Chapter 16
M is thrown about the vehicle, smashing uncomfortably into the door because of the sudden acceleration.
"What is going on here…are you kidnapping me?"
The driver removes his hat and sunglasses to show agent Gunn staring back at her from the rear view mirror.
M pulls her mobile from her pocket and begins texting Tanner, Q and Bond.
"How did you…so quickly?"
"The phone will not work in this car…I have a jammer in place ma'am. I will not harm you I am just delivering you to my uncle for questioning."
"Here in DC?"
"No…we will be taking a flight soon just not to London like you thought."
"I see…you're making a run for it now…CIA, FBI, NCIS and MI6 will all be looking for you."
"Nothing that a name change and some minor plastic surgery won't fix, M."
"I doubt it will be any improvement."
Gunn smirks back at her. "Didn't like that old woman remark from this morning. Actually that was all for show…you are damn sexy for an old dame."
M glares at him through the rear view mirror.
"Quantum is very upset that you and that Bond figured out the situation in Bolivia. They really like their profits and their privacy. I am sure you can understand that…M. Why the code name for you but not for the agents…that has always seemed strange."
"What makes you think you will get me to an airfield to take me elsewhere?"
"Easy M…I am taking you by boat to a yacht that is large enough for a helicopter and then several jumps to my uncle. It will take some time but it is necessary as you can imagine."
M remembers that her Derringer is in her pocket still but when to use it? It has only one shot before needing reloading and she does not want to waste it if she can get to White.
White is the one she wants…he had Mitchell almost kill her and had Vesper killed. By the varieties and locations of property tied to Quantum through their investigations there is an Island near the Bahamas that is likely where they are taking her.
M types a text that will send as soon as it is able.
I would like to take that cruise now Bond.
Yours M.
M tucks the mobile in the back of her pants and not her jacket pocket…once the jammer disengages and before he can find it on her she hopes that it will send the message.
Gunn drives erratically to a marina and pulls in and shuts down the SUV.
M prepares to jump out the other side by sliding over as soon as he leaves the vehicle. She needs to distance herself from the jammer enough and stall for time.
Gunn exits and moves to her door but M manually hits the lock and slides quickly to the other side as it opens when he clicks the door unlock button on his key ring.
M opens the door and slides down the other side running away towards the docks and boats hoping to make it somewhere that she can lose him.
M takes her phone out and looks for signal strength. As the bars pop into existence she feels the vibrations of text leaving and notifying London of her situation. M drops the mobile in a garbage can and continues running around a small shack on the dock.
Gunn steps out from around it in time for her to run right into him.
"Nice try M but you are coming with me. Give me the phone."
"It's on the floor of your bloody vehicle…I will wait here while you go retrieve it."
Gunn grabs her and begins to pat her down. He spends a little too much time outlining her bra for hidden items. Unfortunately he is through in his search and manages to find the small Derringer in her right pocket.
"Well, well aren't you full of dangerous surprises M. Why didn't you use this when you had the chance?"
"I often find that toadies are rarely worth the bullet, when there are bigger fish to fry."
Gunn growls and grabs M's arm pulling her down a dock to large speed boat that he quickly unties and pushes out while jumping in.
Gunn takes her arm and pulls her along with him and deposits her into the seat beside him as he starts the engine and heads out of the slip and out into the channel that leads to the sea.
"Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride M…It will be your last chances for fresh air and freedom."
"You sound sure of yourself…to bad you won't manage to live much longer."
"Now you sound rather sure of yourself M."
"You don't know Bond like I do."
"Oh…is the great M going to kiss and tell?"
M scoffs at the remark and remains silent as the shoreline becomes smaller in perspective as do her chances to escape.
"No? I thought you and the kilted doctor were testing out his mattress not one of your agents. I thought Bond only banged hot young morons and hangers on…uncle showed me a photo of the one that died and she was definitely worth playing with…not worth the 50 million but still for a few days…"
"Apparently tastes change. As for the doctor…he was a misdirection…my escort for the night only."
M does not want the organization anywhere near Ducky or his friends at NCIS. It is better to direct them at Bond…he can handle himself and it is not far from the mark as it is.
Bond will be moving heaven and earth to get to her and M will not feel at all sorry for the hell that is about to rain down on these men. It is rather exhilarating to think that Bond will do this out of personal desire, and not just because it is his job.
Gunn looks at her in a different way all of a sudden as he stares at her cleavage as if to gauge her physical attributes and the attractions they hold for a much younger man like James.
"Tastes change…I will have to ponder that M…I would not want to waste an opportunity to see what the attraction is."
"Watch the water and the skies and stop trying to look down my blouse."
"You really like to order people around don't you M? Your bossy attitude actually is a bit of a turn on."
"You will not have the opportunity unless you plan on stopping here to give them time to find me, then please do and I will cooperate in as much that keeping you occupied will stall us for the sake of rescue."
"M are you in a very strange British way, coming on to me?"
M scoffs again crossing her arms under her breast making them seem even larger and stares him straight in the eye.
"I suppose I am…if I must…for Queen and Country…I've sent others to do similar and I do not think myself above my agents."
"I may take you up on that offer M but after we reach the yacht. That boat has comfortable cabins and does not need me to drive. Until then hold that thought."
"I doubt I will make it as easy for you then."
"Well, my dear we will have to see about that."
M understands that seduction is a tool in the arsenal of an agent, not that she ever thought that she would have to use it at her age. Knocking them off-balance and distraction is the only thing she can do to stall and help HQ and Bond find her.
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Felix is yelling into his phone as Gibbs drives like a maniac. Fornell swearing at him for the driving. Gibbs opens a line to Abby and has her help from base. Police, NCIS, FBI are overlapping to find the vehicle.
"Damn it!"
"What is it Felix?"
"It's a ghost…he was released by the CIA…an agent Kent…and that means White in Welsh…These guys need to get some originality. I am having every agency look for derivatives of White on their staff."
"No tracer on the vehicle…damn it! This is the last time M comes to the states! Q do you have her mobile and does M have an active tracer?"
Q answers. No tracer but her mobile must be off or blocked….wait…I just got a text and narrowing to a location. The text is just about Gunn taking her…the location is the marina…I sent the map to your mobile now.
"Q I got the same text and then another. It says….I would like to take that cruise now Bond.
Yours M."
Felix asks. "What does that mean?"
"Plan B…I told her about making our way to the Bahamas to catch a Royal Navy vessel back to Britain. Q look at yachts, Islands anything we can connect Quantum or White too. I will ask NCIS about a boat."
Bond speaks to Gibbs and explains the direction the search is taking as they arrive at the marina. Bond finds the mobile in the trash, cleans it and puts it in his pocket.
Tony, McGee and Ziva question the manager and Gibbs gets a helicopter to come get them and asks Vance to direct Naval ships in the direction of the Bahamas from the DC area. Vance will coordinate with the Navy.
Bond has Tanner and Q working on finding M. It is not every day that the head of MI6 goes missing.
Tanner has alerted the PM and he has contacted the Navy on their behalf. The Atlantic fleet is on high alert as quickly as the calls are made.
Bond just hopes it will all help…a capture, not kill alert on Gunn and White. Unfortunately Quantum has all the leverage, because losing M is not an option.
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M stares over the waves as they go ahead to her kidnappers destination. The sea is soothing...like gazing into a fire. This leaves M a lot of opportunity to think on what an unmitigated disaster this trip has become.
M prefers to force her thoughts to the pleasant occasions...like last night with Ducky. M has been lonely since Nigel died. It was nice to meet someone with whom she clicked so easily.
The rest of this drama M could bloody we'll do without. Bond and drama, disaster, expense go together like tea and toast.
"When will we arrive to meet your uncle?"
"Soon M, are you impatient to see him again?"
"Oh...yes I can hardly wait to see how his leg is doing. I suppose that it was too much to ask for it to have been gangrenous."
"As I said earlier today, he would like to tie you to a chair next and see how that goes."
M scoffs and continues to watch the sea and sky for any sign of rescue. The compass is showing north-east for direction. Damn it! She assumed they would be going south towards the Bahamas.
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Bond and Felix are getting on a Naval helicopter with Gibbs and Ducky. Tony and the others are on the way back to NCIS to aid from there.
Coastal vessels are to keep an eye out but it is a large ocean.
Going on information from M they have assumed that Gunn will head to the Bahamas. Q is digging into multiple levels of shell corporations to find boats and properties that are owned by Quantum.
Once airborne the expanse of ocean beneath them, time is their worst enemy. Gunn is not an idiot and deactivated his transponder leaving them to find M by sight only. The sun will be gone soon and they all know that the chance of finding her in the next hour is slim.
Bond and Ducky are beside themselves with worry, while Gibbs gets updates from NCIS. McGee and Abby are helping Q branch with any leads on Quantum's holdings in the US.
"Bond, I'm sorry but we have to head back until morning."
Bond's hands clench into fists on his lap. Ducky pats one reassuringly as he looks at the younger man who feels the same feelings of loss as him.
"We will find her James, I can feel it."
"Yes but will it be in time to prevent her torture?"
Gibbs looks back at them. "I trust M knows how to use her greatest weapon to prevent or stall well enough for us to locate them. Bond you can stay at my place tonight."
"Thanks. I sent Tanner back to London to lead the investigation from there, not to mention deal with the PM in M's absence."
The helicopter drops them at NCIS and Gibbs drops Ducky off at his place and head to Gibbs'. They sit in the spartan home and have a beer.
"You don't lock your house? I thought that only happened in Canada?"
Gibbs laughs and nods. "Anyone is welcome to try but the neighbours all know what I do. There is little threat. Bond...I think M can handle herself...no need to worry."
"I know, but sometimes her greatest weapon...her mouth forgets the kind of danger she's in and Christ if she doesn't know how to push every button a man has."
" I can see that but maybe the time Gunn needs to get her out of country, or wherever will work to our benefit."
"I will turn in now...get an early start."
"0500 early enough?"
Bond nods as he goes up the stairs with Gibbs an settles into a spare room. 5am will come quickly and James will have difficulty with sleep tonight knowing that M is not safe in bed under guard or even n the arms of a certain doctor.
Bond is not usually a praying man but things that he has no control over like M being in the clutches of evil men, lead him to unknown territories of spiritual awareness.
"Dear lord. Don't let them touch a white hair on her head. If they do...Quantum will burn."