Conumdrum Ch. 05

*Sometimes no matter how often you look, you do not see. Thanks Simple49er!

A road atlas of the UK may help you to enjoy this chapter.

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Now that the plans were in place and he was being active, Matt felt a lot better. He was being pro-active rather than reactive, always better for his mental state. He was interested to see what Beth would tell him about being away from home again. He found it difficult to reconcile the woman he knew and had married, with the woman who would allow herself to be manipulated into betrayal. Hendy had tried to explain the apparent dichotomy.

"Hypnosis has a peculiar effect. The suggestions that can be implanted when someone is under influence are manifold. But in your wife's case I would say that her hypnotic instructions are to act quite normally towards you. She will do, and you; unless you were aware; would never know that she had been hypnotised. Yet she has this imperative from her mentor that cannot be denied. She will do as he demands without questioning her behaviour. Man has gone to the moon, He has sent probes to Mars, gone to the bottom of the sea, seen these things, examined them and understood. But the human mind? That's a mystery. Despite all that Freud and Jung have written, despite all the psychiatrists pontificating day in day out, despite all the modern drugs and treatments, we are still groping in the dark. We have never really understood how it works, and probably never will. Whatever is causing your wife to act this way, with our present knowledge we can only hypothesize."

Matt knew many men who would never forgive their wives in these circumstances. Men who would never pause to reflect on their behaviour, but would order the cheating bitch out of the house. He had been prepared to do just that. Hendy's explanation of the situation, had given him a lot to think about, perhaps he had been too involved in building his business to even find out if Beth was fulfilled by their union. Then there was the undoubted fact that Beth had to have been influenced by the drugs and hypnotism. There was enough doubts and concerns that ruled out his putting her aside. He would try to understand and forgive.

Beth didn't say anything, so Matt gave her an opportunity.

"Beth, I will be away for a couple of nights. I have to go up north and look at some sites for this chain. I doubt that I will take them on, they are too far away from our base of operations, but it might be sensible to check out the possibilities for expansion in the future." He watched his wife's face to gauge the reaction. She didn't seem either happy of disappointed.

"Do you want me to pack for you?" That was Beth. Looking after her husband, doing her wifely duty, caring and nurturing. He smiled for her. He was perfectly capable of packing for himself, the army had taught him how to do that, always moving on from one place to another. But it gave Beth pleasure to do it, so he agreed.

"That is very kind of you. I doubt it will be more than two nights, but pack for three, just in case."

When Beth came down her face seemed calmer.

"I have been thinking, Matt. I will go and visit Barbara for a few days. I know you have never taken to her, so I have not invited her here, but she was a good friend to me at school. And I would not like to lose complete touch." Matt tried hard to keep the smile without giving way to cynicism.

"Good idea, love. That will be better than being all alone here. I'm going to have a shower. How long will the meal be?"

"Twenty minutes." Matt mentally thanked Beth for being so tidy. He knew exactly where her handbag would be, and her make-up kit. He exchanged the lip-sticks noticing with satisfaction that there was little difference between them. Beth, he was sure would not be aware of the substitution

That night they made love, and Matt took extra care to consider her needs. As he thrust into her he made an effort to think about work and administration, anything to subdue the sensations, and enable him to last longer. In her enjoyment of his loving she subconsciously compared Matt's gentleness with the forceful way that Master had took her. His rude possession of her had been exciting, and she had climaxed strongly. Yet Matt's gentle and caring love satisfied her on a different level, and in a more fulfilling way. She couldn't tell why, but her orgasm shook her far more than she had ever experienced before. Inspiring a greater reaction than Matt had known.

"Oh God, Yes, yes, yes!"

Matt left early that morning. He went to the office and immediately used the disposable mobile to check with the others. Chubb first.

"On the way, Boss. We'll be there well in time. I'll call when we are there."

"No problem, Boss. I'm following Chubb at the moment, call when in position." That was Spag. Then Matt called Gary.

"Morning Gary. The lipstick was perfect, I just hope that I put the right one in!" Matt joked as much to relieve his tension as anyone else's.

"We're fucked if you didn't." was Gary's cryptic reply. "I'm just leaving now. Should be in place about ten-thirty. I've got a bug in my car. It's on the same wavelength so the guys can test their equipment. I'll turn it off as soon as they have tuned. Leave your computer on. I shall email rather than talk on the mobile. Don't want the bad guys to get suspicious, do we?"

Matt settled down to wait. He was painfully aware that he would be useless at his desk today. All he could do was wait, probably drink too many cups of tea or coffee, and make a nuisance of himself to Janet who was trying to get on with her work. Now would be a good time to start smoking! Janet brought him the first of the many cups of hot brown liquid. It wouldn't matter to Matt today whether it was tea or coffee, they would all taste the same to him.

At ten-thirty, Gary emailed.

'I'm there. Three people sitting in car. Two men and a woman. Volvo V70. Reg IZ55JUH I'm going online to see if I can get a make on them.'

Matt waited, then the ping on his computer alerted him to the next message.

'Hired car can't get details. Still sitting there, could be waiting.'

Matt emailed back.

'Don't draw attention to yourself.'

There was no reply to that until five slow minutes had elapsed.

'I'm suited, white shirt and tie. Car full of carpet samples and paperwork all over the front seat. I'm a rep. Nobody notices a Rep. There's at least three other Reps here.'

At quarter to eleven Chubb phoned.

"In place, Boss. Passed Gary. Looks perfect for the part, driving a Mondeo. Bloody millions of those on the road." He rang off and immediately Spag phoned.

"On the spot, Boss. I'll call again when there's something to report." He was gone without Matt saying anything.

Five past eleven, and Gary emailed.

'The goods have arrived. Four packages in delivery bay.'

What the hell was that about? Then Matt worked it out. Beth had arrived and had come into the Diner with the three people. Bloody Hell, Gary must have been reading too many Len Deighton novels. He phoned Chubb.

"Beth has arrived and is in the Chef with three others."

"O.K. Boss. I'll let Spag know."

The hands on the clock moved so slowly. Matt was tempted to email Gary and find out what was happening, but that wouldn't help. Gary would let him know as soon as he could. At eleven forty-two the ping came.

'Three packages despatched. Hired transport. One still in warehouse.'

Matt let Chubb know, together with the registration number that Gary had checked.

"Gotcha, Boss. Now leave it to us. Let Spag know so he will be prepared."

"Will do." thirty second later he spoke to Spag. "They're on the way." He gave Spag the details of the car.

"O.K. Boss. We have them on the scanner now." then he closed the line.

Janet brought him another coffee.

"How is it going? Mr. Bennett."

"They have met, and now Beth is with them in their car, going to God knows where. Chubb and Spag have got them on GPS. So we have to wait."

"Will you want some lunch? I can go out and get you some sandwiches." Matt shook his head.

"No thank you Janet. I doubt that I could eat right now."

"Cheer up, Mr. Bennett. It will soon be over." Matt's smile was thin and unbelieving.

"I wish." He paused for just a moment. "Janet. I wish you would call me Matthew when we are alone. Mr. Bennett seems too formal all the time."

"Very well Mr. Be... Oh sorry, Matthew."

Twelve-fifteen, Janet called him.

"Matthew! Gary's on the line." She put him through.

"Why are you phoning me on the landline?"

"Well, perhaps one of the others would try to get through on the mobile, and it could be urgent." Matt saw the sense in that.

"What happened?"

"Elizabeth arrived, and the people I had clocked were waiting for her. They got out of the car and greeted her. They seemed to act quite friendly, but your wife appeared to be a little cool with them. They came in to have coffee, and sat down, but too far away for me to hear what was being said. The woman and the main man did most of the talking, and your wife appeared to answer very briefly. The second man didn't seem to say anything, just nodded and smiled as if on cue. Then the woman who was with them got up to go to the toilet, and well you know what women are like, couldn't go on their own, so Elizabeth went with her. I think the main man slipped something in her coffee, but I couldn't be certain. He was damned quick. When the two women came back they drank their coffee and sat chatting for a while, then the main man and the woman stood up to leave. Your wife went to stand up, but seemed unsteady, so the other two helped her. They got her in the back seat of the Volvo, and the women got in beside her. Then they left. The second man stayed about a half hour. It was getting a little hairy, as he kept looking at me, so I went out to my car, and started talking on the mobile. He came out, and went to Elizabeth's car, but made a diversion to get a good look at me. The back seat was piled high with carpet samples I borrowed from a mate who is in the trade. Anyway he saw those, and I suppose decided I was harmless. He got in Beth's car and drove off. A little later I saw him going south towards Cirencester. That was five minutes ago. We'll find your wife's car whenever we want, they didn't check for bugs, and it's transmitting well. I've turned it off to save the battery."

"Thanks Gary. Can you tell me what they looked like?"

"Yes. The main man was the one on the web-site, just over six foot, quite well built, but not fat, greying hair, I would put him about late forties. Well dressed, good jacket and slacks. The woman was a looker, blonde, very good figure, about five six in height. Again, well dressed and nice make-up. I am sure she was one of the women on the site as well. The other man was a little shorter, about five eight, light brown hair, dressed casually. He seemed to take instructions from the main man, as if he was part of their circle, but not actually totally involved, if you know what I mean."

"I think I get the picture. Are you on your way back now?"

"Yes. I shall get all my stuff together, and get rid of these carpet samples. He must have had these in his garage for some time, the smell is horrible. Then I'll await the call from the guys when they have found the location. If they can give me a map reference, as well as a house name and nearest village I should be able to get a lot more info. See you tomorrow."

"O.K. Gary. When Chubb calls, give them those descriptions as well. And thanks once again."

Jock or Goat phoned quite regularly, keeping Matt up to date on the position. The bug showed that they had followed the A417, until it intersected with the M5 motorway, at twelve-twenty it was going north on the motorway, towards Worcester and Birmingham. Then they had turned off at junction nine, heading towards Tewkesbury. It was twelve forty-two when Jock phoned to say that they had gone through Tewkesbury, and they were heading north west on the A 438 in the direction of Ledbury. Chubb had followed the car all the way up the motorway keeping about five miles back from them. Spag, as soon as he knew the Volvo was going north on the motorway, had crossed at Junction ten, and then turned north up the A38. He was blessing the multitude of roads in the UK, which allowed him a choice of routes to parallel the target vehicle. At no time had he been any more than fifteen miles from them. When the Volvo left the motorway and got onto the A438, he had carried on up the A38, and was now on the A4104 towards Ledbury but to the north of the quarry now. This was a little hairy for Goat sitting in the passenger seat, as this road was not particularly wide or straight, and the speeds Spag was doing seemed suicidal. Spag rationalised his driving.

"Further away we are, the less accurate the GPS." They both knew this wasn't true. The fact was that Spag was determined to be on the spot at almost the same time as Chubb.

Chubb phoned at one twenty-six.

"They have gone through Ledbury, and got onto the B4214, still going north-west, but now heading towards Bromyard. They are not driving particularly fast, it's almost as if they were out for a Sunday Drive." Matt had been following the reports on a large-scale map.

"Looks like we were right on the location then."

"Yes, and they haven't done any 'U' turns or doubling back. I would have led any possible tracker a right merry dance."

"It could still happen, so keep alert." He could see the grin on Chubb's face as he replied.

"Yes Boss. I didn't think of that possibility." When Chubb told him that they were not driving very fast, he hadn't thought too much about it, then a possible explanation came to him. He phoned Chubb.

"Do you think they are driving slowly, so that anyone following would almost certainly be revealed?"

"It crossed my mind, but I would suddenly speed up, and then when out of sight, slow down to a crawl. When someone comes flying round the bend after you he either has to pass, or slow down to your speed. If he slows down and doesn't try to pass, then you've spotted him. But what they are doing will probably work." As Matt was listening to Chubb, he heard Jock's voice call.

"Hang on Boss, something's happening." Matt could hear Jock telling Chubb what had happened. Chub came back to Matt.

"Boss, they have turned off. They have taken to the back roads. I am going to get closer to where they turned and stop, so we can get a firmer signal. I'll get back."

Thirty seconds later Goat called.

"Boss. They have turned off the 'B' road."

"Yes I know, I was talking to Chubb when it happened. Where are you?"

"We are just coming into Ledbury. They turned left off the B4214, so we will go through Ledbury, and then go north-west up the 417 again. If they cross we can take up the trail from Chubb. May I have a clean set of overalls please? Spag's driving leaves a lot to be desired!" He rang off. His brief levity relaxed Matt who was now scouring the map, as if just by looking at it he could somehow discover their destination. He had no calls for another half-hour, and the frustration was driving him mad. His sanity was restored to him when Chubb called.

"They have just crossed the A465, still going north-west. I am following. I have a feeling that we are getting close to home now. Call Goat, and see what he's got, would you?" Matt affirmed that he would. He called Goat.

"Goat. Chubb says they have crossed the A465 going north-west. Do you agree?"

"Yes, Boss. We are on the A417. Thank God we have slowed down now. The moment they stop, we will co-ordinate with Chubb and I will go in over country. By the way, the 417 meets the A44 about seven miles ahead of us. Just south of the junction on the 44 is a Little Chef. Good place to meet if you need one."

"How do you know that?"

"We are in home country here, remember." Matt had been so focussed on the roads on the map, he hadn't realised that they were in the vicinity of Hereford. The home of the SAS. Oh dear, thought Matt, of all the places to pick, Beth's abductors had picked the back garden of these guys. But of course they were not to know that. Still tough shit!

Four minutes later Jock called.

"They are crawling now. The route they are taking is not shown on the map, so I reckon they are close to roosting. There's a habitation shown on the map, maybe a Country House or something. No other habitation shown for at least two miles around. Hang on! They have stopped. Chubb says wait for ten, see if they move. I'll get back Boss." That ten minutes was the longest in Matt's life, longer even than some of the waits he had endured before joining the action in some of the army's operations. It was longer than ten minutes, as Chubb had called up Spag and Goat, to see if they confirmed the location. Eventually Matt's phone warbled.

"Boss. I am sure now that they are home. We will get nearer to drop Jock and Goat. They haven't done miles across country since the Selection. I hope they don't get lost." Matt heard Jock reply. It was not polite. " We need to find some covert parking, as well, for when we do the op. Talk to you in about a couple of hours. Matt!"

"Yes?"

"Don't worry. We'll get your wife out, and spank some bottoms at the same time."

"Thanks, Chubb." Matt reflected on what Chubb had called spanking some bottoms. He knew enough about these men to know that there would be some serious hurt inflicted. Normally these guys would talk about a 'beasting' which was a bloody, revenge beating. Matt knew that would happen. Goat, particularly was incensed by these people. Somehow though, he thought it should be him there, dealing out retribution. But, and there was always a but, Chubb and his team had been, no still were, professionals, and anyone not trained to their high standards could kill by mistake and would be a hindrance. Gary would need looking after, but he needed to be there. Matt needed to get Beth away, and nobody else could do that.

To be continued...

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NOTE SAS selection. One of the final tests for an applicant is a forty mile trek between two map references, with a fifty five pound load in his Bergen, plus rifle, food and water, to be completed in less that 20 hours. The sting is that this is over the Brecon Beacons in the mountains of Wales. Rough, mountainous country, no roads, no tracks, no help. the applicant does it alone.