Belfast / Cork

By Wednesday Lunch time in Belfast Makepeace had found Ryan, she sat in a café pretending to look at a tourist guide as she listen to the conversation on the next table. At least as a lone woman they would not suspect her. She memorised the details of a delivery to a certain Brian Sheahan in Cork tomorrow, finished her tea and left to find travel arrangements. There was no direct line to Cork, so as she would have to go via Dublin she could at least find out where Dempsey was.

Harry hadn't decided how to approach Dempsey. She had tried to rationalise things and came to the conclusion that Dempsey saw her as a friend, a good friend, probably his best friend in the UK. As much as he flirted it appeared to be natural instinct rather than anything else because he never seemed to follow anything through.

The trouble was that she had lost interest in dating anyone else, and they had lost interest in dating her; those who had felt they were merely intruding, Harry's mind was always either on work or Dempsey it seemed.

Dempsey arrived in Cork, checked into the suite he had booked.

"Will Mrs Dempsey be joining you?" the receptionist asked

Not wanting to admit that he wasn't sure he merely said "At some point" then he thought that sounded a little harsh, he put on a smile "She's meeting up with some long lost relative she's just discovered in Belfast today"

It sounded reasonable to him, and the receptionist.

He asked about Paddy Fitzgerald, and soon slipped naturally into undercover and headed for the bars. It was late when he made his way back to the hotel, it had been a good days work and he made built up a network of people who seemed to have connections with Patrick Tierney. He had also discovered Irish Whisky.

Makepeace, like Dempsey, fell quite easily into her undercover role and was asking around about the family history of Tierney and Dempsey on behalf of her husband. She found a museum of names, and noted that Dempsey seemed to come from County Kerry. The curator was a Tierney himself and was delighted to talk for what seemed like hours. Harry let him continue – it was still 2 hours before her train left. As the conversation drifted over her head she suddenly caught something about a marriage to Paddy Fitzgerald.

"Can you just go back a moment" she asked the curator, he was more than happy, and when Harry left for the train she felt like she would have more information than Dempsey. She smiled to herself satisfactorily.

Her train arrived in Dublin late on Tuesday evening and Makepeace took a taxi to the Hotel.

"What do you mean we've checked out?" Harry was furious

"Self opinionated, self-important, thoughtless, egotistical, arrogant…" Makepeace looked at the receptionist.

"I can offer madam a twin room, with en-suite" the receptionist kept calm, they were trained to remain neutral at all times. Harry took it for just one night; right now she wanted a shower and a bed to sleep in.

Thursday Makepeace called in at the Dublin Police offices. Inspector O'Malley gave her a cold stare and walked straight past. She spoke to Quinn and used the computer to check backgrounds on her latest names and connections then asked Quinn if he knew where Dempsey had gone. He didn't. Harry was peeved, but she knew she thought she would find him soon enough just by looking for a classy hotel. She left to catch her train to Cork.

Clarissa had observed and overheard as much as she could from across the room. O'Malley had instructed her to keep to her own case, he was not giving free work to the Brits, they had paid for one Detective Constable and that was what they were getting. However tomorrow (Friday) was a rest day! She would be too tired to drive down to Cork tonight; she would have an early night and leave first thing next morning. She knew the hotel; she imagined Jims' surprise when he saw her.

It was nearly lunch time when Dempsey emerged into the day light on Thursday. It was early July and the weather was sunny and warm and he made his way to the pub where he arranged to meet Fitzgerald.

Cork

Makepeace arrived in Cork late Thursday afternoon; she booked herself into a modest hotel and looking though a tourist guide smiled as she imagined which hotel Dempsey would have booked into, she wondered if was in both their names. She had intended on meeting back up with him, but that he had not left forwarding details with O'Malley had annoyed her intensely, more so the more she thought about it. If the aim of the trip was to flush out Patrick Tierney, she would get to him before Dempsey ~ bloody arrogant Yank.

Harry changed for dinner and took a taxi to the restaurant. She explained to the waiter that she was on a sort of blind date, and had been instructed to meet her date here. She chose a table just across from where Ryan was already sitting. After fifteen minutes Sheahan arrived and he and Ryan seemed to exchange bags with ease; the object of the meeting complete, they ordered drinks. Harry smiled at them as she kept looking out for her supposed blind date. Eventually Sheahan asked her if she was alone and again Makepeace explained about her blind date, which 'she now thought was not going to turn up'.

Ryan recognised when Sheahan was flirting; he suddenly decided that he had more urgent business and made his excuses to leave. Sheahan invited Harry to join him; he called over the waiter and ordered dinner.

Harry looked across the table at the dark Irish eyes smiling back at her. Bloody under cover! A rather handsome guy was buying her dinner and that was as much as she could allow given the circumstances. Right now she found that frustrating; on top of that, or mainly arising from the planned undercover, her and Dempsey had fallen out and the death nail had been placed in her dreams.

Her and Dempsey's friendship, the fact they were so comfortable with each other, was why this undercover was approved. But the conception had taken place that Saturday night when James had lain with her listening to music, sharing a picnic, feeding one another. They had touched, stroked, caressed each other – she had glimpsed a dream and at best they had acted it out the first night in Dublin and now, she concluded, it could never be. For Harry it was a bitter sweet taste that she was obviously so attractive to the guy sitting opposite her; she tried, for the sake of gaining information, to be as pleasant and attentive as possible.

When Dempsey made his way back to the hotel he asked if Mrs Dempsey had shown up yet. 'Damn you Harry' he thought; he had had so many plans, so many sweet dreams that now had turned sour. He weighed up the 'push' and the 'pull' again and concluded that Harry spent more effort pushing him away than pulling him close. He remained bitterly disappointed because his heart was sold out to her and the times when she pulled him close were so sweet. Dempsey returned to the same bar as the previous night, he had got some further information from Fitzgerald who promised him more the next day; there was little else to do other than wait so tonight was all about whisky and the many Irish varieties lined up at the back of the bar.