The Consultant - NaNoWriMo2021

Chapter 24

By the time I get through to Leo, he has already received the file of the cloned hard drive and the SIS computers have analysed it.

'Fin, looks like you hit the jackpot. There are severely incriminating conversations on here despite the care taken to delete any evidence of the chats. It's early days and the full analysis will take a while longer, but we have enough to go on for now. You should get out of there, Box is on it's way to arrest her under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.'

'Box? Who's Box?'

'Ah sorry, you'll get used to the lingo. Box is what we call Special Branch – they had a PO box in the war for tip offs and reports about Nazi spies. They've been known as Box ever since.'

Clearly I had a lot to learn, including how to simply converse with my colleagues. I was completely exhausted; between the evening activities and early mornings, and now the showdown with Aubrey, my body and mind were in need of some recuperation. Suddenly a weekend of relaxation and indulgence with Sebastian and Clive looked very inviting indeed. Just at that moment I got a text from Sebastian, inviting me to be waiting tonight at six pm outside my college. They will pick me up and whisk me away to the New Forest.

I rush around packing whatever I can find. I've no idea what kind of weekend this is going to be, but I throw in some jeans and sweaters in case of hiking and country type pursuits, plus a black cocktail dress and scarf in case of any glam events that may be on the cards. Normally I'm not huge on socialising, for obvious reasons, but I'm actually really quite excited about this. I've never been 'away' for the weekend, and certainly not to a country cottage. It feels very grown up all of a sudden and to my surprise, I quite like it. I text Leo, telling him I'll be away and he asks for the address, which I realise I don't have. I can't think of a polite reason to ask Sebastian so I just tell Leo its in the New Forest. He responds telling me to enjoy myself and get some well earned rest. If there's any development from Aubrey's interviews, he'll let me know.

I picture her in a cell somewhere in London, wondering what the hell happened, or maybe trying to figure out how she got caught. It's all so mixed up I can barely process a sensible thought. I wonder how Felix and Daniel are doing. Daniel has no idea about me and his father but he will probably find out how his mother got caught. I imagine her activities will be a bit of a shock to the system, despite his admiration for her commitment to a cause. Felix will probably be totally shocked. Despite his duplicity, he's not really much of a conspiracy theorist; his wife being a consultant terrorist will probably blow his mind. It will be interesting to see how everything is when I get back from the New Forest, and whether I have a fighting chance of saving my doctorate. I do want to get it of course; I've put in a huge amount of work, but there is something quite liberating about the fact that I no longer have any control over it. The thesis was submitted weeks ago, the viva is in just a few days and I am as prepared as I can be. Now this mission is complete, and I am officially a member of SIS, I guess I don't need to worry too much about it anymore. It's a relief, but with a twinge of annoyance for the lost efforts.

I am waiting just a few seconds in the porch of the college gate before a midnight blue BMW purrs to a halt next to me with the window descending in the half light of dusk even before the car stops. I duck down and Sebastian is in the driving seat, but the rest of the car is empty.

'Hop in Fin, we have to make a quick detour to pick up the final supplies. Clive is already down there. He loves to organise so he went ahead.'

I open the heavy car door, the luxury of the model evident even from the muted clump of the door closing behind me. Fastening my seatbelt, I take a breath as Sebastian pulls out into the Oxford twilight, heading south as he leaves the city. We chat for a while, me asking him about his book and him enquiring about my doctorate, but as darkness falls, the conversation dies away and a peaceful and comfortable silence takes over, the only audible sound being the gentle movement of the windscreen wipers and the soft, muted melody of an aria on the music system. Within minutes by eyelids are drooping and soon enough, I am fast asleep.