Riley had expected her colleagues to pile up work on her table while she went for lunch break, what she did not expect was to see a Chief Inspector – specifically Mrs Miller, standing by her desk.
"Afternoon ma'am," She spoke as she approached "I wasn't told you were waiting–"
"Pack you're things Miss Knox. You're leaving this office today…and you're not coming back," The DCI interrupted coldly and left hastily.
Riley stood frozen, too shocked to react. Her colleagues, however, didn't miss a beat...
"About time, mate. Always knew she'd get found out eventually,"
"Guys she's like – the first individual to get sacked from the Met,"
"She must have done something proper sideways,"
"I heard she sneaked down to the hardware lab earlier and messed with an Op-phone. Claimed a DCI sent her there,"
"The same DCI who just marched in here and binned her?"
"Heck yeah,"
"Oh no,"
"Well, that answers that then, she did do something,"
"Poor kid, and she always keeps such an innocent face,"
"I don't think she looks innocent,"
"Well, looks can be deceiving, can't they?"
"CAN YOU ALL SHUT THE HELL UP AND GET BACK TO WORK?!"
Despite her colleagues' words, Riley couldn't help smirking. The mission had started…THE MISSION HAD STARTED!! Heck she was excited alright, but still a little scared. Ah, who gives a toss. She was so going to shove her success up all their asses soon – soon!
She started clearing her desk exactly as Mrs Miller had instructed.
"Sorry to interrupt," Sergeant Harris said, stepping into the room. He didn't sound remotely sorry. As Mrs Miller's bagman, he looked just as smug as the rest of them. "Riley Knox, you're to meet with my boss and DSU Henderson. Use the lifts, second floor. Secure briefing room four. Move it."
---
The rest of the day came and went in a blur, much to Riley's delight. It wasn't long before she found herself sitting the briefing room, back at the place where she was first told about the mission. And this time she wasn't scared or jittery. She was bloody excited. It was a long time since she was involved in any action, three years to be exact.
"Finally," Mrs Miller scoffed as DSU Henderson walked in through the door "Look who decided to grace us with his presence,"
The DSU frowned in response. The other two greeted him simultaneously, and he responded. Everyone was already there – The CHIS Registrar, Riley the Asset, and DCI Mrs Miller, her Handler. As the DSU overseeing the whole mission, it was legally mandatory for him to be there to log the activation.
"Have you been briefed of the paperwork you're about to sign?" DSU Henderson asked Riley.
"Not yet Sir. We were all waiting on you,"
"Right then," Henderson said, pulling out a chair "Let's get straight to it,"
"And lest I forget," Henderson watched as Riley picked up her legend "You'll go by the name Riley Sinclair,"
Riley looked up at him with furrowed brows. But before she could say anything…
"You don't have any problem with that…do you?" Mrs Miller retorted sharply.
Riley shook her head "Not at all,"
---[Back at the TSU]
Riley picked up the heavy cardboard crates containing the remnants of her desk and walked out of the open-plan office. The entire floor went dead quiet, dozens of eyes tracking her every move.
"So, you're really leaving huh?" One of the techs finally asked as Riley handed her keycard to the security officer by the door. The officer took her keycard with a nod and left.
"Yeah," Riley responded "I'm leaving,"
"Did you even try to fight your corner? Are you seriously that eager to just walk out?"
"Why did you go over to the hardware lab in first place, Knox?"
"Hold on," Another voiced piped up from the back "I think this is all a setup. Don't forget, that DCI had earlier called her that day. The boss must have completely stitched her up,"
"But hang on…is it even legal to just sack someone on the spot from the met? I though only the commissioner could pull a trigger like that,"
"We should inform someone,"
"No, look…it's fine, honestly," Riley tried to dismiss their thoughts. Her heart warming up and hammering at the same time.
"This is not the time to be sheepish, Knox. Time after time, people tend to walk all over you. This is the absolute limit. If you're not going to do something, I will,"
Riley smiled a little. Not all of her workmates were mean.
"What's with the smile? Don't tell me you're falling for him because of what he said,"
"I've got to go, my ride's here,"
"But Riley–"
"Let her. If she's eager to leave, she should."
It was the same 'Mr Greg' who had constantly frustrated her life here. He suddenly reminded her of her reason to leave in first place. She didn't waste a second after that.
Immediately the door clicked shut, a lady's voice rang out "Did anyone else notice that Riley didn't even look bothered about getting binned?"
---
Riley walked out of the Yard and into a new identity – Riley Sinclair. Not much about her new life changed. She still attended the same university, studied the same cybersecurity, and lived in the same shabby but comfortable flat. But she had a family this time, and Mrs Miller was acting as her mother.
She looked at the burner op-phone in her hand and smiled. Sure, the mission hadn't properly kicked off yet, but she was getting somewhere, and she was going to uncover something big. This was going to be fun, jolly good fun. She made sure she had walked to the dry cleaners around the corner on the next street before she ordered an Uber to her flat. She had used her new phone and new identity.
The app confirmed her payment and estimated her ride would arrive in three minutes. She stood on the pavement, waiting. It didn't take long before a car sped past, nearly clipping her. She was about to shout after the driver when she noticed where the car pulled up – the back gate of Scotland Yard? She thought that area was only used for bins.
Her police instinct kicked in immediately. She crossed the street, keeping her eyes locked on the vehicle. But as she drew closer, she froze, completely stupefied.
You wouldn't believe who stepped out of the…Audi?
---
Nathaniel hated things that made him think too much. Ever since Darryl told him about the DCI's visit, he started having nightmares as daydreams. He had cross-checked their customers list for the last five years twice now. Nothing was making sense. He wouldn't be this worried if the DCI had asked about the sales ledger to crosscheck the items bought by a specific customer. This wasn't about anyone, it was about BlueCrest. And whatever it was, it needed to be fixed…or he was fucked.
That was why when someone from the Met decided to talk about the DC's visit, he was more than ready to listen. He got to know that some weapons used by gangsters for carrying out their illegal activities bore his companies' signature. But he didn't create weapons, only tech gadgets and PCs. He needed to see this weapon and confirm if it true, or a fake carbon copy of his logo. If this was real, he was in deep shit. Really deep shit.
The Inspector who had informed him of all these, also agreed to show him at least a picture of this weapon, for a little token. He had just finished a meeting with a new client, when he rushed to Scotland Yard. He was in such a hurry that he couldn't wait for his driver and drove himself instead.
He ran many red lights, and almost knocked down a weird lady standing by the pavement with boxes covering her face.
"I'm sorry I'm late…" He was panting even when he had driven a car.
"No worries, it's just three minutes," The man wore a face cap, he looked more like janitor.
"I shouldn't have done this, but I just wanted to help you,"
"Yeah," Nathaniel sounded bored
"This was quite hard to get, only specific people are let near these kind of equipment and I'm not one of them. Not a word of this to anyone,"
He handed the pictures to Nathaniel in a file, and Nathaniel gave him some quid.
---
"What exactly are you doing in my car?"
Nathaniel let out a heavy sigh as he stared at the strange girl from across the street, now sitting squarely in his passenger seat. He'd made the bloody mistake of leaving his car unlocked. Again.
Riley gave a small embarrassed smile. "I – um" She cleared her throat with a tight, fake cough. Nathaniel smirked slightly. He'd be lying if he said he didn't find the sheer audacity of it a bit funny.
Honestly, he was so completely spent from his meetings earlier that his brain was fried – here he was, practically laughing at a random stranger trespassing in his vehicle.
"I – I have been waiting for a cab," She said, her voice small and tentative "None seems to pass me around here. Could you perhaps, drop me off by the main road, I reckon I'd have a better chance of catching a ride out there."
Shocked would be an understatement at this point. "I don't think you'll take a no for an answer since you're already in–"
"I can get out if you want…it was proper out of order of me. I'm so sorry," She said shifting her cardboard crates as if she was about to climb back out onto the pavement.
"Just get in," He shut her door for her, walked around the bonnet, and slid into the driver's seat.
It really should have been a completely silent drive, but Riley just 'had' to make small talk with the suspect…uh, man. With the young man.
"I love the car, by the way."
Nathaniel just hummed in response, his eyes fixed on the road.
"It's pretty rare to see a janitor rolling around in a proper Audi nowadays,, isn't it?"
"A janitor?" Nathaniel repeated, throwing her a sideways glance.
"Yeah,. isn't that what you are? You work at the Yard, right? Do they have any open slots for cleaners at the moment? Please recommend me if they do, I'm desperate–"
"What on earth makes you think I'm a Janitor?"
"Well, you literally just walked out of the Yard's back gate where the bins are," Riley stated matter-of-factly.
"I – I didn't come out from there! And besides, I'm wearing a tailored suit!"
"Oh. Yeah, I didn't really think that one through, did I?" She let out a nervous laugh, and silence fell. It didn't last long though.
"But–"
Nathaniel closed his eyes for a split second and sighed. The next main junction was only two minutes away. He could endure her for two more minutes.
"What exactly were you doing at the Yard's back gate in a luxury suit, then?"
"Collecting something," He murmured evasively.
Riley gasped exaggeratedly in fake realisation "You're a crook, aren't you?"
"You've reached your stop," Nathaniel said, his voice dropping into a tired, heavy tone. He stepped on the brakes, pulling the Audi smoothly up to the kerb.
"Oh," Riley alighted, "Cheers for the lift,"
"Don't mention it," He was about to put the car back into gear and drive off, but he paused, rolling down the window an inch. "And for the record? You talk a proper premium amount of rubbish. It's incredibly annoying."
He hit the accelerator and sped away into the London traffic.
The moment the Audi vanished around the corner, Riley's silly, clueless façade completely melted away. She rolled her shoulders, letting out a breath "Well, that was a bummer,"
She started walking down the street, casually swinging her empty hands.
Hold on. Empty hands?!
Riley froze dead in her tracks on the pavement, her eyes widening in absolute horror as her brain registered the empty space beneath her arms. The cardboard boxes. Her Met Police files. Her new, highly encrypted op-phone. All sitting in the footwell of the target's car.
"Oh, Christ…" Riley whispered, the blood completely draining from her face, "I am absolutely dead,"