Afterwards, as he showered, she lay in bed and smiled contentedly. With Matthew, it had been different. He had treated her like a porcelain doll, almost. It was as if she might break, as he was always tender and very gentle.
Greg, on the other hand, had been young and inexperienced. His enthusiastic fumbling had been fun for a while, but he lacked the finesse Amber had been privileged to experience with the older man, and even with her games mistress.
With David, she’d been introduced to a yearning and sexual hunger that she’s never met before in a man. He was experienced, but driven by such passion and desire that he was almost violent. Their sex was exciting, taking Amber to new heights of pleasure and sensuality. He was demanding and yet gave of himself totally, often finishing them both physically for many hours.
It had taken them a few days of being alone at the farm before they’d ended up in bed, although Amber had made up her mind on that first meeting.
She’d taken him to meet the Brigadier, at which meeting Matthew gave her a knowing smile. David and her boss had a private meeting so Matthew had taken the opportunity to tease her a little.
“So, another lamb to the slaughter, eh, Amber?”
She’d blushed furiously, not realising that she was so transparent.
“I like him, he’s honest and open, and being a soldier, I’d have to approve, even if he is an American,” he told her.
So, with her ex-lover’s blessing, Amber felt free to follow her heart.
While the meeting took place, Amber went to her small office. She made a point of checking her mail at least twice a week, but in reality hated the office with a passion. It represented too much stability, while she adored being the free spirit with the ability to roam at will.
On her desk was the latest envelope of photographs. Part of her job was to look at photographs taken at various points of entry and near sensitive establishments, to ascertain whether the subjects were suitable for further investigation or not.
There were about a hundred black and white photographs, mainly of men, but with a few women thrown in. Most came from airports or ports, while a few came from new military bases or from crowds on demonstrations.
She’d look through them, using her powers to ascertain from where the subjects came, and if possible, their motives.
Halfway through the pile were three photographs, taken the previous day by SB. Her attention was drawn to one. It was of a slim young man, of roughly her own age. The name on the passport had been Finnish, but she knew he was a Russian. The older man was also Russian, but the third made her flesh crawl. It was of the Stasi agent she’d met in East Berlin on the raid. Her heartbeat seemed very loud in her ears.
The young one worried her, as she felt he had a barrier up. That indicated a degree of power, and that he was aware of it.
She immediately interrupted the meeting and told the Brigadier of her findings.
Within hours, Brigadier Wallace and General Goldman were in secure telephonic communication, coming to a mutual agreement over matters of security. Afterwards her boss told her of their decisions.
“Amber, you and the Major are to work together. I’ve contacted Special Branch, and they say that they suspect that your Russians may have landed this team to look into the Leonid case, so let’s take them out so then we can concentrate on the American problem. This would be a good opportunity to show the good Major how you work.”
Amber’s expression caused the older man to pause.
“Problem, Amber?”
“Possibly, sir, I think it’s me they’re after.”
“You?”
She held up the photograph of the German.
“This man, he was in charge when I was arrested in Berlin; and this one, the young man, I sense he’s a little like me. I think they’re after me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, why should they be?”
Amber shrugged. “Because they know?” she asked, tentatively.
“Nonsense, there’s no way they could know.”
She held up Ivan’s picture. “This one, he’d know.”
“Are you sure?”
“No, it’s just a feeling. If I try to find out, I fear I’ll alert him. I just need to keep up my defences until I know exactly what we’re dealing with.”
“Then you must leave London and work out how best to deal with them. We’ll see if we can’t track them.”
“No, sir. If this one is half as good as I am, he’ll be onto you so quickly and they’ll disappear. This is something I have to do.” She glanced at David. “With some help.”
The pair left London for a safe house, or rather a safe farmhouse, in Berkshire. With the Russians in London, they needed time and space to work out how best to deal with them. They all agreed that the best method would be to force the Russians to return having failed in their task, believing Amber not to exist.
Amber drove the small Triumph Spitfire fast and skilfully, as David hung on, trying to relax. It was bad enough sitting with his ass five inches above the road, but sitting on the wrong side of the car hurtling down very narrow lanes made it worse somehow. He tried to talk shop, to take his mind off his predicament.
“It’d be real nice to know exactly how much they do know,” David said.
“I’d like to know whether he’s as good as me,” Amber replied. “If he is, we’ve lost.”
“Hey, don’t talk like that. You must have the edge, because there’s no way you’d be picked up like they were at the airport, is there?”
She smiled, realising that he was absolutely right.
“Unless they wanted us to know they were here,” she suggested.
“Why should they do that?”
“To get me to do exactly this, panic and run. That way they will find it easier to track me.”
“No, not if they want to find the unfindable. They must only be dealing with suspicions and some detail from the Leonid job. Perhaps they found a witness or something. If they had anything firm, they’d be knocking on your door, so to speak.”
Amber was not entirely convinced, but she took some comfort from his words.
“That’s why they’ve brought him, the young one. He’s their ace, and they think he’s better than I am. I think they believe that he can find me.”
“But you don’t know that?”
“No, but they must think he’s pretty hot, otherwise why come all the way to London on a suspicion?”
“Amber, they don’t know you.”
“Neither do you,” she teased.
“Maybe not, but I’d like to.”
She glanced at him, flashing that smile of hers. In that moment he knew that she was his for the asking. Except, he also knew she was in control.
The farm in the country was idyllic, both as a refuge and as a recuperation centre. Managed by a retired army officer and his wife, it was used by the service to give breathing space to anyone who needed a complete break. They’d been allocated two separate rooms, which just happened to be next to each other. She and David sat in the rustic sitting-room going over her time in Berlin, and more recently in London in great detail. David, although not a conscious adept, was a meticulous investigator, with a wonderful gift of sifting, storing and re-evaluating facts to ascertain the truth. He had her go over all her activities and, as the enormity of her experiences began to dawn on him, he began to reappraise his initial assessment of this attractive young woman.
He made a few notes as she recounted everything from Berlin and the more recent incident in London. After she’d finished, David went through his notes.
“Okay, correct me if I’m wrong, but there are no photographs of you in Germany?”
“Not like this, no.”
David frowned. “Explain.”
Amber didn’t explain, she simply transformed herself into a very different person. Taller and stockier, with darker skin and long dark hair, she simply smiled at him as she changed before his startled eyes.