we can discover where this group is operating out of, we may make some headway into shutting them down.'
Harry nodded in reply. 'Good. Getting rid of the Redbacks may make for strange bedfellows, but we can't have this group putting a price on the head of intelligence officers, no matter what flag they operate under. Keep me updated.'
Saturday morning, 6 October
Ruth was at the market picking up fresh bread, fruits, and vegetables when she spotted the men who'd come into the hospital looking for Zaf. They seemed to still be searching for him, not believing that he could vanish into thin air. She tried to avoid them but she was certain that one of the men she'd seen at the hospital noticed her and watched her as she moved through the market. Ruth took a circuitous route home, but the men continued to tail her. Finally she slipped into a small boutique and left through the back door, giving the men the slip.
She knew that she needed to get Zaf out of not just Polis but Cyprus as well and soon. Sooner or later someone at the hospital would talk about Zaf and it would be better for them both if they were no longer there. As for George... She was fond of him but there wasn't a question in her mind or her heart about what she needed to do and that was to help Zaf. Once he was safely back home, she would disappear once again and start over, just as she'd done the year before.
She stood in the courtyard area outside her home, watching for any tails to turn up, when she heard a door open. Turning to see who was leaving, she was shocked to see Zaf walking out her front door.
Rushing to him she whispered loudly, 'What are you doing? Where are you going?' She tried to usher him back into her house but Zaf was just strong enough to resist her.
'No, I can't impose on you any longer…' he started but was cut off by Ruth's muttering about obstinate men.
'I saw the men who abducted you at the market this morning and two of them started following me. One of them was one of the men who were looking for you at the hospital. Get back in the house!' Ruth tried to keep her voice at a whisper so as to not draw undue attention from her neighbours.
Zaf allowed himself to be shuffled back into the flat. 'Tell me what happened,' he asked.
'I realized quickly that they were following me; they weren't very good at staying out of sight. I took my time at the market and made a few other stops around town. I came face to face with him a few times and simply smiled and pretended not to notice him.'
'Ruth, this is why I need to leave. I won't be a danger to you if I'm not here.'
'We both know that's not true. If those men find out that you've been with me, they would have no problem doing whatever they thought necessary to get an answer out of me. We both need to leave this island and I have a few ideas how we might do that.'
'But what about George?'
'Let me worry about him. But first, I think I know how we can contact the Grid. Sit down, we'll have tea, and get this all figured out.'
Monday Noon, 8 October
As Ruth took one last look around the house, she heard the front door open and close and she knew the next few minutes would be unpleasant. A moment later George rounded the corner.
'I'm surprised to see you here.'
'Yes, I expect you are. I'm glad that you're here though, there are things to be said.'
George leaned back against the counter. 'That doesn't sound like good news to me,' he replied.
Ruth smiled slightly. 'I didn't want to leave without telling you in person. You deserve that and more, honestly.'
'So you are leaving with Jamal? Were you honest with me, about there being nothing between you?'
'Yes and it's still the truth. We're good friends; nothing more. He went out on a limb to help me when I needed to escape so now it's my turn to repay the favor. I'm helping him get out of Cyprus safely.'
'You've never explained why he simply can't hop a flight to London and be done with it,' George said, his patience wearing thin.
Ruth sighed. 'I know and I wish I could tell you the entire story, but I can't. I realize you're going to be angry with me over this and I accept that.'
'If you can't fly back to London, where are you flying to?'
Ruth gently shook her head. 'I'm not going to tell you that for your own protection. It's safer for you if you don't know where we've gone.'
She moved to stand next to George, who refused to meet her gaze.
'What about Nico?' George asked in a quiet voice. 'He's fond of you and has been asking why you've not been around these past few days.'
'I'm fond of him as well. I know this will hurt him and I've never wanted to do that. You can tell him what you like about me; whatever you feel is best.'
George finally looked at her, a mix of sadness and anger in his eyes.
'I don't expect you to understand why I'm doing this. It wasn't an easy decision for me and I knew that whatever my choice someone would be hurt.'
George looked away again, refusing to meet her eyes.
'Thank you for everything. You've been so kind to me and that's something I will never forget. You are a good and wonderful man and father and I wish you the best of everything.' She turned and walked out of the house. As she turned to pull out of the drive, she noticed him standing at the window, watching as she drove away.
After stopping to post a parcel, Ruth made her way back to her flat. Zaf, though still weak from his injuries, had started to wipe down surfaces and erasing evidence of their having been there. Not that they expected the Redbacks would be coming in with a SOCO-like team, but the less proof they could provide that she and Zaf had been there the better. They still didn't know to what extent the group had connections in the intelligence agencies of Europe, but they'd agreed to presume that aside from a handful of assets, there was no one they could fully trust.
'What time do we need to leave?' Zaf asked as he moved into the sitting room.
'The shortest route is just over an hour's drive. The ship is set to sail at seven tomorrow morning, but we need to meet Giovanni by nine tonight.'
'As much as I'd like to play tourist in Limassol, I'm not quite up to the task. Besides, it's probably best that we stay out of sight as much as possible,' Zaf noted.
'Agreed. Let's leave at six; I'd rather waste time once we're there.'
Zaf nodded in agreement. 'Anything else that needs to be done?'
'I have to check for a response from Malcolm. The email address and password are still valid, so he should be checking it on a regular basis, unless something has happened...' She trailed off, not wanting to complete that thought.
'Malcolm is fine and if there's no response then there's a perfectly good reason why he's not able to reply right now. Let's concentrate on getting off Cyprus and then we'll worry about the next step.'
Ruth nodded. 'You're right. I'm probably overreacting. I'll check for a message from Malcolm right before we leave.'
