James and Mallory waited patiently in line at the London Eye until the next available capsule came into view and then with one flash of Mallory's badge they were allowed to enter. It may not have been the most convenient place to meet, but it certainly was , as Mallory's badge ensured that there would be no other passengers with them.
"OO7... You have my complete and total undivided attention. Are you absolutely sure that there is a leak?" asked Mallory with a worried look
"Positive Sir"
"Forgive me if I seem a bit confused, but I was under the impression that Q and his American counterpart had already found the "Mole" in question and it turned out to be nothing more than a computer thingy"
"I believe the correct term is virus, Sir" replied James clearly not amused by his lack of the technical term
"So what exactly is it that you want from me?"
"I need to know who, other than yourself and the PM, knew about this mission?" said James bluntly
"Well, there's you and M of course, your team, which by the way, you handpicked, there was Q, and anyone else that M may have told" replied Mallory
"She didn't tell anyone, not ever her secretary or her assistant Tanner. She wanted this matter kept as quiet as possible"
"Well surly she must have told her body guard?"
"No, I took over as her body guard almost as soon as we left your office after the initial briefing, and she was more or less never out of my sight until we left, three days later"
"Then I can't imagine who else would have known" replied Mallory
"Whoever it is, has access to our computers and our communication systems, that's why I wanted to get you out of the office"
"I assumed as much, which is why I turned off my phone and had it sent to Q branch. I didn't think you would want us followed"
"Is there anyone else, no matter how benign they may seem, that may have known about this mission?"
"Only my secretary, Anya. It was her task to type up the necessary travel documents, and mission logs"
""Are you serious?" snapped James angrily "You didn't do them yourself!"
"No, that's why I have a secretary!" snapped Mallory
James paced about the small capsule, pondering just how much trouble he would be in if he happened to flatten Mallory.
"Just how much do you know about your secretary, Anya?"
"She's been with me for about a year..."
"And she has access to the computers and the communications equipment?"
"Well yes, I suppose"
James took out his phone and dialed Q, glaring at Mallory the entire time he waited for the little geek to answer the phone.
"Q...Bond here, I want you to scan the computer in Mr. Mallory's secretary's office for any unusual activity that might include accessing the main frame at HQ"
"007, as much as I would like to accommodate your request, I'm afraid even that is above my pay scale without proper authorization" replied Q
"Fine" grumbled James as he handed Mallory the phone "Would you be so kind as to tell him it's ok to hack into your secretary's computer"
Once Mallory had finished with Q he handed the phone back to James with a heavy sigh
"I just never would have thought, she seemed like such a nice girl"
"Not to put too fine a point on it Sir, but most spies do"
Jack and M appeared to be caught in what some would call a standoff. M insisted that she wanted to return to her office and Jack wasn't about to let her step one little toe out the front door.
"I still don't see why I can't at least go to my own office and try to be somewhat productive" shouted M
"Because"
"That's a hell of a reason. I don't suppose you would care to elaborate?"
"It's a need to know basis, and quite frankly, you don't need to know right now" he snapped as he put his hands on either side of her head, trapping her against the wall
"Now Jack" she started with a sickeningly sweet tone "I'm sure that we could work something out if you would just cooperate with me a little"
"Not gonna work M, you can bat your eyes all you want, but you're not going anywhere" he replied
M just let out a sigh of frustration as she leaned back against the wall.
"I'm really sorry M, but if I let you out that door, James will kill me and that's putting it mildly" he said pulling her to him "He's only doing this because he loves you"
"And what about you? Why are you doing this?"
"Because I care about you, hell if it wasn't for James I could almost fall for you myself" he said quietly
"Almost?"
"Well you have to admit, you do make keeping you safe rather difficult"
"Well what fun would it be if I behaved myself" she said with a laugh "Alright, as it appears that I will not be going anywhere, I guess I will go back up stairs and take a nap" she said as she headed toward the steps
Jack could tell something was up just by the way she gave up so easily, so he decided to follow her. As she was almost half way up the stairs, she suddenly turned to see Jack following close behind.
"And just where do you think you're going?" she asked sharply
"With you. James warned me about you and how slippery you can be, so I'm not taking any chances" he replied as he gently took her arm and escorted her the rest of the way up the stairs
"And what if I were to tell you that I was going to the bathroom?"
"Then I will make sure that its safe, and that there is no way in hell you can make it out the window" he said casting her a knowing glance
"Can you honestly see me climbing out the window?"
"Yep, out the window, down the drain pipe and gone in less than 60 seconds" he said with a grin "Once an agent always an agent"
"You really aren't going to let me out of your sight are you?" she said sounding rather frustrated
"No" he replied quietly as he leaned down and gently kissed her
M leaned into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist, feeling along his belt until she felt his gun, which she quickly un-holstered and pointed at his chest
"M...What are you doing?" he asked with a look of both surprise and disbelief
"I'm going to my office!" she said with a defiant and highly determined tone
"Now M...we've been over this, you can't go..."
"Too late. As I am the one with the gun, I guess that means I make the decisions around here, and If you and James insist on keeping me in the dark, then I have no other choice than to go sort this out for myself" she snapped "So start walking"
Jack did as he was told and started walking with his hands in the air.
"Would you at least let me call James?" he protested all the way down the stairs
"Why? so he can give you a thousand and one ways to keep me prisoner in my own home?"
"No...So that I can explain the situation to him, so that maybe he will then explain the situation to you" he replied looking over his shoulder at M and the gun
"Fine! You have two minutes" she said dryly
Jack reached in his pocket, took out his phone and dialed James as quickly as he could.
"Bond"
"James...we seem to have a little situation here" said Jack as calmly as he could
"If you tell me you lost her..."
"No...I didn't lose her, she's standing right here. Look I really think you need to let me tell her what's going on"
"I'll tell her when I get back"
"I don't think you understand..."
"Well why don't you enlighten me" replied James as he hailed a cab
"As you can guess, she was less than pleased to find that you had gone out, and one thing led to another and well let's just say that Annie Oakley here has an itchy trigger finger and if you don't let me tell her where you are I'm not so sure that she won't use me for target practice" he said with a nervous laugh
"You gave her your gun?"
"No, she took it, there's a big difference, anyway...what do you say?"
"Put her on" snapped a clearly irritated James
"He wants to talk to you" said Jack handing her the phone
"I assume you have a good reason for holding me hostage in my own home?" she said dryly
"Well, actually you are the one holding the hostage at the moment, so let's not go pointing fingers"
"Point taken, Where are you and when are you coming back?" she snapped
"I'm on my way. Please put the gun down and wait until I get there and I will explain everything" said James in a calm tone
"I'll be waiting" she snapped as she hung up the phone.
TO BE CONTINUED...