Flashbang

Chapter 16

None of this would make the news.

He knew it, Nia knew it just as well. Alastair sat in a nearby cafe, feet firmly back on home soil. His hands were dug deep into his pockets, gaze unwavering as he watched a Thames barge slowly make its way down the river, only closely followed by a clipper. Made the day seem lazy, slow and sluggish compared to what he had experienced not long ago.

The scale of what had been the initial lure of six soldiers, to knowing that Henry had something to do with it all, was much bigger. More elaborate.

"Wow, you look worse and worse every time I see you." Nia said in a loose greeting, pulling up a seat opposite. "So, why the whole hush-hush over the phone?"

Alastair turned his attention from watching the barge, drumming the table with his fingers briefly in thought. "I think we might have just stepped off the precipice, you're the only one I trust to have my back here."

He could see the worry that knitted her brows together as she studied him, arms folding as she leaned back into the seat. Mothers wandered by, side by side with their pushchairs as they spoke loudly to one another. None of them would have paid attention to them, at least not for too long. Alastair shifted in his seat, taking a sip of coffee without grimacing.

"Coffee that bad?"

"No-" A smile crossed his lips. "I don't know. There's a lot of pieces but I think I gained something over Tiffany during that interrogation. She slipped up, said something about knowing my link with Six. They said it was off-the-books, right, so the list of people who know about this is small."

Alastair sighed, scratching the back of his head as he lapsed back into thought, checking his watch briefly.

"So, let's get this straight. The six soldiers don't exist, an elaborate lie spun by....what Tiffany and Henry? Then Tiffany goes around to slip up, telling you that she knows about the deal you struck with MI6 and so you put the pieces together between taking beatings to think that someone within our circle is the leak?" Nia raised a brow.

He knew that it was not a straight story, though it was one that made the most sense. Made more for a bunch of scribbles on a page than a straight line from A to B. There they remained in silence, with Nia following up on her order of a coffee.

"Maria wouldn't have done it."

"Really?"

"Fought my corner for that request to get in country to save your arse, Al."

"All the more reason not to suspect her, right?" Alastair replied. "But I guess you're thinking I'm pulling at straws here."

Alastair shook his head, glancing around them for a moment as he thought about it. He had met three people since making the deal; Nia, Tom and Maria. Maybe it extended beyond that, to whoever Tom and Maria worked with. Maybe it didn't. The waitress came around, dropped off the coffee and went on to serve the next table with the same polite smile.

Again, he checked his watch.

He drained the rest of his coffee, went to stand, tucking a five pound note under the cup.

"Catch you for lunch?" Alastair asked.

"Just tell me where." Nia replied.

With that, he walked off, hands tucked into his pockets as he joined the growing crowd down the side of the Thames.