As always, I have to thank those that have helped me with these stories, from my beta readers, those special friends that I've leaned on so many times for advice and my editors through the years that these three stories have been in existence. You have all been amazing, from Halo Two-Five, to Curtis and then JoJo taking the trilogy to its conclusion. I've had fun with this and you the reader have been kind enough to humor me. Many, many thanks.
Please note. This is a story.
It came from my head and not from any history books. It's a story.
*******
I was working on the paintwork of the Keyleigh Ortiz, my attention was on the work in hand, but it didn't stop my instincts telling me something was up. I stopped and looked around. JoJo stood some twenty feet away. Her eyes met mine and we nodded to each other.
Something was up, even from there I could feel it. She tilted her head towards the clubhouse and walked in its direction. I hadn't mentioned too her that Ruth was in America with the two girls, so I figured she was just being cautious. I cleaned my hands and followed along about ten minutes later.
JoJo had drinks for us both on the table, both drinks were on her side of the table, so it clearly meant that I was to sit beside her. She wanted both of us to have a clear line of sight of the doors, not to mention the whole of the club floor.
I had heard hints, it's not difficult to when I was still in and out of the Unit's building, keeping up with old friends and arranging nights out with the wives for Ruth.
We sipped our drinks and being that close to her, the tension within her felt like it wanted to burst right through her. We spoke in generalities at first, but I quickly noticed JoJo lower her voice to a level that I could hear her comfortably and no one around us could hear her at all. She began:
*******
Freddy came into the office as JoJo was getting herself a coffee. Out of habit, if one was near the coffee pot, then they made one for each of them. JoJo handed Freddy his mug, and in return, he handed her the news from around the world. JoJo had instigated this practice a week into her taking control of the Unit. Both the Foreign office and the Home Office would send the Unit a condensed information sheet daily. If it was news or something to do with British interests abroad, it was on the sheet. If JoJo wanted more information on any story, she would either call her contact at the Home Office or look it up herself.
One story caught her eye, more so when she married this story to one from the day before. A junior diplomat was run down and killed. It was originally in the news letter as some sort of mugging/robbery gone wrong. Two of the local police were on a coffee run around the corner when they heard the commotion. When they arrived within seconds of the incident, one of the two suspects had the dead diplomat's wallet in his hands. They both spotted the police and ran back to the car, with said wallet firmly in his grasp.
One of the local Police stayed with the body while his partner gave chase in the car. The Police did their best, but lost them in the multitude of alleyways. It got more complicated when the other officer called in the mugging, then went through his pockets in the hope of finding some sort of identification. That's when they found his diplomatic ID, and it all hit the fan from then on.
JoJo was now reading about an attempted break-in, at the morgue in the early hours of the morning where the junior diplomat was resting. As a mark of respect, the ambassador had placed a member of the embassy's security team to sit with him through the night. The security guard heard the break-in and radioed the embassy; they in turn called the police. Since the morgue was directly up the road from the police station, they were there within seconds. No one was found, but a window was broken.
When the dust settled, the ambassador trebled the guard on the dead junior diplomat's room. JoJo felt that the ambassador was right in doing what he had.
She stared at the wall directly in front of her, which happened to be the wall behind Freddy. He had caught her doing this a few times, so with an almost invisible shrug, he left his boss to mull things over, and eventually she looked directly at Freddy, who was already deep into the day's paperwork.
"Freddy, please phone all the guys at home, tell them they are all exempt from shaving until further notice. Please make sure it's on daily orders, as well."
Freddy looked up at his boss, his brow already creasing, wondering what she had seen that he hadn't, when he brought in the news sheets. She was already halfway across the room, both news sheets in her hand. He read them; she had even underlined both stories, then looked at JoJo before nodding in agreement.
JoJo was still deep in thought when a smiling Freddy put the phone down, "All done, boss, although Ashley wasn't amused when I phoned and gave her the same order."
She remembered that she had said all the guys; that's when they both laughed.
With her interest now piqued, JoJo followed up on the story of the young diplomat; there were no more break-ins. The diplomatic service brought the body home three days later: although, it almost turned into a diplomatic incident when the Arab country tried to slow the process down. In the end, the country's king apologized on live television for the death happening in his country; the body of the diplomat left an hour later via a private plane.
*******
A week later.
JoJo was just entering her office when Freddy was putting the phone down. "We need to be in civvies, boss. We have an eleven o'clock appointment with God's Brother at Chequers. Her cheeks warmed, she nodded to Freddy, turned and went to change. Freddy drove, leaving her to wonder at this sudden summons.
Once through security, they parked and were ushered into the library. The Prime Minister was seated; the two other men in the room stood by the window that overlooked the courtyard were they had parked.
JoJo's boss came in shortly after. "Sorry I'm late, traffic."
The Prime Minister pointed to the small conference table, they all sat, all but her boss. He pulled a sheet of paper from his case and looked at JoJo.
"I don't know how you figured it out, Captain, since it's taken us until this morning. I know you've put the Unit on a no shave order, and thank goodness you have."
That's when the file hit the table. Even reading from upside down, JoJo could make out the words: Stephen Beckman. She knew from her own research that was the name of the young diplomat.
"As a matter of policy, since he died abroad, our own coroner's office did an autopsy"
Her boss's hand opened and a very small flat container came into view. JoJo recognized it as a protective holder for a memory card. It slid across the table and came to a stop within a foot of JoJo. Only when it came to a stop did she look again at her boss.
"Mister Beckman swallowed that before he was killed; they went looking for it believing he had it on him, and they seemingly didn't realize that he had it in him."
