Story Saturday: Not- A-Spy-Writes

Showcasing Stories every Saturday for your reading pleasure. Over the next four weeks, we'll cover Not- A- Spy- Writes story called Don't Tell Me.

Don’t Tell Me - part two

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse… With Vicky still in the hospital, a traitor in their midst, and a possible terrorist attack to stop, the team has to fight to hold themselves together while still being able to save the day (as well as find the person behind it all). Warnings: mentions of terrorism, depictions of violence, mentions of bombs, explosions, guns, smoking, swearing and descriptions of panic and anxiety attacks. Word count for part two: 7,451 Author’s note: Welcome back! Here, as promised, is part two of Don’t Tell Me. A bit of a shorter update this week but the third part will be coming the same time next week, so stay tuned! As ever, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy! - not-a-spy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Good morning Nils.” A young woman with short blond hair greeted him as he walked through the front door of the BND, holding a very large iced coffee. “How can we help you this morning?” “Morning Katja. I have a meeting with Gatsby and Harmon, they should be expecting me.” The receptionist frowned at him. “Do you have an official appointment?” “I have a meeting,” he insisted. “Unless you have an official appointment I can’t let you through.” “Let him through, Katja.” Harmon Boltz smiled at Nils from the other side of the security desk. “He’s got a meeting with me.” Katja sighed and took Nils’ ID, frowning at it. “You’ll have to sign in.” “No problem.” Nils said, quickly signing his name in the guest book. “I have two more agents coming to the meeting, if you could let them through, that would be great.” Katja glared at him as he walked through security. “Morning Nils!” Harmon greeted him as they shook hands. “How’ve you been?” Nils sighed. “Fine. Busy. I’ve got two new agents on my team and I swear to god, those two are going to kill me one day.” “Why?” Harmon asked as they walked down a narrow corridor towards an even narrower staircase. Nils shook his head. “They’re just, god, well, I can’t really say anything but they’ve come from MI-6 and they’ve got some issues.” “‘Putting the team in danger’ issues or something else?” “No, putting themselves in danger, more like. But that’s not the point. We’ve got a possible terrorist inside the police force and it’s someone you guys knew about.” Harmon frowned, pushing open the door into a dimly lit basement. “Have you been in our files again?” Nils smirked. “Not my fault that you guys have shitty security.” Harmon sighed. “I feel like we’ve repaid you enough with the numerous times you’ve accessed our files.” “I don’t think that that’s ‘repaying’ considering I did all the work myself.” Nils paused. “But seriously, thanks for this Harmon, I really appreciate it.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Harmon smiled. “When are your other agents getting here?” “Uh…” Nils checked his watch. “They should be here any minute now, provided Katja lets them in!” Harmon laughed. “Well, I’ll leave you here and I’ll go get them.” Nils looked around the dark basement. “We’re meeting down here?” Harmon pointed at a door behind Nils labeled ‘Conference room.’ “Well, yeah. We’re meeting in there.” “Should I ask why you have a conference room in the basement?” Harmon grinned at him. “Probably not.” “Okay. I’ll wait for you guys in there.” “Gatsby should be in there already, he can keep you company while I go collect your friends. Have I met them before?” “I think you’ve met Maurice, right? French boy with curly hair?” “Oh, yeah. He was here with you last year, right? When you were here on the bank robberies case.” “That’s him. I don’t think you know the other one, he’s an MI-6 transfer. Joined Interpol two months ago.” Nils said. “Huh. Well, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Harmon turned and walked back down the dark corridor towards the stairs. Nils opened the door to the conference room and stepped inside. The room was dark and dingy, the only light source a single bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. “I feel like I’ve stepped into the X-files!” Nils laughed, stepping forward to shake Gatsby’s hand. “Why have you guys been banished to the basement?” Gatsby smiled. “Because we aren’t supposed to be helping you with this. How have you been?” he asked quietly, turning away to pin some pictures onto a glass board. “Busy. My boss is currently in hospital so I’m in charge.” “Your team was involved in that explosion yesterday, right? I heard you had two injured agents.” Gatsby turned to face him. “There were rumours that you lost someone.” “That’s not true, thank god. Two agents did end up in hospital, but Maurice was discharged, so he’ll be helping me out here.” “He’s the one who was here with you last time, correct?” “Uh huh.” Nils said, setting his iced coffee down on the table and wandering over to the board. “Is this everything you guys have? I thought I sent you all my files.” “You did.” Gatsby pointed at a board on the other side of the room. It was covered with pictures and notes on the shootings. “This is the information I found in our archives.” “That’s not a lot.” “No. But because Seidel is the son of the Chief Constable there isn’t a lot in his files. What there is is very difficult to get at. I would need permission from my boss, which I do not have.” “Are the files online?” Nils asked, sitting down at the table and pulling out his laptop. “Some. Most of the ones about his crimes are still on paper.” Nils sighed. “Why are you guys still in the dark ages? I can’t help you if you insist on keeping hardcopies of everything. What would you do if there was a fire?” “The files are in the basement here, in a special room. They would be safe.” “So you have a specially constructed room for your files but you haven’t put them into the computer system yet? How does that make sense?” Gatsby smiled. “I have nothing to do with those decisions.” “I should talk to your superiors about this.” “What would you say?” Gatsby asked, an incredulous smile on his face. “‘Could you please put your files into your computer system so I can hack them easily?’ I do not think that would go down well.” Nils laughed. “Well, we need those files somehow. The ones about what he did, I mean, I have the ones on him already. There isn’t much there.” “How do you plan on getting them?” “Are your files guarded?” Gatsby frowned. “Yes.” “Do you have to sign the files out?” “Well, you have to tell them what you want.” “And do they check that you’re only taking what you said you needed? Or do they grab the files for you.” “I do not like what you’re suggesting.” Nils grinned. “I’m not suggesting anything, I’m just curious about your file system.” Gatsby sighed. “No. They do not check. You have to go in and grab the files yourself. If you take the files out, you sign a book and sign it again when you bring them back. You do not have to sign which specific files you are taking.” “Excellent! Are there any other files we need?” “You could check the files on a shooting incident we had here 3 months ago.” Gatsby said reluctantly. “We did not think it was related, but it might be good to check.” “Great! I’ll go grab that for you.” Gatsby shook his head in frustration. “Do not bring me into this.” “Into what?” Nils asked innocently. “I’m just going to get a file you wanted. Anything else that might find its way here is my fault.” Nils grinned at him and slid out of the door. He followed the hallway down past the staircase and eventually found a door labeled ‘archives.’ He knocked, and opened the door before anyone could answer. A woman with long black hair glanced up from her desk. “Hi!” Nils said cheerfully. “I’m from Interpol, I’m just here to grab a file on the shooting incident last year?” She nodded. “Go ahead. Do you know where it is?” Nils smiled. “I’m sure I can find it, thank you!” She turned back to her files. Nils slipped down an aisle. The organisation system was odd, not at all what he was used to and it took him longer than he wanted to find the file he was supposed to be looking for. It was a small file, and he left it on top of its box while he grabbed the others. Seidel’s file was easier to find, but it took up almost an entire box. Nils swore under his breath. There was no way he could get this entire thing out of here without anyone noticing and asking difficult questions. Quickly flipping through the files, Nils grabbed as many as he could hold, shoving a bunch into his bag. Putting the nearly empty box onto the shelf, Nils went back to fetch the file he was supposed to be getting and hid the other files inside of it. With the file under his arm, he went back to the front desk. “I found it! Can I sign this out?” “Of course.” She handed him a book. “Just put your name and the time.” “Thanks!” Nils smiled, quickly signing his name. “No problem.” She said, taking the book back and barely glancing at his signature. “Have a good day.” Nils waved at her and practically ran out of the archives back towards the conference room. Despite the fact that he was a trained agent, this wasn’t normally part of his job and he wasn’t fully comfortable with what was basically theft. “I got ‘em!” Nils said, slamming into the conference room and letting the door swing to behind him. Gatsby looked distinctly disappointed. Harmon just grinned. “Have you already gotten up to nefarious business in the,” Harmon paused to check his watch, “five minutes that I’ve been gone? That’s impressive, even for you.” “I aim to please.” Nils said, dumping the files out onto the table. He glanced around the room as he did so. Maurice was standing by one of the glass boards, and Owens sat in a chair. He looked pale, but better than he had the day before. Harmon frowned at the files before Nils had a chance to speak to his team. “Are those Seidel’s files?” “No?” “Nils, if we get caught…” “If I get caught, you mean. None of this was your fault. I did all of this of my own volition. Actually, Gatsby here tried to stop me.” Maurice tried to hide a fit of laughter behind his hands, failing miserably. Harmon sighed. “You’re terrible.” Nils glanced around in confusion. “How? I thought I was very good at my job. I am supposed to be getting information, aren’t I?” “Okay, okay.” Maurice cut in, a hint of laughter lingering on the edge of his voice. “Can we move on from ethics and get to business.” “Fine.” Harmon said. “So, you guys think he’s going to hit the ball this Saturday?” “Yes.” Nils said. “Almost certainly, it’s a big hit and there are a lot of prominent political figures who are going to be there. In their eyes, it’s an ideal target.” “Right. But, how sure are you? We don’t want to do all this and then have nothing happen.” “I looked up Seidel’s internet history early this morning before running over here. He’s looked up the event multiple times, the map of the area around it and a guest list. It’s not much but I’m pretty confident.” “Okay.” Harmon said. “I’ll take that.” “What was your plan for dealing with the police?” Gatsby asked. “You know that Seidel is one of the people behind this, what are you going to do to avoid him guessing your plans.” “The rest of our team is back at police headquarters preparing them for an attack on the mall tomorrow.” Nils said. “What makes you think he’ll buy that?” “One of our agents has made an attempt to befriend him, I suppose? Anyways, it seems to be working so far, so if we can get Seidel to trust him, it’ll be easier to give him the fake story about the mall, since he’s already heard it from someone.” Gatsby frowned. “Depends how good your agent is.” Nils sighed and shook his head. “Must you always be so sceptical? I have a good team and they know what they’re doing. We can handle Seidel. Now, can we please get to business?” ***** As Nils and Gatsby started talking shop, Harmon glanced around at the other two agents. Maurice had joined the conversation, leaning over the table. He was objecting to the idea of having too many agents in the ball, saying they’d stand out in these political circles where everyone knew each other. The other agent, presumably the MI-6 transfer that Nils had told him about, was still silent. Harmon eyed him suspiciously. He looked familiar, like he’d seen his face on a bulletin or something and hadn’t remembered to forget it yet. But that wasn’t possible. Bulletins like that were reserved for traitors, dangerous criminals, people to be looked out for. Not only would Nils never allow someone like that onto his team, but the agent sitting in front of him didn’t look capable of the mental strength that kind of thing took. But that was the exact kind of thing that made good agents. Harmon frowned, pretending to shuffle some files. Not that the agent had noticed him staring. His eyes, partially hidden behind his auburn hair, seemed to be focused on something that only he could see. Harmon wondered what he was thinking. Was he listening to their plans, gathering information to give to his superiors later? More importantly, who were his superiors? Was he working with Seidel or was something bigger at work here? “Harmon?” Nils’ voice cut into his suspicions and, for the moment, Harmon pushed them aside, resolving to talk to Nils in private when he had a chance. “Huh? Sorry, I zoned out for a minute there!” Nils eyed him suspiciously. “Like I was saying, you’re going to be actually inside the ball with Maurice and Cipriana. You got a nice suit?” Harmon laughed. “Sure I do. So I’ve been relegated to collecting info, huh?” “Yes you have. You’ll blend in better at the ball than Gatsby here.” Nils smirked at him and Harmon laughed. He was right. “So where will I be?” Gatsby asked. “Trailing Seidel. Someone needs to keep an eye on him and he’ll recognize any of my guys.” Gatsby nodded. “Of course. If you don’t mind, I’ll bring one of the trainees with me. I’ll need some help.” “For sure.” Nils nodded. “What about myself and Adalie?” The agent spoke for the first time. His voice was weak, but Harmon immediately snapped to attention. He wasn’t British. He had a British accent, sure, but it sounded like his own, unnatural and well-practiced. “You’ll also be there, but you and Adalie are going in as staff.” “So no suit?” The agent smiled hopefully. Nils laughed. “Sorry, Owens, you’re gonna have to wear a suit. You’re going in as wait staff. If it makes you feel better, Adalie is going to have to wear a skirt.” Owens laughed. “That’s not going to go down well.” “Nope. None of this cover is going to go down well.” Harmon watched them, frowning. Had Nils been tricked into believing this agent’s cover? They certainly seemed to be good friends, but he couldn’t tell if that friendship was real on both sides. He couldn’t believe that Nils would be tricked so easily. He quite liked Nils and he trusted him, but there was something distinctly off about Owens. He just didn’t know what. If he could remember where he had seen him before, that would help. Harmon watched him intently for a second, studying the face he was sure he had seen before. Then it hit him. Sometime in early 2015, MI-6 had been involved in an incredibly audacious attempt to shut down one of the most notorious crime rings of all time. MI-6 referred to it as WBFC. The exact details of the mission had never been released, but two agents had died and another had disappeared. He was suspected of being the mole responsible for multiple deaths and, as MI-6 had claimed, the possible collapse of the entire agency. They had issued a special bulletin in order to locate him. That’s where he had seen Owens. He was the agent. Harmon froze. How could Nils not know who Owens was? If he could recognize him from a bulletin issued many years ago then Nils with all of his computers must have dug up something. He frowned. There had been a whisper about the mole being cleared, someone else had been discovered. Someone had said that Owens had been framed and that was entirely possible but something about him just didn’t sit right with Harmon. He was closed off, and whatever emotions he seemed to be showing were obviously falsified. “So!” Harmon startled as Nils clapped his hands together. “I think that’s pretty clear.” The others nodded. Nils looked at him pointedly and nodded towards the door. “Can we talk?” Nils asked, already standing and moving towards the door. Harmon nodded and got out of his chair. Owens started questioningly at them as they left. Nils shut the door behind them. “You know about Owens’ past?” Harmon asked quietly. “I’m just worried about the integrity of your team.” Nils’ face was hard and unfriendly, his back pressed against the door to the conference room. “Of course I do. It’s none of your business.” “It is, if he’s putting this mission in jeopardy! I’m sorry, Nils, I don’t even know the kid, but you have to admit that he’s acting shifty! And he’s got a history of this shit!” Harmon fought to keep his voice below a shout, flinging his arms wide to compensate for the lack of volume. “No. You do not get to talk about a member of my team like that.” Nils’ voice was quiet and tense, just above a growl. “He does not have a history, he was framed. And he’s not ‘acting shifty’ as you like to say.” “Really? What do you call that then?” Harmon waved violently, smacking his hand against the wall. “I can’t…” Nils paused, shaking his head as if in pain, “I can’t disclose agents personal issues. But the kid’s going through a tough time right now and he’s just trying to work through some stuff. Unfortunately, that means shutting himself off from the world and putting up more walls. That’s why he’s acting weird.” Nils stopped, running his hands through his hair. He didn’t look at Harmon and he suddenly felt very guilty for doubting him. “I’m sorry Nils, I didn’t realize.” “No. And it’s not me you should be apologizing to.” Nils turned and walked back into the conference room, not looking at Harmon as he purposefully closed the door behind him. He stood in the corridor, leaning his head back against the wall. Nils was probably right, he knew his team better than anyone else, hell, he probably knew them better than they did themselves. Harmon took a deep breath before walking back into the room. ***** “Where is your ‘technical analyst?’” Seidel asked, stopping next to where Chalice was leaning against the wall. “The tall Swede with the blond hair.” Chalice shrugged and rolled his eyes. “God knows where he is. He’ll probably show up soon.” Seidel checked his watch. “You are supposed to be presenting at 9am, correct?” “Yeah. But we can handle it without him if he decides not to show up.” Chalice said nonchalantly, looking at Seidel out of the corner of his eye. Seidel seemed pleasantly surprised. “Even down three agents?” Seidel asked. “I mean, it makes it harder, but we can do it.” Chalice said confidently. The confidence was completely fake, if Nils didn’t show up, he wasn’t sure that the three of them could pull this off by themselves. He took another long drag from his cigarette, already feeling guilty. He had promised Owens he would quit and here they were, both lying to each other. Somehow, that didn’t make it any better. “You are a very competent team.” Seidel said. “I am sure that, with you, this operation tomorrow cannot go wrong.” Chalice smiled, trying to appear cheerful. They had almost no hope of a successful operation on Saturday, what with Vicky out and Owens in no condition to be in the field. He wouldn’t exactly be helping matters either. He wasn’t trained and they all knew that. Putting him out in the field could be dangerous. But he was determined to do his best. He wasn’t going to let Nils and the rest of the team down. He couldn’t. “Hey!” Chalice quickly stubbed out his cigarette on the wall behind him, Seidel suppressing a smile as Chalice’s eyes widened in panic. “Chalice, please tell me you aren’t smoking again.” Nils sighed in disappointment as he approached where the pair were leaning against the wall of the building. He had another full iced coffee in his hand. “I’m not smoking.” Chalice said guiltily, holding the cigarette behind his back. Nils and Seidel exchanged a glance, Nils shaking his head. Seidel smiled, stamping out his own cigarette. “Fine, whatever you say.” Nils said, taking a sip of his iced coffee. “We should get going, we need to prep before we debrief the police. We’ll see you later, Seidel.” Seidel nodded as Nils and Chalice walked towards the building, Chalice quickly dropping his cigarette into a garbage bin as they passed. Nils frowned. “You’ll have to quit if you really want to become an agent.” He said, holding open the front door. “We both know that isn’t likely.” Chalice sighed. “I’m not cut out for that and you know it.” “But you’re still going to try for it, aren’t you?” Nils stopped in surprise. “I thought you really wanted to be an agent.” “I do. But I’m not an agent. I mean,” Chalice threw his arms wide, “look at me. I don’t look like an agent, do I?” Nils smirked. “I mean, what does an agent look like? If we’re going by James Bond standards, none of us really look like agents. Except maybe Owens. Speaking of looking like an agent, Chalice,” Nils paused, “you aren’t gonna like this part.” “What part?” Chalice asked suspiciously. “You’ll be going into this ball undercover.” “So I’m going to have to learn how to wear my clothes properly?” Nils laughed. “Among other things.” “Other things?” Nils sighed. “”You’re going to have to dye your hair.” “I’m what?” Chalice demanded, stopping just outside the door to the team’s conference room. “You’re going to have to dye your hair brown. Trust me, Chaice, I wouldn’t ask you unless…” “No.” Chalice interrupted him. “No deal. The hair stays.” “It can’t. Chalice I’m sorry, but you can change it back once we’re done.” “Nope. The grey stays.” “If you really want to be out there, the hair has to go.” Nils gave him a hard look. “You’ll stand out like a sore thumb if you go in there like that.” “The piercings I’ll take out but the hair stays grey.” Chalice brushed his fingers through it, toying unhappily with the ends. “I can’t let you go with the hair. You can keep the undercut but it has to be neutral. Brown, blond, even black, but it has to be neutral.” Nils took another sip of his iced coffee. “Fine.” Chalice sighed, heavily. “But I won’t be happy about it.” “Of course you won’t be. No one is.” Nils smiled. “Adalie is going to have to wear a skirt.” Chalice winced in sympathy. “Ouch. I wouldn’t want to be in your situation. She’ll rip your face off.” “Yeah. And I thought you were difficult. Actually, I was expecting more of a fuss from Owens but I don’t think he’s in much of a state to put up a fight right now.” Chalice laughed. It wasn’t forced this time. “Are you making him wear a suit?” “Of course.” Nils smiled as he pushed open the door to the conference room. “Look, Chalice, I promise it’ll be worth it. You’ll get a taste of life in the field and get to be a hero in the process. All you have to do is dye your hair.” Chalice pulled a face, stepping into the room after him. “If you say so.” “Nice to see you’ve decided to show up.” Adalie said, looking pointedly at her watch. “Are we supposed to work by your time or did you expect us to go on without you?” Nils took a sip of his iced coffee before putting it on the table and taking off his scarf. “I’m sorry Adalie, the meeting with the BND went late because they were intent of accusing one of us of being the mole and I had to step in to defend his reputation.” Adalie and Cipriana shared a look. Nils froze, glaring at them. “Don’t tell me I have to go off on you too. Cause that means someone’s going to have to buy me another coffee and no one wants that.” Cipriana laughed. “Don’t worry, we all know it’s Seidel. No one is going to accuse any of our team of being a traitor.” Cipriana shot Adalie a pointed glance and she nodded. Chalice, sitting at the table next to Cipriana, hung his head and stared at the table. “Good. We can’t be having any of that.” Nils took another sip of his iced coffee and sat down. “So, do we kind of know what we’re doing at least?” “Yes.” Adalie said confidently. “I think so!” Cipriana smiled. “We’re just hanging around at the mall, waiting for people to blow us up, correct?” Chalice asked, a trace of a smirk on his lips. Cipriana and Nils laughed. “That’s the basic gist of it, yes.” Nils said. “All of us will be stationed around the inside of the mall, looking for suspicious activity. There will be a handful of undercover police inside as well, but for the most part, they will be waiting outside in case of an attack.” Everyone nodded. “What if they do end up attacking the mall?” Cipriana asked. “Why would they do that?” Adalie snapped. “They think that we don’t know their plans, so they think they’ve gotten away with it. Why change last minute and blow up a half empty mall and risk getting caught in the process?” “Yeah, but it’ll only be the four of us and we can’t cover everywhere. If Seidel slips in earlier, he could blow the building up with us inside and get rid of four more agents pretty easily.” Chalice interjected before Cipriana could reply. Nils nodded contemplatively. “Yeah, you’re right but I don’t think he’d risk it. Not with a much more prestigious event coming up Saturday and us sniffing around right under their noses. Plus,I agree with Adalie, I think we can assume that they wouldn’t change their plans in the hope of killing a few agents, it would make too much of a stink.” “Okay.” Cipriana said. “Right!” Nils stood up and took another sip of his iced coffee. “Let’s get this show on the road.” Seidel nodded at them as they filed out of the conference room into the main area of the station. The entire police force was waiting for them, sitting on chairs and miscellaneous pieces of furniture where there were no more chairs available. Nils introduced himself and the team, speaking in rapid German that Cipriana and Chalice couldn’t understand. The two of them stood there awkwardly, occasionally exchanging confused glances. Nils continued talking, gesturing to emphasize his point. Adalie cut in, obviously elaborating on something Nils had just said. “Thank you.” Seidel said in English after several more minutes of talking. “I did have one question.” “Go ahead!” Nils smiled, taking another sip from his iced coffee. “Are we planning on evacuating the mall? I mean, there will be lots of people there and we want to make sure there are as few casualties as possible, no?” Seidel asked, his face a mask of fake concern. Nils frowned and shook his head, looking over at Chalice. “No, we aren’t.” Chalice said. “ I know, we are putting a lot of innocent people at risk and it’s not the way that I’d like it to be, but if we evacuate the mall we risk alerting them to our plans and they may not go ahead at all, which puts us at a loss as to where they might strike next. Unfortunately, this is the only way we can catch them.” Seidel frowned. “I’m not pleased with that idea.” Chalice sighed heavily. “Frankly, neither am I, however that’s how it goes in this job unfortunately.” Nils stepped in. “Myself and my three agents will be there, as well as your team, so I can assure you we will do our absolute best to get these guys and ensure that nobody gets hurt. All of us are well-trained in this sort of thing, if they’re there, we’ll catch them.” Nils spoke with a confidence that Chalice admired. Even though all of this was just made up for the sole benefit of Seidel, Nils spoke as if he was sure this was going to go down in the exact way he said it would. That was a gift not many people had. Nils was excellent at making people feel comfortable, getting them to trust him even if he was just spewing bullshit like he was right now. Even Seidel nodded reluctantly. “Okay. But why do you say ‘if?’ Do you not expect them to be there?” “It’s possible that they’ll plant the bomb and leave, but not likely. We’ve seen that they like to be at the scene of the crime when the bombs go off. If they don’t hang around, we’ve got a bomb squad on call with dogs to find the devices as quickly as possible. Don’t worry. We have all our bases covered.” Seidel nodded and gestured for the rest of the officers to go. They started filing out, chattering amongst themselves. “Thank you very much. We appreciate it.” Nils smiled. Chalice wasn’t entirely sure how he could at this point, he himself was tired and stressed, worried about Owens and about how the attack was going to play out. “No problem. We’ll see you tomorrow. Let’s hope everything goes well.” Nils said, taking another sip of his iced coffee. Seidel gave him a tight-lipped smile and strode out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Nils sighed and chugged the rest of his iced coffee. “Tomorrow is going to be one hell of a boring day.” ***** Chalice sighed heavily, glancing around the mall once again. For a Thursday afternoon, it was relatively quiet and Chalice could see everyone in the food court. No one stood out or even looked remotely suspicious. If only Owens was here. He had always been so much better at picking out suspicious people, though Chalice had always joked that that was because Owens didn’t trust anyone. Now, that seemed a little too pertinent. Chalice shook his head sadly. “Anything?” Nils asked, his voice loud in Chalice’s earpiece, almost making him jump out of his skin. “Absolutely nothing. Nils, we’ve been here for 6 hours, can we please call it a day at this point?” Chalice asked. They had been hanging around since the mall opened at 9 am and had been set to stay until it closed at 9 pm. It was only 3. Nils laughed. “Unfortunately, we have to stay. I know it’s a very long time to sit around doing nothing but it’s all part of the job.” “I hate surveillance on a good day. This shit isn’t even surveillance, it’s just pretend surveillance.” “I know. But we’ll make up for it when we catch the bastards, don’t you worry about it.” “Sure. Nils, you saw Owens yesterday. How’s he doing?” Nils didn’t respond for a moment. “Have you not spoken to him?” “No, I haven’t seen him at all. I did knock on his door before I left this morning but I didn’t get anything in response.” Nils sighed. “That’s not good. I don’t think he’s doing too good honestly, I mean, he seemed fine when I saw him yesterday morning but he’s definitely not 100% at the moment.” “Right. I’ll see if I can talk to him tonight.” Chalice nodded automatically, absently chewing on his lower lip. “That stuff you said yesterday, about the BND suspecting the mole was one of our agents, that was Owens, wasn’t it?” “Yeah.” Nils replied. “It’s just not fair, is it? He’s already under so much stress, he really doesn’t need this suspicion hanging over his head again.” “You’re right.” “Yeah, well, I gotta check in on the rest of the team. Good luck on your surveillance, Chalice, I’ll talk to you again later.” Nils said. The line went dead. Chalice stood up from his bench and glanced around the foodcourt again before casually wandering off towards the main area of the mall. There weren’t as many people hanging around in this portion of the building and Chalice quickly assessed all of them. No one suspicious. Not that he thought there would be. Seidel and whoever he was working with were much too smart to attempt anything under the noses of four Interpol agents. This was all just an incredibly elaborate and boring show put on for his benefit. Hopefully, Seidel didn’t know that. “Hey!” Chalice jumped as Seidel came up behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. “Sorry!” Seidel laughed. “I didn’t mean to startle you.” “It’s alright.” Chalice smiled. “I think we’re all a little on edge today.” “Mm. It is worse since nothing seems to be happening.” “Yeah.” Chalice glanced around. “I wonder what they’re playing at.” “I do not know. But if I were them I would not be planning to attack a mall on a Thursday when it is so quiet.” Seidel spoke with a hint of a smirk on his face and Chalice looked at him sharply. Was it possible that Seidel knew about their ruse? He didn’t think so, they had been incredibly careful to keep everything under wraps but there was always the possibility that the conference room had been bugged. “Maybe they expected it to be busier.” Chalice said. “It does seem a little odd, but we have good information that they are going to attack today. It’s likely that they aren’t German, then they wouldn’t really know how things work around here.” “Ah, that is true.” Seidel said. “What will you do if they do not attack today?” Seidel was letting his guard down. Even if he wasn’t a trained agent, Chalice could still tell when someone was probing him for information and that was definitely what Seidel was doing now. Since he thought they were friends, he had stopped trying to be subtle about it. Chalice was mildly insulted, did Seidel really think that he was that stupid? But he was only mildly insulted. After all, he was only a liaison. “We’ll probably have to go back to London. Things are pretty busy over there. If nothing happens I wouldn’t be surprised if we have to fly back tomorrow.” “Really? That seems very fast.” Seidel almost seemed to relax at that piece of information. “Yeah, well Interpol suffers from a lack of agents so they’ll need us back there as soon as possible. If there is something today though we’ll probably have to stick around for a bit.” “Makes sense. But isn’t your unit chief still in hospital?” “Yeah. I suppose someone will have to stay behind to look after her until she can fly again. Honestly, it will either end up being myself or Nils, since we’re the only ones who can be left behind.” Seidel laughed incredulously. “Surely that is not true!” “I’m not even a trained agent so I’m basically useless in their eyes.” Chalice laughed. “And Nils is only a tech analyst.” Chalice could practically taste the blasphemy as he spoke and made up his mind to buy Nils a coffee later by way of an apology. “Do you not need your tech analyst?” Seidel asked. “Nah.” Chalice mentally added a slice of lemon loaf to Nils’ Starbucks order. “There are other ones in our office.” “I see.” Seidel said and checked his watch. “I suppose that we should get back to our surveillance. I will talk to you later.” Chalice nodded and watched for a few seconds as Seidel walked away in the opposite direction. He wasn’t fully convinced that Seidel didn’t know that this whole exercise was just a decoy but if he believed that they would go home on Saturday then that was probably good enough. He sighed and looked around the mall again. It was going to be a long three hours. ***** “That was a useless exercise.” Adalie complained. The team and Seidel were back at police headquarters, sitting in the conference room. It was nearly 11pm and the rest of the building was silent. Everyone else had gone home for the night. “We should have known they wouldn’t hit on a Thursday,” she continued, leaning back in her chair and passing a hand over her face. Cipriana yawned. “Yeah, those messages must have been a decoy.” Seidel shook his head in disbelief. “Chalice told me you would be going home if this fell through.” Nils, who had just walked back into the room, cell phone still in hand, nodded. “Unfortunately that’s the plan. We need to be back. Lack of agents.” Nils stifled a yawn and brushed his fingers through his hair. “Not me though. I will be staying here to keep an eye on Vicky.” He glanced around, hiding another yawn behind his hand. “Where’s Chalice?” “I’m right here!” Chalice said, opening the door with his back. In his hands he had two starbucks drinks and a small bag. Nils looked at him suspiciously. “Coffee? Why?” “Mine is not coffee. Not at 11pm. But yours is.” Chalice said, holding him a very large iced coffee and the small bag. “What’s all this in aid of?” Chalice glanced over at Seidel. “I’ll explain later.” “Right.” As Nils spoke, Seidel got up. “I am disappointed. Without you here, more innocent people will die.” “We have to go home, it isn’t our choice.” Chalice said gently. “I understand. But I do not like it. Goodbye.” Seidel said, leaving the room and letting the door slam to behind him. Nils raised his eyebrows and Chalice giggled. Cipriana was less subtle, bursting into fits of laughter. “I do not like it.” Adalie mimicked him, barely finishing her sentence before dissolving into laughter. “Okay.” Nils said, struggling to control his laughter. “Okay, get back to the hotel you guys. I’ll see you tomorrow at 7am at the BND.” “You’re headed back there now aren’t you?” Chalice asked. “Yeah.” Nils sighed. “Yes I am. Thanks for the coffee, Chalice, but why?” Chalice laughed. “I’m so sorry but I had to shit talk you to Seidel earlier to maintain our cover of why you’re staying here.” “And that warranted buying me coffee and a lemon loaf?” Nils laughed. “I mean, I’m not complaining but that’s a little extreme.” “Nah, not at all.” Cipriana giggled. “Okay boys. We are headed back to the hotel and we’ll see you tomorrow bright and early. Night!” “Night!” Chalice said. Nils just nodded. “Aren’t you headed back too?” “Nope, I’m coming with you to the BND. I lied.” Chalice said, raising his coffee cup. “It is coffee.” “You don’t have to do this, y’know. You should go back to the hotel and sleep, get some rest.” “No.” Chalice said, his voice firm. “I’m coming with you. Owens will still be there, won’t he?” Nils sighed. “Of course he will. That boy works too hard, Chalice, I have to convince him to leave the office some nights.” “You’re one to talk.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m worried about him.” “You aren’t the only one. That’s why I’m coming with you, to check on him. Make sure he’s okay.” Chalice sighed. “He’s not been himself lately. I should have known the attacks had gotten worse.” “You couldn’t have seen it.” Nils said, picking up his coffee and walking out of the office, Chalice close behind him. “Yes, I could. I’ve known him for ages, I should have seen that something was wrong.” “No.” Nils stopped, turning to face him. “Chalice, do not blame yourself for this. I know how you feel about him but the only thing you can do now is be there and try to look after him.” “That’s what I’m trying to do.” Chalice gave him a wry smile as they walked out of the police headquarters. ***** “Morning!” Vicky looked up at Nils’ horribly cheerful voice. It was 11 am but she was utterly exhausted. The pain had kept her awake all night and she just wanted to sleep. “Hi Nils.” She said. “Hey! How are you feeling boss?” She smiled weakly. “Not wonderful, but I’m still alive. How’s the team doing? Are you guys all ready for the raid tomorrow?” “Well, we’re glad that you’re alive, that’s for sure! I don’t know how we’d survive with you. The team…” Nils sighed, “well, they’re doing okay.” Vicky’s brow creased. “What’s going on?” “Has Owens told you about his attacks?” “Yes, he did. But he told me that he had gotten better and he was fit to work.” Vicky frowned at him. “You have to tell me if something is wrong and you know it.” “The attacks have come back. I think they’re worse now, Vicky, and I’m worried that he’s going to put himself in danger. He told me he’s seeing a psychologist.” “Is he on meds?” “No. Cause that means that he wouldn’t be able to work. Vicky, this job is his life, the poor boy doesn’t have anything outside of it and frankly, I’m worried that he’d get worse without it.” “Nils,” Vicky sighed, “I’m going to have to report this to the board and he’ll have to be assessed.” Nils’ eyes went wide with panic. “No, Vicky, you can’t, please.” “Nils, I know you want to protect this team, but you have to look after yourself too.Owens isn’t your responsibility.” “He needs my help. They all do.” “You can’t keep doing this!” Vicky said, struggling to sit up. “Honestly, Nils, you’re the one I’m worried about. Owens has only been here two months, he’s only on probation, but I can’t lose you.” “What part of ‘this job is all he has’ don’t you understand? Vicky, him not being here would be worse than him being here.” “Not if it puts the team in danger. I know that you want to protect him, but you have to consider the risks! If he gets an attack while on a mission, everyone would be screwed. People could die, Nils!” Nils hung his head. “Tell me you aren’t taking him with you tomorrow.” “I have to. Even with the boys from the BND I don’t have enough agents.” “Fuckin,” Vicky mumbled, shaking her head, “Nils, that’s not a good idea. You’re going to have to make do with the five of you and the BND boys.” “I’ll have to be in the truck. And I have Gatsby on Seidel, I need Owens in the field.” Nils said, and Vicky could hear that he was struggling to keep his voice from breaking. “You cannot put him in that situation! For his own sake, as well as everyone else’s!” “Vicky, I have no other option. Besides, he would never let me take him off the mission without a fight. I have been preparing the team for this all week, I can’t change the plan on them now.” Nils looked as if he was about to break down and Vicky felt incredibly sorry for him. There was nothing she could have done about it but it felt very unfair to leave him in charge of the team. “Okay. Alright Nils, do what you have to do. But I am going to have to report him to the board, you know that.” “Yeah. Yeah, I do know that and I wish you didn’t but we gotta do the bureaucracy, right?” He gave her a weak smile and she made a mental note to put him down for extra days off once she was back in London. “Yup. Thanks for dropping in, Nils, and good luck tomorrow.” He nodded and left the room wordlessly. He looked terrible, definitely not fit to be leading the team in an important mission like this one. From here, though, there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. She’d have to talk to Maurice and get him to keep an eye on Nils while she was in the hospital.