condensed master

The Reluctant Agent
A Compelling Story of Espionage
"I'll put my jacket on, there's a couple of chairs on the deck, we'll do as you
suggest."
It wasn't cold outside and the lights from the house illuminated practically the
whole of one end of the deck. Will moved his chair around so that his voice would
be directed outwards into the faint breeze, avoiding detection from indoors. He
questioned his paranoia but it was best to be careful.
Margaret came out and sat in the chair about four or five feet away facing him.
"Before we start Margaret, I'll tell you what I want from you, then I'll tell you what
you want to know. Is that okay?"
"Yes, go ahead."
"I need someone that can counteract situations that may arise similar to what
happened last week with Derek Bates from the U.K. I have to protect my family
at all costs. What I threatened to do that night would be an act of desperation on
my part. There's only one other thing. I had an arrangement with Ed that worked
fine. He promised that there would be no threats to get work done and he always
supplied me with the facts before he asked me to do anything. It gave me the
opportunity to evaluate what the risks were, and he was always aware that there
could be a time when I might say no."
Margaret's face had remained passive throughout. "I can do both those things,
I can promise that they will not present any problems."
"What do you want to hear from me?"
"Just a brief account from the beginning."
Will started with the interrogation at Gourock, mentioned by Derek Bates, and
then from one incident to the next, up to the present day without disclosing names
of the people concerned. "All these things that happened were obtained by threats
until I met Ed in Australia."
Margaret had sat listening without interjecting. "What you've told me takes my
breath away, it's no wonder that you take the cautious path with everything you
do. I've heard everything I want to hear, unless you think there's anything else?"
"Yes, a couple of things. Ed Blake was killed because of sloppy work by your
agents, I'd feel very insecure if I had to work with them and there's one that I
would get rid of straightway."
"If you're talking about Dan, Tony told me about your efforts to bring him into
line."
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