Thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoy it. Love Mica xx, Yorkshire England. All email comments good or bad welcomed. I will try and reply to each and every one but please note that all email comments from an invalid email address will be deleted immediately and will not be read.
The further adventures of Liz the Agent. The previous stories in the series will help set the scene if you are new. If you want to understand Liz's full back story, you could read JUSTICE, it explains what happened that made her the woman she now is.
I heard back from the Agency, they had done a deep dive on Victor, and it seems he didn't exist five years ago. So, very interesting. Their suggestion was that he perhaps went through some form of witness protection. They believed that if he worked for one of the agencies, there would be some kind of marker, but then, there was no marker against mine, so, he could be anyone. One thing for certain was that he wasn't actually Victor. Intriguing, but was he a danger, was he a risk to me, and more importantly, was he a risk to my mission? The Agency said that they would investigate further.
Ali had told me that he wanted me to consider running his Plant Sales empire. On the one hand it would get me much closer to the core, on the other hand it could keep me isolated and on the periphery of his main dealings, and it was those that I wanted to get closer to. On the other other hand it would give me a source of foreign funding should I need it in the future, assuming that I didn't declare it to the agency. I difficult decision, but I was minded to say yes, but not yet, it had to be on my terms.
I showered and put on a simple sun frock, it was orange with green piped edging, quite garish, but then, that would distract focus from me, so that suited me. My doorbell rang taking me out of my introspection. It was Victor.
"Hello Victor, would you like a cup of tea." I asked him, guessing he actually wanted more.
"Yes that would be nice." He answered cheerily.
"Well come in then and shut the door behind you." I don't stand on ceremony, not for Victor, not for anyone.
I went into the kitchen and decided I would do the good stuff. I had been about to make a pot of tea for myself when the doorbell rang, so I might as well let Victor have some of my Oolong loose leaf too. As the kettle was boiling, I poured hot water from the tap into my tea pot to warm it, and let it stand whilst the kettle did its thing. As the kettle boiled, I emptied my tea pot of the hot water that had warmed it, and added three spoons of oolong, and then added the boiled water from the kettle. Lid on, Cosy on, and then bone chine cups and saucers from the cupboard.
Milk into a jug and sugar into a bowl. All on a tray.
"Come on, let's sit in the conservatory," I said to Victor who had simply hovered watching me.
"Oops, I forgot the strainer," I said. I wanted to give Victor some time alone in my conservatory. I would check the camera later and see if he had done something whilst he was alone. I had a suspicion that he might. I took my time getting the strainer.
"Ah, here it is," telling Victor that I was on my way back.
I poured two teas, added milk to mine and left Victor to add whatever he wanted to his. He added both milk and sugar.
"How are you then Victor?"
"Oh, I am fine Liz thank you, I just thought that some of your wonderful hospitality might be on offer."
So, he wanted a shag, I had decided that I wouldn't. Not until I knew more about him, and what I could trust, and what I could not. I ignored his advance.
"I will usually be able to find time for a cup of tea with you Victor," I said, "Now, this friend of yours, the policeman, that is so interested in my neighbour Ali, does he have any more accusations of misdeeds that you would care to share?"
"Oh, no, I don't think so, I haven't spoken to him since I told you."
"So, has your police friend asked you to spy on my neighbour, or perhaps put cameras up that can record his movements? It all sounds very odd."
"Cameras? What a notion."
"They do that you know. I had a friend once who had a load of rozzers set up in her front bedroom for a few days so that could monitor a house opposite that they thought was manufacturing drugs."
"Wow, and was the house opposite making drugs?"
"Lord no, they were making porn films, all legal."
He laughed, "typical, trust the fuzz to get the wrong end of the wrong stick." He sipped his tea.
"Tell me Victor, ten years ago I was an accountant in Birmingham, happily married to my husband. What were you doing ten years ago, it must have been very different." I wanted to keep chipping away at his story of days gone by, see if I could find any errors.
"I was knees deep in my specialist engineering company, I hadn't planned on spelling it yet."
"Wow, long days I bet, your wife, was she part of the set up?"
"Oh no, I wasn't married, except to my company, and yes the days were long."
"Did you say that you made parts for F1 teams?"
"Yes, MacLaren amongst others."
"Did you go to any of the Grands Prix? Then, that must have been so exciting. I went to one at Castle Donnington once, so very loud."
"Yes I went to a few, I don't think I went to Donnington though, Silverston yes." The agency could go back through archive footage and see if they could find him in the background anywhere. It would help confirm his story if they could.
"Wow, so exciting, what bits did you make?"
"Mostly steering and suspension bits, made from tungsten and to an exacting tolerance. But that was all a very long time ago, it all blurs together you know. I guess it must be the same for you, all the accounts must merge into each other."
"Oh no Victor, I remember them all very clearly, perhaps that is just my accountant's brain."
He looked at me and then sipped at his tea. "Any plans for your future yet Liz?" He asked.
"Not really anything concrete, a few irons warming in fires."
"Oh, anything you care to share?"
"Oh, no not at this stage."
"Fair enough, would you care for a little private delight?"
"Not today Victor, no, I think I have been a little too forward in some areas, so I am keeping myself to myself. More tea?"
He declined and soon after he left, his desires unsated. I checked my phone and watched the security camera video playback. He had indeed poked something down the back of my sofa. Interesting. I went and looked and found a small innocuous looking box. Some kind of audio monitor I supposed. I had to think of somewhere interesting I could put it. In my garage for now until I could think of something better. I would get the gardeners in, time for another sweep. Just who was Victor really, and what was he?
Ali came round and rang my doorbell.
"I don't trust him," Ali said.
"Who?" I asked.