Peter Taylor scanned the information that he had just downloaded from Joanne's phone; information from George Wright's planner. Looking at the entries for the previous week he saw George's notation 'move 2nd B to Bristol'. That would be the 2nd Battalion of crack MRU troops. Each Battalion had four "Companies", so that would be considerable manpower to cover the area around the city. George had then drawn an arrow, in pencil, from that entry to the current date and penciled in 'C's 1-3 to Norfolk' He was moving three Companies of men into Norfolk County. From past experience, Peter knew how they would deploy; setting up major roadblocks going into the larger cities and hidden monitoring sites along the lesser traveled roads. Three Companies of men would be twelve squads...a hundred and forty four men at a minimum. They would blanket every road leading to the coast!

Touching the screen on his own phone, Peter placed his left index finger on a glowing oval when it appeared. A scanning light could be seen moving back and forth under the spot where his finger touched the phone and then his screen brightened and unlocked. He quickly flipped through his apps and selected one. When a keypad appeared he entered in a long stream of digits and then held the phone up to his ear.

Joanne looked over at Peter and understood what he meant. "Of course, dear. I'd be lost at home without you." They grinned at each other and Peter's hand closed on Jo's.

Steering the car towards the waiting MRU officer, Peter lowered his window as they pulled up beside him. "Good evening, Lieutenant," he said, noticing the insignia on the man's collar. "What brings the MRU out on a Sunday night?"

The officer bent down and directed his torch around the inside of the car, lingering on Joanne as the light passed over her. "Routine inspections," he replied curtly. "What's your business in this area?"

Peter held out the travel documents he had printed out at his house and the officer took them to examine the paperwork under the light of his torch. "Major Taylor, huh?" The man looked in at Peter, probably assessing the lack of a uniform. "May I see some ID, sir?"

While Peter reached back to get his wallet the second MRU man approached the other side of the car. "Check her out," the officer said to the second man. The man motioned for Joanne to lower her window and when she complied he raised a scanner and brought it close to her head.

"Is that necessary, Lieutenant? I can assure you that my girlfriend is not a Regenerated whore," he turned to Joanne and added, "Are you, darling?"

"Certainly not!" Jo stated, as if taking offense to the insinuation. But then, playfully added, "I don't mind, though. You have your job to do. Scan away, sir." She tilted her head back and rested it against the headrest while pushing her torso out away from the seat. Distraction 101.

The Lieutenant had taken Peter's ID, but his gaze was directed past him. Peter looked over to see the second officer holding his scanner in the direction of Joanne's head, but his eyes were on Jo's spandex clad form. Peter had to admit it was a captivating sight as he joined the other two men in admiring her. When he looked back up at the Lieutenant and held his hand out for his ID the MRU man just handed it back. It was doubtful that he had even looked at it.

"Lucky bloke," he muttered and stood back from the car, waving his torch in an indication that they could move through the checkpoint gate.

On their way again, Joanne looked at the clock on the dashboard and said, "We've got to go faster, Peter! We don't know how close or how far way from Ipswich they'll set up the road block, do we?"

"No, I'm not sure where they'll set up. Good point," Peter replied. He pressed harder on the gas peddle and the digital projection of the speedometer on the windshield became a blur as the sporty car accelerated.

There were some slower moving vehicles in both lanes of the road, causing him to maneuver around them while never letting up on the accelerator. Once clear of the cars he glanced over to see that Joanne had settled back in her seat and was idly watching the passing scenery. At the speed he was driving, a glance was all he could spare, but that didn't prevent him from devoting a portion of his thoughts to the woman sitting beside him.

Joanne seemed to be relatively cool under pressure and he really admired that about her. He'd worked with plenty of 'new' people in the field and they were usually little balls of raw nerves. Whether it was this high speed chase they were currently on, MRU assholes ogling or groping her body, or adapting to unexpected events like they had encountered at Olivia's party the previous evening, Joanne coped with each situation with calmness and poise. Maybe it was her intelligence or maybe she was someone who just easily went with the flow. Whatever the reason, those qualities made her a natural for this line of work.

The road ahead became completely devoid of traffic and it allowed for an even deeper consideration of his companion. It was a consideration that he had been pushing out of his mind for the past couple of weeks, but really couldn't be altogether kept from seeping back in. He liked Joanne on a personal level. If he were being honest with himself, he'd have to admit he liked her a lot. Besides her obvious beauty, she was fun to be around and he always looked forward to seeing her. His visits to check in on Gloria and the other women hiding in the basement of Leather Bound were more frequent that he would have normally made. He had told himself at the time that it was because Joanne was new at the safe house, but that didn't ring true because Christina was still there to help her out. Finally he had to admit to himself that he was going there to see Joanne.

That was a sobering thought. He had buried himself in his work and the business of the KSN since Abby had gone north and had not allowed himself to think of being close to anyone. Even though he knew Abby would some day return to her beloved Jessica, Peter had really come to love her during the two years they had spent together. She was an amazing woman, and he missed her after she had gone. He reasoned that his self isolation was a defense against feeling that loss again, and the realization that he was going out of his way to see Joanne made him more nervous than a mission behind enemy lines!

"Should you slow down a little, sir?" Joanne's voice snapped Peter out of his thoughts.

"What?"

"We're coming up on Colchester. We just passed the sign."

"Thanks," he said as he took his foot off the gas and allowed the car to coast to a slower speed. "I'm glad you're here." That was true in more ways than one, and it just felt good to say it out loud.

As they passed through the city towards the northern suburbs, Peter began to fear they wouldn't locate the truck before it reached the MRU checkpoint. He wouldn't have been so worried if the truck was being inspected by regular police officers, but the MRU were much more thorough and were more likely to spot the compartment the women were hidden in. He looked at his speed readout and was just about to accelerate when he spotted a white truck ahead of them. As he got closer he read the advertisement, Donelli's Meats, on the back.

"That's them right there," he said to Joanne as he pulled up next to the truck and flashed his lights. The driver was one of his runners, and was sure to recognize his Aston Martin. Sure enough, he saw the truck's headlights flash on the road in front of them. He sped up enough to pull in front of the truck and then matched the truck's speed.

"There's a safe house in Jaywick we can use," Peter said. "We'll get off at the next exit and head towards the coast." He looked over at Joanne and saw that she was already looking up their location on the map.

"A120?" she asked.

"That's the one. It's only a couple of miles ahead. It's the same route I'd be taking to Harwich anyways, so this'll work out perfectly."

Joanne exited her phone app and put the device back in her pocket. She relaxed in her seat and watched the signs as they neared the exit and began to slow down as Peter took the ramp. Looking in the side mirror, she could see that the delivery truck pulled off, too. Turning right onto the two lane road, Peter accelerated but kept his speed under the posted limit.

"Do you still have The Haunted Bookshop at the store, Jo?" Peter asked. "The last I saw it it was in that first room on the right."

"As it happens, I can tell you for sure that it's still there," Jo replied. "I know because I just received the precursor to that one..."

"Parnassus on Wheels," they both said at the same time.

"Oh! You know that one?" Jo asked, surprised.

"Know it? I just finished reading it."

Joanne laughed. "Well, the Haunted Bookshop is not a first edition, it's from the 1928 reprint."

"That's okay," Peter said as he checked his mirror to make sure he wasn't getting too far ahead of the truck. "My Parnassus isn't first edition either."

"Did you know that Parnassus was actually broadcast on the Hallmark Playhouse radio show back in the late 40's or early 50's," Joanne asked.

"No, I didn't know that."

For the next seven miles Peter and Joanne discussed rare books. Joanne, who had been immersed in all things written since an early age, and had studied literature at University, was quite amazed at Peter's knowledge of rare and out of print books. Not to be outdone, though, she was easily able to expand upon nearly every topic he broached, getting a steady stream of "Oh really", and "I had no idea", or "fascinating."

A sign on the side of the road announced the junction of A133. Peter switched on his directional and pulled into a petrol station that was located just before the turnoff.

"Well, as much as I've enjoyed this conversation, we'll have to part company here for a little while."

"What?! Why?"

"I actually do have to go on to Harwich and take care of some business. You'll go with Agent Falcon and the women to the safe house. I'll swing by and pick you up on my way back."

"But..." Joanne was disappointed to be so suddenly separated from the Major.

Peter pulled up to the pump and turned off the engine. "Here they come. Wait until he pulls in and blocks the view from the service station, and then get out."

When the white truck pulled in, Peter nodded to the driver as he hopped down out of the cab. "Get her inside," he said under his breathe as Joanne emerged from the car.

Agent Falcon reached back inside his cab and removed a small iron t-bar and pressed the tapered end into a hole at the bottom of the truck bed. A thin section of the truck's side panel moved upwards, exposing a space just large enough for Joanne to climb into.

"I'll see you soon, Sparrow," Peter whispered as Falcon pulled the panel back down to its original position. The entire operation took about twenty seconds. The two men exchanged a few words as they each pumped a couple gallons of fuel into their tanks, and then drove off, each taking a different road.

Inside the small compartment of the truck, Joanne was greeted by Mrs. MacMasters and the other three women who had stayed in the Leather Bound basement. Two other women she didn't know were also with them. The narrow compartment had eight seats, four facing four. The knees of each women rested between the knees of the woman across from her. Overhead were the insulated pipes that transferred the icy cold air from the refrigeration unit behind the cab to the rear section of the truck. An adjustable vent had been installed in the piping to allow for a small amount of the refrigerated air to flow into the hidden compartment. Attached to the ceiling were four yellow oxygen tanks with lines leading to clear plastic masks for use in an emergency. Under the seats were large plastic bags filled with energy bars, fruit bars, and other non-perishable food items. It looked as if preparations had been made in the event that the occupants of the compartment were not able to leave for some reason. By the looks of it, they could survive in the compartment for several days if need be.

After a somewhat cheerful reunion, the mood turned distinctly more serious as Joanne's sudden appearance was surely not a good sign. Joanne gave them a quick explanation for the change in plans and then put them at ease with her assurances that they would be cared for at yet another safe house very shortly. She was glad that no one pressed her for information on where they would go from there because she didn't know anything more than they did. All she knew was that they were going to Jaywick, and that was right on the waterfront. It seemed logical to think they would be moved from there by boat.

As the truck moved along the road Joanne somberly considered the women sitting in the cramped quarters of the compartment. What a precious cargo! Human beings, persecuted and abused to the point of abandoning their lives and their country. World history was littered with such stories; poverty, war, famine, any number of reasons for seeking refuge elsewhere. The heart-wrenching difference was that this time the migration was flowing out of England. Joanne knew this had to end, and she suddenly felt the need to do more than just tend the Cecil Court safe house. There must be something else she could do to strike back against the regime, and as she looked at the worried faces of her fellow passengers she resolved to find out what that might be.

Time passed slowly within the confines of the compartment. The seats the women sat in were well padded with foam and rubber to lessen the impact of the truck's movements along the road. Just as the accommodations at Leather Bound had been tailored to make the fleeing women as comfortable as possible, so had the interior of the small secret space in the truck.

Joanne looked around and saw that a couple of the women had fallen asleep; poor dears! She was exhausted, and could only imagine how these women felt. Jo closed her eyes and relaxed the best she could, but her mind continued to race. Where were they going? Was she suppose to know what to do when they got there? Peter said they were going to another safe house so she could assume that there was a Minder there performing the same tasks that she did at Cecil Court. That was reassuring! So much so that she felt a large portion of her stress fade away.

Whether she had fallen asleep or not Jo wasn't really sure, but the bouncing of the truck when it came to a halt had everyone's eyes open and alert. There was no noise at all coming in from the outside and it sounded as though the truck's engine had been turned off. A slight crackling noise came from overhead and then Agent Falcon's voice whispered from an unseen speaker.

"Prepare to get out on the passenger's side in just a few seconds. Make sure you have all of your belongings please. When I open the panel, move directly into the house as quickly and quietly as you can. Good luck everyone."

They felt the compartment tip slightly as the driver exited the cab of the truck, and then they heard a slight noise on the side furthest away from Joanne.

"Do you all have everything?" Joanne asked in a hushed voice. "Check around your seats."

Everyone complied and then looked back at her, nodding their heads. Just then the end panel of their compartment slide upwards, revealing Agent Falcon.

"Let's go," Jo prompted.

The women scrambled out of the truck and through the door of the house that the truck had sidled up next to. Joanne was the last to emerge and the KSN agent helped her step down to the ground.

"Hawk will be by to pick you up in a couple of hours, I'm sure. It's been a pleasure meeting you, Sparrow." He shook her hand and directed her towards the open door.

"Likewise, Falcon. Thanks for everything."

Three hours later, Peter Taylor waved at the guard operating the gate that was rolling back to allow him to drive out of the high security signal relay facility. What they thought had been a problem with signal resonance at the Station turned out to be something much more complex. After determining that the trouble lay in the interface cables connecting the control room computers to the massive satellite disks a call was made to the on-call electrician for help in tracking down the glitch. After his arrival it had taken the better part of two hours for them to track down and replace the faulty components. Test messages were sent to the London control center and the repairs were verified as being satisfactory.

Looking in the rear view mirror, Peter saw the gate rolling back to the closed position behind him. The repairs had taken longer than he had hoped, and he was anxious to get to Jaywick to pick up Joanne and get her home. There was no doubt that she had to be tired after the day she had been through. Maybe she could sleep on the way back to London. A flicker of light in his mirror attracted his attention, but when he looked at the mirror there was nothing behind him.

An uneasy feeling crept through him as he drove along the dark, tree lined, road. Not long after leaving Joanne with Tony...Agent Falcon...he had caught a glimpse of a small brown vehicle in his mirror. When he reached a long straight stretch of road that cut through a grazing field he had slowed down to allow the car to catch up. When no car appeared by the time he reentered the forest he picked up speed again, reasoning that the car had pulled into a driveway or taken one of the little side roads.

Dusk had set in by the time he reached the turnoff for Harwich Station and he had already turned on his headlights. Turning his head to look behind him he saw the brown sedan again, moving along without it's headlights lit. That in itself didn't mean anything. Lots of people drive well after dusk without turning on their headlights. It still seemed suspicious that the vehicle hadn't appeared during that long open stretch of road.

He gave the car no thought while he was working at the Station but he looked in the mirror again and this time he saw a pair of headlights rounding a corner a good two miles behind him. That was quite a long way back, and much too far for a tail. He could turn off his lights and duck down any of the dirt side roads and easily loose the car if he thought it was a tail. Any experienced person tailing him would know that. As he sped along it seemed like the car behind him was getting even further away.

Taking a deep breath, Peter focused on the road ahead of him and increased his speed. It was nothing. Probably.

The turn off for Jaywick was only a few miles ahead so he sped up even more to put a little extra distance between himself and the trailing car. When he finally found the road he made the turn and then pulled off onto the shoulder and nestled his black car right up to the edge of the forest. Turning off his lights, he waited.

A couple of minutes later he saw headlights approaching along the road he had just turned off of. Looking back through the darkness he got a good view of the car as it passed by the intersection. A small brown car. The same small brown car. He was definitely being tailed.

The car had passed by the road he had turned onto and Peter thought it was possible that he had just lost the tail. Without turning on his lights, he pulled back onto the road and accelerated. It was still light enough to see the white line on the side of the road well enough to stay in his lane. When he had gotten a good distance away from the intersection he finally switched on his lights and sped away. The tree cover disappeared as he approached the coastline and he kept an eye on his mirror as he got closer and closer to Jaywick.

Shit! Headlights emerged from the forest far behind him, but he had no doubt who it was. How the fuck was he still being tailed?

Pressing his gas pedal a little harder, Peter picked up his phone and speed dialed Joanne's number.

"Hello?" Joanne said on the other end of the call.

"Hi," Peter said. "Everything under control there?"

"Oh, yeah, everyone's settled and I think they may all be asleep," Jo reported. "How about you? Are you coming soon?"

"I'm only a few miles away, but I think I'm being followed."

"Oh no!" Joanne gasped. "What are you going to do?"

"I've got an idea, but you need to be with me." He paused as he maneuvered the Aston Martin around a tight turn in the road, and then continued, "There's a restaurant-slash-bar two blocks from you. Say goodnight to the minder and make your way over there. Wait for me on the side of the building facing the parking lot. I'll be there in just a couple of minutes."

"Can I go without an escort?"

"No one will say anything around these parts. Just try to stay out of sight."

"Okay, see you soon," Joanne whispered as she disconnected.

A few minutes later, Peter pulled into the parking lot and spotted Jo standing against the wall of the restaurant, well hidden in the shadows. When she saw him pull in she headed out into the lot to meet him.

Peter parked, switched off the ignition, and sprung out of the car. He reached in and pulled Jo's coat out of the back seat and helped her into it. "Let's head in," he said. "I'm actually pretty hungry, how about you?"

"God yes! I was helping get the ladies fed and settled and never had a chance to get a bite myself."

A car turned off the road and into the parking lot and Peter saw that it was his tail.

"That's him," he said without breaking stride. "Just walk normal. Take my arm."

Joanne looped her hand through the bend in Peter's arm and walked close to him as they crossed the small parking lot to the restaurant door. Ducking inside, they found a booth along the wall and sat down. Moments later two men walked in and sat at the bar.

A waitress stopped by to drop off menus and take their drink orders and then went behind the bar to attend to the two men. Reaching his hand half way across the table, Peter motioned with his fingers for Joanne to take his hand. Flipping open his menu, he asked, "Well, what are you hungry for?"

Joanne's heart was pumping hard as adrenaline coursed though her veins. Peter had been followed here and his pursuers were not twenty feet away, and he was asking her what she wanted to eat like it was a sunny Sunday afternoon. His palms were not even moist! She suddenly felt embarrassed that her own palms were probably getting him all wet. Hungry as she was, she could hardly focus on the menu.

Peter pulled her hand more towards the center of the table and held it between both of his. "Take some nice slow breaths, Jo," he said. "We've done nothing wrong. You drove with me to the Station, you took a nap in the car while I worked, and now I'm taking taking you to eat at this little pub before heading back to town."

"Okay," she whispered back. "I'm...I'm just...I just came down with a bad case of the nerves all of a sudden. Sorry." She looked up at Peter and saw his relaxed smile and wondered how he remained so calm!

Peter's smile widened. "No need to apologize, really. You're doing great." He released her hands and flipped the page of his menu. "Just try to breathe normally and look at the pretty pictures on the menu. Maybe something will look good to you."

Hearing those words made Joanne scrutinize Peter's face, and she could see by his grin that he was messing with her a little. Look at the pretty pictures! That got a giggle out of her. "Okay, smartie, I'll look at the pictures."

After a few minutes the waitress returned to take their orders. When she was clear of the area, Peter said, "There's a very good chance they'll come over here before long. Otherwise they would've just stayed in their car and waited for us to leave. We have our cover story, right?"

"Yes," Joanne simply replied, her nerves having settled quite a bit.

"Well, I guess this one's wasting no time. Here he comes," Peter said as he took a sip of coffee.

The man was tall, lean, and wore a black leather trench coat. His alert eyes scanned Peter and Joanne as he approached and his right hand gravitated slightly towards his belt where it pushed the coat back a little.

He's got a gun under that coat.

Peter's eyes locked on the man as he neared the table. "I assume you're the one who's been following us?" Might as well go with the direct approach.

Us? Joanne thought, and then quickly remembered. Yes, us, we've been together the entire time. She looked up at the man standing in front of their table and saw his eye brows raise as if he was surprised that Peter had picked up on his activities. It was just a momentary facial tic, but even she noticed it.

Peter extended his hand and said, "Major Peter Taylor, Signal Corps. And you are?"

The man hesitated. This had not gone as he had anticipated at all. The bastard had taken the lead and was already questioning him? Reluctantly, while keeping a sharp eye on both people in the booth, he reached into the inside pocket of his coat with his left hand and removed a small wallet. Holding it out, he said, "Colonel Clank, MRU."

Colonel Clank? Really?! Peter suppressed a smile and hoped the poor man would make General soon. "What's your business with us, Colonel? Why has the MRU deemed it necessary to follow our movements?"

"I will ask the questions, Major!" Clank said sternly, determined to take control. "What are you doing here?"

Peter spread his arms to indicate the table and the woman sitting across from him. "We stopped to eat before heading back into town. I mean, what's it look like?" He noticed the Colonel's emphasis on the word 'Major' to establish his seniority in rank.

"It's not exactly on the way back to London."

"Have you had the food here?" Peter asked. "It's worth the drive."

"Your speed was excessive both on the way to the Signals Station and on the way here. What was..."

"Are you issuing citations this evening, Colonel? Is that what our friends in the MRU concern themselves with these days?"

Peter noticed a little colour on the cheeks of the MRU Colonel and decided he had better back off on the sarcasm. "I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I know you must have a reason for this surveillance, I'd just like to know what it is."

The man brushed off Peter's question. "What business did you have at the Signals Station?"

"I'm afraid that's classified information, Colonel. Really, it's not a brush off. But I can assure you it was official business." Peter showed his empty hand and slowly reached into his back pocket to withdraw his travel papers.

Colonel Clank examined the papers and then looked at Joanne. "Are you in the habit of taking civilians with you when you go into high security installations, Major?"

"No, actually, this is the first time for that. You see, we met last night at a dinner party hosted by George Wright and have been inseparable since. But to be clear, Miss Hallewell did not go inside the facility."

Ooo, that made him flinch. He obviously knows who George is.

"No?" The MRU officer recovered and looked at Joanne.

"I slept in the car while Peter did his thing, sir," Jo spoke up.

"Um, okay. I'm sorry to have disturbed your evening," Clank said as he handed the papers back to Peter.

"That still doesn't explain..." Peter started.

"Good evening, Major. Miss Hallewell," the Colonel said as he turned without offering any explanations for tailing them.

Instead of returning to the bar, the man motioned to his companion and they left the restaurant.

"Interesting," Peter said just as the waitress appeared with their food. That seemed like a rather abrupt end to the questioning, but maybe dropping George's name made the man think twice about a full out interrogation.

"MRU fucking scum, am I right?" the waitress asked as she placed their meals in front of them.

“Yes ma’am,” Peter agreed as he picked up his fork. “This looks excellent, thank you.”

The waitress returned to the counter to clean up the glasses left by the MRU men and then went about her business behind the bar. Peter and Joanne dug into their meals and ate quietly for several minutes. Finally, Peter broke the silence. 

“The question is: who were they following? You? Me? Or both of us?”

”Your cover can’t be blown, Peter,” Joanne said.

Finishing the food in his mouth, Peter replied, “No cover is ever one hundred percent secure, but I have no reason to suspect mine has been blown.”

“Then it’s me?” Joanne reasoned. 

“We don’t know that anyone’s cover is blown,” Peter said, “only that they were following us. But why? Maybe they just picked us up on radar going 50 miles an hour over the limit and decided to see where we were going in such a hurry.”

Joanne shrugged. "Or it could be related to the raid on the store. They know the ladies disappeared somewhere on the Row."

Peter chewed and considered Jo's supposition. "And we know that the MRU are targeting the area north of here tonight trying to catch them."

"Did they think we might be driving them to the coast?" Jo asked.

"That's certainly a possibility," Peter replied. If that were the case, why not pull them over earlier? They were probably hoping to see where they were going; where they were taking the women. He was sure they inspected his car before they came into the restaurant, but of course there was no one in it. At that point they must have decided to come in and ask questions.

The only real nagging question in his mind was how they managed to follow him with such long distances between them? Did they have a drone overhead? Did they plant a tracking device on his car?

Joanne took a sip of her water. It had been a long, long day. The food had been excellent and had really hit the spot! Sated, she leaned her head back against the high wooden back of the booth and closed her eyes. Feeling something pressing unnaturally against the base of her neck she turned around to see what was poking into her but saw that the back of the booth was smooth where it met the seat.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"Something's poking me." She felt the polished wooden surface but there was nothing there that could be pushing against her. Feeling the collar behind her neck, she felt a small lump inside the leather. "There's something here, Peter." She turned so that her back faced away from the booth and Peter stood to see what she was talking about.

Upon closer inspection, Peter found a small slit in the underside of the collar. Widening the slit very carefully, he pinched the small lump to move it closer to the slit so that he could see what it was.

"Ah, that's clever," he said.

"What is it?!" a worried Joanne asked.

"It’s a SP-332 tracking device," Peter replied. "The very latest in tracking technology to come out of the MRU labs.” He poked it back into the collar so it wouldn’t fall out of the slit. “The good news is that it’s not designed to also be a listening device.”

"And the bad news?"

"Well,” a little grin formed on Peter’s lips, “the bad news is someone has slipped that thing into your coat." Peter returned to his seat, finished his coffee, and reached for his wallet. "Where have you worn that coat recently?"

"Only one place since I’ve been here," Joanne said gravely. "I wore it to Olivia's today."