condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
From that moment on, Will set about his work with a renewed vigour, knowing
that each day would be one day closer to leaving this place that he disliked so
much. As it had happened on previous occasions, he transferred back to the main
plant in one day, with no pre-warning, and the difference could be likened to
swimming from the rapids into the calm waters of a swimming-pool!
The stressful nature of his previous job was very hard to eliminate and he was
constantly expecting something untoward to happen, but it didn't, and eventually,
over the next couple of months, he settled down to a more stable existence.
The influences of Ed seemed now to be in the distant past, but Will was aware
that the other two surveillance dates would be either completed or imminent. Apart
from the occasional reminder of the past, Will was enjoying his day to day
predictability. He had received no further information from Bart, which he could
only conclude would be due to the fact that he was awaiting results from the other
two meetings. It would be too much to expect that there would be no more
contact from these parties - just wishful thinking.
Searching through his papers Will found his copy of the information given to
him by Bart and the final meeting was due next Sunday. They must have coped
with the second meeting and Ed wouldn't contact him at this late stage, unless they
had an emergency of some kind.
Will waited a further couple of weeks expecting Ed to appear with the tapes,
but it was to be a further week before the familiar sight of Ed's car parked outside
the shops in Vermont caught his eye as he alighted from the bus. As he
approached the door opened and Tony got out. Will looked past him and into the
car, but Ed was not there.
"Where's Ed, is he sick again?"
Tony pointed to the front seat, indicating that Will should get inside. Tony
turned to Will as they settled into their seats. "No, he's not sick."
"Has he sent me some tapes then, and how did the surveillance go?"
"No, I haven't brought any tapes but the surveillance went well."
This question and answer session is getting me nowhere, Will was thinking, as
Tony seemed to be getting more and more non-committal. He was staring through
the windshield appearing detached from the circumstances around him. "What the
hell's going on Tony, why are you so damned reticent?"
Tony placed his hand on the steering-wheel in the driving position and lowered
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