11 : Who’s who
By: Mark J Diez
Tags: Meetings, Team, Secrets

Photo by Craig Whitehead on Unsplash

David reached over to the bedside cabinet, stretching over a sleeping Mary, and grabbed his phone. The tone he’d just heard told him a new message had just come through. He rubbed and blinked his eyes to clear the sleepy haze from them, and squinted at the phone’s screen through the remaining fog in his eyes.

The message was from an unknown contact. ‘Found your man. Give me a call’ was all it said, and he didn’t need to guess who it was from. David slid down and off the end of the bed to avoid waking Mary and, standing up, realised that Louise was asleep on the floor, covered by an old duvet he figured was long thrown out.

He stepped over her and headed out of the room, more pressing matters on his mind than trying to recall what had happened the previous night.

“Paul, thanks for getting on this so quickly,” David said, thinking it never hurt to be polite to the guy, even if he was being continually blackmailed by him. “What did you find out?”

“Morning, David. Yeh, well I got him, seems he is called Frost but much else is a bit unclear,” Paul said.

“Unclear, what do you mean?”

“I’ve not been able to pull that much on him, seems someone has decided to erase or hide some of this guy’s past. The usual checks don’t go through, so I can’t tell you where he lives or anything close to that.” Paul continued, “This record is a stub, just a small record kept for reference, which means it looks like this guy is ex-army and likely ex-police, but what branch I can’t find out. There’s a dead-end thread that suggests he got kicked out of whatever department he was in recently.”

“What did he get kicked out for?” David asked.

“Seems he’s a bit of a loose cannon, not exactly the type to be a good boy and do as he’s told. But then I guess you saw that the other day. Only bit of information of use is that he was undercover with a group like yours and went native.”

“Well, that is interesting,” David replied.

“Figured you’d like that,” Paul said.

“OK, any idea how to get hold of him?” Even though he already knew, it didn’t hurt to double check.

“Why the hell are you so interested in him, all urgently too?”

David’s mind went blank. Maybe he was going too fast, desperate to use Frost to satisfy Lauren’s unknown demands, but he felt scared. Scared of crossing Paul, scared of who Lauren was and what she’d want. He just couldn’t go back to prison; he wished he’d never gone to the march.

“Seems like a good guy for us, that’s all. Better him than me out there, eh?” David said, hoping to appeal to Paul’s desire to keep his cash cow safe.

“True, bloody stupid what you did. To answer your earlier question,” Paul continued, “I suggest you just stay visible, he’ll find you.”

“OK, thanks, Paul, I owe you,” David said.

“Yup,” was the terse reply.

“By the way, are we still good?” David asked.

“Yes, why?”

“Just, on the video it looks like I was targeted, which our arrangement is meant to avoid,” David said.

“I don’t run the whole force, if you stick your head up like that you’ll get it knocked down eventually. Which, given you’re still on probation, isn’t bloody wise. Let’s be clear, our arrangement is about your side business, not your whining about the state of the planet. If we weren’t good, you’d know about it,” Paul said and with that the line went dead.

∞

“You gave them your number?” Byford asked.

“Yeh, mate, seemed the best way, we’re in a hurry after all,” Frost replied.

“Jesus, I appreciate the keenness but a little subtlety wouldn’t go amiss either.”

Frost looked out over the river at the city beyond, enjoying his morning coffee and the freshness of the air.

“Well, that David, he’s not the sharpest tool in the box, is he? I figured he needed a way to get hold of me, a bit more direct than your idea. Anyway, it would be odd just to act all mysterious when his mates came over to me. Especially after I was seen helping him out and after the blues lifted him. Funny as fuck when they knocked him out!” Frost said.

Byford ignored Frost’s soldier view of the world and amusement at others getting into fights. Instead, he thought about Frost giving his number to one of the eco’s. He’d arranged with contacts outside Hannover to get Frost a new back story available on police files. Not a moment too soon, he was informed just an hour ago the profile was accessed late last night.

Things were moving faster than he expected, but in the right direction.

On balance it really didn’t matter how they’d found Frost in the end. So long as they did and it was believable.

“Right, well, heads up, we tagged the file on the new you and it got picked up last night,” Byford said.

“Crap, that was fast. He’s got contacts then?”

“Yeh, but we don’t know who accessed it. The internet service provider, location, etc. were all garbage and, anyway, it doesn’t matter. As you gave out your number it’s only a matter of time until someone passes it to him,” Byford said.

“But no guarantee he’ll call, mate,” Frost said.

“He’ll call. David wants friends and he’s obviously interested, or he’d never have had the file pulled. Now you have a back story, try and remember it!” Byford said.

“Yeh, yeh. 12 months undercover, got a bird pregnant who was part of the target group, defected to my undercover life, got found out by my police handlers and kicked out of the force,” Frost recounted rapidly to show he’d memorised it well.

“Good, but keep it simple. They’ll believe it; heck, David will want to believe it,” Byford said.

“No worries, mate, I wouldn’t be the first undercover copper to go native, happens all the time. I’ll just wait for the call.”

∞

“Wolf, hey it’s me,” David said over the phone. “How do you feel about Frost?” he asked, without any further preamble.

“I have no idea, David,” Wolf said flatly.

“You have time for breakfast? Let’s meet up at the Café on Bridge St., in half an hour?” David asked.

Wolf was about to protest, but being used to David’s ways he thought better of it. Also, he was suddenly intrigued by David’s interest in Frost.

“Sure, I’ll see you there in 30 minutes,” Wolf replied.

He grabbed his coat, headed out the door and set off walking to the café.

David was already there when Wolf arrived, sitting in a corner enjoying a full English breakfast and a steaming cup of tea.

Just like him not to bother waiting or offer to buy for you, even if you thought he’d invited you.

Wolf walked up to David.

“Hey, mate, let me just order something to eat… be with you in a minute,” he said, walking past David and heading to the counter to order.

The man taking orders was a living cliché. White T-shirt stained with grease, overweight and with barely acceptable hygiene. Some would consider it a guarantee of a good greasy-spoon breakfast, enjoyable if you didn’t overthink the health risks. Fortunately, Wolf wasn’t one to do that.

“Full English, extra fried bread and cup of tea, please.”

The man took the order, gave Wolf his change and swiftly followed it up with the tea. Wolf picked up the cup, walked over to David and set himself down in a chair opposite him.

“So, what’s this about then?” he asked.

David came right out and said what was on his mind.

“I got the Frost’s number from Nick, last night at the house. I was thinking of calling him and seeing if he was interested in joining us.”

“Well, you know Mary introduced him to you at the march back in May, right?” Wolf asked.

“Did she? I don’t remember that at all,” David replied.

“Not important I guess, we’re a big crowd, bound to bump into some of the same faces. I thought he was a buyer or someone you’d rallied with before,” Wolf said.

“God, maybe. So many faces come and go I don’t pay attention to half of them,” David replied, looking slightly distant as if trying to remember the event of first meeting Frost.

Truth was he dealt puff and charlie to so many people he only bothered remembering who was who when they were buying. He didn’t remember Frost so he mustn’t have been buying, David concluded in his mind.

“Besides he’s obviously in the activist community and knows Mary in passing; what the hell is so interesting about him that you drag me here to discuss it? What do you want from him, David?” Wolf asked, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.

“I’m in shit, mate,” David said. “When I got arrested I thought I was done for, but someone paid me a visit and got me out of there. However, she’s going to want something in return.”

“What the hell! You can’t do anything, it’s bad enough you went back to selling stuff. If you don’t keep your nose clean you know what happens. Just tell her no! Do you even know anything about Frost?” Wolf asked.

“I can’t just tell her no! As for Frost, it seems he’s a bit of an action man. Seemingly ex-military or police according to my sources.” David made a point of adding the last part about sources for extra effect; he felt it never hurt to imply you had people in high places.

“What? If he’s ex-forces or police isn’t that a risk, how would that help us?” Wolf asked.

“Good question.”

The waitress came over with Wolf’s breakfast.

“Wow, you are the hungry wolf this morning, aren’t you,” David quipped.

Wolf started into his breakfast without a word, giving David some space to answer the real question.

“The most important thing is he’ll know how they work, he’ll know their tactics. Just like the other day at the demonstration. It looked to me like he knew when they were going to use the tear gas and when they were going to storm out of the lines at us,” David said.

“You’ve still not answered my question,” Wolf said.

“He does it, whatever it is Lauren wants. Then if things go wrong, my nose is clean,” David said, stating plainly what he was thinking.

“Right, now I’m with you. Well, he isn’t afraid of action, that’s for certain. I guess someone like that could help keep us safe when we’re out, give us a little guidance in the field,” Wolf said, between bites of food and large slurps of tea.

David watched him talk and eat in mild amazement.

“Remind me to ask why they call you Wolf at some point; oh, actually…” he said, tucking into his own food.

The two men carried on eating in silence for a few minutes.

“To play devil’s advocate, have we thought about why he may be a shill for the police? Let’s eliminate why we’re sure he’s not a plant by them or someone else for that matter,” Wolf said.

David thought about it for a while, running scenarios around in his mind, but it didn’t make sense.

“I have someone on the inside in the police, pretty senior, he thinks the guy’s records are legit.”

“You have a copper in your pocket, man are you kidding me? That’s the first time you told me that!” Wolf said, sounding genuinely surprised.

“Yeh, a little guardian angel for us and the business, but I’m not sure he’s the one in the pocket.”

“So, assuming this insider of yours has something going on with you” — Wolf held up his hands for effect — “and I don’t want to know what, we can assume he’d do his due diligence. So… we should bring him on board.”

It took David a moment to realise what Wolf had just said.

“Exactly, but I wanted to make sure it seemed right. You don’t have any concerns? I thought you’d be more cautious.”

“Yeh, I’m concerned, but you need cover or all of us are in trouble! Also, if you had him checked out that’s something else again. So yeh, bring him in and see what he’s like. In any event, you can use him for this special job you have to do and keep him out of everything else.” Wolf said.

While they finished their food the two men spent the next half hour in idle chatter about the recent demonstration, ideas for the group and general man talk.

“OK, Wolf, I’ll give him a call this afternoon,” David said as they both stood to leave.

“Cool, let me know how it goes,” Wolf replied as he pulled on his coat.

He gave David a pat on the arm, a gesture of reassurance, then headed off.

Alone now, David’s thoughts turned to what he’d say to Frost.

He pulled out his wallet and retrieved the piece of paper with Frost’s number on it.

Looking at it for a brief moment he recalled Frost’s face but gained no inspiration as to what to say.

Jesus, relax! he told himself, realising he was practically obsessing about getting Frost on board, fearful of what was coming next from Lauren. It seemed Frost would be just the kind of guy he might need, especially if she came up with something tricky for them to do.

He looked around as if expecting her to appear at any moment. The thought of her saying she’d find him when needed made him feel like he was being watched.

David walked away from the café and headed to a gravel-covered surface car park across the street. It was away from the road and offered a place to talk without being overheard. Not that he knew of anyone who might be listening in, but a little healthy paranoia never hurt.

Instantly, Lauren’s face came to mind again, as if to suggest to him that someone was listening.

At the car park, he pulled out the piece of paper again, dialed the number and took a deep breath. The phone rang a few times, and then Frost answered.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Frost, it’s David. The guy from the demo the other day,” David said in his friendliest tone.

“You’ve lost me, I met a few people that day,” Frost replied.

“Canister-throwing guy, or arrested-and-taken-away guy, depends what you find most memorable.”

“Ahh, that guy! Sorry about that, mate, I didn’t expect them to single you out like that, you weren’t the only one throwing stuff at them,” Frost said.

“No problem, it was all fun… well, except for the bruising,” David replied, trying to keep the tone light. “Listen, what are you up to today? I was wondering if we could meet up.”

“This afternoon maybe, what did you want to talk about?” Frost asked.

“Well, I’d rather talk face to face.”

“Sure, but I like to know what I’m letting myself in for. Not being funny, mate, but I’m guessing this isn’t a casual tea and biscuits you want to meet for,” Frost said.

David thought for a moment, looked around and saw no one so decided to risk a bit of information.

“That’s all right, understandable,” he said. “Listen, after I was arrested I was released almost straight away in the morning. I had a special visitor who sorted things out and said she’d be in touch in a few days. A little help for a little help and all that.”

“OK, mysterious. So how can I help?” Frost asked.

“I’m figuring you like to be involved in exciting events like the other day, and I’m guessing she’ll be wanting to get our help with something. Something other than walking around the streets shouting at the police. A little bird tells me you’re quite capable in your own way, so I figured you might be interested in using your talents,” David said.

“Very resourceful of you. Yeh, I might be interested but I don’t work for free and I don’t camp outside research labs with pictures of sliced-up bunny rabbits. There’s bigger fish to fry, you know what I mean?”

“Hey, I hear you, neither do I. I’m of a mind that if we’re going to do this we should be looking to get the message across in a bigger way too. As I said, I suspect she won’t want us just waving placards around, so this could be the bigger game.”

“All right then, sounds like you need my help. You know the Arlington bus station? There’s a bar, the Black Horse, opposite. Let’s meet at 3pm today,” Frost said.

“I know the station, I’ll find the pub,” David replied.

“OK, see you later.”

David pulled the phone away from his ear, checked the display and made sure the call was ended.

Frost took off his headphones, reached over to his laptop and stopped the recording.

“You never know what might be handy,” he said to himself, saving the file to a folder named ‘Project X.’

It was a habit Frost had developed to make sure there was enough dirt stored away on the people and projects he got involved in, just in case. That way, if anything went wrong, Hannover couldn’t hang him out to dry. Not likely to happen, he’d often thought; but after all, he was just a foot soldier, not a high-ranking member pulling the strings. Insurance was always wise to keep.

Frost picked up the headset again and dialed another number.

“Hey, buddy,” came the reply when Byford answered.

“Now then, mate, guess who just rang?” Frost said.

“Are you on the laptop?”

“Yes, of course, all safe and encrypted on our James Bond spy equipment,” Frost said, making the usual joking references often used by Hannover operatives. Byford ignored it.

“So, what did he have to say for himself, then?” Byford asked.

“Not much, wants to meet this afternoon and go through stuff. Spilled the beans about Lauren though, he’s itching to get into some new action by the sound of it,” Frost said.

“She used her real name?”

“Well, he never said her name, but we all know who the Handler’s favourite girl is,” Frost replied.

“OK, you meet with him this afternoon and let him schmooze you into joining. I’m heading up to meet the new team tonight, so I will contact you in the next few days to see how you’re doing,” Byford said. “But remember, stay low and stay out of Lauren’s way too, assuming it is her. Oh, and no comms off the net, we can’t risk anyone picking up on anything.”

“Sure thing, I’ll be his new best friend in no time and let you know what more I learn about Mary. I just hope the timing of all this is good. When’s D-Day at your end?” Frost asked.

“Two weeks and counting, so we need our game plan set up by mid-week next week,” Byford said.

“Right, mate, that’s not long but I’ll see what I can do. Talk later.”

“Thanks, Frost, take care,” Byford said and hung up the phone.

Frost clicked ‘end’ on the call software and saved the file.