The Hundred Year Wait Read online

  After watching the two of them point out likely targets for a minute he grabbed his phone and scrolled to the email with all his agent's statements and read through everything again.

  This time in the reading he noticed that the female agent who'd gained information on clip being a codeword had heard them mention the Millennium Eye at the same time. Amelia's theory could well be sound. He could have kicked himself for making such a bad assumption and not sending both agents back into the field to find out more. Instead of telling his brother and new student this, he wrote an email to his assistant.

  Potential evidence that each codeword related to a different location. Have the agents bought in and questioned and tap the usual informants for any suspicious activity yesterday at other major locations. Have any extra information forwarded to me immediately.

  M

  With that done he joined his brother, still looking over a map with the underground tunnels marked on it.

  “We need to know if anything suspicious happened yesterday somewhere else,” Mycroft said in his brothers ear.

  “It will cost you.”

  Mycroft rolled his eyes. His brothers homeless network did well for money some days and it was usually Mycroft's finances that took the hit. Regardless of his own annoyance he handed a stack of notes to his brother while Amelia only raised an eyebrow. Her lack of understanding made him feel a little better. She can't have been to his brother's many times if she'd not witnessed his crew of young homeless teenagers who gathered him info.

  “Where are you going?” She asked as Sherlock headed towards the door.

  “He has a network of people who know how to blend in. If any of them has seen anything we'll know soon,” Mycroft explained. She nodded and went back to the maps, giving him the opportunity to slip her next letter into her bag while his brother wouldn't notice.

  Unless there was more information from somewhere soon there was little point going through the maps trying to guess at locations. But it was all they could do at the moment, so he let them come up with a list of likely targets and write them on the whiteboard.

  He was just deciding to leave his brother and Amelia to their task when she yawned and checked the time.

  “I ought to check into my hotel room,” she said and gathered up her stuff, “I'm not helping much here at the moment.”

  “Brother of mine, why don't you take Amelia over there and save her having to find a taxi. There's no point either of you staying while there's so little to go on and there's little left of today.” Sherlock smiled at him while he glared back.

  “I'm sure Mr Holmes doesn't have the time to do that.” Amelia glanced at him and went to leave. Before his brain could stop him he stepped forward into her path.

  “My car is just outside.” Giving his brother another glare, he motioned for Amelia to lead the way. She swayed down the stairs in front of him and shook hands with Daniels as soon as she reached him.

  “I'm enjoying the book, Miss Jones. Could barely put it down,” Daniels said as he opened the door for her and helped her inside. She broke into a broad smile that was still there when Mycroft got in beside her.

  He couldn't quite believe that he had her in the car with him for a second time. When he'd agreed to her request he'd expected to keep her at a distance but his brother just couldn't keep out of his affairs.

  “Thank you for this,” she said before he could speak.

  “Blame my brother.” As soon as he'd finished the sentence he wished he hadn't. To move the conversation on he took her phone package out of the briefcase he kept in the car.

  “Use this to communicate with me, and only me, and don't let anyone else know you have it. Is that clear?” She nodded and took the offered object. “You can use it to reply instead of having to write messages and leave them in prearranged locations.”

  “I take it you had my response removed from my own pocket? And put the first letter in my hotel room?” She asked the questions in an offhand manner but he saw the tension in her hands, clasped over the phone box, and the rigidness of her jaw. He'd frightened her with his actions and the discovery pleased him. A little fear would keep her obedient in her tasks.

  “Yes, both were me, and easy enough.” He watched her reactions with delight as she took several deep breaths to try and keep herself calm. He considered mentioning the photos and impressing the reach of his control even further but given the implications of his other actions he decided against it. He already appeared more interested in her than he was, and he didn't want her to think there was any romantic attachment, especially with the encouragement his own brother was displaying.

  “Are you enjoying it?” she asked once she had her emotions under control again. It surprised him and he had to think about his answer.

  “Yes, I am so far. I enjoyed watching you try and work out the first letter.” Before he'd finished speaking she'd stopped watching them pass the London streets by and fixed her gaze on him. Her mouth dropped open and he chuckled.

  “You were there?”

  “In the cafe and the hotel canteen.” He nodded as he spoke.

  “I didn't even notice you.”

  “I'm aware.”

  “So is my every move going to be watched from now on?” The sparkle in her eyes and lopsided smile showed him that she wasn't entirely bothered by the idea. He wondered what had conquered the fear she'd felt earlier.

  “Of course, but you don't seem particularly bothered.”

  “I've had a stalker or two before. Although I've never had one sneak into my hotel room while I slept just to leave me a letter. Most of them would have other ideas if they found me in bed.”

  “I can assure you I'm not intending anything of that nature.”

  She mock pouted and he rolled his eyes in response. A second later she laughed.

  “Thank you, whatever the reason. I didn't think you'd say yes to my suggestion but I'm very glad you did. I look forward to my next lesson,” she said as the car came to a stop outside the hotel. He nodded but kept his thoughts to himself. Her next lesson was already in her bag waiting for her to notice it.

  As he watched her walk inside he realised he should have told her to stay somewhere better and it reminded him to have her book sales stimulated. With all the information he'd been given on her he knew even affording to come to London and stay as often as she did was difficult.

  Mycroft checked his email as Daniels took him home but there was still no extra information from the agents. All he could do was wait and try to focus on other issues.

  A young teenager in the royal family was on holiday in Portugal and had upset the hotel owner with his late night partying. Many of the guests had complained and Mycroft was directing the process to smooth it all over. The last thing they needed right now was bad press in Europe.

  As far as problems went it wasn't particularly difficult, but it kept him busy while he was waiting on Amelia to solve his most recent code, and for his brother to get him solid information to act upon.

  Chapter 7

  On the way to her room Amelia couldn't help but bounce with excitement. The day had been a rollercoaster of emotions but it was ending well. Mycroft and his games were already dictating most of her mood swings. She'd been nervous about finding the letter in her room and being pickpocketed, but he'd made her feel more at ease when he'd told her that both actions were his. At least he had been the one to see her sleeping and vulnerable. Her long term plan was to seduce him so it would be silly of her to be bothered by his actions, especially as she'd been untouched and unharmed.

  During the day her biggest fear had been her reaction when he first saw her. She knew she'd directed the translation of his terrorist message and Sebastian had already told her that it hadn't delivered the right result. She'd wondered if she would be reprimanded and dismissed but he'd allowed her to continue helping. Then the conversation in the car had made her excited about their future once more.

  She fell backwards onto the bed with a
sigh of satisfaction. Even knowing there was an undetected terrorist attack happening somewhere in the city couldn't stop her feeling pleased with her day. If anything, knowing danger could be close made her feel exhilarated.

  A few minutes later her stomach rumbled to let her know she hadn't eaten anything but a few snacks since breakfast and it was now past her usual time for an evening meal. She grabbed her handbag off the floor and headed for the canteen. Hopefully they served dinner as well as breakfast.

  Relief flooded through her when she found the room open and several other hotel guests sitting in there eating. It wouldn't have been good to miss out on another meal in so short a space of time when it was likely she wouldn't eat much the following day either.

  Her meal passed in peace, although she scanned the canteen several times for signs of Myron. As she pulled her purse from her handbag to pay, her fingers brushed up against something she wasn't expecting. When she glanced at it she realised she had an envelope with her name and address on. She gasped as she pulled it out, momentarily forgetting about the cashier waiting for her to pay. He coughed, dragging her eyes from the unexpected communication.

  As soon as she could get away she rushed back to her own room and tore the envelope open. A piece of card with her name on fell out with a much shorter message than the previous time written on it. She stared at it for several minutes, knowing it was going to be significantly harder to work out than the first letter.

  Realising she needed to learn more about ciphers and how to use them, Amelia fetched her laptop from her small suitcase and curled up on the bed with it to do research. An hour later she stopped trawling through the search information on classic cyphers and re-focused on the letter.

  Based on the previous letter she was sure it began and ended in a similar manner with 'Miss Jones' being before the comma and 'Regards, Your Tutor' finishing the letter off. As she wrote these in underneath she realised not all of the letters had been changed. The M in 'Miss' and the ON in her surname were still part of the coded message. Also the GA in 'regards', OU in 'your', and the last OR were all the same and each pair of identical letters had exactly four in between.

  In pencil she wrote these pairs underneath to help form the basis of her translation so far.

  Miss Jones,

  --th---- I w----n't ----al-- --re- -- - ch---- in ----s I ----gn--- -ou- ---nt -- --in- - --ns---- on-. -- -uc- - --al- ---nt ---- re----t. I ---- no---- yo- -- - ch---- to ---- ou- ---an----nt. ---- th-- --al ---- yo- -- -it--?

  Regards, Your Tutor

  Based on the information she'd just learnt on cyphers that were encrypted differently for each letter, she knew there needed to be a codeword that would match the pattern she'd already noticed. Given the pattern she also knew it must begin and end with the same letter or number and be six figures long. She'd worked out the affect the first and last had on the coded message, so she just needed to work out the others.

  After scanning through what she had a couple more times she noticed the third word was likely to be 'wouldn't' and that the A needed to become an O. The process to get between these letters also needed to match up with the I in 'Miss' coming from the U and getting from a Q to an E six letters later. As soon as she wrote them out she realised they were all 14 letters apart if the alphabet started again when it finished. She then repeated the same logic on the next three letters. When she'd finished she realised she had a sort of reverse keyword to get from the encrypted letter to what it originally said using the numbers 0,14,4,11,8, & 0 and then repeating them throughout the message. She quickly worked her way through the rest of the letter filling in all the blanks.

  Miss Jones,

  Although I wouldn't normally agree to a change in rules I recognise your point as being a sensible one. As such I shall grant your request. I will notify you if I choose to stop our arrangement. Does this deal make you my bitch?

  Regards, Your Tutor.

  Amelia almost dropped the paper in shock at Myron's closing sentence. He'd been so prim and proper with her, often making a point that there was nothing more going on between them than a teacher student relationship that was very much on his terms. Yet here was a sentence that might imply a bit more, and he'd also now given her a phone to talk to him directly. If she hadn't been told nothing would happen, she'd be under the impression he was interested in more, and she knew anyone who found these letters might read more into them.

  A few seconds later it occurred to her this might be his plan. He was so secretive about his involvement and helping her, he might be trying to make it look like they had a relationship contract and he was some sort of sugar-daddy she'd got herself involved with.

  She supposed it could also relate to her suggestion of being his pet. Ever since she'd used those words to describe what she wanted she'd wondered if it had been a big mistake, but they might have had the impact she desired. After all, a female dog was a bitch and Myron was unlikely to use it as a slang term alone. She decided there was only one way to find out and got up to fetch the phone from her handbag.

  As she moved she saw something flutter to the floor and stopped to pick it up. It was the small piece of card with Amelia written on it. She stared at it for a moment puzzled before she realised it began and ended in the same letter and was six letters long.

  Counting on her fingers, she worked out that every letter was 1 more than the numbers she'd used in her reverse keyword. She laughed aloud. Myron had given her the keyword after all, she'd just forgotten about it. If she hadn't noticed the pattern she'd have been stuck for hours trying to figure out what to do.

  Despite wanting to kick herself she sat back down on the bed with the phone she'd been given and turned it on. The battery was almost fully charged but nothing was on the phone except a single number in the contacts list. She pulled up the messaging service to send Myron a text.

  This deal is on your terms, so I suppose it's up to you. Am I your pet?

  As soon as she'd sent it she wondered if she ought to have worded it differently, and then she noticed the time. It was already the following day and she wasn't sure whether she could expect a reply.

  She decided to brush her teeth and change into her nightwear while she waited but she'd barely taken two steps to the small ensuite bathroom when she heard the chime of a reply. Instantly she rushed back and picked the phone up.

  It was your suggestion. If you're my bitch it's entirely because you want to be. And do I not get any gratitude for the alteration to our little game's rules?

  Despite the coldness of the reply she couldn't help but grin. It was a reply with a question that invited a response and she knew she was right about his implications. If anyone found either of the phones they would assume she had herself a controlling elder boyfriend and little more.

  You do have my gratitude. Thank you. And I enjoyed my first lesson. Will there be more soon?

  She sent another question hoping to keep things going and get more information from him. This time she did scurry to brush her teeth and get ready for bed, excitement flooding through her.

  When she came back, ready to sleep, she had yet another reply and she couldn't help but feel delighted that her tactic was working. She curled up under the covers and read it.

  There will be more when I wish there to be. It's late and you should be sleeping.

  She grinned at his air of authority and thought about her reply. Being cheeky was her first temptation but she wasn't sure how he would respond to that. After biting her lip a moment she went with her initial thoughts anyway.

  I'm in bed, so I'm almost there, but I'm not ready to sleep yet. And you're awake as well. Do you need my help with anything?

  After snuggling down so she could lay her head on her pillow, she waited, staring at the phone. Amelia knew it was a little obsessive of her to wait for a reply like this but she couldn't help it. Now she had him talking she didn't want him to stop. It took several minutes longer for is response to come through and it made her sigh with disa
ppointment.

  It's late and you agreed to obey me. Don't make me tell you again. Go to sleep. You'll get your next lesson when I'm ready to teach it to you and not before.

  She put the phone on the bed side table, before picking it up again.

  As you command, I shall obey.

  She hit send and turned the light out with a grin on her face. A moment later the phone chime made her sit up and grab it.

  As you should.

  Her finger hovered over the reply button. He'd messaged her again when she'd expected their conversation to be over and it puzzled her slightly. Either he really was going all out on making it appear they were in a relationship or he had enjoyed their conversation as well, but she didn't know if it was wise to continue. He'd already warned her once to go to sleep and not disobey him. If she replied again he could see it as a deliberate act to break the rules and she knew that might end badly.

  With reluctance she put the phone back on the bedside cabinet and placed her head on the pillow. Hopefully the following day would give her another opportunity to see Myron and might result in a further challenging message to translate.

  An hour later she flicked the light back on. Tossing and turning in the dark was making her frustrated. Too many thoughts, possibilities and what-ifs ran through her head, and not just about Myron. There was a group of terrorists trying to destroy some or all of London and Myron and Sebastian were struggling to find out what their target was to stop them.