August 2027: The Coronation Part X.
It had been another perfect day in Dublin for Rory and Trent. They had taken a bus out to a small village in the hills south of the city, which was on the shores of a lough, a place that had been another of the Irishman's childhood haunts with his nana and brother. The place seemed smaller now to the adult Rory, but he soon realised that very little in the community had changed in all of that time. The little shop and café were still there, and the same couple that had run it then were still in charge 20 years later. That they recalled Agnes was no surprise to him, as she was unforgettable, but the fact that they recalled him and asked after his brother made his day.
They had ended up hiring a boat and he had managed to teach Trent how to row in time with him, as Agnes jokingly played the cox. The children had enjoyed it all immensely and had been sad to leave when they had to catch the bus back to the city. They had arrived back at the apartment and had their evening meal, and soon after it was time for the tired children to head to bed. Their great-grandmother followed, leaving Trent and Rory to snuggle up on the sofa. The former smiled as he saw how happy his husband was, these new memories taking the place of the old ones he had of his homeland…
The evening news had just started when Rory's work phone began to ring. He sighed and glanced at Trent, who shrugged and said, "Answer it. It must be important, or Burt wouldn't be calling you. It can't be a major crisis, or mine would be ringing too."
Rory frowned, half-expecting that to happen the moment his husband said it. It did not, so he answered, not exactly happily. He said little, just listening, as Trent watched his expression as it darkened. Then suddenly, his eyes widened, and he gasped, "He's in Dublin!"
That exclamation startled Trent, as did the look of horror on Rory's face. Then he saw his husband's hand shoot out to grab the pen on the table, his eyes desperately searching for a sheet of paper; Trent got up and hastened across the room to grab the pad that Agnes had been using to write down her shopping lists, placing it in front of his husband. He sat back down as Rory wrote furiously on the pad, although a part of him had been tempted to stand beside him to see what he was writing down, but he knew he would find out soon enough. The moment that the call ended, Trent was on alert…
"Okay, so that was obviously Burt. He called because there is an issue that might affect the smooth running of the Coronation, and unfortunately it is linked to Pam. It appears that she has been the subject of threats and blackmail since she shot to fame after giving that make-up advice to the current Queen Consort; the person that is behind it all is her ex-husband. He called the hotel that she is staying at, alongside Burt, Carole and Niff this morning, but they refused to confirm she was staying there at least…"
"And I am assuming from your outburst that when he told you where he had made that call from, it was somewhere in this city?"
"Yes, although they don't know exactly where in Dublin he is as of yet; both the Pentagon and GCHQ in England are in touch with the security services here in an attempt to find out. What they do know so far is that he flew in from Boston this morning, but so far his name has not appeared on the booked passenger list of any of the airlines for an onward flight to London, or indeed anywhere else in the United Kingdom."
"Have they checked with the ferry companies? I recall you telling me once that although the journey from here to London is longer by boat and train, it is still popular, particularly the overnight crossing to Wales…"
"I believe that they are doing that now at GCHQ. I have a theory that he will actually take the ferry, as the checks onboard it are, dare I say, less stringent than those at the airport. The truth is that even after Brexit, Dublin is seen as domestic to the authorities in the UK."
"I have a hunch that they won't find him, but that will be because he is not travelling under his own name. If you are determined to destroy your wife and travel thousands of miles to do so, then you wouldn't be above using a fake passport. I don't think he would want to use a random name though; he would be more likely to use the name of a friend… This might sound mad, but get them to check under the name Duval…"
If Rory was surprised at the choice of name that Trent had made, he did not show it; he promptly called the number of the liaison officer at GCHQ that Burt had just given him. The call was answered swiftly, and Rory explained who he was and told him exactly where he was too, then told him what Trent was theorising…
"Well, we have just checked the ferries, and there is no booking in his name; it won't do any harm to check for the name your husband is suggesting. If you just hold the line for a moment or two…" There was silence as Rory was placed on hold; fortunately, there was no muzak on use at GCHQ. It seemed to stretch on for ever, but then the officer was back. "Your husband is a genius; there is an American passport holder, under the name Duval, booked on the 11.30pm sailing from Dublin tonight. That is in just under two hours from now. Tell me, would you or your husband know Mr Anderson on sight?"
"I wouldn't," admitted Rory, "but my husband might. He went to school with Mr Anderson's late son."
"Well, if that is the case, would he be willing to head down to the port right now and scope the passengers as they board the vessel? They don't commence the boarding of foot passengers until 45 minutes before departure, so if you are close enough, you could be there prior to that happening…"
"We are close, and I am certain he would be happy to do it."
"We need a confirmation that this Duval is actually Jonathan Anderson; if it is, then we can keep an eye on him on the ferry journey across, and then arrange for customs to be carrying out an enhanced inspection when the vessel arrives into Holyhead."
"Okay, we will make our way to the ferry terminal right now. I take it that you will have liaised with the relevant authorities here to inform them that we are coming and ensure we can gain access?"
Rory listened as the officer explained what he would do, and that he would send him a text message with the details of their contact in the next few minutes. Then the call was over, and he told his husband exactly what he had just set him up to do. Trent was not entirely surprised and would not have refused had he actually been asked instead of volunteered. He still needed to pysch himself up, and as he did so, Rory went to wake his nana up and inform her that they would be going out on urgent US government business…
As they sat in the taxi heading to the terminal, Trent still felt worried about the mission that he was about to undertake. The fact was that he was actually the only member of their little group of six from Dalton, other than Kurt, that had ever met Jonathan Anderson; the only one to have ever been at the Anderson's old house in Westerville when the man was present. It had been in the late fall of the year when Wes was the Head Warbler, a time when Kurt had yet to enter their lives. Blaine had been lonely and had asked Trent over to help with homework and listen to music together afterwards. Nick and Jeff had been invited too, but they had other plans that night.
They were the lucky ones, as unexpectedly Jonathan Anderson had arrived home, and that meant that Trent had the misfortune to meet the man and try and have a civilised conversation with him. He very swiftly realised just what kind of man Blaine's father was; as soon as he suspected that Trent was of the same inclination as his own son, then the not-so-subtle homophobia came out. He was invited to the Anderson home a few times after that, but always as part of a group. He was not permitted to be there on his own with Blaine, and Trent knew that was because he had been banned from being there…
It had been a long time since that terrible day that had left Trent heading back to Dalton shaken and concerned for his new friend, almost two decades in fact, but he was still concerned that by some twist of fate he would walk into Mr Anderson as they arrived at the ferry terminal and that he would recognise him. He was certain that if Jonathan knew what his wife was doing and where she was, then he would also know exactly what Trent now did for a job. As they arrived outside the terminal building, he confessed his fears to his husband; he wondered if there was some way of just obtaining a photograph of Jonathan as he was now and using that to identify him instead.
"They did look on the website of the town council that he is now a member of in the first instance, but it is a small town, so there aren't any; presumably everyone knows what everyone looks like there. However, there is no danger of him recognising you; we won't be anywhere that he can see us as we check the queue…"
That was how Trent found himself sitting alongside two Irish customs officials in a room with a one-way window which allowed them to observe the line for the border check of tickets and documents at the embarkation point for foot passengers. The moment that they had stepped into the building, he and Rory had both shown their official US Government ID passes, something that they always kept on their person, never in their wallets for security reasons, and had been escorted into the offices, where the senior official had been awaiting their arrival.
"So, this man we are looking for is heading for London with the intention of ruining the Coronation, is he? An act of revenge against his former wife, a woman that my dear wife has talked about non-stop since she performed her first make-up session on the woman that is now Queen Consort? That is despicable enough, but to think that he can get disrupt a global event in the process and get away with it – the man must be insane!" the customs official had remarked, and Trent had nodded in firm agreement.
"Well, I am quite happy to let you identify him here, then allow him to head over to Wales and be detained there. I would not have wanted to have to hold him here, because there are some in this country that would love nothing more than to see the whole thing over there on Saturday fall apart, including some of my staff. I don't agree with that. I think he will be a good King, though maybe his sister would have made a better Queen; she is her mother's daughter in so many ways. I have actually met her, the Princess Royal; she came here to visit one of the big horse breeders, incognito like, and well, the ferry is best for that sort of trip. She's a real woman, not afraid to say exactly what she thinks, but caring with it. In fact, I'd like to see them put your man in a room with her and see how she deals with him for trying to ruin her brother's big day…"
The images that produced in Trent's mind were still with him as the queue of foot passengers began to enter the emigration hall, documentation and tickets at the ready. He looked at each of their faces carefully, there being a good mix of older and younger people in the line, people for whom the trip was a necessity, but the airfare was too high at short notice amongst them. The clock was ticking down to the time that the vessel would be closed to foot passengers, but there was still no sign… And then a figure joined the very rear of the line, his head down. Trent watched him intently, waiting for him to look up. When he did, he saw a face that was familiar, one that he would never forget…
"That's him, at the back. He is older, obviously, hair greying, but that's the man that didn't care if he hurt his younger son, the man that told me that he had no time for fags like me, and that given the chance, he'd have us all rounded up and shipped off to conversion camps until we either emerged as real men, or we died," Trent whispered urgently. He was unsure why he spoke in a whisper, as the room was soundproofed, but it just felt appropriate.
One of the officials nodded, and then she typed out a message on the computer, one which would be relayed to her colleagues that were busily checking the papers in the two booths outside. Then they just waited in silence, Rory now seeing the face of Blaine's father in real life for the first time; he could not spot any resemblance to either of his two children in his features. He then stood for a moment on the other side of the window, and Trent held his breath subconsciously, as if Jonathan would hear him breathing and realise that something was wrong if he did not…
The line moved again, and he went to the booth on the right-hand side; a quick click on the mouse of the computer on the desk brought up a video screen, and they could all see what the clerk on the right-hand side would see….
Trent had shaken his head the moment he saw the US passport opened on the screen, but he stayed silent until Jonathan was gone, heading up the gangway and onto the ferry. "Richard Duval is the father of my old school friend Nick; unfortunately, he and Mr Anderson are very alike in character and attitude. The fact that he is using his name to travel to the UK actually makes things even worse. Nick is married to another of my schoolfriends, and their married name is Sterling-Duval…"
"Are you saying that his husband is who I think you are – the artist Jeff Sterling-Duval? The artist that is one of the official artists for the Coronation?" asked the customs official.
"Yes, I am. Let us just imagine that we didn't stop him, that something happened that wrecked the day, and they found documentation in the name of Nick's father; not only is Pam destroyed, but so are Nick and Jeff…"
"Well, we should all be grateful that he will not be leaving the port of Holyhead then; that there is no danger that he will make it to London. We have captured several images of his face from various CCTV cameras as he passed through the complex, and as soon as he stepped onto the ferry, two of my colleagues in plainclothes began to follow him discreetly and will stay with him for the duration of his ferry trip, just in case he has a change of clothing or temporary hair dyes in that bag. The good thing is that he cannot ditch the documents and start using his own, as the names of all passengers are placed on a manifest and will be checked off again on arrival in Wales. Of course, he might not be aware of that and try it anyway. If he does, then he will be facing a charge of travelling on false papers along with everything else…"
Trent and Rory waited in the terminal building until the vessel pulled away for the short crossing over to Wales, then headed back into the city centre in a taxi. As soon as they were seated in the back, Rory decided that he should send a quick message to Burt to update him; given the late hour, he did not expect a reply, but one came, thanking them both. He went on to say that he had been informed that he was travelling on a fake passport, but the decision had been made that they would not inform Nick and Jeff what was happening. Rory was conflicted about that, but Trent was in full agreement. There was no point in upsetting them now that everything was under control after all.
"There is a part of me that wishes that I had been asked to jump on that ferry with him," Trent admitted to his husband. "I would pay to see his face when he arrives in Wales and finds the extra document check; I think that moment will be priceless…"
His husband smirked then and nodded. "I think that there will be a recording made of that moment and if we ask Burt nicely, he might be able to get us access to it; I'm sure he will want to see that footage anyway."
"He thought that he was so smart, that there was no way the authorities would catch him… I would also hazard a guess that he did the same as us for accommodation here and rented an apartment, so that no hotel staff would miss him whilst he was away in London. I am also going to say that the number on that fake passport he is using is the same one that is on Nick's father's actual passport. He probably had a look at it at some point, or maybe Mr Duval is in on the whole thing…"
"Whatever the case, they will need to find out who made it; it managed to pass all of the security checks at the desk. That is an issue for the FBI to look into," remarked Rory. "As for now, we need to get back and straight to bed, as we have another busy day tomorrow. We will also probably have a long e-mail about all that is going to happen in Holyhead in a couple of hours' time from Burt to enjoy over breakfast…"
Burt Hummel woke early the following morning, even though he had been late to bed the previous evening. Once he had explained to Carole exactly why he was receiving the call on his work phone, she had been much more understanding. When the message then arrived to say that Jonathan Anderson was now on board a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead, Carole had been very pleased to discover that he was now under surveillance, even if she did not fully understand why he had even been allowed to get on the boat at all.
Their conversation had then turned to Pam, and how all of this would affect her. She had still been on duty when they had left, having enjoyed the celebrations immensely. There had been a host of interesting people to talk to, some of them famous but the majority of them not, people that had been invited to join the gathering at Buckingham Palace because of the work that they had done for charity or for the general good of their community. There had also been a moment when Artie had been able to fully participate in the dancing, which had made Kitty smile, the Prince and Princess of Wales their respective partners at the time. It was a memory that they would both cherish, just as Burt and Carole would always recall the moment that they had danced with the King and his wife in the very centre of the ballroom.
Climbing out of the hotel bed, allowing his wife to continue to sleep, Burt headed into the sitting room of the suite, and put on the television to catch the start of the 6am news on the BBC; it was dominated that Friday morning by what was going to happen the following day. It was light-hearted, a reporter out on The Mall, talking about how there was to be a rehearsal run of the procession from the Palace to the Abbey that morning. Hearing that, Burt wondered if it was something that young Wes would like to see, as he would be sitting in the historic surroundings of Westminster Abbey when it took place for real the following day. He resolved to speak to Nick about it over breakfast, which had now become an 8am date for them all.
His attention then turned to his cellphone, prompted in part by the thought of Nick, his name dragged into the problem of the previous night by a faked passport. He opened his phone, and having quickly scanned the first couple of messages, he went to the safe and removed his secure laptop. On the much larger screen, it was easier for him to read all of the documentation that he had been sent. He smiled as he read the report into the arrest of Mr Jonathan Anderson at the ferry terminal in Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales in the early hours of that morning, on an initial charge of attempting to enter the United Kingdom on a false passport…
He knew that was the only crime that would enter the public record in the country in which Burt was now sitting; however, the United States authorities would also be charging him with breaching the court order that categorically prevented him from making any contact with his ex-wife, and with attempting to blackmail her; he had admitted trying to get Pam to pay him to leave her alone. That confession was to a relatively minor offence to some, but it was helpful in making the other possible charges stick; those could include the intention to commit serious public order offences in London, and trying to disrupt both the Royal Family itself and the smooth running of the Coronation…
Reading on, Burt saw that Anderson was no longer in Wales, as there were no suitable facilities there in which to detain him. He had been driven the relatively short distance across the border into England and was now in a detention centre adjacent to Manchester Airport; from that airport he could be easily returned on a direct flight back to the United States. He would be accompanied on that flight by a member of staff from the embassy here in London, and by one of the military police that were stationed in the United Kingdom for such issues. He would be taken onboard the plane in handcuffs and would remain in them until the flight was airborne. He would be escorted on his entire journey then, all the way back to his new hometown in the Midwest. He would be placed back in handcuffs during their layover in Newark, a sign that he was no longer a free man even in his own country…
Best of all, he would not be reunited with his own passport that he had used to fly to Ireland. The plan was that the studio apartment that he had indeed rented in Dublin would not be entered until the day he was due to check-out, and only then would his personal affects be collected by staff from the embassy in Dublin. If it was then decided that he would have his passport returned, and that was doubtful in the extreme, he would not receive it or any of his other property for several weeks. A footnote to the report stated that it was highly likely that both the British and Irish authorities would bar him from entering their respective nations again, both of them taking a very dim view of any sort of identity fraud.
Carole had woken up and come into the room by the time that he found the video that had been taken in the customs hall of the ferry terminal in Holyhead. She had come right up to stand behind him and was able to watch as the man she had met only once was stopped, then taken aside, all the time yelling that he was an American citizen and that he had rights, something that had Burt shaking his head. Then the video moved abruptly to showing the inside of a small office, in which the accused was now sitting on what looked to be a most uncomfortable chair. Burt smiled as he recognised the man that was leading the questioning of the father of his son's husband as being one of the senior investigators based at the embassy here in London. The fact that he was a man of colour made the reaction of Mr Anderson all the more outraged, as did the fact that the UK representative sitting at his side was female…
The responses that they were receiving from the accused were dripping with venom as a result of the two people he saw before him. He did not flinch when he was informed that Mr Richard Duval was currently also in an interrogation room in the United States, and when he had been told why he was being detained, he had reacted with rage and threats, the latter mostly directed at the man now sitting before them. The fact that his real passport had been taken from him and might well be cancelled had turned him against his former friend…
The Hummels watched in silence as Jonathan spewed out bile about Pam, fully expecting it, but gasped in shock as he proceeded to do the same about the Queen Consort. That did not go down well with the UK official at all, and when the film ended, she was talking about additional charges being laid by the British government…
Having watched it, Burt forwarded the video evidence to Rory on the secure channel, then having kissed Carole as he did every morning, he went to get showered and dressed before they headed down for breakfast. He then explained his idea of heading down to The Mall to watch the rehearsal procession that morning to his wife, and she agreed that it would be a good idea to go and see that spectacle take place. Both of them were thinking the same thing though as they talked about it; having heard the comments that Jonathan had made about the monarch's wife, was there a possibility that those remarks could be seen by the British authorities as treacherous?
At breakfast, Nick agreed with Burt that a stroll down to The Mall to see the rehearsal of the procession to the Abbey would be an excellent way to spend the morning, particularly as Jeff was also free, not scheduled to be in the Abbey to see the final dress rehearsal of the ceremony itself until 2pm. On a whim, Nick made a quick call to Lawrence, who he knew would also be at a loose end that morning and asked him to come and join them. Nick knew that Adam and Sam would be filming those crucial scenes on The Mall, and there was no place for Lawrence there. He was only too happy to come and join them, just as long as they would not be standing anywhere near Admiralty Arch…
Nick was puzzled by that request for a moment until he realised that must be where the sitcom scenes were being filmed. He laughed and told him they would be further along the street, where nobody would spot the Speaker of Congress and his wife standing in the distance, which would be a horrendous error. He also knew that seeing Lawrence himself there would be a problem, as the hardcore fans of the show all knew exactly who he was…
As Nick was making his call, across the table Carole had been making one of her own to Kitty, knowing that she too would be alone that morning; she had mentioned at the Ball that Artie would be heading off with Isabelle that morning to take some photographs of the special exhibition at the Royal Collection; some of the items that had been used in previous Coronations would be on display, along with a few that would be in use the next day, the latter solely for the benefit of the journalists that would be in attendance. Kitty agreed to come along, and stated that she would bring Peter Smythe with her, as unlike his father and half-sister, he would not be joining Isabelle at the exhibition. Carole agreed to that without any issue, and a time was arranged for the two of them to meet them at the hotel.
Burt excused himself from the table early that morning, to head up and have a word with Pam, who had decided to have breakfast in her room that morning. She was not surprised to see him, and invited him in, her breakfast finished. He appraised her of all that had happened in the early hours of the morning, then with a glance at his watch, informed her that by now her former husband would be sitting in a secure room at Manchester Airport, waiting for a flight with space to take him back home…
"Good, I am glad to hear that," she responded. "I also hope that the cell they are detaining him in is as uncomfortable as possible. I have also decided that when I get back to New York, I am going to consult with a lawyer with experience in the area and see if I can get the restraining order on Jonathan extended to cover all forms of communication with me, and all communication with employers and family as well."
"You will have my full support in that; in fact, I will liaise with the legal staff at Congress and see if they can find you someone not only experienced but as inexpensive as possible. You suffered enough when you were his wife; he will not be allowed to turn your life upside down any longer…"
In Manhattan that Friday morning, Grace and Cooper would both wake at 6am, the latter getting up at that time so that he could spend a little time with his wife before she headed into the office, and once she was gone, and the children off to kindergarten, he would return to his bed for another couple of hours before he had to think of heading to the theater. These little gestures were the kind of thing that kept their marriage a happy one. As he prepared their shared breakfast, Grace checked her phone for messages. When she saw the one from her contact in the Midwest, she gasped out loud…
"The FBI arrested my father last night!" she said as Cooper rushed over to her. "My friend goes on to say that it took them a while to find out why they had arrested him, but is seems that a passport in his name, with the same number on it, was used to attempt an entry to the United Kingdom from Ireland early this morning their time…"
"I didn't know that your father was in Ireland!" exclaimed Cooper.
Grace smiled, realising that she should have said it was a forged passport, as her husband was not always the best at picking up on a subtext. "He isn't - they detained him at his house here. Someone else was using his identity to try and affect an entry, which probably means that they were doing so illegally for some reason or another." She scanned down the message, and came to a line which confirmed that, but made her eyes widen further. "You should probably sit down for this Coop…"
Cooper looked at her with curiosity, then saw from her eyes that she was deadly serious. He sat down on the chair across the table from his wife, then nodded. "They identified the man as someone that had been identified as a threat to someone working on the Coronation team. There is no easy way to say this, but the man was your dad, Coop. Apparently, the authorities were acting on a tip off from Burt, and the formal identification was made at the ferry terminal in Dublin by Trent…"
Cooper just stared into space, glad that he had taken the toast out of the toaster before he had rushed over, as by now it would be on fire. He sighed, then said quietly, "He must have been after mom, trying to ruin her big moment for some sort of twisted revenge. He has failed, and I am glad that is the case. I think that we need to call Burt, or even just Trent, to see exactly what all of this is really about. The latter would probably be the easiest, as I am sure that Rory will have been kept in the loop by his boss. It is nearly lunchtime over there, so I guess there is no time like the present…"