Lockwoods key

Chapter 2

Lucy was in hot water. She'd had people annoyed, angry, even vengeful at her. But the silent wrath that radiated from Lockwood as he sat in the front of the car with his back to her made her nauseous. They were on their way to a meeting, one which may decide the fate of her career.

While George had given a loud laugh, clapping her on the back and Holly called her plot wonderful, Lockwood had remained deadly silent as he had scanned the paper. He had yet to say anything directly to Lucy for the past few days, opting out of any missions or patrols to instead practise his sword fighting non- stop. 

"I can't believe those poncy know- it- all's think they can threaten us." George huffed. Both Lucy and Holly turned to agree, but Lockwood gave the three a glare in the rearview mirror that shut them all up. 

"Has he told you why he's angry yet?" Lucy whispered to Holly as they entered into the Agencies driveway.

"I'm not sure, he's being cryptic again. Something about moral code and being self- centered. Maybe he's annoyed that Penelope has made such a big deal of this?"

"Maybe." Lucy replied doubtfully. 

The tension was thick between the group as they walked through the doors, being ushered immediately into one of the small meeting rooms. Unsurprisingly, Penelope herself along with Kipps and his team were already sat around a table, as well as another with silver rimmed glasses. All held the same grim frown.

"Miss Fittes." Lockwood nodded curtly to her, taking a seat at the opposite head of the table from her. The rest sat down the left sides, both sets of agents glaring at the other.

"Anthony. I wish I could say it's a delight to see you again but unfortunately the circumstances are not appropriate for such pleasantries."

"I understand. How is Miss Smith?"

Penelope looked at Philip, nodding at him. As the man began talking she turned the chair, staring into the distance.

"Miss Smith as of 8am yesterday is missing."

A hushed gasp ran through the group, Lockwoods fists wrapping around the material of his coat. Lucy leaned in to try and comfort him, but he flinched away from her.

"As you can imagine the Agency is very concerned. She was an excellent agent. However we are also worried about what may happen to Lockwood and Co. if she discovers it was your company that sold the pictures."

"How much?" Penelope demanded, voice sharp. "How much did you get for the story?"

They all looked at Lucy who shrank a little in her seat.

"£300." She answered, red tinting her cheeks. There was no way she was going to confess about the full £500 that had been paid.

"£300 for a girls life. She was worth a lot more than that."

"We agree, Miss Fittes, and we are greatly regretful for what happened. I fail to understand why our company would be at risk however, even if it was made public that we were the ones who discovered the images." Lockwood replied.

"Even before this Miss Smith was known for her more... pessimistic approach on life." Philip continued. He was momentarily interrupted by a scoff from Vernon, but continued.

"To put things into perspective, she was one of the only solo agents we had. She refused to work in a team and often had emotional outbursts when upset. You have upset her greatly. I'm afraid if she were to find out about your direct involvement things would take a turn for the worse."

"What would she do to us?" Holly asked, voice quivering slightly. 

"I think we should leave that matter for now. Let us focus on what we can do to prevent anything from happening rather than worry about what could happen."

They all nodded in agreement, apart from Lockwood who continued to stare at Penelope.

"We have a private warrant out for her currently, and no doubt any public sightings will be hot news for the paper. As for your residence we ask that you allow us to take over your perimeter patrols for the time being. We have much better knowledge as to how she works, and it means your business will experience minimum disruption and another layer of protection. For us, it means we don't risk having blood on our hands, and hopefully we get one out best agents the help she needs."

"So you believe she's dangerous?" George, who had been listening wide eyed until now, leaned forward, elbows resting on the glass table. Opposite him, Vernon pulled back the collar of his shirt, revealing a pinkish scar going diagonal from below his ear down his neck.

"She tried to chop my ear off one time. I had stitches for a month."

"That's only because you threw a rock to scare that cat." Godwin interrupted, glaring at him. 

"It seems Fittes has more than just one questionable agent." Holly sniffed.

"Regardless," Lockwood sighed, a mask of passiveness appearing on his face again, "we will accept your offer with much gratitude. We will begin doing our own research to see if we can help track her down while our involvement remains anonymous."

"Thank you, Anthony. We wish for her safe return more than anything. She is a troubled soul, but has always done her best to do good. Despite all she has been put through."

Penelope's icy glare landed on Lucy once more before the agents all stood and bowed, her being followed out by Philip.

"Mr Lockwood, me and my team will be escorting you off the ground and back to your residence." Kipps said, a wry smile of discomfort obvious on his face.

"Very well." Was all he said, allowing them to lead the way.

"You can't seriously be accepting their proposition are you?" George cried, grabbing his arm. The two girls nodded in agreement. Once again however they were silenced by a glare.

"We don't have a choice. We either find this girl and apologize, or Fittes will crush us."

"How?" Lucy asked.

"Because I won't have the strength to defend our company anymore."