A/N: Thank you again for your reviews. They remind me of why I put myself through this challenge. My apologies on the late posting of this chapter. R4ven3 is graciously doing the beta work on this story and I sent her this chapter and she pointed out where I needed to do some work and she was right. So I did some work and she's given me the thumbs up to proceed. My heartfelt thanks to her for her honesty which is making this story better.


Chapter Six

Monday evening, 8 October

'I don't suppose there's a direct route to Limassol from here,' Zaf asked as he lay in the back seat of Ruth's car.

'As direct as can be when there are mountains. We'll take the B7 to Paphos and then the A6 to Limassol. It will be dusk by the time we get to the harbour, so provided we don't pick up a tail we can try and find something to eat.'

'Should I assume by your lack of comment earlier that you didn't hear anything from Malcolm?'

'Yes. I'm trying not to worry, but he told me that he checks that account every few days. I should have had a response from him by now.'

'Maybe he's on holiday. Surely the man must take a break from technology every now and then.'

Ruth smiled. 'That would be our luck. Malcolm, the man who hadn't taken a holiday in all my time on the Grid, finally decides to take one and eschew technology right when we need him.'

Zaf laughed lightly. 'Okay, so maybe it's a little far-fetched. Completely possible though,' he added.

Ruth nodded in reply. 'And much better than the alternative scenarios that could easily take over my mind.'

'Yeah. Speaking of unpleasant thoughts, do you think the men from the market were suspicious of you?'

'One guy followed me for a while, but I didn't go anywhere near home and or my car, so I think we're safe. There's enough traffic between Polis and Paphos in the evening that we should blend in.' She continued to keep an eye on the cars behind her. 'You've not said, but do you know why they brought you here? To Cyprus?'

She heard Zaf exhale loudly. 'I don't. I was so delirious before you found me. I'm pretty certain we came through Turkey and I heard them mention Famagusta; that's on the east coast.' He noticed Ruth looking at him in the rear view mirror with an amused look. 'I looked it up one day when you were out. But I don't know if it was a destination or just another transfer point.'

Conversation after that died for a while, neither of them wanting to think about what may have happened to Zaf had he not found Ruth.

Thirty minutes later, shortly after Ruth merged onto the A6, traffic thinned and she noticed an older, dark colour car that was still behind them. It wasn't impossible that another car could be making the same journey, but Ruth wasn't willing to take any risks. She sped up slightly and noted that the other car did the same. There were other cars on the roadway so Ruth decided to keep in sight of them and hope that the tail car really wasn't a tail car or that they at least wouldn't try anything with other vehicles around.

About 15 minutes outside Limassol Ruth decided she needed Zaf's help.

'Zaf, I need you to wake up,' she said in a loud but calm voice.

Proving that he'd not lost all of his spook sense, he replied quickly. 'What's the matter, Ruth?'

'I think we may have been followed. There were too many cars from Polis to Paphos to be sure but one has stayed behind me, matching my speed, since we've been on the A6. I've been sticking close to other vehicles, presuming that they wouldn't try anything where there are witnesses, but we're getting close to Limassol. I need to know what to do.'

Zaf glanced up towards the rear window and the light shining in. 'Are they directly behind us or is another car in between us and them?'

'There's a car between us and them. Why?'

'Because I need to see where we are going and I can't do that from back here. As long as they aren't right behind us, I'm coming up to the front seat.'

Ruth watched her side mirror for any evidence that the tail car was moving but by the time Zaf was slouched in the front seat, there'd been no change.

'What should we do?' Ruth asked. 'If we go straight to the harbor they'll know we're leaving on one of the ships.'

'Do you have a number for Giovanni, a way to contact him?' Zaf asked.

Ruth nodded.

'Call him and see if there is someplace else we can meet, someplace with private parking. An apartment block, a hotel, or even an office complex. In the meantime, let's just keep driving at a leisurely speed and hope it's just a coincidence.'


The four men continued to follow the compact white car. Josef, the driver, had set the speed control and stayed behind a small black truck to stay out of sight. The men had had no luck in finding their prisoner in Polis and none of them wanted to turn up in Famagusta without him. The consequences could be deadly. Their prisoner was a desired commodity, an officer of the British Security Services, and a sale for him had already been arranged.

It was Oleg who had noticed that the woman at the hospital was also at the market a few days later. After his initial visit to the hospital, Oleg had returned to question the woman again, but she was not working. When he asked at the hospital about her, the woman working said her name was Ruth and that she hadn't been in to work since that day.

Oleg had spent much of his time the next few days at the market, watching for her while the others searched the town. His patience paid off when she walked past him on Saturday morning. Josef had joined him that day and the two men casually tailed her. She walked past them a few times, smiling brightly at both men, but Oleg noticed that the smile didn't reach her eyes. She entered a small shop of women's clothing, so he and Josef split up and casually stood at either end of the block, but she never came out. After 15 minutes, Oleg entered the shop to find it empty except for the shopkeeper, who'd admitted that a woman had exited through the rear door shortly after entering the store. Oleg went out the back door as well but it opened onto an alley with a maze of walkways and doors to other buildings. He walked back out front to collect Josef and decide their next move.

It was earlier this evening when they were forced to give up their search and drive to the operations base. They stole a car and switched the plates to avoid detection. By sheer luck a car passed them before they turned onto the motorway and Josef recognized the woman they'd followed on Saturday morning. She was driving alone but the men quickly agreed to follow her, hoping it would lead to their prisoner. During the drive they debated whether to run her off the road or just follow the car but traffic was heavy this evening. Trying to stop her car would draw too much attention so they decided to simply follow.

A little over an hour later the car approached Limassol. The woman's car, Ruth's car, Josef reminded himself, seemed to be randomly driving. After a quarter of an hour she seemed to have a destination in mind and he and his mates hoped this was the big break they needed.


Ruth slowed her speed to just under the speed limit, hoping the car she thought was tailing her would maintain speed and pass her by. Her intuition, however, concurred with Zaf's assessment, so she made the call to Giovanni with a plea for help and a promise for more information later. A few minutes later, she disconnected the phone after dictating directions to Zaf.

'Giovanni is sending us to the Olympic Residence. It's a hotel near the sea but far from the port. He says the shipping company owners stay there when they are in town and he's on good terms with the concierge staff. They have secure parking on site and he's going to call me back with what to do when we arrive.'

Zaf remained slouched in the front seat. 'This is a terrible time to ask this but do you trust Giovanni completely?' His voice was apprehensive and quiet.

Ruth understood that his question was driven by his horrible experiences over the past few weeks and his desire to not fall into the hands of the Redbacks once again.

'I know where you are coming from but I do trust him, as best I can trust anyone without the resources of the Grid to run a background check. He had ample opportunity to treat me poorly when I sailed with him from Greece and I've never been uncomfortable in his presence. My gut tells me that I can trust him, and my gut instinct has been well used in the last year.'

Zaf gave her a slight smile. 'Fair enough. Harry always trusted your instinct, so if that's the best we have right now, that's what we'll use.' As they passed a road sign, he warned Ruth that the exit for the hotel was approaching. 'Here goes nothing,' he mumbled as they left the motorway and moved to the city streets.

As they suspected, the tail car continued to follow them. Ruth kept her speed at the limit, not wanting to let on that she was aware of being followed. There was enough traffic on the street to put a bit more distance between the two cars, though she noticed the tail car continue through a red light to stay in sight of her car.

'They just ran a red to keep pace with us,' she noted to Zaf.

He acknowledged her statement with a terse nod while he continued to provide directions to the hotel. As they approached another light, Giovanni rang through to Ruth's mobile.

'We're nearly there,' she said. Zaf could hear him speaking on the other end but couldn't make out the words.

'Turn left up here, on John F. Kennedy. How strange it is to have a street named after an American president here,' Zaf commented as he watched the street signs. A minute later he added, 'Turn right up here on Kerkiras.'

'Giovanni says the parking entrance is ahead on our left, before the tower.' Ruth glanced in the rear view mirror to confirm that they were still being followed. She turned off the street and up to an overhead door. A keypad on a post was within reach when she lowered her window. Giovanni provided her with a code and the large door lifted to allow the car entrance.

'Where are they?' Zaf asked.

'They must still be up on the street. They didn't pull into the drive,' she said as the door lowered back into place. Once it was down Zaf sat up higher in his seat, allowing him to take in the surroundings.

After a last few words with Giovanni, Ruth moved carefully around the garage to a space marked with the number 31. 'He says we can park here and he'll have someone retrieve the car tomorrow after the ship has left port.'

They each turned in their seats and watched for any movement but the space was quiet. After a few minutes, they exited the car, glad for the opportunity to stand and flex their limbs. Ruth noted a sign for the lift so they grabbed their bags from the boot and moved quickly in that direction.

Zaf nervously stepped from one foot to the other. 'What makes you think those men won't be waiting in the hotel lobby when the lift doors open?'

'This lift doesn't go to the lobby. The concierge will meet us on the first floor and show us to a private reception room. Giovanni will meet us there shortly.' She reached out and placed her hand on Zaf's forearm. 'Relax Zaf, we're going to be fine. You don't want to draw attention to us.' She slid her hand down his arm to his hand, which she squeezed gently.

The lift doors opened and Ruth felt a bit like she was taking a step back towards being Ruth Evershed.


Josef pulled into a car park across the street as the white car disappeared below the tower. The men briefly debated what to do next before it was decided that Oleg and Markos would go into the hotel.

The men were getting desperate as the messages from their bosses in Famagusta were more threatening. If they couldn't find Zafar Younis, perhaps they could take the woman named Ruth with them and she could tell them where to find Zafar.


Ruth and Zaf sat in the reception room trying to look as though they were simply waiting for a friend but in reality both were on edge, knowing that someone had followed them to the hotel. An older man walked into the room and Zaf tensed while Ruth released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

'Katherine, so lovely to see you again.'

'Giovanni, you as well,' Ruth replied as the two embraced. 'Thank you for your help. This is my good friend, Jamal.'

Zaf stood for the introduction and shook Giovanni's hand. 'Nice to meet you, Giovanni, and as Katherine said, thank you for your help.'

Giovanni waved away Zaf's words. 'Whatever Katherine asks, I will help. I am needed back at the port to oversee final preparations. I need to speak with the concierge office first, so I will meet you in the secure parking area in a few minutes.'


After a casual walk around the lobby, Oleg took a seat that allowed him to watch the comings and goings of guests and staff. Monday evening wasn't a busy time for the hotel which meant there wasn't much to see but it also made his presence more noticeable. He flipped through a magazine in an effort to look like he was simply waiting for someone to arrive.

Marcos was trying to gain access to the private parking area the white car had entered. Despite his profession, he was a charming man who would flirt with women and men if it served his purposes. The evening hours meant there was less staff on duty, and hopefully less of a chance he would be stopped before he found his way to the garage. He slipped through a door marked 'stairs' and began his descent.


Ruth and Zaf had waited in the reception room until a staff member informed them that Giovanni was on his way to the garage. When the doors slid open, they stepped out of the lift and walked over to Giovanni, who was waiting beside a large sedan with tinted rear windows. He opened the door for Ruth and Zaf walked around to the other side. Once settled in, Giovanni climbed in the front passenger side and the car made its way out of the garage.

No one noticed a man standing near the staff door using his mobile phone.