Authors note: - This is a follow on to the previous episodes of Becca XXX Dangerous Cargo. Please read them before reading this or you will not understand the plot or characters
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Becca XXX. Dangerous Cargo.
Ch 05
I finally made it back to my flat after what had seemed like an endless journey. I had just found out that Natalie had found the same set of numbers while she was on assignment in Nottingham. All I wanted to do was call Lexa and find out what Natalie was working on, but I had had to take two buses home which had taken over an hour. The bus wasn't private enough to call Lexa so I had to wait impatiently to find out what was going on.
I was already dialling her number as I unlocked my door and entered my flat. As it rang, I retrieved my Makarov from its hiding place and then I went to the fridge.
"Lexa," she snapped down the phone as she answered.
"Hi, it's me. What's going on? What have you found out about the numbers?" I said excitably.
I got a bottle of white wine from the fridge and searched for a glass.
"It's been a bit of a revelation to be honest, Becca. We were beginning to think that Tony's numbers were a red herring, but now that Nat's found the same sequence, that can't be the case."
"I know, this is so exciting. You said that she found them in Nottingham. What was she doing there?" I asked.
"She's on a rather sensitive case, but it's definitely the same numbers. Check your email, I've sent you a photo of what she's found."
"Wait one," I said, grabbing my iPad from my bag and opening my emails.
As I searched through them Lexa continued.
"We still have no idea what the numbers mean, but we're going to treat them with a bit more urgency now that one of our own team has found them."
"I should hope so too," I said, scrolling to her email and opening it.
It had a couple of images attached which looked like they had been snapped on a smart phone. The first picture showed a Chinese takeaway menu which was stuck to a dirty looking fridge by a magnet. The next picture was a close up of the menu which had the same numbers written on it in black ink. The hand writing was easily legible, but it looked like it had been scribbled down in a hurry.
"Holy fuck," I gasped. "What the hell is going on here? This can't be a coincidence."
"I know. It's the same numbers, but in a different city."
I opened another email which tony had sent me on Sunday and found the picture of his betting slip with the numbers written on it. I flicked between his sequence and Natalie's to make sure they were the same.
"They're definitely the same, but the format is different," I stated. "Tony's numbers have minus signs or hyphens between each set, but Natalie's have a back slash."
"Yes, we noticed it too, which probably means it's not an equation. The separators are merely there to link the numbers together. Whoever wrote them down has just used their own personal preference. At least that's what we think."
Tony's first line said '1-25' whereas Natalie's said '1/25'. That was the only difference.
"Maybe it's a Chinese takeaway order," I said. "It is written on the back of the menu after all. Maybe they were just ordering one number twenty-five from the menu and so on and so forth."
"No, we looked into that, but it doesn't make any sense. For a start the same number repeats itself further down. You wouldn't order one number twenty-five and then on the next line order another four of them."
I glanced at the list of numbers and I had to agree with her. The next line down was '4/25' which isn't how someone would order a Chinese.
"Besides, if they were menu items, why would they also be written on a betting slip which was found fifty miles away in another city?" she continued.
"Yes, I agree, but any normal person would think the numbers were associated with what they were written on."
"How do you mean?"
"Tony's numbers were found on a betting slip. Anyone who found them would just think they were betting odds. Natalie's numbers were found on a Chinese menu so people would assume they were a takeaway order," I explained.
"So, they're hiding them in plain sight?" said Lexa, as the penny dropped.
"Exactly. They must be too important to try and memorise and too risky to be communicated via email or text message for fear of them being intercepted."
"You might be right, but that would mean their method of communication is very old-school. Only professional criminals, spies and terrorists use techniques like that."
"No shit. You do know what Tony's working on, don't you?" I stated. "A bomb threat from a terror cell."
"Yes, Becca. We're fully aware of that. I've been in contact with the Grey Ghosts intel team and we are in the loop with their mission. This is a very fluid situation and we are reacting to things as they happen."
"So, what's Natalie working on?" I asked again.
"I can't say at this point. It's too sensitive."
"For fucks sake, Lexa. It was me who brought you this information in the first place. Just tell me."
"I can't have you getting involved in Natalie's assignment. You've got enough to sort out on your own and I don't want you getting distracted," she said sternly. "How are things going with Brian?"
"Fuck Brian. He's just a wannabe gangster. I want to be involved in Nat's assignment. You know we work well together."
"What you're doing is just as important, Becca. Now, give me an update," she ordered.
My frustrations were getting the better of me as usual. Although my mission was exciting, it sounded like Natalie's and Tony's missions were somehow linked. It should have been me helping them out. I was in love with both of them after all. The thought of taking on a bomb-making terror cell with Nat and Tony made my nipples hard and my panties damp.