Chapter 15: Molly
I woke up abruptly, stirred by a nightmare where I relived the explosion, but walked around the dark room afterwards and saw the dead lying there and then stumbled on Charles, covered in dust and debris and staring back at me with unseeing, dead eyes. The reality I woke up to was a lovely contrast, even if the bomb itself had been real. It took me a moment to realise I was in mum and dad's house with its familiar smell and noises, and then another to realise I was being held by Charles. Then I smiled to myself. In his sleep, the arm he had around me had moved so hand cupped my breast tenderly. I could also feel a soft pressure to my back from his morning hardness. I did not mind at all, but I knew he would be embarrassed when he woke up, so I pretended to still be asleep and enjoyed the closeness of him for some time, feeling only slightly ashamed that his unintentional touch excited me.
Finally, he stirred and woke up, and I heard him whisper to himself;
"Oh shit!", then quickly removed his hand from my breast and pulled back his hips from me so we no longer touched there, but then he put his arm back to just hold me, which pleased me immensely. If I was a cat I would have purred then, I enjoyed all this far too much.
I waited another fifteen minutes or so before I moved, so he would not think I had noticed. Then yawned and softly said good morning.
"Good morning", his voice sounded sleepy.
I liked it that way, it felt like an intimate version of it. I tried to make mine sound sleepy too, even though I was wide awake, my senses alert.
"Were you able to sleep at all?"
He gave out a little laugh.
"Fortunately, I'm used to sleeping conditions far more uncomfortable than this from the army. Here I was lucky both to have pillow, sheets and a woman beside me... errrm, not that I, we... sorry, you know what I mean."
I still had my back to him and smiled, loving that my presence could make him a little bit embarrassed.
"And you?"
"I slept well, except I had a nightmare. About the bombing and seeing a whole lot of dead people. Seeing you dead. It was awful."
He briefly pressed me a little harder to him.
"I'm here, I'm alive,"
"I'm so grateful for that, but others... I still can't grasp it really happened. I need to listen to the news, need to know how bad it was exactly."
"You want to get up and do it now? Listen to the news?"
"No… Can we just stay like this for a while? I'm not ready to face it yet."
"Me neither, to tell you the truth. I've seen much during my years in the army, but this… innocent peopled harmed and killed right here at home. I'm just so thankful we survived Molly. That Sam still has a dad."
I loved that he was using my name now, something had changed between us in the past twenty-four hours.
"What now?" I turned to him even if lying face to face was an even more challenging position than spooning, given the small space, and we ended up with our faces very close.
He had a morning stubble, a dark shade over his chin. I had never seen him with that, his shave was always immaculate, but it suited him. Made him look rougher, sexy. Made me want to dot little kisses along his jawline and feel that stubble bruise my lips.
"What now?" he repeated, smirking. "Are you asking me? You wanted me to take you here and I did, but I haven't made any further plans. I thought you had an idea? You're the boss after all."
"No. No, I don't have the faintest idea", I confessed. "I desperately wanted to get away, and I'd like to stay away for some time, but I realise we can't stay here. Sooner or later they will come searching here and as soon as dad goes to the pub, and I can tell you he's not able to stay away for long, the secret will be out despite your serious talk to them yesterday. I was impressed by the way, could imagine you like the officer keeping your men in line when I saw you like that."
I did not mention how hot I had found him in that moment.
He smiled.
"Old habits die hard, I guess I will always have an officer in me. Sometimes that's handy to bring out."
Then he turned serious.
"But you're right, we can't stay here. Either we call the security service and they take you back to the hotel safely, or we have to go somewhere else."
"I don't want to go back, not yet", I heard myself pleading.
He was quiet for a while, thinking.
"Okay, here's an idea. I have a lake cottage a bit up north. The location is secluded, and it actually belongs to an uncle, so it wouldn't be connected with me easily. Would you like to go there for a few days? Sooner or later you must go back, but it would allow you a little longer break from it all. If you want to?"
"Yes. Yes, I'd like that very much."
A cottage by a lake in the company of Charles James, I don't think that any girl could ask for more for a mini-break. Except maybe not simultaneously running away from crazy assassins, deceitful security services and back-stabbing fellow politicians, or that the company in question was just doing his job. But you cannot be too picky in such matters.
"Then we have a plan, even if it's a crazy one. I made a quite big cash withdrawal before we left the hospital, and I actually keep some more in the cottage for unforeseeable situations, so we'll be fine in that aspect. I suggest that you borrow some clothes from your mum and bring with you. I would also advice not to tell your parents about our plan, just tell them we're leaving, then they can't disclose anything even unintentionally. Is there any way we can borrow a car around here?"
"My Nan has a crappy old one which she rarely uses, I'm sure we can take that."
"Great."
A plan had formed, and I was excited about it. The moment seemed right to leave the bed and get to action. I was just unwilling to tear away from him, maybe we would never be this close again. He did not move either, but finally it got too tense to just keep gazing in each other's eyes and I moved.
"Breakfast?"
"Yes please, I'm starving."
"Coco puffs?"
"Haven't had that since I was a kid, but I'd love that."
"How can you miss out on such a nutritious and healthy option for breakfast?"
"You always have that for breakfast?"
"Only on weekends normally, but I think we deserve it today and I'm sure mum has it at home, it's a staple commodity in the Dawes household."
"I agree, we do deserve that."
While we indulged in Coco puffs, we had the news on and the combination of comfort food and dreadful events was strange. There were eleven dead and over fifty more or less seriously injured.
"Information from the police is still scarce. It is believed that an IED was triggered but that has not yet been confirmed and no organisation or person has claimed responsibility for the attack. It is believed that the primary target of the attack was Home Secretary Molly Dawes. According to our sources she survived but there is no information about her current status, if she was seriously injured…"
They mentioned noting about me gone missing and we exchanged a glance of relief. That meant that getting away would be a bit easier than it would if the whole country was looking for me. Maybe they did not want to alarm the public more than necessary, maybe they did not want to reveal the breech in security which losing sight of the Home Secretary in a situation like this meant.
"Right before the explosion, the Home Secretary had delivered an unexpected speech, distancing herself from RIPA-18, saying she thought it was a dangerous regulation, planned to vote against it and urged everyone to do the same. This means the is taking a complete different view in the matter than the PM. It is difficult to judge what the effects of this revelation may be, but chances are it will sway the vote which as late as last week seemed to be in favour…"
I could only hope the news woman was right and my speech had made a difference. It would not make up for the lost lives, but it would be something.
After breakfast I had a chat with mum and dad, told them we would be leaving but not where, and reminded them they should tell no one we had been here at all.
"Please dad, I know it's difficult to keep your gob shut after a few beers down at the pub but this time my life may depend on it."
His eyes were damp when he promised not to say anything, even promised to stay sober for some time not to make any mistakes.
I packed a bag with some of mum's clothes. We were the same size but did not exactly have the same taste nowadays. I managed to locate some neutral pieces despite that she tried to convince me to choose a rainbow-coloured batik dress and similar gems from her closet.
Charles ditched his ruined suit and borrowed a change from dad. The t- shirt was all right as far as the size concerned as he filled it up with broad shoulders and muscles where there normally was room for dad's slight overweight, but it had a print saying; KEEP CALM SHIT HAPPENS, with a little turd above instead of the crown that usually topped such 'keep calm'-signs. The joggers were too short even if he wore them as far down his hip as he could while remaining decent. I could not resist laughing out loud.
"I love your t-shirt! And it looks like you're expecting a flood anytime soon."
"Shut up, Dawes", he grinned back. "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do, as they say. In this case it's me wearing this outfit for your sake."
I put my hand to my mouth in feigned astonishment.
"For me? Oh, I can't believe you would do that for me?"
Truth was that even if this was the ugliest outfit he had ever worn, he still managed to pull off looking like a model out of a fashion magazine. You could probably hand this man a plastic bag to wear and he would still look amazing.
The little ones had been off to school before we got up and even if I would have loved to see them, it was for the better, so they would not tell their friends about my visit. We said our good byes inside the house to make our time out on the street as brief as possible, covered our heads in a hat and a cap respectively before we headed out, to make us less recognisable. In addition, Charles had advised me to wear my hair lose as I never usually did.
It was hard to say good bye to them and I hugged both long and hard. I was not sure when I would get to see them next. I sincerely hoped there would be a next time, that whoever was after me would not succeed. The thought made me nauseous and I had to push it away.
"Thanks for the hospitality", Charles said. "And for the clothes." He did not sound one bit sarcastic even though he was wearing a turd print.
Then we were out the door and inside the car which dad had picked up and parked right outside. Charles sat down by the wheel. I was a crappy driver. I drove little before I became the Home Secretary and since then I did not drive at all.
We took the M1, headed for the Peak District somewhere. I had never been there before so his attempt to describe the localisation of the cottage failed, but it did not matter to me. I was glad to get away anywhere, especially with him.
At some distance outside of London, we pulled into a petrol station to fill up. Mission accomplished, he opened my door and demanded;
"Come with me."
"Where to?"
"I'm going to make a call to my boss from the phone booth over there and I want you to listen, so you can rest assured that I'm not hiding anything from you."
"Why do you want to call her?"
"To tell her you're okay, this was your own choice and you want to stay away for some time. I also have some information which may be important for the investigation."
"But can't they track the call?"
"Not if I keep it short. They need at least two minutes to be able to triangulate the location even roughly."
So, I stood beside him when he spoke with CSI Craddock, with the task to keep track of time.
He knew the direct number by heart and she apparently answered.
"Lorraine, it's Charles James."
She seemed to start saying something, but he interrupted brusquely.
"Please listen! Listen carefully because I will hang up in two minutes. I'm with the Home Secretary, she is safe, and she has asked of me to take her off-grid. Ms. Dawes can you confirm that?"
He held the phone to me;
"Molly Dawes here, I'm fine and I want to disappear for a while that's true. PS James is only obliging my wishes."
He continued.
"In light of what has happened she fears for her life and doesn't trust anyone. Lorraine, I'm sure you've heard about her speech and that she's not behind RIPA-18. In the hotel room, there is a recording of her talking to Hunter-Dunne which proves that it was him and the PM that saw to that he took over the 1/10 investigation from SO15. Go get that, follow that track and I'm sure you'll find something interesting. But be careful! I think some powerful people are involved here... If you can trust Anne Sampson? I don't know for sure, but my gut feeling says you can. Hunter-Dunne, the PM and Ms. Dawes' ex on the other hand... tread carefully. "
I signed to him that the clock was ticking.
"Time's up but I'll call you in a week or so to hear what progress there is."
I heard her talking upset, but he just said;
"Got to go, bye!" and hung up.
All I could think of was that he had said he would call her in a week, did that mean I would spend a week alone with him in a cottage? Here I was on the run from true danger, yet the strongest feeling in me right now was joyful expectation over that. Silly girl... or woman was a more accurate description maybe.
He had told me it was roughly three and a half hours drive and that I could sleep if I wanted to, but I did not. Instead we mixed chatting with silence and for a while he tuned into a radio channel with eighties hits and started singing along and urged me to do the same. He sang surprisingly well, much better than me, but with him so enthusiastic it was impossible not to join in. It is strange, eighties music is not my favourite but it still strangely catchy. Like Jason Donovan, Bryan Adams and KC and the Sunshine band. We sang a few duets, but when he passionately embarked on 'Nothing's gonna change my love for you' I laughed so heard I cried and my stomach hurt.
"What? Don't you believe me?" he said with feigned hurt.
"No not really but keep singing, by all means. I'm really enjoying this."
And I was. This was so twisted, how was it possible to have such a great time given the current situation? The answer was simple: him. He was the reason.
We made one more stop, and he went into a grocery store and bought everything we could need for a week, or more. I raised my eyebrows to all the bags her came carrying.
"You really must think that I have a big appetite?"
"Judging from the evening of the PM's birthday party, I know you do", he smirked.
"Oi, I told you I did not eat anything during dinner."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever", he teased. Then added; "To tell the truth I got carried away. It's quite seldom I shop for anyone but myself these days, and it was a nice change."
"I hope you can cook it too, because I can't."
"So, you can't drive, and you can't cook. Is there anything you're good at?"
"Oh yes, there is…" When I said it, I was honestly just thinking in general, not about sex, but it unintentionally came out in such a tone of voice that it seemed like that was what I was implying. My cheeks burned, and it only got worse when I tried to explain it away.
"I didn't mean… you know…I'm not…"
"What?", he turned to me cocking an eyebrow. "What is it that you're not good at?"
"Sex!"
"You're saying you're not good at sex?"
"No! I'm not saying I'm not good at sex. I am good at sex... I hope, but I didn't mean to say that… Oh god, this is just getting worse by the minute, isn't it?"
"Keep digging, as they use to say", he grinned.
"No, I think I will just zip it instead, that's for the better."
"You're sure there isn't anything more you wish to clarify, regarding if you're good or not?"
"I'm fucking excellent! Now, let's drop it", I snapped totally embarrassed.
"As you wish Ma'am", he laughed and for once I did not tell him not to call me Ma'am.
We drove the last distance in silence but I had the feeling he kept chuckling silently. The last distance was a small winding road ending up by a small cottage beautifully situated by a lake and surrounded by forest. It looked like a little dream and suddenly I realised that I did not know when I had been looking forward to anything as much as I now was looking forward to spending time here with him.
