Broken | Lucas North - Spooks/MI5 Story [Featured]

Chapter 31

Harry excused himself abruptly, shutting the door behind him securely as he faced Jools, who had been heading for his office.  “What are you doing here, Jools?”  He asked curtly.  “Isn’t it a bit late for you to be out and about?”

“Two thirty in the morning,” Jools said.  “Nothing’s too early when I hear that you’ve been able to secure your god daughter back.  Is Lucas North back from Russia?”

Harry frowned.  “Now why would you want to know that?  Last time I looked, North worked for Five, not Six.”

Jools raised an eyebrow.  “As long as North stays out of my agents’ way in Moscow, we will both work together just fine, Harry.  But for now, I need to talk to Alexa.”

Harry found himself blocking the door to his office.  “And why do you want to speak to her, Jools?”

“Mikhael Lubienko is a dangerous man, Harry,” Jools replied.  “I want to know what she knows before she forgets the facts.  You know how some prisoners develop a soft spot for their captors.  Besides, he’s been on our watch list for some time now and he’s responsible for the deaths of three of my men in Moscow.”

“Tonight is not the time for any debriefing, Jools,” Harry said.  “I want Lubienko as bad as you do, but we need to give her some time.  I won’t allow having her subjected to anything drastic tonight.  The poor girl needs to rest.”

Harry turned to look at Alexa through the glass wall of his office. She was facing away from the door, his coat still engulfing her as she sat before the computer.  Her head was bowed low, as if she were looking at something on her lap.

Jools took a step back, his chin held high.  Jools wasn’t used to being refused any of his commands, but he was also inside MI5.  He wasn’t ruling his own roost across the Thames at Vauxhall Cross.

“The doctor will be coming to pick her up shortly,” Jools said as Harry stared at him, surprised.  “This is protocol, Harry.  She needs to be debriefed, and medically examined.”

“For what?  She’s a victim, for God’s sake, not an enemy combatant, Jools.  She needs to be afforded some rest and privacy.”

Jools scoffed.  “Just because she’s your god daughter does not make her exempt from protocol, Harry.  She still needs to go through debriefing and the medical check up is necessary to make sure that she’s okay, that she’s not bringing some disease from god knows --”

“Oh, shut up, Jools,” Harry snapped.  “Now if you’ll be so kind as to wait outside and I will let you know when she is ready.”

Harry leaned back against his chair, inhaling deeply as he did so.  He hadn’t entered his office right then, he remembered now.  He had waited till Jools skulked out of the office, the arrogant man throwing him a look right before turning the corner.  

Harry had then gone to Malcolm’s desk to check out something he was reviewing on his computer.  How long Harry had allowed Alexa to be in his office alone he couldn’t remember, but it couldn’t have been more than twenty minutes.

Ros entered his office and sat down in front of him.  She was holding the envelope that had been couriered to him a few nights earlier and as Harry watched her, she pulled out a photograph and handed it to him.

“What is Nephthys?”

Harry looked at the photograph of Alexa and Lucas, her naked back to the camera and for a moment, Harry looked away.  But there was something that made him look again.  He peered at the photograph, focusing on the tattoo on Alexa’s back.  He’d never noticed it before, he thought.  But then Harry did not make it a habit to stare at the naked body of a woman who could be his daughter.