When the call had been put through, Callum had hesitated. He'd never met the Home Secretary and seeing enemies at every corner he'd told a lie, telling him that he was in a meeting and would he call him back, after which he'd called the oracle, he'd spoken to Malcolm.
'Ridiculous as it seems bearing in mind he's a politician, Harry likes Towers,' Malcolm told him, 'just be careful, that's my advice.'
Despite the fact that Towers had been insistent, he was quite sure that he shouldn't be meeting him and certainly not sitting the other side of a dinner table in one of London's finest restaurants. Still if they needed anonymity and Towers had insisted that it was essential, then who was he to argue.
'I want you to re-open the enquiry into the James Coaver shooting,' Towers told him without preamble, as the wine waiter arrived and poured them both a drink.
Now what did he say, did he ask him why or did he confess that he his entire team had been working night and day to prove that Harry was innocent? Moreover that he'd re recruited Malcolm who was currently working with Tariq and that they were digging deep into files, some of which were probably classified and that their new section head was completely in the dark?
Catherine wasn't coping, in fact it had got to the stage where if something didn't happen soon she'd hop onto a plane herself and fly to the United States in an effort to find her father, and he couldn't let that happen.
'Actually it's not officially closed although our new section head isn't aware of this,' was a huge gamble but it brought a smile to Towers face. 'To be honest Sir we haven't made much progress, although we have recently receive a tip off that an ex officer of the CIA who is also a friend of Harry's has put in a word for him,' he told him. 'With any luck it might buy us and more importantly Harry a bit more time.'
'Do you know how he is, it's been weeks now?' was the question to which Callum didn't have an answer and Towers really didn't want to contemplate what it might be.
'We know that he's still alive but we have no idea what kind of state he's in or what's being done to him,' resulted in Towers pushing away the plate of appetisers that had arrived with their drinks. 'There's been a suggestion Sir,' he continued, 'that they'd welcome one of my team flying over to help with the investigation, but I doubt if Erin would sanction that.'
'Stop calling me Sir, leave Miss Watts to me and enjoy your dinner son,' made Callum feel as though he was still in short trousers until Towers elaborated. 'Once we leave here go home and pack , if it's you that wants to go, which I'm assuming it is?' Hadn't been the answer that Callum had been expecting, but was certainly the one that he wanted to hear as would his colleagues, but not necessarily Catherine.
Could he trust Towers, he still didn't know, but if his offer was a genuine one and he really was prepared to help, then he might prove a powerful ally that would be able to open doors that they couldn't.
'May I speak to you in confidence about another issue Sir?' he asked the Home Secretary unable to call him William for the evening as had been suggested. Receiving a reassuring smile, he went on to tell Towers that Ruth had left a letter for one of her colleagues, the contents of which had led them to believe that her disappearance was not of her choosing.
'She would never desert her post without good reason, I want you to know that,' was an undisputable fact which Towers already knew, but in this instance he said nothing, just nodded. 'Ruth is loyal to the core,' Callum continued, 'and we believe that she was left with no other option, by someone who convinced her that were she to go that it would help Harry's cause. Unfortunately were still no closer to finding where she's gone or who was responsible.'
The fact that Ruth had also left a letter Catherine and more importantly for Harry was a piece of information that Towers didn't need to be told. It was irrelevant, it would be breaking a huge confidence and he had made his point.
Towers appeared to be mulling over what Callum had told him as they continued to eat their meal, and it was a while before he spoke.
'Divide and conquer would be my suggestion,' he told him, going on to explain that he'd worked with Harry for a long time and Ruth for less so, but was fully aware that together they formed a formidable partnership, but split them up and neither of them functioned or coped to their full potential.
Partnership was an interesting word for Towers to have used, thought Callum. Did he mean it in all senses of the word? Did he know what they all knew, perhaps he did? Whatever his reason for saying it, he did appear to be genuinely concerned for Ruth and Harry's safety, so he had to take him at his word.
'So Ruth's an essential piece in this puzzle and if we can't find her, we may never know whose engineered this and why, is that what you're saying?' brought another sobering nod and a raise of Tower's eyebrows.
'Meet with this ex CIA bod, put your heads together and bring Harry home, that's the first step,' was Tower's suggestion. 'Harry will move heaven and earth to find Ruth and not just because she's a valuable work colleague, I'd stake my life on it,' brought an end to the conversation, an answer to Callum's earlier unspoken question and the arrival of their main courses.
'He's gone where?' shouted an apoplectic Erin, when by ten the following morning Callum still hadn't arrived for work and Beth had finally plucked up the courage to tell her where he'd gone.
They were in the meeting room where Erin was dishing out their duties for the day, which now that Callum was flying high over the Atlantic, meant that for the first time in weeks, they actually had time to do as she was asking.
'And Tariq, where's he, are you about to suggest that I'm about to receive another certificate?' she continued to bellow, as Dimitri and Beth glanced at each other and made the combined and wise decision not to answer. If Erin found out that Callum had re recruited Malcolm, albeit that he wasn't being paid, it could spell curtains, certainly for Harry. 'Well are either of you going to tell me?' she yelled again when nothing was forthcoming.
With that the meeting room door swung open and the Home Secretary strode in, letting Dimitri and Beth off the hook for the moment and caused Erin to stop shouting.
'Please both of you stay where you are,' Towers told Dimitri and Beth, who had both made a move to leave and Erin the wise decision to be pleasant to their newly arrived guest and ring for some coffee.
'It's good to see you Home Secretary,' she told him, feeling anything but pleased that Towers had arrived unannounced. 'To what do we owe this pleasure?'
Whatever Erin had been expecting Towers to say, it wasn't what followed.
'I'm sure that I don't need to remind any of you,' said Towers looking directly at Erin, 'that in this country there is an innocent until proven guilty policy that in Harry's case was woefully ignored. Harry was let down at all levels and I include myself in that statement. He should have been allowed time to prove himself innocent, before he was dragged away and I can only presume being tortured into making him confess to something of which I believe him to be innocent. We let him down, I want that rectified, do you hear me?'
Erin wanted to ask him why, but thought better of it. There were junior staff present and she was already on the back foot with a mutinous group of colleagues who had apparently ignored every order that she'd given since Harry had been extradited. The situation, certainly in Erin's case got even worse when Towers put down his coffee cup and continued with what had now turned into his briefing.
'I met with your section chief yesterday evening and it was me who personally authorised that he should fly to the United States and mediate on Harry's behalf,' was met by two barely controlled smiles and caused Erin's mouth to drop open. 'If any of you have a problem with that,' he continued, 'then you are welcome to discuss it at a later date, my office door is always open.'
'Oh and by the way,' he added after a pause, standing up as if he was about to leave, which had the other three occupants of the room on their feet as well. 'Once your esteemed boss is back and sitting behind his desk, I'm expecting a full scale search for Miss Evershed. I want her back as I'm sure you all do, is that understood?' was greeted by an 'absolutely sir,' from a now much happier Beth.
Callum had left a tearful Catherine behind, fearful that for some un-rational reason that she couldn't explain, that he'd disappear as well. She'd always hated the job that her dad had done, she didn't understand it and the last thing that she'd ever imagined herself doing was to be going out with a spy. But when he'd come home late one evening and Callum had been with him, there'd been an instant attraction and it had gone on from there. When he'd promoted Callum to section head, she'd accused her dad of favouritism but she'd been secretly pleased as well. It meant that her dad had accepted him.
'I don't want you to be on your own while I'm away, so I've arranged for Beth to come and stay with you, you'll like her,' he'd told her as he kissed her goodbye, and Catherine realised that having been kept in the dark for years, that if this carried on she'd know virtually all of her dad's colleagues.
Bob Hogan was waiting at the airport to meet Callum and had arranged a room for him at a hotel close to where he lived. The airport was teeming with people, there was some sort of industrial action going on and several flights had been cancelled, it was absolute chaos, he had never experienced anything like it. Should they be successful in achieving Harry's release then there was a private plane standing by to take them home. Thank god for small mercies Callum thought as he battled his way to the luggage pick up point and eventually through security to the arrivals lounge. He liked Bob on sight and there was something about him that reminded him of Harry even in the way that he walked. He looked like an old school spy that's what it was, battered around the edges like someone who had battled for years to uphold the cause on which he himself was just embarking. He was one of the few who had survived long enough to retire, yet was still willing to step up and to help a friend. Callum admired him for that.
The drive from the airport to their hotel was a revelation in itself, it made London look like a village by comparison. It made Callum realise how tired he actually felt and that it was adrenalin and the concern for Harry's safety that was keeping him going. He yawned.
'Clean up and then grab some sleep, our appointment is after lunch and we'll need our wits about us,' Bob told him, picking up on Callum's obvious exhaustion as he dropped him off at the hotel that was in a side street and away from the hustle and bustle of the main thoroughfare. 'I'll pick you up at two.'
The first thing that Callum did after he had checked in was to call Catherine with the promise that he'd call her later, no matter what hour of the day or night it was. He couldn't answer the one question that to both of them was more important than any other, which was would he be allowed to see Harry and confirm that he was still alive?
'Is Beth with you can I have a word with he?' He asked, wanting to be sure that Beth had done what he had asked of her and to catch up on what if anything had happened since he'd left during the early hours.
'Towers was absolutely brilliant, you should have seen Erin's face,' said the ever enthusiastic Beth although Callum still had reservations, as Beth went on to relay what had happened in the meeting.
'What about Malcolm and Tariq, any progress there?' Brought a negative, although according to the most recent conversation that she'd had with them, they were making good progress in narrowing down the list and Malcolm was convinced that the answer lay in the present rather than the past.
'The thing that Tariq is still trying to crack and is convinced that he'll do it,' she told him, 'is to find out where Ruth went when she came back to Thames house, so it's fingers crossed all round.'
'Thanks Beth, say hello to everyone for me and look after Catherine, she's special,' had Callum putting down the phone and asleep in seconds.
'Whatever happens, don't let them see you lose your temper,' was Bob's last piece of advice, when four hours later they were shown into an imposing room on the fifth floor of the CIA Headquarters. After four hours of discussions they were still no closer to a breakthrough or reaching the 'entente cordiale' that Callum had been hoping for, as the CIA's head of their counter terrorism continued to make a very good case as to why they should hang on to Harry. Callum was almost at the point of conceding. The CIA had got their man they were adamant, he'd had a wasted journey.
Had Bob not intervened again by saying that he needed to use the bathroom and as Callum had flown all that way that he felt it only right that they give it one more shot, then there might well have been a mass exodus. But during the time that Bob was out of the room making a phone call rather than using the bathroom, a fresh pot of coffee had been ordered. As he marched back in, so did a young man who Callum supposed was some sort of agent similar in rank to himself.
Bob had engineered a halt for just long enough to determine Harry's ultimate fate, as at the end of the phone at what would have been midnight in the UK was the British Home Secretary, guaranteeing Harry's innocence and swearing that he could prove it. Towers had kept his word. Callum was astounded but kept his counsel, surely Towers was bluffing or had the team discovered something in the last twelve hours, he very much doubted it? Whatever Towers was saying it was becoming increasing clear that they were going to be able to strike a deal.
For a further hour they talked, patching over the inevitable cracks until the CIA were satisfied and they shook hands. It was Callum's decision with no backing other than his instinct and his overwhelming belief that Harry was innocent and his desire to save him. The Home Secretary had sent him there to do a job and on the throw of a dice or in this case a phone call instigated by Bob, they'd done it. If they would allow members of the CIA to come onto the grid and take a full and unrestricted part in the investigation and if deemed necessary to interrogate any further suspects, then they could take Harry home.
It had been well over a month since Harry had been incarcerated and more than two weeks since they had last questioned him. Apart from his meals being delivered most of which he'd barely touched, he'd seen no one. As a consequence, the days had finally blended with the nights and the nights with the days into an unending chasm. Most frightening, had those who were concerned for his welfare known, was that he had begun to lose his reason and with it his will to survive. He'd stopped sleeping, fearful that if he closed his eyes that Ruth who was there with him would disappear. They were walking barefoot across a clifftop, he could see her beautiful face and feel her hand in his and she was telling him that she loved him and would never leave him. He was in heaven and at the same time in an unspeakable hell from which there was no escape and it had reached the stage where he was so close to the edge that he couldn't define one from the other. Ruth was with him and all that mattered was that she had told him that she would be with him at the end.
It was this Harry that at long last a horrified Bob and Callum were escorted in to see.
'Jesus Harry,' said Bob, as he looked down into unseeing eyes and then spun round and advanced on their escort with a murderous look.
'When the f-k was he last time that this man was allowed to have the dignity of a shower and when did he last have something to drink, were just two of the questions that Callum was shouting at his captors, as Harry continued to mutter incoherently apart from the conversation that he was having with Ruth
'Fetch a doctor now you bastards,' yelled Bob, understanding the full implication should Harry not to make it. It would spell the end of any relationship that the US had with one of its closest allies. There could be no cover up were the longest serving member of the British Security Services to die in their custody, for no reason other than a suspicion. Besides which Harry was a friend.
As all hell broke loose around Harry, an enraged CIA agent who had been summoned by Bob apologised to Callum for what had happened. The hierarchy so it seemed had been completely unaware that for two weeks, Harry's personal welfare had been totally disregarded by his less than caring guards. Up until then apart from their questioning, he'd been treated with respect and certainly allowed to wash and been fed at regular intervals.
Had Harry been in anyway lucid, he'd have told the medics that were unceremoniously ripping off his clothes to give the doctor access to parts of his body that apart from he and Ruth on one occasion had seen, to keep their hands to themselves, but Harry wasn't lucid and it was Harry's life and not his dignity that was the most important factor.
Callum was beyond rational thought desperately fearful of the telephone call that he'd promised he'd make to Catherine.
It took over an hour before a now clean, comfortable and drug filled Harry had finally fallen asleep, with what Callum hoped were happy dreams of Ruth. Once they were absolutely sure that Harry had been stabilised they could move him, the doctor at the British Embassy where Harry had been transferred was telling Callum, but they'd be wise to wait another twenty four hours before they could flew him home. There was always the risk of complications.