dream on by sue douglas

8/11/2019 Dream On by Sue Douglas

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Sue Douglas is a full time author who lives on the west

coast of Scotland. She enjoys comedy shows and

listening to rock music when not writing.Dream On is

her seventh novel and currently she is working on her

ninth.


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Other books by Sue Douglas:

One Kiss and I am Yours Once Again

Me Time

Say You Will Wait For Me

The Chosen Path

Wrong World, Wrong Life

The Waterwomans Gift


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To Michael


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Sue D ouglas

D R E M O N


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Copyright Sue Douglas (2014)

The right of Sue Douglas to be identified as author of this work

has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of

the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may bereproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any

form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the

publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to thispublication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims

for damages.

All characters in this publication are fictitious and any

resemblance to real persons living or dead is purely

coincidental

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the BritishLibrary.

ISBN 978 184963 610 0

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2014)

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5LB

Printed and bound in Great Britain


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Acknowledgments

Thanks for the continued support from everyone at AustinMacauley.


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Chapter One

Krista

Thirty five seemed far too young to be retired, yet manycareers were difficult or virtually impossible to continue

beyond a certain age, and Krista had already completed five

years beyond what had originally been expected of her. The

news of her imminent departure, imparted by her unemotionalboss, was not unexpected and yet it still came as something of

a shock as she sat in the huge, oak-panelled office she knew sowell. She was fit, healthy and enthusiastically dedicated to the

job she excelled at; a job which gave her a stress-free, albeitsolitary, lifestyle where the monotonous or mundane tasks in

life were taken care of for her, as were any household costs she

incurred.As Krista was informed of what would be put into place

regarding her future accommodation, transport and severanceconditions, her first thoughts were those of being responsible

for paying her own bills, shopping, cooking and generally

organising her life. She felt certain they were tasks she was notgoing to enjoy and wondered if she ought to attend a course on

day to day living before she was cast adrift into the unfamiliar

world which the majority of working people seemed able tocope with, even if the remainder only managed to muddle

through at times.Trying to ignore the spectacular view of London from the

large window behind her boss, Krista solemnly regarded the

man known only as Major Arlington, The Major, or in somecircles, Major Disaster. The epithet was not used as a criticism

of the man in any way; he was extremely efficient, admired byeveryone who worked with him and well suited to his position,

but habitually ended his instructions with a warning that if the

operation he had detailed were to fail, it would be a majordisaster for one reason or another. Edward Arlington, no more


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an actual major than the tea lady, looked older than his true ageof sixty one but Krista had always believed he must have been

a handsome young man with his abundant fair hair and tall,athletic figure.

She attempted to gauge The Majors mood over the

decision to end her career, a decision which would have beenmade by him alone, but infuriatingly, the man had always been

impossible to read; his accent and speech pattern were

permanently bland while his expression never altered fromserious. She continued to nod her acceptance of the situation as

he readily admitted she was still capable of executing her

duties. This was an unfortunate, though wholly appropriate,phrase given her profession. He acknowledged how

dependable she had been in her particular field but explainedhow he felt the time had come for her to return to a normal life,

having dedicated so many years to the safety and security ofothers. The pension she would be paid monthly, in addition to

the huge lump sum of five times her annual salary, was

certainly generous, but it came with strict conditions. She was

reminded of how, once retired, she would be unable to workfor any other organisation or employer, even in a charitable or

advisory position. Paperwork, The Major assured her, detailinga fictitious record of her life and employment, would be

available if ever required but most people leaving the servicehad little cause to request them, given the substantial pension

and continuing perks from the job.

Krista assumed there were younger men and women readyto take on her contracts but, while envying them in some ways,

the longer she mulled over the idea of renting a cottage orbungalow miles away from London, the more she saw

positives in attaining a degree of normality. Major Arlington

was explaining how she would be at liberty to return to heroriginal name or choose a completely new identity for the fully

documented history she would be issued with and, providing

she kept within the accompanying instructions, she would thenbe at liberty to lead a conventional life for the very first time in

her adult life.


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Not that she had been aware of it at the time but she hadbeen highly recommended as an ideal candidate when she

attended her first interview at the unremarkable, government-owned building. She had been twenty one years old, studious,

but full of the self-confidence instilled in her by Eleanor

Lewis, the ageing headmistress of Carne Valley BoardingSchool for Girls. The private school, situated in a beautiful part

of Wales, had been her home for as long as she could

remember and having the dubious honour of being the onlyboarder without parents or family members, spent both term

time and holidays within the confines of what had at one time

been an extremely large family house, miles from anywhere.She had not been unhappy at the school, far from it, but could

still recall the exasperation of her career mistress when sheexpressed no desire to further her education beyond the science

and technology A Levels she chose to study. Unsuccessfullyattempting to steer her towards a career involving physics or

computer studies, the science mistress had sighed even louder

when told of Kristas ambition to become a professional

athlete instead.Kristas refusal to conform marked her as headstrong, a

characteristic appreciated by the elderly and somewhateccentric Eleanor Lewis. The much admired, chain-smoking,

headmistress who was not averse to swearing at girls whomisbehavedmarched through the school wearing tweed suits,

lace-up brogues and thick stockings but was loved by most of

the pupils for making school a pleasurable experience.Approaching sixty five, but with no intention of retiring, the

still-slim Eleanor wore her grey hair in a plait and appliedbright red lipstick at regular intervals throughout the day. Her

unorthodox behaviour, however, seemed to inspire even the

less academic girls to achieve their full potential, whichsatisfied their parents and enhanced the schools reputation

considerably.

Though unconventionally relaxed in many ways, theheadmistress demanded respect from pupils and teachers alike

as she ran the school along military lines, refusing to adapt toany new ideas or education department directives she thought


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faddy. It was generally believed by the older girls that Eleanorhad a bottle of Scotch secreted in her desk drawer, in addition

to cigarettes, crisps and chocolate. Complicated plans werefrequently hatched to raid the stash but not even one of the

brave, mischievous, or overconfident pupils had found enough

courage to so much as verify the existence of such a temptingstockpile.

Miss Lewiss fondness for physical fitness and mental

agility was no doubt what had first inspired Krista. While otherboarders returned home for weekends, or end of term holidays,

she and many of the pupils with absent or overseas parents,

had taken full advantage of the excellent extra-curricularfacilities available. All of the girls who stayed behind kept

themselves to themselves, and all but one went on to excel attheir chosen career. The one girl who failed to make the

academic grade she had hoped for still managed to becomeextremely wealthy, however, by marrying and later divorcing

an American businessman she met on a skiing holiday.

Kristas aspirations, however, should have come as no

surprise to anyone. During the holidays, or the moment lessonsand homework were completed, Krista headed for either the

gymnasium or sports field to practise one of her favouriteevents. While the majority of girls thought up excuses to avoid

sport, Krista signed up for individual coaching in archery,fencing and self-defence. She could not imagine life without

sport and for the first few years at the school there were other

girls who felt the same, taking full advantage of the experttuition.

By the third year of seniors, it was Krista alone whoregularly trained. The others had given up on the activities they

previously enjoyed, most citing exam pressures, whereas the

truth of the matter was they had discovered boys so no longerwished to appear muscular or unfeminine. Surprisingly,

Kristas nearest rival had also seemed less inclined to train

regularly so began to fall far behind and was asked by MissDavies, the games mistress, to explain her lack of form. The

girl had used the age-old excuse of wanting to concentrate onher studies but frankly admitted to Krista that continually


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washing and restyling her hair was damaging it so she intendedto concentrate on less physical pursuits.

While the academic subjects Krista had taken at A Levelhad come easy to her, they had not inspired her to study them

to degree level; she found far more motivation in the

challenges athletics brought. She could run, jump, throw,catch, swim, fence, fire arrows at targets and climb her

proficiency in each speciality well above average, which drove

her even further on. Constantly striving to improve her owntimes or skills, she had trained until she reached what she

imagined to be the peak of her ability and then sought further

coaching.Her sixth form report from the games mistress had hinted

at Olympic medals being a possibility if she were to continueto train; encouraging advice which Krista appreciated and fully

intended to follow. On her CV she listed her interests asfencing, climbing, paint-balling, archery, orienteering and

martial arts, which elicited well-meaning but unheeded

comments from teachers. With the exception of Miss Davies,

she had been advised by her tutors to replace the sportingactivities with more feminine pursuits; advice she ignored.

After all, she would be unable to respond convincingly toquestions concerning the topics of needlework, domestic

science or beauty care.Following excellent A Level results, Krista surprised her

tutors by deciding to continue with her studies by taking a

sport-based degree course, having been advised by MissDavies of the benefits of doing so. Her determination to pursue

a sporting career meant once more having to explain to herscience teacher how she preferred to challenge herself against

a clock, her own records, or another competitor. It seemed so

instinctive to pit herself against opposition that Krista found itdifficult to understand why others did not share her passion.

Challenges were everything to her and she hated to lose.

Arguments revolving around the cost of her education and theshocking waste of her scientific mind fell on deaf ears, with

only Miss Davies openly admitting that Krista Crawshaw hadthe makings of a phenomenal athlete in any of the disciplines


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she enjoyed. In the privacy of the staff room, however, it wasgenerally accepted that success at one of the more popular

sports could bring Krista far greater wealth and fame than bybecoming a scientist no matter how brilliant she was at

physics and chemistry

Having no parents, or even distant relatives, Krista hadknown no other home than the former manor house but, unlike

some of the other students, had been quite content to remain

there for as long as possible. She saw no advantage to living byherself and being forced to cook, clean and shop, in addition to

dealing with all the officialdom required simply to live

somewhere. Despite Eleanor Lewis strict regime, life at theschool was pleasant. Pupils were safe, well fed at regular

intervals, had their own rooms with en-suite facilities, werekept warm and given an excellent education, so there seemed

little to be gained by fledging into the adult world. In fact,Krista had been so content throughout her time at the school

that she had never asked how she came to be a boarder or who

paid her fees. Knowledge of her history would have

undoubtedly led to others wanting to discuss it with her and,having a tendency to be secretive, she had no desire to mull

over something she remembered nothing of. She preferred tospend any free time pushing herself ever further towards the

physical limits of her abilities, lifting heavier weights, runningfaster, aiming straighter or enduring gym apparatus for longer.

After inexplicably being allowed to remain a boarder at the

school until fully completing her degree course at the nearbyuniversity, Krista was called into the headmistress office

where she was offered tea and cake for the first time. Througha haze of slim cigar smoke, Eleanor explained that as she had

graduated she was no longer a student so the interview was

more of a social chat. Asked where she hoped to be living andworking while pursuing her dreams of success on the athletic

field, Krista had been forced to face up to the reality of adult

life. She had always known that her education fees had beenguaranteed and yet she had not once considered requiring an

income after graduating. Following an extremely longdiscussion regarding her prospects, and personal questions


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concerning her ambitions beyond athletics, Eleanor enquiredas to whether Krista would consider the army as a career, the

army providing all the encouragement for her athletic dreamswhile providing a salary and accommodation. They were both

aware, however, that Krista was a loner and unlikely to

respond favourably if asked to work as part of a team.Just as it seemed they had exhausted all possibilities,

Eleanor handed her a job description clipped to a multi-paged

application form. She suggested the position on offer wasideally suited to her and, with a first-class reference from the

school, she would almost certainly be offered an interview. It

would then be entirely up to her to prove herself. Requirementsfor the post were outlined on un-headed paper, giving no clues

as to the type of employment or employer, but Krista reasonedthat if Miss Lewis was encouraging her to apply, it had to be

genuine. What she found even more unusual, however, was thedescription of their preferred candidates. Whoever drafted the

advert had seemingly ignored employment laws by requesting

applications from young women onlywomen in fact just like

her, with identical qualifications and interests. Female, 21-25,single, without family ties to one area, of average build but

above average fitness, willing to move around the country withthe job and work flexible hours without supervision. A clean

driving licence is essential, as is good eyesight and an aptitudefor sport and electronics. The successful applicant will be one

who can demonstrate the ability to remain cool under pressure

while being able to use her own initiative. The work entailsoperating alone but the chosen candidate will be provided with

full back-up if and when required. All accommodation andtransport will be provided, along with full training, an above

average salary, generous expense account and a non-

contributory pension scheme, the benefit of which will beaccessible on retirement.

Krista had been intrigued and asked Eleanor Lewis what

the job entailed. Rather than going into details, theheadmistress simply telephoned a gentleman she called

Edward, arranging an interview time for her in a very business-like fashion. As Krista left Eleanors office, she was wished


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good luck with the interview and given instructions to beherself rather than anything the careers mistress had suggested.

Somewhat bizarrely, Eleanor then added that she should takeswimwear, a tracksuit and trainers with her. Never having

attended a job interview, Krista had no idea what to expect and

assumed it would be held locally, or perhaps even in London,but she was provided with a coach ticket to Stow-on-the-Wold

plus five pound coins for unforeseen expenses. Eleanor

explained that a private car would be waiting close to thecoach stop and a woman by the name of Patricia would drive

her to the secluded country house location being used to

conduct the interview.Amazingly, everything went smoothly and according to

the plan. She found herself being driven up a long, tree-lined,drive towards a beautiful, honey-coloured property which she

later discovered contained conference rooms, a restaurant, full-sized pool and luxury accommodation. The immense country

house also boasted a fully equipped gymnasium plus

marvellous outside athletic facilities, all with the latest hi-tech

equipment. Patricia, a middle-aged woman with short grey haircut into a flattering style, wore a well cut, dark trouser suit

over a dazzling white blouse but, although perfectly pleasant,had said little on the journey, or during the tour of the eerily

empty house. Checking her watch, after roughly twentyminutes, she escorted Krista to an office on the first floor

where only Krista was invited in by a particularly good-

looking man of around forty. He wore casual yet smart clothesand smiled a genuinely warm greeting as he shook her hand.

Please, take a seat and relax. Ive heard a lot about you,Krista, all of it good, I assure you. You are evidently Eleanor

Lewis star pupil, and come highly recommended by her, so

Im not surewhy they want me to formally interview you butlets have some tea brought in and go through the motions by

having a chat anyway; that should keep everyone happy.

Instantly at ease, Krista spoke at length about her interests,capabilities and ambitions. The man, who had at no point

introduced himself, initially appeared uninterested in hersporting abilities, which disappointed her, but having discussed


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her lack of family or close friends, her interest in technologyand academic qualifications, he suddenly returned to her

athletic prowess. Having noticed the tracksuit in her holdall, heasked if she would care to demonstrate her fitness on the field

and in the gym. The moment she agreed, Patricia returned to

the room and guided her to the well designed changing rooms.Following a long afternoon of running, fencing, hurdling,

climbing ropes, swimming and hitting the inner circle several

times on the archery range before proving she had a head forheights by scaling the artificial rock-face, her unnamed

interviewer wrote a lengthy appraisal on his clipboard before

asking if she had fired genuine guns as opposed to the paint-balling weapons she was apparently so accurate with. The idea

of her school or university ever having wanted firearms to beused on the premises seemed rather unlikely to Krista and she

apologised that the opportunity had never arisen, wondering ifher admission of never even handling a gun, other than those

used in paint-balling, was going to prevent her passing

whatever test she was clearly undertaking.

The good-looking man smiled and escorted her towards awell-protected armoury. He signed out a small handgun and

they made their way to the practice range where he describedthe weapon in great detail before demonstrating its capabilities.

In what she thought was a particularly brave action, he handedher the gun, instructed her to load it as he had shown her and

invited her to fire four shots at a newly lowered target. Krista

had wished she had the farming background so many of thegirls in her school had been fortunate enough to possess, so, as

she took aim, she could not help but think of Gwen Williams.Gwen had been one of the schools house captains and had

gone on to agricultural college, in preparation for when she

took over her familys estate. She would have scored a perfectfour out of four in the precise centre of the indicated area.

Encouraged to try for the Great Britain team, after easily

winning several county competitions, Gwen had declined theoffer, saying she would not have the time once she was

running the estate.


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Though far different to the skills required in archery,Krista had shot a crossbow many times so knew how to adapt

her shots in response to the first attempt. Her first attemptmissed the outline of the figure by centimetres but the

following shots inched nearer and nearer to the centre of the

required zone. Saying nothing, her instructor took back thehandgun, checked it was empty and returned it to the armoury

before pointing out other types of weaponry, all securely

locked in special cabinets at the side of the room. Krista hadbeen fascinated by the lethal array of rifles with sights and the

various types of handgun, some of the smallest having the

capability to kill at short range while looking like childrenstoys. She was allowed to handle the weapons and took great

care not to point them anywhere dangerous, even though shewas assured they were empty. Having asked technical

questions about each gun, and enquired as to its primary useand range, she was taken to the otherwise empty restaurant and

invited to choose whichever dish she wanted from the

extensive menu.

After her excellent evening meal, Krista still had no ideawhat job she was being interviewed for, who was offering the

post or what it entailed, but had thoroughly enjoyed her day.She simply hoped she had given correct answers to the

questions which had been continually fired at her as shedemonstrated her fitness and agility. She had not needed to

wait long to find out. Following a drink in the bar she was

informed by the man with no name that the exhaustivequestionnaire she had been given to complete by Miss Lewis

had been marked as favourable. In addition, her responses toquestions he had asked that afternoon especially those

concerning how she would deal with hypothetical situations

were the most imaginative he had heard for some time. As aresult of her day-long assessment he had deemed her suitable

for a position within a unit of similarly qualified, like-minded

men and women, but before he could reveal the nature of thework, she would be obliged to undergo psychological tests to

satisfy his bosses that she possessed the necessary aptitude forwhat would be asked of her. He stressed that she would only


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be told the nature of the post if she passed the tests but thoughtit likely she would enjoy the challenges of the career on offer.

Krista agreed to undergo the tests and was allocated a room onthe top floor for the night. Thinking back over all that had been

said, she deduced the interview had not been designed to fill an

office post or recruit a salesperson. The guns had been theincongruous test and she suspected Miss Lewis military past

had more than a little bearing on her being given the

opportunity to apply for whatever job was on offer.The following days psychological tests confirmed her

suspicions, so she was unsurprised when asked by a panel of

interviewers, sitting behind a leather-topped desk in the vastlibrary, if she would enjoy working for a small government

department concerned with national security. She hadimmediately asked if it was MI5 or MI6 but the good-looking

man, still nameless, shook his head, explaining how theirauthority came directly from number ten, meaning they were

answerable to no one but the PM. He went on to say how this

arrangement meant they were at liberty to complete any task

given to them, by whatever means they saw fit, with no fear ofinterference or arrest. They were necessarily a clandestine

team, their very existence known only to the PM, HomeSecretary, a handful of trustworthy Home Office personnel,

armed forces chiefs and very senior police officers; all ofwhom referred to the department simply as The Unit.

Evidently there were several field operatives working in The

Unit, each having a particular strength they played to, but theteam was a female short and the interviewers all agreed Krista

would be ideal for the post. Krista had needed very little timeto think over whether she wished to join the small, elite band

of operatives and immediately agreed to take the position.

Unlike in tense films, portraying undercover agents orgovernment spies, where operatives were essentially on their

own if arrested, she learnt that should she be taken into

custody, her one permitted call, made to The Unitsoperationsroom, would secure release from any British police station

within minutes. If for any reason this did not happen, she wasassured the department also benefitted from the services of a


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Home Office barrister who dealt solely with governmentissues. Although this barrister was theoretically on twenty-four

hour call for The Units operatives, it was unlikely she wouldever need to physically visit a police station. A call of her own,

to the relevant areas Chief Constable would always suffice

and no record of any operatives arrest or suspectedinvolvement would remain on file.

Once Krista had decided to accept the job offer, she was

obliged to change her unusual name for one which wouldarouse little interest or remain in someones memory.

Choosing to become Jennifer Jones she was furnished with all

the necessary documents to prove it; birth certificate, drivinglicence, educational certificates and medical records. Every

one of her original documents had been taken from her andplaced in The Units safe until the day she retired. She had

never seen her genuine birth certificate; it had been kept at theschool until she required it. As she never had cause to ask for

it, she was unaware of the names or addresses given for her

mother and father, so accepted the story she had been given;

that of being called Krista Crawshaw, given up by her motherand placed in the school by her unknown father. When she first

met The Major, he had instructed her to forget she had everbeen Krista Crawshaw or even visited Wales. He also

suggested she cut her shoulder-length hair to a far shorter style,to facilitate the wearing of wigs in the course of her

assignments, and to wear glasses whenever possible, even

though they would only be plain glass. Having lost the finaltrace of her Welsh accent, she was certain not even the girls

she had known at school would recognise her on days shecarried out work for The Majors Unit.


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When given her seventh assignment, she was amazed tolearn that her male target had been classified by the

government as an undesirable. She was provided with detailsof the man, plus a code name to refer to him by in all

communications. Throughout her years of service, Kristas

targets would always be issued with the name of a type of bird,and in her first assignment to deal with an undesirable the

allocated code name had been Mr Finch. She had been

authorised to despatch the target as soon as safely possible,wherever and however she felt most appropriate. She had felt a

little apprehensive at first but, after reading his file, accepted

that her excellent training had been designed especially to dealwith such people and The Major obviously had faith in her

ability to complete the assignment or she would not have beengiven it. Her fantastic salary and expense account reflected

what was expected of herand it was far more than followingmen to guest houses, driving more experienced operatives to

their assignments, pretending to be someone she wasnt or

placing surveillance equipment in a targets home; all of which

she had so far succeeded in doing without incident.Mr Finch, her first coded target, was a middle-aged man

she felt no compassion for, even before he had made anapproach to her in the bar of the luxury hotel where he was

staying. Dressed in a business suit, and supposedly studyinggraphs on a laptop, she had pretended to be waiting for a

colleague but had pre-programmed a bogus call on her mobile

to give credence to her explanation of having been stood up.Decades older than she was at the time, the man she thought of

only as Mr Finch introduced himself as Dennis and bought hera couple of drinks before inviting her to have dinner with him.

She accepted his offer and ordered a prawn cocktail, followed

by a fish pie concoction, despite her severe allergy to sea-foods. As the starter arrived, Dennis was called away to the

hotel telephone to answer an unexpected call and he urged her

to start her meal as the main course would be arriving shortly.Krista wondered if the call would be from one of his numerous

girlfriends, but uppermost in her mind while listening to his


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clichd chat-up lines had been the reason she was seated at histable, and what was required of her.

Although undesirable targets were given names of animalsor birds rather than their real names throughout an assignment,

most were well-known or serious offenders who had escaped

the justice system by intimidation or the elimination ofwitnesses. Targets given to Krista, and other operatives, had

often been reluctantly released from custody only to re-offend

within days, believing themselves to be above the law. It wasrare she was allowed to know details of any targets offences

but in the case of male perpetrators she was always fully

briefed and warned not to place herself in danger byaccompanying the man to anywhere private.

Dennis had apparently attacked his wife and daughter,having traced them to a womens refuge. By threatening to kill

the wifes sister and her children, he had coerced his terrifiedwife to return home. At the time it happened, before a

welcome change in the law, the police and social services had

been powerless to help when told the wife no longer wished to

bring charges. Merely days afterwards, an ambulance had beencalled to Denniss address. His wife claimed she had attempted

to defend her daughter but in the ensuing fight, Dennis hadbeen stabbed with a kitchen knife. The wound had not been

life-threatening but he nevertheless pressed charges, telling thepolice it was a totally unprovoked attack by his wife. Despite

evidence given by the daughter, supporting the wifes version

of events, Mrs Finch had been found guilty and sent to prison,her daughter being told to return home with her father.

As a lawyer, Dennis had then called on one of his legalchums to represent him when he applied for sole custody and

was granted it on the grounds of his wifes instability. The

daughter ran away twice but no one believed her story of beingabused as she had a history of self-harm. Dennis maintained he

had tried his best but the girl obviously took after her unhinged

mother. Within weeks, another ambulance had been called tothe address when the fourteen-year-old supposedly fell to her

death from the fifth floor window. The first paramedic on thescene was unconvinced by Denniss version of events and


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reported his suspicions to the police. Finally, someone listenedto Denniss wife and the requested autopsy revealed a variety

of unexplained and untreated injuries. When Dennis once morepleaded his innocence, blaming his non-maternal wife for any

assaults on the girl, a female deputy chief constable looked

further into the case and believed the wifes version of events.When Dennis was once more allowed to go free, thanks mainly

to the jury believing his attractive and persuasive female

barrister, the DCC contacted The Major a man she knewfrom experience had extensive and unfettered means of dealing

with such miscarriages of justice.

After four weeks of investigations, there had been noquestion whatsoever that the man had indeed escaped justice

and Krista had been assigned her first elimination. She hadlittle sympathy for the man but had been trained never to allow

her dislike of a person to be obvious or impair her clinicalapproach to the task. Removing such people from society,

when all other channels had failed, was no different in her

mind to putting down a dangerous animal in order to protect

innocent members of the public. The solution was a servicewhich proved to be far less costly than expensive court cases

resulting in, at best, ludicrously short jail terms.By the time Dennis returned, complaining there had been

no one on the line, her prawn salad glass was empty and thewaiter was arriving with the main course. She loaded her fork

and had it almost to her mouth when she saw the hotel

manager at the dining room door once more. Alerting hercompanion to the possibility of his being called back to the

telephone, she waited until he turned his head before deftlywrapping the forkful of fish in her paper napkin and sliding it

onto her lap. Dennis, who had been telling Krista details of his

fictional job in television, swore at the interruption and madehis way to the dining room door but the manager had merely

been attempting to gain the attention of one of the waiters.

Denniss fate, however, had been sealed during his shortabsence from the table, thanks to a condiment not usually

found in kitchens being liberally sprinkled on his rare steak.


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Having secreted the remainder of her fish in the napkinand placed it in her handbag, Krista arranged the knife and

fork on the side of the plate while making certain of her targetswallowing at least one mouthful of the steak. As he did so,

she looked forward to the fresh fruit dessert, the only course

she would actually consume. Enduring further lies concerninghis involvement with recruiting for top shows, Krista was

relieved when Dennis finished his meal. Though beginning to

sweat profusely, he suggested they go somewhere quieter for aliqueur. She had thought at the time that if Dennis was an

example of how men treated their wives, and told such

plausible lies, then she was pleased she would be going homealone to watch a DVD while enjoying a glass of wine and a

microwave curry for one.Offering only a token resistance to his suggestion, she

explained that she had to visit the ladies room first butnonchalantly left not only the dining room but the hotel as

well. She had no reason to wait until the ambulance was called.

Mr Finch, Dennis, or whatever his real name was, would be

dead before he reached the hospital, and even if herphotograph from a CCTV camera or artists impression was

shown on television, no one would be able to identify theslightly overweight woman with long red hair and a plaster

cast on her right arm. CCTV was only useful if anyone wasactually watching the picture and could either identify the

person involved or have them arrested immediately. Her

disguise and fake injury had not only been adopted to preventidentification but to convey a slight insecurity and

vulnerability which would appeal to her target. The wig, castand extra layers of clothing were disposed of the moment she

returned home; the benefits of an open fire were never to be

underestimated.Her first coded assignment had been a success and she was

moved to a newly furnished flat before being given the next

target. By possessing only a few personal items she was able torelocate unaided, as what needed to be taken with her could

easily be transported in a car. Normally there was just her bedlinen, a box of CDs and several DVDs, all of which she played


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on her laptop rather than owning various and cumbersomemedia appliances. She owned a modest amount of personal

clothing and footwear, but wigs, make-up, glasses and workingclothes were obtained as required from The Units stores. Once

used on an assignment these items were either burned

immediately or returned to The Unit for disposal. In her line ofwork, thanks to her build and height, the garments she wore

most often were hooded sweatshirts, baseball caps and

sunglasses as they ensured her ability to pass as anunremarkable, teenage boyoften a wonderful cover.

On her days off, Krista led an uncomplicated life where all

the stresses and strains of normal day-to-day living were takencare of for her. Bills were paid on time, appointments were

made, and whichever flat, mobile home or holiday cottage shewas supposedly renting would have been acquired by a Mr.

Smith, McDonald, OConnor or Khan, depending on thelocation. Also fully taken care of had been her cars, always

unremarkable vehicles but changed regularly. The cars were

usually silver or red entry-level models of popular family

saloons meaning they would blend in wherever they wereparked. The number plates and tax discs on all of The Units

vehicles were registered to a fictitious government departmentbut the police national computer would inform any officer

asking for details that the car and its driver should be allowedto continue without being stopped or questioned for any

reason. No speeding tickets or illegal parking ever resulted in

fines, points on operatives fake licences or towed awayvehicles, but illegal clampers quickly found themselves at the

nearest police station, being questioned for as many hours aslegally possible if they were unlucky enough to target a car

belonging to The Unit.

Thanks to the type of properties rented for her, Kristararely saw neighbours. If she accidentally found herself talking

to one, however, they would usually be the sort of people

unlikely to ask personal questions or invite her in for coffee, asituation which suited Krista. As a loner she was unaffected by

any of The Units stringent regulations concerning friends andacquaintances but most of her colleagues seemed to struggle


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with the no close friends allowedrule far more than the totalban on romantic attachments. Any operative discovered to be

disobeying the directives was instantly dismissed. Having beenwarned that all operatives were regularly followed, and often

kept under close surveillance for up to a month at a time,

Krista happily complied with the condition as she saw noreason to jeopardise her career.

When she turned thirty three, Krista fully expected to be

transferred to a training position or given a post involving theselection of new operatives but the subject was never

mentioned so she continued working as a field agent; still

undergoing regular medicals plus the occasional psychologicaltests. The tests were undertaken by Euan MacLean, The Units

resident psychologist, and were usually amusing butinstructive. Krista always thought of the day-long sessions as a

pleasant, entertaining experience to look forward to and likedEuan more than she had ever liked anyone including the one

and only man with whom she had had a relationship; a

relationship she had enjoyed during her time at university.

At thirty-four, still working in the field, routinely receivingcomplex or dangerous assignments, Krista began to experience

vivid dreams for the first time in her life, often concerningwork and the people she had met there. Normally the dreams

would be while she was asleep in bed but occasionally theywould occur when she drifted off to sleep while watching a

film, something she seemed to do more and more often.

Strangely, she recalled little of the dreams by the morning, butif they woke her, she would remember talking over problems

or asking advice from an attractive man. It was always thesame man, and his advice was constantly sound, but she had no

idea if the man was a real person she may once have seen or

simply a character she had imagined while dreaming.After several such experiences she wrote down everything

she recalled of a dream the moment she woke and was

surprised to find they all seemed to be set at the small tea shopshe frequented in the Cotswolds or beside a small stream, also

in Gloucestershire, where a fallen tree provided a makeshiftbench. The attractive man, however, remained a mystery and


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after unsuccessfully trying to recall a time she genuinely methim, she concluded he was simply a figment of her

imagination. Probably in his late thirties, the man, who hadintroduced himself as Finlay, appeared extremely fit, in both

senses of the word. From his conversations with her, she

deduced he was also a government operative, in the same lineof business, making it quite appropriate for them to discuss

work matters.

Kristas most high-profile target was the one sheinstinctively knew would mark the end of her career, one way

or another. He had been a household name; a popular actor in a

weekly soap who was attractive and outwardly appeared to bea charming, charismatic man, known to be extremely generous

to a wide variety of charities. His arrest would cause untoldoutrage within certain circles and Krista had been given the

option to turn down the assignment in view of how difficult itwould be to isolate the man from his family, associates or

drivera driver who seemed to be equally at home in the role

of bodyguard. She was given a copy of the targets file to read.

It fully detailed the mans involvement with organised crime,trafficked Eastern European workers of both sexes and the

high possibility of his being responsible for severalunexplained deaths. She had asked how long she had to

complete the assignment and was doubtful she could arrangeanything in the time available. The Major understood her

concerns completely but knew that if Krista felt reluctant to

take on the assignment, he could not expect any of his otheroperatives to accept it, so he offered her assistance from as

many juniors as she required; an unprecedented luxury, butone he felt necessary.

Having read the mans file Krista agreed to the

assignment, knowing it would be every bit as difficult as TheMajor suspected. The actor rarely left his huge Highgate home

without the burly driver, but the house itself was a fortress. He

had a current wife, two ex-wives, plus a stroppy teenagedaughter living with him, alongside domestic staff and a large

guard dog, but even if they had all gone out, leaving himcompletely alone, the security system would have deterred a


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professional burglar. Approaching the man, known to viewersas Kenny Aycliffe, was never going to be easy but his birth

certificate read Thomas Ayres, so Krista searched for a way hewould meet her of his own free will. Kenny Aycliffe quickly

became known to her as Mr Hawk but the assignment required

a lot of thought and planning.By reading pages of information concerning the man and

his habits, she discovered he had a mother still living. In stark

contrast to her targets luxury lifestyle, Evelyn Ayres, hiselderly mother, survived on a basic state pension in a rundown

part of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This was a fact unknown to his

fans but one which gave Krista the best chance of coming faceto face with the man without arousing suspicion. Her plan took

days to formulate; it relied on information she had read, a tripto the street where his mother lived and a complete change of

her appearance before she could even attempt to put the planinto action.

Taking a borrowed Labrador puppy to Evelyn Ayres

house, aware of how the woman was a supporter of several

animal charities, Krista knocked on the door and asked if sheknew who the pup belonged to since the poor thing had no

collar or means of identification. She added for emotionaleffect that it had been sitting in the nearby park looking lost.

Krista claimed she had tried other houses but either theoccupants were out or wanted nothing to do with helping her

locate the puppys owner. Evelyn had seen no threat from a

drab-looking young woman on her own with a dog and askedif she wanted some water for the panting puppy. The front

door opened directly into the front room so, once inside theproperty, Krista took mental notes of the interior in order to

describe the place to her target, should it be necessary to do so.

Standing in the old-fashioned kitchen at the rear of theproperty, while the puppy drank water from a cracked bowl,

Krista explained that she didnt live in the area but her friend

at works mother regularly went to bingo at the nearby socialclub so would ask the ladies there as a last resort. Her lie, just

as Krista had expected it to, prompted Evelyn to chatter aboutthe club and the people she went with, so by the time Krista


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asked if she had any family nearby, her targets mother waswilling to reveal many of Thomas Ayres personal details;

some unknown to the media or even The Unit. Evelyncontinued for so long that Krista was pleased she had decided

to record every word of their conversation on her digital voice

recorder a gadget which had been designed to look like afamous supermarkets lapel badge.

Back in her hotel room, contact with Mr Hawks family

established, using her secure and totally untraceable mobile,she called the targets home phone. The number had naturally

been ex-directory but the listings were openly available to The

Unit, giving the impression that the caller had been given thenumber by a friend or relation. Thomas, as she had begun to

think of him, rather than Mr Hawk or Aycliffe, answered thephone himself and she hesitantly asked if he was Evelyn

Ayres son. Without asking who was calling he confirmed thathe was and asked if his mother was alright, clearly assuming

the woman he had not spoken to for twenty years was anything

but alright if someone was contacting him about her. Krista

had noticed in the notes concerning his past that he severed allcontact with his mother after leaving Newcastle to become an

actor. Sensing he would be reluctant to talk about Evelyn to astranger, Krista claimed to be a friend of his mother, having

met her at the bingo club two streets away from his old familyhome. She went on to explain that the old lady was seriously

ill, talked about him constantly and wanted to make her peace

with him. Thomas seemed indifferent to her suggestion ofcoming up to see the old lady before she passed on, so Krista

detailed how Evelyn was no longer eating and refusingmedication; allowing no one but her into the house. When

Thomas still appeared to be unmoved, she added that if it made

any sense to him, his mother had claimed she finally wanted totell him the truth about his father.

Thomas had been told as a child that his father died during

the war, but the boy who aspired to become an actor hadsubsequently discovered, from a copy of his birth certificate,

that his mother had been unmarried. Further investigations hadproved difficult but the little he had learnt from elderly


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dream on by sue douglas

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