“Ok, tell me again… why do we need to meet a couple of French dudes at six in the morning?” Danny griped as they headed into the hotel lobby. “Couldn’t we have had a lie-in, and met them for lunch?”
“Ok, firstly, you were already dressed and ready to go for your morning run.” Hannah pointed out. “There wouldn’t have been any lie-in as you were already up.”
“I could have had my run and then come back to bed.” Danny griped, hitting the button to call the elevator. “Now I’ve missed out on both.”
Hannah ignored his pout.
This was just Danny’s usual moaning ahead of meeting new people. For someone so at ease with himself and his surroundings, Danny had a long-held dislike of bringing new people into their world. Or maybe that should be ‘new men into Hannah’s world’.
She wasn’t sure if this was Danny being jealous, or Danny being worried for her safety, but either way, she knew just how to handle him.
“And secondly, they’re not French.” She smiled up at him. “They’ve just come from France to speak to us.”
“Haven’t they ever heard of phones? Or video-conferencing?” He scowled. “Apparently, they’re all the rage.”
“Honey, we need to do some brainstorming, and we also need access to the network they have available.” She wrapped her hand around her husband’s bicep and squeezed. “That’s something that works better if it’s done face to face.”
“You mean they have a network you can’t hack?” Danny’s jaw dropped. “How is this possible?”
Hannah grinned up at him.
“It’s possible because it’s not a computer network, asshole!” She rolled her eyes. “I already have access to all their computer systems. But what I don’t have is direct contact with the network of people they work with. That’s why we need to meet with them, so we can figure out who to bring on board.”
“Who are these guys then, if they’re better connected than you.” Danny frowned. “Spectre?”
Hannah snorted in a very unladylike manner, bringing a reluctant smile to her husband’s lips.
“Honey, Spectre isn’t real.” She explained slowly, as though talking to a child. “And besides, they’re the bad guys to James Bond’s good guy. The people we’re meeting with are already the good guys. Just like us.”
The elevator doors opened quietly, and she stepped out.
“And you’ll find out everything you need to know as soon as we’re inside the room.” She smiled. “Remember… even hotel corridors have ears.”
Danny looked as though he were going to call ‘bullshit’ but held his tongue.
She grabbed his hand and dragged him along the expensively carpeted hallway.
When they reached the last door, she knocked lightly. Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap, tap.
Danny watched her curiously.
“Is that a code?” He whispered.
Hannah grinned as the door was pulled open, and a silver haired giant stood in front of them.
“Nah, I was just winding you up, but it sounded good, doncha think?” She chuckled to Danny.
Hannah turned to the Viking in the doorway.
“So, do I get a hug, or are you gonna just stand there like a big buffoon?” She grinned at the big Norwegian, lifting her arms like she’d done when she’d been a little kid.
“Christ, you look just like you did when you were about six or seven.” The man laughed. “Still about the same height, too.”
Hannah chuckled as she was pulled into big strong arms, remembering fondly the guy that had been friends with her mom for almost as long as Hannah had been alive.
When he finally put her down, she turned to see Danny scowling.
“Baby, I want you to meet one of my mom’s oldest friends.” She leaned back and grabbed his arm. “Niels was my mom’s protection officer on her first European tour. He spent more time babysitting me than was probably fair on him, but it got him a bit of recognition in Sweden for being my mom’s favourite policeman.”
Niels snorted.
“That kind of recognition is a double-edged sword.” He pointed out. “The top brass loves you because you become fodder for the newspapers and magazines, and as long as you don’t fuck up, you show them in a good light. But your colleagues hate you and credit any advancement in your career as a reward for being famous, forgetting the fact that you’d been a decorated police officer for fifteen years before you ever met Carolina Jordan.”
“Well, it kept you in our lives for a very long time, so for that I’m grateful.” Hannah smiled. “Niels, this is the love of my life, Danny. He’s a bit grouchy this morning, so take no notice of him. He’s a sweetheart normally.”
Niels looked Danny up and down before holding out his hand.
“So, this is the infamous Danny Simons, hmm?” Niels smiled. “I’ve been hearing all about you from CJ for the last decade. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
Danny’s face finally broke into a smile.
“I wish I could say the same about you, but I’m sorry to say that you’ve been a closely guarded secret.” Danny admitted. “Nevertheless, it’s still good to meet you. It’s always good to know anyone who kept my Hannah safe before I was able to take over.”
“It looks like you’re doing a good job, son.” Niels stepped back so they could enter the suite. “Is she still a pain in the ass, getting into mischief all the time?”
Danny chuckled as she glanced back at him.
“You have no idea!” He shook his head. “I never had a grey hair in my head until I met Hannah. She’s making me old before my time.”
“Me too.” Niels laughed. “I used to be blond until I met her mother. Now look at me.”
Hannah turned around and scowled at the two men.
“Firstly, you were only thirty when I married you.” She pointed at Danny. “Is it any wonder that you’ve started going grey more than a decade later?”
She folded her arms, trying to make herself look more imposing.
“And as for you, you big Viking!” She stared up at the giant. “You just had your sixtieth birthday last year. You’re not still supposed to be blond.”
Niels just grinned down at her, ignoring her hissy fit.
“You’ve kept her just the way she always was.” He glanced at Danny. “Fiery and full of sparks flashing in every direction. Good job, son.”
Ignoring Hannah’s gasp of indignation, Danny nodded in agreement.
“It hasn’t been easy.” He agreed. “I had to polish off a few of the rough edges, but she’s the diamond I always knew she would be.”
Hannah growled in protest at being discussed as though she wasn’t there.
“You’re both a pair of assholes. You do know that, don’t you?”
Danny turned to the Viking and they both shrugged in response.
“I guess that’s why you love us so much.” Danny grinned.
“Umm, hello?” A small voice came from behind her, and Hannah turned to see a tall, willowy, Japanese woman standing nervously by a desk. “I’m Kazumi Ito. I work with Niels in Lyon.”
Hannah frowned at the younger woman.
“Kazumi Ito?” She shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I thought we were expecting another man.”
“You were, but his wife went into labour yesterday.” Kazumi smiled. “Niels has known how I’ve been a fan of yours for such a long time, so he finally gave in to my badgering and brought me along.”
“You’re a fan of mine?” Hannah smiled. “I didn’t realise there was such a thing. Well, not outside the family at least.”
“I think every person who’s ever had the pleasure of working with you has walked away a fan of yours, Mrs Simons.” The woman blushed. “Myself included.”
“We’ve worked together before?” Hannah said, almost embarrassed at not remembering.
“It was when your friend received information through her charity of a paedophile ring in Northern California.” Kazumi explained. “I was still working for the San Francisco PD at the time and was assigned to the case. I worked with Alice and another lady, Vicky, as a liaison. You were involved when we raided the property and rescued the girls.”
“Oh, my goodness! Kaz?” Hannah smiled. “You’re the ‘Kaz’ with the lovely voice I had in my ear throughout the raid?”
Kazumi blushed.
“I guess that would be me.” She admitted. “Kaz is the name everyone knows me by.”
Hannah stepped forward and held out her hand.
“Then it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Kaz.” She smiled. “You played a big part in getting those assholes brought to justice.”
“I just relayed information.” Kaz shook her head. “If it wasn’t for you pinpointing where the victims were being held, and then tracking the paedophiles through the woodland, we might never have gotten those animals inside a courtroom. We rescued more than twenty children that night.”
“How about we call it a team effort, then?” Hannah smiled. “Nobody ever achieves a successful outcome working alone.”
“Except James Bond.” Danny said from behind her. “Especially when he’s up against Spectre.”
Hannah turned around to see Danny staring at her with his arms crossed across his broad chest.
“Spectre and James Bond?” Niels looked confused.
“It’s Ok, Niels.” She smiled. “That’s Danny’s way of reminding me I haven’t told him who you guys are, and what you’re doing here.”
“Shall we sit?” Kaz suggested, pointing to the comfortable looking sofa and chairs.
Hannah sat on the sofa, immediately joined by her husband.
“Niels and Kaz both work for Interpol.” She turned to Danny. “They’re responsible for making sure that our guys don’t get arrested and thrown into jail for their part in the trafficking of women across Europe.”
Danny looked shocked.
“But they’re undercover!” He protested. “They’re working to take those assholes down, not facilitate the sale of the women.”
“You know that, and I know that.” Hannah said calmly. “But none of our guys are officially law-enforcement. They’re not police and they’re not part of any of the intelligence services. So, we have to be careful that we keep the relevant authorities informed of what we’re doing, so there’s no doubt we’re on the right side of the law.”
“And the relevant authority in this type of case is Interpol?” Danny looked between the agents and his wife. “How come?”
“Interpol isn’t a police force, contrary to popular belief.” Niels explained. “What we are is an organisation that obtains information from law-enforcement agencies across most of the globe, and then we use it to create a database that can be accessed by any of our partner countries to bring down organised crime in whatever form it takes, in virtually any country on the planet.”
“In Europe, the borders aren’t what they once were. There aren’t checkpoints and guards with machine guns. In fact, in many parts of Europe you wouldn’t know you’d gone over a border if it wasn’t for the change of language on the road signs.” Kaz explained. “Yet very rarely do you find the police forces in neighbouring countries communicating with each other directly. That plays into the hands of organised criminals everywhere. Commit a crime… cross over a border… get away. Too easy.”
“Which is why we’ve been talking to Interpol about our plans for the last few months.” Hannah explained. “Even with our own government backing us, and help from the Russian and Turkish authorities, it’s still not enough to guarantee a successful mission. The trucks could pass through up to ten other European countries, depending on how much of a scenic route they take. We simply don’t have contacts in every country they might pass through that will guarantee the safety of the Guardians. In some countries, if information got into the wrong hands, it could find its way back to Ilya Federov, and be a death sentence for our guys.”
“We can speak to the right people, and without disclosing the exact nature of our operation, we can basically ensure that they don’t make any raids on any organised criminal gangs within a five-hundred-mile radius for the next five days, not without running it past us first.” Niels smiled. “It’s not always popular, but it is effective.”
“Excellent, but why did you need to come over here to discuss it?” Danny frowned. “No offence, but if you have all the information, can’t you send out the messages from France, or wherever it is you come from?”
“We’re trying to take it a step further this time.” Kaz explained. “If we can be more assured of the route they’ll take, we can sometimes arrange with various countries to deploy either police or military to assist in the take-down of criminals.”
“What’s wrong with sending a team from Alpha-Stalwart?” Danny huffed indignantly. “We can do the job better than anybody.”
“Danny Simons, if you think I’m sending you guys out on a mission like this, you’re deluded.” Hannah growled. “Not one of Alpha Company is under forty now, and while you may still be fit enough, you’re not as fast as you were twenty years ago. You’ve all got families and responsibilities, and for the same reasons we didn’t want you to be Guardians, we seriously don’t want you to be back-up for the Guardians either. None of us want to be widows.”
Hannah watched the various emotions pass across her husband’s face.
Annoyance, frustration, and indignation were there in abundance, but they were swiftly joined by acceptance and regret.
“It’s a different kind of warfare, Danny.” Niels understood Danny’s frustration. “The criminal gangs we’re dealing with now are evolving into a sub-species of their own. No conscience, no feelings at all, certainly no regret. They’d kill their own mothers rather than waste time walking around them. Going up against them is a young man’s game, and not for the fainthearted.”
Hannah reached over and squeezed Danny’s hand.
“There are still plenty of battles for you guys to fight.” She reassured him. “Just not this one.”
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.
“It’s Ok.” Kaz smiled. “We ordered breakfast for everyone to be delivered at six-fifteen. Niels thought we’d need an energy boost to keep us going through the morning.”
As the Interpol agents went to get the door, Niels drew his firearm and checked the peephole before standing behind the door, while Kaz did the honours.
As soon as Kaz opened the door, she handed the young man a tip, and pulled the trolley into the room. He was still blustering about leaving the trolley outside when they were finished as the door closed in his face.
Hannah smiled as Danny’s eyes lit up. It looked like they’d ordered enough food for a dozen hungry men.
“Ok, while you guys get stuck into the food, why don’t I set up the laptops, so we can see the potential routes.” Her smile at Danny and Niels went all but ignored.
“Come on.” Kaz grinned at her. “We can use the desk, and they can join us when their bellies are full.”
Hannah glanced back at her husband fondly. Kaz obviously had no idea how long that could take.