Page 33 of The Reaper

She realised she’d zoned out and turned her head to look him in the eye. “Jack, don’t run this time,” she said it quietly, but her tone was clear, this was more of an instruction than a request.

He took a deep breath in, closed his eyes and looked up to the ceiling. Jack nodded once.

She breathed with relief.

He stood up. “Now, do exactly what I tell you to do, okay, run when I say run.”

She nodded, she felt adrenaline pumping around her.

The radio crackled again.

“Anderson, status report. Over.”

“Shit,” he said. He paused, then put the radio to his lips. “False sighting, repeat, false sighting. Over.”

“Copy. Over.”

“They’ll send someone else to check, probably. How many MI5 agents did you see with Roper earlier?” he asked brusquely.

She thought. She couldn't remember exactly. “There was one truck, like one of those riot trucks, you know?” she stammered. He didn’t react. “There was Roper, a few men standing around, some ladies, too, Maybe… maybe four men and two ladies?”

“Okay, with the facility evacuated, they will have the run of the place, they’ll be sweeping it systematically, trying to find us. They clearly realise we aren’t accounted for… they’ll be wanting to be quick, they’ve got hundreds of potential witnesses stood about outside now...”

He paced now.

“They were counting on me being unconscious, because of the drugs Roper slipped me yesterday, they were going to come for me, probably suffocate me or arrange something that looked like a medical overdose or something...”

“What are the entrances like, to Eastward?” he asked.

She thought. “Well, there’s a front entrance, a guard station, a guard on the gate, like a barrier, 24/7.”

There was a noise. They both froze.

The lift pinged, the doors opened with a scraping sound. It was empty. Jack grabbed her by the top of her shoulders,grabbing a handful of her jumper, and pulled. They ended up ducked behind some filing cabinets. From the other end of the corridor, the stairwell door swung open. Two people entered, again, gun first, dressed in MI5 operational black uniforms. They crouched. Jack didn’t have a weapon, he’d left the gun behind. They stalked forward. He signalled to her to stay low. Then he darted across the corridor, pressing himself up against a doorframe. He beckoned to her to stay, his palm facing her, his eyes steely.

She stayed. The people edged closer. One turned, heading the other way down the corridor. It was the taller, bigger one, the man. He nodded to the other before going, the other was shorter, a woman. The woman crept closer, wearing the uniform, gun raised. She waited. She waited. Jack waited. They both hid, waiting for her to come past us. It felt like an eternity. She had relaxed her stance slightly, not expecting anyone to be there. Jack came out of the shadows as she was level with her. Like a flash, he winded her, banged her head. She doubled over. Crumpled down. He grabbed her shoulders, without a moment to lose, and dragged her backwards, into a hospital bedroom.

“Change clothes with her,” he said, dumping the woman’s leaden body on the floor.

She blanched.

“Change,” he repeated. She began shaking. She was wondering when shock would set in. It chose now. She stammered and shuddered. He swore and began to undress the woman. Unbuttoning her shirt, undoing her belt. He was rough, pulling at her like she wasn’t a woman, like she was a mannequin.

“Come on, take off your clothes,” he said.

Hannah did, fumbling.

“Hannah, quickly! Get this on!” He pulled the jumper over her head, pulled the helmet over her head now, flapping downthe dark visor. She scrabbled about with the trousers. She started lacing her boots.

But Jack was moving the other woman’s body, dragging it into the bathroom, kicking Hannah’s normal clothes out of the way as he went.

“Stand,” he said brusquely. She stood. In the boots and helmet, she didn’t feel like she was in her own skin, she didn’t feel like herself. She shook.

“You are now a ruthless Bratva member, posing to be MI5, okay? So am I. Stay silent, let me talk.” he hissed.

She couldn’t get a grip though. He could see it, he could sense it.

“Come on Hannah, you’re strong, you’re brave. You can do this.” She heard his words but they just bounced off her.

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