Chapter Five
Back at Long Watch headquarters, Camilla Lancaster stood on a rooftop terrace overlooking the city of Westminster. In her right hand, a delicate bone china teacup, with gold finish, held her favorite blend of English tea. Emerson sat nearby, scanning documents relating to Khemidi.
When Warwick, Byron and Jamie stepped out onto the terrace, Camilla turned to them and smiled. “Good work, gentleman. Good work.”
“Yes, especially you, Byron,” Emerson added. “It’s not been easy digging up anything on Khemidi’s background, so it’s quite the revelation that he’s gay. You did well to pick up on that.”
Byron smiled. “I couldn’t have done it without Jamie’s quick reactions.”
Hmm, it really took a lot of skill being kissed by you, Jamie thought, wondering if Byron’s sarcasm was rubbing off, but grateful nonetheless for the positive appraisal being given by his new bosses.
“How’s the translation of their conversation coming along?” Warwick asked. “The repetition of certain syllables suggested they were referring to numbers.”
Warwick made no reference to Jamie being the one who’d made that deduction.
“Very clever!” Emerson said. “I have the translation here in my hands. It’s exactly that. Numbers. We’re still trying to work out what the numbers refer to. Perhaps you all can spend the afternoon seeing what headway you can make with this. And seeing what else you can dig up on Khemidi’s background.”
As they made their way off of the terrace, Jamie remembered how quickly Warwick had claimed credit for his theory. He made a mental note to have his wits about him from now on; he would have to work even harder to prove himself.
***
That afternoon, Jamie took a printout of the translated numbers to one of the tech rooms where Rosie was stationed. Something told him he’d seen this type of number combination before – but he couldn’t place where.
As he entered the tech room, the interior seeming to glow blue from all the flat-screen monitors and other digital equipment, he found Rosie crouching in a squat-like position with her smartphone in her hand. She jumped when she became aware of Jamie’s presence.
“You did not just see that!” she gasped.
“What on Earth were you doing?” Jamie asked, unable to hold in his laughter.
“I was… catching a monster,” Rosie declared, blushing. “It’s a game called Monster Cloner.”
“Your geekiness is second to none,” Jamie teased. “Didn’t they try banning that game because geeks like you were running amok in the streets?”
“They tried!” Rosie confirmed. “But let’s just say my hacking skills come in handy sometimes… I know how to get the latest edition online! Not just a pretty face, you know!”
For the rest of the afternoon, Jamie found the time flew by in Rosie’s company. They had an easy rapport, and he found her a joy to be around. He still hadn’t managed to solve the mystery of the ‘numbers’ but he had been able to carry out further research into Daoud Khemidi’s background. Emerson had been right that little was known of Khemidi’s early years. Khemidi only had come to the attention of the intelligence services in 2003, when links emerged between him and a Filipino crime gang named Blue Pangong. At some point in his early thirties, Khemidi had made his fortune, but in what, no one was sure.
While Jamie carried out his research, Rosie tinkered with several of her impressive inventions. Amongst Jamie’s favorites were her 3-D projector, and microscopic listening crystals that could be activated in water before dissolving without a trace. Real spy movie stuff, he thought.
Whenever his research became too slow-going, Rosie was usually at hand to drop a quip and lighten the mood. Jamie had decided to tell Rosie he was gay. It felt to him like the right thing to do. She responded, “I’m only disappointed I won’t be able to date your sexy ass.”
On the topic of Byron, Rosie had pried Jamie for all the ‘juicy details’ on what it was like to kiss him.
“Is he a good kisser?” she asked, a glint in her eyes.
“It was just part of the job,” Jamie laughed – deciding that a declaration of love for his new co-worker might not be the best career move. Rosie, to her credit, seemed to pick up on his feelings anyway.
“He’s so attractive, it actually hurts for me to look at him,” Rosie smiled. Her face quickly turned red when Byron himself entered the tech room at that moment.
Byron had switched into more casual attire and greeted Jamie warmly. He then turned to Rosie.
“I’ve been stood up!” he announced. “Two tickets for a West End show. Pre-show dinner and drinks. Would this lovely lady care to join me?”
Rosie smiled, flattered at the invitation. Then, something seemed to register in her mind, and she turned to Jamie.
“Ah, Byron, I would have loved to!” she said, wincing suddenly. “But tonight is the Monster Cloner Titleholders tournament. You should take Jamie!”
Jamie’s eyes grew wide, shocked at Rosie’s sacrificing the date for him. He didn’t believe Rosie’s excuse about a tournament for one moment.
“Do you want to come?” Byron asked, grinning at Jamie. “I suppose I owe it to you to wine and dine you after making out with you in the steam room.”