Murder on the High Seas - The Devereaux CaseFiles Book 3

Chapter 24

The next thing on Murray's list was to have a word with Gideon. He knew the kid had grown up with Reed and the team, and that it would be difficult for him to adjust to a life without them. But he was a civilian now and he didn't want him interfering in the agency's cases anymore. As soon as he was finished talking to Raidon, he wasted no time in calling Gideon to get the confrontations over with in the one day. Gideon was busy in the shop when he called, unpacking a new delivery of books and placing them onto the relevant shelves, that were now fully built and supported against the wall. Everything was coming together, or at least, he thought that everything was going fine until the phone interrupted him.

"What can I do for you boss?" Gideon answered, using the caller ID to prepare himself for a chat, one on one, with someone he had never had to talk to before. Reed had been in charge, he had dealt with the top notch agents. Gideon had never had to and it was a little unnerving to find one of them calling him up out of the blue.

"You can stay out of agency business Gideon. Unless you want to rethink your departure from your team that is. Do you want to come back to us?" Murray decided to be hard on him to get the point across. He wanted to see what kind of decision he would make under pressure and frankly, if he decided to return to his team, he thought it might do some good. Not only would Raidon feel more confident, since he had always thought that Gideon had left because Reed was no longer in charge, it would also give the rest of the team a boost, knowing how valuable his skills were to the team.

"No, sir." Gideon answered, a little deflated. And so was Murray.

"Then keep your nose out of our business. I'm fed up of people doing everything but their job. You are a civilian, as is Reed, which you can remind yourself, and him, at regular intervals. I don't want to hear your name, find out you've been butting in or see your face near any of my cases again. Am I making myself clear?" Gideon felt like a pathetic kid, being told off by a boss or a teacher for doing something wrong.

"Yes, boss." He replied dutifully. But when he called Murray boss, it made him mad. He wasn't understanding anything he said.

"And stop calling me boss. I'm not your boss, I'm nothing to you. Gideon, you're a bright lad and you have talents which could be useful to the world. Either rethink joining the team again, at your old position or else do something with yourself that will not put your talents to waste." Murray couldn't play the hard-nosed lecturer any longer. He knew Gideon only wanted to be helpful and that was why he kept getting dragged into things concerning the agency. He wanted to help his friends and knew that he had taken away skills that they needed. But it was time he realized he had a life of his own.

"I was hoping to join the police sir." He admitted uneasily, wondering how that would go across with someone who was in a competing government sector. But he seemed pleased and encouraged him to go ahead and join the police, or at least get the necessary training to join them. He couldn't offer him a referral or reference because no-one knew the agency existed.

"Then do that. I understand these people are your family. You've been close for a long time, but that's not your life anymore. If you want to be free and live a real life, then you have to forget all about the agency and the people you knew here." Murray advised, afraid that Gideon would fight him because he was trying to make him give up his friends and the only family he had known for the past few years. But he took it well and promised he would do his best. And he couldn't have asked for anything more than that.

"I'll try." He agreed.

"Any problems you or Reed have from now on must be dealt with by the local authorities. I wish you all the best." Murray left Gideon to think over his advice, which though it sounded harsh, he knew was in his own best interests. He wasn't interested in returning to the agency and had never regretted his decision to leave. But he knew that if he was going to join the police then he had better do something productive about it rather than sitting around doing nothing.