Disclaimer: I still don't own anything...

Thanks Laurie :)

Requiem for a love affair

Chapter 11

As they lay on their sides facing each other, Harry watched Ruth carefully. She had been sleeping but he knew from the way she was absently chewing her bottom lip that she was awake and worrying about something.

"What are you fretting about?"

"Nothing."

"Come on," he kissed her softly on the cheek, "tell me."

She gave a small sigh before replying, "I was just thinking how stupid I was to keep running away from you."

"Ruth…"

"No! I was stupid, I ran away from a second date; I ran away from you in that hotel corridor and I ran away on that bloody barge…"

"Well you sailed away on that occasion."

"Harry!"

"Sorry," he kissed her again as a placatory gesture, "but I thought we had a 'no more regrets' agreement?"

"We do. It's just… I feel so guilty."

"You have nothing to feel guilty about; nothing whatsoever."

"But-"

"No. Stop arguing with me you stubborn old…"

"Don't you dare call me a mule," she pushed him onto his back, "or I will have to punish you!"

"Mule." Harry laughed at the expression on her face.

"You sod!"

Her indignation was short lived as he kissed her briefly before asking, "Why did you run away from me at Havensworth?"

The question surprised her.

"I suppose I was scared of how I felt," she shrugged, "I couldn't believe you would feel the same way about me." She gave him a rueful smile as he shook his head in disbelief.

"I love you Ruth, very much. I always have."

"I know." She brushed her lips over his, teasing him by pulling away as he responded and then lowering her mouth again.

As she relaxed into his arms, he took advantage of the opportunity to roll her over and pin her to the mattress.

"I think that's enough punishment," he growled.

"Yes," she laughed breathlessly, "now you can make it up to me."

-----

They were sitting on the patio, finishing the bottle of wine that had accompanied their meal. A light-hearted discussion had ensued as to whether they were having a very late lunch - Harry's description; or an early dinner, which was Ruth's view.

"It would have been lunch if you hadn't kept me pinned to the bed most of the afternoon." Her eyes glittered with amusement as she spoke.

"Well, you didn't seem to mind."

"Hmm, I suppose that's a valid point." She went quiet as her gaze shifted to the table top and her fingers started to play with the stem of her glass. "Harry, you will stay won't you?"

"We're still doing abrupt conversation shifts then."

Ruth gave a small laugh. "So it seems." She hesitated before continuing, "You haven't answered my question."

He took a deep breath before he spoke. "Of course I want to stay but there are things I need to tell you, and you may not want me here after you've heard them."

"You don't have to tell me anything." Her tone was defiant but he saw the uncertainty in her eyes.

"Please Ruth, I owe you an explanation."

Eventually she nodded at him and he began his account.

"After you'd left, I hoped that I'd seen the last of Mace but it seems he retained some powerful contacts who were only too happy to help rehabilitate him. I have my suspicions that they were the same people who ensured Juliet was made an offer too good to refuse."

Ruth rolled her eyes, "I doubt she even thought about refusing it Harry."

"Maybe, I don't know. I was certain Mace would get the National Security Co-ordinator post and then it was only a matter of time before he tried to get me out. The escape of a convicted terrorist was an ideal ploy and using one of the Cotterdam seven very apposite. Everything was organised meticulously and al Khamir was told to hide out at his cousin's place and wait for someone to collect him. Instead the police got tipped off about his whereabouts and arrived en masse.

Mace knew we would get called out when al Khamir was found and it was a fairly good bet I'd decide to turn up in person." Harry smiled wryly at Ruth. "Seems I'm a bit predictable at times."

She returned his smile. "Not always; you've certainly surprised me over the last few hours."

He reached across the table and squeezed her hand before continuing with his story:

"We had comms problems as soon as we got there and, at the crucial moment, we lost contact with everyone and al Khamir got shot. Nobody else had any trouble and when Malcolm tested our kit the following day, it was in perfect working order. I got hauled in front of the DG and suspended. That's when I decided it was time to publish Clive McTaggart's memoirs."

"Where did you get them from?" She studied her glass as she spoke.

"He arranged for them to be sent to me if he met a sudden and unexplained death." There was silence as Ruth considered what he'd said.

"There wasn't enough time to use them to help you after Maudsley died." Harry looked imploringly at her.

"I do understand. I didn't exactly give anyone a chance to talk me out of leaving or come up with an alternative plan did I?"

"No, you didn't," he interlaced his fingers with hers, "but I understand why."

Her eyes met his again and she swallowed, her throat dry, as she prepared to ask her next question. "Mace; what happened? Did you…? "

"You know Mace was linked to the death of several agents in Kosovo although it was nearly impossible to prove anything. There was one agent in particular codenamed Firefly; a woman, well a girl really. She was eighteen but looked younger. He used her to trap a Serb called Mirkovic who had a taste for teenage girls."

"She was a honey-trap? Wasn't she a bit young for that?"

"Yes, far too young but Mirkovic knew the Intelligence services were after him so he was wary of any older women who approached him. It was supposed to be a straightforward operation; Firefly was to meet him in a club, get chatted up and then agree to go back to his apartment. Mace's team would follow them, stage a road accident and whisk him away in the confusion. Things didn't go to plan though; Mirkovic had a decoy car, which Mace's people went after. By the time they realised what had happened, it was too late. Mirkovic had taken her to a hotel and he…"

"Raped her?"

Harry's grip on Ruth's hand tightened until it was painful and she was forced to reclaim it.

"Sorry, sorry sweetheart." His voice was rough with emotion and he took a large mouthful of wine before continuing. "Rape is too inadequate a word for what he did to her. He knew it was a set-up all along so he brutally and repeatedly violated her in every way you can imagine, and a few more besides. Then his men dumped her in the street outside the apartment block Mace was using."

"What happened to her?"

"She was patched up by a local doctor and then taken to a US military hospital. Mace called in some favours with the Americans and fabricated whatever lies were necessary to cover up the truth. The poor girl died a few days later."

"How did Clive find out about it?" Ruth poured the last of the wine into Harry's glass.

"One of Mace's team, Andrew Martinson, was posted to London a few weeks after the girl died. He met Clive at a security briefing and they got chatting about Kosovo. A few days later he turned up on Clive's doorstep in a terrible state and ended up telling him the whole story. On the way back to his flat, Martinson wrapped his car round a lamppost. The police said he was drunk."

"Was he?"

"Clive swore blind Martinson was sober when he left. Someone arranged the accident and rigged the police report."

"Mace?"

"Most likely."

Ruth considered what he'd said. "I think I need another drink before I hear any more."

-----

They were now sitting side by side, with a fresh bottle of wine on the table in front of them. Ruth prompted Harry to continue his story.

"So what happened after Martinson died? Did Clive approach Mace?"

"No. All he had to go on was what Martinson had told him. But he did some digging and managed to get some information about the girl. He discovered she had two brothers and somehow they found out what really happened to her and who was to blame."

"Clive told them?"

"I think so, or he told someone else who passed the information on. Mirkovic was the first to die – shot during an argument over a card game. Mace's second-in-command was fatally stabbed in a fight in a bar and, about a month later, the rest of the team were killed by a car bomb."

"But they never caught up with Mace?"

"No. They got close a couple of times but he always seemed to evade them."

"That bastard had the luck of the devil!" There was a rare hard edge to Ruth's voice.

"Yes, but even his luck ran out eventually. I knew publishing the salient parts of Clive's memoirs would probably lead to death threats being made against Mace. An old contact of mine got in touch and said he knew two individuals who were willing to resolve my problems and settle an old score at the same time. All I had to do in return was make some phone calls, organise passports and get a couple of people to look the other way."

"And Mace ended up dead in the boot of a car at Heathrow?" Ruth looked at him levelly as she spoke.

"Yes."

The silence stretched out and Harry could feel his nerves begin to fray.

"I'm not sorry he's dead Ruth; I don't feel guilty about what happened. Do you think I should?" He was aware he sounded defensive but he needed to know how she felt about his involvement in Mace's demise.

She studied him, reconciling all the different aspects of his character she had witnessed. The sweet and gentle man who had tenderly made love to her, exorcising her nightmares; the same man who had cried in her arms and begged forgiveness for the pain he had caused her. And now he had admitted his involvement in Oliver Mace's death. She wondered if she was supposed to feel shocked or upset at his revelations but she didn't. She felt calm and relieved that he had told her the truth.

"I don't think you should feel guilty. I think Mace got what he deserved - rough justice perhaps, but he brought it on himself."

The knot of fear in Harry's stomach started to unravel.

"So, will you stay?" Blue-grey eyes looked at him intently.

"Yes, yes of course I'll stay."

"Good."

A review would be fab and will encourage me to get a move on and finish the final chapter... thanks!