Chapter 2

I blinked at the man a few times. "Tobias…that's an interesting name."

A small smile slowly formed on his face. "So is Morgan." I narrowed my eyes at him, the quick retort took me by surprise. I resolved to find out exactly what had happened to my friend and this guy was definitely part of the puzzle. Maybe hanging around all these journalists was starting to rub off on me.

"Welcome to the mad house." I said turning to look at the office. "Rule one, don't trust anyone here, especially the person you were just talking to." I looked up at Tobias, he stared blankly back at me.

"What agency are you from?" A flash of surprise crossed his features, it happened so quickly I wasn't even sure I had seen it.

"Techsupport Limited, you won't have heard of them. They're new." I frowned, suspicion rising in me.

"You didn't know Mark did you?" Tobias shook his head. "Hmmm…ok. This way."

I walked off towards Mark's old desk; my head gave an irritating throb reminding me that I wasn't at my best today. The new guy followed behind me, even with all the noise of the office I noticed how quietly he walked. We reached the neatly arranged desk of his predecessor. A lump of sadness settled in my stomach, after all the excitement this morning it had only just dawned on me my friend had left.

Tobias watched me with mild curiosity as I tried to collect my thoughts. "So this is your desk. Mark's stuff is still here as he left in such a rush, so feel free to dump it somewhere." He smiled at me, but it didn't reach his eyes. There was definitely something off with this guy.

"Thank you Morgan." I couldn't place this guy's accent, it wasn't British but it didn't sound American either. It sounded like a little bit of everything.

"You're welcome, I'll be over there if you need me unless they send me out on a job, in which case I'll see you later."

"What is it you do exactly?" Tobias' gaze had intensified, he was scanning me again, fishing for information. I didn't see any harm in telling, it was an innocent enough question to ask.

"I'm a photographer." He raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"You don't look like paparazzi."

My expression darkened, "I'm not. I just do stock shots and profiles mainly. If you need anything I'm over there." I repeated, completely done with this conversation.

Before he could reply I spun on my heel and headed to the other side of the office. Andy stared at me expectantly as I marched over.

"Well?" He asked, craning his neck to look behind me at Tobias.

"Well what? He's an agency worker, doesn't say much." Andy snorted.

"Typical computer type then."

"Hey!" I exclaimed, smacking him on the arm playfully. "You know that statement covers me too."

"Yeah, but you still interact with people like a human even though you can hack for Britain." I rolled my eyes and sat back at my desk.

"He's still staring at you Morgs." Andy was looking at me suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows. I looked out the corner of my eye, he was right Tobias was still standing by my desk looking at me. He looked like he was deep in thought. Suddenly he turned his gaze away, like he knew I was watching him too. I sighed and turned back to my PC.

I opened up my Internet browser and typed in 'Techsupport Limited' into the search bar. Clicking on the top result a bland, business-like agency page opened. It looked legit, but the situation still didn't sit right with me. I opened up a URL lookup page and typed in their address. The details of the site pinged up and I had to do a double take. The address had been registered just one week ago. Bingo! I knew there was something up here.

Before anyone could see what I was up to I closed my browser and kicked Andy under the desk. His head snapped up, an annoyed look on his face.

What, he mouthed.

Go to the dark room, I mouthed back. I widened my eyes to highlight the urgency of the situation, and like the good journo he was he twigged and walked away from his desk. With a stealthy glance around I made sure no one was watching us, especially Tobias. He was sat at his desk now looking at a laptop someone had brought him. Satisfied he was distracted I walked briskly to our meeting place.

The dark room was the place Andy and I always met if we wanted a private conversation. Hardly anyone used it really, everything was digital now so all it took was a download from an SD card and you were away. I liked this place, I liked the way you saw your hard won photos emerge from the fluid and the skillful precision it took to keep the image from being damaged. Although no one really used prints anymore, I still felt safe here.

Quietly I entered the room, the smell of developing fluid hitting my nose. Gah, it wasn't a good smell for a hangover. Andy was already waiting in the corner, the dim red light highlighting his face in odd ways.

"What is it? What have you found?"

I grinned at him, "The company that sent him, the website for it was only created a week ago." I saw the shock in Andy's eyes even in the near dark.

"Really? What is going on here?"

"I don't know, but it's big. Poor Mark has been bought out and now this guy is here for whatever reason."

He went quiet, thinking for a moment.

"Do you think Dom is in on it?"

I shrugged, "It's hard to tell, but even if he isn't I think he's involved somehow."

He nodded in agreement, "I think we need to keep an eye on this new guy."

"Yeah," I smiled widely at Andy, even with potential danger of the situation I was kind of enjoying it. "The game's a foot Watson."

Andy laughed, "Come on, before people wonder where we are." We both left the dark room, I was deep in thought about everything that had happened so far. I was so deep in thought that I nearly walked into Tobias as I exited the room.

I let out an involuntary noise and glared at his massive frame blocking my way. Andy screeched to halt behind me. Tobias looked at us both, not saying anything. After an awkward pause his mouth twisted into a small smirk.

"Is it a regular occurrence in this office, for people to disappear into dark rooms together?" I opened and closed my mouth like a goldfish, my brain trying to formulate a response to combat the conclusion he had clearly come to about Andy and I.

"No…it was a work thing, a meeting." Even I wasn't convinced. He tilted his head to the side and studied me. I wasn't sure if I liked the way he was looking at me.

"I see." His tone was condescending, "I'll leave you to it then." And with a final glance at Andy he turned and walked away. Fighting down my rising chagrin, I frowned as I noticed a tattoo of a barcode on the back of his head.

...

The rest of the morning passed without incident. For all intents and purposes Tobias was good at his job; he had a steady stream of the usual tech illiterate idiots in the office. He played his part well, he was polite and quick in sorting out their problems, but I still wasn't buying it.

There was nothing for me to really do today; I was tasked with sourcing some old shots from our archive and tidying them up. In between photos I kept shooting quick peeks at him from across the room. I don't know what I was expecting to see, but whatever it was I never saw it.

At lunch I got up, pinching the bridge of my nose. Even after I eventually got around to drinking my coffee my headache was still hanging on for grim death.

"Do you want anything from the caf?" Andy looked up from his computer at my question.

"No, I'm fine. Got my salad in the fridge." I made an expression of mock disgust at his boring option.

"Ok, back in 10." He nodded, already focused back on his work. They really did push him too hard here.

I made my way downstairs, giving a friendly wave to Frank on reception as I squeezed through the turnstile. The temperature had risen a bit since this morning, but I still hunched my shoulders against the cold. The café wasn't too far from the office, but I didn't hurry, enjoying the walk. It was about two minutes into my journey that I finally realised I was being followed. I swung round abruptly and glared angrily as Tobias came to a smooth stop in front of me.

"Why are you following me?" He didn't seem phased by edge of venom in my voice. To be honest I don't know why a small, slightly pissed off woman would intimidate this hulk of a man.

"I'm on my lunch." He answered matter-of-factly.

"Ok, well can you 'lunch' somewhere else?" I waved my hands, as if trying to shoo him away.

"Someone said there was a café up here, and I find it odd you would claim to have exclusive access to it." Something about the way he talked both irritated and amused me in equal measures. It was a frustrating place to be with this mysterious stranger.

"Fine, just walk with me then don't stalk behind me like you're about to commit a crime." A smirk appeared on his face again.

"After you then." He gestured with his hands for me to continue walking. I could tell he was mocking me, but I really didn't care by this point. I just wanted a sandwich.

We walked on not talking for a few minutes, his easy stride making me work a little harder to keep pace with him. We were nearly at the café when Tobias broke the silence.

"You know, you really shouldn't make it so obvious when you're spying on someone."

I stopped dead in my tracks. "Excuse me?" He looked at me with his impassive stare.

"I was not spying on you." A waver enter my voice, damn my nerves! This was why I wasn't a journalist, among other reasons. He tilted his head down and looked at me over his nose.

"I was not!" Sticking to my guns, I could feel my face flushing. His smirk widened.

"If you insist." He began walking again. I stood in the street a stunned look on my face before jogging to catch up. Damn it, I was going to have to get clever with this guy.

"You're awfully knowledgeable about what constitutes as spying and creeping up on people for an IT guy."

"It's not really knowledge if I'm catching you looking at me every five minutes, and I walk quietly."

I snorted, "Okay then, how long have you been IT support then?"

"A while. How long have you been a photographer?" He was deflecting my question, but I wanted to keep him talking in case he let anything slip.

"About four years now. It's okay, pays the bills." He gave me a sideways look.

"Not what you wanted to do?"

I was slow to respond, I'd only met this man today and I still wasn't sure about him. "No…but does anyone really end up doing what they want? Did you want to be what you are when you were younger?"

He went quiet, I turned to him and saw the mask slip slightly. "I was never given any other options, I knew what I was going to do from a very young age." I frowned, this was an odd answer to my question but the mask was back in place before I could probe further.

"Is this the place?" He nodded towards the café, which had appeared ahead of us, and the conversation was over.

Tobias was a man that talked very little, and when he did it felt like he was forcing it. He was very good at hiding it mind, but my years of watching people had clued me in when someone was pretending to be something they weren't. We made polite talk back to the office, small things, weather, computers, nothing like the odd conversation we had had previously cropped up. It felt like he had sensed my curiosity and the walls had been put up.

As we entered the office the atmosphere changed. There was a hubbub that hadn't been present when I left earlier. People were dashing about more urgently than before. I felt Tobias tense next to me, his expression becoming steely as he took in the scene of barely contained panic. My panic increased when I saw Dom Johnson wheezing his way over to me. Uh oh!

"Morgan, thank fuck. It's all gone a bit Pete Tong here." His use of cockney rhyming slang tipped me off to the shit that was about to hit the fan.

"There's been a major development in the Sadiq Assal case, he's been released and acquitted but I've got no buggering photographers to go to his hotel and get me a picture of him. Carl is ill and Trevor is on watch for Andy Murray in Kent." I stared at Dom in disbelief.

"You want me to go?"

"Course I want you to go, you think I'm telling you all this for fun? You up to it? This is a big deal I want the most recent photo of this scum bag on our paper"

"Oh-ok. Yeah sure." Dom was starting to get agitated, an edge of panic in his eyes.

"Good good, well get a fucking move on. He's staying at the Ritz, Andy has the details. I would say good luck but if you don't get this don't bother coming back."

Oh shit. This day was going to hell in a hand basket fast. I have no idea why, but after Dom puffed his way back to the office I looked at Tobias. He was watching me with his calm, icy blue eyes.

"You'll be fine." His even tone and the casual way he said that simple phrase relaxed me instantly.

"Wish me luck then new guy." I shot at him as I dashed over to Andy to get the info I needed and my camera.