Chapter 10, no such thing as normal
Alan Blunt was not happy. Earlier on, their favourite Russian informant had tipped them off to three enemies of MI6 and a possible attack. He'd even given a location, a coup all on its own. Except, it wasn't that easy. What should have been a simple raid had turned into an ugly affair. A massive explosion and six agents killed. Most annoying, his two least favourite Russians had turned up. Scowling, he complained.
"Yassen Gregorovich was supposed to have died to years ago on Air Force One."
Mrs. Jones, deputy head of MI6 met his gaze coolly.
"You know as well as I do that his body was never recovered. It only stands to reason he survived."
Blunt grunted and poked at the files on his desk.
"Still, I'd rather Gregorovich then the girl…Ivana?"
Mrs. Jones shifted uneasily. She'd always been what Alan called 'sentimental', but even she disliked the Russian girl.
"I had hoped we'd seen the last of her." She said awkwardly. For a moment, the office was silent; they both knew why Ivana was so set on revenge. Standing, Mrs. Jones spoke,
"Well, I should go see Smithers; he said he had some interesting thing or other to show me…"
Alan Blunt shook his head and gestured to the recently vacated seat.
"You're trying to avoid an issue here Mrs. Jones."
With a sigh, the suddenly weary woman paused, and then sat back down.
"We both know Alex Rider was there." Blunt said.
Trying to speak carefully, Mrs. Jones asked,
"Are we going to look into hostage negotiations?"
Shaking his head slowly, Blunt answered,
"You know as well as I do that Yassen always harboured an interest in Alex. The boy's there out of own free will."
Mrs. Jones looked sad.
"After two years, I'd hoped that he'd return to a normal life."
Snorting, Blunt glanced down at his reports on the boy.
"As John Rider's son, that's hardly likely."
The grey man looked up and met Mrs. Jones' eyes.
"As far as Alex Rider is concerned, there is no such thing as normal."