Chapter four
Working with Sam over the next few days hadn't given Chris the opportunity he had hoped for to find out what was on his mind. As far as surveillances go, this was an easy assignment and the four agents settled into a routine to ensure the family were always protected. Sam went about his work with consummate professionalism, but Keel could sense an underlying turmoil simmering below the surface. Sam was more concerned about being careful not to be over friendly with Aranka because he hated to admit it but as Keel had so eloquently pointed out, the girl did indeed have a crush on him.
Today was day three of the two weeks and Sam was out in London with Chris and Backup, keeping tabs on the two girls whilst they shopped. Spencer was in the surveillance vehicle with Jakob and things were going pretty smoothly. It was Sam's turn to keep at a safe distance whilst mother and daughter enjoyed the autumn sales in the capital. Keel was waiting further down the line to take over from Sam and Backup was scanning ahead. Sam had the girls in his sights, but as his eyes scanned the crowds, he was distracted by a familiar face. It was Gerry Owens! Sam had tried to contact Gerry without success over the last couple of days but now, here he was large as life, just a few yards in front of him.
It appeared that Gerry wasn't alone. He was walking quickly, but it was obvious to Sam that he was being coerced by the man at his back. Moving slightly from position, Sam kept Gerry in sight, wishing he would look towards him. His guardian angel must have been listening, because Gerry seemed to sense Sam's presence and looked directly at him for a second. Something unspoken passed between them and Gerry made a slight gesture with his left hand, before turning away and disappearing from view as the crowd swallowed him.
Sam partly understood what Gerry had been trying to say. It had been an MI6 code which meant 'return to base' but what base? All Sam could think of was Gerry's house, is that what he meant? It then entered his subconscious that he had another job he should be doing and looking around with a chill spreading through his body, he realised he had lost sight of the two targets. Damn!
Moving smoothly through the shoppers, Sam tried in vain to locate the women and finally had to radio though the news that he had lost them.
"3.7 to 4.5 and 7.4. I have lost sight of targets! I repeat I have lost sight of targets!"
Backus stopped and turned around, eyes scanning furtively around.
"7.4. There's no sign at present. Am retracing my steps. Out."
Keel cursed. What the hell was Sam playing at?
"4.5 to 3.7, where are you?" He shouted into the RT.
Sam was still very calm even though the situation was serious.
"I am near Harrods, in Knightsbridge."
Keel cursed silently and ran as fast as the crowds would allow, towards Knightsbridge. If the women had been kidnapped there would be hell to pay.
The three agents met up and didn't accuse each other; that could wait until later.
"I last saw them over there." Sam indicated, his head still sweeping from side to side. "They couldn't have gone too far, not in these crowds."
Keel sighed and said, "We'll have to keep checking, they must be around here somewhere!"
Backup nodded and took off in one direction. "7.4. To Spencer. Any sighting from the surveillance car?"
Spencer's strained voice crackled over the RT. "No. Not yet. We are checking within a two mile radius. And just for your info 7.4, Jakob has informed the Ambassador!"
Sam gave an exasperated sigh and turned away in frustration. Chris's anger had subsided somewhat, to be replaced by worry. "This is not good!" He added unhelpfully.
"You don't say?" Sam replied with a stare; sarcasm dripping from every word.
The hunt went on for an hour and finally, when nerves had frayed to the point of destruction, Backup's voice came over the airwaves.
"7.4 to all units, I have found them, safe and well!" She then proceeded to give the coordinates.
The relief was nearly audible and Sam and Chris made their way to where the three women were waiting.
Mrs Kantor looked sheepish and Aranka gave Sam a huge smile, but it didn't make any impression on the agent. Jakob helped the women into the Ambassador's limo which had been called to help with the search and the CI5 agents followed in the surveillance car. The mood was very dark. Chris felt the need to break the silence and so asked, "What happened, Sam? It's unlike you to lose sight of the targets!"
Curtis's face was set like granite and he replied with frustration.
"It happens sometimes, ok? It was very busy and I simply lost them in the crowd. If Malone wants to make a big deal out of it, let him!"
Chris turned to look out of the window and muttered, "I have a feeling that is the biggest understatement of the year…"
Backup played peacemaker once more. "Ok boys, we'll have to see what happens but we can stick together on this one."
Spencer's forlorn voice announced, "We're here – unfortunately."
As they got out of the car, no-one spoke and it was with a sense of foreboding that they entered the embassy.
The Ambassador came over to his wife and daughter and gave them a peck on the cheek, but as Backup noticed, most people would have gone over the top if their loved ones had been missing, presumed kidnapped for an hour, but not Mr Kantor. He then turned his attention to the agents.
"I demand an explanation as to what went wrong! You were in charge of my family's safety and you lost them! Is this the wonderful CI5 in operation?"
He then turned to speak to someone behind him.
"Mr Malone, I do not want your people here anymore, do you understand? I am making a formal complaint!"
Unfortunately, the Ambassador had worked quickly to contact the head of CI5 and the agents looked on with mounting apprehension as Harry Malone appeared from the shadows like the angel of death.
"I can understand your anger, Ambassador. Indeed, I myself am keen to understand what went wrong." He gave the agents a look that could curdle milk. "Is there a room I may use to debrief my team? I will then be able to tell you what course of action I intend to take."
The Ambassador was angry but wanted answers, so he let Malone use a side office. Aranka looked on with concern as Sam followed his colleagues after their boss into a room down the corridor.
Spencer was last in and closed the door gently before joining the end of the line. There was a small desk and one chair, so Malone took that and looked at his agents with undisguised disappointment. As he was inclined to do, he didn't speak for a while; he just observed his team and let the silence build.
"What the hell happened out there?" He finally demanded. "You lost them for God's sake!"
Chris spoke first. "It was the crowds, sir. Sale time, the volume of traffic was insane."
"I don't want excuses, Mr Keel!" Malone shouted back. "I have to explain to the Hungarian Ambassador how my top team managed to lose his wife and daughter for a whole hour!"
No one could argue, so kept quiet and looked at the floor.
"Who was on detail?" Malone asked with a quiet directness, rising from his chair and slowly scanning their faces as he spoke.
Not wishing to drop a colleague in trouble, Backus spoke next.
"We were all responsible for the wife and daughter's safety, sir. We…"
Before Tina could say anymore, Sam's calm voice interjected.
"It was me, sir. They disappeared on my watch. Backup, Keel and Spencer were unsighted and were merely preparing to take over."
Malone stopped pacing and came to stand in front of Sam, regarding him with a cold stare. He allowed his agent's words to permeate his brain before replying with an icy calm.
"Am I to understand then, Mr Curtis, that it was due to your negligence that this operation was compromised?"
The other three agents couldn't believe Sam's self- destructive admission.
"I was distracted, sir, and in that time I lost sight of them. I feel that I am responsible, yes."
Malone nodded theatrically.
"So do I, Mr Curtis, so do I!" His mind quickly arranged the facts and then barked, "You three, wait outside; I wish to speak to Mr Curtis alone."
Sam stood quietly to the side as Backus, Keel and Spencer filed out. As the door closed Malone addressed his agent with renewed wrath.
"Mr Curtis, I hold you solely responsible for today's failure. Dereliction of duty is a very serious offence."
Sam inhaled deeply and set his jaw. "I'm sorry sir. I understand I have let you down but…"
"There are no 'buts', Mr Curtis. This was a simple surveillance of a woman and a child, not trained Al Qaeda suspects! They were missing for a whole hour!"
Sam took in a breath to control his rising anxiety.
"I lost sight of them for a split second, sir, and then they were gone. If I didn't know better, I'd say they did it on purpose!"
Malone's face was set like granite.
"On purpose? On purpose? I have heard some excuses in my time, Mr Curtis, but that takes the prize!"
Sam kept quiet, no point in pouring fuel on the fire. Malone continued.
"As the facts stand, I have no option but to suspend you with immediate effect."
Sam swallowed hard and looked at his boss. He had known deep down that it was a possibility he'd be suspended but to hear it from Malone's own mouth had a finality which ripped his heart out.
"Suspended? But what about the surveillance…" Sam said incredulously.
"Suspension means that you are no longer part of CI5. There will be an inquiry but in the meantime I want your gun and ID now. Put them on the desk."
Malone's face was set and Sam knew it was pointless to argue.
He quietly took his gun from the holster and removing the magazine placed both items on the table. He then put his ID next to them. He looked Malone in the eye as his boss continued.
"I have no need to remind you that you are bound by the official secrets act and are still under my command. You are to stay away from CI5 Headquarters until you attend the inquiry. You are to partake in no matters concerning CI5 business and you are to remain where I can contact you, is that clear?"
Sam kept eye contact. "Yes, sir."
"Then you are dismissed, Mr Curtis."
Sam's body relaxed with an acceptance that he was now under suspension. "Yes, sir." Was all he could manage to say. He left the room and had to walk past his three colleagues.
Keel tried to speak to him. "Sam, are you ok? What's happened?"
Sam didn't say anything, he merely raised his hand in a 'not now' gesture and continued out to the large reception hall. The Ambassador was standing talking to an advisor and as Sam approached him he stopped, dipped his head quickly and uttered, "Ambassador", before exiting as quickly as possible to his car.
Before Keel could react, Malone's dulcet tones declared, "Miss Backus; Mr Keel; Mr Spencer! A word!"
The three remaining agents returned to the office and stood before Malone.
"I have to tell you that from immediate effect, Mr Curtis has been suspended from CI5."
Tina gasped, Spencer sighed sadly and Keel noticed Curtis's gun and ID on the table and felt wretched.
"I don't have to remind you that you are forbidden to discuss any CI5 matters with him and he is not allowed in CI5 headquarters. If I hear of anyone disobeying me, you will join Mr Curtis. Clear?"
A mumbled 'yes, sir,' greeted the question. Malone continued. "I will have another team replace you on this assignment, and the three of you will work on desk duty for the next two weeks. I cannot stress how unhappy I am with this situation. You will now return to headquarters straight away."
Malone then took his disgraced team back to the Ambassador, where he apologised for the disastrous surveillance and informed him that one of his agents had been summarily dealt with and the others would be replaced with a new team if he allowed it.
The Ambassador was a bit reticent, but agreed to Malone's organisation carrying on with the protection.
As Malone started to leave, Aranka had slipped away and come to speak to him.
"Excuse me, Mr Malone but where is Sam? Er, I mean Mr Curtis?"
As much as he could put the fear of God into his staff, Malone could also be soft when required.
"I'm afraid by losing sight of you and your mother, Mr Curtis failed in his duty, Miss Aranka. He has been suspended and he will be dealt with in due course, after further investigations."
Aranka looked crestfallen. "Oh dear, poor Sam! We didn't mean…"
Malone was alert. "Didn't mean what, my dear?" He had a nice smile and the girl hesitated and was about to speak when her mother appeared and called her away.
Malone was intrigued by what the girl was going to say and filed that nugget away until a better opportunity.
Spencer was voicing his sadness at Sam's punishment.
"Suspension? Malone is really mad to go that far!"
Keel wasn't too surprised. "Losing a target is pretty serious, Spence. Sam has been preoccupied recently and something took his attention away from his job which could have resulted in something pretty nasty happening."
Backus agreed, albeit sadly. "We should go and see him cheer him up!"
Keel disagreed. "No, Backup. I think it's best if we leave him for a while to cool down. We'll go tomorrow."
Whilst Malone had been sorting out his colleagues, a beleaguered Sam Curtis had driven quickly away from the embassy with thoughts jumbled in his head. He no longer had the support of CI5 behind him to help Gerry and now there was a huge black mark on his record. Anger had come and gone and now he just felt numb. He made his mind up that now he had some 'free time' on his hands, he may as well check out Gerry's house. Parking a street away, he still had his lock picker in his possession, so walking around to the back he managed to find a door to easily gain access. As the little machine clicked away in the lock, Sam checked to make sure he couldn't be seen. Being arrested for breaking and entering would round off the day perfectly.
Once inside, Sam was horrified to see the state of the house. It was obvious that a person or persons unknown had been searching for something important. Being very careful not to touch anything, Sam had a quick look around but realised it was fruitless. Judging by the complete destruction of the rooms, whoever it was had looked everywhere for whatever they had wanted, but had they found it? Sam had a thought that if it was the evidence folder, it wouldn't be here, it was with Stephen Anton, and so that is where he would go next.