Costa Crew: One More Shot

Chapter 6 - The Safehouse

The safehouse wasn't bad, all things considered. It reminded Becky of the holiday homes she used to stay in when she was a kid. The living room, dining room and kitchen had sort of been rolled into one, but that was exactly what MI5 needed. The three spare rooms were all used for work.

One was the centre of all their operations. It included pin boards, computers, filing cabinets - it was essentially a compact police station. The second room was where Charlotte would be spending most of her time. Soon it would contain blueprints of every significant building in the case, and may even resemble a cabinet war room.

Finally was Becky's home away from home. She had already set up listening devices for the bugs Hannah was going to plant during her mission and was in the process of setting up a network where she would be able to connect to any significant phones and either listen to or intercept calls. After that she had to set up three MI5 computers, the hardest to hack in Britain. They would be used to access the data of any suspects as well as company data and security cameras.

To avoid any visits from landlords, the house was owned by MI5, and was a nice place to live. The only downside was that Becky had to share a room with Charlotte, something which would have pleased them both in the past, but Charlotte had made her attitude towards Becky very clear. The solution, as usual, was to keep busy.

By the time Ted arrived all of Becky's equipment was ready. "Stopped off and got pizza on the way," he said, holding up the boxes. "You still like pepperoni, right?"

Becky grinned. "Still a legend, I see."

The mood over dinner wasn't as bad as Costa. Pizza did have that effect on them. "How's Bruce?" Becky asked eventually.

"He's great," replied Ted. "Really great. I just hope there's some way for me to see him during the mission."

Becky sighed. "Goodman doesn't think like that. I'll try and talk him round, I really will. But he's just as paranoid as the Godfather."

Ted shook his head. "It's not your fault. It sucks that you ditched us without explaining, but you didn't make the MI5 rules and you didn't make this mission up."

Becky forced a smile. "I will try though. It's the least I can do."

"The least you can do is tell us what you know about Hannah," said Ted, his expression turning cold all of a sudden.

Becky shook her head. "Legally I can't. You know I can't," she said, while handing over an envelope. "Here, for the pizza."

Ted opened the envelope, puzzled. Inside was a ten pound note and a scrap of paper with a message written on it. THE CINNAMON ROLL'S OKAY. DON'T TELL THE BOSS.

Ted looked up, but Becky was already gone. He smiled and pocketed the note. He had missed them both, Becky and Hannah. The robot and the cinnamon roll.

Paul was next to arrive. He hadn't come with pizza, but with a crate full of pringles and Oreos. "Got the scran," he said while Ted and Becky helped carry his bags in.

"Once again I see not much has changed," said Becky with a smile. "Here's your change from Costa."

She handed Paul the same note among a bunch of coins. A single tear came to his eye, but he brushed it away. "Thanks," he said before going into his and Ted's room.

"You realise we're both still mad at you," said Ted. "Needless to say Charlotte will be too. But I wouldn't worry about Paul, one day working on this case and you'll be bouncing ideas back and forth, too fast for any of us to keep up."

"And what about you?" asked Becky, staring at the door Paul had just closed. "What do you think of me?"

Ted sighed. "What you did to us was wrong. You should have contacted us to let us know you were okay. But I understand why you did it. While I can't say I agree with it, the country needs people like you, and I really did miss you. So I guess we'll just see what happens."