The Recruit

29. Auntie

Ash reckoned he now knew more about Fort Harmony than anyone, including the people who lived there. He'd read Gladys Dunn's autobiography and three other books, as well as seeing tons of press cuttings, videos and police files. He'd memorised the names and faces of every current Fort Harmony resident and loads of regular visitors. Ash also read the criminal records and MI5 files on anyone likely to be involved in the terrorist group Help Earth.

Ash's undercover name was Benjamin Ross. His job was to hang out with kids at Fort Harmony, picking up gossip, sticking his nose where it didn't belong and reporting anything suspicious to CHERUB.

Ash had a mobile to call Augustine Sycamore. Sycamore was staying at Green Brooke for the duration of the mission. Ash's other equipment included a digital camera, his lock gun and a can of pepper spray that was only for an emergency.

Misty was his sister, Destiny Ross. Her job was to befriend Scargill Dunn, the seventeen-year-old grandson of Fort Harmony founder Gladys Dunn. Scargill was a loner who had dropped out of school and washed dishes in the kitchen at Green Brooke.

Scargill's twenty-two-year-old twin brothers, Fire and World, had both served short prison sentences for attacking the chairman of a fast food chain. MI5 believed Fire, World and a couple called Bungle and Eleanor Evans were the residents of Fort Harmony most likely to be part of Help Earth.

Cathy Dunn had briefly been married to Fire, World and Scargill's dad, some years before they were born. Since then, Cathy had lived alone at Fort Harmony. Like most residents she grew food and kept a few chickens, but it wasn't enough to survive. She did odd jobs when they cropped up: cleaning, fruit picking. Sometimes Cathy sold information to the police.

There were always a few dodgy people at Fort Harmony. If a drug dealer or a runaway kid turned up, Cathy would walk to Craddogh and call from the village phone box. Half the time the police weren't interested in what Cathy had to tell them. If they were, they only paid ten or twenty quid. Maybe fifty if it was a drug dealer and they caught him with a lot of stuff.

Cathy wasn't comfortable being a snitch, but sometimes it made the difference between having enough to buy a bottle of gas for the heater and freezing in her hut.

After Petrocon was announced the police got more interested in what Cathy had to say. The value of information went up. Cathy got at least thirty pounds every time, and they wanted to know everything that was going on at Fort Harmony. Who came, who went, if anyone did anything suspicious, if there was an argument. Cathy got a taste for the money. She soon had a roll of notes stashed in a baked bean tin.

MI5 made Cathy an offer: £2,000 to let a couple of undercover agents stay with her at Fort Harmony in the weeks before Petrocon. Cathy didn't like the idea much; she'd lived alone for thirty years. MI5 offered more money until Cathy gave in.

Ash, Misty and Sycamore walked into the Bristol Travelhouse. It was a basic hotel attached to a motorway service station. Cathy Dunn was waiting in her room in a cloud of cigarette smoke.

"My name is Sycamore, these two are Benjamin and Destiny." Cathy sat up on her bed. She looked half drunk and tons older than in all the pictures Ash had seen of her.

"Who the hell are you?" Cathy asked.

"We spoke on the phone," Sycamore said. "You're going to be looking after Benjamin and Destiny until the conference."

"You've had me stuck in this hole for three days," Cathy said. "Now you turn up with two kids. If this is your idea of a joke, I'm not laughing."

"You made a deal with us," Sycamore said. "This is the deal."