Eighteen:
The Scales of Deprivation

She paused in Ros's doorway. "Ros, we need to talk," Ruth said very quietly. She didn't give Ros an option, merely stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "He is not Lucas North. There's an old file photo from the initial interview with Lucas North – and it's not him," she said quickly. "I don't have a bloody clue who that man is, or where the real Lucas North is."

"You're sure about this?" Ros asked.

"More certain about anything than I've ever been in my life," Ruth said. She paused, trying to figure out what to say to give a greater sense of import. "I'm more sure about this than loving Harry, Ros."

"He's been on our side, whoever he is…"

"Until now," Ruth said. "He's accessed a secure file on the network called Albany –"

Ros blanched; went properly pale and grey. "Oh shit," she exhaled. "Shit. No. We have to find him and detain him –"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Ruth said scornfully. "He's disappeared. He found my trackers and destroyed them."

"His secure phone –"

"SIM card's been destroyed," Ruth interjected. "We need to tell Harry. I had no idea at the speed this would careen to when it catapulted out of control."

"We need to get extra security on your family and mine," Ros said sharply. "Harry and I both know the location of the proper Albany file. This man, whoever he is, will try to use whatever leverage he can in order to make us disclose the location."

"What is so important about this file?" Ruth asked. "This file above all others he could have sold us out for?"

"Albany is a weapon of mass casualty," Ros said. "A weapon that locks onto specific DNA patterns. It is a bioengineered genetic weapon, Ruth, and in the wrong hands…"

Ruth stared at her for a long moment. "Are you bloody fucking kidding? This is the real world, not Star Trek, Ros –"

"I'm not kidding," Ros said, her voice low and very quiet. "And whatever he sold us out for… it has to be huge. Money, sex, luxury? I don't know, but it makes him a very dangerous man. He knows our methods and won't hesitate to use them against us."

Ruth hesitated, then nodded. "I need to go upstairs and brief Harry," she said quietly.

"No," Ros said firmly. "You need to go home – take Tariq and make sure he puts all of the current upgrades into place. Send your kids away for the week. Send them to their grandparents'."

"Oh, right," Ruth scoffed. "Because he can't just hack my file and get my mum's address or my in-law's or anything – Ros, what are you going to do about Emma?"

"I'm going to brief Harry, and then I'm bringing Emma and her nanny onto the Grid," Ros said quietly. "They'll be safer here. I can lock it down if need be."

Ruth hesitated, then said, "Yes, that's a good idea. Maybe I should bring the kids here – Malcolm would be good to help with Emma, maybe?"

Ros was about to reply when Ruth's phone began to trill. She grabbed it and said, "Hello?"

"Ruth, it's me," Malcolm said. "I've just been round the school to collect Jamie like usual… he's not here. Harry didn't just forget to tell me Catherine was picking him up today, did he?"

All the blood drained from Ruth's face and she said, "No, not that I know of, Malcolm – I'll call her, though. I'll call you back." She looked at Ros and said, "He's got Jamie. The son of a bitch has my son."

Ros reached over and grabbed Ruth's hand. "Stay calm," she said.

"Stay calm? STAY CALM?" Ruth repeated in disbelief, her voice rising to an untempered shout that brought Erin and Dimitri running. "My son has been abducted and you want me to STAY CALM?"

"Jamie's gone?" Erin said, her eyes going wide. "Ruth –"

"Erin, you and Dimitri go to the Pearce's. Get Rose and Daisy and bring them here. I will call on another section to put eyes on Harry's other children," Ros said sharply. "Get Beth to go to mine and bring Emma and Gwen here."

"What about Lucas?" Dimitri said.

"Lucas is the one that bloody has my son!" Ruth exploded, her worry and panic beginning to overwhelm her reason.

"Just do it," Ros ordered. "Ruth and I need to go brief Harry, because he's going to go literally ballistic and call in CO19 to deal with Lucas and that's the last thing we need."

Erin nodded and said, "Ruth, we will find him – "

Ruth pushed everything back and felt a searing pain in her chest. "Yes, we will," she said, her words hollow with certainty that they would find him dead. The pain grew worse and she whispered, "We need to brief Harry. Now."

Ros nodded and moved for the door, Ruth right behind her. The elevator moved far too slowly, the moments it took to walk across the floor to Harry's office were too long…

Hermione said, "I'm sorry, Sir Harry is in a meeting –"

"His son has been abducted from his school," Ros said coldly. "The meeting is over, Hermione."

"Oh no," Hermione choked out, looking at Ruth with pity. Ruth wanted to punch her in the face.

Hermione opened the door and Harry glanced up, holding up one finger. "Yes, Prime Minister, I am aware –" Harry was saying. "Could you hold for one moment? There seems to be an issue –"

Ros pushed past Hermione and said, "The man we know as Lucas North has abducted your son from his school. All this has to do with Albany – I've brought Ruth in on what it is. The rest of your family and mine are en route to the Grid for their protection; I've ordered a team to monitor Graham, Catherine, and their families."

The look on Harry's face was indescribable, and Ruth felt her gut twist even more. He very calmly put the phone back to his ear and said, "Prime Minister, I'm afraid we're going to have to cut this short. My son has been abducted and I need to track down and kill someone immediately, with prejudice. Thank you for your understanding, sir." He hung up the phone.

Ruth reacted with horror when he yanked the phone out of the wall and threw it across the room with an animalistic scream of pure rage and agony. "Harry," she choked out.

He turned and looked at her, face red, flushed, unrestrained anger in his eyes – but the tears welled up when he saw her, and he opened his arms, begging her to come to him. She did as he asked without words, and held him close. "Harry," she whispered, "I don't know what to do. I don't know – it all went downhill so quickly and I don't – it's my fault –"

"No, it is not," Harry ground out between clenched teeth. "It is not your fault. You didn't invite that man to kidnap our Jamie, did you?"

"No, but I should have put surveillance on the school or something – god, Harry, what are we going to do?" she breathed.

Ros's phone rang and she grabbed for it. "Beth – what? WHAT? SHIT. Get back here as fast as you possibly can." She hung up and said, "We find Lucas North. Now. I don't care what favors we have to pull, or who we have to bribe, kill, maim, or steal from – we find him now. He is a dead man walking."

Ruth saw the flinty determination on Ros's face, and knew immediately. "Oh god, Ros –"

"Emma is the last bit I have of Andrew," Ros said. "And I will have her back alive. Immediately."

Harry exhaled and said, "Her nanny?"

"Dead," Ros said curtly. "A quick kill; would've happened as she opened the door. I was expecting a grocery delivery at ten this morning. Lucas could have posed as the delivery person and gained access easily." She shook herself and said, "We're too close to this, Harry."

"We are," he agreed. "But that doesn't mean that we won't put a kill order on him. It just means we might do it more quickly than others who would seek to… rehabilitate him."

"No," Ros said. "He's going to die. The code is dead, Harry. There is no alternative."

"There is no alternative," he agreed, "but we find the children first. Once we have them, we can take him down."

"We should be prepared to use the secondary Albany file as bait," Ros said. "Leave the primary in position and offer him the secondary. The laptop we can wipe remotely."

Harry's face was grim as he nodded. "There is no alternative but the appearance of treason," he capitulated. "I will inform Special Branch, the Home Secretary, and the Prime Minister. They will request that we find another way in case the remote hack does not do as it is meant to."

Ros looked at Ruth and said, "I will not condone putting our children on the line." She glanced back at Harry. "I refuse to be put in a position where my child will be used against that monster. If one hair is harmed on her head, I will put a bullet between his eyes myself."

"If any harm comes to either of our children…" Harry's low, grave voice petered out into a bit of a sob.

Ruth couldn't speak, could barely keep breathing. Everything had boiled down to a point where it was them versus the world and they were on the losing side. Never had she imagined what it would be like to have her child taken from her and held hostage – and Harry was reliving his worst nightmare all over again. This was not the first time for him.

He was remarkably calm, but she could see the murderous rage seething beneath the surface.

Ruth had fought with Harry and Ros, citing Tariq's need for back-up while the rest of the team covered the coffee shop. Lucas had called for a meet, citing that he had no intentions of harming the kids, and wouldn't they like a cup of coffee while they had their little chat? Calum had been on leave for a few days, since he'd broken his ankle on their last major operation; he would normally be backing Tariq in the surveillance van. Harry had finally relented when he realized that she just needed to be there, to know that Jamie and Emma were all right.

But he and Ros would be staying on the Grid, under stringent security with Rose, Daisy, and Malcolm. They could all hear and see what the team heard and saw; it was a good trade.

"Alpha One in position," Erin said down the wire.

"Beta One in position," Beth added.

"Alpha Two in position; waiting for pre-arranged signal," Dimitri said.

"CO19 in position," Tariq said. "They have kill shot orders, but not at the expense of the kids."

Ruth licked her lips and watched the monitors.

Erin's phone rang. Ruth could hear her speaking. "Please let me come inside and – Lucas, please. I know you don't want to hurt them." Abruptly, she stopped talking. "Ruth, he's devolving – we're going to have to storm the shop if he won't come out. We don't even know if he has the children here or not."

Ruth was about to speak when her phone rang. "Hello?" she said cautiously, not recognizing the number.

"Ruth," Lucas said. "I don't want to hurt the children; I know you have a sniper team in position. I'm not stupid. I will let the kids go – straight to Erin – if you promise they will hold back the kill shot."

She immediately said, for the benefit of her wire, "Harry, hold the kill shot. He will let the children go if we hold the kill shot."

There was a long pause. "Agreed," Harry said crisply. "I want proof of life immediately."

"Proof of life," Ruth said into her phone.

"Mummy, I want to go home," Jamie whimpered down the line a moment later. "I miss Scarlett and Fidget and Lily and Darcy and you and daddy and Rosie and Daisy –"

Her breath caught in her throat, and she whispered, "Harry – he's alive."

"I will hold the shot," Harry said, his voice pinched and tight.

"We'll hold the shot," Ruth relayed to Lucas.

"The kids will go straight to Erin," Lucas said. "After that, I will come out of the shop."

Ruth whispered, "Agreed."

She watched Jamie walk out of the coffee shop holding Emma's hand; they went straight to Erin, who picked Emma up and took Jamie's hand. They all but ran for cover.

Lucas came out of the shop – and took off running. Shouting and shots fired –

Ruth's heart was in her throat. The door of the van burst open and Lucas smashed something into Tariq's face. He grabbed Ruth, a full on hold – he wasn't playing games. She kicked out and fought with all her strength, but he hissed in her ear, "Don't make me snap your neck, Ruth – but I will if you don't cooperate. I let the children go. Now I have you." He threw her into the back of a plain white van, knocking her head hard against the floor. She looked up at him, dazed, as he tied her up and gagged her.

They drove along, and as she was unrestrained by seat belts, she was rolling around the back. "A straight swap, Harry – Ruth and Albany. You have ninety minutes or you'll never find the body," Lucas said coldly. "We both know that's not enough time for you to find me."

Ruth was glad that, at the very least, Jamie would be safe. That he would get to go home and see his daddy again. And that Emma would be safely with Ros. It was almost worth sacrificing her life for.

As soon as he'd hung up the phone, Lucas said, "Jamie's a good boy. You should be proud of him; he's not at all like his father."

Ruth closed her eyes and sent up a tiny prayer to the god she'd forgotten to believe in. If this were to be her revelation, could it not have been a bit less painful?

END PART EIGHTEEN