The Darkness Below

Chapter Four - 1970

The Safe Houses were rigged with microphones so that everything said inside was caught on tape. It was an old trick used by the Security Services with mixed success during and after World War Two. There were whole country mansions that had been requisitioned during the war and filled to the gills with microphones and cables.

After twelve hours of keeping John and Grace separately Harris felt sure they were not a flight risk and had Grace brought to the same Safe House as John. They might divulge some interesting information as they talked and Harris would have someone listening in live to all their conversations.

The enforced separation and the tension of the previous day's events meant that when Grace and John were reunited they were felt very awkward around one another. The briefness of their kiss and the many distractions of the day meant they acted like friends to one another as if the kiss had been forgotten. Forgotten or just considered a moment of madness.

After ten minutes of awkward chat John decided to forget his nerves and despite a slight tremble in his step moved from his armchair and sat snuggly next to Grace. Without meaning to he put his arm around behind her and she leaned into him and the awkwardness was broken and he pulled her tighter into him and they gazed into one another's eyes.

Harris was genuinely concerned about Soviet reprisals and if Vince Taft had tipped off KGB colleagues then John Wood and Grace Spring's lives might be in danger. Knowing the identity and face of a Soviet Spy would be a major inconvenience for the KGB and killing them both would not greatly trouble the might of the KGB. Of course they would die in accidents like drowning in a canal or getting hit by a drunk driver.

Harris's loyalty to Grace and John extended beyond not locking them up and meant he could not face the prospect of them being turned lose only to disappear thanks to the KGB. It was a problem Harris could not find a solution before; they couldn't live permanently at a safe house, at some point they would have to return to their jobs.

*

The following morning Harris checked in with the team at the Safe House and they had nothing to report. Grace and John were smart and had not discussed any Top Secret information or let anything slip. Harris was coming under increased pressure especially after he defied an order from his boss to arrest John and Grace and have them thrown into some damp cell at a crumbling Victorian prison.

Harris drove over to the Safe House and sat down with Grace and John.

'Time is ticking guys. The KGB may be looking for you and planning on silencing you in order to protect their spy. I can't keep you here indefinitely; I have a boss I have to answer to. The alternative to releasing you is Solitary Confinement in a prison but neither option appeals to me. Give me the full story and all information you have and I promise I will do my best for you.' Harris said.

John and Grace exchanged looks and then Grace reached for John's hand and they held hands.

'Neither are very attractive options but we can't give up our only leverage on the basis of a promise from you, sorry Harris' responded Grace.

'Fair enough but I have been totally honest with you so as time ticks away your position weakens. If we capture Vince Taft your information will lose all value and I won't be able to protect you. My boss is already pissed at me and won't hesitate to bang you up once your information becomes useless.' Harris responded ruefully.

'We figured you would say that which is why John and I have been talking' Grace responded.

'Have you?' was Harris's lacklustre response as he'd already had a report on all their conversations thanks to the listening devices throughout the Safe House.

'Yes John and I have a proposal for you. One that could work out well for all of us.' Grace responded.

'Really?' Harris responded with his interest piqued. There was no information about this in the report from the listening devices. Grace and John were clever than Harris had given them for and they must have been talking without being overheard.

'Yes let me tell you and then you can go away and see what your boss thinks.'

Harris listens with rapt awe and attention, fascinated by the ingenious idea that Grace is suggesting. If it works out, which is highly unlikely as Whitehead would never agree to it, Harris must find out who were the brains behind the suggestion.

'Do you think it might be possible?' Grace asked earnestly after finishing outlining the plan. Harris could tell from the glum look on John's face that he obviously doubted it and Harris felt sure the plan was thought out by Grace.

'I will discuss it with my boss and put my best foot forward and hope he takes a liking to it. Harris said with conclusion and left the safe house to see his boss Commander Manningham Whitehead. Harris pondered how he would suggest it to Whitehead and it slowly dawned on him that the idea will never be accepted by Whitehead, especially with his low opinion of Harris at the moment.