Chapter 9
Samantha was sat at her desk for the evening reading through Julia Langdale's, previously Reynolds, records after she had glimpsed her in the elevator where Sam worked.
She found herself oddly pulled in by Julia's story. Joining the military as soon as she could, Julia reached as far as she could by enrolling in the Marines.
Sam had been an Army girl herself before she was discharged and head hunted by the intelligence service for her skills, but she recognised something of the same thing in Julia.
Reading through her hospital reports, Sam wasn't sure what to feel when the phone on her desk rang, knocking her out of her reverie.
Snatching the phone from the cradle she pressed it to her ear, "Samantha McAndrew."
"Sam, its Michael," The voice on the other end answered.
Sam turned away from the screen and stared at the wall in front of her, she had been waiting for him to call. "Have you got something for me?"
"Not yet but I think I've found something interesting on that man you asked me to track down. Carlos Ramirez?"
"What have you found?"
"We requested his financial documents," Michael said and Samantha could hear him typing in the background.
"And?" Samantha asked impatiently, her fingers clutching the edge of her desk.
"Well they came through ten minutes ago and he purchased a one-way ticket to Mexico."
Sam was already on her feet, not caring what it means, "When does it leave?"
"It departs from Heathrow in an hour. Flight TMC 4538."
"Thanks." Sam muttered as she wrote the number on a slip of paper, "I've gotta go."
"When you've finished catching the bad guys you can take me for a drink to thank me."
His request jolted Samantha for a moment, "Um, yeah, maybe."
Slamming the phone down into the cradle, Samantha grabbed her jacket off the back chair and ran out of her office.
"Jonathon!?" Samantha screamed as she hurried into the hallway, shoving her arms into her jacket as she did so.
A door opened just ahead of her and she saw Jonathon's head poke out, "Boss?"
"Ramirez is running! Ring the airline and get that flight to stand down!" Sam shoved the piece of paper into his chest as she passed him.
"What do I tell them!?" Jonathon called after her.
Samantha was already running for the elevator, "Tell them it's about national security! I'll be there as soon as I can!"
Slipping into the elevator as the doors began to shut Samantha collided with another woman who dropped a stack of papers and held the button for the basement.
"I'm sorry!" Samantha called back as the elevator doors opened but she had more to worry about than some dirtied papers.
Fumbling for the keys in her pocket, Samantha unlocked a black Range Rover and jumped into the driver's seat. Slamming the door behind her, she started the engine and roared out from the underground car park, emerging onto a busy main street.
She was aware of car horns blaring and headlights flashing behind her as she skidded out onto the road, but she simply put it into the next gear and sped off.
Why was Ramirez running?
Samantha couldn't think about that right now. She hadn't wanted to blow her cover like this but if he was leaving then he must know that they were following him, and if he was running then it meant he had something to hide.
Samantha needed to know what that was.
Swerving around a car that broke suddenly, Samantha clocked the lights turning to amber up ahead and the cars in front of her that were blocking both lanes.
She couldn't afford to be caught in the late night traffic jam.
Putting her foot down, Samantha moved over to the right and sped up the wrong side of the road.
Driving through the lights just after they turned red, Samantha flew across the junction and back onto the left side of traffic.
Not for the first time, Samantha really wished they could have sirens fitted to the cars.
As she headed up the slip road to the M4 motorway, Samantha steadied the car out at eighty miles per hour in the right lane and turned to the dashboard beside her.
Tapping in Jonathon's number, Samantha pressed dial.
"Hello? Sam?" Jonathon answered.
"Have you got that plane stopped yet!?" Samantha asked, blaring her horn at someone in front of her only doing sixty miles per hour in the fast lane.
The car indicated over and Samantha continued on past.
"I can't get through to the airline! Their phone lines are down for maintenance."
"Oh for-" Samantha hit the steering wheel, stopping herself from swearing, "Okay, well get onto the Heathrow security and see what they can do. Tell them I'm thirty minutes out."
"You go it boss," Jonathon ended the phone call whilst Samantha pushed the car to its limits.
Traffic was light for London and Samantha finally thought she was going to catch a break as she made it to Heathrow in a record twenty minutes from the centre of London.
Flashing her badge to security, Samantha ran through check-in and towards the gate. Looking out of the floor-to-ceiling window on her left, she saw that the plane was being pushed back onto the runway and she nearly crashed into the desk.
"Stop that flight now!" Samantha demanded.
"I'm afraid we cannot do that ma'am," A woman in a red cap replied, "But I would be happy to help get you moved onto another flight-"
"I'm not a passenger!" Samantha slapped her badge down on the desk for her to see, "There is a fugitive on that plane and I need you to stop it!"
"Let me call my supervisor," The girl stuttered.
"Yeah, yeah, you call your supervisor," Samantha ran a hand through her hair and stared at the plane through the window. Was he on there looking at her right now? Was he laughing?
"Is there a problem here ma'am?" An authoritive voice asked from behind.
Samantha turned and flashed her badge for the tenth time, "You have my suspect on your plane about to leave for Mexico. I need it stopped."
A middle aged man with a bald head did not look pleased, "I'm afraid that that is impossible, ma'am. However, if you give me the details I can get in contact with La Paz Airport and have them detain the passenger for you."
Samantha cursed under her breath before she turned the diplomatic side of her brain on.
"Thank you but that's already being done." Samantha took her badge back and began to leave the gate, her eyes watching the plane as it roared down the runaway and lifted off the ground.
Removing her phone, Sam called Jonathon again.
"Did you get him?"
"No," Samantha sighed with frustration, "Get onto La Paz Airport and send them his details and photo. I want him detained as soon as he steps off that flight."
"You got it," Jonathon replied, "Hey, boss, I was thinking, if Ramirez knew we were following him then why-"
"-Why did he buy the ticket on his card when he knew we would track it?" Samantha finished for him, "Yes, the question had occurred to me too. He probably panicked." Although that didn't seem to sit right with Samantha either.
"Just get onto La Paz. I'll be back at the office soon." She finished.
"Okay." Jonathon replied and Samantha ended the phone call. Frowning at the plane, only the lights on its wings visible in the dark sky, Samantha couldn't help but think that something didn't feel right.
* * *
Carlos removed himself from the others and slipped around a corner, his phone silently ringing in his hand.
"Did you do it?" Commander Strong asked the moment Carlos answered the call.
"Yes, it's done. MI5 thinks I'm on my way to Mexico right at this moment. We're outside the base now."
"I don't want to know where you are. The less I know the better."
"Of course," Carlos muttered, chastising himself for saying it.
There was a moment of silence where Carlos thought that Strong could probably hear his raging heart.
"Sir, are you sure we can't-" The question was on the tip of his tongue.
Are you sure we can't tell Jules?
"We've spoke about this," Strong reaffirmed Carlos's confidence that this was the right thing to do, "We need Julia's full attention on the mission at hand, if she knew that MI5 were investigating her it will draw her focus from the mission."
Carlos knew he was right.
"The lives of twenty six children and others depend on it," Strong told him.
"Yes, sir," Carlos felt his resolve strengthening, "I should go. They'll be looking for me soon."
"Okay, radio silence. And Ramirez?" Strong's voice changed as he said his name.
It sent a strange tingling sensation down his spine.
"Sir?"
"Good luck," Strong said and the phone went dead.
A/N: Sorry, it's such a short chapter. I promise to upload a longer one next time. Thanks for reading.