Anchored - Part 32 "Another Debrief"

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 Anchored  

Part
 
Thirty Two

 

"Another Debrief"

 

Tammy's Tales Book 6

 

 
Sunday 1st November
 

"I hope that's the last time?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Smart, but you may be needed again."

Tammy walked away and out onto grass at the rear of Abigail Adams House, a few miles north of London. She'd arrived Saturday lunchtime after being intercepted in Aberdeen by a Security Service team and was then flown into Stansted, a short drive from her location. The debriefings had started almost immediately, she'd been subjected to detailed interviews twice so far.

Tammy hadn't met a single person she knew, yet, and was feeling isolated. At least the gardens allowed an escape from the house, even if the frequent showers cut short her perambulations.

What was becoming clear was how much bigger the intelligence operation had been than she could have imagined. Tammy had been but one small cog in the machine, a distraction for the benefit of the Gores and Lavoskas. Unfortunately, Hilary seemed to have taken her eye off the ball and hadn't been completely upfront with Tammy, or Jenny.

In short it was a mess.

Hilary was apparently being debriefed elsewhere, some safe-house somewhere in the South. The rumour mill wasn't reaching Tammy but she wondered if it meant the end for Caithness Marine?

One consideration had been whether there was a mole in the operation, perhaps in London, Thurso or anywhere else? Tammy really didn't know where the other agency offices were, this was compartamentalised, she'd been told, if you were compromised you could only risk revealing a small part of the overall scheme.

She made her way back indoors as the rain turned from a light shower to a torrential downpour. She wanted to use the pool but her case had been packed by someone else, in a hurry, and was lacking a few items. She sought the housekeeper.

"Excuse me, can I go shopping?"

"Sorry, Miss Smart, you can't leave until the investigating officer says you can."

"I don't have a swimsuit or gym clothes and I only seem to have four bras, thanks to whichever idiot went through my room on Friday afternoon."

"That's hardly our concern, this is not a spa and you are not here for a vacation. Please make use of the laundry bag in your room if you are short of anything, it's emptied twice a day."

Tammy didn't have her normal mobile, and the bag containing Beccy's identity had been emptied, including the mobile phone that Hilary had placed in there. Her weapon was also missing. She had no internet access and no voice communications; there was only so many times you could read the newspapers, turn on the telly or listen to the radio news.

Lunch followed a short while later, she'd been told not to ask any of the other guests what they were doing in the house, and not to reveal why she was there. Some of the faces at the lunch table hadn't been there at breakfast and a corresponding number were missing.

With food out of the way, and the rain persisting, Tammy went down to the armoury. She finally met a familiar face.

"Good afternoon Miss Smart, good to see you again."

"Thank you, Range Officer, am I allowed down here?"

"I've not been told otherwise. I have your Glock 26 here, it needed servicing but there was no evidence of it being used recently although I understand you were involved in a fatality."

"No, I used the pistol that someone else had dropped, I didn't have my Glock with me."

"Right, let me go through the range safety instructions for you."

She left there thirty minutes later, satisfied with her score. She hadn't needed to re-qualify until the next summer but Tammy was happy that she was improving.

She walked up to her room and put the radio on, choosing BBC Radio 5 live. One news story concerned a MtF transgendered prisoner finally being moved to a female prison. Was there a real risk that Tammy could go to prison for killing Anita Gore?

This had been covered in the debriefs, the interviewing officer had been hard on her, much more than the police officer on Friday afternoon. Saturday afternoon's first debrief session had been tough, one question kept coming back, did she have the right to take a life? Was there an alternative?

Tammy had been forceful, if Anita hadn't been stopped then who else would she have shot? Was there an option to using deadly force? She'd been so close to Tammy that almost any shot was deadly. If the aim of that first session was to knock Tammy's confidence, it had been well and truly obtained.

It was with trepidation that she went back into the room on Sunday morning, but she'd had another sleepless night to ponder what had happened, how it had played out and whether she was right - or wrong. This time she fought back against the questions, challenged the interviewer to choose a different action given the same circumstances.

Finally she'd found out that the look alike girl was a female police officer, a deliberate decoy. She'd survived with a flesh wound and would apparently be out of hospital in the morning. It also seemed that other officers had originally been at the crematorium but had been called away whilst everyone waited to go into the chapel. There had been a false alarm on the other side of Inverness that required armed officers, making sure it took longer to respond to any calls from the crematorium. Were there other accomplices?

Naturally Tammy was upset that a police officer had died, especially one who had been there to protect her. John Gore received no sympathy, the crematorium CCTV showed that he'd shot the two unarmed officers and his wife had shot the decoy as well as one of the armed officers. Tammy's shot wasn't covered by CCTV, she was pleased to hear. Her bedroom phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Miss Smart, are you ready to go shopping?"

"I was told I couldn't."

"Change of circumstances, please go to the carpark."

Tammy went to pick up her bag, but it was empty bar a pack of tissues. She didn't even have any make-up with her. She grabbed a jacket, swapped her shoes for boots then walked down to the basement.

Her driver was clearly armed, but she wasn't certain about the female who was waiting by the car.

"I'm Kim, we've had word that you're needed in court tomorrow so you need an outfit or two that's suitable. I've been told you can use this debit card."

The card in question was her Beccy one, as far as Tammy knew all of her earnings from the Security Service went into that account, but what was the balance?

"Court?"

"I'm sorry, I haven't been told."

Was this one of the cases that had kicked off a week earlier, or something related to Friday? As she wasn't being put on a flight to Scotland, Tammy didn't believe her liberty was at risk, although she had very little of that right now.

"Where are we going?"

"Brent Cross, do you know it?"

"Yes, quite well."

"How come, it's a long way from Scotland?"

"I was born in Edgware." Tammy decided she'd already said too much, would Kim be reporting back on her? Probably.

The ride took half an hour, the driver parked on the top deck of the carpark.

"It's a bit exposed?"

"Maybe, Miss, but there's only one access onto the deck and we could get away by helicopter if an evac was needed."

They ignored the lift and went down two floors by stairs, the driver ahead and Kim behind Tammy. It was quickly clear that the driver was not comfortable shopping for women's clothes. Kim was chatty, helpful, but really had no idea what suited Tammy, they tackled the formal wear first.

"What about that black suit?"

"No. it's a shame but I left a couple of suits in Cornwall that I could do with right now."

She went for burgundy, cream and navy, choosing a knee length skirt and trousers to go with the jackets. She added separates, blouses, tops, undies, shoes, make-up and a box of pantyliners from Boots.

"Are you done?"

"Not quite, can you look after these?" Tammy handed over the bags before walking into the sports store, Kim hard on her heels. Two swimsuits and two sets of gym wear completed the day's purchases. She stopped by a cashpoint to withdraw a hundred, just in case.

Behind her there was a scuffle, as she turned around, cash and card in her hands, a youth in a black hoodie was on the floor, a small blade near his right band.

"Umphffff"

"You're under arrest for attempted robbery, you do not have ...." Kim had decided to intervene, preventing Tammy from being mugged, but this was now attracting a crowd. Security guards arrived but all they could do was ask their control to call for uniformed police. Kim didn't have a radio and her phone was a personal one, without control room numbers. The driver suggested to Tammy they left.

"Now!"

Kim was abandoned, she'd have to find her own way back. They made it to the car without incident and were on the road a minute later.

Tammy started to shake, was she really that close to being hurt, and she didn't even know he was so close. This was different to having a gun pointing at you, this would have been a literal stab in the back, and she hadn't been aware he was there.

But what about her protective detail, how had the youth got so close? This wasn't good.

"Why wasn't I armed this afternoon?"

"We don't just hand weapons out."

"Mine is in the armoury, I practised with it earlier."

"Do you really think it would have changed how that played out just now, Miss? If you produce a handgun in a UK shopping centre you will get panic and will end up have to justify yourself to idiots who've never had to handle a weapon."

"Well ......"

"Do you really think that being armed solves all the problems? That kid got too close before we clocked him, that's mine and Kim's fault. Your only part was that you were a likely victim, nothing more."

Tammy said nothing for the rest of the journey, she used the lift straight from the carpark level to her room on the second floor to hang her new clothes up, she was in the pool twenty minutes later.

After dinner she was again called, but this time went into the study where she found Dave Brown was waiting.

"Ah, Tammy, take a seat."

"I didn't know you were here?"

"I just arrived, I'm here to brief you."

"Makes a change from having to answer the questions."

"Believe it or not, Tammy, I've had to read everyone's debriefs, and there were rather alot of them. I have a small team putting together a comprehensive report on the past few months."

"So my sessions aren't that important?"

"Of course they are, you were heavily involved, far too closely involved, and it had consequences."

"Like Anita Gore?"

"Yes, now I believe you're aware about tomorrow?"

"Sort of." Not really.

"Okay, it's a day out in the Old Bailey, you need to speak to the prosecution team."

"Okay, will I actually be needed in court?"

"Not for a few days, you need to see Jenny too."

"What about the cases in Edinburgh?"

"You'll do those by video from here."

"So I'm not going to Scotland?"

"Not for a while, that's to reduce the risk of another cock-up as well as for your own protection."

"Is there a risk?"

"There's always a risk, it just needs to be managed. Right now we can't be certain that the Gores and Lavoskas didn't have help in Thurso or nearby. Plus your presence might complicate things."

"How?"

"The WPC who acted as a decoy is coming out of hospital in the morning and will be seen around Thurso for a few days, accompanied by your former bodyguard."

"My friends will know she's not me."

"But we're not worried about your friends."

"Isn't she frightened she'll be shot again?"

"Again there's a risk, but she doesn't want to be a target, it's just to get their attention."

"What's Hilary doing?"

"Hilary's toast, forget her."

"Oh. What about the office?"

"That was very nearly shut down, but it was generating enough good intel that it's been given three months to prove itself under new management."

"Who?"

"Suzie."

"Is that going to be a problem, she's my sister?"

"No, your involvement with Caithness Marine is over."

"I still own the building."

"That's unfortunate."

"What about my work with the Security Service?"

"You're officially on three months leave, but you'll be compensated for the time you spend with us."

"So I'm doing nothing?"

"Did I say that?"

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Comments

Stupid question!

Did she have the right to kill Anita?
Off course!
And John too ...

another case

Alecia Snowfall's picture

another case of trying to lock the door after the barn has burnt to the ground and then rounding up the horses. That unfortunately is bureaucracy and it is quite effective after the event. That is the problem with Grey Ops. Those kind of operations tend to be bare bones, where Black Ops will have exactly the number of personnel needed and a back-up on stand-by. I'll stop there before I get accused of Office Generaling.

Tammy's now in a situation that has garnered a lot of attention, this of course creates problems. Too many irons in the fire. She had enough going on with court in two different places to begin with. Now she will have two to four more hearings at the least. Another big problem for her to deal with is Caithness Marine. That cover has been blown and burned. Literally and operationally. Too many people knew it was connected to Tammy; in a building she owned, sponsoring the theater, having her 'intern' for them. The 'pub detectives' will be speculating, if they hadn't been already, that there was something hinky about the place. Attempts on Tammy that went public and now the explosion that looks entirely too legit. As the old saying goes; 'The easier it is to believe, the more you should doubt."

quidquid sum ego, et omnia mea semper; Ego me.
alecia Snowfall

Say what you want

About the gun culture in the U.S., but all this hand wringing over whether Tammy should have taken the shot wouldn't be going on. We are actually allowed to defend ourselves, it was a clear self defense shooting. Her being a member of an intelligence agency might have been difficult, her identity would have to be concealed, but that was a righteous shot. No doubt somebody would want to present her with a medal or a proclamation or the keys to the city, but if they explained that she was a member of a counterterrorism task force or such that could be handling.

Don't get me wrong, taking a life is never an easy thing, but sometimes the 'minimum necessary force' means somebody will get shot. I am surprised she hasn't been required to take some mandatory counseling, it is pretty much a requirement here for an officer-involved shooting. Good people have problems taking somebody's life, whether they admit it or not. Remember, members of the armed forces undergo several months of training to be able to kill another person.

And just to make one thing clear, there is no such thing as 'shooting to injure', that's a TV and movie thing. They are taught to shoot for the center of the body mass, it presents a large target to aim for.


I went outside once. The graphics weren' that great.

I truly hope.....

D. Eden's picture

That this is not the way that the security services in the UK are run. On top of the ineptitude, there seems to be little loyalty downward toward their agents, not to mention the obvious penchant for using people while keeping them totally in the dark.

I have some little experience with our own security services here in the US, and although we have our share of bumbling idiots too, I did see a much greater level of loyalty both upward and perhaps more importantly downward. People need to be inspired to fulfill their jobs properly, and you don't do that by treating them like mushrooms - feeding them shit and keeping them in the dark.

If this is an accurate depiction of your security services, it is easy to understand why your country has fallen to a second rate power in the world. No insult intended, but hopefully this story has little basis in fact. That would not only be sad, but scary.

Dallas

D. Eden

Dum Vivimus, Vivamus

Backstory?

I am starting to think that maybe we are going to see or understand why Hilary and Heather had a falling out, or rather some small part of it. that little throwaway comment by Sophie(?) about their dislike seems to be more than just a falling out- maybe Hilary is the perennial screwup that the agency can't get rid of!

And I am glad to see Suzie returning to Thurso, both for Tammy's sake and their mom's sake. hopefully she can get things straight and make things right while working with a new handler and keeping Tammy away from them while she works elsewhere and under the radar

I'm told STFU more times in a day than most people get told in a lifetime

When I was on the Palm boats

When I was on the Palm boats along West Africa I saw a couple of bods shot.But sometime you have to kill to save look at the nutters around the world wasting everyone they can. So the coppers are right to shot them.If you kill for fun nutter but kill to save hero not hard to work out.

It's Easy To Be Critical

joannebarbarella's picture

Multiple debriefings are meant to elicit details that were not initially remembered, as well as ascertaining that the truth is being told.

In situations such as the Crematorium incident there is no time to take a step back and calmly analyse what is going on. The participants ( other than the perpetrators) have to act on instinct on the spur of the moment. They may act correctly (as did Tammy) or they may make mistakes. When the inevitable Enquiry occurs there are always lawyers to second-guess and criticise those actions, so it is best to be as prepared as possible.

We currently have an Enquiry (kangaroo court) in progress in Australia into the incident known as the Lindt Café Siege in which two hostages were shot and killed before the gunman was taken down. There were plenty of mistakes made by the authorities, most of them freely admitted, but what seems to have got lost in the recriminations is that everybody was trying to do their best under pressure and did not have the luxury of calmly sitting in a courtroom debating what they SHOULD have done.

Security forces are in the unenviable position that they may be right 99% of the time but it's the 1% when they are wrong that make the headlines.

Good Grief !!!

GADZOOKS, my head is spinning now. So, all this being part of the Security Service was to keep her protected without her knowing it? She shot someone who was trying to kill her and now she is on the hot seat?

Yallah !

If I were her, I'd get out.

There doesn't seem to be any loyalty or care for anyone.

Don'T know about British law,

Don'T know about British law, but US Law regarding deadly force is: Can be used to protect others or yourself. This is the normal standard for police officers and those authorized to use deadly force.
In Anita's case, I would say Tammy was extremely justified in her actions.

Dave Brown

My5InchFMHeels's picture

I Love Dave... his interaction with Tammy always makes me chuckle!

Running her own dark op?

Jamie Lee's picture

Writing reports can only tell so much because the events are seen from one perspective and with bias.

A debriefing after an event like at the funeral home may seem grueling, as Tammy found out, but they must get past any personal biases which might be coloring what actually happened. It's upsetting of course, but a better picture of what happened is acquired. Still, they know Tammy has never been through all this, so they could have given her a bit more information so she wouldn't have been so wound up.

Hilary being toast makes one wonder if she wasn't running her own personal op outside of orders. Tammy really doesn't own the building, her company does, even though Tammy and her dad own the company. A school project, how to sell a building without putting the clothing store out of business?

Others have feelings too.