Chapter 6

As they left Walton-on-the-Naze, Zoe and Alex Smith were, initially, silent. It was maybe half an hour later that Zoe spoke.

"You can't keep me out of this," she said quietly but firmly.

"I can't?"

"I'm sure you want to, but you need me."

It was some time – maybe ten minutes later – her husband responded; "I know. But, Zoe, sweetheart, I can't lose you."

"No more can I lose you, darling. We're just going to have to be careful, aren't we?"

Her husband's response was an unhappy grunt of agreement.

It was lunch-time of the following day Zoe and Alex drew up in the car-park of the South Mimms services, just off the M25 orbital motorway. She slipped her hand into his as they walked together into the building and stood in line for an indifferent meal. The meal was collected and paid for and they were sitting down to consume it when Alex saw the person they were to meet. Alex stood and two pairs of professional Intelligence Officer eyes met through the crowds of travellers.

She was tall and slim, with salt-and-pepper hair trimmed short. Although in smart-casual civilian clothes, she carried herself with an air of confidence and authority. "Might I join you?" she asked as Alex stood at her approach. He nodded; "Certainly Ma'am. Pleased to have your company." Then, once she'd placed her unappetising ham salad on the table and sat, "May I introduce my wife, Zoe?"

"Delighted to meet you, Missus Smith." Then looking from one to the other, "My congratulations to the both of you."

Zoe responded with a smile for the woman and a questioning glance at Alex.

"Zoe, this is my military commander, Colonel Walker."

The woman smiled. "Major Smith is usually more accurate in his information. In this case, he is a little out of date."

"Major?" "Out of date?" Zoe and Alex spoke together, their eyes flicking between each other and their companion.

"Indeed, Major Smith. Your promotion came through last night, despite the reprimand I am required to deliver in respect of your dealing with that pimp. There won't be a record of the reprimand, however as for political reasons, the case is unsolved and will remain so. Unofficially and off the record, though, I understand why you did what you did and, personally, find it difficult to blame you."

Alex shrugged his shoulders. "I'd do the same again. But you said 'out of date and inaccurate.'?"

"I did. My promotion came through in the same batch. It's Brigadier Walker..."

"Well, congratulations, Ma'am. Well deserved, if I may say so."

Her manner softened somewhat, "Thank you, Alex ... if I may?"

"Yes, Ma'am, of course..."

"So, Alex ... you wanted this meeting?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Alex took a deep breath, glanced at Zoe, and handed several photographs to the older woman. "Her name is Nadiya. She's a Russian orphan from near Moscow. She was abducted and brought here illegally. She was then 'trained' – raped and beaten, humiliated and chained when not in ... use. She's not the only one – she knows of at least four others. Anyway, once they thought she was cowed enough, she was rented out to wealthy paedophiles. Until one was careless and she was able to run away. She was lucky. Very lucky; she ran across a place to hide and some people who were prepared to shelter her. They contacted Professor Waters, a friend of a friend. Known to us, of course. She called me. Ma'am, this isn't just about one arrogant pimp. There's something very rotten in the State of Denmark. Well, East Anglia anyway."

The other woman shook her head grimly. "Tell me more."

"Nadiya said she thought the Police, or at least one or more senior officers, are in the pay of the ring. She told us the men talked in the girls' hearing. Of course, their English is very limited, so the suggestion is unreliable, but it makes sense to me. Enough sense I don't want to go through official channels."

She was nodding in agreement. "This jibes with some rumours I'm hearing. Which means official action is quite impossible. What do you want from me?"

"My team."

"And?"

"And whatever they need for the job."

Zoe's eyes were flicking between her husband and Brigadier Walker, who nodded. "You'll find – when you ring round – that they will be able to get some holiday time at short notice. So don't ring round for ... say ... an hour. It'll take me that long to get the arrangements made." She stood and held out her hand to Zoe. "Zoe, it really is a pleasure to meet you. You've got a good one – I'm jealous. But if you ever hurt him, the world isn't big enough to hide from me, zu verstehen?"

Zoe met her eyes and held them before nodding. "I understand. I really do know what I've got in Alex."

The older woman smiled warmly. "I believe you do. Jusqu'à ce que nous nous reverrons, alors." She looked at Zoe with raised eyebrows, to see if she understood, and recognised the comprehension in Zoe's expression.

"I look forward to it, ma'am."

Zoe and Alex watched her leave.

As they walked to the car, Alex handed his wife the keys. Zoe, who had passed her test a mere two weeks previous, took them with an ambivalent mixture of fear and excitement.

"I should have booked you in for a motorway driving course," Alex commented. "The traffic shouldn't be too bad about now. I'll need to make a few calls soon, so it's a good chance for you to sample the delights of the M25."

With Alex, quiet and calm, sitting beside her, Zoe merged with the other users of the orbital motorway and was soon able to relax. Alex didn't begin to use his phone until they had left the motorway and joined the infamous A12. Even there, Zoe was confident that her husband was monitoring everything that was going on as he talked; she knew enough to know he had excellent 'situational awareness', which meant she was able to stay relaxed. He made three calls, finishing shortly before Zoe turned off to enter Witham.

While Zoe and Alex were on their way to meet Brigadier Walker, Pippa and the others were in Serendipity's saloon with coffee, or in Nadiya's case, tea. Cherry, eventually, broached something that had been on her mind.

"Nadiya..."

"Yes, Skip-per?"

"Your hair ... is very noticeable. I hate to do it, but I want to cut it and dye it brown."

Nadiya turned to look at Pippa, who was thoughtful. "I should have thought of that," Pippa said. "Nadiya, your hair will grow out in time, but it'd certainly mean you stood out less meanwhile."

"Stood out?"

"Nadiya, you're very pretty. 'Standing out' means you are very noticeable. Even," she smiled and looked at Cherry, "when you're with our skipper, who is quite noticeable herself."

"I don't mind," Nadiya said, looking round, "I think what I look like got me in trouble."

"Good!" Cherry spoke briskly. "Let's do that before we leave, shall we?"

As a result, when the anchor left the ground CC's assistant looked like a tousled brown-haired ... boy. Not that CC had any illusions as to her gender.

With a fresh westerly wind, there was no problem leaving Hamford water, or heading north-east up the coast; They were under way at thirteen hundred. It took two hours to reach the Cross cardinal buoy, where they turned north-east. After another couple of hours, they were off Aldeburgh, where they headed more northerly. They ate tea looking at the Sizewell nuclear power-station, and everyone had a mug of cocoa as they passed Lowestoft.

The watches presented something of a problem, as neither Pippa nor Nadiya could really be expected to stand watch alone. Pippa explained the issue to Nadiya, who said she wanted to do her share and agreed to join Cherry as Starboard watch, while Pippa was to join CC as Port watch.

Just to explain, the old system of scheduling who is on duty runs as follows;

First watch: 2000 to 0000, Middle watch: 0000 to 0400, Morning watch: 0400 to 0800, Forenoon watch: 0800 to 1200, Afternoon watch: 1200 to 1600, First dog watch: 1600 to 1800, Last dog watch: 1800 to 2000.

The dog watches make the shifts alternate so crews don't get stuck with the same watches every day. However, in leisure sailing, especially with a small crew, such a formal arrangement is unnecessary. Cherry and Nadiya had the deck from twenty-two hundred to oh two hundred. CC gently woke Pippa at just before oh two hundred and they – Pippa a little blearily – took over.

Nadiya was to sleep with Cherry, but before she followed the skipper into the master cabin, shyly hugged Pippa and kissed her softly. Pippa responded with a warm hug and another kiss. CC set a course near enough north-north-east.