Story Saturday: Not- A- Spy-Writes

We are showcasing Stories every Saturday for your reading pleasure. This week we dive into the newest story by our part-time writer Not-A-Spy-Writes.

Everything You Could - Part one

When a hostage situation arises at a remote hotel in Norfolk, the team is called in to handle it. Missing two agents and with loaner agent Jay Edwards in tow, the team is thrown into a dispute that goes much deeper than they ever thought. This is no by the book hostage situation. The countdown is on. And so is the pressure. Warnings: Hostage situation, discussions of terrorism, strong language Word count for part one: 4,320 words Author’s note: Did I say next week? Obviously I meant several months later (sorry). Anyway, I am back for now and making no promises on when the next installment will be here because I have proven I can’t keep them. HOWEVER I am working on it right now, so keep your eyes out for it. This one is going to take a little longer because I’m rewriting the whole thing instead of just editing, but I’ll get it to you as soon as I can. Thank you for sticking around and, as always, I hope you enjoy! - not-a-spy ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Morning!” Maurice called as he walked into the office early Monday morning. Chalice and Cipriana glanced up from their respective desks. No one else was in the main office and the blinds on Vicky’s office windows were closed. “Hey!” Cipriana replied brightly. Chalice just nodded, turning back to the large textbook on his desk. “Is Owens not back yet?” Maurice asked, looking at the empty desk next to Chalice. “Nah.” Chalice said, slamming the book shut and leaning back in his chair. “He doesn’t come back until next week.” Maurice nodded, distracted by the book on Chalice’s desk. “Are you studying for your agent exam?” “What?” Cipriana exclaimed. Chalice grinned at them. “Yeah. I wasn’t planning on telling you guys until I passed it.I’d prefer if you didn’t say anything to the others.” “Of course we won’t.” Maurice said, sitting down at his desk. “When are you taking it?” “This weekend!” Chalice said. He opened his mouth to continue but was cut off by his phone ringing. He answered, turning away from the others. Maurice turned to face Cipriana. “Where’s Nils?” Cipriana nodded her head towards Vicky’s office. The blinds were still closed. “In there. Has been since Chalice got here, which was just after 5.” Maurice frowned. “Any idea why?” Cipriana shook her head. “Nope. Chalice and I thought that it could be about Owens but, well it’s been almost 2 hours now, so that’s very unlikely.” “He probably hacked something he shouldn’t have.” Maurice forced a laugh. Cipriana smiled. “Maybe it’s budget cuts? Or a job offer from someone else?” “Whatever it is, it must be pretty serious. I can’t remember the last time that I saw her with her blinds down.” Cipriana nodded. “Yeah. I guess I’m just trying to make myself feel better. But it is possible he’s gotten a job offer from someone else, isn’t it?” Maurice frowned. “I suppose. But I doubt that a discussion about that kind of thing would last so long. Unless, of course, the job would keep him closer to home. He would do anything for Nikki.” “You’re right.” Cipriana began. As she spoke, Chalice put down the phone, his face serious. “We’ve got a case.” Chalice said curtly, standing from his desk. “I’ll go get Vicky.” Maurice and Cipriana glanced at each other, eyebrows raised. “Something must be very wrong,” Maurice said, watching as Chalice opened Vicky’s door, knocking as he did so. Chalice stepped inside and Maurice turned back to Cipriana. “Mondays, am I right?” Cipriana laughed. “Everything has to go wrong at once.” “Yeah.” Maurice sighed. “And we’re down an agent.” “Two.” Cipriana corrected him. “Adalie’s on vacation. Won’t be back for two weeks. She’s in Iceland, the lucky thing.” “Damn,” Maurice said. “Uh-huh. We get to toil away behind our desks while she’s off on vacation.” Maurice sighed, leaning dangerously far back in his chair. “It’s a bad time to be down two agents, especially if this mission is as big as I think it is. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Chalice so serious before.” “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him serious!” Cipriana laughed, her face going dark. “But you’re right, it’s the worst time. D’you think they’ll land us with some loaner agent since we’re down two?” Maurice grimaced. “I sure hope not. But depending on what the case is, they might think they have to.” As he spoke, Chalice walked out of Vicky’s office, closing the door behind him and gesturing for them to join him in the conference room. His face was still serious, his eyebrows knitted together. No one moved from inside Vicky’s office. Cipriana and Maurice stood from their chairs, quickly following Chalice into the conference room, exchanging a concerned glance as they went. “What’s going on?” Maurice demanded, closing the door behind him. “The case or with Nils?” Chalice asked, distributing case files around the table as he spoke. “If it’s about Nils, I don’t know but it isn’t good. Vicky said that she’ll be joining us in a minute, but I’m not sure if Nils will be.” “Okay!” Vicky made a distinct effort to sound cheerful as she walked into the conference room. Nils wasn’t with her. “Chalice, have you presented the case yet?” “No.” Chalice said. “D’you want me to wait for Nils or?” Vicky frowned and shook her head. “No, it’s okay, you can brief him later.” “Is everything alright?” Maurice asked. Vicky shook her head again. “I’m sorry Maurice, I can’t tell you what’s going on. And neither can Nils, so please don’t ask him about it. He’s got a lot on his mind.” Maurice frowned. He had been friends with Nils for ages and if something had been going on, then he was sure that Nils would have told him. He made up his mind to talk to him later, despite what Vicky said. “Right.” Chalice began, straightening himself up in his chair. “We’ve got a hostage situation “Okay!” Vicky made a distinct effort to sound cheerful as she walked into the conference room. Nils wasn’t with her. “Chalice, have you presented the case yet?” “No.” Chalice said. “D’you want me to wait for Nils or?” Vicky frowned and shook her head. “No, it’s okay, you can brief him later.” “Is everything alright?” Maurice asked. Vicky shook her head again. “I’m sorry Maurice, I can’t tell you what’s going on. And neither can Nils, so please don’t ask him about it. He’s got a lot on his mind.” Maurice frowned. He had been friends with Nils for ages and if something had been going on, then he was sure that Nils would have told him. He made up his mind to talk to him later, despite what Vicky said. “Right.” Chalice began, straightening himself up in his chair. “We’ve got a hostage situation in Norfolk, just outside the village of King’s Lynn at the Queen Anne hotel. We have reports of shots fired already but the local police have failed to make contact so far. Right now, they’re waiting for us.” “Why have we been called in?” Maurice asked. “Apparently because we have the best expertise in this sort of thing.” Chalice said. “The locals seem to think that this is the work of some terrorist organization. Obviously, we can’t confirm this yet, especially since I can’t get any kind of guest list for the hotel.” “Right.” Vicky said. “I’ll get Nils on that as soon as we get there. Good thinking, Chalice.” “Do we have any idea how many people are inside?” Cipriana asked, her fingers toying nervously with a lock of her hair. Chalice shook his head. “No. And no idea how many hostage takers either, unfortunately.” “I take it the report didn’t come from inside the hotel then.” Maurice said. “No. A passerby heard gunshots and called the police. More shots were fired after the police got involved, so they called us.” “Jesus.” Vicky shook her head in disbelief. “What the hell are they doing?” “No idea ma’am. But they want us there as soon as possible.” “Naturally.” Vicky frowned for a moment. “Okay, this could get messy and it is definitely not a good time to be down two agents. Maurice, can you get Nils and tell him we’re leaving in 15? I’m going to see if I can borrow an agent from another team, the rest of you grab your stuff and meet us by the cars.” Maurice nodded, already on his feet. “I’ll go get him.” He quickly slipped out of the conference room towards the bathroom, glancing into Nils’ office as he went. It was empty and he went straight into the bathroom, knocking gently on the door as he entered. “Has Vicky sent you to check on me?” Nils asked cheerfully, smiling at Maurice. He frowned. Despite his cheerful demeanour, Nils’ eyes were red-rimmed and his normally immaculate hair stuck up in all directions. “No, she told me not to ask you what’s going on,” Maurice said, leaning back against the door. “But you’re going to anyway?” Nils smiled. “Naturally. If there was something going on, I kinda expected you to tell me.” Maurice said. “Yeah.” Nils looked away from him, fixing his eyes on the floor tiles. “Yeah, I know.” “Come on Nils, what’s going on? It’s gotta be something pretty serious.” Maurice stopped, looking at Nils in sudden alarm. “Is everything okay with Nikki?” Nils laughed, looking Maurice in the eyes again. “Yes! Yeah, we’re fine, it’s not that.” “Then what is it? Come on Nils, don’t make me pry it out of you. If you can’t tell me, then say that, don’t do whatever this shit is.” “I can’t tell you. Well, I could but,” Nils sighed, shaking his head, “it’s not time yet.” Maurice frowned. “Okay. You know you can talk to me if anything’s seriously wrong, right? I’m always around.” “Yes, yes I know Maurice and I’m always grateful for that,” Nils said. “But I don’t want you to worry about this. Promise?” Maurice laughed, pulling away from Nils’ hands and opening the door back to the main office, letting Nils step through first. “Well, you failed. I’m already worried.” Nils sighed. “Of course you are. I know I can’t make you not worry about it but I promise it’ll all work out okay. I’ll make sure of it.” Maurice looked at him sceptically. “Sure. Anyways, Vicky’s meeting us at the cars, we have a case.” “Chalice said,” Nils said, leaning around the doorway of his office to grab a brown messenger bag that was lying on the floor. “What is it? I’m afraid I wasn’t really listening to him.” Maurice sighed. “A hostage situation. At a hotel out in Norfolk.” “Oh great.” Nils said sarcastically. “Do we know how many hostages they have?” “No, we have no idea. There’s been no contact established yet, so we have absolutely no clue as to what’s happening inside. All we know is that there’s already been shots fired.” Maurice said, pulling open the door to the stairwell. “Jesus! Shots fired already? Yeah, that’s bad.” Nils said. “And no contact established? What the hell are the locals doing to provoke that kind of a response?” “We really don’t know.” “So we’re just going in blind, huh?” Nils asked as they walked into the parking garage. Chalice waved at him. “Yeah, we are.” Chalice gave a wry smile. “Best way to deal with a hostage situation, obviously.” “Oh yeah, of course.” Nils laughed. “Where’s Vicky?” “Trying to find us a replacement agent.” Cipriana said. “Since we’re down two.” “Oh, right.” Nils said. “I forgot Adalie’s on vacation this week.” “Okay!” Vicky stepped into the parking garage, an agent following behind her. He was a little shorter than her, with dirty blond hair and wearing a tattered green army jacket. “Everyone, this is agent Jay Edwards.” Vicky said. “He’s from Team Red and he’ll be helping out, since we’re down two agents.” Jay waved. “Hey everyone!” Maurice waved back, grinning. “I thought you’d quit.” “Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Jay grinned back. “Plenty of time for catching up later.” Vicky said, already climbing into one of the cars. “Right now, we need to get going. Jay, I’d like you in the second car with Chalice, please. He’ll brief you and Nils on the way down.” Jay nodded. “Yes ma’am.” Vicky walked towards the other car, gesturing at Cipriana and Maurice to follow her. Jay turned to Chalice and Nils. “We’ve met, briefly.” Jay said, reaching over to shake Chalice’s hand. Chalice smiled. “Yes, we have, ages ago. It’s good to see you again, agent Edwards.” “You too.” Jay turned to Nils. “We haven’t met. I’m agent Edwards but you can call me Jay.” “Nils Karlessen, technical analyst.” Nils shook Jay’s hand. “You were drafted for the original team, weren’t you?” “Yeah!” Jay grinned as they climbed into the car. “You’ve certainly done your research.” “He reads files for fun.” Chalice said, sliding into the driver’s seat as he spoke. Nils laughed. “I’ve been trying to digitise all our old files in my spare time. Most of them are still on paper and I’m slowly trying to bring Interpol into the 21st century.” “That’s a mammoth task!” “Yeah, it’ll probably take me another century or two.” Nils grinned. “But then again, it’s not exactly like I have a lot of spare time. Anyway, Chalice, what’s the brief?” “There’s a hostage situation at a hotel in Norfolk. I honestly don’t have any more information than that, other than we have shots fired and no communication.” Chalice said. “Jesus.” Jay said. “That’s really not a lot to go off of.” “No it isn’t.” Nils frowned. “We don’t even have a count on how many hostages?” Chalice shook his head. “Nope.” “Who’s our hostage negotiator, by the way?” Jay asked. “Chalice and I both have training.” Nils said. “I’m not sure which one of us Vicky wants in charge this time.” “Yeah I’m not sure on that either.” Chalice said. “Out of curiosity, Jay, where do they have you now?” “I’m with drug squad at the moment but there’s rumours of me being bounced again.” Jay laughed. “I can’t seem to keep a team, for some reason. I’ve been with terrorism, robbery, trafficking and drugs all within two years.” Chalice laughed. “Well, at least you get some variety.” “I suppose so.” Jay grinned. “The job never gets boring, that’s for sure. So, Nils, how long have you been with the team?” “Coming up on five years.” Nils said. “So, a while.” “Yikes, yeah, that’s quite the career, especially with team black.” Jay said. “You’ve lost most of the originals, huh?” “Not quite.” Nils said. “Vicky, Maurice and Adalie are all still here, Adalie’s just on vacation at the moment.” “Oh! I had no idea.” Jay said. “How about you, Chalice? You’re ex MI6, aren’t you?” Chalice nodded. “Yeah. I’ve only been here a few months now but it sure is a nice change from MI6 office politics.” Jay paused for a moment, lost in thought, before responding. “Yeah, I’m sure.” ***** Several hours later, the two cars pulled up on a gravel parking lot overlooking an imposing stone building. Half a dozen police cars and a police van were already on-site, but no one had approached any further than the gates of the hotel. Three tents were set up around the gate, flimsy canvas things with blue tarps serving as makeshift floors. The cold Norfolk wind tore through the tents, shaking the canvas walls and ruffling the files pinned down to folding tables with rocks borrowed from the surrounding landscape. The wind bit through their clothes and Nils retreated further into his puffy blue parka. Chalice shivered, drawing his thin coat closer around his shoulders and pulling on a pair of oversized wool gloves that didn’t match the rest of his outfit. As they got out of the cars, an officer ran out of one of the tents to greet them. “Hey! You must be the Interpol team, right?” The young officer said breathlessly, stopping in front of them. “Yes, you’re Alec Karolli, right? I’m Henry Chalice, we spoke on the phone.” Chalice said, stepping forward to shake Alec’s hand. Alec nodded enthusiastically. Chalice continued. “This is Vicky Elliot, team leader, Nils Karlessen, technical analyst and agents Maurice Pierre, Cipriana Dukas and Jay Edwards.” Alec dutifully shook hands with everyone. “I’m glad to have you here! Are you ready to set up now and get started?” Chalice nodded. “Yeah. Can I ask why you haven’t established contact with them yet?” “And we’ve had reports of shots fired already,” Vicky added. Alec looked away uncomfortably. “Uh, well, we aren’t very well prepared for this sort of thing. We tried to get them to talk, just with a megaphone but they, well, we thought they might, that we might be in danger, so we fired.” “Okay.” Chalice took a deep breath. “Where can we set up?” “You can have all the tents, we won’t get in your way. The tent over by the gates, the one right next to the van, has the most outlets. What else do you need?” Alec asked nervously. Chalice glanced over at Vicky and Nils. “We’re good for the moment.” Vicky said. “Just get your people together and I’ll brief you all in a moment.” “Yes ma’am.” Alec nodded at them and ran off in the direction of the tents. “This isn’t going to be easy.” Chalice sighed. “Their attack might have already jeopardised our chances of getting them to talk to us.” “What’s the plan?” Maurice asked. “And what are the rest of us doing?” Vicky frowned. “Nils, I want you to figure out who exactly is in that hotel before we go any further. That might help us figure out what they want.” Nils nodded. “Sure. You want me to make contact as well?” “No, not yet. I want us to stay quiet right now. We reach out when we have an idea what they might want.” Vicky said. “We don’t want to provoke them any more.” “Of course.” “As for the rest of us,” Vicky turned to Maurice, “We’ll be figuring out a way to get inside the hotel if worst comes to worst. If we have to, one of us can go in to deliver supplies and give medical assistance. I know it isn’t technically our job, but I would much rather have one of us in there than an unarmed paramedic.” Vicky said. Maurice nodded. “Right.” “Okay, I’m going to go get set up.” Nils smiled sweetly at Maurice, who rolled his eyes. “Can you help me with my computers?” “Why d’you need so many computers anyways? Can’t you just use the one for everything?” Maurice groaned as they walked back towards the cars. Nils laughed. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.” “Mmmm, of course.” Maurice laughed, lugging one of Nils’ many computers out of the back of the car. Nils grabbed two more and followed Maurice towards the tents. “Can you promise me something?” Nils asked as they neared the tents. “What, that I won’t worry about you? No, I can’t.” Nils smiled wistfully. “It’s not that. Promise me that you’ll be very careful if you have to go in there. We have no idea what we’re up against here and whoever it is must be dangerous.” “Better me than a medic.” Nils sighed. “Better no one goes in there. But if you have to, please remember your training. Keep your head.” Maurice frowned. “You’re not going to tell me what’s going on, are you?” “It’s not related to the case if that’s what you’re thinking.” “Then why the sudden immense concern about my well-being?” Nils gave a not entirely convincing laugh. “It’s my job to look after you. Aren’t I allowed to be worried about my friend?” Nils walked away with his cases and Maurice frowned at his retreating back. He paused for a moment, lingering outside in the cold with his hands stuffed deep into his pockets, his eyes still fixed on Nils’s back. Taking a deep breath, Maurice followed Nils into the tent silently. Despite what Nils had repeated over and over again, he was definitely worried. When he had a moment, he’d speak to Nikki to see if he knew what was going on. If Nils wouldn’t talk to him about whatever was going on, then he’d probably have better luck with Nikki. ***** “Any luck with the guest list yet?” Vicky asked as she walked into the tent where Nils was already set up. Nils nodded. “I have access to their system, so I can see everyone who has checked in. It’s the slow season, so there are only 12 rooms occupied at the moment, leaving us with 18 guests. I haven’t checked the staff yet, so I’m not sure how many hostages we have in total.” “Any interesting names on the list?” Vicky asked, perching herself on the table next to Nils’ computer set up. “Oh yeah.” Nils grinned. “Harlon McKinley.” Vicky’s eyebrows shot up. “Not… no, you aren’t serious.” “Dead serious.” Nils said. “What the hell is he doing here?” Vicky demanded, pushing herself off of the desk and beginning to pace the floor. “Wasn’t he in prison?” “No one holds McKinley.” Nils said. “He was, for a while, but they released him.” “Christ.” Vicky sighed. “But why here? And what does he have to do with this?” “Something.” Nils’ eyes were still focused on his screens. “I’m sure of it. Lundy’s with him, so something’s up.” “Any other names we know?” Vicky asked. Nils shrugged. “Uh, not sure yet. These people use so many aliases that I can’t be sure who I’m looking at. If you give me a few minutes, I’ll run the rest of the guests and see if I come up with anything.” Vicky nodded. “Yeah, do that. I’m going to brief the others.” She walked out of Nils’ tent to where the rest of the team had clumped around a folding table. They all glanced up as she approached. “Do we have any news?” Chalice asked. “We do.” Vicky sighed. “There are currently 18 guests in the hotel, we’re working on getting a staff count as well. Harlon McKinley is one of them.” “Shit.” Jay groaned. “Am I the only person that doesn’t know who that is?” Chalice asked, glancing around. “You may have missed it because it went down about when WBFC was happening.” Vicky said. “Harlon McKinley is a jewel thief who runs a pretty extensive operation. Not only does he steal them, he also sells them on, usually to other thieves. He’s travelling with his main partner in crime at the moment, Simon Lundy.” “Wasn’t he in prison?” Maurice asked. “McKinley, I mean.” “He was, up until very recently.” Vicky said. “According to Nils, he was released.” “Does he have something to do with this?” Jay asked. Vicky shrugged. “Probably.” “But what?” Chalice asked, leaning over the table. “He’s a jewel thief, not a hostage taker, right?” “Maybe he’s the target!” Cipriana said. “That seems more likely. Maybe someone’s trying to get their jewels back or something.” Vicky nodded. “That does seem possible. Nils is running the rest of the guest list to see if anyone else comes up, but it’s possible our hostage taker isn’t a guest.” “What’s our plan for making contact?” Maurice asked. “We need to make sure no one in there is injured, but we don’t want to provoke them in any way.” “I’m going to hold off until Nils has a good grasp on who exactly is in there and then we’ll make contact.” Vicky said. “I’m hoping that if anyone is badly injured, they’ll reach out to us.” Jay frowned. “They may not, ma’am. If this is an internal dispute between McKinley and one of his old accomplices, they won’t want us involved.” “Right.” Vicky frowned, chewing on her bottom lip. “Okay. I need to brief the locals, and I’m going to call around to see if there’s a warrant for McKinley anywhere. Chalice, you’re our hostage negotiator. Get Karolli to set you up with a phone line then see what Nils has on the rest of the hostages. The rest of you, dig up everything we have on McKinley and Lundy, see if we can narrow down who might be involved.” Chalice started. “Ma’am? You’re sure you want me on this? I can do the calling, I am a liaison, after all.” Vicky paused just before she stepped out of the tent. “Yes, I’m sure. Leave the liaising to me for now.” “Ma’am I’m not qualified. I don’t have agent training or any experience with hostage negotiation.” Chalice pushed back. “Then it’s time you got some.” Vicky said firmly. Maurice glanced between them and swallowed hard. “Owens isn’t coming back, is he?” “That’s not important right now.” Vicky shot him down. “If you want to be an agent, Chalice, you need to learn how to deal with these kinds of situations. We need all the help we can get right now. Leave the liaising to me for a while, this is much more important. I trust you on this. If you need help, ask Nils.” “Ma’am,” Chalice opened his mouth to protest again but Vicky cut him off. “That’s final.” She said. She turned to Maurice. “And Owens will be coming back.” “But?” Maurice prompted. Vicky sighed. “I’m not supposed to be telling you this.” “Tell them we forced it out of you.” Maurice said. “He’ll be coming back, but, and this isn’t set in stone yet, but his agent status will be revoked and he won’t be allowed to be in the field.” Chalice shook his head, breaking eye contact with Vicky and getting out of his chair to pace to the side of the tent. “Not in the field at all?” Maurice asked. “Not at all. He’ll come with us to wherever we are but he’ll have to stay in the office or wherever base is.” “They might as well just fire him then.” Chalice said. “What good is he to anyone if he can’t actually do anything?” “They’re prepared to give him a second chance. Now,” Cipriana cut her off. “Give him a second chance? I don’t really know what’s going on with him right now, but he didn’t do anything wrong, even I know that much.” Maurice nodded. “It’s not his fault.” Vicky sighed. “I know that but it wasn’t my place to make that decision. I had to beg them for that much even. According to them, he’s a liability.” “Bullshit.” Chalice said. “I agree with you there, Chalice. Unfortunately, I have to listen to my boss. Now, let’s get on with it. Let me know if there are any developments.” Vicky said, before turning and walking out of the tent.