4
Harry swore under his breath as he realised there was a very good possibility that Henry wasn't just being paranoid. Age may have been taking its tole on the old man but his spook senses were still crystal clear. He looked over at Ruth who held his gaze.
"FSB?"
"Daughter of a former KGB officer. Using a fake name and passport. Your grandson believes his girlfriend is English?"
"Aye, Lass. He thinks she is from the Home Counties. Says her name is Charlotte Delany."
"Well, that may be what she is calling herself." Ruth paused. "Her birth certificate says she is actually Tatianna Petrov. Daughter of Ivanka and Piotr Petrov. Mum died when she was twenty four - brain tumour."
"Poor lass." Henry shook his head. Adam and Harry exchanged glances.
"At least that is what her death certificate says. The bullet hole in her skull at her post mortem suggests otherwise. Daddy dearest is currently in the Kremlin, one of the senior advisors to the head of the FSB. Served in the army for twenty years before transferring to FSB. Whether Charlotte is actually involved in Nightingale it may be nothing to do with her father."
"Or it could have everything to do with him." Ros answered. "An FSB officer is not about to let his daughter defect to the West, change her name and fake her passport without knowing exactly what is going on."
"A sleeper?" Harry paused.
"Could be." Adam nodded. Ros curled her hands into fists.
"So, she is either an FSB sleeper or she is a Nightingale operative using poor Tommy for some reason." Ros glared.
"At least it proves I'm not paranoid." Henry folded his hands in his lap. "I remember when this was my office. You painted it."
"Once or twice." Harry smirked. "Ros? I have a feeling a visit to our friends at the Russian Embassy is in order."
"Oh joy." Ros closed her eyes as she spoke, not looking forward to meeting up with Vlad the Inhaler again.
xxxxxxx
Zoe leaned back in her chair, waiting while the computer files loaded up. She knew she had heard the name Charlotte Delany in the past, she just couldn't place it.
"You ok?"
She glanced up as Zaf rested a mug of tea on the desk next to her.
"Ruth asked me to dig up anything we have on this woman. No idea why."
"They've been in the office a while." He read the report over her shoulder. "She seems normal. Boringly normal."
"Yeah." Zoe paused as the office door opened. "Ruth!"
"Find anything?" Ruth made her way across the Grid to her friends.
"No." Zoe sighed. "She is boring. Normal. If we didn't know her past name then there is no way she would even be on our radar."
"She wasn't until this morning." Zaf watched as Ruth sat down, reading the print out Zoe handed her.
"She's too normal. Everything on this is too perfect. Clean driver's licence, no fines, no credit debt. Not on any social media. Not even Facebook."
"She's young."
"And I am going to ignore that." Ruth smirked as Zoe glared at her fiancé.
"No, its something Wes said the other day. Facebook isn't in fashion with the people in that age group. Its all Snaps and Tweets. Emma doesn't even want to be on there."
"No one in the security services has an account."
"Not a real one anyway." Zoe rested her head on one hand. "Cover IDs yes, real us. No. If Charlotte is a cover for Tatianna? Why isn't there a fake profile anywhere?"
"Exactly." Ruth paused. "What is she hiding? Catherine?"
"Nightingale have admitted responsibility for two attacks in Northern India but nothing in the UK or Europe for the last few years." Catherine looked up from her desk. "Ruth, what is going on? You've been in the office for ages, Uncle Malcolm wont say what he's looking into and none of us know why the past and this apparent little mouse of a woman are being dragged up."
"You'll know when you need to." Ros snapped as she headed out of the office. Lucas caught her eye for a second, noticing the Ice Queen was in full flow. "Harry and I are off to pay a visit to our Russian counterparts. Get the information we need before they get rid of it." She was through the Pods with Harry before anyone else could say a word.