Extreme Faction: A Jake Adams International Espionage Thriller by Trevor Scott

Author:Trevor Scott [Scott, Trevor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Calabria Publishing
Published: 2024-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

24

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND

The train ride from London to Brighton was much the same as it had been the last four years. Routine. Sir Geoffrey Baines, as chairman of Britain’s foreign service, could have warranted a car and driver and a weekly apartment in London. But Baines would have none of that. He preferred to travel as he always had by train to London and then by taxi from Charing Cross Station to his office on Whitehall, across from the Houses of Parliament. He would only indulge his superiors and take a limousine on those rare occasions when he addressed parliament, even though it would have been only a short walk. Appearances.

He spent the hour each way by train from his home in the morning, and again at night, reading a good book. He would have gone over papers, had he not been required to leave them in a safe each night. And sometimes he even stretched his own rules, bringing less sensitive information home with him. Tonight was one of those rare times. He had been in meetings all afternoon, and only had time to scoop up the papers from his desk before hurrying to catch his train. Included in that mass of paperwork was a secure fax from Sinclair Tucker in Odessa. It was probably one of his routine reports on bogus letterhead from the communications firm. Anyone off the street picking it up would have to conclude it was the babbling of a child. Either that, or somehow the fax machine had gone haywire, replacing standard English for obscure, disjointed diction.

Baines was dressed somewhat down for a man with his power and prestige, wearing a modest wool suit, a putrid green overcoat, and scuffed brown oxfords protruding from his crossed legs. He was rarely without an umbrella and never without his felt derby hat, which hung over his umbrella handle at the corner of his seat.

He was reading a Thomas Hardy classic for the third or fourth time. Once never seemed to be enough. He was lost in the book as the countryside flew past the window to his left. His stop was just minutes away, and he was trying desperately to finish a chapter before he reached Brighton Station.

In a few minutes, the train slowed and then seemed to sneak along, until it finally came to a halt alongside the brick walkway of Brighton Station.

Baines had timed his reading just right. He slipped his book back inside his leather attaché case, locked it securely, gathered up his umbrella, and popped his hat on his head. He swayed down the narrow aisle, his wide frame bashing against each seat he passed.

Once on the loading terminal, he turned instinctively to the left, and walked off toward the main station. He checked his watch. He was right on time. It was ten after six. Baines lived four blocks from the terminal in an old Victorian that dated back two hundred years. It had been in his family for a century, and would go to his son when he passed on.

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