Chapter 4

Pounding on the front door at 0700 was what woke Abdul Sa’aslikah. He had been up late last night tending to investment portfolios that he managed. Abdul was very intelligent when it came to managing money. His education at Dartmouth had been well worth the effort to get him a student visa to attend college.

He made it down stairs and opened the door to see a very tall man in a British Electrical Authority shirt holding a clipboard.

“I’m sorry to wake you sir, I’m Danny from the BEA and we’ve had reports of fuse box failures on this street. We traced the problem and we’re working on it, but we would like to double check your fuse box to make sure that it’s properly grounded to prevent surges.” The man told Abdul.

“What exactly happens when a fuse box fails?”

“Your power dies and it takes us about an hour and a half to get out here and another 4 hours to replace it. We’re trying to get ahead of this crisis. It’ll only take a few ticks and we’ll be out of your hair.” The electrician told him.

“Ok, sure, come on in. The box is in the basement behind the stairs.” Abdul told him as he stepped out of the doorway.

“Right, thanks so much sir, I’m going to make sure that your cooperation is noted. We haven’t had a lot of luck with people letting us in this early in the morning.” He told Abdul. “Harry, grab your kit and come one!” he yelled at his partner.

“Oh I’m sure you are having issues waking people up this early on a Saturday morning.” He replied sarcastically.

“I know mate, but we have 139 houses to check today so we got at it early.” He replied.

“I’m sorry. I was up late working and I got to bed around 3am. I’m a bit tired.” Abdul said.

“If I can be nosey, what is it you do?” Danny asked.

“I’m a portfolio manager for clients that invest in the Nikkei Index in Japan.” He informed him.

“Oh, you’re a stock broker. No way I could do what you do. In my mind two plus two equals five.” Danny said laughing out loud.

Abdul chuckled at his joke. “It’s not as bad as you think. It’s all about the timing and the research.” He explained.

Meanwhile, Harry was in the basement looking at the fuse box and making notes. He opened the panel and looked in. Everything was where it was supposed to be. He closed it up and looked around the room a bit. When he spotted the router and modem for the Internet, he looked up the stairs for a moment and then pulled out his cellphone and snapped a picture of both their IP addresses. He sent the picture in a text message and then put it away. Harry closed the fuse box and started putting everything back the way it was. When walked up the stairs and saw Danny talking to the homeowner, he gave Danny thumbs up and walked outside to the next house.

“Thanks mate for the information about investing. I really thought it was more about numbers and less about everyday life. By the way, I encourage you to get your box checked every six months or so. It won’t cost anything and will save you some quid in the long run. Sorry to have woken you up, and thanks for your cooperation.” He said as he shook Abdul’s hand.

After Abdul had closed his door, Danny walked over to the next house over and saw that Harry was already talking to the woman that owned it. As he was walking over to the house, his cellphone rang.

“Yeah ... What do you mean you found the problem?” He paused as he listened to the call. “Oh so we DIDN’T need to wake all these nice people up this morning?”

Harry turned around to see what Danny was heatedly talking about. “Excuse me mum, I’ll be right back.” He walked over and listened to Danny as he talked on the phone.

“Ok, so the problem was a torn cable cover and you’re fixing the problem now ... Ok, we’ll get right over there and help out.” Danny closed the call. “Apparently the engineers found the problem and it was a torn cable cover.”

“Figures ... Mum, we’re sorry to have woken you. We don’t need to see your fuse box after all. Please have a good day.” Harry said as he started to put his equipment away.

After they had cleaned up and put their kit away in the storage bins, they climbed into the truck and drove off. Harry reached under the seat and grabbed a different cell phone. He hit speed dial and waited for the call to connect.

“Yeah, it’s done. Tell the surveillance team they can log on and start monitoring ... Abdul Sa’aslikah was the man’s name ... Nikkei stockbroker he said. You should have the text message I sent with the IP addresses already ... Ok, ping it again to make sure that you have it ... Ok ... Right.” Harry said disconnecting the call. “Since we’re already dressed for it, the real BEA is going to meet us at the camera that is aimed at the US Embassy. Director Younger is taking a personal interest in the safe houses and the Russian agent spying on the Americans.” He told Danny.

“They have Black Cab coffee over there. Let’s grab a cuppa and then meet the electricians.” Danny said.

“You go with the tea, I’m going to pretend I’m American redneck and get a large coffee.” Harry said smiling at him.

“Why, are you knackered? Marcy keep you up last night, yeah?” Danny asked.

“If you’d told me that she’d wake up in the middle of almost every night and want a shag while she’s pregnant, I’d have called you a liar. I can’t keep her off me...” Harry said.

“Are you complaining then you Nancy-boy?” Danny asked with a chuckle.

“Sod off you prick!” Harry said as they both laughed.

Meanwhile across town at another Iranian safe house, the team from MI6 had finished getting the laser microphones calibrated and had gotten the video cameras set up to watch who came and went from the house.

Gerald Phillips and Jonny Kasim were the morning team that was watching the house. They were both seasoned intelligence operatives. Gerald had been watching and listening to what was going on in the house and Jonny had gone and gotten breakfast for the both of them.

“Holy Shite it’s brass monkey’s out there!” Jonny said as he closed the door to the flat. “They had just pulled the baps and biscuits from the oven, so they’re still warm.” He looked at Gerald expecting him to say something, but instead he was looking at the video camera and had the headset on to listen to what was going on across the road at the safe house.

Gerald held up his hand to get Jonny’s attention. “Hey, get on the headset and tell me if you hear the same thing I did.”

Jonny rushed over and slid the headset on his head as Gerald played the recording back for him. He listened as he heard sobbing and crying coming from somewhere in the house. “Sounds to me like she’s gutted. Maybe her man just dumped her.”

“Not likely mate. She was begging for mercy and pleading for who ever it was to stop. Keep listening.” Gerald said as he handed a preliminary report to Jonny.

Jonny took the report and read over it as he listened. “Which microphone did this come from?” he asked Gerald.

“Cellar. It was near the window for it to come in so clear.” He replied.

“Bollacks...” Jonny said as he picked up his cell and made a call to his superior. “Yes sir, we’ve got something you need to know ... Yes sir, the coffee and tea was a bit of alright ... Yes sir, the equipment is all working correctly. Sir, the reason I’m calling ... Yes sir it is witches tit/brass bra cold this morning ... No sir, the baps were fresh when I got there this morning ... Sir, the reason I’m calling, Gerald heard a woman begging for mercy and for someone to stop whatever it was they were doing to her ... Yes sir, it could be that, but you didn’t hear the recording ... No sir, we have no reason to think that it was consensual. We both agree that there’s a woman or women being tortured in the cellar on the house.” Jonny looked over at Gerald and made the wanking hand motion. “Yes sir, we’ll get the clip over to you and keep watching. Thank you sir...” He said as he disconnected the call.

Gerald looked at him and asked, “I wonder if the Americans have this much trouble with their supervisors?”

“I swear that man causes me to lose 10 IQ points every time I talk to him.” Jonny said. “Let’s break out the thermal cameras, we might get lucky and get some video.” Both of them opened up the hard case holding the thermal cameras and started setting them up.

Mikhail Chugunov was hanging by his arms. He was almost unconscious after having been questioned for 17 hours about his activities with the Iranians. He had told them about the laser microphone and the camera and even who had provided it for him. Talitha, Denise, and Hank Richards, were watching the replay of his questioning.

“Yes, it was given to me by the GRU and they paid a couple BEA people to put it up.” He said wearily.

“Are you the only one to use it?” He was asked.

“No, I was one of four that used it.” He replied.

“Names...”

“Michaels, Svetlana Michaels, S-S-Samir Ju Khoshkam, and Tiam ... Tiam Kiannejad.” Michael replied.

“When did Svetlana last use the camera?” He was asked.

“She was last in London six months ago with her husband.”

Denise paused the video playback. “Do I need to actually tell you who her husband is? We’ve already verified it’s the same woman.” She asked Hank. “No, the fact that Gregory Michaels, the assistant secretary of the interior, is married to a Russian spy is not lost on me. Obviously, I have to let everyone know, but what do you plan to do after this?” he asked.

“I’m going to continue on mission like we agreed. I’m sure that we’ll run across Svetlana at some point in the near future.” Denise forwarded the video a few minutes and started it again. “Listen to what he says from here, it gets interesting.” She asks.

“Mikhail, thank you for telling us what we wanted to know.” the interrogator told him. “I have just a couple more questions for you. In exchange, I will lower your arms and you can sit on a comfortable chair. Is that an equitable exchange?”

“Yes, that is agreeable.” he replied.

One of the interrogation team brought a padded chair in for him. His body was lowered and he was helped to sit down. His arms were removed from the shackles and a blanket was placed around him to provide some warmth and dignity.

“Mikhail, I would like you to tell me about the phishing scam that is being run. Who is running it and where is the money and information going?” the voice asked.

“The money is going into various banks in Europe and the Middle East. I do not know anything other than where it is being deposited. As for who is running it, I was told that if questions arose, I would text Svetlana and she would get in touch with me.” he replied.

One of the interrogation team opened a bottle of water. He knelt down in front of Mikhail and took a sip of it to prove that it wasn’t drugged and then handed it to him. “Thank you for your help Mikhail. One more question and we will clean you up and let you sleep some before we take you back to your apartment.” the voice said to him. Mikhail nodded his head as he drank the water. “Have you ever met or had contact with Republican guard contacts and if so, what did you talk about?”

“I met with a colonel about ... five or six months ago I think.” He paused for a moment. “ ... Rostamifir I think his name was. He was interested in the whorehouse I used while I am in London. He said that he was looking to show a decadent western woman her place. I did not give him the location of the house. I was sure he was looking to abuse the woman.” He told the interrogator.

“Thank you Mikhail, you will now be taken to a room where you may clean up, eat, and sleep. We appreciate your willingness to cooperate with us.” The voice said.

Denise turned off the video and looked at Hank and Talitha. “I’ve already had the geeks in the US get his information to us and MI6. Interpol has been notified to keep an eye out for him. That’s about all we can do at this point regarding him.”

Talitha spoke up. “Svetlana Michaels however is another matter. She has been on Mossad’s radar for years now, even before she married your politician. But we could prove nothing because the Kremlin was watching over her. Now that we have confirmation of her activities, we would like to ... discreetly, look into her finances. But we would never think to do that with your country’s permission.”

“That would be a decision that would be up to the director and probably the Secretary of state.” He told her. He looked at the blank video screen. The three of them were deep thought when Hank spoke back up again. “However ... since this is information that was obtained while conducting a covert operation ... My name is Sgt Schultz and I know nothing.” He said with a smirk. “What are you plans for Mikhail?”

“The Mossad director is willing to offer him asylum in Israel and a new identity if he’ll cooperate with us when we need information.” Talitha told him.

“You think he’ll take the offer?” Hank asked.

“His escorts to Jerusalem are arriving tomorrow morning early. He told us that Vice Admiral Kostyukov is not known for tolerating operatives that get detained and questioned.” Talitha told him.

“Yes, Kostyukov is not a very pleasant man ... I’m going to guess and say that everything is cleaned up and the team is ready to head back to the states?” Hank asked.

“I think the geeks are upstairs playing Xbox on the 92” 4K TV we have up there. The interrogators are finishing paperwork, we’re going to leave the equipment here since I’m sure that they or another team like them will be back at some point.” Denise told him.

“Good call on the equipment. Give the team three days at the Marriott in Warsaw compliments of the Director. They’ve earned it pulling this together on such short notice.” Hank told her.