Chapter 4: New Acquaintances
When they arrived in London, Jamie couldn't help but enjoy all of the new and interesting sights. This was really the first time she had ever traveled away from home, but her mother and Dylan ushered her quickly to where they had to pick up their luggage and then Jamie and her mother had to find their escort. Dylan pecked her mother on the cheek and headed off to find a taxi. Jamie wondered at this sign of affection, but did not bother to ask. When they entered the Arrivals area, they immediately began searching for a name card.
"Mom, that's us, over there!" Jamie called over the noise of the crowd. Her mother motioned for Jamie to lead the way and they fought their way across the room with their suitcases in tow.
"Hello," Jamie's mother said as they reached the man holding their name card. "I am Aisha Falcon and this is my daughter Jamie." The man holding the card looked like Jamie expected someone from the government to look. He had on a dark suit and he had a secretive air about him.
"I will need to see your identification first, please," he asked holding out his hand for their passports. Jamie got the passports out of her backpack and handed them over. The man scrutinized both of them and then handed them back. "If you will follow me, I will take you to your next destination." With that the man turned and headed out of the terminal. He led them to a black car and helped put their things in the trunk. Jamie and her mother got into the back seat, the man got in the driver's seat and they were off.
As they drove, Jamie leaned against the window trying to see as much of London as possible. Even though it looked like a city in America, there was something special about all of these buildings being in another country. When she looked over, she saw her mother sitting up in her seat properly and seeming very alert. There was something bothering her, but Jamie had no idea what that could be. Before too long the car slowed down and dropped them off in front of a normal looking office building.
"This is where I leave you for now," the man said, turning in his seat. "If you go to the desk they will tell you where to go next. I will take your bags to your hotel." With that Jamie and her mother got out of the car and stood on the sidewalk facing the building.
"I think we are in the wrong place," her mother said quickly. Jamie looked around; soon she found a sign that read "The Royal and General Bank".
"Where are we supposed to be?" she asked. She was pretty sure she had read about this bank somewhere before.
"They were supposed to take us to meet with MI6. They are the ones in charge of finding your father now that we are on British soil," her mother still sounded worried and was looking around as if waiting for an ambush.
Just then it clicked. "Mom," Jamie whispered. "This is MI6." And with that Jamie headed towards the front door. She had just found this information the day before in with the other information her mother had asked for. Her mother followed and the two of them found themselves in a beautiful lobby. They went over to the front desk where a young woman was sitting.
"Hello," Mrs. Falcon said calmly. "I am Aisha Falcon and this is my daughter Jamie. We are here to meet with a Mrs. Jones."
The young woman pulled something up on the computer screen in front of her then looked up at Jamie and her mother and smiled. "Yes. Mrs. Jones will be with you shortly. Please, have a seat and relax." The woman had indicated some chairs over to one side and Jamie and her mother took a seat.
"Is dad's disappearance really so bad that they had to involve the British secret service?" Jamie asked her mother in hushed tones.
Her mother looked at her quickly. "They seem to believe that this is the best choice for finding him quickly."
"Is he supposed to be found?" Jamie knew she was treading on thin ice at this point, but was sure her mother would not do anything horrible in public.
"Of course he is!" her mother said forcefully. Jamie dropped the subject and leaned back in her chair. She was about to get out her sketchpad when she noticed the elevator doors open and a woman walked out and headed towards them.
The woman was wearing a fitted, black suit with a plain silver chain around her neck. Jamie noticed the sharp, determined look in the woman's eyes from across the room. This was not someone that she wanted to make angry.
"Hello. I take it you are Mrs. Aisha Falcon and her daughter Jamie?" the woman asked, but Jamie was sure the woman already knew who they were.
"Yes, we are. Are you Mrs. Jones?" Jamie's mother asked.
The woman made a quick nod. "Yes. If you will follow me, we will go to my office." With that Mrs. Jones turned and headed towards the elevator. Even though her mother hesitated, Jamie followed Mrs. Jones; no matter what happened nothing could get any worse. The ride in the elevator was silent. Jamie was having a hard time figuring out whether Mrs. Jones actually needed to breathe, that's how quiet the woman was. Jamie rubbed her wrist absent-mindedly because it was getting sore; she had not had a chance to take anything for it since they arrived in England. When the elevator doors slid open Jamie and her mother followed Mrs. Jones down the hallway and into a regular looking office. As Jamie looked around she noticed what was not normal about the room. There was nothing to tell her about the type of person who worked here. There were no pictures on the desk or on the walls and everything was too clean and organized. She shivered in the emptiness of the room. The man behind the desk did not even look up as the door closed.
"Please have a seat," the man said as he finally looked up from the papers on his desk. "I am Mr. Blunt. I see that you have already met my deputy, Mrs. Jones. We are heading the case of your husband's disappearance because of the height of the threat of international security."
Jamie was completely intrigued by this man. She had always been extremely good at reading people's expressions and body language, but this man gave absolutely nothing away. She kept one ear on the conversation, but let her eyes wander around the room and over to the deputy, Mrs. Jones. Jamie noticed almost the same lack of emotion in Mrs. Jones, but she seemed slightly more human than Mr. Blunt, but that could have been because she was looking at Jamie's hurt wrist curiously. Jamie pulled the sleeve of her shirt down over the brace.
"Now, you mentioned that you were worried about your daughter's safety?" Mr. Blunt questioned. Jamie turned her full attention to her mother, though she hid the complete surprise this comment had given her.
"Yes. She is our only child and I am afraid that someone may try to use her as a hostage to get something from me or my husband," replied Mrs. Falcon in a teary voice. She put a hand on Jamie's arm, but Jamie removed her arm from her mother's grasp quickly.
"Well, your concern seems to be fairly well founded because of your husband's disappearance so we have called in one of our very accomplished people to help watch over her," replied Mr. Blunt, nodding his head towards the door. Mrs. Jones got up and opened the door, allowing the other agent to come in. Jamie turned in her chair and stopped in surprise as she glimpsed this other "agent".
"Mrs. Falcon, Jamie, this is our agent, Alex Rider," said Mr. Blunt from behind the desk. Alex stopped and stared in much the same way as Jamie. Mrs. Falcon noticed the unnatural stillness of the two teenagers.
"Jamie, do you know this boy?" her mother questioned hesitantly.
"He's… he's my new pen pal… but," Jamie was at a loss for words. Fortunately Alex was not.
"You set this up!" he accused Mr. Blunt. "Did you make sure we got each other as school pen pals?" Alex had moved closer to the desk while making his demands.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," replied Mr. Blunt with no reaction to having a teenage boy yelling at him. He turned back to Mrs. Falcon. "Alex is perfect for watching over Jamie because they are of a similar age. Now, I would like to discuss a few more points with you, Mrs. Falcon, while Alex shows Jamie around. I think that Mr. Smithers has something for both of them." With that Mr. Blunt nodded towards the door and Alex, after giving Mr. Blunt a glare, got up and headed towards the door. Jamie, realizing the decision had been made, got up to follow.
"Wait," Mrs. Falcon said. "I would rather have Jamie with me for this discussion."
"Mom, you said you wanted me protected, let these people do their job. I'll see you later," Jamie turned and followed Alex out into the hallway, closing the door between her and her mother.