Double Bond

Chapter Five

“Another Bond, eh?” M’s voice was faintly irritated. “And the same introduction. Oh dear.” James was smirking slightly, but Rosie’s face was deadpan. M leant forward over his desk, resting his chin on his hand.

“What about parents? Any siblings?” Rosie’s face remained blank, her hand balling into a fist on top of her stomach.

“Does it hurt?” M nodded towards her stomach. Her hand clenched tighter, but she nodded. M raised his eyebrows slightly.

“I’m not surprised. We cut you open, and found the bomb. Our technician told us that it’s got attachments: camera contact lenses, a microphone chip in your ear, and a radio transmitter. It gave me an idea. We placed a similar device inside you. So, you see, you answer our questions, or they’ll be consequences.

It was a good job Rosie wasn’t concentrating on James. His mouth had fallen open at M’s words, an unexplained shock running through his body. He couldn’t understand why he was feeling this way. Yes, he was usually attracted to women, but this was different, this felt more real. And the more he watched her, the more he was sure he had seen her face somewhere before.

Rosie’s cheeks had flushed, and her nostrils had flared. She glowered at M, giving him a withering look that James knew so well. He had, after all, been on the receiving end of it often enough, whenever Emma had been annoyed with him. Without breaking her gaze, Rosie began fiddling with her bra. M raised his eyebrows.

“Planning on seducing the three of us? Bond’s your best bet.” Her eyes flickered towards James for a second.

“Isn’t this sexual harassment, or something?” Rosie asked. “One woman left alone in a room with three men? If anyone ever heard about this…” Her eyes were challenging, but M looked unconcerned.

“No-one will ever hear of this,” he told her. “And, even if they did, they wouldn’t care. We’re MI6, and to get information out of people, we are allowed to do anything.” His voice held a threatening tone.

Rosie had frozen, her hand clenched around something she had pulled out of her bra. He face was expressionless, her eyes unreadable, though James thought he could see something resembling terror in them. For a few minutes, nobody moved. Finally, Rosie’s fist unclenched, her arm straightened, and she lay her hand, palm upwards, on M’s desk. A $1 casino chip way resting in the centre of her palm.

James frowned at it. The chip wasn’t right, it was slightly too thick, too shiny. In fact, it looked a lot like…

“Shit!” The word was out of James’ mouth before he could stop himself. For once, M didn’t admonish him. He had realised, at roughly the same time as James, exactly what the chip was, and was opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish. Rosie withdrew her hand, placing both of them in her lap. She watched M as he struggled to regain his composure.

Tanner had moved forwards, and was holding his hand out under Rosie’s nose. She looked at it for a few seconds, one corner of her mouth lifting in a slight smile. She shook her head gently.

“Oh no. If I give it to you, what’s to stop POHK blowing me up? They know I’ve got it, and they’d rather destroy the chip than let you get it. The only reason I’m still alive is that it’ll take an extreme length of time to re-do all the information on it. And what’s to stop you having me shot after I hand this over to you? Everything you’d ever want to know about POHK is on here.”

M had calmed down again. He had a strange look on his face as he stared at Rosie.

“You have got a very good point there. You’re lucky we’re not particularly keen on torture here, otherwise I’d force you to hand it over. However, I’ll let you keep it, for now. Who’d have thought that a one dollar chip could mean the difference between life and death?” Rosie smiled softly again. M sighed gently, before beginning his questions.

“Now, how did you get mixed up with POHK?” Rosie paused for a few minutes, choosing her words carefully. She had never been particularly good at talking about herself, or her feelings, and she wasn’t about to change her ways now.

“I was living with my uncle in York. I didn’t get on well with him. When I was eighteen, I changed my name and ran away. I got on the train to London, and boarded the first plane from Heathrow: to Hong Kong.”

“That’s how you got to Hong Kong. How did you get into POHK?”

She shifted in her seat uncomfortably, her face unhappy.

“I… met some people.”

“What people?” Rosie swallowed, her hands twisting in her lap. Her eyes began to dart around the room.

“What people?” M repeated angrily, but Rosie still refused to answer. M breathed out heavily through his nose.

“Alright. We’ll try some easier questions. You annoyed someone at POHK, yes? That’s why they put the bomb inside you?” Rosie nodded. “See? It’s not so difficult to answer questions after all, is it?” M’s voice was mocking, causing Rosie’s eyes to tighten. M ignored this, continuing with his questions.

“What did you do to irritate them?” Rosie took a deep breath.

“I wanted to get away, get back to London, find out if any of my family was still alive.” M gave a satisfied sigh.

“Family. We’re back to my original question. Siblings? Parents?”

“I’m an only child, so far as I know. My mother should still be alive. Her name is Lilyanne Bond. My father…” Rosie’s voice caught in her throat, and she gave a small gulp.

“My father died when I was two. He was fighting in the Sierra Leone Civil War. His name was Oliver Bond.”

James chuckled under his breath. No wonder she had seemed so uncomfortable about sleeping with him. It must have felt like she was having sex with her father. M was still asking questions.

“Why did you steal the chip?” Rosie said nothing. M gave her his most penetrative stare, but she remained silent. M’s face was brick red, and he began to drum his fingers on his desk.

“Take her back to her cell, Tanner. She is not to be fed until she begins to talk.” Tanner hurried forwards, pulling Rosie roughly to her feet. He twisted her arms behind her back, slipping a pair of handcuffs onto her wrists.

“Move!” Tanner barked, nudging Rosie in the back with his gun, but Rosie didn’t move. She was staring at M, her face indecisive. She wriggled her nose a couple of times, and seemed to reach a decision.

“My full name is Rosaline Magnolia Lorelai Bond.”