Chapter 7

Late Monday afternoon Brodie and Andrew were finally back at the MP station at Dhekelia. Travelling to Cyprus was a chore, not in any way helped by having to deal with the Flyboys. Brodie caught up with all the latest developments but then took Chambers off to a separate office to talk to him for 20 minutes. Houghton looked at Andrew but he just shrugged. There was something they were keeping separate from him but he had no clue what. It was late when they got back to the resort.

Tuesday during the day Andrew was working with Houghton on documenting the evidence, the police procedure part of the job that he knew nothing about. Well he knew a little but you know the saying. So Andrew worked as an extra pair of hands for Houghton going through the documents supporting the fraud charge and making sure they were all there, correctly ordered, all the little minutiae that would support a successful prosecution. The time passed quickly, as Andrew found it always did when he was learning something new. Not exciting but necessary. It was nearly 9.00 when they pulled into the resort carpark. Brodie’s only comment was ‘8.00’ and then he headed to his room. He had not said anything on the way home and had seemed tense all day.

Shrugging his shoulders Andrew headed round to his room. As he was following the path at the back of the main hotel block he came across a woman sitting on a bench beside the path crying. Despite not being sure what he could do or say to help he carefully approached her.

“Are you okay? Do you need help?”

As Andrew spoke he realised that he didn’t even know if she was British or spoke English. Her head whipped round and he could see the streaks of her tears on her face. He could see her pull herself together.

“No, no, I am fine. Just a stupid catfight with my friend over a man.”

She seemed to be recovering.

“Thank you checking but I am fine. I just needed to get away from her for a bit.”

“I am glad it is nothing serious. Good night.”

Andrew stepped past her and walked up to his room. It took him two minutes to change and then he headed back over to grab a late dinner. The woman was still there although now just looking sad rather than crying. She seemed embarrassed to have him run into her again, still there.

“I am going to the small bar off the lobby to grab a late dinner. You are welcome to join me if you want.”

Andrew paused for barely a second before carrying on but he was no more than four paces beyond her when she bounced up and hurried to join him.

“I can’t sit on that bench all night. I would still be there when you came back from dinner and that would be sad.”

They handled the introductions on the walk to the bar. Glenda Matthews was 29, worked for her local council, and was a widow with two children, 12 and 9. Her husband had been a miner killed in an accident five years earlier. This was her first holiday on her own since his death.

“Actually, now that I think of it, it is my first holiday on my own ever.”

The maths on the ages of her children confirmed that. Andrew skipped the student at Cambridge part of his story and just said he worked for the Ministry of Defence and was out there working on computerisation. She understood immediately the issue having been through the same situation in her office. Andrew didn’t volunteer his age although it was clear he was a fair bit younger. It was nice to chat to her, there hadn’t been a lot of chat during the day with Houghton so they made mindless small talk, Cyprus, the weather, the usual tourist crap. As he finished his meal she sighed.

“I suppose I better go and deal with her.”

“What is the problem?”

“She is an old friend from school, recently divorced and she has been man crazy over here. This is a big step for me, the first holiday on my own, and so when I finally worked up the courage and started to chat to some bloke from Birmingham she elbowed her way in and stole him out from under me.”

She giggled.

“Not that I had a chance to get him under me.”

She blushed at her admission. She stopped and bit her bottom lip before rushing on.

“Would you like to go into Ayia Napa with me?”

Andrew smiled at her bravery.

“When you saw me the first time that was me getting back from work. I will be here at 8.00 tomorrow morning to have breakfast with my boss and then I will be off working all day. It is not that I don’t want to, I just can’t.”

“Of course, shit I should have realised.”

“Part of the problem is that I can’t guarantee when I get back here. If the boss says we work late then we work late. At the start of the trip I would tell you to meet me at the beach bar at 8.00 but tonight it was after 9.00 before I got back. Sadly I am not on tourist hours.”

She smiled ruefully.

“Unless you want to go for a walk on the beach now? It is nice and quiet and it will delay you dealing with your friend for a bit.”

The beach was quiet, they could see one other couple some way ahead of them, and it was nice just to relax. Andrew wasn’t tired, as Cyprus was two hours ahead, but he knew that it would be a long day, and probably a long week.

“Do you do this often?”

“Sorry?”

“Rescue crying women.”

“I hardly rescued you.”

“No, but the evening is a whole lot better now than it was an hour ago.”

He didn’t know what to say to that so said nothing. They turned and headed back to the resort.

“Where is your room?”

Glenda was back to being nervous. He pointed out the balcony as they walked past the block.

“That is it up there, top floor. It is small but the view is great.”

Glenda’s pace slowed, Andrew looked down and made his mind up.

“Would you like to come up and look at the view?”

There it was. She didn’t have to ask, she didn’t have to risk rejection, it was up to her.

“Shit, shit, shit. No thank you Andrew, much as I want to.”

They just kept walking and he got her back to the hotel. She didn’t kiss him but he thought he was going to have to pry her off him she hugged for so long. It was a big step she was taking; she would do it when she was ready, and probably not with someone 10 years younger.

Wednesday was the most interesting day in the 20 weeks that Andrew worked for the MoD Police. They were working away as usual when the owner of the trucking company was brought into the station. He had been arrested in the Sovereign Base Area with drugs in his car. Andrew sat back and watched the theatre, his repeated and emphatic denials, the protestations of innocence. And all he could think was ‘how convenient’. How very convenient to be caught now, and he thought of the look between Lester and Brodie on the drive back from Brize Norton and the closed door conversation between Brodie and Chambers when they first returned.

Did Andrew have any evidence to back up his suspicions? Not a jot. He knew nothing about the arrest until the Cypriot was brought into the station. And Andrew wasn’t present any of the times he was questioned as he continued to work with Sergeant Houghton on the evidence for the potential court martial of Corporal Grey. It kept them busy for the rest of the week. They left Dhekelia quite early that Wednesday evening and unlike the previous evening Brodie was in a talkative mood. He was pleased there looked like a way to resolve this without confessing everything to the UN. Andrew kept his own counsel on that.

“8.00 as usual for breakfast McLeod. Have a good night.”

The tone of the last sentence suggested that Brodie was off to have a good night. Andrew walked to his room and changed and stood on the deck looking out at the last of the tourists starting to pack up for the day. Then he spotted Glenda. She was waving at him from beside the beach bar. Two minutes later they were chatting away.

“You are back early.”

“I think my boss was planning a night out. He has ‘enjoyed’ himself very much on this trip.”

Glenda laughed. She looked Andrew over.

“God, you look even younger in the daylight. I feel like a cradle robber.”

“Let’s go for a walk then so you can show me off.”

They finished their drinks and walked the familiar path.

“I wish you wouldn’t keep tempting me.”

Andrew laughed.

“Oh it’s my fault, is it?”

“No. But you know what I mean.”

He nodded.

“But think about it this way. Is there a better opportunity? You are never going to see me again. You are not going to run into me at the supermarket or the pub. No gossiping tongues. ‘Oh did you see that Glenda Matthews, and her husband not 10 years in his grave’.”

Glenda nodded sadly at that.

“That is exactly the kind of bitchy comment I would get.”

“I am going for dinner, you are welcome to join me if you want but I am not forcing you.”

Glenda was pensive and silent on the walk back and as they passed the bar she took Andrew’s hand in a firm grasp. He looked at her but she was staring straight ahead. She guided him round to the door up to his room. When Andrew opened the door to his room he walked in and held it open for her. And waited patiently. It took a moment but Glenda ventured in. And then stopped looking around, standing nervously at back of the room. Being the show off that he was, Andrew pulled his shirt off, grabbed a beer and poured her a glass of wine. Then he leant against the balcony facing back into the room and waited to see what Glenda did. She came out and stood right in front of him running her hands over his chest. It was a patient process but she wanted this and so he let her set the pace. When they were back in the room she stopped at the door again.

“Should I strip?”

Her response was a shy nod so Andrew stripped naked and lay on the bed, a condom packet sitting on his stomach. Glenda was frozen in place so he stood back up walked behind her.

“Do you want me to kiss you?”

A quick nod so Andrew kissed the back and sides of her neck.

“Do you want me to run my hands over your body?”

A definite nod. So he took his time, from the tops of her thighs all the way up her body. She leaned back into him as he caressed her tits.

“Do you want me to undress you and run my hands all over your body again?”

They were back to a quick nod. The great thing about warm weather holidays is that there is never much to take off. He unzipped her dress, pulled it off her shoulders and held her hand as she stepped out of it. The knickers followed and once again Andrew was standing behind her this time his hands were caressing Glenda’s hot skin. No sooner had his hands cupped her tits than she pulled and pushed him over to the bed. He grabbed the condom and as soon as he was wrapped up she sank down onto him.

That was the moment she had to rush past, the psychological barrier. And once she was coupled with him Glenda lay against his chest. He let her sort out her feelings just flexing every now and then to stay hard. After a few seconds she sat up with a big smile on her face. She had jumped into the deep end of the pool and had survived. Andrew was the lucky guy that helped her remember that fucking was a lot of fun. They both popped pretty quickly the first time and afterwards she lay beside him smiling happily.

“That was better than I remembered. God, I needed that. I can feel the blood pumping through my veins.”

She babbled for a little bit as the excitement of the moment wore off. But her hand reached and coaxed Andrew back to life so she was clearly ready for some more excitement.

“What was your favourite position?”

“Doggie. Roy loved to look at my arse.”

She really did like doggie. By the end Andrew had her knees off the bed he was holding her up in the air and the slaps of their flesh meeting echoing in the room. He dropped her back onto the bed and managed not to crush her as he slumped down on top of her. Rolling onto his back he dropped the condom on the floor, to be dealt with later. Glenda was peering over her shoulder and then looked at him.

“How am I going to explain these bruises on my poor bum.”

They both laughed and rested, comfortably close. After a few minutes though they clambered out of bed, Andrew cleaned up and both redressed. The evening had got away from them, and he was now starving.

“Do you have a hairbrush?”

He indicated his hair and she frowned.

“I can’t go out like this. It is pretty obvious what I have been doing.”

“So nip up to your room and brush out your hair. But really it won’t make any difference. You are glowing and you don’t need to have just fucked hair to have a just fucked look. You look happy.”

The kisses were only interrupted by his grumbling stomach.

“Come on, I will wait for you in the lobby. I will take you over to the club, walk with you to the bar, buy you a drink and then go and grab some dinner. When you leave the bar until you get to your friend Joan’s table you will be propositioned at least twice, guaranteed.”

“But they will only want one thing.”

“I know. So. Pick a cute one, take him back to your room and let Joan listen to you moan all night.”

“You are terrible.”

Glenda Matthews was a new woman. No, that was not accurate. She was the same woman with a new attitude. She had come there for sun, sand and sex and so far, had only gone two out of three. She really did have a great ‘just fucked’ attitude. By the time Andrew got to the door of the club at the resort someone was already talking to her. She didn’t even have to move. She smiled as he waved goodbye.

Given that they worked late again on the Thursday night Andrew was pretty sure that Brodie wanted to get laid the previous night and made sure they got home in time. So it was another late night dinner at the bar. On Friday Brodie had a long call with Lester late morning. He came and joined the rest of the team.

“They are sending someone from Worthy Down out on Monday to go through everything. Jock, I want you to head over to Akrotiri on Monday at lunchtime and bring him back. The following three days are going to be making sure we have everything for the court martial as well as letting the new guy figure out what has to be fixed up the road. Questions?”

Andrew had heard nothing about getting the money back from the owner of the delivery company but now did not seem to be the time to bring it up. He would be returning to Britain in a week, it did not look like there would be any delays or problems. Even better, Brodie told him he was free until Monday morning.

“Jock, I am going to head over to Episkopi with Captain Chambers, and stay there until Monday morning. There are a couple of mutual old friends stationed out here and we are going over to catch up with them. I will see you back here 9.00 on Monday okay?”

That was the nicest way to describe a drunken piss-up Andrew had heard in a while. So at 4.00 he was back at the resort with the weekend stretching out in front of him. He walked through the lobby but was called over to reception for a message. As he looked at the message the vision of a quiet weekend dissolved in front of him. He was to call Chiara, and it was a local number. Andrew couldn’t stop the smile as he walked over to the bank of phones.

“Hello.”

“Hi, its Andrew.”

“Andrew! Have you finished work?”

“Yes I have.”

“Are you free this weekend?”